Evening star., 1943-02-24
Order of the Duy

Order of the Day
Joseph Stains order of the day,
issued on the twenty-fifth anniver-
Sary of the establishment of the Red
Army, is document that may be
read with interest and profit.
With admirable clarity, he re-
viewed the course of the war in
Russia and set out the factors which
have brought the Germans early
victories and more recent defeats.
Broadly speaking, they are three in
number.
First, the NaZis attacked Russia
when the Red Army was not fully
modified. Hence, the Germans en-
joyed a superiority in manpower and
in equipment, but this, Stain said,
has been reversed. He put the
enemyS casualties at 100000 men,
of whom 1000 900 have been killed.
In addition the German losses in
equipment have been tremendous,
with the result, according to Stain,
superiority in men and materiel.
Second, the German Army, prior
to attacking Russia, had almost two
years Of experience in large-scale
warfare In Europe. This gave the
enemy an advantage, but one which
has been overcome, Stain said, as
the men and officers of the Red
Army acquired their combat ex-
perience.
Finally, according to the Soviet
leader, twenty months of fighting in
Russia has brought out the main
weakness Of the Nazis-their in
ability to make sound independent
decisions when the fighting does not
go according to plan. Stain con-
ceded that the Germans are "accu-
rate and exact" in their operations
when they can adhere to a precon-
ceived plan of battle. But in his
judgment they are fatally lacking in
ability to adjust themselves to un-
foreseen changes in the military
picture
Roughly, this is Stalin's explana-
ton of the great victories which the
Russians have won, and he made it
clear that in his opinion the triumph
is exclusively that of the Red Army
In view of the absence of a second
front in Europe, he said, the Red
Army alone is bearing the whole
weight Of the war" At no place in
the order did he so much as mention
the defeat Of: Rommel by Britain's
Eighth Army, the campaign in North
Africa, the bombing attacks on the
German homeland or the never
ending battle to secure the Atlantic
crossing for the shipment of supplies
to Russia
1t is too early, perhaps, to
say whether particular significance
should be attached to this attitude
and certainly it is too early to at
tempt to draw any definite conclu-
slons from it. But this is no reason
to ignore what he said or what he
did not say.
The same thing is true with re-
Spect to certain cryptic statements
IN the order. For instance. Stain
spoke of the necessity which COM
PEELED the Red Army to launch
campaign ito defend it's native land
against the German invaders and to
drive him from the borders of our
country This might be read to
mean that the Russians do not in
tend to carry the war beyond their
own borders. But Stain also warned
against the assumption that the Red
Army has now only to pursue it (the
German Army to the western from
tiers OF our country"-a statement
which lends itself to an entirely
different interpretation
These comments by the leader OF
the Sovlets may mean a great deal
or nothing. Perhaps he is merely
trying to mask his hand, and If so,
he is adept at the art. The danger
OF jumping to premature conclusions
should be avoided, but certainly.
when Stain puts himself on record
With such statement, there is everv
reason why the people of this country
should read and scrutinize 1t with
| the greatest care.