August, 1942 German forces
push deep into the Soviet Union, seeking to pierce its political heart before the brutal
winter sets in. However, just north of Stalingrad, the Soviets fight four brutal battles to slow the
advance of the German Wehrmacht. Collectively known as the Kotluban Operations, these pitched
battles are some of the fiercest of World War II, and the Soviest
take 200,000 casualties- a staggering figure. The German assault however is sufficiently
slowed to allow the Red Army to prepare the ideologically important city
of Stalingrad for defense. In preparation for the coming
siege, the Soviet high command ships hundreds of tons of cattle and grain
across the Volga river. However, Stalin refuses to evacuate a single person
of the 400,000 civilians left in the city. This cold calculus
has one single purpose: with civilians still in the city, Stalin believes that
it will inspire the Red Army to fight all the harder in defense
of the city. Plus, many of these civilians can be rounded up and forced to fight as partisans
if required. It's a brutal move, made even more punishing by the fact that Stalin's 'harvest
victory', as his shipping of food out of the city is known,
leaves Stalingrad short of food for its nearly half million population.
As the German forces move closer, the civilian population is pressed
into service to build trenches and other defensive fortifications.
Nobody is under any illusion that the siege that is coming will be an
easy one, and the entire city is preparing for some of the bloodiest
fighting of the second world war. The Germans punctuate the point
by softening up the city with a massive aerial bombardment starting
on August 23rd and continuing until the end of the month. The German bombing turns the city into a
massive funeral pyre, and thousands die or are severely wounded. After
the 25th of August, the Soviets simply stop collecting data on
casualties are there are so many. The Soviet air force rises to meet
the German bombers, but fighter escorts tear into them. German
pilots are better trained and more experienced after the failed Battle of Britain,
and the Soviet air force suffers 201 aircraft losses
by the end of the month. By August 31st, the Soviet Air Force has only 192
aircraft left, 57 of which are fighters- the Luftwaffe completely
owns the skies over Stalingrad. The German 6th Army is the first
to feel the teeth of Soviet defenses. Short on tanks and anti-tank guns,
the Soviets are instead pressing anti-aircraft guns into service
to fend off German tanks. The 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment is staffed
mostly of young female volunteers who have little if any training in
engaging ground targets. The women show incredible bravery despite their lack of experience, and the
Germans are forced to destroy or overrun every single one
of the 37 AA guns, after which they find to their surprise that they are all manned by women.
Enemy infantry is being met by 'worker's militias' organized by the NKVD. These civilian units have
no training and are often sent into battle with no weapons. They are cannon fodder in every sense of
the word, the Russian callous disregard for human life apparent as hundreds of unarmed civilians are
mowed down by German defenders. Any who try to retreat or run away are shot in the back by their
NKVD commanders. The militias are slaughtered in scores by succeed in eating up German
ammunition and time, slowing the advance and softening them up for Red Army units.
Inside of the city itself, factories churn out tanks even throughout the
fighting. There's no time to paint or even equip these tanks with gun sights,
and they are literally driven by their crews from the factory
floor straight to the front line. Without even primitive gun sights,
these tanks are forced to fight at practically point blank range.
As August comes to a close, Army Group South (B) reaches the Volga north of Stalingrad. The Soviets
are pinched off as German units also advance south of the city along the river,
forcing them to abandon defensive positions outside
of the city for the inner defensive ring inside of it. By the end of the month,
the Germans have completely enveloped Stalingrad on three sides.
September, 1942 Bridges across the
Volga have been destroyed by the German Luftwaffe, and with the Germans closing
access to the city off from the north, south, and east, the only way to resupply Soviet forces is by
crossing the river in boats and barges pulled by tugs. However,
this is incredibly dangerous as German artillery is well within range of the river,
and German air patrols descend on any attempt to cross the
river. Many Soviet civilians and soldiers both die attempting to cross the river, and yet the efforts
continue- mostly at night- as the defenders inside are in desperate need of weapons, ammunition, and
food. On September
5th the Soviets attempt to counterattack and help lift the siege on the city. The Soviet
24th and 66th Armies rally for an attack against the
XIV Panzer Corps. However, the Germans have air superiority and advance warning of the attack, and
the Luftwaffe decimates the Soviet's artillery. Without their artillery support,
the Soviets are forced to withdraw after only a few hours of fighting.
