Show Battle of Annihilation in Europe THE THE battle of annihilation against the German armies armie in Europe Europ is moving forward at a rapid rate A fourth front is opened up in southern France with a huge French British army landing around Toulon against r o only ly the feeblest sort of opposition Far to the north of France four allied armies two armies two American Ameri Amen can one British and one Canadian Canadian are are crushing the German t i army in a vise Thousands of Germans have already been killed or captured in the trap which the allies closed about them southeast of the Normandy peninsula and perhaps more are believed doomed The army itself is said to said to be so battered and decimated that it is no longer a first-class first fightIng fighting fighting fight fight- ing force On the eastern front the Russi Russians ns are tightening their ring around German forces cut off in the Baltic with every indication th that t a large army there is doomed At the same time the red armies continue to press closer and closer to German soil in East Prussia and move up for an assault on the Polish capital of Warsaw Only in Italy have the Germans for t the e time being stabilIzed stabilized stabilized their front anchored on the formidable mountain Gothic line But there the situation is much as it was in Normandy before our break When we turn or pierce the German German German Ger Ger- man line tine in Italy and break out into the Lombardy plain we may witness yet another battle of annihilation n. n The Germans are in the unhappy position in Europe of having to defend a huge arc of conquered territory with limited forces They cannot afford to have divisions ch chewed wed up in combat or armies surrounded and captured They cannot replace replace re replace re- re place the man power and equipment thus lost and their defense defense defense de de- de- de becomes progressively weaker We Ve are already seeing P the resul results s of that progressive weakness in the spectacular gains made against little opposition by American armored columns columns columns col col- col- col in Brittany and in the area north of the Loire river We Weare Weare Weare are seeing it in inthe the feeble defense put up by the Germans against the allied invasion of southern France The Germans are robbing Peter to pay Paul all over Europe And as this process of military attrition goes on the weakness will become progressively worse unless at this hour the German leadership should deci decide and should succeed in carrying carrying carrying carry carry- ing out the d decision to pull back to a shortened line tine of defense inside Germany itself Short of that it does not seem possible the can long withstand the steady rain of blows from all sides with constant lightning thrusts at weakened points in her defense arc There are still several months of good fighting weather left in Europe Europe and and if the crumbling of German defense lines continues with no German withdrawal for a last stand on the frontiers of the reich then victory in Europe could as the Russians have been predicting come this this year |