The Battle of Stalingrad briefly the most important thing. Battle of Stalingrad: causes, course and consequences When was the battle of Stalingrad in WWII
The Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all battles in world history at that time in terms of the duration and ferocity of the fighting, the number of people and military equipment involved.
At certain stages, over 2 million people, up to 2 thousand tanks, more than 2 thousand aircraft, and up to 26 thousand guns took part in it on both sides. The Nazi troops lost more than 800 thousand soldiers and officers killed, wounded, and captured, as well as a large amount of military equipment, weapons and equipment.
Defense of Stalingrad (now Volgograd)
In accordance with the plan for the summer offensive campaign of 1942, the German command, concentrating large forces in the southwestern direction, expected to defeat Soviet troops, enter the Great Bend of the Don, immediately capture Stalingrad and capture the Caucasus, and then resume the offensive in the Moscow direction.
For the attack on Stalingrad, the 6th Army was allocated from Army Group B (commander - Colonel General F. von Paulus). By July 17, it included 13 divisions, which included about 270 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars and about 500 tanks. They were supported by aviation from the 4th Air Fleet - up to 1,200 combat aircraft.
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command moved the 62nd, 63rd and 64th armies from its reserve to the Stalingrad direction. On July 12, on the basis of the field command of the troops of the Southwestern Front, the Stalingrad Front was created under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko. On July 23, Lieutenant General V.N. Gordov was appointed commander of the front. The front also included the 21st, 28th, 38th, 57th combined arms and 8th air armies of the former Southwestern Front, and from July 30 - the 51st Army of the North Caucasus Front. At the same time, the 57th, as well as the 38th and 28th armies, on the basis of which the 1st and 4th tank armies were formed, were in reserve. The Volga military flotilla was subordinate to the front commander.
The newly created front began to carry out the task with only 12 divisions, in which there were 160 thousand soldiers and commanders, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars and about 400 tanks; the 8th Air Army had 454 aircraft.
In addition, 150-200 long-range bombers and 60 air defense fighters were involved. In the initial period of defensive operations near Stalingrad, the enemy outnumbered the Soviet troops in personnel by 1.7 times, in artillery and tanks by 1.3 times, and in the number of aircraft by more than 2 times.
On July 14, 1942, Stalingrad was declared under martial law. On the approaches to the city, four defensive contours were built: external, middle, internal and urban. The entire population, including children, was mobilized to build defensive structures. The factories of Stalingrad completely switched to the production of military products. Militia units and workers' self-defense units were created in factories and enterprises. Civilians, equipment of individual enterprises and material assets were evacuated to the left bank of the Volga.
Defensive battles began on the distant approaches to Stalingrad. The main efforts of the troops of the Stalingrad Front were concentrated in the large bend of the Don, where the 62nd and 64th armies occupied the defense in order to prevent the enemy from crossing the river and breaking through by the shortest route to Stalingrad. From July 17, the forward detachments of these armies fought defensive battles for 6 days at the turn of the Chir and Tsimla rivers. This allowed us to gain time to strengthen the defense on the main line. Despite the steadfastness, courage and tenacity shown by the troops, the armies of the Stalingrad Front were unable to defeat the invading enemy groups, and they had to retreat to the near approaches to the city.
On July 23-29, the 6th German Army attempted to encircle the flanks of the Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don, reach the Kalach area and break through to Stalingrad from the west. As a result of the stubborn defense of the 62nd and 64th armies and a counterattack by formations of the 1st and 4th tank armies, the enemy's plan was thwarted.
Defense of Stalingrad. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
On July 31, the German command turned the 4th Panzer Army Colonel General G. Goth from the Caucasian to the Stalingrad direction. On August 2, its advanced units reached Kotelnikovsky, creating the threat of a breakthrough to the city. Fighting began on the southwestern approaches to Stalingrad.
To facilitate the control of troops stretched over a 500 km zone, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on August 7 formed a new one from several armies of the Stalingrad Front - the South-Eastern Front, the command of which was entrusted to Colonel General A. I. Eremenko. The main efforts of the Stalingrad Front were directed towards the fight against the 6th German Army, which was attacking Stalingrad from the west and north-west, and the South-Eastern Front - towards the defense of the south-western direction. On August 9-10, troops of the South-Eastern Front launched a counterattack on the 4th Tank Army and forced it to stop.
On August 21, the infantry of the German 6th Army crossed the Don and built bridges, after which the tank divisions moved to Stalingrad. At the same time, Hoth's tanks began attacking from the south and southwest. 23 August 4th Air Army von Richthofen subjected the city to a massive bombardment, dropping more than 1,000 tons of bombs on the city.
