The Battle of Stalingrad is a battle of the Second World War, an important episode of the Great Patriotic War between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht with its allies. Occurred on the territory of modern Voronezh, Rostov, Volgograd regions and the Republic of Kalmykia of the Russian Federation from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943. The German offensive lasted from July 17 to November 18, 1942, its goal was to capture the Great Bend of the Don, the Volgodonsk Isthmus and Stalingrad (modern Volgograd). The implementation of this plan would block transport links between the central regions of the USSR and the Caucasus, creating a springboard for a further offensive to seize the Caucasian oil fields. During July-November, the Soviet army managed to force the Germans to get bogged down in defensive battles, during November-January they encircled a group of German troops as a result of Operation Uranus, repelled the unblocking German strike "Wintergewitter" and tightened the encirclement ring to the ruins of Stalingrad. Those surrounded capitulated on February 2, 1943, including 24 generals and Field Marshal Paulus.
This victory, after a series of defeats in 1941-1942, became a turning point in the war. In terms of the number of total irretrievable losses (killed, died from wounds in hospitals, missing) of the warring parties, the Battle of Stalingrad became one of the bloodiest in the history of mankind: Soviet soldiers - 478,741 (323,856 in the defensive phase of the battle and 154,885 in the offensive phase), German - about 300,000, German allies (Italians, Romanians, Hungarians, Croats) - about 200,000 people, the number of dead citizens cannot be determined even approximately, but the count is no less than tens of thousands. The military significance of the victory was the removal of the threat of the Wehrmacht seizing the Lower Volga region and the Caucasus, especially oil from the Baku fields. The political significance was the sobering of Germany's allies and their understanding of the fact that the war could not be won. Turkey abandoned the invasion of the USSR in the spring of 1943, Japan did not begin the planned Siberian Campaign, Romania (Mihai I), Italy (Badoglio), Hungary (Kallai) began to look for opportunities to exit the war and conclude a separate peace with Great Britain and the USA.
Previous events
On June 22, 1941, Germany and its allies invaded the Soviet Union, quickly moving inland. Having been defeated during the battles in the summer and autumn of 1941, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive during the Battle of Moscow in December 1941. German troops, exhausted by the stubborn resistance of the defenders of Moscow, not ready to wage a winter campaign, having an extensive and not completely controlled rear, were stopped on the approaches to the city and, during the counter-offensive of the Red Army, were thrown back 150-300 km to the west.
In the winter of 1941-1942, the Soviet-German front stabilized. Plans for a new offensive on Moscow were rejected by Adolf Hitler, despite the fact that German generals insisted on this option. However, Hitler believed that an attack on Moscow would be too predictable. For these reasons, the German command was considering plans for new operations in the north and south. An offensive to the south of the USSR would ensure control over the oil fields of the Caucasus (the area of Grozny and Baku), as well as over the Volga River, the main artery connecting the European part of the country with the Transcaucasus and Central Asia. A German victory in the south of the Soviet Union could seriously undermine Soviet industry.
The Soviet leadership, encouraged by the successes near Moscow, tried to seize the strategic initiative and in May 1942 sent large forces to attack the Kharkov region. The offensive began from the Barvenkovsky ledge south of the city, which was formed as a result of the winter offensive of the Southwestern Front. A feature of this offensive was the use of a new Soviet mobile formation - a tank corps, which in terms of the number of tanks and artillery was approximately equivalent to a German tank division, but was significantly inferior to it in terms of the number of motorized infantry. Meanwhile, the Axis forces were planning an operation to encircle the Barvenkovo salient.
The Red Army's offensive was so unexpected for the Wehrmacht that it almost ended in disaster for Army Group South. However, they decided not to change their plans and, thanks to the concentration of troops on the flanks of the ledge, broke through the defenses of the enemy troops. Most of the Southwestern Front was surrounded. In the subsequent three-week battles, better known as the “second battle of Kharkov,” the advancing units of the Red Army suffered a heavy defeat. According to German data, more than 240 thousand people were captured alone; according to Soviet archival data, the irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 170,958 people, and a large number of heavy weapons were also lost during the operation. After the defeat near Kharkov, the front south of Voronezh was practically open. As a result, the way to Rostov-on-Don and the lands of the Caucasus was opened for German troops. The city itself was held by the Red Army in November 1941 with heavy losses, but now it was lost.
After the Red Army's Kharkov disaster in May 1942, Hitler intervened in strategic planning by ordering Army Group South to split into two. Army Group A was to continue the offensive into the North Caucasus. Army Group B, including the 6th Army of Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Panzer Army of G. Hoth, was supposed to move east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.
The capture of Stalingrad was very important for Hitler for several reasons. One of the main ones was that Stalingrad was a large industrial city on the banks of the Volga, along which and along which strategically important routes ran, connecting the Center of Russia with the southern regions of the USSR, including the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Thus, the capture of Stalingrad would allow Germany to cut off water and land communications vital for the USSR, reliably cover the left flank of the forces advancing in the Caucasus and create serious problems with supplies for the Red Army units opposing them. Finally, the very fact that the city bore the name of Stalin - Hitler's main enemy - made the capture of the city a victory in terms of ideology and the inspiration of the soldiers, as well as the population of the Reich.
All major Wehrmacht operations were usually given a color code: Fall Rot (red version) - the operation to capture France, Fall Gelb (yellow version) - the operation to capture Belgium and the Netherlands, Fall Grün (green version) - Czechoslovakia, etc. Summer offensive The Wehrmacht in the USSR was given the code name “Fall Blau” - the blue version.
Operation Blue Option began with the offensive of Army Group South against the troops of the Bryansk Front to the north and the troops of the Southwestern Front to the south of Voronezh. The 6th and 17th armies of the Wehrmacht, as well as the 1st and 4th tank armies, took part in it.
It is worth noting that despite a two-month break in active hostilities, for the troops of the Bryansk Front the result was no less catastrophic than for the troops of the Southwestern Front, battered by the May battles. On the very first day of the operation, both Soviet fronts were broken through tens of kilometers in depth, and the enemy rushed to the Don. The Red Army in the vast desert steppes could oppose only small forces, and then a chaotic withdrawal of forces to the east began. Attempts to re-form the defense also ended in complete failure when German units entered the Soviet defensive positions from the flank. In mid-July, several divisions of the Red Army fell into a pocket in the south of the Voronezh region, near the city of Millerovo in the north of the Rostov region.
One of the important factors that thwarted the German plans was the failure of the offensive operation on Voronezh. Having easily captured the right bank part of the city, the Wehrmacht was unable to build on its success, and the front line aligned with the Voronezh River. The left bank remained with the Soviet troops, and repeated attempts by the Germans to dislodge the Red Army from the left bank were unsuccessful. The Axis forces ran out of resources to continue offensive operations, and the battle for Voronezh entered the positional phase. Due to the fact that the main forces were sent to Stalingrad, the offensive on Voronezh was suspended, and the most combat-ready units from the front were removed and transferred to the 6th Army of Paulus. Subsequently, this factor played an important role in the defeat of German troops at Stalingrad.
After the capture of Rostov-on-Don, Hitler transferred the 4th Panzer Army from Group A (attacking the Caucasus) to Group B, aimed east towards the Volga and Stalingrad. The 6th Army's initial offensive was so successful that Hitler intervened again, ordering the 4th Panzer Army to join Army Group South (A). As a result, a huge traffic jam developed when the 4th and 6th armies needed several roads in the area of operation. Both armies were stuck tightly, and the delay turned out to be quite long and slowed down the German advance by one week. With the advance slowing, Hitler changed his mind and reassigned the 4th Panzer Army's objective back to the Caucasus.
Disposition of forces before battle
Germany
Army Group B. The 6th Army (commander - F. Paulus) was allocated for the attack on Stalingrad. It included 14 divisions, which numbered about 270 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars, and about 700 tanks. Intelligence activities in the interests of the 6th Army were carried out by Abwehrgruppe 104.
The army was supported by the 4th Air Fleet (commanded by Colonel General Wolfram von Richthofen), which had up to 1,200 aircraft (the fighter aircraft aimed at Stalingrad, in the initial stage of the battle for this city, consisted of about 120 Messerschmitt Bf.109F- fighter aircraft 4/G-2 (Soviet and Russian sources give figures ranging from 100 to 150), plus about 40 obsolete Romanian Bf.109E-3).
USSR
Stalingrad Front (commander - S.K. Timoshenko, from July 23 - V.N. Gordov, from August 13 - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko). It included the Stalingrad garrison (10th division of the NKVD), the 62nd, 63rd, 64th, 21st, 28th, 38th and 57th combined arms armies, the 8th air army (Soviet fighter aviation at the beginning of the battle here consisted of 230-240 fighters, mainly Yak-1) and the Volga military flotilla - 37 divisions, 3 tank corps, 22 brigades, which numbered 547 thousand people, 2200 guns and mortars, about 400 tanks, 454 aircraft, 150-200 long-range bombers and 60 air defense fighters.
On July 12, the Stalingrad Front was created, the commander was Marshal Timoshenko, and from July 23, Lieutenant General Gordov. It included the 62nd Army, promoted from the reserve under the command of Major General Kolpakchi, the 63rd, 64th Armies, as well as the 21st, 28th, 38th, 57th Combined Arms and 8th Air Armies of the former Southwestern Front, and with July 30 - 51st Army of the North Caucasus Front. The Stalingrad Front received the task of defending in a zone 530 km wide (along the Don River from Babka 250 km northwest of the city of Serafimovich to Kletskaya and further along the line Kletskaya, Surovikino, Suvorovsky, Verkhnekurmoyarskaya), to stop the further advance of the enemy and prevent him from reaching the Volga . The first stage of the defensive battle in the North Caucasus began on July 25, 1942 at the turn of the lower reaches of the Don in the strip from the village of Verkhne-Kurmoyarskaya to the mouth of the Don. The border of the junction - the closure of the Stalingrad and North Caucasus military fronts ran along the line Verkhne-Kurmanyarskaya - Gremyachaya station - Ketchenery, crossing the northern and eastern part of the Kotelnikovsky district of the Volgograd region. By July 17, the Stalingrad Front had 12 divisions (a total of 160 thousand people), 2,200 guns and mortars, about 400 tanks and over 450 aircraft. In addition, 150-200 long-range bombers and up to 60 fighters of the 102nd Air Defense Aviation Division (Colonel I. I. Krasnoyurchenko) operated in its zone. Thus, by the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad, the enemy had a superiority over the Soviet troops in tanks and artillery - by 1.3 times and in airplanes - by more than 2 times, and in people they were inferior by 2 times.
Start of the battle
In July, when German intentions became completely clear to the Soviet command, it developed plans for the defense of Stalingrad. To create a new defense front, Soviet troops, after advancing from the depths, had to immediately take positions on terrain where there were no pre-prepared defensive lines. Most of the formations of the Stalingrad Front were new formations that had not yet been properly put together and, as a rule, did not have combat experience. There was an acute shortage of fighter aircraft, anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery. Many divisions lacked ammunition and vehicles.
