Oct 8. day ae having of which Hitler ferrelaht hours Treva ape rnGay as havin commenced some
an-attempt by the Germans to throw gut Bea atePtnent fon tne, purpose of encitling Mose two determined advances, oN, eye possible. The plan se out of the Vall 29 Fin cwt, 8 eet the south-west of the capital. "The alles to nea gtrignt Line between the two Aistanes Wooproximately. 380 riles, abd it is Polnlt rat front where. Marshal Timoshenko Teen to successfully counter-attacking The, Germans appear to be Soper ring to swing round the flanks of the detegraecmain army, which is at present Meinty of Smolensk, ind to surround sible, though there {every reason, to thet ever it they do succeed in pus Per ven two attacks wel home, the Red cor ing thet THT be ble to prevent enetretemen Tranter sd rtveat towards Vyasma, and per Ips even further beet Borodine." Tulsidns are succeeding in holding up the ted up to the present that the
Butea war machine, both sides clarining feat suceses, but, as this latest. battle Not vela week ely it ie probable, that overs! days wall have to pass before it will possible to assess what progress the Ger povilt have beer able to. make.. That They ave al out fo obtain: decision before stgoues of winter clamp down on that part of Russia within the next month, oF 30 Piny be taken for granted, and the report fast week to the effect that they. were mak Ing se of almost their last reveryes. Sufficient indication of the: desperation with wish the. Germarr high command 4s fighting {e'have some tangible success to anmoumce their war-wearied peoples, Mennvrhil, with the exception of a powerful German thrust hear Pollava, where they are being held, and ome ting outside the peninsula of Pere ops there is comparatively ite to report on tne'reat of ihe fronts. he pressure on Len Ingead has slackened, according to Moscow There ts no immediate threat of capture, while it is indicated. that far from the city Doing completely invested road and rail eom-Punfeations are still being maintained.
The tact that, the Germans are being held at Poltava casts an interesting light on recent German reports of the catastrophic defeat of Marshal Budenny's army, and the execution of {ts commander, His army has been regrouped. and reinforced with the result that, by an effective counter-offensive, it has been able to hold the left attacking, the Cri ress appears to have, been made, The con elusion, which Reuter's special correspondent in Moscow draws, to the effect that the situation has considerably improved in the southern sector of the front seems in the cir cumstances to be fully justified, but it will bbe as well to remember that many days of severe fighting will have to ensue before it will be-possible to estimate exactly what the Germans have been able to achieve by this the fifth treat onslaught since the commencement of the invasion. What Is clear is that the Russian resistance during the past sixteen weeks has completely upset German plans. There are indications that they, had hoped to complete at least the major part of the cdm= paign before winter, and the haste with which they are now trying to mobilize heavy cloth ing on a vast scale shows that there has been Tu that connection' the Russian troops will doubtless be fully equipped for fighting in the Snows. With vast stocks of winter clothing and equipment suitable for meeting changed conditions. which the winter will bring, together with their native ability to endure low temperatures, it may be readily understood that they wilt be in a position considerably to harass the Germans, who will suffer every inconvenience owing to the length of the lines of their-communications and the necessity for fighting guerrilla warfare for which the Rus. sians are peculiarly' adapted. In fine the anxieties which were felt during the past few weeks recording the situation in Russia have not yet entirely passed away. but there is now certainly less reason for pessimism than there was following the fall of Kiev. The enorm-us resources which the Russians possess in ower permit of the rapid reformation of their worsted armies, and it is apparent that they have been availed of to re-establish the forces in the south. "More hard knocks are still to be expected before the winter blizzards set in but it does not appear at all likely that the Germans will be able to secure fa decisive victory from this latest offensive.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.