Tank formations of the 6th Army moved towards the city, meeting almost no resistance, but in the Gumrak area they had to overcome the positions of anti-aircraft gun crews that had been deployed to fight the tanks until the evening. Nevertheless, on August 23, the 14th Tank Corps of the 6th Army managed to break through to the Volga north of Stalingrad near the village of Latoshinka. The enemy wanted to immediately break into the city through its northern outskirts, but along with army units, militia units, Stalingrad police, the 10th division of the NKVD troops, sailors of the Volga military flotilla, and cadets of military schools stood up to defend the city.
The enemy's breakthrough to the Volga further complicated and worsened the position of the units defending the city. The Soviet command took measures to destroy the enemy group that had broken through to the Volga. Until September 10, the troops of the Stalingrad Front and the Headquarters reserves transferred to it launched continuous counterattacks from the north-west on the left flank of the 6th German Army. It was not possible to push the enemy back from the Volga, but the enemy offensive on the northwestern approaches to Stalingrad was suspended. The 62nd Army found itself cut off from the rest of the troops of the Stalingrad Front and was transferred to the South-Eastern Front.
From September 12, the defense of Stalingrad was entrusted to the 62nd Army, the command of which was taken by General V.I. Chuikov, and troops of the 64th Army General M.S. Shumilov. On the same day, German troops, after another bombing, began an attack on the city from all directions. In the north, the main target was Mamayev Kurgan, from the height of which the crossing of the Volga was clearly visible; in the center, German infantry was making its way to the railway station; in the south, Hoth’s tanks, with the support of infantry, were gradually moving towards the elevator.
On September 13, the Soviet command decided to transfer the 13th Guards Rifle Division to the city. Having crossed the Volga for two nights, the guards pushed back German troops from the area of the central crossing across the Volga and cleared many streets and neighborhoods of them. On September 16, troops of the 62nd Army, supported by aviation, stormed Mamaev Kurgan. Fierce battles for the southern and central parts of the city continued until the end of the month.
On September 21, at the front from Mamayev Kurgan to the Zatsaritsyn part of the city, the Germans launched a new offensive with five divisions. A day later, on September 22, the 62nd Army was cut into two parts: the Germans reached the central crossing north of the Tsaritsa River. From here they had the opportunity to view almost the entire rear of the army and conduct an offensive along the coast, cutting off Soviet units from the river.
By September 26, the Germans managed to come close to the Volga in almost all areas. Nevertheless, Soviet troops continued to hold a narrow strip of the coast, and in some places even individual buildings at some distance from the embankment. Many objects changed hands many times.
The fighting in the city became protracted. Paulus’s troops lacked the strength to finally throw the city’s defenders into the Volga, and the Soviet troops lacked the strength to drive the Germans out of their positions.
The fight was fought for each building, and sometimes for part of the building, floor or basement. Snipers were actively working. The use of aviation and artillery became almost impossible due to the proximity of enemy formations.
From September 27 to October 4, active hostilities were carried out on the northern outskirts for the villages of the Red October and Barricades factories, and from October 4 - for these factories themselves.
At the same time, the Germans launched an attack in the center on Mamayev Kurgan and on the extreme right flank of the 62nd Army in the Orlovka area. By the evening of September 27, Mamayev Kurgan fell. An extremely difficult situation developed in the area of the mouth of the Tsaritsa River, from where Soviet units, experiencing an acute shortage of ammunition and food and having lost control, began to cross to the left bank of the Volga. The 62nd Army responded with counterattacks from newly arriving reserves.
They were rapidly melting, however, the losses of the 6th Army were taking on catastrophic proportions.
It included almost all the armies of the Stalingrad Front, except the 62nd. The commander was appointed General K.K. Rokossovsky. From the South-Eastern Front, whose troops fought in the city and to the south, the Stalingrad Front was formed under the command of General A.I. Eremenko. Each front reported directly to Headquarters.
Commander of the Don Front Konstantin Rokossovsky and General Pavel Batov (right) in a trench near Stalingrad. Reproduction of a photograph. Photo: RIA Novosti
By the end of the first ten days of October, enemy attacks began to weaken, but in the middle of the month Paulus launched a new assault. On October 14, German troops, after powerful air and artillery preparation, went on the attack again.
Several divisions were advancing on an area of about 5 km. This enemy offensive, which lasted almost three weeks, led to the most fierce battle in the city.
