The Wilmington morning star., 1944-04-11
Interpreting
The War
BY KIRKE L. SIMPSON
Associated Press War AnaI,s.


With Nazi surrender of the Grow.
Russian Black Sea port CT Odesy,
Hitler's campaign to seize the ,..,
Ukrainian breadbasket fo- G2rrn,.
use came to a disastrous end
What it cost in casualties ~,
battle equipment will not b. fnn,'
known until Moscow figures baF,
from Odessa and for Crimel mon
ping-up operations come in. Bu, -
a strategic sense, however ,bo
price of that utter Nazi misc.1
culation of Russian resources and
fighting plan is clear for anvbad,
to read.
Odessa is the beginning of tbo
end for Nazi Germany in the ess.
and probably in the Balkans IT,
recapture by Soviet armies sat,
the pattern for the beginning ~
the battle Of the Balkans with 4a
flight of the last Nazi forces from
southwestern Russia except for
such remnants as are still trannoJ
in the Crinlea.
There remain no German or Ayi,
troops other than the dead and
prisoners on Russian soil proner
south of the Pripet Marshes cxcenf
those awaiting their fate in bs
Crimea. North of the Pripet n
Pskov on the Russian Estonian
border the Germans still have an
uneasy clutch on a mere shaving
of Soviet territory in comparison
to what they held year ago. Re.
treat from that into western Pa.
land, surrendering virtually all the
Baltic states as well, is inevitable
There is no clear indication VT
as to where along the east front
Russian strategy calls for the ma.
jor spring attack to coincide with
Anglo American invasion assaults
from the west. 1t seems quite
clear, however, that with Odessa
in Russian hands again the open.
ing Balkan battle in the south
could move speedily toward a con.
clusion despite formidable natural
obstacles still to be Russian
crossed before the Danube valley
in Rumania can be penetrated.
The German retreat from Odes.
sa into the Danube delta of Ru.
mania cannot halt east of the low.
err reaches of the river below Ga.
lati. The multiple mouths Of the
Danube provide a powerful defen.
sive front there against direct Rus.
sian attack from the east how.
ever.
Operating from their recaptured
Odessa closeup base, the Russians
well may be in a position later
to leap-f-og by sea around the low.
er Danube barriers. Such opera.
tons by the Third Ukrainian Army
might coincide with the drive
southwestward by t n e Second
Ukrainians down the Prut and 81.
ret vallies toward Galati.
There is increasing evidence that
the Galati gap between the great
bend of the Danube at that point
and the Carpathian Transylvanian
Alps elbow to the northwest is the
focus of the Russian drive across
the Prut near Iasi into old Ri.
mania. One prong of that thrust
has new been Russian driven due
west of Iasi to Pescani in the up.
per end Of the Siret valley.
The column has set its grip on
the main road and rail system
from the north leading from cap
tured Cernauti to Ploesti and Blu.
charest in the Danube valley
There is difficult terrain southwark
but pressure there could fatally
outflar1k the German defense front
for the Galati gap from the north
That seems the Russian purpose
Coupled with the inevitable Rus.
sian threat of sea-borne leap-frog.
ing drives along the Black Sea
coast to turn the lower Danube
flank as we'll, it menaces the hast
lily improvised German defense for
Bucharest, all important Ploest
with its oil installations, and the
Danube valley key to the Balkans
with deadly Russian pincer
squeeze bfeore it even gets set