London, Feb. 4.
Russians have begun a new bid to smash through the Mannerheim Line, and it is being conducted with a scientific precision that is astonishing the Finns, telegraphs Reuter's Special Correspondent on the Finnish-Swedish frontier.
The waves of aeroplanes, intensity of the artillery barrage, swarms of tanks, and the regular advance of the infantry reveal ce-ordination which was lacking in previous Russian attacks.
Soviet troops playing the main part in the attack in this sector are estimated at about one division of infantry, supported by an enormous number of tanks. The battlefield, now a chaotic inferno of churned-up and bloodstained snow, is fairly open country be~ tween lakes Mudlaa and Kuolama, both frozen hard.
The first onslaught is believed to have made considerable inroads into the Finnish lines, but the Finns recovered, launched carefully-timed counter-attacks, and regained their positions. it proves that the "Finns have broken the back of the Russian offend sive, they have every reason to be optimistic about the defensive quali-tes of the Mannerheim Line, 'The Finns' greatest recent success was gained north of Lake Ladoga where the Sovicis are fighting desperady at a number of points to escape the traps in which the Finns are trying to Isolate them. Near the shore of the lake itself, alarge body is reported to be making a grim steugule yairist a ring of Finnish machine uns, which is preventing them from rejoining their main body.
allan planes have been among fighters doing defence work in the past fow days.
Twelve Russian planes were shot down in various parts of Fintond dur-Ing. yesterday's alr ratels and declared that it is becoming. more and more necessary for the democratic world to come to the aid of the Finnish people for democracy would betray itself if the Finns were left alone. The Rus-sans have already lost one thou-Jsand pilots, the paper added, and this represents @ hard blow for the Soviet air force. Soviet bombing squadrons are now defended by pursuit planes when operating over Finland owing to the. increasing number of counterattacks launched by the Finnish air force. Another Soviet Innovation is the use of eir; torpedoes two metres long which, upon exploding, release a number of smalt incendiary bombs—Havas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.