The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-01-23

artillery and cavalry forces are rac- ing forward relentleSsly, striking blitz-blows and paralyzng all enc my attempts to hold intermediate positions. Soviet infantry units fol- lowing in the tracks of the tanks deliver the coup de grace to strag- gling enemy groups
 The swift advance to PoZnan rep resented an overnight gain of al- most 30 miles for the hard-driVing Red Army and confirmed earlier indications that the SoyietS had torn a great breach in the center of the German front in Poland.
 A Moscow broadcast said Russian forces were in the outskirts of Bydgoszcz, 66 miles northeast of PoZnan.
 AS the Russian winter offensive thundered into it's l2th straight day, invading armies were flaming out through East Prussia and Silesla and threatening to spill over into Central Germany on the short road to Berlin by mid-week.
 From Berlin came clamor ot warnings to the German people that the decisive hour of the was has struck and that the eastern front iers must be held at all costs. The DeutSche Allgemein Zeitung de- clared that Adolf Hitler had gone to the east to take personal con- mand of the battle.
 Reports Exaggerated Unconflrmed and apparently ex- aggerated reports circulated by the Swedish press told of panic inside the German capital. These accounts said Nazi officials were removing the government archives and fleeing to some undisclosed place of safety and that the general population was to be evacuated shortly. Other reports told of hurried fortification building on the outskirts of the capital and along the Oder river. 40 miles to the east.
 Marshal Gregory K. Zhukov's crack First White Russian army spearheaded the direct thrust to- ward Berlin with slashing ad- vance across the Polish plains that appeared to be meeting only dis organized rear guard resistance.
 The Soviet morning communique said Zhukov's tank columns ad- vanced as much as 38 miles on q broad front in the past 24 hours to capture Gniezno, 28 miles north east of the Polish fortress of Poz- nan and l65 miles east of the Ger man capital.
 A later Moscow broadcast re- corded by the London Daily sketch's monitors said, however. that the Russians had plunged on more than Is miles beyond Gniezno putting them only 55 miles from the point when the German border curves back to within 95 miles of Berlin
 More than 1000 Polish towns and villages fell in the path of the Soviet advance yesterday as Zhu- wovs troops lunged for the Nazl border, with their northern flanl. shearing across the base of the Polish Corridor only N miles from DanZig.
 At the same time, the Second and Third White Russian armies rolled up the defenses of East Prussia from the south and eas; in massive pincers sweep thaG was fast enveloping some 100000 Germans caught in the junkera province. Vanguards of the Second Army were barely SO miles south east of Danzig by nightfall
 To the south Marshal Ivan S. KoncVs First Ukrainian army drove up the southeastern road to Berlin to within 205 miles Of the enemy capital at Stay and overran scores of mines and underground war fac. tories inside Silesia, Germanyi "Ruhr of the east.
 The First Ukrainians were 2G miles or more inside Silesia on {! front Of almost 100 miles, with their outriders less than 28 miles from Breslau. capital of the province and barely five miles east of the Oder river.
 6O,OOO Nazis Killed
 Tn the first ten days of their of- fensive. through Sunday, Konevt troops killed 60,00O Germans. took 21 ,000 prisoners and destroyed O., captured TEA enemy tanks. An other 4,000 Germans were slain irt Sllesia yesterday, among them a It. Gen von Bloch, commander ot the 56th German tank corps.
 Konev's forces made their clos est approach to Berlin in Poland where they crossed the Warta river on broad front 10 take Stay, 6I' miles northeast of Breslau and |. .u.uu. .o,,ktoo.t oR tho T<oIis1 rnad