On October 15, the Germans managed to capture the Stalingrad Tractor Plant and break through to the Volga, cutting the 62nd Army in half. After this, they began an offensive along the Volga bank to the south. On October 17, the 138th Division arrived in the army to support Chuikov’s weakened formations. Fresh forces repulsed enemy attacks, and from October 18, Paulus's ram began to noticeably lose its strength.
To ease the situation of the 62nd Army, on October 19, troops of the Don Front went on the offensive from the area north of the city. The territorial success of the flank counterattacks was insignificant, but they delayed the regrouping undertaken by Paulus.
By the end of October, the offensive actions of the 6th Army had slowed down, although in the area between the Barrikady and Red October factories there was no more than 400 m to go to the Volga. Nevertheless, the tension of the fighting eased, and the Germans mostly consolidated the captured positions.
On November 11, the last attempt was made to capture the city. This time the offensive was carried out by five infantry and two tank divisions, reinforced by fresh sapper battalions. The Germans managed to capture another section of the coast 500-600 m long in the area of the Barricades plant, but this was the last success of the 6th Army.
In other areas, Chuikov’s troops held their positions.
The advance of German troops in the Stalingrad direction was finally stopped.
By the end of the defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 62nd Army held the area north of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, the Barricades plant and the northeastern quarters of the city center. The 64th Army defended the approaches.
During the period of defensive battles for Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht, according to Soviet data, lost up to 700 thousand soldiers and officers killed and wounded, more than 1,000 tanks, over 2,000 guns and mortars, and more than 1,400 aircraft in July - November. The total losses of the Red Army in the Stalingrad defensive operation amounted to 643,842 people, 1,426 tanks, 12,137 guns and mortars, and 2,063 aircraft.
Soviet troops exhausted and bled the enemy group operating near Stalingrad, which created favorable conditions for launching a counteroffensive.
Stalingrad offensive operation
By the fall of 1942, the technical re-equipment of the Red Army was basically completed. At factories located deep in the rear and evacuated, mass production of new military equipment was established, which was not only not inferior, but often superior to the equipment and weapons of the Wehrmacht. During the past battles, Soviet troops gained combat experience. The moment came when it was necessary to wrest the initiative from the enemy and begin their mass expulsion from the borders of the Soviet Union.
With the participation of the military councils of the fronts at Headquarters, a plan for the Stalingrad offensive operation was developed.
Soviet troops had to launch a decisive counter-offensive on a front of 400 km, encircle and destroy the enemy strike force concentrated in the Stalingrad area. This task was entrusted to the troops of three fronts - Southwestern ( Commander General N.F. Vatutin), Donskoy ( Commander General K.K. Rokossovsky) and Stalingrad ( Commander General A. I. Eremenko).
The forces of the parties were approximately equal, although the Soviet troops already had a slight superiority over the enemy in tanks, artillery and aviation. In such conditions, for the successful completion of the operation, it was necessary to create a significant superiority in forces in the directions of the main attacks, which was achieved with great skill. Success was ensured primarily due to the fact that special attention was paid to operational camouflage. The troops moved to the given positions only at night, while the radio points of the units remained in the same places, continuing to work, so that the enemy would have the impression that the units remained in the same positions. All correspondence was prohibited, and orders were given only orally, and only to the immediate executors.
The Soviet command concentrated more than a million people on the main attack in a 60 km sector, supported by 900 T-34 tanks fresh from the production line. Such a concentration of military equipment at the front has never happened before.
One of the centers of battles in Stalingrad was the elevator. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The German command did not show due attention to the position of its Army Group B, because... expected an offensive by Soviet troops against Army Group Center.
Commander of Group B, General Weichs did not agree with this opinion. He was concerned about the bridgehead prepared by the enemy on the right bank of the Don opposite his formations. At his urgent request, by the end of October, several newly formed Luftwaffe field units were transferred to the Don to strengthen the defensive positions of the Italian, Hungarian and Romanian formations.
Weichs' predictions were confirmed in early November when aerial photographs showed several new crossings in the area. Two days later, Hitler ordered the 6th Panzer and two infantry divisions to be transferred from the English Channel to Army Group B as reserve reinforcements for the 8th Italian and 3rd Romanian armies. It took about five weeks to prepare them and transport them to Russia. Hitler, however, did not expect any significant action from the enemy until early December, so, according to his calculations, reinforcements should have arrived on time.
