The Wilmington morning star., 1945-04-18
Soviiets Push
Into Saxony
Escape Route
Russians Claim All Of Sam
land Peninsula Except
Port Of Pillau
N

roNnON. Wednesday, April 18-
,nNThe Germans said today Rus
s 81: forces were driving hard with
in IS and 20 miles OF Berlin IN
-! .,,.o ~ sectors while another Soviet
t emu sneared into the Nazls
90 sonthern escape corridor through
Saxony. ,o IN
Tho onerations along the 15O-mlle
wont from the Bohemian border
70 the Oder estuary, proclaiming
in IFS latest communicate liqulda-
finn of all the remaining area OF
the samland peninsula of East
Prussia except the escape port OF
Pillau. 1t also announced capture
of the important Austrian oil pro
ducing center of Zistersdort, 70
miles northeast Of Vienna.
The Nazi high command an
nounced a Soviet jump-off from
Neisse river bridgeheads along a
33-mile front from Forst to Roth
enburg, headed toward a junction
with American forces driving into
saxopv from the west. Then the
German Army clamped a news
blackout on place names.
German Commentator Max
Krull, discussing Allied "break'
throughs" from the east and west,
asserted the organic structure OF
the German front has ceased to
exist. The terms Westfront and
eastfront have lost their meaning. y
The Neisse river plunge was de-
scribed by the Nazi transocear
news agency as one of two prongs,
one from Muskau toward Sprem-
berg on the Spree river and an
other through Niesky, IL miles
northwest of Goerlitz and 48 miles
northeast of Dresden.
The Berlin radio said the Oder
offensive was clutching at Berlin
from the northeast, east and
southeast. One column that storm
ed the river west of Zehden was re-
ported sending tanks to the main
Berlin-Stettin road near Ebers-
waldo, 10 miles from the capital.
Other forces, the announcement
said, were pressing frontal as
Sault in the Frankfurt Kuestrin :
Zellin triangle, using six divisions.
Heavy fighting was reported
around Wriezen and in the Seelow
heights area. The Germans said
the Russian spearheads cut the
Seelow-Alt Friedland road less
lnan 70 miles east of greater Ber-
lin ana had penetrated deeply
Staggered defenses beyond.
Moscow maintained official 81
lhce on the Berlin front but Mar
snail Stain in an order of the day
announced the capture of listers
oor1, Austrian oil producing center
. miles northeast of Vienna, by
MARSHAL Rodion Y. Malinovsky's
Second Ukrainian Army.
Other Russian forces were push
ing up the road to Bruenn (Brno)
III Czechoslovakia and westward
OIL separate fronts toward Linz and
ulaz T.. Fighting also flared in up
~ oAesla where the German high
. .Oi said fierce conflict was
4'sMg IN the area of Ratibor.
rs nssSoc!ated Press Correspondent
da Navy gilmore said Moscow resi-
s sonS were expecting some an
,d; ,; regarding the Berlin
. .,aye and that significance was at
c epe,ea to Red Army reports of in
me eaSlngly large numbers Of Ger
nn Sn .anks and guns destroyed in
uIIS5pecified localities
or onolllcial reports to the Soviet
"n osS sad the Red Army was
Ba l,dhlns steady progress east of
ovarn i and that it already had
so eteome great chains of Ora
an e1 ZEN Antitank defenses and
gro,e elae eot system of undeS-
sil tae German reported action in
Of = me e.1 Russians within IS miles miles
troon, a dsL: with the Americas a.ilaen
IN 00 tS,. driving on Dresden. A 1, rGa1'
In, ms MS corridor would '', cr ~ upon Renl
into offenders s d from retreat eat r nvts
doubt 0"Sarlan mountain re-
b, Nazj War Reporter 1,,tz Koo,
fro DsTtoc ss; y from the a'N N M3en,
inp '' ta Salr the Russians We're striH.
yprep toward cottbus as "e wei H'rl x:
ties s' ratar and hiatt several loca a.
co 5S +retaken by the Germ M 1ueai IL
"aga again, attacks were lost agar il,
nor ~s, artillery u, and hundreds Ises VI "