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Show I I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I ; I I I FORWARD MARCH By H. S. Sims, Jr. IIUilllJllinmnilHilliiilimH liiilHiiiiillllllllllllllllllllNIKKIIiiillll heavy, if not crippling losses, will, be sustained. The occupation of Cologne, Ger-any's Ger-any's fourth largest city, was unexpectedly un-expectedly easy. There was no house-to-house defense by desperate desper-ate Nazis. The fact that Cologne had been wrecked does not explain the willingness of the Germans to retreat southward (since they could not cross the Rhine) instead of making a bitter effort to slow down Allied progress. Russians Ready To Move .... In the East the Russians continued contin-ued their campaign to eliminate all danger of a threat to their flanks and to isolate segments of the German armies. Strinking to the Baltic the Red Army not only broadened the Berlin front but added a new threat to the German Ger-man capital, now menaced from three sides. ALLIED ARMIES REACH RIVER LIES THAT OPEN WAY FOR DECISION SOMEWHERE IN GERMANY The Allied drive to the Rhine uncovers the German positions west of the river, opens the way to the Ruhr industrial area and makes possible a contemplated junction and the Red army somewhere some-where in Germany. The Anglo-American armies went through strong German for- The Russians along the Oder and the Anglo-Americans along the Rhine have set the stage for the supreme effort to join forces inside the Reich. Spring weather, already softening the ground, may delay the assault but it will facilitate facili-tate aerial activity and March winds are counted on to dry the terrain for fast-moving offensives. German morale seems to hold but the news from the two great fronts where German soil is daily occupied by the Allied armies, is certainly sufficient to convince most stubborn Nazi that the war is irrevocably lost. Aerial bombardments bom-bardments mulitDlv home front tifications which apparently were not defended with the stubborn skill of the best Nazi soldiers. Basically, Bas-ically, the Teutons were unable to stop the advance because they were overwhelmed by superior power. Some of the experts, on this side of the ocean, explain that the Canadians, Ca-nadians, on the Allied left flank, initiated the offensive, forcing von Runstedt to rush reesrve divisions to the threatened area. Then, Pat-ton's Pat-ton's Third Army, to the south along the Moselle front, began its move and again the Nazis committed com-mitted reserve divisions. The real push came in between, with the Ninth and First Armies taking full advantage of enemy dispositions disposi-tions and breaking through to the Rhine. No Last-Ditch Defense . . . The present phase of the campaign cam-paign centers upon the area west of the Rhine which will be cleared of Nazis. Undoubtedly the enemy will seek to withdraw as many soldiers as possible for the defense of the great river line. Judging from what has occurred in the past the bulk of German forces will get across the Rhine but problems and gradually weaken the facilities upon which organized German resistance depends. No Hope Left for Nazis , . . About all that is left to the Nazi high command is the hope that surrender can be postponed, that heavy losses will weaken Allied resolution and that the victorious coalition will fall apart. When this proves futile there will remain re-main only a gangster-type warfare war-fare which we may be sure will suffer stern repression. While there is no way to estimate esti-mate the length of the war in Europe Eu-rope the fate of Germany should be sealed by the joint offensives across the Rhine and the Oder. Once the Allied armies are able to mount fastmoving attacks, upon up-on ground strong enough to give tank units full range of manoeuvre manoeu-vre the occupation of substantial areas of Germany will be quickly achieved. Pacific Struggle Moves On . The war against Japan follows the familiar pattern as Iwo Jima and Luzon are mopped up. Where the navy will strike next is uncertain uncer-tain but the possibility exists that an ambitious sea and air bombardment bombard-ment of some key Japanese port will convince the Japanese that their home islands are vulnerable to direct attack. No major invasion of the home islands is likely for some time and the Marines will probably spearhead spear-head amphibious operations, designed de-signed to secure additional bases for large-scale operations in China Chi-na or Japan proper. Meanwhile, the British are making steady, if unspectacular, progress in the Indian In-dian theater of war. |