By the second week of November, with the appearance of Soviet tank units on the bridgehead, Weichs no longer doubted that a major offensive was being prepared in the zone of the 3rd Romanian Army, which, possibly, would be directed against the German 4th Panzer Army. Since all his reserves were at Stalingrad, Weichs decided to form a new group within the 48th Panzer Corps, which he placed behind the Romanian 3rd Army. He also transferred the 3rd Romanian Armored Division to this corps and was going to transfer the 29th Motorized Division of the 4th Panzer Army to the same corps, but changed his mind because he expected an offensive also in the area where the Gotha formations were located. However, all the efforts made by Weichs turned out to be clearly insufficient, and the High Command was more interested in increasing the power of the 6th Army for the decisive battle for Stalingrad, rather than in strengthening the weak flanks of General Weichs' formations.
On November 19, at 8:50 a.m., after a powerful, almost one and a half hour artillery preparation, despite fog and heavy snowfall, the troops of the Southwestern and Don Fronts, located northwest of Stalingrad, went on the offensive. The 5th Tank, 1st Guards and 21st Armies acted against the 3rd Romanian Army.
The 5th Tank Army alone consisted of six rifle divisions, two tank corps, one cavalry corps and several artillery, aviation and anti-aircraft missile regiments. Due to the sharp deterioration of weather conditions, aviation was inactive.
It also turned out that during the artillery barrage, the enemy’s fire weapons were not completely suppressed, which is why the advance of the Soviet troops at some point slowed down. Having assessed the situation, the commander of the Southwestern Front, Lieutenant General N.F. Vatutin, decided to introduce tank corps into the battle, which made it possible to finally break into the Romanian defenses and develop the offensive.
On the Don Front, especially fierce battles took place in the offensive zone of the right-flank formations of the 65th Army. The first two lines of enemy trenches, running along the coastal hills, were captured on the move. However, the decisive battles took place over the third line, which ran along the chalk heights. They represented a powerful defense unit. The location of the heights made it possible to bombard all approaches to them with crossfire. All the hollows and steep slopes of the heights were mined and covered with wire fences, and the approaches to them were crossed by deep and winding ravines. The Soviet infantry that reached this line was forced to lie down under heavy fire from dismounted units of the Romanian cavalry division, reinforced by German units.
The enemy carried out fierce counterattacks, trying to push the attackers back to their original position. It was not possible to bypass the heights at that moment, and after a powerful artillery attack, the soldiers of the 304th Infantry Division launched an assault on enemy fortifications. Despite hurricane machine-gun and machine gun fire, by 16:00 the enemy's stubborn resistance was broken.
As a result of the first day of the offensive, the troops of the Southwestern Front achieved the greatest successes. They broke through the defenses in two areas: southwest of the city of Serafimovich and in the Kletskaya area. A gap up to 16 km wide opened in the enemy defenses.
On November 20, the Stalingrad Front went on the offensive south of Stalingrad. This came as a complete surprise to the Germans. The offensive of the Stalingrad Front also began in unfavorable weather conditions.
It was decided to begin artillery training in each army as soon as the necessary conditions for this were created. It was necessary to abandon its simultaneous implementation on a front-line scale, however, as well as aviation training. Due to limited visibility, it was necessary to fire at unobservable targets, with the exception of those guns that were deployed for direct fire. Despite this, the enemy's fire system was largely disrupted.
Soviet soldiers are fighting in the streets. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
After artillery preparation, which lasted 40-75 minutes, formations of the 51st and 57th armies went on the offensive.
Having broken through the defenses of the 4th Romanian Army and repelled numerous counterattacks, they began to develop their success in a western direction. By mid-day, conditions had been created for introducing army mobile groups into the breakthrough.
Rifle formations of the armies advanced after the mobile groups, consolidating the success achieved.
To close the gap, the command of the 4th Romanian Army had to bring its last reserve into the battle - two regiments of the 8th Cavalry Division. But this could not save the situation. The front collapsed, and the remnants of the Romanian troops fled.
The messages received painted a bleak picture: the front was cut, the Romanians were fleeing the battlefield, and the counterattack of the 48th Tank Corps was thwarted.
The Red Army went on the offensive south of Stalingrad, and the 4th Romanian Army defending there was defeated.
The Luftwaffe command reported that due to bad weather, aviation could not support ground troops. On the operational maps, the prospect of encircling the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht clearly emerged. The red arrows of the attacks of the Soviet troops hung dangerously over its flanks and were about to close in between the Volga and Don rivers. During almost continuous meetings at Hitler's headquarters, there was a feverish search for a way out of the current situation. It was urgent to make a decision about the fate of the 6th Army. Hitler himself, as well as Keitel and Jodl, considered it necessary to hold positions in the Stalingrad area and limit ourselves only to a regrouping of forces. The OKH leadership and the command of Army Group B found the only way to avoid disaster was to withdraw the troops of the 6th Army beyond the Don. However, Hitler's position was categorical. As a result, it was decided to transfer two tank divisions from the North Caucasus to Stalingrad.