The generally accepted date for the start of the battle is July 17. However, Alexey Isaev discovered in the combat log of the 62nd Army information about the first two clashes that occurred on July 16. The advance detachment of the 147th Infantry Division at 17:40 was fired upon by enemy anti-tank guns near the Morozov farm and destroyed them with return fire. Soon a more serious collision occurred:
“At 20:00, four German tanks secretly approached the Zolotoy village and opened fire on the detachment. The first battle of the Battle of Stalingrad lasted 20-30 minutes. Tankers of the 645th Tank Battalion stated that 2 German tanks were destroyed, 1 anti-tank gun and 1 more tank was knocked out. Apparently, the Germans did not expect to face two companies of tanks at once and sent only four vehicles forward. The detachment's losses were one T-34 burned out and two T-34s shot down. The first battle of the bloody months-long battle was not marked by anyone's death - the casualties of two tank companies amounted to 11 people wounded. Dragging two damaged tanks behind them, the detachment returned.” - Isaev A.V. Stalingrad. There is no land for us beyond the Volga. - Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008. - 448 p. - ISBN 978–5–699–26236–6.
On July 17, at the turn of the Chir and Tsimla rivers, the forward detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies of the Stalingrad Front met with the vanguards of the 6th German Army. Interacting with the aviation of the 8th Air Army (Major General of Aviation T.T. Khryukin), they put up stubborn resistance to the enemy, who, in order to break their resistance, had to deploy 5 divisions out of 13 and spend 5 days fighting them. In the end, German troops knocked down the advanced detachments from their positions and approached the main defense line of the troops of the Stalingrad Front. The resistance of the Soviet troops forced the Nazi command to strengthen the 6th Army. By July 22, it already had 18 divisions, numbering 250 thousand combat personnel, about 740 tanks, 7.5 thousand guns and mortars. The troops of the 6th Army supported up to 1,200 aircraft. As a result, the balance of forces increased even more in favor of the enemy. For example, in tanks he now had a twofold superiority. By July 22, the troops of the Stalingrad Front had 16 divisions (187 thousand people, 360 tanks, 7.9 thousand guns and mortars, about 340 aircraft).
At dawn on July 23, the enemy’s northern and, on July 25, southern strike groups went on the offensive. Using superiority in forces and air supremacy, the Germans broke through the defenses on the right flank of the 62nd Army and by the end of the day on July 24 reached the Don in the Golubinsky area. As a result, up to three Soviet divisions were surrounded. The enemy also managed to push back the troops of the right flank of the 64th Army. A critical situation developed for the troops of the Stalingrad Front. Both flanks of the 62nd Army were deeply engulfed by the enemy, and its exit to the Don created a real threat of a breakthrough of Nazi troops to Stalingrad.
By the end of July, the Germans pushed the Soviet troops behind the Don. The defense line stretched for hundreds of kilometers from north to south along the Don. To break through the defenses along the river, the Germans had to use, in addition to their 2nd Army, the armies of their Italian, Hungarian and Romanian allies. The 6th Army was only a few dozen kilometers from Stalingrad, and the 4th Panzer, located south of it, turned north to help take the city. To the south, Army Group South (A) continued to push deeper into the Caucasus, but its advance slowed. Army Group South A was too far to the south to provide support to Army Group South B in the north.
On July 28, 1942, People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin addressed the Red Army with order No. 227, in which he demanded to strengthen resistance and stop the enemy's advance at all costs. The strictest measures were envisaged against those who showed cowardice and cowardice in battle. Practical measures were outlined to strengthen morale and discipline among the troops. “It’s time to end the retreat,” the order noted. - No step back!" This slogan embodied the essence of order No. 227. Commanders and political workers were given the task of bringing to the consciousness of every soldier the requirements of this order.
The stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops forced the Nazi command on July 31 to turn the 4th Tank Army (Colonel General G. Hoth) from the Caucasus direction to Stalingrad. On August 2, its advanced units approached Kotelnikovsky. In this regard, there was a direct threat of an enemy breakthrough to the city from the southwest. Fighting broke out on the southwestern approaches to it. To strengthen the defense of Stalingrad, by decision of the front commander, the 57th Army was deployed on the southern front of the outer defensive perimeter. The 51st Army was transferred to the Stalingrad Front (Major General T.K. Kolomiets, from October 7 - Major General N.I. Trufanov).
The situation in the 62nd Army zone was difficult. On August 7-9, the enemy pushed her troops beyond the Don River, and surrounded four divisions west of Kalach. Soviet soldiers fought in encirclement until August 14, and then in small groups they began to fight their way out of encirclement. Three divisions of the 1st Guards Army (Major General K. S. Moskalenko, from September 28 - Major General I. M. Chistyakov) arrived from the Headquarters Reserve and launched a counterattack on the enemy troops and stopped their further advance.
Thus, the German plan - to break through to Stalingrad with a swift blow on the move - was thwarted by the stubborn resistance of Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don and their active defense on the southwestern approaches to the city. During the three weeks of the offensive, the enemy was able to advance only 60-80 km. Based on an assessment of the situation, the Nazi command made significant adjustments to its plan.
On August 19, Nazi troops resumed their offensive, striking in the general direction of Stalingrad. On August 22, the 6th German Army crossed the Don and captured a 45 km wide bridgehead on its eastern bank, in the Peskovatka area, on which six divisions were concentrated. On August 23, the enemy's 14th Tank Corps broke through to the Volga north of Stalingrad, in the area of the village of Rynok, and cut off the 62nd Army from the rest of the forces of the Stalingrad Front. The day before, enemy aircraft launched a massive air strike on Stalingrad, carrying out about 2 thousand sorties. As a result, the city suffered terrible destruction - entire neighborhoods were turned into ruins or simply wiped off the face of the earth.
On September 13, the enemy went on the offensive along the entire front, trying to capture Stalingrad by storm. Soviet troops failed to contain his powerful onslaught. They were forced to retreat to the city, where fierce fighting broke out on the streets.
At the end of August and September, Soviet troops carried out a series of counterattacks in the southwestern direction to cut off the formations of the enemy's 14th Tank Corps, which had broken through to the Volga. When launching counterattacks, Soviet troops had to close the German breakthrough in the Kotluban and Rossoshka station area and eliminate the so-called “land bridge”. At the cost of enormous losses, Soviet troops managed to advance only a few kilometers.
“In the tank formations of the 1st Guards Army, out of 340 tanks that were available at the start of the offensive on September 18, by September 20 only 183 serviceable tanks remained, taking into account replenishment.” - Zharkoy F.M.
Battle in the city
By August 23, 1942, out of 400 thousand residents of Stalingrad, about 100 thousand were evacuated. On August 24, the Stalingrad City Defense Committee adopted a belated resolution on the evacuation of women, children and the wounded to the left bank of the Volga. All citizens, including women and children, worked to build trenches and other fortifications.
On August 23, the 4th Air Fleet carried out its longest and most destructive bombardment of the city. German aircraft destroyed the city, killed more than 90 thousand people, destroyed more than half of the housing stock of pre-war Stalingrad, thereby turning the city into a huge territory covered with burning ruins. The situation was aggravated by the fact that after the high-explosive bombs, German bombers dropped incendiary bombs. A huge fire whirlwind formed, which burned the central part of the city and all its inhabitants to the ground. The fire spread to other areas of Stalingrad, since most of the buildings in the city were built of wood or had wooden elements. Temperatures in many parts of the city, especially in its center, reached 1000 C. This would later be repeated in Hamburg, Dresden and Tokyo.
At 16:00 on August 23, 1942, the strike force of the 6th German Army broke through to the Volga near the northern outskirts of Stalingrad, in the area of the villages of Latoshinka, Akatovka, and Rynok.
In the northern part of the city, near the village of Gumrak, the German 14th Tank Corps met resistance from Soviet anti-aircraft batteries of the 1077th regiment of Lieutenant Colonel V.S. German, whose gun crews included girls. The battle continued until the evening of August 23. By the evening of August 23, 1942, German tanks appeared in the area of the tractor plant, 1-1.5 km from the factory workshops, and began shelling it. At this stage, Soviet defense relied heavily on the 10th Infantry Division of the NKVD and the people's militia, recruited from workers, firefighters, and policemen. The tractor plant continued to build tanks, which were manned by crews consisting of plant workers and immediately sent off the assembly lines into battle. A. S. Chuyanov told members of the film crew of the documentary “Pages of the Battle of Stalingrad” that when the enemy came to Mokraya Mechetka before organizing the defense line of Stalingrad, he was scared off by Soviet tanks that drove out of the gates of the tractor plant, and only drivers were sitting in them this plant without ammunition and crew. On August 23, the tank brigade named after the Stalingrad Proletariat advanced to the defense line north of the tractor plant in the area of the Sukhaya Mechetka River. For about a week, the militia actively participated in defensive battles in the north of Stalingrad. Then gradually they began to be replaced by personnel units.
By September 1, 1942, the Soviet command could only provide its troops in Stalingrad with risky crossings across the Volga. In the midst of the ruins of the already destroyed city, the Soviet 62nd Army built defensive positions with firing points located in buildings and factories. Snipers and assault groups detained the enemy as best they could. The Germans, moving deeper into Stalingrad, suffered heavy losses. Soviet reinforcements were transported across the Volga from the eastern bank under constant bombardment and artillery fire.
From September 13 to 26, Wehrmacht units pushed back the troops of the 62nd Army and broke into the city center, and at the junction of the 62nd and 64th armies they broke through to the Volga. The river was completely under fire from German troops.
The struggle for bridgeheads near the Volga, especially on Mamayev Kurgan and at factories in the northern part of the city, lasted more than two months. The battles for the Red October plant, the tractor plant and the Barrikady artillery plant became known throughout the world. While Soviet soldiers continued to defend their positions by firing at the Germans, factory workers repaired damaged Soviet tanks and weapons in the immediate vicinity of the battlefield, and sometimes on the battlefield itself. The specificity of battles at enterprises was the limited use of firearms due to the danger of ricocheting: battles were fought with the help of piercing, cutting and crushing objects, as well as hand-to-hand combat.
German military doctrine was based on the interaction of military branches in general and especially close interaction between infantry, sappers, artillery and dive bombers. In response, Soviet soldiers tried to position themselves tens of meters from enemy positions, in which case German artillery and aviation could not operate without the risk of hitting their own. Often the opponents were separated by a wall, floor or landing. In this case, the German infantry had to fight on equal terms with the Soviet infantry - rifles, grenades, bayonets and knives. The fight was for every street, every factory, every house, basement or stairwell. Even individual buildings were included on the maps and given names: Pavlov's House, the Mill, the Department Store, the prison, the Zabolotny House, the Dairy House, the House of Specialists, the L-shaped House and others. The Red Army constantly carried out counterattacks, trying to recapture previously lost positions. Mamaev Kurgan and the railway station changed hands several times.
The assault groups of both sides tried to use any passages to the enemy - sewers, basements, tunnels.
Street fighting in Stalingrad.
On both sides, the combatants were supported by a large number of artillery batteries (Soviet large-caliber artillery operated from the eastern bank of the Volga), up to 600-mm mortars.
Soviet snipers, using the ruins as cover, also inflicted heavy losses on the Germans. Sniper Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev during the battle destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers (including 11 snipers).