They lose 1/4th of their 120 tanks in the fighting, with minimal losses on the German side.
Stalin's Order No. 227 has made it punishable by military tribunal to retreat from the enemy, thus
Soviet commanders refuse to order retreats even in the face of certain defeat. This has turned
Stalingrad into an absolute meat grinder of inhuman proportions,
as badly outgunned and outnumbered Soviet units are destroyed to a man.
However, a refusal to retreat has also severely slowed the German
advance, and by the time fighting reaches into the city in mid-september, the Germans
are now fighting block to block.
On the 14th of September, the Germans launch a three-prong
attack into the city, hoping to overwhelm the defenders with a speedy manuever.
The 51st Army Corps' 295th Infantry Division advanced on the
strategically important Mamayev Kurgan hill, high ground which gives whoever holds it command
over large parts of the city. The 71st Infantry Division
attacked the central rail station and the main landing stage on the Volga where the Soviets were
receiving a steady trickle of supplies and reinforcements from across the river.
The 48th Panzer Corps was sent to attack south of the Tsaritsa
River to help pin down Soviet defenders. The attacks initially go to plan,
with the Soviet 13th guards Rifle Division suffering very high losses in
its counterattack in the Mamayev Kurgan and Railway Station No. 1. In just one day it loses 30
percent of its soldiers in fierce fighting- only 320 of
the original 10,000 men who make up the 13th Guards Rifle Division will survive the battle.
They succeed however in retaking both objectives, at
least temporarily, with both objectives changing hands multiple times. The railway station changes
hands an incredible 14 time sin just six
hours. The fighting is so brutal, that by evening of the second
day of fighting, the 13th Guards Rifle Division now exists only on paper.
In the south of the city, fifty Soviet soldiers make a last
stand at a huge grain elevator. They are surrounded and cut off from all resupply,
but continue to fight for five days. They fight off ten assaults
by German forces before running out of ammunition and water. To deny the enemy the valuable grain,
they set fire to it before retreating. As the Germans sift
through the wreckage of the fighting they are shocked to discover only forty enemy dead-
they had believed that due to the intensity of the resistance
they were up against a much larger unit. Elsewhere in the city, Soviet Sergeant
Yakov Pavlov commands his unit to fortify the ruins of a four
story building with a commanding view. The building
is strategically important, and the Germans attempt to take it in assault after assault
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pavlov%27s_House.jpg). However, the Soviets have surrounded
the fortified building with mine fields and are defending it with
well entrenched machine gun nests. Incredibly, Pavlov will hold the
building for two months with few reinforcements, and earn the Hero
of the Soviet Union award for his efforts. The fighting rages through the month of September,
with the Germans making slow, incremental progress. However, by the end of the month
they have failed to secure the all-important Volga river
crossings. Without achieving these objectives, the Soviets
are able to continue pouring reinforcements and resupply to the beleaguered defenders,
even under assault from German artillery and aircraft both.
October, 1942 With the Luftwaffe
unable to stop the Soviet reinforcements over the Vulga, and with German ground
forces stuck in bitter door-to-door fighting, the fight for the city
has turned into a fight for meters. Success is measured in number of buildings taken
or defended, and the fighting has devolved into a brutal close quarters combat.
The Soviets are creating defensive positions in apartment blocks,
houses, factories, and ware houses, and defending them with small groups
of 5-10 men. This allows them to spread out across the city,
with other defenders immediately surging to retake a lost position. It's an insane game of whack-a-
mole, and the Germans call it Rattenkrieg, or Rat War. In the taller buildings, German and Soviet
soldiers fight each other on different floors, firing up at one another
through holes on the floor above. Soviet defenders fight suicidally,
as once they are pushed to the top-most floor there is nowhere left to
retreat. They are fighting on what Sun Tzu once called 'death ground'- a position where the only
options are victory or death- and thus are fighting fiercely for every single floor.
Superior German firepower is useless in these close quarters battles,
and Soviet commanders are taking full advantage of the urban terrain.
They order units to 'hug' German forces so as to deny them the use
of artillery or close air support aircraft. The Germans are still better equipped,
and the tactic costs the Soviets dearly, but it is
staggeringly effective. With the Russians having little regard for the lives of the
men they send into the fighting, they are stopping the German offensive with a literal
tsunami of human bodies.
