The second Stalingrad is called the battle. Description of the Battle of Stalingrad
By mid-summer 1942, the battles of the Great Patriotic War had reached the Volga.
The German command includes Stalingrad in the plan for a large-scale offensive in the south of the USSR (Caucasus, Crimea). Germany's goal was to take possession of an industrial city, the enterprises in which produced military products that were needed; gaining access to the Volga, from where it was possible to get to the Caspian Sea, to the Caucasus, where the oil necessary for the front was extracted.
Hitler wanted to implement this plan in just a week with the help of Paulus's 6th Field Army. It included 13 divisions, with about 270,000 people, 3 thousand guns and about five hundred tanks.
On the USSR side, German forces were opposed by the Stalingrad Front. It was created by decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on July 12, 1942 (commander - Marshal Timoshenko, since July 23 - Lieutenant General Gordov).
The difficulty was also that our side experienced a shortage of ammunition.
The beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad can be considered July 17, when, near the Chir and Tsimla rivers, the forward detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies of the Stalingrad Front met with detachments of the 6th German Army. Throughout the second half of the summer there were fierce battles near Stalingrad. Further, the chronicle of events developed as follows.
Defensive stage of the Battle of Stalingrad
On August 23, 1942, German tanks approached Stalingrad. From that day on, fascist aircraft began to systematically bomb the city. The battles on the ground also did not subside. It was simply impossible to live in the city - you had to fight to win. 75 thousand people volunteered for the front. But in the city itself, people worked both day and night. By mid-September, the German army broke through to the city center, and fighting took place right in the streets. The Nazis intensified their attack. Almost 500 tanks took part in the assault on Stalingrad, and German aircraft dropped about 1 million bombs on the city.
The courage of the Stalingrad residents was unparalleled. The Germans conquered many European countries. Sometimes they only needed 2-3 weeks to capture the entire country. In Stalingrad the situation was different. It took the Nazis weeks to capture one house, one street.
The beginning of autumn and mid-November passed in battles. By November, almost the entire city, despite resistance, was captured by the Germans. Only a small strip of land on the banks of the Volga was still held by our troops. But it was too early to declare the capture of Stalingrad, as Hitler did. The Germans did not know that the Soviet command already had a plan for the defeat of the German troops, which began to be developed at the height of the fighting, on September 12. The development of the offensive operation “Uranus” was carried out by Marshal G.K. Zhukov.
Within 2 months, in conditions of increased secrecy, a strike force was created near Stalingrad. The Nazis were aware of the weakness of their flanks, but did not assume that the Soviet command would be able to gather the required number of troops.
On November 19, troops of the Southwestern Front under the command of General N.F. Vatutin and the Don Front under the command of General K.K. Rokossovsky went on the offensive. They managed to surround the enemy, despite resistance. Also during the offensive, five enemy divisions were captured and seven were defeated. During the week of November 23, Soviet efforts were aimed at strengthening the blockade around the enemy. In order to lift this blockade, the German command formed Army Group “Don” (commander - Field Marshal Manstein), but it was also defeated.
The destruction of the encircled group of the enemy army was entrusted to the troops of the Don Front (commander - General K.K. Rokossovsky). Since the German command rejected the ultimatum to end resistance, Soviet troops moved on to destroy the enemy, which became the last of the main stages of the Battle of Stalingrad. On February 2, 1943, the last enemy group was eliminated, which is considered the end date of the battle.
Results of the Battle of Stalingrad:
Losses in the Battle of Stalingrad on each side amounted to about 2 million people.
Significance of the Battle of Stalingrad
The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad is difficult to overestimate. The victory of the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad had a great influence on the further course of the Second World War. She intensified the fight against fascists in all European countries. As a result of this victory, the German side ceased to dominate. The outcome of this battle caused confusion in the Axis countries (Hitler's coalition). A crisis of pro-fascist regimes in European countries has arrived.
Few people in our country and in the world can dispute the significance of the victory at Stalingrad. The events that took place between July 17, 1942 and February 2, 1943 gave hope to the peoples who were still under occupation. Next, 10 facts from the history of the Battle of Stalingrad will be given, designed to reflect the severity of the conditions in which the fighting took place, and, perhaps, to tell something new that will force you to take a different look at this event from the history of World War II
1. To say that the battle for Stalingrad took place in difficult conditions is the same as saying nothing. Soviet troops in this sector were in dire need of anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft artillery, and there was also a shortage of ammunition - some formations simply did not have it. The soldiers obtained what they needed as best they could, mostly taking it from their dead comrades. There were enough dead Soviet soldiers, since most of the divisions sent to hold the city, named after the main man in the USSR, consisted of either unexamined newcomers who arrived from the General Headquarters reserve, or soldiers exhausted in previous battles. This situation was aggravated by the open steppe terrain in which the fighting took place. This factor allowed enemies to regularly inflict great damage on Soviet troops in equipment and people. Young officers, who had only yesterday left the walls of military schools, went into battle as ordinary soldiers and died one after another.
