| Summary: | Reds Repelled On Dvina Front: Raid against allied line fails- early thaw expected REDS REPELLED ON DVINA FRONT Raid Against Allied Line Fails — Early Thaw Expected. ARCHANGEL, March 20.- Activity has considerably increased along the Vologda railway and on the Vilna front. On both sectors the bolsheviki have been defeated by the allied and American troops. A small bolshevik raiding party making its way over the snow surprised an allied artillery position in the forests near the Vologda railway. After considerable fighting in the darkness the bolsheviki were repulsed, leaving a number of dead behind. Following up last Friday's success on the Dvina when the Americans and Russians repulsed a raid against the allied lines of communication , a United States patrol today encountered a bolshevik patrol in a wood. A number of the bolsheviki were killed and the others of the party were made prisoners. Expect Early Thaw. As the winter has been unusually mild in northern Russia it is expected that within a month the thaws will come to make extensive land fighting impracticable. The bolsheviki will have a big advantage when the rivers open. The Dvina and Vaga rivers will be navigable near the fighting front before the Dvina opens up farther north near Archangel. This condition would permit the bolshevik gunboats to reach the vicinity of Beresniki before the allied flotilla can steam southward to meet them. Efforts are being made, however, to speed up the arrival of the allied fleet in the fighting zone in order to confine the bolshevik advantage to the shortest time possible. Race Against Time. In the meantime as long as the present cold weather continues, it is a race against time to move over the snow before the thaw comes sufficient big guns and ammunition to hold the enemy boats in control until the allied vessels can move southward. In this work the allied transport service is performing a great task in spite of the shortage of hay and oats which has weakened the horses for the long hauls over the snow and added greatly to the difficulties of the situation.
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