- 2 -
 
          He is anxious to have as many of his divisions as 
possible in contact with the enemy, because then the 
troops learn that Germans can be killed and are not super-
men. This gives his divisions the same kind of confidence 
that a pilot gets after his first combat in the air. 
Stalin said that "nothing in warfare can take the place 
of actual combat", and he wants to have as many seasoned 
troops as possible for the great campaign which will come 
next Spring. He stated that the German troops seemed to 
be tired, and the officers and men that they had captured 
had indicated they are "sick of war".
          The German reserves aren as much as 400 kilometres 
back of the front, and the communications between the 
reserves and the front line are extremely difficult. These 
supply lines require many thousands of German troops to 
guard and protect them from Russian raids.
     He said that in the battle now in progress, very 
many Russian and German troops are fighting far forward 
from their respective lines because of the advances made 
by both sides with their mechanized forces. Stalin said 
that his soldiers did not consider the battle lost merely 
because the Germans at one point and another broke through 
with their mechanized forces. The Russian mechanized 
forces would attack at another point often moving many 
miles behind the Germaan line. Merely because German 
forces pierce the Russian line does not mean the Russians 
are lost. They fight behind the Germans, are adept at 
the use of cover and fight their way out in the night. 
He said, "Even the German tanks run out of patrol".