On the morning of October 14, the German 6th Army launched a decisive offensive against the Soviet bridgeheads near the Volga. It was supported by more than a thousand aircraft of the 4th Luftwaffe Air Fleet. The concentration of German troops was unprecedented - on a front of only about 4 km, three infantry and two tank divisions were advancing on the tractor plant and the Barricades plant. Soviet units stubbornly defended themselves, supported by artillery fire from the eastern bank of the Volga and from the ships of the Volga military flotilla. However, the artillery on the left bank of the Volga began to experience a shortage of ammunition in connection with the preparation of the Soviet counter-offensive. On November 9, the cold weather began, the air temperature dropped to minus 18 degrees. Crossing the Volga became extremely difficult due to ice floes floating on the river, and the troops of the 62nd Army experienced an acute shortage of ammunition and food. By the end of the day on November 11, German troops managed to capture the southern part of the Barricades plant and, in a 500 m wide area, break through to the Volga, the 62nd Army now held three small bridgeheads isolated from each other (the smallest of which was Lyudnikov Island). The divisions of the 62nd Army, after suffering losses, numbered only 500-700 people. But the German divisions also suffered huge losses, in many units more than 40% of their personnel were killed in battle.
Preparing Soviet troops for a counteroffensive
The Don Front was formed on September 30, 1942. It included: 1st Guards, 21st, 24th, 63rd and 66th Armies, 4th Tank Army, 16th Air Army. Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky, who took command, actively began to fulfill the “old dream” of the right flank of the Stalingrad Front - to encircle the German 14th Tank Corps and connect with units of the 62nd Army.
Having taken command, Rokossovsky found the newly formed front on the offensive - following the order of the Headquarters, on September 30 at 5:00, after artillery preparation, units of the 1st Guards, 24th and 65th armies went on the offensive. Heavy fighting raged for two days. But, as noted in the TsAMO document, parts of the armies did not advance, and moreover, as a result of German counterattacks, several heights were abandoned. By October 2, the offensive had run out of steam.
But here, from the reserve of the Headquarters, the Don Front receives seven fully equipped rifle divisions (277, 62, 252, 212, 262, 331, 293 infantry divisions). The command of the Don Front decides to use fresh forces for a new offensive. On October 4, Rokossovsky ordered the development of a plan for an offensive operation, and on October 6 the plan was ready. The date of the operation was set for October 10. But by this time several events occur.
On October 5, 1942, Stalin, in a telephone conversation with A.I. Eremenko, sharply criticized the leadership of the Stalingrad Front and demanded that immediate measures be taken to stabilize the front and subsequently defeat the enemy. In response to this, on October 6, Eremenko made a report to Stalin about the situation and considerations for further actions of the front. The first part of this document is justification and blaming the Don Front (“they had high hopes for help from the north,” etc.). In the second part of the report, Eremenko proposes to conduct an operation to encircle and destroy German units near Stalingrad. There, for the first time, it was proposed to encircle the 6th Army with flank attacks on Romanian units and, after breaking through the fronts, to unite in the Kalach-on-Don area.
Headquarters considered Eremenko's plan, but then considered it impracticable (the depth of the operation was too great, etc.). In fact, the idea of launching a counteroffensive was discussed as early as September 12 by Stalin, Zhukov and Vasilevsky, and by September 13 preliminary outlines of a plan were prepared and presented to Stalin, which included the creation of the Don Front. And Zhukov’s command of the 1st Guards, 24th and 66th armies was accepted on August 27, simultaneously with his appointment as Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The 1st Guards Army was part of the Southwestern Front at that time, and the 24th and 66th Armies, specifically for the operation entrusted to Zhukov to push the enemy away from the northern regions of Stalingrad, were withdrawn from the Headquarters reserve. After the creation of the front, its command was entrusted to Rokossovsky, and Zhukov was tasked with preparing the offensive of the Kalinin and Western Fronts in order to tie down the German forces so that they could not transfer them to support Army Group South.
As a result, the Headquarters proposed the following option for encircling and defeating German troops at Stalingrad: the Don Front was proposed to deliver the main blow in the direction of Kotluban, break through the front and reach the Gumrak region. At the same time, the Stalingrad Front is launching an offensive from the Gornaya Polyana area to Elshanka, and after breaking through the front, units move to the Gumrak area, where they join forces with units of the Don Front. In this operation, the front command was allowed to use fresh units: Don Front - 7 rifle divisions (277, 62, 252, 212, 262, 331, 293), Stalingrad Front - 7th Rifle Corps, 4th Cavalry Corps). On October 7, General Staff Directive No. 170644 was issued on conducting an offensive operation on two fronts to encircle the 6th Army; the start of the operation was scheduled for October 20.
Thus, it was planned to encircle and destroy only the German troops fighting directly in Stalingrad (14th Tank Corps, 51st and 4th Infantry Corps, about 12 divisions in total).
The command of the Don Front was dissatisfied with this directive. On October 9, Rokossovsky presented his plan for the offensive operation. He referred to the impossibility of breaking through the front in the Kotluban area. According to his calculations, 4 divisions were required for a breakthrough, 3 divisions to develop a breakthrough, and 3 more to cover from enemy attacks; thus, seven fresh divisions were clearly not enough. Rokossovsky proposed delivering the main blow in the Kuzmichi area (height 139.7), that is, according to the same old scheme: encircle units of the 14th Tank Corps, connect with the 62nd Army and only after that move to Gumrak to link up with units of 64 th army. The headquarters of the Don Front planned 4 days for this: from October 20 to 24. The “Oryol salient” of the Germans had haunted Rokossovsky since August 23, so he decided to first deal with this “callus” and then complete the complete encirclement of the enemy.
The Stavka did not accept Rokossovsky's proposal and recommended that he prepare the operation according to the Stavka plan; however, he was allowed to conduct a private operation against the Oryol group of Germans on October 10, without attracting fresh forces.
On October 9, units of the 1st Guards Army, as well as the 24th and 66th armies began an offensive in the direction of Orlovka. The advancing group was supported by 42 Il-2 attack aircraft, covered by 50 fighters of the 16th Air Army. The first day of the offensive ended in vain. The 1st Guards Army (298, 258, 207) had no advance, but the 24th Army advanced 300 meters. The 299th Infantry Division (66th Army), advancing to height 127.7, having suffered heavy losses, made no progress. On October 10, the offensive attempts continued, but by the evening they finally weakened and stopped. The next “operation to eliminate the Oryol group” failed. As a result of this offensive, the 1st Guards Army was disbanded due to losses incurred. Having transferred the remaining units of the 24th Army, the command was transferred to the reserve of Headquarters.
Soviet offensive (Operation Uranus)
On November 19, 1942, the Red Army began its offensive as part of Operation Uranus. On November 23, in the Kalach area, an encirclement ring closed around the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht. It was not possible to completely implement the Uranus plan, since it was not possible to split the 6th Army into two parts from the very beginning (with the attack of the 24th Army between the Volga and Don rivers). Attempts to liquidate those surrounded on the move under these conditions also failed, despite a significant superiority in forces - the superior tactical training of the Germans was telling. However, the 6th Army was isolated and its fuel, ammunition and food supplies were progressively dwindling, despite attempts to supply it by air by the 4th Air Fleet under the command of Wolfram von Richthofen.
Operation Wintergewitter
The newly formed Wehrmacht Army Group Don, under the command of Field Marshal Manstein, attempted to break through the blockade of the encircled troops (Operation Wintergewitter (German: Wintergewitter, Winter Storm). It was originally planned to begin on December 10, but the offensive actions of the Red Army on the outer front of the encirclement forced the start to be postponed operations on December 12. By this date, the Germans managed to present only one full-fledged tank formation - the 6th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht and (from the infantry formations) the remnants of the defeated 4th Romanian Army. These units were under the command of the 4th Panzer Army. G. Gotha. During the offensive, the group was reinforced by the very battered 11th and 17th tank divisions and three air field divisions.
By December 19, units of the 4th Tank Army, which had actually broken through the defensive formations of the Soviet troops, encountered the 2nd Guards Army, which had just been transferred from the Headquarters reserve, under the command of R. Ya. Malinovsky, which included two rifle and one mechanized corps.
Operation Little Saturn
According to the plan of the Soviet command, after the defeat of the 6th Army, the forces involved in Operation Uranus turned west and advanced towards Rostov-on-Don as part of Operation Saturn.
At the same time, the southern wing of the Voronezh Front attacked the 8th Italian Army north of Stalingrad and advanced directly west (towards the Donets) with an auxiliary attack to the southwest (towards Rostov-on-Don), covering the northern flank of the Southwestern front during a hypothetical offensive. However, due to the incomplete implementation of “Uranus”, “Saturn” was replaced by “Little Saturn”.
A breakthrough to Rostov-on-Don (due to Zhukov’s diversion of the bulk of the Red Army troops to carry out the unsuccessful offensive operation “Mars” near Rzhev, as well as due to the lack of seven armies pinned down by the 6th Army at Stalingrad) was no longer planned.
By December 25, these reserves launched counterattacks, during which they cut off V. M. Badanov’s 24th Tank Corps, which had just broken into the airfield in Tatsinskaya (about 300 German aircraft were destroyed at the airfield and in trains at the station). By December 30, the corps broke out of the encirclement, refueling the tanks with a mixture of aviation gasoline captured at the airfield and motor oil. By the end of December, the advancing troops of the Southwestern Front reached the line of Novaya Kalitva, Markovka, Millerovo, Chernyshevskaya. As a result of the Middle Don operation, the main forces of the 8th Italian Army were defeated (with the exception of the Alpine Corps, which was not hit), the defeat of the 3rd Romanian Army was completed, and great damage was inflicted on the Hollidt task force. 17 divisions and three brigades of the fascist bloc were destroyed or suffered heavy damage. 60,000 enemy soldiers and officers were captured. The defeat of the Italian and Romanian troops created the preconditions for the Red Army to launch an offensive in the Kotelnikovsky direction, where the troops of the 2nd Guards and 51st armies reached the Tormosin, Zhukovskaya, Kommisarovsky line by December 31, advancing 100-150 km and completed the defeat of the 4th th Romanian Army and pushed back units of the newly formed 4th Tank Army 200 km from Stalingrad. After this, the front line temporarily stabilized, since neither the Soviet nor the German troops had enough forces to break through the enemy’s tactical defense zone.
Combat during Operation Ring
The commander of the 62nd Army V.I. Chuikov presents the guards banner to the commander of the 39th Guards. SD S.S. Guryev. Stalingrad, Red October plant, January 3, 1943
On December 27, N.N. Voronov sent the first version of the “Ring” plan to the Supreme Command Headquarters. Headquarters, in Directive No. 170718 of December 28, 1942 (signed by Stalin and Zhukov), demanded changes to the plan so that it would provide for the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two parts before its destruction. Corresponding changes have been made to the plan. On January 10, the offensive of the Soviet troops began, the main blow was delivered in the zone of the 65th Army of General Batov. However, German resistance turned out to be so serious that the offensive had to be temporarily stopped. From January 17 to 22, the offensive was suspended for regrouping, new attacks on January 22-26 led to the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two groups (Soviet troops united in the Mamayev Kurgan area), by January 31 the southern group was eliminated (the command and headquarters of the 6th was captured 1st Army led by Paulus), by February 2 the northern group of those surrounded under the command of the commander of the 11th Army Corps, Colonel General Karl Strecker, capitulated. Shooting in the city continued until February 3 - the Hiwis resisted even after the German surrender on February 2, 1943, since they were not in danger of being captured. The liquidation of the 6th Army, according to the “Ring” plan, was supposed to be completed in a week, but in reality it lasted 23 days. (The 24th Army withdrew from the front on January 26 and was sent to the General Headquarters reserve).
