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Show entirely misjudged the fighting-strength fighting-strength of the Soviet. The Red army has decisively checked Hitler, giving new hope to Llie democracies and causing the Germans to doubt the outcome of the present war. Russia has earned earn-ed the gratitude of the free world, regardless of differences in regard to the organization of social elements. ele-ments. Almost unaided the Soviet faced its mighty foe, took a terrible ter-rible beating and paid a tremendous tremen-dous price but managed to survive sur-vive because its people were willing will-ing to fight and, if necessary, die for their native land. problems and release Nazi soldiers for other ventures. It may stop on the line selected by the German high command and next spring a renewed German assault may easily eas-ily recapture the area relinquished. All this may prove true but, none the less, the Russians have given Hitler his first great defeat, and Soviet morale increases with justification. justi-fication. Hitler proclaimed the Russian campaign as the decisive battle, committing the fate of Germany to the army as it began. Many weeks ago he declared the Red army destroyed, and incapable of organized resistance. He has since admitted that Nazi leaders RUSSIA SCORES UPSET IN WAR The hard cold fact of the fighting fight-ing in Russia is that the Red army, although beaten to its knees and almost destroyed, has come out of the corner, like a groggy, battered batter-ed boxer, to unleash a counterattack counter-attack that has forced its great opponent to the ropes. This does not mean that the Soviet So-viet is about to deliver the decisive knock-out but the decision, it is clear, can go either way. The Nazi army that surged to the gates of Leningrad, stormed the outer bastions bas-tions of Moscow and captured strategic stra-tegic Rostov, the "gateway to the Caucuses," is reeling under the impact im-pact of the weather and the Russian Rus-sian willingness to fight it out to death. The retreat of the German army may be strategic in inception and smart in view of the unprepared-ness unprepared-ness of German soldiers for the fierce winter weather. It may shorten the front, simplify supply |