2. When the Battle of Stalingrad is mentioned, images of street fighting, which are so often shown in documentaries and feature films, pop up in many people’s heads. However, few people remember that although the Germans approached the city on August 23, they began the assault only on September 14, and far from the best divisions of Paulus took part in the assault. If we develop this idea further, we can come to the conclusion that if the defense of Stalingrad had been concentrated only within the city limits, it would have fallen, and fallen quite quickly. So what saved the city and held back the enemy onslaught? The answer is continuous counterattacks. Only after repelling the counterattack of the 1st Guards Army on September 3, the Germans were able to begin preparations for the assault. All attacks by Soviet troops were carried out from the northern direction and did not stop even after the start of the assault. So, on September 18, the Red Army, having received reinforcements, was able to launch another counterattack, because of which the enemy even had to transfer part of its forces from Stalingrad. The next blow was delivered by Soviet troops on September 24. Such countermeasures did not allow the Wehrmacht to concentrate all its forces to strike the city and constantly kept the soldiers in suspense.
If you are wondering why this is so rarely remembered, then it’s simple. The main task of all these counterattacks was to connect with the defenders of the city, and it was not possible to complete it, and the losses were enormous. This can be clearly seen in the fate of the 241st and 167th tank brigades. They had 48 and 50 tanks, respectively, on which they pinned hopes as the main striking force in the counter-offensive of the 24th Army. On the morning of September 30, during the offensive, Soviet forces were covered by enemy fire, as a result of which the infantry fell behind the tanks, and both tank brigades disappeared behind a hill, and a few hours later, radio contact was lost with the vehicles that had broken deep into the enemy’s defenses. By the end of the day, out of 98 vehicles, only four remained in service. Later, repairmen were able to evacuate two more damaged tanks from these brigades from the battlefield. The reasons for this failure, like all previous ones, were the well-built defense of the Germans and the poor training of the Soviet troops, for whom Stalingrad became a place of baptism of fire. The chief of staff of the Don Front, Major General Malinin, himself said that if he had at least one well-trained infantry regiment, he would have marched all the way to Stalingrad, and that the point is not in the enemy’s artillery, which does its job well and pins the soldiers to the ground, but the fact that at this time they do not rise to attack. It is for these reasons that most writers and historians of the post-war period remained silent about such counterattacks. They did not want to darken the picture of the triumph of the Soviet people or were simply afraid that such facts would become a reason for excessive attention to their person from the regime.
3. Axis soldiers who survived the Battle of Stalingrad later usually noted that it was a real bloody absurdity. They, being by that time soldiers already seasoned in many battles, in Stalingrad felt like newcomers who did not know what to do. The Wehrmacht command, it seems, was subject to the same sentiments, since during urban battles it sometimes gave orders to storm very insignificant areas, where sometimes up to several thousand soldiers died. The fate of the Nazis locked in the Stalingrad cauldron was also not made easier by the air supply of troops organized on Hitler’s orders, since such planes were often shot down by Soviet forces, and the cargo that did reach the recipient sometimes did not satisfy the needs of the soldiers at all. For example, the Germans, in dire need of provisions and ammunition, received a parcel from the sky consisting entirely of women's mink coats.
Tired and exhausted, the soldiers at that time could only rely on God, especially since the Octave of Christmas was approaching - one of the main Catholic holidays, which is celebrated from December 25 to January 1. There is a version that it was precisely because of the approaching holiday that Paulus’s army did not leave the encirclement of Soviet troops. Based on the analysis of letters home from the Germans and their allies, they prepared provisions and gifts for friends and waited for these days like a miracle. There is even evidence that the German command turned to Soviet generals with a request for a ceasefire on Christmas night. However, the USSR had its own plans, so on Christmas Day the artillery worked at full strength and made the night from December 24 to 25 the last in their lives for many German soldiers.
4. On August 30, 1942, a Messerschmitt was shot down over Sarepta. Its pilot, Count Heinrich von Einsiedel, managed to land the plane with the landing gear retracted and was captured. He was a famous Luftwaffe ace from the JG 3 Udet squadron and “part-time” great-grandson of the “Iron Chancellor” Otto von Bismarck. Such news, of course, immediately found its way into propaganda leaflets designed to raise the spirit of Soviet soldiers. Einsiedel himself was sent to an officer's camp near Moscow, where he soon met with Paulus. Since Heinrich was never an ardent supporter of Hitler’s theory of a superior race and purity of blood, he went to war with the belief that the Great Reich was waging a war on the Eastern Front not with the Russian nation, but with Bolshevism. However, captivity forced him to reconsider his views, and in 1944 he became a member of the anti-fascist Free Germany committee, and then a member of the editorial board of the newspaper of the same name. Bismarck was not the only historical image that the Soviet propaganda machine exploited in order to raise the morale of soldiers. So, for example, propagandists started a rumor that in the 51st Army there is a detachment of machine gunners, commanded by Senior Lieutenant Alexander Nevsky - not just the namesake of the prince who defeated the Germans near Lake Peipus, but also his direct descendant. He was allegedly nominated for the Order of the Red Banner, but such a person does not appear in the lists of holders of the order.
