| Show i Officers Believe Rome Showdown wn May Take rake io Place Within 48 Hours f r ML f S t r ROME V f I Ve V-Ve o Tibet Rb z lOSi 5 A m. m Lif s s in i sa 5 CASSINO il tUt trw i VS V- V 3 S Gaeta 4 5 4 5 re Press s Mop Map Allies Attack in Italy Arrows from Nettuno indicate Fifth army drives to Velletri the way v and with broken arrows indicating next objective Via Bomb symbols mark cities where here allied planes struck British captured d Mt Americans explored mine fields north of Cassino and French Frerich fought off a counterattack in t the J mountains tc to the north n K I. I H Experts Experts' Say Soy Nazis Must M Move 9 Quickly i k y o or Lose All AU By vard ByEd vard Ed W. W LONDON J Jan n. n 26 UP UP UP-ln- In Informed formed military quarters believed Wednesday that the showdown Inthe in inthe inthe the battle for Rome might night come come Within the next 48 hours Whether the showdown would take the form of a pitched battle somewhere between the Garigliano river and the beachhead or or J p withdrawal of the thel German lin line to the north of Rome was conjectural conjectural con can j l It was regarded as extremely unlikely however that the Germans Ger Ger- mans would give up Rome without a fight tight They ney are giving nothing away these days And here Is a jewel of ot militar military and psychological value S Sp Speed e Essential By all military standards standards' the Germans cannot permit the Nettuno Net Net- tuno tuna beachhead to remain as a threat to all their main Italian communications Unless they can muster enough strength to throw the allies into the sea they arc are going to have to ge get out of the southern front quickly while it still Is possible to do so experts maintained Speed d is essential The beachhead beach beachhead h- h head already is past the first stage of consolidation c And Arid it is well veil beyond the officially acknowledged limits Thus it I is capable c of sustaining a big fighting force Corce In addition n the Germans arc are threatened with the possibility of ot ofa ofa a B British tish Eighth army drive up the Adriatic coast or or through themO the mO mountains IE aJ against or r. r b behind Il Rome r TT v T S fV fi- fi Cant Can't t Spare p r Tr pM J s The German high command probably does docs not want to 10 commit moro more divisions division to th the d defense of Italy observers believed Military quarters thought the decisive battle might be fought on the old Fifth army front rather than on the of the allied beachhead If the na nazis is try to 10 pull out they certainly will be under unde c constant pressure Ev Even n if they can can keep a a gap b between twe n them hem and the allies to the thc they will vm have no answer allied planes for which a retreat over the Italian terrain would b be made to order Invaders Drive In Inland land landAs As Allies Enter Cassino Cass ALLIED A ALL L L I lED E D HEADQUARTERS Algi Algiers rs Jan 26 OP U. dPI U. U S. S troops have ha stormed across the river r er in renewed battle for lor Cassino Cassino Cas- Cas sino sino sino- sino already entered by patrols ui fi field ld dispatches said said and and Fifth army Inv invasion sion forces below Rome Borne have speared deeper against In Increasing creasing resistance it was announced announced an an- Wednesday The nazis apparently were pUllIng pulling pulling pull pUll- ing units back from the Cassino front to meet the great threat to their rear It now seems certain the Invasion Invasion invasion inva Inva- sion thrust has at le least st cut the thc Applan Ap- Ap pian plan way and s seriously threat threatens ns the remaining Cassino Rome highway highway highway high high- way perhaps perhaps' having it under artillery artillery artillery ar ar- ar- ar tillery fire American combat units a are arc r e advancing through mine fields north of Cassino after a a. second crossing of the Rap do river a he headquarters officer declared Headquarters said it had no In Information Information In- In formation that Cassino yet had been taken French troops north of the 1 las oas oas- town were formed from Mt Croce by bitter nazi counterattacks counterattacks counterattacks counter counter- attacks with close fighting co con con- While the Germans threw in increasing increasing In- In cre creasing sing opposition against the in invasion in- in troops who landed in the Anzio Nettuno areas arca an an allied officer officer of of- fleer resistance still was comparatively Uvel light Cairo radio said the allies were 19 ip miles from Rome The troops were spurred by another another an an- other visit from Lieutenant General General General Gen Gen- eral Mark W. W Clark Fifth army commander who expressed satisfaction satisfaction satis satis- faction with their progress German planes struck at the Uie sea sea arm armadas das and an an official announcement announcement announcement an an- declared nazi bombers had attacked three hospital ships w well weIl II outside the invasion zone sin sinking on one o of them All three thre were lighted