The Wehrmacht command still hoped to stop the advance of the Soviet troops with counterattacks from tank formations. The 6th Army received orders to remain in its original location. Hitler assured her command that he would not allow the army to be encircled, and if this did happen, he would take all measures to relieve the blockade.
While the German command was looking for ways to prevent the impending catastrophe, Soviet troops were building on the success they had achieved. During a daring night operation, a unit of the 26th Tank Corps managed to capture the only surviving crossing across the Don near the city of Kalach. The capture of this bridge was of enormous operational significance. The rapid overcoming of this major water barrier by Soviet troops ensured the successful completion of the operation to encircle enemy troops at Stalingrad.
By the end of November 22, the troops of the Stalingrad and Southwestern fronts were separated by only 20-25 km. On the evening of November 22, Stalin ordered the commander of the Stalingrad Front, Eremenko, to link up tomorrow with the advanced troops of the Southwestern Front, which had reached Kalach, and close the encirclement.
Anticipating such a development of events and in order to prevent the complete encirclement of the 6th Field Army, the German command urgently transferred the 14th Tank Corps to the area east of Kalach. Throughout the night of November 23 and the first half of the next day, units of the Soviet 4th Mechanized Corps held back the onslaught of enemy tank units rushing south and did not let them through.
The commander of the 6th Army already at 18:00 on November 22 radioed to the headquarters of Army Group B that the army was surrounded, the ammunition situation was critical, fuel reserves were running out, and there would only be enough food for 12 days. Since the Wehrmacht command on the Don did not have any forces that could relieve the encircled army, Paulus turned to Headquarters with a request for an independent breakthrough from the encirclement. However, his request remained unanswered.
Red Army soldier with a banner. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Instead, he received orders to immediately head to the cauldron, where he would organize a perimeter defense and wait for outside help.
On November 23, troops from all three fronts continued their offensive. On this day the operation reached its culmination.
Two brigades of the 26th Tank Corps crossed the Don and launched an attack on Kalach in the morning. A stubborn battle ensued. The enemy resisted fiercely, realizing the importance of holding this city. Nevertheless, by 2 p.m. he was driven out of Kalach, where the main supply base for the entire Stalingrad group was located. All the numerous warehouses with fuel, ammunition, food and other military equipment located there were either destroyed by the Germans themselves or captured by Soviet troops.
At about 16:00 on November 23, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts met in the Sovetsky area, thus completing the encirclement of the enemy’s Stalingrad group. Despite the fact that instead of the planned two or three days, the operation took five days to complete, success was achieved.
A depressing atmosphere reigned at Hitler's headquarters after the news of the encirclement of the 6th Army arrived. Despite the obviously catastrophic situation of the 6th Army, Hitler did not even want to hear about the abandonment of Stalingrad, because... in this case, all the successes of the summer offensive in the south would have been nullified, and with them all hopes of conquering the Caucasus would have disappeared. In addition, it was believed that a battle with superior forces of Soviet troops in an open field, in harsh winter conditions, with limited means of transportation, fuel supplies and ammunition, had too little chance of a favorable outcome. Therefore, it is better to gain a foothold in your positions and strive to unblock the group. This point of view was supported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Reichsmarschall G. Goering, who assured the Fuhrer that his aircraft would provide supplies to the encircled group by air. On the morning of November 24, the 6th Army was ordered to take up a perimeter defense and wait for a relief attack from the outside.
Violent passions also flared up at the headquarters of the 6th Army on November 23. The encirclement ring around the 6th Army had just closed, and a decision had to be made urgently. There was still no response to Paulus’s radiogram, in which he requested “freedom of action.” But Paulus did not dare to take responsibility for the breakthrough. By his order, corps commanders gathered for a meeting at army headquarters to develop a plan for further action.
Commander of the 51st Army Corps General W. Seydlitz-Kurzbach spoke in favor of an immediate breakthrough. He was supported by the commander of the 14th Tank Corps General G. Hube.
But the majority of corps commanders, led by the Chief of Army Staff General A. Schmidt spoke out against. Things got to the point that during the heated argument, the commander of the 8th Army Corps, who became enraged, General W. Geitz threatened to shoot Seydlitz himself if he insisted on disobeying the Fuhrer. In the end, everyone agreed that they should approach Hitler for permission to break through. At 23:45, such a radiogram was sent. The answer came the next morning. In it, the troops of the 6th Army, surrounded in Stalingrad, were called “troops of the Stalingrad fortress”, and a breakthrough was denied. Paulus again gathered the corps commanders and conveyed the Fuhrer's order to them.