5. During the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet commanders successfully used psychological pressure on the pain points of enemy soldiers. Thus, in rare moments, when hostilities subsided in certain areas, propagandists, through speakers installed near enemy positions, broadcast songs native to the Germans, which were interrupted by reports of breakthroughs by Soviet troops on one or another section of the front. But the most cruel and therefore the most effective method was considered to be called “Timer and Tango” or “Tango Timer”. During this attack on the psyche, Soviet troops broadcast through loudspeakers the steady beat of a metronome, which, after the seventh beat, was interrupted by a message in German: “Every seven seconds one German soldier dies at the front.” The metronome then counted down seven seconds again and the message was repeated. This could go on for 10 – 20 times, and then a tango melody sounded over the enemy positions. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of those who were locked in the “cauldron”, after several such influences, fell into hysterics and tried to escape, dooming themselves, and sometimes their colleagues, to certain death.
6. After the completion of the Soviet Operation Ring, 130 thousand enemy soldiers were captured by the Red Army, but only about 5,000 returned home after the war. Most died in the first year of their captivity from illnesses and hypothermia, which the prisoners acquired even before their capture. But there was another reason: out of the total number of prisoners, only 110 thousand were Germans, all the rest were from among the “Khiwis”. They voluntarily went over to the enemy’s side and, according to the Wehrmacht’s calculations, had to faithfully serve Germany in its liberation struggle against Bolshevism. For example, one sixth of the total number of soldiers of Paulus's 6th Army (approximately 52 thousand people) consisted of such volunteers.
After being captured by the Red Army, such people were no longer considered as prisoners of war, but as traitors to the homeland, which, according to wartime law, is punishable by death. However, there were cases when captured Germans became a kind of “Khivi” for the Red Army. A striking example of this is the incident that occurred in the platoon of Lieutenant Druz. Several of his men, who were sent in search of the “language,” returned to the trenches with an exhausted and mortally frightened German. It soon became clear that he did not have any valuable information about the enemy’s actions, so he should have been sent to the rear, but due to heavy shelling this promised losses. Most often, such prisoners were simply disposed of, but luck smiled on this one. The fact is that the prisoner worked as a German language teacher before the war, therefore, on the personal orders of the battalion commander, his life was spared and he was even given allowance, in exchange for the fact that the “Fritz” would teach German to the reconnaissance officers from the battalion. True, according to Nikolai Viktorovich Druz himself, a month later the German was blown up by a German mine, but during this time, at an accelerated pace, he more or less taught the soldiers the enemy’s language.
7. On February 2, 1943, the last German soldiers laid down their arms in Stalingrad. Field Marshal Paulus himself surrendered even earlier, on January 31. Officially, the place of surrender of the commander of the 6th Army is considered to be his headquarters in the basement of a building that was once a department store. However, some researchers disagree with this and believe that the documents indicate a different location. According to their statement, the headquarters of the German field marshal was located in the building of the Stalingrad executive committee. But such “desecration” of the building of Soviet power, apparently, did not suit the ruling regime, and the story was slightly corrected. Whether this is true or not may never be established, but the theory itself has the right to life, because absolutely anything could have happened.
8. On May 2, 1943, thanks to the joint initiative of the leadership of the NKVD and the city authorities, a football match took place at the Stalingrad Azot stadium, which became known as the “match on the ruins of Stalingrad.” The Dynamo team, which was assembled from local players, met on the field with the leading team of the USSR - Moscow Spartak. The friendly match ended with a score of 1:0 in favor of Dynamo. To this day, it is unknown whether the result was rigged, or whether the city’s defenders, seasoned in battle, were simply accustomed to fighting and winning. Be that as it may, the organizers of the match managed to do the most important thing - to unite the residents of the city and give them hope that all the attributes of peaceful life are returning to Stalingrad.
9. On November 29, 1943, Winston Churchill, at a ceremony in honor of the opening of the Tehran Conference, solemnly presented Joseph Stalin with a sword forged by special order of King George VI of Great Britain. This blade was presented as a sign of the British’s admiration for the courage shown by the defenders of Stalingrad. Along the entire blade there was an inscription in Russian and English: “To the residents of Stalingrad, whose hearts are strong as steel. Gift from King George VI as a sign of the great admiration of all the British people."
The decoration of the sword was made of gold, silver, leather and crystal. It is rightfully considered a masterpiece of modern blacksmithing. Today it can be seen by any visitor to the Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad in Volgograd. In addition to the original, three copies were also released. One is in the Sword Museum in London, the second is in the National Museum of Military History in South Africa, and the third is part of the collection of the head of the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in London.
10. An interesting fact is that after the end of the battle, Stalingrad could have ceased to exist altogether. The fact is that in February 1943, almost immediately after the surrender of the Germans, the Soviet government faced an acute question: is it worth rebuilding the city, since after fierce battles Stalingrad lay in ruins? It was cheaper to build a new city. Nevertheless, Joseph Stalin insisted on restoration, and the city was resurrected from the ashes. However, the residents themselves say that after this, for a long time, some streets emitted a corpse smell, and Mamayev Kurgan, due to the large number of bombs dropped on it, was not overgrown with grass for more than two years.
Introduction
On April 20, 1942, the battle for Moscow ended. The German army, whose advance seemed unstoppable, was not only stopped, but also pushed back 150-300 kilometers from the capital of the USSR. The Nazis suffered heavy losses, and although the Wehrmacht was still very strong, Germany no longer had the opportunity to attack simultaneously on all sectors of the Soviet-German front.
