The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-04-17

< II SL dIHl1cS WCIc pOu1AO4I1k 1ldIu LO" ward the link-up, however, with the First army apparently well out in front after surrounding Leipzig and racing more than p miles beyond that city.
 Doughboys of the First army's 69th infantry division battled up in- to the southern outskirts of Leipzig last night, pushing through the sub- urban town of Magdeborn, four miles to the south.
 Thousands of German troops were reported entrenched in the ruins of Leipzig, Germany's fifth city. They fought back savagely under a whitening artillery barrage pouring in from all sides, but field dispatches indicated their situation had become hopeless. The First Army's Ninth Armored Division completed the encirclement of Leipzig late yesterday and raced g miles due east to cross the Nude river and take Colditz. They pushed another mile or more beyond the town to within about 85 miles of the Red Army lines in the Forst- -Cott- bus area.
 Other First Army troops battled through the streets of Halle and Dessau, Is and 31 miles northwest of Leipzig.
 First, Third Linked
 In the Dessau area, the First Army'S Third Armored Division linked up with doughboys of the American Ninth Army along the Elbe river and deployed for a cross- ing to join in the assault on Berlin.
 A military blackout covered the progress of the fighting in the Ninth Army bridgehead across the Elbe near Barby early today, but censored field dispatches said the American 83rd Infantry and Sec- ond Armored Divisions were hold ing grimly to their salient in the face of savage German counter blows.
 The Tanks held five-mile arc east of the river extending in to Gueterslueck, about 55 miles south west of the Berlin city limits and about 65 miles from the center of the Na1 capital.
 Front reports said powerful tank and artillery forces already had been rammed across the bridgehead and that new pontoon bridges were being thrown up rapidly, including makeshift span labelled Truman bridge-gateway to Berlin"
 Other Ninth Army forces deployed along a winding. S5-mile stretch of the Elbe's west bank northward from Barby to the Wittenberge area, cleaning out all but a few small German pockets in the near Magdeburg, IS miles north of Bar by.
 At their cloest points along the west bank the Americans were only 45 miles west of Berlin's outskirts and about 70 miles from Red Army troops who broke across the Oder river to within IT miles northeast of the capitals eastern limits.
 Far to the south, the American Seventh Army broke the three-week stalemate on the direct approaches to Hitler's boasted Bavarian re- doubt with spectacular tank and infantry thrust into Nuremberg.
 It. Gen. Alexander M. Patch sent strong armored and infantry forces driving head-on for the NaI Shrine city from the north, northwest and west, feinting the enemy out of position while his 45th Infantry division circled through the Sebal- der forest from the northeast.
 The 45th broke into the city after an eight-mile overnight March from Lauf. The doughboys crossed the Pegnitz river which flows through the center of Nuerberg, and raced in against initially weak opposi- tion.
 May Abandon Neurnberg
 Preliminary reports raised the possibility that the Germans might abandon Nuremberg without a fight in order to prevent the destruction of the beautiful. walled city where the Nazis once held their elaborate party congresses.
 OdptureO enemy troops SalO, now ever. that the city commander had raised 8 motley force of convales- cents, air force personnel and service units and planned to defend the city to death.
 Hundreds of American warplanes collaborated toward that end yes- terday, raking the enemy's defenseS in the Nuremberg area and south war to Munich.
 Other American bombers ham, mered at the German lines in the path of the east-bound American Third Army on the Sevenths left flank yesterday. and the RATS heavyweights followed through after nightfall with a shattering attack on enemy railroad targets along the German Czechoslovak border.