Push, Bleed, Destroy

Moscow war correspondents and military observers have come to learn that vaguely worded Soviet communiques usually herald some startling news. Last week Red Army spokesmen conceded a substantial stiffening in German resistance, continued to weigh Russian gains in terms of scores of villages and "tens of kilometers," were carefully vague for several days about specific details of the Soviet advance.

Just as carefully they refrained from confirming or denying one of the most significant reports since the Russian counteroffensive began: that Russian forces have flanked the central German armies around Smolensk and have pushed into White Russia, a scant 70 to 85 miles from the old Polish frontier.

German resistance may have been growing, but it had yet to reach a point where the Russian advance was halted. Wrote A. T. Steele, Chicago Daily News correspondent:

"No attempt is being made to hide from the Soviet armed forces and the public the probability of a big new Nazi effort in the spring, and the dangers that it holds. The Soviet aim, in throwing maximum power into the present three-front drive, is not only to gain territory but also to frustrate as much as possible Hitler's preparations for a new offensive. 'Push him, bleed him, destroy his bases and force him to expend at least part of the reserve armies he is saving for the spring.' This is the Russian cry."

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