While the spring thaw lasted, the Germans developed a plan for the summer offensive of 1942, codenamed Fall Blau - “Blue Option”. The initial target of the German attack was the oil fields of Grozny and Baku with the possibility of further development of the offensive against Persia. Before the deployment of this offensive, the Germans were going to cut off the Barvenkovsky ledge - a large bridgehead captured by the Red Army on the western bank of the Seversky Donets River.
The Soviet command, in turn, also intended to conduct a summer offensive in the zone of the Bryansk, Southern and Southwestern fronts. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the Red Army was the first to strike and at first managed to push the German troops almost to Kharkov, the Germans managed to turn the situation in their favor and inflict a major defeat on the Soviet troops. On the sector of the Southern and Southwestern fronts, the defense was weakened to the limit, and on June 28, Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army broke through between Kursk and Kharkov. The Germans reached the Don.
At this point, Hitler, by personal order, made a change to the Blue Option, which would later cost Nazi Germany dearly. He divided Army Group South into two parts. Army Group A was to continue the offensive into the Caucasus. Army Group B was to reach the Volga, cut off the strategic communications connecting the European part of the USSR with the Caucasus and Central Asia, and capture Stalingrad. For Hitler, this city was important not only from a practical point of view (as a large industrial center), but also for purely ideological reasons. The capture of the city, which bore the name of the main enemy of the Third Reich, would be the greatest propaganda achievement of the German army.
Balance of forces and the first stage of the battle
Army Group B, advancing on Stalingrad, included the 6th Army of General Paulus. The army included 270 thousand soldiers and officers, about 2,200 guns and mortars, about 500 tanks. From the air, the 6th Army was supported by the 4th Air Fleet of General Wolfram von Richthofen, numbering about 1,200 aircraft. A little later, towards the end of July, Hermann Hoth's 4th Tank Army was transferred to Army Group B, which on July 1, 1942 included the 5th, 7th and 9th Army and the 46th Motorized housings. The latter included the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.
The Southwestern Front, renamed Stalingrad on July 12, 1942, consisted of about 160 thousand personnel, 2,200 guns and mortars, and about 400 tanks. Of the 38 divisions that were part of the front, only 18 were fully equipped, while the others had from 300 to 4000 people. The 8th Air Army, operating along with the front, was also significantly inferior in numbers to von Richthofen's fleet. With these forces, the Stalingrad Front was forced to defend an area more than 500 kilometers wide. A separate problem for the Soviet troops was the flat steppe terrain, where enemy tanks could operate at full strength. Taking into account the low level of anti-tank weapons in front units and formations, this made the tank threat critical.
The German offensive began on July 17, 1942. On this day, the vanguards of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht entered into battle with units of the 62nd Army on the Chir River and in the area of the Pronin farm. By July 22, the Germans had pushed Soviet troops back almost 70 kilometers, to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. The German command, hoping to take the city on the move, decided to encircle the Red Army units at the villages of Kletskaya and Suvorovskaya, seize the crossings across the Don and develop an attack on Stalingrad without stopping. For this purpose, two strike groups were created, attacking from the north and south. The northern group was formed from units of the 6th Army, the southern group from units of the 4th Tank Army.
The northern group, striking on July 23, broke through the defense front of the 62nd Army and surrounded its two rifle divisions and a tank brigade. By July 26, the advanced units of the Germans reached the Don. The command of the Stalingrad Front organized a counterattack, in which mobile formations of the front reserve took part, as well as the 1st and 4th tank armies that had not yet completed their formation. Tank armies were a new regular structure within the Red Army. It is unclear who exactly put forward the idea of their formation, but in the documents, the head of the Main Armored Directorate Ya. N. Fedorenko was the first to voice this idea to Stalin. In the form in which tank armies were conceived, they did not last long, subsequently undergoing a major restructuring. But the fact that it was near Stalingrad that such a staff unit appeared is a fact. The 1st Tank Army attacked from the Kalach area on July 25, and the 4th from the villages of Trekhostrovskaya and Kachalinskaya on July 27.
Fierce fighting in this area lasted until August 7-8. It was possible to release the encircled units, but it was not possible to defeat the advancing Germans. The development of events was also negatively affected by the fact that the level of training of the personnel of the armies of the Stalingrad Front was low, and a number of errors in the coordination of actions made by the unit commanders.
In the south, Soviet troops managed to stop the Germans at the settlements of Surovikino and Rychkovsky. Nevertheless, the Nazis were able to break through the front of the 64th Army. To eliminate this breakthrough, on July 28, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the forces of the 64th Army, as well as two infantry divisions and a tank corps, to strike and defeat the enemy in the area of the village of Nizhne-Chirskaya no later than the 30th.
Despite the fact that the new units entered the battle on the move and their combat capabilities suffered as a result, by the indicated date the Red Army managed to push back the Germans and even create a threat of their encirclement. Unfortunately, the Nazis managed to bring fresh forces into the battle and provide assistance to the group. After this, the fighting flared up even hotter.