Some of the generals tried to express their counterarguments, but the army commander rejected all objections.
An urgent transfer of troops from Stalingrad began to the western sector of the front. In a short time, the enemy managed to create a group of six divisions. To pin down his forces in Stalingrad itself, on November 23, the 62nd Army of General V.I. Chuikov went on the offensive. Its troops attacked the Germans at Mamayev Kurgan and in the area of the Red October plant, but met fierce resistance. The depth of their advance during the day did not exceed 100-200 m.
By November 24, the encirclement ring was thin, an attempt to break through it could bring success, it was only necessary to remove troops from the Volga Front. But Paulus was too cautious and indecisive a man, a general who was used to obeying and carefully weighing his actions. He obeyed the order. He subsequently admitted to his staff officers: “It is possible that the daredevil Reichenau after November 19, he would have made his way to the west with the 6th Army and then told Hitler: “Now you can judge me.” But, you know, unfortunately, I am not Reichenau.”
On November 27, the Fuhrer ordered Field Marshal von Manstein prepare a relief blockade for the 6th Field Army. Hitler relied on new heavy tanks, the Tigers, hoping that they would be able to break through the encirclement from the outside. Despite the fact that these vehicles had not yet been tested in combat and no one knew how they would behave in the Russian winter, he believed that even one Tiger battalion could radically change the situation at Stalingrad.
While Manstein was receiving reinforcements arriving from the Caucasus and preparing the operation, Soviet troops expanded the outer ring and strengthened it. When Hoth's tank group made a breakthrough on December 12, it was able to break through the positions of the Soviet troops, and its advanced units were separated from Paulus by less than 50 km. But Hitler forbade Friedrich Paulus to expose the Volga Front and, leaving Stalingrad, to fight his way towards Hoth’s “tigers,” which finally decided the fate of the 6th Army.
By January 1943, the enemy was driven back from the Stalingrad “cauldron” to 170-250 km. The death of the encircled troops became inevitable. Almost the entire territory they occupied was covered by Soviet artillery fire. Despite Goering’s promise, in practice, the average daily power of aviation in supplying the 6th Army could not exceed 100 tons instead of the required 500. In addition, the delivery of goods to the encircled groups in Stalingrad and other “cauldrons” caused huge losses in German aviation.
The ruins of the Barmaley fountain, which became one of the symbols of Stalingrad. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
On January 10, 1943, Colonel General Paulus, despite the hopeless situation of his army, refused to capitulate, trying to pin down the Soviet troops surrounding him as much as possible. On the same day, the Red Army began an operation to destroy the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. In the last days of January, Soviet troops pushed the remnants of Paulus's army into a small area of the completely destroyed city and dismembered the Wehrmacht units continuing to defend. On January 24, 1943, General Paulus sent Hitler one of the last radiograms, in which he reported that the group was on the verge of destruction and proposed to evacuate valuable specialists. Hitler again forbade the remnants of the 6th Army to break through to his own and refused to remove anyone from the “cauldron” except the wounded.
On the night of January 31, the 38th Motorized Rifle Brigade and the 329th Engineer Battalion blocked the area of the department store where Paulus' headquarters was located. The last radiogram that the commander of the 6th Army received was an order to promote him to field marshal, which the headquarters regarded as an invitation to suicide. Early in the morning, two Soviet envoys made their way into the basement of a dilapidated building and gave the field marshal an ultimatum. In the afternoon, Paulus rose to the surface and went to the headquarters of the Don Front, where Rokossovsky was waiting for him with the text of surrender. However, despite the fact that the field marshal surrendered and signed the capitulation, in the northern part of Stalingrad the German garrison under the command of Colonel General Stecker refused to accept the terms of surrender and was destroyed by concentrated heavy artillery fire. At 16.00 on February 2, 1943, the terms of surrender of the 6th Wehrmacht Field Army came into force.
Hitler's government declared mourning in the country.
For three days the funeral ringing of church bells sounded over German cities and villages.
Since the Great Patriotic War, Soviet historical literature has stated that a 330,000-strong enemy group was surrounded in the Stalingrad area, although this figure is not confirmed by any documentary data.
The German side's point of view on this issue is ambiguous. However, with all the diversity of opinions, the figure most often cited is 250-280 thousand people. This value is consistent with the total number of evacuees (25 thousand people), captured (91 thousand people) and enemy soldiers killed and buried in the battle area (about 160 thousand). The vast majority of those who surrendered also died from hypothermia and typhus, and after almost 12 years in Soviet camps, only 6 thousand people returned to their homeland.
