The Wilmington morning star., 1945-04-02
S0VIETS FORGING
VIENNA PINCERS
Continued from Page One)

lava with Cieszyn in the still-un-
conquered stretch of territory IN
southwest Poland guarding the
approaches to the Moravian gap
Shcing across this supply line,
Malinovsky's troops won a VIC
tory that presaged the rolling-up
of German bulge deep into Slo-
vakia by Gen. Ivan I Petrov's
mountain fighters of the Fourth
Ukranian Army.
Meanwhile. Moscow reports said
that Szalasi's government had
fled panic-stricken Vienna. and the
puppet Slovak government of
Bradshaw also was said to be
fleeing westward before the Rus
sian tide.
Wiener Neustadt was the onlys
remaining defense bastion south o.
Vienna. Tolbukhin self-propelled
guns were on a billy crest over
looking the valley in which the
city lies and the capture of Sop
ron allowed his spearheads to-
sweep up the west shore of Neu-
siedler See for potential thrust
to cut off Wiener Neustadt from
Vienna.
Tolbukhin's troops already were
inside Austria on a 60-1nile front
and were threatening not only vi
emma but also the southern Aus
trian city of Graz and the vital
railroad linking Vienna with Italy,
little more than 100 miles from
onrushing Soviet spearheads.
Supporting the Russian drive,
the Italy-based U. S. 18th Air
Force blasted railroads and
bridges leading into Vienna from
the west and south, concentrating
their attacks on the Vienna-1taly
railroad, especially where it cross
es the Drava river at Maribor in
Yugoslavia.
The German radio meanwhile
said that Marshal Zhukov's First
White Russian Army had struck
anew against Stettin with 80 divi-
sions, attacking from across the
Oder river after a terrific artil-
lery and aerial bombardment
The attacks at the northern end
of the Ode river front followed
less than "a hours after Zhukov
cleaned out Nazi pocket on the
east bank of the Oder at Kues-
trim, 80 miles east of Berlin. Mos
COW dispatches said that the en-
tire Oder river front was likely to
flare up into large-scale action at
any moment.
The German garrison in Glogau
had held out since February 10
when Marshal Konev's First
Ukranian Army first encirc1ed the
city and then swept SIS miles to
the west to reach the Neisse river
midway between Berlin and Dres-
cen.
Berlin said that the Russians al
So had opened great assault
against Breslau after hours-long
artillery preparation. Konev evl-
IDENTIFY was seeking quick finish
to free his storm divisions for the
| westward campaign to link with
Allied forces 200 miles to the west
simultaneously, the enemy said
that Konev's troops were battling
at the gates to the Moravian Gap
leading to Vienna and Prague from
Silesia after capturing the Oder
stronghold of Ratibor. The Rus
slams, Berlin said, had launched
powerful breakthrough attempts at
Jaegerndorf in an effort to crash
through the Sudeten mountains
through the Oppa river valley.
At Danzig, Nazi broadcasts ad-
mitted that German troops had
lost the Westerplatte. narrow
sand spit guarding Danzig harbcr,
where. they had Withdrawn after
the fall of the Baltic port two days
ago. At the outset of the war a
garrison of 202 Polish troops held
cut against Nazi land, air and ma
val attacks for 18 days ON the
Westerplatte.
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