On July 28, 1942, another event occurred that cannot be left behind the scenes. On this day, the famous Order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR No. 227, also known as “Not a step back!” was adopted. He significantly toughened penalties for unauthorized retreat from the battlefield, introduced penal units for offending soldiers and commanders, and also introduced barrage detachments - special units that were engaged in detaining deserters and returning them to duty. This document, for all its harshness, was received quite positively by the troops and actually reduced the number of disciplinary violations in military units.
At the end of July, the 64th Army was nevertheless forced to retreat beyond the Don. German troops captured a number of bridgeheads on the left bank of the river. In the area of the village of Tsymlyanskaya, the Nazis concentrated very serious forces: two infantry, two motorized and one tank division. Headquarters ordered the Stalingrad Front to drive the Germans to the western (right) bank and restore the defense line along the Don, but it was not possible to eliminate the breakthrough. On July 30, the Germans went on the offensive from the village of Tsymlyanskaya and by August 3 had significantly advanced, capturing the Remontnaya station, the station and the city of Kotelnikovo, and the village of Zhutovo. On these same days, the enemy’s 6th Romanian Corps reached the Don. In the zone of operation of the 62nd Army, the Germans went on the offensive on August 7 in the direction of Kalach. Soviet troops were forced to retreat to the left bank of the Don. On August 15, the 4th Soviet Tank Army had to do the same, because the Germans were able to break through its front in the center and split the defense in half.
By August 16, the troops of the Stalingrad Front retreated beyond the Don and took up defense on the outer line of the city fortifications. On August 17, the Germans resumed their attack and by the 20th they managed to capture the crossings, as well as a bridgehead in the area of the village of Vertyachiy. Attempts to discard or destroy them were unsuccessful. On August 23, the German group, with the support of aviation, broke through the defense front of the 62nd and 4th tank armies and advanced units reached the Volga. On this day, German planes made about 2000 sorties. Many blocks of the city were in ruins, oil storage facilities were on fire, and about 40 thousand civilians were killed. The enemy broke through to the line Rynok - Orlovka - Gumrak - Peschanka. The fight moved under the walls of Stalingrad.
Fighting in the city
Having forced the Soviet troops to retreat almost to the outskirts of Stalingrad, the enemy threw six German and one Romanian infantry divisions, two tank divisions and one motorized division against the 62nd Army. The number of tanks in this Nazi group was approximately 500. The enemy was supported from the air by at least 1000 aircraft. The threat of capturing the city became tangible. To eliminate it, the Supreme High Command Headquarters transferred two completed armies to the defenders (10 rifle divisions, 2 tank brigades), re-equipped the 1st Guards Army (6 rifle divisions, 2 guards rifle, 2 tank brigades), and also subordinated the 16th to the Stalingrad Front air army.
On September 5 and 18, the troops of the Stalingrad Front (September 30 it will be renamed Donskoy) carried out two major operations, thanks to which they managed to weaken the German pressure on the city, pulling about 8 infantry, two tank and two motorized divisions. It was again impossible to achieve the complete defeat of Hitler’s units. Fierce battles for the internal defensive line continued for a long time.
Urban fighting began on September 13, 1942 and continued until November 19, when the Red Army launched a counteroffensive as part of Operation Uranus. From September 12, the defense of Stalingrad was entrusted to the 62nd Army, which was placed under the command of Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov. This man, who before the start of the Battle of Stalingrad was considered insufficiently experienced for combat command, created a real hell for the enemy in the city.
On September 13, six infantry, three tank and two motorized German divisions were in the immediate vicinity of the city. Until September 18, there were fierce battles in the central and southern parts of the city. To the south of the railway station, the enemy onslaught was contained, but in the center the Germans drove out the Soviet troops all the way to the Krutoy ravine.
The battles for the station on September 17 were extremely fierce. During the day it changed hands four times. Here the Germans left 8 burned tanks and about a hundred dead. On September 19, the left wing of the Stalingrad Front tried to strike in the direction of the station with a further attack on Gumrak and Gorodishche. The advance failed, but a large enemy group was pinned down by the fighting, which made things easier for the units fighting in the center of Stalingrad. In general, the defense here was so strong that the enemy never managed to reach the Volga.
Realizing that success could not be achieved in the city center, the Germans concentrated troops further south to strike in an eastern direction, towards Mamayev Kurgan and the village of Krasny Oktyabr. On September 27, Soviet troops launched a pre-emptive attack, working in small infantry groups armed with light machine guns, petrol bombs and anti-tank rifles. Fierce fighting continued from September 27 to October 4. These were the same Stalingrad city battles, the stories about which chill the blood in the veins of even a person with strong nerves. Here the battles took place not for streets and blocks, sometimes not even for entire houses, but for individual floors and rooms. The guns fired directly at almost point-blank range, using incendiary mixtures and fire from short distances. Hand-to-hand combat has become commonplace, as in the Middle Ages, when edged weapons ruled the battlefield. During a week of continuous fighting, the Germans advanced 400 meters. Even those who were not intended for this had to fight: builders, soldiers of pontoon units. The Nazis gradually began to run out of steam. The same desperate and bloody battles raged near the Barrikady plant, near the village of Orlovka, on the outskirts of the Silikat plant.
