The Daily Monitor Leader

Russian Lines Hold Fast Under Furious Nazi Attack

Rage as Foe Opens Drive

LONDON, July 6—(AP)—Fierce fighting continued throughout the night on the Orel-Kursk-Belgorod front, where the Germans launched their long-awaited offensive yesterday, but Soviet troops beat off all attacks and inflicted heavy casualties on the invaders, the Soviet information bureau announced today.

In one sector between Orel and Kursk, the midday communique of the Soviet information bureau said, 4,000 German officers and men were killed in futile assaults and 17 tanks were knocked out of action. Fifty German tanks, including 10 of the Nazis' new giant "Tiger" tanks, were reported disabled in another sector of the same front.

In the Belgorod area, the Russians said, 2,000 German officers and men were slain in one sector and 85 tanks were destroyed or burned.

DISLODGE FOE

The Russians acknowledged that the Germans had broken through their defense lines at one point on the Belgorod front, capturing two populated places, but said the enemy had been dislodged by counter-attacking Red Army forces.

"Hundreds of enemy dead remained on the battlefield," said the war bulletin, which was broadcast by the Moscow radio and recorded by the Soviet Radio Monitor here.

Southwest of Mtsensk, which

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Russia (Continued from Page 1)

is about 50 miles northeast of Orel, the Germans flung two regiments of infantry against Russian hilltop positions which the communique described as "of great tactical importance." In the beginning, the communique said, the Nazi troops succeeded in occupying several Russian trenches. Counter blows struck by the Red Army flung the Germans back, however, and the Russians regained all lost territory, the bulletin added. German losses in the battle were 600 dead and prisoners were captured, the Russians declared. SAVAGE ASSAULT The Russian communique indicated that the German high command was pushing its offensive without regard to losses of armored equipment. To the 586 enemy tanks reported destroyed in the midnight communique the midday bulletin added 152 more, bringing the total for the first 24 hours of the push to 738. (The Vichy radio, referring to Russian reports of heavy fighting in the Orel sector, said today in a broadcast recorded by Associated Press that "Berlin comments insist this operation is of strictly local character.") Elsewhere on the Russian front little activity was reported. Russian troops on the Karelian front attacked two Finnish strong-points which the communique said had served as a base for diversion raids. The Finns were caught by surprise, the Russians said, and one garrison surrendered and the second was routed with a loss of 250 killed and wounded. The bulletin added that the Red Army men had destroyed nine blockhouses, 30 dugouts and eight houses which had been turned into strong points in this engagement. Seven dumps were destroyed and equipment was captured. On the front west of Moscow both sides engaged in occasional exchanges of artillery and machinegun fire, the communique said. Russian troops were reported to have wiped out one company of German infantry, and destroyed an artillery battery and 10 machine gun nests. A small group of German infantry attempted reconnaissance operations but were dispersed by rifle and machine gun fire, the communique said.