In total, more than 2,500 officers and 24 generals of the 6th Army were captured during Operation Ring. In total, over 91 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers and officers were captured, of which no more than 20% returned to Germany at the end of the war - the majority died of exhaustion, dysentery and other diseases. The trophies of the Soviet troops from January 10 to February 2, 1943, according to the headquarters of the Don Front, were 5,762 guns, 1,312 mortars, 12,701 machine guns, 156,987 rifles, 10,722 machine guns, 744 aircraft, 166 tanks, 261 armored vehicles, 80,438 cars, 10,679 motorcycles , 240 tractors, 571 tractors, 3 armored trains and other military equipment.
A total of twenty German divisions capitulated: 14th, 16th and 24th Panzer, 3rd, 29th and 60th Motorized Infantry, 100th Jäger, 44th, 71st, 76th I, 79th, 94th, 113th, 295th, 297th, 305th, 371st, 376th, 384th, 389th infantry divisions. In addition, the Romanian 1st Cavalry and 20th Infantry Divisions surrendered. The Croatian regiment surrendered as part of the 100th Jaeger. The 91st air defense regiment, the 243rd and 245th separate assault gun battalions, and the 2nd and 51st rocket mortar regiments also capitulated.
Air supply to the encircled group
Hitler, after consulting with the leadership of the Luftwaffe, decided to arrange air transport for the encircled troops. A similar operation had already been carried out by German aviators who supplied troops in the Demyansk cauldron. To maintain acceptable combat effectiveness of the encircled units, daily deliveries of 700 tons of cargo were required. The Luftwaffe promised to provide daily supplies of 300 tons. Cargo was delivered to the airfields: Bolshaya Rossoshka, Basargino, Gumrak, Voroponovo and Pitomnik - the largest in the ring. The seriously wounded were taken out on return flights. Under successful circumstances, the Germans managed to make more than 100 flights per day to the encircled troops. The main bases for supplying the blocked troops were Tatsinskaya, Morozovsk, Tormosin and Bogoyavlenskaya. But as the Soviet troops advanced westward, the Germans had to move their supply bases further and further from Paulus’s troops: to Zverevo, Shakhty, Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Novocherkassk, Mechetinskaya and Salsk. At the last stage, airfields in Artyomovsk, Gorlovka, Makeevka and Stalino were used.
Soviet troops actively fought against air traffic. Both supply airfields and others located in the surrounded territory were subjected to bombing and attack. To combat enemy aircraft, Soviet aviation used patrolling, airfield duty, and free hunting. At the beginning of December, the system of combating enemy air transport organized by Soviet troops was based on division into zones of responsibility. The first zone included the territories from which the encircled group was supplied; units of the 17th and 8th VA operated here.
Due to increasing opposition from the Soviet Air Force, the Germans had to switch from flying during the day to flying in difficult weather conditions and at night, when there was a greater chance of flying undetected. On January 10, 1943, an operation began to destroy the encircled group, as a result of which on January 14, the defenders abandoned the main airfield of Pitomnik, and on the 21st and last airfield - Gumrak, after which the cargo was dropped by parachute. A landing site near the village of Stalingradsky operated for a few more days, but it was accessible only to small aircraft; On the 26th, landing on it became impossible. During the period of air supply to the encircled troops, an average of 94 tons of cargo was delivered per day. On the most successful days, the value reached 150 tons of cargo. Hans Doerr estimates the Luftwaffe's losses in this operation at 488 aircraft and 1,000 flight personnel and believes that these were the largest losses since the air operation against England.
Results of the battle
The victory of Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad is the largest military-political event during the Second World War. The Great Battle, which ended in the encirclement, defeat and capture of a selected enemy group, made a huge contribution to achieving a radical turning point during the Great Patriotic War and had a serious impact on the further course of the entire Second World War.
In the Battle of Stalingrad, new features of the military art of the USSR Armed Forces manifested themselves with all their might. Soviet operational art was enriched by the experience of encircling and destroying the enemy.
An important component of the success of the Red Army was the set of measures for the military-economic support of the troops.
The victory at Stalingrad had a decisive influence on the further course of the Second World War. As a result of the battle, the Red Army firmly seized the strategic initiative and now dictated its will to the enemy. This changed the nature of the actions of German troops in the Caucasus, in the areas of Rzhev and Demyansk. The attacks of the Soviet troops forced the Wehrmacht to give the order to prepare the Eastern Wall, which was supposed to stop the advance of the Soviet Army.
During the Battle of Stalingrad, the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies (22 divisions), the 8th Italian army and the Italian Alpine Corps (10 divisions), the 2nd Hungarian army (10 divisions), and the Croatian regiment were defeated. The 6th and 7th Romanian Army Corps, part of the 4th Panzer Army, which were not destroyed, were completely demoralized. As Manstein notes: “Dimitrescu was powerless alone to fight the demoralization of his troops. There was nothing left to do but take them off and send them to the rear, to their homeland.” In the future, Germany could not count on new conscription contingents from Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. She had to use the remaining Allied divisions only for rear service, fighting partisans and in some secondary sectors of the front.
The following were destroyed in the Stalingrad cauldron:
As part of the 6th German Army: the headquarters of the 8th, 11th, 51st Army and 14th Tank Corps; 44, 71, 76, 113, 295, 305, 376, 384, 389, 394 infantry divisions, 100th mountain rifle, 14, 16 and 24 tank, 3rd and 60th motorized, 1st Romanian cavalry, 9 1st Air Defense Division.
As part of the 4th Tank Army, the headquarters of the 4th Army Corps; 297 and 371 infantry, 29 motorized, 1st and 20th Romanian infantry divisions. Most of the artillery of the RGK, units of the Todt organization, large forces of the engineering units of the RGK.
Also the 48th Tank Corps (first composition) - 22nd Tank, Romanian tank division.
Outside the cauldron, 5 divisions of the 2nd Army and the 24th Tank Corps were destroyed (lost 50-70% of their strength). The 57th Tank Corps from Army Group A, the 48th Tank Corps (second-strength), and the divisions of the Gollidt, Kempff, and Fretter-Picot groups suffered enormous losses. Several airfield divisions and a large number of individual units and formations were destroyed.
In March 1943, in Army Group South, in a sector of 700 km from Rostov-on-Don to Kharkov, taking into account the reinforcements received, only 32 divisions remained.
As a result of actions to supply the troops encircled at Stalingrad and several smaller pockets, German aviation was greatly weakened.
The outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad caused confusion and confusion in the Axis countries. A crisis began in the pro-fascist regimes in Italy, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. Germany's influence on its allies sharply weakened, and disagreements between them noticeably worsened. The desire to maintain neutrality has intensified in Turkish political circles. Elements of restraint and alienation began to prevail in the relations of neutral countries towards Germany.
As a result of the defeat, Germany faced the problem of restoring the losses incurred in equipment and people. The head of the economic department of the OKW, General G. Thomas, stated that the losses in equipment were equivalent to the amount of military equipment of 45 divisions from all branches of the military and were equal to the losses for the entire previous period of fighting on the Soviet-German front. Goebbels declared at the end of January 1943, “Germany will be able to withstand Russian attacks only if it manages to mobilize its last human reserves.” Losses in tanks and vehicles amounted to six months of the country's production, in artillery - three months, in small arms and mortars - two months.
The Soviet Union established the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”; as of January 1, 1995, it had been awarded to 759,561 people. In Germany, after the defeat in Stalingrad, three days of mourning were declared.
German general Kurt von Tipelskirch in his book “History of the Second World War” assesses the defeat at Stalingrad as follows:
“The result of the offensive was stunning: one German and three allied armies were destroyed, three other German armies suffered heavy losses. At least fifty German and Allied divisions no longer existed. The remaining losses amounted to a total of another twenty-five divisions. A large amount of equipment was lost - tanks, self-propelled guns, light and heavy artillery and heavy infantry weapons. Losses in equipment were, of course, significantly greater than those of the enemy. The losses in personnel should have been considered very heavy, especially since the enemy, even if he suffered serious losses, still had significantly larger human reserves. Germany's prestige in the eyes of its allies was greatly shaken. Since an irreparable defeat was inflicted at the same time in North Africa, the hope for a general victory collapsed. The morale of the Russians has risen high."
Reaction in the world
Many statesmen and politicians highly praised the victory of the Soviet troops. In a message to J.V. Stalin (February 5, 1943), F. Roosevelt called the Battle of Stalingrad an epic struggle, the decisive result of which is celebrated by all Americans. On May 17, 1944, Roosevelt sent Stalingrad a letter:
“On behalf of the people of the United States of America, I present this certificate to the city of Stalingrad to commemorate our admiration for its valiant defenders, whose courage, fortitude and selflessness during the siege from September 13, 1942 to January 31, 1943 will forever inspire the hearts of all free people. Their glorious victory stopped the tide of invasion and became a turning point in the war of the allied nations against the forces of aggression.”
British Prime Minister W. Churchill, in a message to J.V. Stalin on February 1, 1943, called the victory of the Soviet Army at Stalingrad amazing. King George VI of Great Britain sent Stalingrad a dedicatory sword, on the blade of which the inscription was engraved in Russian and English:
"To the citizens of Stalingrad, strong as steel, from King George VI as a sign of the deep admiration of the British people."
At a conference in Tehran, Churchill presented the Sword of Stalingrad to the Soviet delegation. The blade was engraved with the inscription: "A gift from King George VI to the staunch defenders of Stalingrad as a sign of respect from the British people." Presenting the gift, Churchill made a heartfelt speech. Stalin took the sword with both hands, raised it to his lips and kissed the scabbard. When the Soviet leader handed over the relic to Marshal Voroshilov, the sword fell from its sheath and fell to the floor with a crash. This unfortunate incident somewhat overshadowed the triumph of the moment.
During the battle, and especially after its end, the activity of public organizations in the USA, England, and Canada intensified, advocating more effective assistance to the Soviet Union. For example, New York union members raised $250,000 to build a hospital in Stalingrad. The Chairman of the United Garment Workers Union said:
“We are proud that the workers of New York will establish a connection with Stalingrad, which will live in history as a symbol of the immortal courage of a great people and whose defense was a turning point in the struggle of mankind against oppression ... Every Red Army soldier who defends his Soviet land by killing a Nazi, saves the lives of American soldiers. We will remember this when calculating our debt to the Soviet ally.”
American astronaut Donald Slayton, a participant in World War II, recalled:
“When the Nazis surrendered, our jubilation knew no bounds. Everyone understood that this was a turning point in the war, this was the beginning of the end of fascism.”
The victory at Stalingrad had a significant impact on the lives of the occupied peoples and instilled hope for liberation. A drawing appeared on the walls of many Warsaw houses - a heart pierced by a large dagger. On the heart is the inscription “Great Germany”, and on the blade is “Stalingrad”.
Speaking on February 9, 1943, the famous French anti-fascist writer Jean-Richard Bloch said:
“...listen, Parisians! The first three divisions that invaded Paris in June 1940, the three divisions that, at the invitation of the French General Denz, desecrated our capital, these three divisions - the hundredth, one hundred and thirteenth and two hundred and ninety-fifth - no longer exist! They were destroyed at Stalingrad: the Russians avenged Paris. The Russians are taking revenge for France!