At the beginning of October, the territories occupied by the Red Army in Stalingrad were so reduced that they were completely covered by machine gun and artillery fire. The fighting troops were supplied from the opposite bank of the Volga with the help of literally everything that could float: boats, steamships, boats. German aircraft continuously bombed the crossings, making this task even more difficult.
And while the soldiers of the 62nd Army pinned down and crushed enemy troops in battles, the High Command was already preparing plans for a large offensive operation aimed at destroying the Stalingrad group of Nazis.
"Uranus" and the surrender of Paulus
By the time the Soviet counteroffensive began near Stalingrad, in addition to Paulus’s 6th Army, there were also von Salmuth’s 2nd Army, Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army, the Italian, Romanian and Hungarian armies.
On November 19, the Red Army launched a large-scale offensive operation on three fronts, codenamed “Uranus”. It was opened by about three and a half thousand guns and mortars. The artillery barrage lasted about two hours. Subsequently, it was in memory of this artillery preparation that November 19 became the professional holiday of artillerymen.
On November 23, an encirclement ring closed around the 6th Army and the main forces of Hoth's 4th Panzer Army. On November 24, about 30 thousand Italians capitulated near the village of Raspopinskaya. By November 24, the territory occupied by the encircled Nazi units occupied about 40 kilometers from west to east, and about 80 from north to south. Further “densification” progressed slowly, as the Germans organized a dense defense and clung to literally every piece of land. Paulus insisted on a breakthrough, but Hitler categorically forbade it. He had not yet lost hope that he would be able to help those around him from the outside.
The rescue mission was entrusted to Erich von Manstein. Army Group Don, which he commanded, was supposed to release the besieged army of Paulus in December 1942 with a blow from Kotelnikovsky and Tormosin. On December 12, Operation Winter Storm began. Moreover, the Germans did not go on the offensive with full strength - in fact, by the time the offensive began, they were only able to field one Wehrmacht tank division and a Romanian infantry division. Subsequently, two more incomplete tank divisions and a number of infantry joined the offensive. On December 19, Manstein's troops clashed with Rodion Malinovsky's 2nd Guards Army, and by December 25, the "Winter Storm" had died down in the snowy Don steppes. The Germans rolled back to their original positions, suffering heavy losses.
Paulus's group was doomed. It seemed that the only person who refused to admit this was Hitler. He was categorically against retreat when it was still possible, and did not want to hear about capitulation when the mousetrap was finally and irrevocably slammed shut. Even when the Soviet troops captured the last airfield from which Luftwaffe aircraft supplied the army (extremely weak and unstable), he continued to demand resistance from Paulus and his men.
On January 10, 1943, the final operation of the Red Army to eliminate the Stalingrad group of Nazis began. It was called "The Ring". On January 9, the day before it began, the Soviet command presented Friedrich Paulus with an ultimatum, demanding to surrender. On the same day, by chance, the commander of the 14th Panzer Corps, General Hube, arrived in the cauldron. He conveyed that Hitler demanded that resistance continue until a new attempt was made to break through the encirclement from the outside. Paulus carried out the order and rejected the ultimatum.
The Germans resisted as best they could. The Soviet offensive was even stopped from January 17 to 22. After regrouping, parts of the Red Army again went on the attack and on January 26, Hitler’s forces were split into two parts. The northern group was located in the area of the Barricades plant, and the southern group, which included Paulus himself, was located in the city center. Paulus's command post was located in the basement of the central department store.
On January 30, 1943, Hitler awarded Friedrich Paulus the rank of field marshal. According to the unwritten Prussian military tradition, field marshals never surrendered. So, on the part of the Fuhrer, this was a hint at how the commander of the encircled army should have ended his military career. However, Paulus decided that it was better not to understand some hints. On January 31 at noon, Paulus surrendered. It took two more days to eliminate the remnants of Hitler's troops in Stalingrad. On February 2 it was all over. The Battle of Stalingrad is over.
About 90 thousand German soldiers and officers were captured. The Germans lost about 800 thousand killed, 160 tanks and about 200 aircraft were captured.
Seventy-one years ago, the Battle of Stalingrad ended - the battle that finally changed the course of World War II. On February 2, 1943, German troops surrounded on the banks of the Volga capitulated. I dedicate this photo album to this significant event.
1. A Soviet pilot stands next to a personalized Yak-1B fighter, donated to the 291st Fighter Aviation Regiment by collective farmers of the Saratov region. The inscription on the fuselage of the fighter: “To the unit of the Hero of the Soviet Union Shishkin V.I. from the collective farm Signal of the Revolution, Voroshilovsky district, Saratov region." Winter 1942 - 1943
2. A Soviet pilot stands next to a personalized Yak-1B fighter, donated to the 291st Fighter Aviation Regiment by collective farmers of the Saratov region.
