The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-06-06
Interpreting
The War
BY K1RKE L. SIMPSON
Associated Press War Ana,vs,

Ass'oi"'ea rress War Analyst
flaming out East North .n.
West from liberated and reioIc inv
Rome, Allied armies are in fast Nv.
deadly pursuit of battered an.
breathless German divisions amy
still intent upon humiliation Of tn.
enemy in the field.
Far ahead roved the Allied =,
attack. Bombs fell upon cri+;o,i
rail yards even north and cas- ~
the Livo1nor Ueghorn) Florenco
Rimini short line nearly $50 niIs,
above Rome, for which the Co..
mans are presumably ,acinp !,
desperate flight. There is no obta.
apparent strong natural front y.
limited length below that peninsu VI
la waist-line position where more
than Nazi delaying rear-guard Ar
ton seemed probable.
A substantial part of two Cer
man armies was still in grav,
danger of entrapment. West NJ
Rome in the Tiber delta the 1oft
flank of the Allied Fifth army w,,
hot on the heels of withdrawn
German divisions. Comrades
wheeling through Rome itself ars
driving out of the city across the
winding Tiber to cut the enemy off
in the rear.
Only two escape routes along
the Tiber estuary were still open
to the foe. Highway No. and the
Rome-Liverno railroad converge
north of the Tiber to follow the
coast line most of the way. Both
are under Allied naval gunfire as
well as in close reach of Allied
bonbers.
Main Allied Effort
It is east and northeast of Rome,
however, that the main Allied en-.
trapment effort seems slated. Loss
of the Rome rail and road hub
serving the German divisions de-.
ployed across the peninsula to the
east and Sc, theast has pia' Ell them
in c5itit al position. There is no
estimate of the number of German
troops in the mountain bulge to
Castel de Sangro in the depths Of
the high Apprentices. All of them
must funnel swiftly back
through the Rieti and Terni traffic
gateways to the north before the
Allied assault rolls up the Tiber,
Nera and Velino vzllies to cut them
off, or be forced eastward for a
roundabout escape up the Adratic
coast to the Livorno-Rimini posi-
| ton.
The joined Fifth and Eighth
armies in the upper reaches OF the
Sacco valley are in a position to
drive northeastward against both
the Rieti and TERM key functions.
Those Allied spearheads OF en-
trapment have less than 40 miles,
air line. to 60 through flat or roll
ing foothill country to reach ether
objective in comparison to the 70
mile. German forces still in the
|Castel de Sangro area to the south
east must travel to escape The
| German retreat everywhere from
the Castal de Sang-o bulge also
must be made through mountain
gorges. at the mercy of Allied
air power.
There can be little doubt that the
Allied break through up the Via
Casilina to reach Rome came 50
swiftly and with such great power
| that it caught the German COM
mand in Italy mapping.
14th Army Faces Rout
General Clark's remarks in
Rome to his Fifth army officer
and troops indicate his belief that
the Nazi 18th army no lonaer
capable of sustained major acton
It is 18th army elements that are
in momen+ary danger of being
completely cut off in the Iloef
delta to finish its disintegration-
Part of the Nazi 10th army has
seen little real action in the present
campaign, however. That por'
ton of it formerly holding the Inc
from Casino to the Adriatic coast
below Pescara has been virtually
idle since its limited Withdrawn
from the Sangro bulge just before
the Allied master offensive from
Casino to the sea was Launched
1t seems clear that the whole
left wing of the Geman trans
Penninsular line has dangerously
delayed its retreat. The German
collapse at Valmontone and IN the
Alban hills has done more thsf
open the Allied way for a trlum
hant entry into Rome. 1t mas
gravely exposed the whole cenlra
sector of the Nazi line in the Ap'
PENNIES to being outflanked from
the east and cut off from the norln
~, q fio,1 J;coc+or