The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-10-19

 vakla over on area of TO miles, swept through seven passes in the towering Carpathians and plunged from l2 to 3l miles into tho country,
 The eastern segment Of PetfoVs army sliced of the southeastern Up of CZeeholslovakia, Rn area of 300 square miles, and struck into Sighet in TranRylVanlR, where H joined with MallnoySky's forces.
 Tn linking up tho two armies, the SovletS were expected Co make Q quick bid to iiquidate tho last rem. nanS Of the derman.Hungafian army in northwestern Romanla and remove one of tho blocks before the eastern Hungarian border.
 Last strong Point
 Tn that area the enemy's last big strong point was Satu Mare, and MalinoVsky was hammerlng directly against the rail and road center with two forces from the east and southwest, The latter prong was moving up from Miresul Mare, % miles from Satu Mare.
 At the same time other units of the Second Army were drove north. ward and cut communication lines with Satu Mare at Valea.LuisMihal, 2i miles east of Debrecen,
 The thrust just east of Debrecen brought that portion Of Mallnov- skys army within i3b miles of Buda. pest, where reported disturbances were said to have been followed by the assertion of several Hungarian army units.
 These groups, according to uneon- flrmed reports, surrendered to the Red Army and offered to fight in clearing Hungary of the Germans, If true, 1t would mean Patriot forces from all of Germans former Balkan allies C2echosloYakians, Romanians, Hungarians and Bul- garians are now turned against the Axis.
 The Axis difficulties in Hungary appeared to have spurred the Soviet offensive, which brought huge pincers closing around dermany's last major ally in Europe.
 Northern Prong
 The northern prong, carried by Petrovs army already was driving southward through CZechoslovakia after preaching it's northern border at the seven strategic passes in the Carpathians from Poland.
 Petrov's campaign was being aided all along the 170-nile front by Czechoslovakian partisPns, who were reported early in the campaign to have been reinforced with men and equipment dropped by parachute from Russian planes.
 The drive that liberated the southeastern portion of Czechoslo- vakia was a three-way punch that swept through the Tatar and Jab- lonica passes and the Tisza river valley to Sighet. That advance gave the Soviets control of one trans Chechoslovskian railroad and they were advancing only three other vital lines.
 Fifty miles northwest of Tatar, other force smashed through Wysz- kow Pass, captured the town of Forum and continued south to seize Zolominska where they were seven miles below the Carpatho-U Ukraine bcrder. Farther west, Petrov's troops broke Verecki Pass and occupied Nizhne Vereckie ? miles northeast of MukaCevo.
 Two Groups
 The two groups advancing down the Verccki and Wyszko' Passes were converging on the Lwow-Mu- kacevo-Debrecen rail line, which traverses the Beskid Pass. Its cap ture woulc give the Russians a con- tinuous supply line to ths Hungar1 ian front.
 West of Verechi, the Red Army troups struck through Uzok Pass and seized Ljrta, 28 miles northeast of Uzhorod on another rail line leading to Debrecen.
 The forces moving through Ros- tok and Lupkow Passes, at the vest ern end of the Czechoslovakian front, were driving toward the rail hub of Eumenne, with one unit at velka Palana only 10 miles from the communication point.
 Soviet troops and Marshal Tito's Yugoslav partisans meantime con- tinued . steady drive against Ger man forces in Belgrade. Tito report cd that the combined forces had squeezed the Germans in a one-lnile area of the Yugoalovian capital, around the ancient Roman fortress Of Kalemegdan.