The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-14
Bober River
Defense Line
Is Preached
Russians Drive On Prison
Camp Center OF Sagan,
Dresden |

LONDON, Feb. 13.- CUP) The
Red Army today completed the
conquest of Budapest, the capital
of Hungary, ending a 51-day siege
in which more than $4,000 enc
my troops were killed or captur-
ed In Germany, Russian forces
converged on the prison camp
center of Sagan and advanced
nine and one-half miles on t h e
road to Dresden.
Russian infantry and tank forces
forced the Bober river defense line,
the first of four remaining river
barriers fore Dresden, and
reached the east bank Of the Queis
river at Lorenzdorf, II miles
northeast of the capital of Saxony,
Moscow revealed.
Russian troops in Upper Silesia
encircled the key town Of Glorau,
supply base of an enemy BRIDE
head on the Oder rivers east bank
midway between besieged Breslau
and the approaches to Berlin, the
Soiet High Command announced.
More than $50 towns and settle
ments were captured north and
northwest of the captured Silesian
city of Liegnitz in a drive toward
Sagan and along the Breslau-Ber-
lin highway, Moscow revealed.
The capture of Budapest releas-
ed two Soviet armies and troops
under 70 generals for a drive to-
ward the Austrian capital of Wen
ma, guarding the approaches to the
Alps region where Adolf Hitler and
his henchmen may attempt to
make their last stand after the
fall of Berlin.
1t cleared the way for Soviet
offensives to the puppet Slovak
capital of Bradshaw and the rich
industrial regions of Bohemia.
Marshal Josef Stain announced
the final conquest which all but
leveled one of the worlds most
beautiful capitals and cost the
Germans and Hungarians more
than 10000 prisoners and $4,000
eaded. Among the captives was the
commander of the garrison, Col.
Gen. Pfeffer-W ildenbruch and his
staff.
Moscow tonight echoed to "a sal
vos from 324 victory guns marking
the capture of the last big satel-
lite capital, the eighth capital tax.
en- by he Red Army and the 18th
liberated by the Allies.
Budapest, however, was an au.
curry of the grim battle that lies
ahead for the Allies in Berlin. 1t
took the Russians IA weeks to take
it, fighting from street to street,
and smash the last resistance.
Marshal Malinovsky's Second
Ukrainian Army drove to within
four and one-half miles --ovember
Il2. Seven weeks later, after Mar.
shall Tolbukhin's Third Ukrainian
Army joined the battle, the city
was encircled December 26.
Block by block the two armies
frightened the enlightenment, an d
threw back massive enemy at
tempts to break through to the
relief of the city from the west.
Adolf Hitler called on the defend
ers to make Budapest Hungary's
''Stalingrad.
The bag of enemy killed and
captured was the largest in a sim
gle action since the Red Army
took a toll of 100000 in the siege
of Stalingrad little more than two
years ago.
How many of the city's pre-War
population of 1,116,000 persons sur
vived street battles and starvation
was not known.
Meanwhile, M h Konev's
First Ukrainian Army south of
Berlin - which a German High
Command spokesman tonight de-
scribed as the most dangerous
sector of the Eastern Front-con.
tinued it's apparently irresistible
advance.
According to the Germans, Ko-
news troops surged west from the
Bober river and reached the
Queiss river, six miles beyond and
60 miles northeast of Dresden.
At the same time, the Germans
bitter fighting south and
north of the big rail and road hub
Of Sagan, on the Bober river SO
miles southeast OF Berlin.
There were three American and
British prisoner of war camps in
the Sagan area and London OBJ.
servers doubted, in view of the
swift Soviet advance from tn
Oder river, that the Germans had
been able to move the prisoners.