In the early spring of 1942, as the defense of Moscow became more secure, German Führer Adolf Hitler turned his attention to the southern flank of the Soviet-German war. He decided to adjust his strategy and plan a large-scale summer offensive by taking advantage of the relative superiority of the German army on the southern front. The goal of the offensive was to penetrate deep into the southern hinterland of the Soviet Union, especially the oil-rich Caucasus, as well as important areas along the Don, Kuban, and Volga rivers. The ultimate goal of the Germans was to capture Stalingrad, an important Soviet transportation hub and industrial center with a population of about 600,000.
Situated on the west bank of the lower Volga River, immediately to the east of the meanders of the Don River, Stalingrad's location made it a key node for inland waterway shipping in the Soviet Union and a meeting point for the north-south railway network. In addition, to the southwest of the city were the rich grain, oil, and coal producing regions of the Soviet Union – including the fertile Don and Kuban valleys, as well as the rich South Caucasus. Since the capture of Kiev by the Germans in 1941, Stalingrad has become increasingly strategically important, becoming a key link between the central and southern economic regions of the Soviet Union.
Therefore, the battle plan of the German army was to concentrate the main forces on the southern front, to capture Stalingrad, and then to threaten Moscow in a detour north, and even to advance towards the Urals and Siberia. In this grand strategic layout, Stalingrad became the central target of the German attack because of its geographical location and economic value.
As the Germans adjusted their strategy and shifted their focus to the southern flank of the Soviet-German battlefield, they sent the 6th Army, drawn from Army Group B, to take on the task of attacking Stalingrad. Commanded by Admiral Paulus, this formidable force had about 270,000 soldiers and was armed with 3,000 artillery pieces of various types, 500 tanks, and about 1,200 combat aircraft.
Faced with the movements of the German army on the southern front, the Soviet High Command reacted quickly and formed the Stalingrad Front on July 12, 1942, in response to the impending attack. Led by Field Marshal Timoshenko and later succeeded by Lieutenant General Goldov, the front had about 160,000 soldiers armed with 2,200 artillery pieces, 400 tanks and 700 aircraft. The main task of the Stalingrad Front was to defend against the German offensive on the 520-kilometer-long Don Line of Defense, of which of particular importance were the 62nd Army under the command of Lieutenant General Chuikov and the 64th Army under the command of Major General Shumilov, which were deployed at the Great Bend of the Don and were designed to prevent the Germans from crossing the Don and quickly advancing towards Stalingrad.
At the same time, the inhabitants of Stalingrad took an active part in the defense, and they urgently built four fortifications on the outskirts of the city. These fortifications proved their strategic value in the ensuing battles, providing a solid support for the defense of the city. These preparations and deployments of the Soviet army were all aimed at protecting this vital city from German occupation in this crucial battle.
On July 17, 1942, the German 6th Army launched an attack on the Great Bend of the Don River as planned. However, the resolute resistance of the Soviet 62nd and 64th armies made the German advance difficult. Faced with this situation, the German High Command decided to transfer the 4th Panzer Army (formerly known as the 4th Panzer Group) under the command of Colonel-General Hort to the Stalingrad battlefield from the direction originally directed towards the Caucasus. By 2 August, the vanguard of the 4th Panzer Army had approached Kotelnivsky, posing a potential threat to Stalingrad from the southwest.
Subsequently, in the period from 5 to 10 August, the Soviet assault group under the command of Lieutenant General Chuikov engaged in continuous fierce engagements with the 4th Panzer Army. After a series of hard battles, the Soviets managed to drive the Germans out of key areas, forcing them to retreat to the outer line of defense and being forced to go on the defensive. This battle not only demonstrated the tenacity and combat effectiveness of the Soviet army, but also bought valuable time and space for the defense of Stalingrad.
On August 10, 1942, in order to reorganize the defensive line, the Soviet troops voluntarily retreated to the east bank of the Don River, where they established new defensive positions. Soon after, on 19 August, the Germans launched another full-scale offensive against Stalingrad, attempting to deliver a double blow to the city from the west and southwest. In response to this threat, Soviet troops quickly mobilized reserves and, in cooperation with the Stalingrad Front, launched a counterattack from the north on the flanks of the German troops. This action forced the German 6th Army to divert some of its forces north to support, thus relieving the pressure on Stalingrad to the west and southwest.
As the fighting continued, the Germans continued to send reinforcements in the direction of Stalingrad, and by the end of August, the total number of German troops involved in the siege had exceeded 80 divisions. On 12 September, the Germans finally advanced to the edge of Stalingrad, and Soviet soldiers from the 62nd and 64th armies were forced to retreat into the city, engaging the Germans in a brutal street battle. In this battle, Soviet and German soldiers fought desperately for every inch of land, and every corner of the city became a battlefield. The Stalingrad railway station, for example, experienced 13 changes of control in a week.
Soviet snipers
In this bloody street battle, many heroic personal deeds emerged. On the night of September 26, Soviet Sergeant Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov led a reconnaissance team in a four-story building in the center of Stalingrad for three days and three nights, repeatedly repelling heavy German attacks. The building later became a key fulcrum in the Soviet defenses, and was later named the "Pavlov Building".