Kotelnikovsky operation Having completed the encirclement of a large group of German troops near Stalingrad, the troops of the 51st Army of the Stalingrad Front (commander - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko) in November 1942 came from the north to the approaches to the village of Kotelnikovsky, where they gained a foothold and went on the defensive.
The German command made every effort to break through a corridor to the 6th Army surrounded by Soviet troops. For this purpose, in early December in the area of the village. Kotelnikovsky, a strike force was created consisting of 13 divisions (including 3 tank and 1 motorized) and a number of reinforcement units under the command of Colonel General G. Goth - the army group "Goth". The group included a battalion of heavy Tiger tanks, which were first used on the southern sector of the Soviet-German front. In the direction of the main attack, which was delivered along the Kotelnikovsky-Stalingrad railway, the enemy managed to create a temporary advantage over the defending troops of the 51st Army in men and artillery by 2 times, and in the number of tanks by more than 6 times.
They broke through the defenses of the Soviet troops and on the second day reached the area of the village of Verkhnekumsky. In order to divert part of the forces of the shock group, on December 14, in the area of the village of Nizhnechirskaya, the 5th Shock Army of the Stalingrad Front went on the offensive. She broke through the German defenses and captured the village, but the position of the 51st Army remained difficult. The enemy continued the offensive, while the army and the front no longer had any reserves left. The Soviet Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, trying to prevent the enemy from breaking through and releasing the encircled German troops, allocated the 2nd Guards Army and the Mechanized Corps from its reserve to strengthen the Stalingrad Front, giving them the task of defeating the enemy’s strike force.
On December 19, having suffered significant losses, Goth's group reached the Myshkova River. There were 35-40 km left to the encircled group, but Paulus’s troops were ordered to remain in their positions and not launch a counterattack, and Hoth was no longer able to advance further.
On December 24, having jointly created approximately double superiority over the enemy, the 2nd Guards and 51st armies, with the assistance of part of the forces of the 5th Shock Army, went on the offensive. The main blow against the Kotelnikov group was delivered by the 2nd Guards Army with fresh forces. The 51st Army attacked Kotelnikovsky from the east, while simultaneously enveloping the Gotha group from the south with tank and mechanized corps. On the first day of the offensive, troops of the 2nd Guards Army broke through the enemy's battle formations and captured crossings across the Myshkova River. Mobile formations were introduced into the breakthrough and began to rapidly advance towards Kotelnikovsky.
On December 27, the 7th Tank Corps approached Kotelnikovsky from the west, and the 6th Mechanized Corps bypassed Kotelnikovsky from the southeast. At the same time, the tank and mechanized corps of the 51st Army cut off the enemy group’s escape route to the southwest. Continuous attacks on the retreating enemy troops were carried out by aircraft of the 8th Air Army. On December 29, Kotelnikovsky was released and the threat of an enemy breakthrough was finally eliminated.
As a result of the Soviet counteroffensive, the enemy's attempt to relieve the 6th Army encircled at Stalingrad was thwarted, and German troops were thrown back 200-250 km from the outer front of the encirclement.
Battle of Stalingrad - one of the most important battles of World War II, victory in which allowed Soviet troops to turn the entire course of hostilities and achieve the complete defeat of German troops.
Events leading up to the Battle of Stalingrad
After the treacherous attack June 22, 1941 Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, the main goal of the German command was the capture of Moscow.
Intoxicated by successes in Europe, German leaders planned to defeat the Red Army within three months, capture the Soviet capital and victoriously end the war. At first, the fighting did not go in favor of the Soviet troops.
They were forced to retreat. By the end of November 1941 The Germans in some sectors of the front were able to approach Moscow at a distance of up to 20 km.
However, the active resistance of the Red Army exhausted the German troops, their offensive potential dried up, which allowed the Soviet army to launch a counteroffensive and push the Germans back to 250 km from Moscow.
The Soviet command assumed that the Germans would continue their attack on the capital of the USSR, and placed the main forces in this direction. However, the leadership of the German army decided to capture the southern regions of the Soviet Union. This made it possible to take possession of the oil-bearing centers of the Caucasus and deprive the Red Army of fuel.
In addition, communication between the central regions and Transcaucasia and Central Asia was disrupted, which would have undermined Soviet industry.
Defensive phase of the battle
The German offensive began in July 1942. They managed to break through the defenses of the Red Army and approach Stalingrad. The entire population rose to his defense. Enemy aircraft subjected the city to a terrible bombardment, as a result of which entire neighborhoods were destroyed or destroyed.