The victory of the Soviet Army highly raised the political and military prestige of the Soviet Union. Former Nazi generals in their memoirs recognized the enormous military-political significance of this victory. G. Doerr wrote:
“For Germany, the battle of Stalingrad was the worst defeat in its history, for Russia - its greatest victory. At Poltava (1709), Russia achieved the right to be called a great European power; Stalingrad was the beginning of its transformation into one of the two greatest world powers.”
Prisoners
Soviet: The total number of captured Soviet soldiers for the period July 1942 - February 1943 is unknown, but due to the difficult retreat after the lost battles in the Don bend and on the Volgodonsk isthmus, the count is no less than tens of thousands. The fate of these soldiers is different depending on whether they found themselves outside or inside the Stalingrad “cauldron”. The prisoners who were inside the cauldron were kept in the Rossoshki, Pitomnik, and Dulag-205 camps. After the encirclement of the Wehrmacht, due to a lack of food, on December 5, 1942, the prisoners were no longer fed and almost all of them died within three months from hunger and cold. During the liberation of the territory, the Soviet army managed to save only a few hundred people who were in a dying state of exhaustion.
Wehrmacht and allies: The total number of captured soldiers of the Wehrmacht and their allies for the period July 1942 - February 1943 is unknown, so the prisoners were taken on different fronts and were held according to different accounting documents. The exact number of those captured at the final stage of the battle in the city of Stalingrad from January 10 to February 22, 1943 is known - 91,545 people, of which about 2,500 officers, 24 generals and Field Marshal Paulus. This figure includes military personnel from European countries and labor organizations of Todt who took part in the battle on the side of Germany. Citizens of the USSR who went over to serve the enemy and served the Wehrmacht as “hiwis” are not included in this figure, as they were considered criminals. The number of captured Hiwis out of 20,880 who were in the 6th Army on October 24, 1942 is unknown.
To hold prisoners, Camp No. 108 was urgently created with its center in the Stalingrad workers' village of Beketovka. Almost all the prisoners were in an extremely exhausted state; they had been receiving rations on the verge of starvation for 3 months, since the November encirclement. Therefore, the mortality rate among them was extremely high - by June 1943, 27,078 of them had died, 35,099 were being treated in Stalingrad camp hospitals, and 28,098 people were sent to hospitals in other camps. Only about 20 thousand people were able to work in construction due to health reasons; these people were divided into construction teams and distributed among construction sites. After the peak of the first 3 months, mortality returned to normal, and 1,777 people died between July 10, 1943 and January 1, 1949.
The prisoners worked a regular working day and received a salary for their work (until 1949, 8,976,304 man-days were worked, a salary of 10,797,011 rubles was issued), for which they bought food and household essentials in camp stores. The last prisoners of war were released to Germany in 1949, except for those who received criminal sentences for personally committed war crimes.
The Battle of Stalingrad, as a turning point in World War II, had a great influence on world history. In cinema, literature, and music, the theme of Stalingrad is constantly addressed; the word “Stalingrad” itself has acquired numerous meanings. In many cities around the world there are streets, avenues, and squares associated with the memory of the battle. Stalingrad and Coventry became the first sister cities in 1943, giving birth to this international movement. One of the elements of the linkage of sister cities is the name of the streets with the name of the city, therefore in the sister cities of Volgograd there are Stalingradskaya streets (some of them were renamed Volgogradskaya as part of de-Stalinization). Names associated with Stalingrad were given to: the Parisian metro station "Stalingrad", the asteroid "Stalingrad", the type of cruiser Stalingrad.
Most of the monuments to the Battle of Stalingrad are located in Volgograd, the most famous of them are part of the Battle of Stalingrad Museum-Reserve: “The Motherland Calls!” on Mamayev Kurgan, panorama “The defeat of the Nazi troops at Stalingrad”, Gerhardt’s mill. In 1995, in the Gorodishchensky district of the Volgograd region, the Rossoshki soldiers’ cemetery was created, where there is a German section with a memorial sign and the graves of German soldiers.
The Battle of Stalingrad left a significant number of documentary literary works. On the Soviet side, there are memoirs of the First Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Zhukov, the commander of the 62nd Army Chuikov, the head of the Stalingrad region Chuyanov, the commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Division Rodimtsev. “Soldier's” memories are presented by Afanasyev, Pavlov, Nekrasov. Stalingrad resident Yuri Panchenko, who survived the battle as a teenager, wrote the book “163 days on the streets of Stalingrad.” On the German side, the memories of the commanders are presented in the memoirs of the commander of the 6th Army, Paulus, and the head of the personnel department of the 6th Army, Adam; the soldier’s vision of the battle is presented in the books of Wehrmacht fighters Edelbert Holl and Hans Doerr. After the war, historians from different countries published documentary literature on the study of the battle; among Russian writers, the topic was studied by Alexey Isaev, Alexander Samsonov, and in foreign literature they often refer to the writer-historian Beevor.
The Battle of Stalingrad became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War and throughout the Second World War. The battle is divided into two periods: the first, defensive, which lasted from July 17 to November 18, 1942; second, offensive, from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.
Defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad
After the defeat near Moscow, Hitler and his command decided that during the new summer campaign of 1942 it was necessary to strike not along the entire length of the Soviet-German front, but only on the southern flank. The Germans no longer had enough strength for more. It was important for Hitler to capture Soviet oil, the Maikop and Baku fields, get grain from Stavropol and Kuban, and take Stalingrad, which divided the USSR into central and southern parts. Then it would be possible to cut the main lines of communication that supplied our troops and obtain the necessary resources to wage an arbitrarily long war. Already on April 5, 1942, Hitler’s fundamental directive No. 41 was issued - the order to conduct Operation Blau. The German group was supposed to advance in the direction of the Don, Volga and Caucasus. After capturing the main strongholds, the German Army Group South was to split into Army Group A (advancing into the Caucasus) and Army Group B (advancing towards Stalingrad), the main force of which was the 6th Army of General Paulus.
Already before the start of the main attack in the south of the USSR, the Germans were able to achieve serious successes. Our spring offensive operations near Kerch and Kharkov ended in major failures. Their failure and the heavy losses of the Red Army units that were surrounded helped the Germans achieve rapid success in their general offensive. Wehrmacht formations began to advance when our units were demoralized and began to retreat to eastern Ukraine. True, now, taught by bitter experience, the Soviet troops tried to avoid encirclement. Even when they found themselves behind enemy lines, they infiltrated through German positions before the enemy front became dense.
Soon heavy fighting broke out on the approaches to Voronezh and in the bend of the Don. The command of the Red Army tried to strengthen the front, bring up new reserves from the depths, and give the troops more tanks and aircraft. But in oncoming battles, as a rule, these reserves were quickly exhausted, and the retreat continued. Meanwhile, Paulus's army advanced. Its southern flank was to be covered by the 4th Panzer Army under the command of Hoth. The Germans struck Voronezh - they broke into the city, but were unable to completely take control of it. They were detained on the banks of the Don, where the front remained until January 1942.
Meanwhile, the elite German 6th Army, which numbered more than 200 thousand people, advanced inexorably along the bend of the Don towards Stalingrad. On August 23, the Germans carried out a fierce air raid on the city, which involved hundreds of aircraft. And although more than 20 vehicles were shot down by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners and air defense aircraft, the city center, train station and most important enterprises were virtually destroyed. It was not possible to remove civilians from Stalingrad in time. The evacuation was spontaneous: primarily industrial equipment, agricultural implements, and cattle were transported across the Volga. It was only after August 23 that the civilian population rushed east across the river. Of the nearly half a million population of the city, only 32 thousand people remained in place after the fighting. Moreover, to the 500 thousand pre-war population it is necessary to add tens of thousands more refugees from Ukraine, from the Rostov region and even from besieged Leningrad, who by the will of fate ended up in Stalingrad.
Simultaneously with the fierce bombing on August 23, 1942, the German 14th Tank Corps managed to make a multi-kilometer march and break through to the banks of the Volga north of Stalingrad. The fighting took place near the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. From the south, German columns of the 4th Tank Army, transferred from the Caucasus, were advancing towards the city. In addition, Hitler sent the Italian and two Romanian armies to this direction. Near Voronezh, positions were occupied by two Hungarian armies, covering the attack on the main direction. Stalingrad went from being a secondary goal of the summer 1942 campaign to becoming the main objective for the German army.
A. Jodl, chief of staff of the operational leadership of the Wehrmacht, noted that the fate of the Caucasus was now being decided at Stalingrad. It seemed to Paulus that it was necessary to throw one more additional regiment or battalion into the breakthrough and he would decide the outcome of the battle in favor of the German army. But the battalions and regiments left one after another for battle and did not return. The Stalingrad meat grinder ground up Germany's human resources. Our losses were also very large - the Moloch of war was merciless.
In September, protracted battles began in the quarters (or rather, in the ruins) of Stalingrad. The city could fall at any moment. The Germans had already reached the Volga in several places within the city limits. Essentially, only small islands of resistance remained from the Soviet front. From the front line to the river bank there was often no more than 150–200 meters. But the Soviet soldiers held out. For several weeks the Germans stormed individual buildings in Stalingrad. The soldiers under the command of Sergeant Pavlov resisted enemy fire for 58 days and never gave up their positions. The L-shaped house, which they defended to the last, was called “Pavlov’s House.”
An active sniper war also began in Stalingrad. To win it, the Germans brought from Germany not just experts in their field, but even leaders of sniper schools. But the Red Army also produced wonderful cadres of sharp shooters. Every day they gained experience. On the Soviet side, the fighter Vasily Zaitsev, who is now known throughout the world from the Hollywood film “Enemy at the Gates,” distinguished himself. He destroyed more than 200 German soldiers and officers in the ruins of Stalingrad.
Nevertheless, in the fall of 1942, the position of the defenders of Stalingrad remained critical. The Germans would probably have been able to completely take the city if not for our reserves. More and more units of the Red Army were transferred across the Volga to the west. One day, the 13th Guards Rifle Division of General A.I. Rodimtsev was also transferred. Despite the losses suffered, she immediately entered the battle and recaptured the Mamaev Kurgan from the enemy. This height dominated the entire city. The Germans also sought to take possession of it at any cost. The battles for Mamayev Kurgan continued until January 1943.
In the most difficult battles of September - early November 1942, the soldiers of the 62nd Army of General Chuikov and the 64th Army of General Shumilov managed to defend the ruins remaining behind them, withstand countless attacks and tie down the German troops. Paulus carried out the last assault on Stalingrad on November 11, 1942, but it also ended in failure.
The commander of the 6th German Army was in a gloomy mood. Meanwhile, our command increasingly began to think about how to radically turn the tide of the battle for Stalingrad. A new, original solution was needed that would influence the entire course of the campaign. .
The offensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad lasted from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.
Back in mid-September, when the Germans sought to destroy Soviet troops in Stalingrad as quickly as possible, G. K. Zhukov, who became the First Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, instructed some senior officials in the General Staff of the Red Army to develop a plan for an offensive operation. Returning from the front, he, together with the Chief of the General Staff A. M. Vasilevsky, reported to I. Stalin about the plan of the operation, which was supposed to tip the scales of the grandiose confrontation in favor of the Soviet troops. Soon the first calculations were made. G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky proposed bilateral coverage of the Stalingrad enemy group and its subsequent destruction. Having listened to them carefully, I. Stalin noted that it was necessary, first of all, to hold the city itself. In addition, such an operation requires the involvement of additional powerful reserves, which will play a decisive role in the battle.