On the 14th of October, the Germans launch the greatest
offensive of the Stalingrad campaign. Within eyesight of the Red October Steel Factory, the
Barrkiady Arms Factory, and the Stalingrad Tractor Factory- all of which are running around the clock
despite air and artillery attack- the Germans launch
an attack using the 15th Panzer, 24th Panzer Division,
and 305th Infantry Divisions. By the afternoon, the Germans have inflicted heavy casualties on the
37th Guards Rifle Division and pushed past the tractor factory to arrive the Volga.
The Soviets immediately respond by sending three battalions from
the 300th Rifle Division and the 45th Rifle Division to lift the siege on
the Red October steel factory. The Germans will hold two of
their objectives but ultimately fail to expel the Soviets fully from the
Barikady Arms Factory. November, 1942
The Germans control 90% of the city and have reached the Volga. However, by now ice floes make
resupply across the river impossible, though the advance has split Soviet
forces in two, completely surrounded pockets.
The Germans have focused so completely on taking Stalingrad that they have
neglected to secure their flanks outside of the city.
These flanks are being defended by Hungarian, Italian, and other client state
forces, who are nowhere near as well equipped or trained as the Germans. They are also severely
lacking in anti-tank weapons. The Germans have failed to secure the
natural line of defense, the Don River, outside of the city,
and what defenders there are, are spread dangerously thin across a wide front.
This is not lost on Soviet high command, and on November 19th they launch Operation Uranus. A
massive attack on the northern flank is launched with three complete
armies consisting of the 1st Guards Army, 5th Tank Army, and 21st Army,
consiting of a total of 18 infantry divisions, eight tank brigades,
two motorised brigades, six cavalry divisions and one anti-tank brigade. The Romanians have been
capturing radio intercepts of the pending attack for days, but their request for reinforcements go
completely ignored. In short order, the Romanian 3rd Army is completely overrun, and Soviet forces
penetrate deep into the German rear areas. Incredibly, the Germans have taken no steps
to secure their rear, and the Soviets are able to push far
south. Bad weather grounds the Luftwaffe, which is unable to conduct air operations to help repel the
assault. On the 20th of November, Soviet forces launch
a second offensive south of Stalingrad against the Romania 4th Army Corps. These Romanian forces
are largely made up of infantry and lack in anti- tank weapons, thus they are easily routed
by Soviet tank forces. Three days later, on November 23rd,
Soviet forces from the northern and southern attacks meet at the town of Kalach,
effectively trapping the German 6th Army
and supporting forces inside Stalingrad. In total, 265,000 enemy forces have been
trapped inside Stalingrad, the city they had fought so hard to
take. Like a mouse straining for cheese on a trap, the Germans were now stuck.
On November 24th, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein implores Hitler not to order the 6th Army to
break out of its encirclement and abandon Stalingrad. Herman Goring,
head of the Luftwaffe, also assures Hitler that he will be
able to keep the 6th Army resupplied via air drops. The two convince
Hitler- and seal the fate of the 6th Army. December, 1942
Incredibly, Hitler orders that Army Group A continue its progress
invading the Caucasus south of Stalingrad rather than redirect
to help lift the envelopment of the 6th Army. Hitler still believes that
another relief force can be assembled and that the Luftwaffe can keep the 6th Army resupplied.
However, the trapped Germans require 700 tons of supplies a day,
and the Luftwaffe is hard pressed to deliver an average of 106 tons a day.
It soon becomes clear to Manstein that this is a completely
untenable situation, and he implores Hitler to enact a plan for the 6th Army to break out.
The Soviets meanwhile launch attacks on the air fields
being used to land supplies. On December 23rd, the Soviet 24th Tank Corps push into Skassirskaya,
deep behind German lines in order to neutralize nearby air fields. On the morning of the 24th,
Soviet tanks reach Tatsinskaya and destroy many German
planes there. Now the Germans are forced to move their resupply
efforts to an air field 190 miles (300 km) from Stalingrad, adding even more time
and difficulties to the air resupply operations. Nonetheless, the air resupply attempts continue
and soon begin to dwindle due to ongoing losses of aircraft and crews. Soviet anti-air guns
and fighters alike take a heavy toll on German aircraft trying to
land supplies to the beleaguered 6th Army. 165 transport aircraft are destroyed and 328 heavily
damaged beyond repair. 266 Junkers Ju 52s are destroyed,
along with 42 Ju 86s, 9 Fw 200 Condors, 5 He 177 bombers, and 1 Ju 290.