3. A Soviet soldier demonstrates to his comrades German guard boats, captured among other German property at Stalingrad. 1943
4. German 75-mm RaK 40 cannon on the outskirts of a village near Stalingrad.
5. A dog sits in the snow against the backdrop of a column of Italian troops retreating from Stalingrad. December 1942
7. Soviet soldiers walk past the corpses of German soldiers in Stalingrad. 1943
8. Soviet soldiers listen to an accordion player play near Stalingrad. 1943
9. Red Army soldiers go on the attack against the enemy near Stalingrad. 1942
10. Soviet infantry attacks the enemy near Stalingrad. 1943
11. Soviet field hospital near Stalingrad. 1942
12. A medical instructor bandages the head of a wounded soldier before sending him to a rear hospital on a dog sled. Stalingrad region. 1943
13. A captured German soldier in ersatz felt boots in a field near Stalingrad. 1943
14. Soviet soldiers in battle in the destroyed workshop of the Red October plant in Stalingrad. January 1943
15. Infantrymen of the 4th Romanian Army on vacation at the self-propelled gun StuG III Ausf. F on the road near Stalingrad. November-December 1942
16. The bodies of German soldiers on the road southwest of Stalingrad near an abandoned Renault AHS truck. February-April 1943
17. Captured German soldiers in the destroyed Stalingrad. 1943
18. Romanian soldiers with a 7.92 mm ZB-30 machine gun in a trench near Stalingrad.
19. Infantryman takes aim with a submachine gun the one lying on the armor of the American-made Soviet tank M3 “Stuart” with the proper name “Suvorov”. Don Front. Stalingrad region. November 1942
20. Commander of the XI Army Corps of the Wehrmacht, Colonel General to Karl Strecker (Karl Strecker, 1884-1973, standing with his back in the center left) surrenders to representatives of the Soviet command in Stalingrad. 02/02/1943
21. A group of German infantry during an attack in the Stalingrad area. 1942
22. Civilians at the construction of anti-tank ditches. Stalingrad. 1942
23. One of the Red Army units in the Stalingrad area. 1942
24. Colonel General to the Wehrmacht Friedrich Paulus (Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus, 1890-1957, right) with officers at the command post near Stalingrad. Second from the right is Paulus' adjutant, Colonel Wilhelm Adam (1893-1978). December 1942
25. At the crossing of the Volga to Stalingrad. 1942
26. Refugees from Stalingrad during a halt. September 1942
27. Guardsmen of Lieutenant Levchenko's reconnaissance company during reconnaissance on the outskirts of Stalingrad. 1942
28. The fighters take their starting positions. Stalingrad front. 1942
29. Evacuation of the plant beyond the Volga. Stalingrad. 1942
30. Burning Stalingrad. Anti-aircraft artillery fires at German planes. Stalingrad, "Fallen Fighters" Square. 1942
31. Meeting of the Military Council of the Stalingrad Front: from left to right - N.S. Khrushchev, A.I. Kirichenko, Secretary of the Stalingrad Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) A.S. Chuyanovand front commander Colonel General to Eremenko A.I. Stalingrad. 1942
32. A group of machine gunners of the 120th (308th) Guards Rifle Division, under the command of A. Sergeev,conducts reconnaissance during street fighting in Stalingrad. 1942
33. Red Navy men of the Volga military flotilla during the landing operation in the Stalingrad area. 1942
34. Military Council of the 62nd Army: from left to right - Chief of Army Staff N.I. Krylov, Army Commander V.I. Chuikov, member of the Military Council K.A. Gurov.and commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Division A.I. Rodimtsev. District of Stalingrad. 1942
35. Soldiers of the 64th Army are fighting for a house in one of the districts of Stalingrad. 1942
36. Commander of the Don Front troops, Lieutenant General t Rokossovsky K.K. at a combat position in the region of Stalingrad. 1942
37. Battle in the Stalingrad area. 1942
38. Fight for a house on Gogol Street. 1943
39. Baking your own bread. Stalingrad front. 1942
40. Fights in the city center. 1943
41. Assault on the railway station. 1943
42. Soldiers of the long-range gun of junior lieutenant I. Snegirev are firing from the left bank of the Volga. 1943
43. A military orderly carries a wounded Red Army soldier. Stalingrad. 1942
44. Soldiers of the Don Front are moving to a new firing line in the area of the encircled Stalingrad German group. 1943
45. Soviet sappers walk through the destroyed snow-covered Stalingrad. 1943
46. Captured Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus (1890-1957) gets out of a GAZ-M1 car at the headquarters of the 64th Army in Beketovka, Stalingrad region. 01/31/1943
47. Soviet soldiers climb the stairs of a destroyed house in Stalingrad. January 1943
48. Soviet troops in battle in Stalingrad. January 1943
49. Soviet soldiers in battle among destroyed buildings in Stalingrad. 1942
50. Soviet soldiers attack enemy positions in the Stalingrad area. January 1943
51. Italian and German prisoners leave Stalingrad after the surrender. February 1943
52. Soviet soldiers move through a destroyed factory workshop in Stalingrad during the battle.
53. Soviet light tank T-70 with armored troops on the Stalingrad front. November 1942
54. German artillerymen fire on the approaches to Stalingrad. In the foreground is a killed Red Army soldier in cover. 1942
55. Conducting political information in the 434th Fighter Wing. In the first row from left to right: Heroes of the Soviet Union, Senior Lieutenant I.F. Golubin, captain V.P. Babkov, Lieutenant N.A. Karnachenok (posthumously), standing regiment commissar, battalion commissar V.G. Strelmashchuk. In the background is a Yak-7B fighter with the inscription on the fuselage “Death for death!” July 1942