Reserves from the Urals, the Far East and Siberia arrived in increasing quantities. They were not immediately introduced into battle, but accumulated until time “H.” During this period, a lot of work was carried out at the headquarters of the Soviet fronts. The newly formed Southwestern Front of N.F. Vatutin, the Don Front of K.K. Rokossovsky, and the Stalingrad Front of A.I. Eremenko were preparing for the offensive.
And now the moment has come for the decisive throw.
On November 19, 1942, despite the fog, thousands of guns on the Soviet front opened fire on the enemy. Operation Uranus began. Rifle and tank units went on the attack. Aviation was waiting for more favorable weather, but as soon as the fog cleared, it took an active part in the offensive.
The German group was still very strong. The Soviet command believed that about 200 thousand people were opposing them in the Stalingrad area. In fact, there were over 300 thousand of them. In addition, on the flanks, where the main attacks of the Soviet troops were carried out, there were Romanian and Italian formations. Already by November 21, 1942, the success of the Soviet offensive was evident, which exceeded all expectations. Moscow radio reported that the Red Army had advanced more than 70 km and captured 15 thousand enemy troops. This was the first time such a major breakthrough of enemy positions had been announced since the Battle of Moscow. But these were only the first successes.
On November 23, our troops took Kotelnikovo. The cauldron slammed shut behind the enemy troops. Its internal and external fronts were created. More than 20 divisions were surrounded. At the same time, our troops continued to develop their offensive in the direction of Rostov-on-Don. At the beginning of January 1943, the forces of our Transcaucasian Front also began to move. The Germans, unable to withstand the onslaught and fearing that they would end up in a new gigantic cauldron, began to hastily retreat from the foothills of the Caucasus. They finally abandoned the idea of taking possession of Grozny and Baku oil.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Command Headquarters was actively developing the plan for a whole cascade of powerful operations that were supposed to crush the entire German defense on the Soviet-German front. In addition to Operation Uranus (encircling the Germans at Stalingrad), Operation Saturn was planned - encircling the German armies in the North Caucasus. In the central direction, preparations were being made for Operation Mars - the destruction of the 9th German Army, and then Operation Jupiter - the encirclement of the entire Army Group Center. Unfortunately, only Operation Uranus was successful. The fact is that Hitler, having learned about the encirclement of his troops at Stalingrad, ordered Paulus to hold out at all costs, and ordered Manstein to prepare a relief strike.
In mid-December 1942, the Germans made a desperate attempt to rescue Paulus's army from encirclement. According to Hitler's plan, Paulus should never have left Stalingrad. He was forbidden to strike towards Manstein. The Fuhrer believed that since the Germans had entered the banks of the Volga, they should not leave there. The Soviet command now had two options at its disposal: either continue the attempt to envelop the entire German group in the North Caucasus with a huge pincer (Operation Saturn), or transfer part of its forces against Manstein and eliminate the threat of a German breakthrough (Operation Little Saturn). We must give credit to the Soviet Headquarters - it assessed the situation and its capabilities quite soberly. It was decided to be content with a bird in hand, and not look for a pie in the sky. A devastating blow to Manstein's advancing units was delivered just in time. At this time, Paulus’s army and Manstein’s group were separated by only a few tens of kilometers. But the Germans were driven back, and the time had come to liquidate the pocket.
On January 8, 1943, the Soviet command offered Paulus an ultimatum, which was rejected. And just two days later, Operation Ring began. The efforts made by the armies of the Don Front of K.K. Rokossovsky led to the fact that the encirclement began to quickly shrink. Historians today express the opinion that not everything was done perfectly then: it was necessary to attack from the north and south in order to first cut the ring in these directions. But the main blow came from west to east, and we had to overcome long-term fortifications of the German defense, which were based, among other things, on positions built by Soviet troops on the eve of the Battle of Stalingrad. The fighting was fierce and lasted for several weeks. The air bridge to the surrounded people failed. Hundreds of German planes were shot down. The diet of German military personnel dropped to a meager level. All the horses were eaten. There have been cases of cannibalism. Soon the Germans lost their last airfields.
Paulus was at that time in the basement of the city's main department store and, despite requests to Hitler for surrender, never received such permission. Moreover, on the eve of complete collapse, Hitler awarded Paulus the rank of field marshal. This was a clear hint: not a single German field marshal had ever surrendered. But on January 31, Paulus chose to surrender and save his life. On February 2, the last northern German group in Stalingrad also stopped resisting.
91 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers and officers were captured. In the city blocks of Stalingrad themselves, 140 thousand corpses of German military personnel were subsequently buried. On our side, the losses were also great - 150 thousand people. But the entire southern flank of the German troops was now exposed. The Nazis began to hastily leave the territory of the North Caucasus, Stavropol, and Kuban. Only a new counter strike from Manstein in the Belgorod area stopped the advance of our units. At the same time, the so-called Kursk salient was formed, events on which would take place in the summer of 1943.
US President Roosevelt called the Battle of Stalingrad an epic victory. And King George VI of Great Britain ordered a special sword forged for the residents of Stalingrad with the engraving: “To the citizens of Stalingrad, strong as steel.” Stalingrad became the password of Victory. It was truly the turning point of the war. The Germans were shocked; three days of mourning were declared in Germany. The victory at Stalingrad also became a signal for countries allies of Germany, such as Hungary, Romania, Finland, that it was necessary to look for the fastest way out of the war.
After this battle, Germany's defeat was only a matter of time.
M. Yu. Myagkov, Doctor of Science n.,
Scientific Director of the Russian Military Historical Society
On July 17, 1942, the vanguards of the divisions of the 6th German Army met at the turn of the Chir and Tsimla rivers with the advanced detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies of the Stalingrad Front. The fighting of the detachments marked the beginning of the great Battle of Stalingrad.
The heroic struggle of Soviet soldiers continued for six days. With their tenacity and resilience, they did not allow the enemy to break through to Stalingrad on the move.
When formations of the Stalingrad Front entered into single combat with the 6th German Army in the big bend of the Don, the enemy realized that in this direction he would encounter strong resistance from Soviet troops. On July 23, the Nazi command issued Directive No. 45. It specified the tasks of the troops advancing towards the Volga and the Caucasus.
Army Group B (2nd, 6th German and 2nd Hungarian armies), which included 30 divisions, was ordered to defeat a group of Soviet troops in the Stalingrad area, capture the city and disrupt transportation to the Volga; subsequently strike along the river to the southeast and reach Astrakhan.
Army Group "A" (1st, 4th Tank, 17th, 11th Field Armies), which had 41 divisions, was supposed to encircle and destroy the forces of Soviet troops in the area
south and southeast of Rostov-on-Don, and with forward units to cut the Tikhoretsk-Stalingrad railway. After the destruction of the group of Soviet troops south of the Don, it was planned to develop an offensive in three directions to completely conquer the Caucasus.
More and more forces were consistently drawn into the battle for Stalingrad. If the enemy launched the first attack on Stalingrad with the forces of the 6th Army alone, then within a week he returned the 4th Tank Army to the area. In September–November, these armies operated on a narrow front directly in the Stalingrad area. By that time, only two armies remained in the Caucasus - the 17th and 1st Tank. Thus, during the struggle on the Eastern Front, a redistribution of forces took place between the “main” – Caucasian and “supporting” – Stalingrad directions.
The transformation of the Stalingrad area into the center of the struggle in 1942 occurred not according to the plans of the leadership of the Nazi Wehrmacht, but in spite of them, at the will of the Soviet command. The Soviet Army forced the enemy to take a decisive battle at Stalingrad, where he did not expect it and was not ready for it.
The increasing resistance of the Soviet troops forced the enemy to significantly strengthen the 6th Army. It included the 14th Tank Corps, previously intended for an offensive in the Caucasian direction, and the 51st Army Corps was returned from the 4th Tank Army.
In total, by July 23, the enemy concentrated 26 divisions against the Stalingrad Front. The enemy had both a numerical advantage and an advantage in technology.
On July 23, enemy troops resumed their offensive. By delivering enveloping attacks on the flanks of the defending group of Soviet troops, the enemy hoped to encircle the 62nd Army, reach the Kalach area, and from there break through to the Volga.
During the first week of August, the troops of the Stalingrad Front, defending in the large bend of the Don, fought fierce battles to hold bridgeheads on the right bank of the Don. However, under the pressure of superior enemy forces, they were forced to retreat to the defensive perimeter of Stalingrad, and in some areas even leave this line.
On August 5, the Headquarters considered it necessary, in order to ensure firm control of the troops conducting defensive battles in a wide zone, to divide the Stalingrad Front into two - Stalingrad and South-Eastern.
On August 10, the armies of two fronts fought heavy and intense battles on the outer defensive perimeter. They occupied the following position. The section from the mouth of the Ilovlya River to the area north of Vertyachiy-Lyapichev - 62nd Army. The 64th Army, leaving small detachments on the Aksai River, defended the Logovskaya and Plodovitoe area with its main forces. The 57th Army was at the same line - from Plodovitoe to Raigorod. North-west of Stalingrad along the middle reaches of the Don from
Pavlovskaya to the mouth of the Ilovlya River was defended by the 61st and 21st armies.
The main efforts of the Eighth Air Army of General T. T. Khryukin were aimed at destroying enemy manpower and equipment on the battlefield, covering troops and important facilities. The fight against the enemy in the air took place under difficult conditions. On the southwestern approaches to Stalingrad alone, the enemy's 4th Air Fleet carried out up to 1,000 sorties daily.
The number of sorties of the 8th Air Army, despite the great strain on its flight personnel, was usually 2.5 - 3 times less than that of the enemy.
In mid-August, the fight at Stalingrad entered a new stage, the main content of which was the defensive battle of Soviet troops on the Stalingrad contours created on the near approaches to the city.
The fascist German command, realizing that the 6th and 4th tank armies, delivering attacks at different times, were unable to break through to Stalingrad, began preparing a new offensive operation to quickly capture the city. The enemy regrouped troops and brought up reserves.
In preparation for a new offensive, the aviation of the 4th Air Fleet was relocated to airfields located closer to the Volga, which allowed enemy aircraft to make several sorties per day.
On August 15, the Headquarters transferred the Stalingrad Military District to the operational subordination of the commander of the South-Eastern Front in order to ensure the junction of the Stalingrad and Caucasian directions and defense on the approaches to the Volga in the Stalingrad-Astrakhan section.
By this time, the balance of power had changed slightly, but the position of the Soviet troops remained very difficult, and the enemy still dominated in the air and with even greater force on the ground.
On August 15–17, fierce battles of Soviet troops unfolded on the near approaches to Stalingrad, which continued with unrelenting tension until September 12.
In the battles on the near approaches to Stalingrad, fascist German troops had to overcome the ever-increasing resistance of Soviet troops. In order to advance 100 - 120 km, the Nazis had to fight intense battles for 63 days, during which time they lost 87 thousand soldiers and officers, over 350 tanks, 400 aircraft, but were unable to take Stalingrad.
