The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-01-12
Red Armies Drive From Two Directions Toward Key Defense Points VIOLENT FIGHTING
 NEAR GEORGIEVSK
 NIX Soviet Tank Unit Catches Four German Regimental. Leaders in Bed
BY HENRY SHAPIRO United Press Stan Correspondent

DA AAGGN101 SHAT 4NV United Press Stan Correspondent
 Moscow, January 12.
 (UP) = Red Army. troops drove from two directions today on Armavir and Voro- shilovsk, German defense points northwest of Geor- gievsk, and front dispatches reported the Axis retreat was becoming a rout in some sec tors of the Caucasus.
 Major General Ivan Krichenko's Cossacks raced 13 miles up the Caucasus railroad from the town of Mineralyne Vody during the night. They were within 100 miles of Armavir, strategic town on the railroad and on the RoStov- -Makach Kala oil line which parallels 1t. Vor- oshilovsk, the other German point immediately threatened, is A miles east of Armavir.
 Other Soviet forces were driving down from the Kaln1yk steppes and had advanced to Konstantinovskaya, 34 miles northeast of Voroshilovsk.
 These two columns threatened to cut off the enemy troops retreating from the Georgievsk- Mineralnye Vody-Pyatigorsk region captured yesterday by the Russians.
 (Axis sources refused to admit the loss of the Georgievsk railroad cen ter. Radio Vichy said German re- ports asserted that particularly violent" fighting was in progress near Georgievsk and Pyatigorsk
 (Gen. Kurt Dietmar, one of Ger many'S leading military critics, ad- mitted in a Berlin broadcast, how. ever, that the Russians had broken through Axis lines on the southern front and that the situation had be- come serious. "The Russian offens.vs has made no inconsiderable pene- trations," he said. "There is need for more German troops in Russia.")
 Fighting Heavy
 Front reports said the Georgievsk area was taken only after particu- larly heavy fighting along the rail lines leading to the junction.
 The newspaper Pravda said the Russians attacked all the centers of resistance from various directions and surrounded them. Before taking Georgievsk, Mineralne Vody, Pyati- gorsk, zheleznovodsk and Kislovdsk the major point surrounding the junction, the Soviet troops had to oppose the Germans along railroads, highways and streams and drive the enemy from heights in the area.
 The collapse of the German gar risons came so suddenly, Pravda said, that at one point a Soviet tank unit caught four German regimental leaders in bed.
 While the Red army developed its offensive toward the Armavir-V -Voro- shilovsk area, two other Russian columns menaced Salsk, 100 miles southeast of Rostov and 95 miles north of VoroshilovSk. One force ad- vanced on the city from the north east and the other from the east. Both were reported last within 80 niles of Salsk.
 In the Georg.evsk area, infantry moved in fast behind Krichenk0ia Cossacks to mop up pocketed Axis ,roops and collect rich war spoils.
 (An Exchange Telegraph Moscow dispatch said Russian troops had ;tormed and captured dominatin= Mt, MaShuk and Mt, Beshtau. in the Mineralnye-P -Pitaygorsk area)
 Cavalry, tanks. armored cars and he infantry under Lieut.. Gen. Ivan had captured the key owns of an entire Caucasus rail- 'oad system, reaching from the foot l!lls toward the Kalmyk steppes, in ! day of big gains yesterday and now he Russians were reported striking n a two-pronged attack on ArmaVlg md Voroshikovsk, to the northwest
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