Many civilians died. But the rapid advance of the Germans was hampered by the active actions of the Soviet troops. The battle went on for every street, for every house. Fierce fighting took place Mamayev Kurgan, a height dominating the city, which was of great strategic importance.
Currently, a memorial complex dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad has been opened here. Despite the fact that the Germans shelled the Volga waters, throughout the entire battle military reserves, ammunition and food were constantly transported from the left bank to the right bank, and civilians were constantly transferred back.
The warring parties were sometimes separated by several tens of meters or the wall of a house, which did not allow the use of artillery or aviation, since it was possible to hit friendly forces. Often the battles turned into hand-to-hand combat. Snipers caused great damage to the enemy.
But the advantage was on the side of the Germans, and by early November, almost the entire city was captured. Soviet troops continued to defend only a small bridgehead on the banks of the Volga. However, the German troops also suffered heavy losses and could not develop a further offensive.
Offensive phase of the battle
In September 1942, during fierce defensive battles, the Soviet command began to develop a plan to destroy the Stalingrad enemy group. Having correctly chosen the moment when the offensive capabilities of the German troops had dried up, from November 19 to 23, powerful flank attacks were carried out, thanks to which it was possible to partially encircle and block the enemy group.
If the German troops had retreated in time, they could have avoided encirclement. But Stalingrad was a strategically important site, and the German leadership forbade the encircled troops to leave the city. They were supplied with ammunition, fuel and food using aviation.
To unblock and liberate units that were surrounded, the German command created a powerful tank group, which launched the offensive on December 12. Soviet troops managed to repulse all enemy attacks, go on the offensive and push the Germans back 100 km from the city.
The final stage of the battle
In January 1943 The German group was completely surrounded, and the Red Army began to eliminate it. The German command was sent an ultimatum to stop hostilities and surrender, which they rejected.
In order to weaken the German resistance, Soviet troops divided the enemy group into two parts and destroyed them one by one. Battle of Stalingrad ended on February 2, 1943. The German army suffered heavy losses in killed and wounded, almost 100 thousand people, along with Field Marshal Paulus, were taken prisoner.
The victory of the Soviet army in the Battle of Stalingrad was of great importance. She allowed the Soviet Union turn the tide of the war, seize the strategic initiative and do not lose it until the enemy is completely defeated. Germany's allies, Turkey and Japan, abandoned plans to enter the war against the USSR.
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 withdraw in 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 capture 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 up 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 the Soviet troops in Stalingrad as soon 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 on 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
The victory of Soviet troops over the Nazi troops at Stalingrad is one of the most glorious pages in the annals of the Great Patriotic War. For 200 days and nights - from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943 - the Battle of Stalingrad continued with a continuously increasing tension of forces on both sides. During the first four months there were stubborn defensive battles, first in the big bend of the Don, and then on the approaches to Stalingrad and in the city itself. During this period, Soviet troops exhausted the Nazi group that was rushing to the Volga and forced it to go on the defensive. In the next two and a half months, the Red Army, launching a counteroffensive, defeated enemy troops north-west and south of Stalingrad, encircled and liquidated a 300,000-strong group of fascist German troops.
The Battle of Stalingrad is the decisive battle of the entire Second World War, in which Soviet troops won their largest victory. This battle marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War as a whole. The victorious offensive of the Nazi troops ended and their expulsion from the territory of the Soviet Union began.
The Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all battles in world history at that time in terms of the duration and ferocity of the fighting, the number of people and military equipment involved. It unfolded over a vast territory of 100 thousand square kilometers. At certain stages, over 2 million people, up to 2 thousand tanks, more than 2 thousand aircraft, and up to 26 thousand guns took part in it on both sides. The results of this battle also surpassed all previous ones. At Stalingrad, Soviet troops defeated five armies: two German, two Romanian and one Italian. The Nazi troops lost more than 800 thousand soldiers and officers killed, wounded, and captured, as well as a large amount of military equipment, weapons and equipment.
The Battle of Stalingrad is usually divided into two inextricably linked periods: defensive (from July 17 to November 18, 1942) and offensive (from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943).
At the same time, due to the fact that the Battle of Stalingrad is a whole complex of defensive and offensive operations, its periods, in turn, must be considered in stages, each of which is either one completed or even several interrelated operations.
For the courage and heroism shown in the Battle of Stalingrad, 32 formations and units were given the honorary names “Stalingrad”, 5 - “Don”. 55 formations and units were awarded orders. 183 units, formations and formations were converted into guards. More than one hundred and twenty soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, about 760 thousand participants in the battle were awarded the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad.” On the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the hero city of Volgograd was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