On August 21, heavy fighting broke out. Despite the strong opposition to the advancing enemy and the massive heroism of Soviet soldiers, the fascist German troops managed to expand the bridgehead to 45 km by the end of the next day. Concentrating 6 divisions, 250 - 300 tanks, a large amount of artillery on it, the enemy, with the support of aviation, launched a strike in the direction of Vertyachiy on August 23,
Borodin. This day was difficult and memorable for the defenders of Stalingrad.
On August 29, after a regrouping, enemy troops broke through the defense front of the 64th Army north-west of Abganerovo and, advancing in a northerly direction, created a threat to the rear of the 64th and 62nd armies. Guard Lieutenant I.F. Afanasyev has a remark about this: “After the regrouping, the enemy simultaneously launched four attacks in four directions on the defense front of the 57th and 64th armies.
The first blow was delivered through height 118, Solyanka in the direction of Krasnoarmeysk.
The second strike is south of the 55th kilometer junction, through the sheds at the junction of the 57th and 64th armies in the direction of the station. Tundutovo - Beketovka.
The third strike is from the Gromoslavka area in the direction of Zeta–Gavrilovka–Elkha–Elshanka.
The fourth strike - from the area southwest of Krasny Don in the direction of Buzinovka - Rokotino - Voroponovo.
Only on the second day of this offensive did the Nazis manage to break through the defenses of the 64th Army.”
With the entry of German troops to the inner circle, there was an immediate danger of their rush to Stalingrad. Urgent measures were required to divert part of the enemy's forces from the city, weaken his pressure on the heroically fighting divisions of the 62nd and 64th armies, and gain time to organize the defense of the city itself and bring up reserves from across the Volga.
In this situation, the Headquarters decided to immediately strike the enemy from the area north of Stalingrad, where the 24th and 66th Armies arrived from the Headquarters reserve in early September. The 1st Guards Army was re-equipped.
The air force provided significant assistance to the unearthly troops. In September, the 16th Air Army, newly created as part of the Stalingrad Front, began to operate. Long-range air strikes intensified.
On September 12, the defensive battle of Soviet troops on the Stalingrad contours ended. During its course, the troops of the Stalingrad and South-Eastern fronts thwarted the plan of the fascist command with simultaneous attacks of the 6th and 4th tank armies to capture the city and stop the enemy in front of the positions of the city encirclement. The situation remained extremely difficult. The enemy, having captured Stalingrad from the northeast and southwest, was 2–10 kilometers away from it.
On the same day, Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov was appointed commander of the 62nd Army. Having received a new assignment, Chuikov, having crossed the Volga to the right bank from the front headquarters, immediately went to the command post of the 62nd Army, which was at that time at an altitude of 102.0 - Mamayev Kurgan, which went down in history. At that time, Volgograd, or rather Stalingrad, was in a very difficult situation. People were starving, freezing, all houses, factories, hospitals and other institutions, if they were not turned into a handful of ashes or completely destroyed, were in a very difficult situation. The Soviet army also carried
huge losses, but she stood to the death, because everyone knew that there was nowhere to retreat further. If the enemy captures Stalingrad, then the Soviet army simply would not have any chances to win this battle, and even if it did, it would be so meager that it would be almost impossible.
On September 12, at a meeting at Wehrmacht headquarters near Vinnitsa, Hitler decisively demanded to capture Stalingrad at any cost and as soon as possible. To storm the city, the troops of Army Group “B” were significantly reinforced by the transfer of formations from the Caucasian and Western directions. As a result, during the first half of September alone, nine divisions and one brigade were sent to the Stalingrad area.
On the morning of September 13, fascist German troops began an assault on the central part of the city, where the 62nd Army was defending, which General V.I. Chuikov took command of on September 12. The southern districts of the city were defended by the 64th Army of General M.S. Shumilova.
On September 14, the enemy managed to break into the central part of the city near the Stalingrad-1 station. To destroy the enemy who had broken through on the night of September 15, the 13th Guards Rifle Division under the command of General A.I. Rodimtsev was urgently transferred to the city. The guards went on the attack straight from the crossing. They stopped, and in some areas drove the enemy back, liberating several blocks from the Nazis.
Nazi troops began their assault on the city on the morning of September 13. In the period from 13 to 26 there was a struggle for the central part of the city. From September 27 to November 8, battles broke out for factory villages and in the Orlovka area, and from November 9–18 - for the Tractor Plant, the Barrikady and Red October factories.
The names of the soldiers of the garrisons of the House of Sergeant Ya. F. Pavlov and the House of Lieutenant N. E. Zabolotny, whose exploits became a symbol of the great courage and mass heroism of the soldiers of the Soviet army, became world famous.
On the night of September 27, 1942, the reconnaissance group of the 7th company of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 13th Guards Rifle Division, consisting of Sergeant Ya. F. Pavlov, knocked out the enemy from a 4-story building on Penzenskaya Street and held him for almost three days.
The defense of this legendary house, which went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War as an immortal monument of military Glory, lasted 58 days. And this is not the only case of heroism in the history of Stalingrad. The defenders of Stalingrad fought not only with amazing courage and self-sacrifice, but also with increasing skill.
In preparation for the general assault, the German command mobilized all possible forces. Almost all the reinforcements that arrived on the Soviet-German front were sent to Stalingrad.
The opponents intended to deliver the main blow to the tractor plant and the Barrikady and Red October factories. Their actions were supported by up to 1 thousand aircraft.
On October 10, the Nazis launched violent attacks against the units defending the tractor plant. The attacks followed one after another, the German command planned to capture the Tractor Plant and, dismembering the 62nd Army, destroy it.
Having suffered heavy losses, on October 15, the enemy captured the Tractor Plant and broke through to the Volga in a narrow 2.5-kilometer area. The position of the troops of the 62nd Army deteriorated significantly. Colonel Gorokhov's group found itself cut off from the main forces of the army. And yet the fascist generals and their divisions did not comply with the Fuhrer’s order. Soviet soldiers thwarted the plan to capture the city.
At the final stage of the defensive battle, a struggle unfolded for the Red October and Barricades factories, as well as in the area of the village of Rynok. The Soviet units lacked manpower and firepower, and the people were tired of continuous fighting. The maneuver of the forces and means of the defending troops was limited. In this regard, most of the artillery had to be located on the eastern bank of the Volga.
Meanwhile, the Nazis captured the dominant heights and swept the area not only with artillery, but also with rifle and machine-gun fire throughout the entire depth of the defense. Thousands of planes stormed the positions of Soviet soldiers from the air. But the defenders of Stalingrad held the defense unshakably.
The whole world followed the progress of the battle on the Volga with great attention. The word “Stalingrad” did not leave the pages of the press; it spread across all continents on the air. Everywhere people felt and understood that the outcome of the war was being decided in Stalingrad.
The whole country came to the aid of the defenders of Stalingrad. New units and formations of all types of troops were formed. More new types of military equipment began to arrive.
As a result of the strengthening of the power of the Soviet state, the army exhausted and bled the fascist hordes. This created the conditions for the Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive, the beginning of which marks a new period in the Great Patriotic War.
Battle of Stalingrad
German offensive in the summer of 1942. The beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. By the spring of 1942, the superiority of forces still remained on the side of the German troops. Before launching a general offensive in the southeastern direction, the Germans decided to completely capture Crimea, where the defenders of Sevastopol and the Kerch Peninsula continued to offer heroic resistance to the enemy. The May offensive of the fascists ended in tragedy: in ten days the troops of the Crimean Front were defeated. The losses of the Red Army here amounted to 176 thousand people, 347 tanks, 3476 guns and mortars, 400 aircraft. On July 4, Soviet troops were forced to abandon the city of Russian glory, Sevastopol.
In May, Soviet troops went on the offensive in the Kharkov region, but suffered a severe defeat. The troops of two armies were surrounded and destroyed. Our losses amounted to up to 230 thousand people, more than 5 thousand guns and mortars, 755 tanks. The German command once again firmly captured the strategic initiative.
At the end of June, German troops rushed to the southeast: they occupied Donbass and reached the Don. An immediate threat was created to Stalingrad. On July 24, Rostov-on-Don, the gates of the Caucasus, fell. Only now did Stalin understand the true purpose of the German summer offensive. But it was already too late to change anything. Fearing the rapid loss of the entire Soviet South, on July 28, 1942, Stalin issued order No. 227, in which, under threat of execution, he forbade troops from leaving the front line without instructions from higher command. This order went down in the history of the war under the name “Not a step back!”
In early September, street battles broke out in Stalingrad, which was completely destroyed. But the tenacity and courage of the Soviet defenders of the city on the Volga did what seemed impossible - by mid-November the offensive capabilities of the Germans had completely dried up. By this time, in the battles for Stalingrad, they had lost almost 700 thousand killed and wounded, over 1 thousand tanks and over 1.4 thousand aircraft. The Germans not only failed to occupy the city, but also went on the defensive.
The German command includes Stalingrad in the plan for a large-scale offensive in the south of the USSR (Caucasus, Crimea). Germany's goal was to take possession of an industrial city, the enterprises in which produced military products that were needed; gaining access to the Volga, from where it was possible to get to the Caspian Sea, to the Caucasus, where the oil necessary for the front was extracted.
Hitler wanted to implement this plan in just a week with the help of Paulus's 6th Field Army. It included 13 divisions, with about 270,000 people, 3 thousand guns and about five hundred tanks.
On the USSR side, German forces were opposed by the Stalingrad Front. It was created by decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on July 12, 1942 (commander - Marshal Timoshenko, since July 23 - Lieutenant General Gordov).
The difficulty was also that our side experienced a shortage of ammunition.
The beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad can be considered July 17, when, near the Chir and Tsimla rivers, the forward detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies of the Stalingrad Front met with detachments of the 6th German Army. Throughout the second half of the summer there were fierce battles near Stalingrad. Further, the chronicle of events developed as follows.
Defensive stage of the Battle of Stalingrad
On August 23, 1942, German tanks approached Stalingrad. From that day on, fascist aircraft began to systematically bomb the city. The battles on the ground also did not subside. It was simply impossible to live in the city - you had to fight to win. 75 thousand people volunteered for the front. But in the city itself, people worked both day and night. By mid-September, the German army broke through to the city center, and fighting took place right in the streets. The Nazis intensified their attack. Almost 500 tanks took part in the assault on Stalingrad, and German aircraft dropped about 1 million bombs on the city.
The courage of the Stalingrad residents was unparalleled. The Germans conquered many European countries. Sometimes they only needed 2-3 weeks to capture the entire country. In Stalingrad the situation was different. It took the Nazis weeks to capture one house, one street.
The beginning of autumn and mid-November passed in battles. By November, almost the entire city, despite resistance, was captured by the Germans. Only a small strip of land on the banks of the Volga was still held by our troops. But it was too early to declare the capture of Stalingrad, as Hitler did. The Germans did not know that the Soviet command already had a plan for the defeat of the German troops, which began to be developed at the height of the fighting, on September 12. The development of the offensive operation "Uranus" was carried out by Marshal G.K. Zhukov.
Within 2 months, in conditions of increased secrecy, a strike force was created near Stalingrad. The Nazis were aware of the weakness of their flanks, but did not assume that the Soviet command would be able to gather the required number of troops.