1,000 pilots and aircrew are lost in the attempts to keep the 6th Army
inside Stalingrad resupplied. On the ground, the German army launches Operation
Winter Storm, an offensive to try and break through to the 6th Army. Hitler has signed
off on the attack, but insisted that the 6th Army not try to
reach the advancing German forces by launching its own breakout
attack in their direction. Instead, he insists that the 6th Army remain in place,
believing them to be a critical 'cornerstone' on the river Volga.
By the 19th of December, German forces are within 30 miles (48 km) of the 6th Army,
and some officers insist that Hitler's
orders be defied and the 6th Army break out from its position to link up with German
forces. Those requests go ignored however. The Soviets however launched their own
attack on the 16th of December, aimed at punching through the
mostly Italian contingent of the Axis army on the Don.
The Italians fight surprisingly well- a rarety in this war- but ultimately three days later they can
no longer hold off the advancing Soviets. With the entire relief effort collapsing,
Manstein pleads with Hitler to order the 6th Army to break out, but Hitler
refuses. It's just as well, as by now the 6th Army doesn't have the fuel
necessary to attempt a break out, and doing so on foot in winter
conditions would have likely ended in disaster. German forces now shift
from attempting to link up with the Stalingrad pocket to defending against brutal Soviet
counterattacks. January, 1943
On the 7th of January, the Red Army High Command send three envoys into the city with terms of
surrender. The Soviets deliver terms to German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus. The terms are very
generous- if he agrees to surrender within 24 hours,
all prisoners would be guaranteed safe, humane treatment with medical care given to all injured
or sick. Prisoners would also be given proper food rations and allowed to keep personal belongings.
Further, after the war they would be allowed to repatriate to any country of their choice.
Paulus contacts Hitler and asks for permission to surrender.
Hitler however flat out rejects it- the 6th Army may no longer be an effective fighting force,
its men starving and with barely any ammunition left, but they are tying up a significant
number of Russian forces. The Germans retreat into the
Stalingrad suburbs, losing the vital air fieldsl at Pitomnik and Gumrak.
This means resupply and air evacuation of the wounded is only possible at the
Stalingradskaya flight school, but landings
there end on the 23rd of January. Only intermittent air drops of supplies will
continue from this moment on- the 6th Army has been all but completely abandoned.
Bloody urban combat ensued, with the Soviets steadily
pushing the Germans back towards the Volga river. The Germans refuse to surrender, believing
the Soviets will simply kill any prisoners taken. Some Soviet citizens, unhappy with Stalin's
regime, have joined with the Germans, and they fight like
caged animals, knowing that they for sure will be killed if captured.
On January 22nd, Paulus is once more given terms of surrender. He contacts Hitler and informs him
that he can no longer command his men as they have no more ammunition or food. Hitler however
once more denies him the opportunity to surrender, and
instead orders that he and his men stand fast “to the last soldier and the last bullet”. He promises
Paulus that he and his men have made a historic contribution to one of the greatest struggles in
German history, and will be remembered as heroes. On January 26th, German forces have been split by
a Soviet thrust into two pockets. The northern pocket consists of the 8th Corps and the
11th Corps, and they are cut off from communication with
Paulus by Soviet forces. Two days later, the defensive pockets are once more split,
this time into three parts, with the northern
pocket containing the 11th Corps, the central pocket the 8th and 51st Corps, and
the southern the 14th Panzer Corps and the Fourth Corps. The Germans now have 40,000 to 50,000
sick and wounded. On January 30th,
in response to Paulus' notification that the entire army will likely collapse by the end
of the day, Hitler issues field promotions to several
officers in the Sixth Army. He promotes Paulus to Generalfieldmarschall, and reminds Paulus that no
German or Prussian field marshal has ever surrendered in combat. This comes with
the implication that if Paulus surrenders, he will be shaming
himself for eternity. The next day the southern
pocket collapses and Soviet forces take the German headquarters, capturing
Paulus who claims that he was taken by surprise. He refuses
to issue an order for the northern pocket to surrender. The central pocket surrenders
a few hours later. February, 1943
On February 2nd, the northern pocket officially surrenders to the Soviets.
An estimated 91,000 German prisoners of war are captured,
many of them wounded, sick, or starving. Few of them will survive
brutal Soviet POW camps to make it back home to Germany after the war.
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