and carried Red RedCross Cross ross markings Allied planes In powerful numbers numbers numbers num num- bers concentrated on slashing at enemy supply routes and troops between the Fifth army front and Continued on 00 Page Pa Eight Column One Ore Rome Showdown Seen Within Next 48 Hours Continued from Pare One Oni the new beachhead d and the main mainline mainline line between lorence and Rome which th the Germans must use uee to get et reinforcements to the Rome area ana The allies flew 1100 sorties over overe the e beachhead Tuesday compare compared a with 60 by the nazis An A American American Ameri Ameri- erI- erI can naval officer said the enemy attacks attack were causing some ome trouble trouble trouble trou trou- ble II however Ho He Ho disclosed that allied warships war war- ships Including French had heavily heavily hea v- v ily bombarded the road between I Terracina and Formia by daylight Monday and made diversionary 1 nary bombardments along the coast Sunday night allied motor tor tor- torpedo torpedo boats attacked a German lighter convoy northwest of ot Rome setting letting an escorting E-boat E afire Attack Slackens The heavy G German counterattacks counterattacks' counterattacks counterattacks counterattacks' tacks tacks' that drove the Americans back from their first river bridgehead last week end apparently apparently h had d slackened Reinforced United d States Infantry then surged ever over the stream tream at an undisclosed point British troops on the western coastal end of the Fifth army line attacked and occupied Mount two mn miles s west of Cas- Cas It it- was considered Uk likely ly that th the allied advance b below low Rome had been so 10 rapid the Germans do not know exactly how large Jarge the bridgehead bridgehead bridgehead bridge bridge- head has become and headquarters tm Is to withholding that news newl until the Germans dete determine lne it by actual actu actual ac ac- tu 1 patrol clashes Patrol forays marked the Eighth army anny front on the Adriatic Indian Indian In In- dian troops killed 20 Germans German In one ene patrol and took prisoners Ranging wide allied planes downed 11 nazi planes Tuesday losing three Three enemy pian planes s were downed over the invasion slon beachheads Bomb Rail Ball Bridge Flying Fortresses bombed a railway bridge at Pedaso and one over the Vomano river both on the Adriatic coast Other planes bombed Civita Castellana and strafed railway cars cani ne near r Stimigliano gliano gUano north of Rome hit the road junction at nor northeast east of Nettuno and shot up a locomotive and eight railway cars at R RAF A F on Monday night harassed German troop movements between Coprano and Rome American American Amer Amer- I ican and British planes struck at Dubrovnik harbor in Yugoslavia a n radio station near Durazzo Albania Albania Al Al- bania and a ship off oft Leghorn An unconfirmed German broadcast broadcast broadcast broad broad- cast Intimated that American troops had cut the way at Velletri 24 miles southeast of Rome after allied bombs destroyed the town At Velletri 17 11 miles north northeast ast of the original allied landing point at Nettuno the Applan Ap Ap- Ap- Ap pian plan way and the Via th the theother theother other great highway connecting Rome with southern Italy are only eight miles tulles apart The Via Yla Cas Casl- Casl 1 Una lina may J b be rea reached hed from rom n Vel Vel- lJ l- l J n letri by a good road running northeast northeast north north- east to Valmont Valmontone me Close to Rome The Rome correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper Dagens Ny- Ny heter said that British and American Ameri Ameri- can troops were fighting so close to Rome that the action could be followed w with th glasses from Castel Romano 12 miles mUes south of the capital and about 17 11 miles mUes northwest of occupied Anzio on the co coast t. t Earlier a dispatch from Don Whitehead Associated Press correspondent correspondent corr cor cor- r respondent with the invasion forces said that allied troops were In perfectly clear view of ot Velletri Velletri Velletri Vel Vel- letri and Albany thelast the thelast thelast last of which is 15 miles southeast of Rome is five miles mUc's west of Velletri In another dispatch written Tuesday Whitehead said that American troops supported by tanks are h having ving to blast German machine gunners from every farmhouse farmhouse farmhouse farm farm- house in their drive across the Mussolini canal Hastily throwing up a defense against the swift Fifth army drive inland from their Nettuno beachhead beachhead beachhead beach beach- head Whitehead wrote the Germans Germans Germans Ger Ger- mans have evacuated Italians from their homes and turned each building into a fortress which the Yanks are attacking with tanks and machine guns Whitehead noted that for the first time in the e Italian campaign the Americans are fighting over ovex country suitable for tanks and that armor is being used effectively effectively effectively to support infantry ad ad- vances |
