The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-24
interpreting
The War .
By KlRKE l.. sInpSo>,
associated Press War AN Avn

General Patton is acra al!H
Rhine and now the war in Eas, III.
seems to offer a prospsct t',.aany
soon of some credible ps. ...i lal'ly
OF how long organized Cerm ra,nat.
slstance can last. '''' !.
no patton's Third Army, battl. II.
patches report, caught the he c a.''
mans by surprise and with o u.s'
Whelming weight. - O'eE'
Now that weight is on III. .,,
road to Berlin. Enemy brosd saen
placed the bridgehead nssr 'a Isl
penheim, 10 miles south Of M.i w.
And the Germans reported @ ,s.,
Russians are trying to cro s 1 ~
middle Oder in force at Kues,r tae
There seems small room 10 dons.
mat the maSsice double or NV
ripple final assault on inner 4 ca
many planned at Yalta is at bsr.
Weather conditions necess.ry.
must nave much to do with tim.
ing OF major assaults. They se.n,
to have been especially tavorsS.
for some days in the west gjvin,
Allied air power opportunity -
slash mercilessly at enemy troon,
as well as at communication kew,
and ammunition storage dunn,
There are no similar indication,
from the East but since Russ,n
air power is primarily reserved
for close tactical support Of sS.
vancing troops, weather make,
less difference there. Big Allied
bombers do the strategic bornbin,
to aid the Russians and they srs
less weather restricted than Al.
lied support aviation groups.
German reports and the genera
tone Of field reports from the Al.
lied front place a scene Of great
concentration west of the Rhine
at the extreme north end Of the
line. About all that has been re.
vealed by the Allies was that heavy
trans-Rhine bombardment, under
the greatest military smoke screen
ever raised, had been in progress
for hours virtually from Dusseldorf
to the Anthem corner in Holland
The Germans said the Ruhr, the
vast industrial area on the east
bank on which the Nazis relied
chiefly for creation Of the war
equipment that proved insufficient
to conquer the world, is the Allied
objective.
That is true, no doubt, although
Rhine crossings to the south also
at the same time are to be sx.
pected. 1t does not follow that
cross Rhine drive by Marshal
Montgomery's American.British.
Canadian armies in the north nee.
essarily would be aimed directly
at the Ruhr.
1t would seem more probable that
Montgomery would strike north Of
the Ruhr while the American First
Army bridgehead on the east bank,
was expanded northeastward 10.
ward Hamm. A pincer play 10 by.
pass the Ruhr both north and
south and squeeze it off probably
would be less costly in casualties
than direct attack.
A current British war eommen-
tary by "Veritas' makes that
point:
"A frontal assault against such
a densely built-up area las the
Ruhr) would put a premium on de-
fense," it said. ITO bypass and
envelop this area would seem to
be more reasonable plan, and
in that case the springboards TOR
the attack would be roughly be-
tween Cologne and Dusseldorf on
the south side and between Mi
megen and Vessel to the north,
BY German reports at least, thai
would look to be an accurate lore
cast although the real situation
cannot be discerned until the Al
lied news black-out on the lower
Rhine, like the vast smoke screen
lifts to reveal it.