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Show I I I I III I i l l I I I I 'l I I I I I I l in FORWARD MARCH By H. S. Sims, Jr. tilnMiHjliin.jMii;.lu:.i.lii.l..lii"l'.iil'.'l.l CAUSE OF GERMAN WITHDRAWAL IN RUSSIA NOT FULLY REVEALED, PROBABLY STRATEGIC The steady progress of allied arms, upon the battlefields, should not lead us to conclude that the fighting ia about over. Rather the repeated warnings of our military and political leaders, that the real battle is just beginning, should be soberly considered in connection connec-tion with the black lines on the maps that show territory captured and recovered. The campaign in Russia illustrates illus-trates the observation very well. It is encouraging to note the vast area reclaimed by the Red army and to contrast what is happening in Russia with what went on last Summer. Just the same, the reversal re-versal is not as overwhelming as in Russia while longer before attempting at-tempting a conclusive analysis of what has happened. Even if the Germans surrender the Dnieper river line and fall back to the German Ger-man frontier we cannot know, with certainty, the state of the Nazi army until we see how it reacts to continued Russian pressure. pres-sure. We must also await the unfolding un-folding of German strategy in Italy, It-aly, the Balkans and elsewhere. The campaign in Italy proceeds favorably to the Anglo-British invaders in-vaders and the steady advance up the Italian leg will soon compel the Nazi to reveal their intentions. Where and how desperately the Germans will stand are not yet revealed. Certainly, the front will increase in importance if the Nazis make a determined effort to hold a large area or launch an offensive to expel the allies. Such an undertaking is by no means impossible. In fact, it is what we must expect if the Germans Ger-mans have not yet concluded that the war is irretrievably lost. The narrow front in Italy offers an excellent opportunity for a counter coun-ter stroke without involving the great mass of men that a drive in Russia employed. In the Far East our campaign again Japan continues to record slow progress. The campaign in New Guinea is only slowly recovering recov-ering full control of the island. In the upper Solomons the battle proceeds, pro-ceeds, without spectacular advances ad-vances but, nevertheless, with increasing in-creasing signs that the area is becoming be-coming untenable for the Japs. The campaigns involve the use of land, sea and air forces. Earlier delays in New Guinea were attributable, attrib-utable, we think, to a failure to utilize adequate sea-power which has proved extremely useful and effective in the Solomons area. it appears. There is little reason to believe that the German army has been badly hurt in the fighting in Russia. Rus-sia. Every sign points to an extremely ex-tremely successful retreat by the Nazis. While Hitler's' strategy is not yet clear the fact is that the withdrawal in Russia has shortened short-ened the battlefront and may put the Germans in a position to go on the defensive against the Red army. About all we know of the campaign cam-paign is that the Nazis have abandoned aban-doned much territory. Whether the retreat was caused by military pressure, exerted by the Russians, or by motives of higher strategy remains undisclosed. As we understand under-stand the situation our own military mili-tary leaders do not know whether pressure or strategy predominated in the German maneuver. There is every evidence that Germany, facing the growing Anglo-American threat and taking cognizance of the surrender of Italy, It-aly, was forced to readjust her armed strength. Despite the absence ab-sence of what Stalin calls a "second "sec-ond front," the entire military outlook out-look in Europe was altered when the U-boats failed and there was no doubt about the arrival of American fighting men. These facts were known in Berlin Ber-lin many weeks ago. Nazi strategists strate-gists could not overlook the new threat. They had to regroup their soldiers and recast their strategy. The retreat in Russia indicates a decision to adopt the defensive on a broad scale but without overlooking over-looking any opportunity to strike a heavy blow whenever a favorable favor-able opportunity presented itself. The abandonment of territory in Russia, at this time, does not seriously affect the Germans. Their armies have fallen back to positions that do not involve long communications lines. The Red army, on the other hand, has advanced ad-vanced over battle-scarred terrain, ter-rain, with consequent lengthening of its supply lines, which now have to , move over much devastated land. We must watch the campaign |