On November 19, troops of the Southwestern Front under the command of General N.F. Vatutin and the Don Front under the command of General K.K. Rokossovsky went on the offensive. They managed to surround the enemy, despite resistance. Also during the offensive, five enemy divisions were captured and seven were defeated. During the week of November 23, Soviet efforts were aimed at strengthening the blockade around the enemy. In order to lift this blockade, the German command formed the Don Army Group (commander - Field Marshal Manstein), but it was also defeated.
The destruction of the encircled group of the enemy army was entrusted to the troops of the Don Front (commander - General K.K. Rokossovsky). Since the German command rejected the ultimatum to end resistance, Soviet troops moved on to destroy the enemy, which became the last of the main stages of the Battle of Stalingrad. On February 2, 1943, the last enemy group was eliminated, which is considered the end date of the battle.
By the beginning of 1942, it became obvious that the initial plan of the command of the German armed forces (Operation Barbarossa) had failed and adjustments needed to be made to it.
Photo 1942–1943. Battle of Stalingrad 
The cherished line from Arkhangelsk to Astrakhan, which the troops were supposed to reach during the summer and autumn of 1941, was not reached. However, Germany had captured large areas of the USSR and still had the potential for an offensive war. The only question was on which sector of the front to concentrate the offensive.
Background to the Battle of Stalingrad
As the experience of the 1941 campaign showed, in general the German command overestimated the strength of its troops. The offensive in three directions: north, center and south - brought conflicting results.
Leningrad was never taken, the offensive near Moscow took place much later (due to the need to eliminate resistance in the southern direction) and was lost.
In the southern sector, Germany achieved significant success, but it was also far from the original plans. It was concluded that it was necessary to concentrate the attack on the southern direction.
The war and the battle for Stalingrad entered a new phase of confrontation.
Plans of the parties in the Battle of Stalingrad
The German leadership realized that the solution to such strategic tasks as the capture of Moscow and Leningrad was not achieved during the lightning war, and a further positional offensive would bring colossal losses. The Soviet Union managed to strengthen the lines on the approaches to the largest cities.
On the other hand, the offensive in the southern direction could be carried out in the course of quick and large-scale maneuvers, which would reduce losses. Moreover, the strategic goal of the offensive in the southern direction was to cut off the USSR from the largest oil fields in the country at that time.
In the last pre-war year, of the 31 million tons of oil produced, Azerbaijani oil accounted for 71%, and the fields of Chechnya and the Kuban region accounted for another 15%.
By cutting off the USSR from 95% of all oil produced, Germany could immobilize all military production and the army itself. Accelerated production of new military equipment (tanks, airplanes, etc.) outside the boundaries of German aviation would be pointless, since there would be nothing to fuel it with.
Moreover, all supplies to the USSR from the allies under Lend-Lease, at the beginning of 1942, also began to pass in a southern direction - through Iran, the Caspian Sea and further along the Volga.
In developing plans for 1942, the Soviet command took into account a number of important factors. First of all, it realized that the opening of a second front might not take place this year.
At the same time, Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin believed that Germany had enough resources to strike in two directions at once: southern and central (toward Moscow).
The USSR strategy for this period was active defense with a number of offensive operations of a local nature
It was important to create decent reserves for the subsequent offensive campaign.
Let us note that the military intelligence of the Soviets provided information that Germany would carry out a large-scale offensive in the southern direction in the summer of 1942. However, I.V. Stalin believed that the main blow would fall on the center, since the largest number of enemy divisions were concentrated on this section of the front.
Number of troops
As statistics show, the Soviet leadership miscalculated its strategic plans for 1942. The general ratio of armed forces by the spring of 1942, on the date of the Battle of Stalingrad, was as follows.
At the same time, in the southern direction, Germany formed the Paulus Army, and on the USSR side, the Southwestern (later Stalingrad) Front took defensive positions. The balance of forces looked as follows.
As you can see, we are talking about a significant superiority of German troops at the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad (1.7 to 1 in numbers, 1.4 to 1 in guns, 1.3 to 1 in tanks, about 2.2 to 1 in aircraft). The German command had every reason to believe that the tank battle at Stalingrad would ensure the success of the operation and it would all end in the complete defeat of the Red Army within 7 days.
Progress of the Battle of Stalingrad
It would seem that after reassessing their own forces and the required time to seize the territory of the USSR in 1941, the German leadership should have set more realistic goals and dates for the new campaign.
However, in the southern direction not only was a numerical advantage achieved, but there were also a number of tactical features that made it possible to count on the shortest period of combat operations.
The fighting took place in the steppe region.
This allowed German tanks to carry out rapid forced marches, and Soviet anti-tank guns were in full view of German aviation.
At the same time, back in May 1942, Soviet troops launched an independent attack on German positions in the Kharkov area. The Red Army's counterattack came as a surprise to the Reich. But the Nazis quickly recovered from the blow. The German offensive on Stalingrad began after the defeat of Soviet troops near Kharkov on July 17.
It is customary to distinguish two key dates in the year of the Battle of Stalingrad - defensive in the period from 07/17/1942 to 11/18/1942 and offensive in the period from 11/19/1942 to 02/2/1943.
The beginning of this military conflict is considered to be the battle for Stalingrad near the Chir and Tsimpla rivers on July 17. Soviet troops waged fierce resistance, but Germany constantly reinforced Paulus's 6th Army with new divisions.
July 1942, the enemy’s northern and southern attack groups went on the offensive
As a result, the enemy reached the Don in some areas, surrounded about three groupings of Soviet troops and made serious progress on the flanks.
Battle of Stalingrad - plans of the parties It should be noted the military genius of Paulus, who, instead of a well-developed method of attack along the railway lines, concentrated the main offensive almost along the banks of the Don.
One way or another, the Soviet troops retreated, and on July 28, order No. 227 was issued, which later became known as “Not a Step Back.” In accordance with it, retreat from the front was punishable by execution, loss of personnel and equipment was punishable by execution.
When captured, the officer and his family members were declared enemies of the people. NKVD barrage troops were created, which received the right to shoot soldiers fleeing from the front on the spot. Penal battalions were also created.
Order No. 227 Not a step back Already on August 2, German forces approached Kotelnikovsky, and on August 7-9 to Kalach-on-Don. Despite the failure of the lightning operation, German troops advanced 60-80 kilometers and were not far from Stalingrad.
Stalingrad is on fire
Briefly about the breakthrough to Stalingrad and the battles - in the following table.
| Date of battle | Event | Note |
| August 19 | Resumption of the offensive | |
| August 22 | 6th Army crosses the Don | The bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Don is occupied |
| August 23 | 14th Tank Corps occupies Rynok village | As a result of the breakthrough, German forces break through to the Volga just north of Stalingrad. The 62nd Soviet Army in Stalingrad is cut off from the others |
| August 23 | The bombing of the city begins | The bombing will continue for several more months and by the end of the battle, not a single intact building will remain in the city. The Germans surrounded Stalingrad - the confrontation reached its climax |
| September 13-26 | Reich forces enter the city | As a result of the assault, Soviet troops (mainly soldiers of Chuikov's 62nd Army) retreat. The battle begins in Stalingrad, within the city |
| October 14 – November 11 | Decisive German offensive with the aim of eliminating the forces of the 62nd Army and access to the Volga throughout Stalingrad | Significant German forces were concentrated for this offensive, but the battle in the city was fought for every house, not to say floor. The German tank crews were ineffective - the tanks simply got stuck on street debris. Despite the Mamaev Kurgan being occupied by the Germans, Soviet artillery also supported soldiers from the opposite bank of the Volga. At night it was possible to transport supplies and new forces to ensure Stalingrad's resistance to the occupation. There were colossal losses on both sides, on November 11 there was a breakthrough of fascist forces to the Volga, the 62nd Army controlled only three separated regions of the city |
Despite fierce resistance, constant reinforcements of Soviet troops, and support from artillery and ships from the Volga, Stalingrad could fall at any moment. Under these conditions, the Soviet leadership is developing a counteroffensive plan.
Offensive stage
In accordance with the offensive Operation Uranus, Soviet troops were supposed to attack the flanks of the 6th Army, namely the weakest positions of the Romanian troops to the southeast and northwest of the city.
Battle of Stalingrad, 1942, Operation Uranus Also, according to the plan, it was envisaged not only to encircle the 6th Army, isolating it from other enemy forces, but also, breaking it into 2 parts, to immediately liquidate it. This was not possible, but by November 23, Soviet troops closed the ring, meeting in the Kalach-on-Don area.
Subsequently, in November-December 1942, the German military leadership attempted to break through to Paulus’s army, which was surrounded.
Operation Wintergewitter was led by G. Goth.
The German divisions were pretty battered, but by December 19 they almost managed to break through the defenses, but Soviet reserves arrived in time and forced G. Hoth to fail.
In the remaining days of December, the Middle Don operation took place, during which Soviet troops significantly pushed the enemy forces away from Stalingrad, finally defeating the Romanian and Italian troops, part of the Hungarian and Croatian corps.
This meant that all that remained was to finish off the encircled army of Paulus in order for the complete defeat of the German troops at Stalingrad to take place.
Paulus was asked to capitulate
But this did not happen; Paulus chose to fight, hoping for reinforcements.
On January 10-17, the first offensive of Soviet troops took place, and on January 22-26, the second, which ended with the capture of Mamayev Kurgan and the division of German troops into two groups - northern and southern. Possession of the mound meant significant superiority for Soviet artillery and snipers.
This became the decisive moment of the battle. Paulus, who was in the southern group, surrendered on January 31, and on February 2 the forces of the northern group were defeated.
The battle for Stalingrad lasted more than six months; how many days and nights the city’s civilians and soldiers had to endure in the decisive battle of the 20th century was calculated with scrupulous accuracy - 200 days.
The meaning and results of the battle. Losses of the parties
The Battle of Stalingrad is considered the largest and greatest in the history of World War II. On the Soviet side, over the months of the battle, over 1.5 million people took part, of which over 450 thousand people were lost irretrievably, and over 650 thousand people were attributed to sanitary losses.
German losses in the Battle of Stalingrad vary depending on the source. It is estimated that the Axis countries lost over 1.5 million people (not only killed, but also wounded and captured). More than 3.5 thousand tanks, 22 thousand guns, and 5 thousand aircraft were destroyed in the battle.
3,500 tanks
22 thousand guns and 5 thousand aircraft were destroyed during the Battle of Stalingrad
In fact, the victory of the Soviet troops in this fight was the beginning of the end for Germany. Realizing the severity of the losses suffered, the military leadership of the Wehrmacht eventually gave the order for the construction of the Eastern Wall, on which in the future German troops would take up defensive positions.
Germany also lost the opportunity to replenish divisions from the allied forces - Romania no longer sent soldiers to the war, Hungary and Slovakia also seriously limited their participation in the war.
Stalingrad in February 1943 was a completely destroyed city (90% of all buildings, about 42 thousand houses, were destroyed). 500 thousand residents were left without any shelter.
Foreign experts who visited the city after the end of the fighting came to the conclusion that it was easier to rebuild military Stalingrad in a new place than to restore it from ruins. However, the city was restored.
From March to September 1943 Over 150 thousand residents and volunteers arrived there; by the end of the war, 300 thousand mines and over a million artillery shells had been collected, and the restoration of the housing stock began.
As a result, the work of Stalingrad residents helped to accomplish no less a feat - to return the city from the ashes.