In addition, the workers of Stalingrad also played an important role in the war. The workers of the Red October Metallurgical Plant continued to produce after street fighting, even when the German tanks were approaching only a few hundred meters, some took up arms and joined the fighting, while others continued to work under fire. In September, at the height of the fighting, the plant produced 200 tanks and 150 tractors, which were often put into battle against the Germans as soon as they left the factory. The efforts and sacrifices of these workers were one of the important factors in Stalingrad's ability to persevere.
By the end of September, the Germans had sent an additional 200,000 troops to the Stalingrad battlefield in order to strengthen the offensive. In the face of German reinforcements, the Soviets were not to be outdone, and transferred 6 infantry divisions and a tank brigade to join the battle, and the confrontation between the two sides became more fierce and brutal. On October 15, the Germans gathered a large number of forces and launched a fierce attack on the tractor factory in Stalingrad. The Soviet soldiers put up a strong resistance and gave the Germans a resolute counterattack, ensuring that this key industrial facility did not fall into the hands of the enemy. The battle once again demonstrated the tenacity and indomitability of the defenders of Stalingrad, as well as the desperate struggle between the Soviet and German sides in the city.
Hold on to the fight in the ruins
In order to alleviate the continued German pressure on the city of Stalingrad, the Soviet Don Front launched an offensive in the north on October 19, 1942, followed by a counteroffensive by the Soviet 64th Army on the German flank from the south on October 25. By November 11, the Germans had launched their last assault on Stalingrad. Since then, the Germans have not been able to advance and set foot in the territory of this heroic city.
In the early morning of November 19, the Soviets launched a large-scale counteroffensive codenamed "Uranus", which was carried out at the Don landing sites in Serafimovich and Kretskaya, as well as in the area of the Sarpa lakes south of Stalingrad. The counteroffensive mobilized a huge force of 1,106,000 men from the Southwestern Front, the Don Front, and the Stalingrad Front, armed with 15,500 artillery pieces of various kinds, 1,463 tanks and armored vehicles, and 1,350 combat aircraft. This powerful Soviet counteroffensive made it difficult for the Germans to resist and quickly retreated westward. On November 23, the Southwestern Front and the Stalingrad Front successfully joined forces in the Karachi, Sovetsky, and Marinovka areas, thus completing the encirclement of the German 6th Army and the 1st Division of the 4th Panzer Army, and the total number of German troops in the encirclement reached 22 divisions and about 330,000 men.
When Hitler learned of the siege of the 6th Army, he was very anxious, and on the one hand ordered Paulus to defend at all costs, and on the other hand, he urgently mobilized forces to form the Don Army Group in order to relieve the trapped German army. On December 12, 1942, the German rescue unit began a rescue operation called "Winter Storm", desperately approaching the 6th Army, trying to reach the Kodchenikovsky line in order to break the Soviet encirclement. By December 19, the rescue Germans had broken through the Soviet defenses and reached the Meshkova River, only 40 kilometers from the 6th Army. However, at this moment, the Soviets skillfully penetrated the rear of the rescue Germans and formed an encirclement posture against them. In order to protect themselves, the rescue Germans had to retreat south and inform Paulus to organize a breakthrough on his own. On December 29, the Soviets recaptured Kodchenikovsky, completely thwarting the German army's plan to break the siege, and the 6th Army and other German units had no way to escape. At the same time, the Soviet Air Force gained air supremacy over the theater of operations, cutting off the only air supply line for the besieged German army. In the bitter winter, countless German soldiers died of hunger and cold, and the encirclement was shrinking.
On January 8, 1943, the Soviets issued a final surrender notice to the besieged German troops, demanding their immediate surrender. However, Paulus followed Hitler's orders and refused to surrender. In the early hours of January 10, the Soviets launched a new round of large-scale offensives, which took only six days to reduce the encirclement by half. By 24 January, faced with an irreparable situation, Paulus desperately sent a plea to Hitler, hoping that he would be allowed to surrender to the Soviets in order to save the lives of the remaining officers and soldiers. Hitler was outraged by this, and he immediately replied: "Surrender is not allowed!" Hold your ground and fight to the last man, the last shot! At the same time, Hitler promoted Paulus to the rank of German field marshal, and the other 117 officers were also promoted to the first rank. In his promotion telegram to Paulus, he stressed that there had never been a precedent in German history for a marshal to surrender to the enemy, in effect suggesting that Paulus had chosen to commit suicide.
Captured Marshal Paulus
However, this promotion of Hitler did not have the desired effect, and the defensive line of the besieged German army was shrinking day by day. By January 27, 1943, organized resistance by the Germans had almost ceased, and the Soviets began a battle to clear the remnants of the enemy. On February 2, the besieged Germans were completely annihilated, and the Soviets captured 91,000 people, including 24 generals. Captured by Soviet troops in the basement of the central department store in Stalingrad, Paulus did not choose to commit suicide, as Hitler had hoped. On 3 February, Hitler declared a four-day national tribute to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who had died in Stalingrad, while mocking Paulus, saying that he had "not yet crossed the threshold of immortality."
The Germans suffered heavy losses in this battle, with a total of about 1.5 million killed, wounded, captured and missing, or a quarter of the total Soviet-German forces. From then on, the Soviets began a full-scale counteroffensive until the final capture of Berlin. The victory in the Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point not only in the Soviet-German war, but also in the entire Second World War. #头条创作挑战赛#