56. Wehrmacht infantry near the destroyed Barricades factory in Stalingrad.
57. Red Army soldiers with an accordion celebrate victory in the Battle of Stalingrad on the Square of Fallen Fighters in liberated Stalingrad. January
1943
58. Soviet mechanized unit during the offensive at Stalingrad. November 1942
59. Soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division of Colonel Vasily Sokolov at the Red October plant in the destroyed Stalingrad. December 1942
60. Soviet T-34/76 tanks near the Square of Fallen Fighters in Stalingrad. January 1943
61. German infantry takes cover behind stacks of steel blanks (blooms) at the Red October plant during the battle for Stalingrad. 1942
62. Sniper Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Zaitsev explains the upcoming task to the newcomers. Stalingrad. December 1942
63. Soviet snipers take up a firing position in the destroyed Stalingrad. The legendary sniper of the 284th Infantry Division Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev and his students go into an ambush. December 1942.
64. Italian driver killed on the road near Stalingrad. Nearby is a FIAT SPA CL39 truck. February 1943
65. An unknown Soviet machine gunner with a PPSh-41 during the battles for Stalingrad. 1942
66. Red Army soldiers are fighting among the ruins of a destroyed workshop in Stalingrad. November 1942
67. Red Army soldiers are fighting among the ruins of a destroyed workshop in Stalingrad. 1942
68. German prisoners of war captured by the Red Army at Stalingrad. January 1943
69. Crew of the Soviet 76-mm divisional gun ZiS-3 at a position near the Red October plant in Stalingrad. 12/10/1942
70. An unknown Soviet machine gunner with a DP-27 in one of the destroyed houses in Stalingrad. 12/10/1942
71. Soviet artillery fires at surrounded German troops in Stalingrad. Presumably , in the foreground is a 76-mm regimental gun of the 1927 model. January 1943
72. Soviet attack aircraft Il-2 aircraft fly out on a combat mission near Stalingrad. January 1943
73. exterminator pilot l 237th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 220th Fighter Aviation Division of the 16th Air Army of the Stalingrad Front, Sergeant Ilya Mikhailovich Chumbaryov at the wreckage of a German reconnaissance aircraft he shot down with a ram ika Focke-Wulf Fw 189. 1942
74. Soviet artillerymen fire at German positions in Stalingrad from a 152-mm ML-20 howitzer gun, model 1937. January 1943
75. The crew of the Soviet 76.2 mm ZiS-3 cannon fires in Stalingrad. November 1942
76. Soviet soldiers sit by the fire during a moment of calm in Stalingrad. The second soldier from the left has a captured German MP-40 submachine gun. 01/07/1943
77. Cinematographer Valentin Ivanovich Orlyankin (1906-1999) in Stalingrad. 1943
78. Commander of the Marine assault group P. Golberg in one of the workshops of the destroyed Barricades plant. 1943
82. Soviet troops on the offensive near Stalingrad, in the foreground are the famous Katyusha rocket launchers, behind are T-34 tanks.
83. Soviet troops are on the offensive, in the foreground is a horse-drawn cart with food, behind are Soviet T-34 tanks. Stalingrad front.
84. Soviet soldiers attack with the support of T-34 tanks near the city of Kalach. November 1942
85. Soldiers of the 13th Guards Rifle Division in Stalingrad during rest hours. December 1942
86. Soviet T-34 tanks with armored soldiers on the march in the snowy steppe during the Stalingrad strategic offensive operation. November 1942
87. Soviet T-34 tanks with armored soldiers on the march in the snowy steppe during the Middle Don offensive operation. December 1942
88. Tankers of the 24th Soviet Tank Corps (from December 26, 1942 - 2nd Guards) on the armor of a T-34 tank during the liquidation of a group of German troops surrounded near Stalingrad. December 1942
89. The crew of a Soviet 120-mm regimental mortar from the mortar battery of battalion commander Bezdetko fires at the enemy. Stalingrad region. 01/22/1943
90. Captured Field Marshal General
93. Captured Red Army soldiers who died from hunger and cold. The prisoner of war camp was located in the village of Bolshaya Rossoshka near Stalingrad. January 1943
94. German Heinkel He-177A-5 bombers from I./KG 50 at the airfield in Zaporozhye. These bombers were used to supply German troops surrounded at Stalingrad. January 1943
96. Romanian prisoners of war captured near the village of Raspopinskaya near the city of Kalach. November-December 1942
97. Romanian prisoners of war captured near the village of Raspopinskaya near the city of Kalach. November-December 1942
98. GAZ-MM trucks, used as fuel tankers, during refueling at one of the stations near Stalingrad. The engine hoods are covered with covers, and instead of doors there are canvas flaps. Don Front, winter 1942-1943.
The day of February 2, 1943, when Soviet troops defeated the fascist invaders near the great Volga River, is a very memorable date. The Battle of Stalingrad is one of the turning points in World War II. Such as the Battle of Moscow or the Battle of Kursk. It gave a significant advantage to our army on its path to victory over the invaders.
Losses in battle
According to official figures, the Battle of Stalingrad claimed the lives of two million people. According to unofficial estimates - about three. It was this battle that became the reason for mourning in Nazi Germany, declared by Adolf Hitler. And it was precisely this that, figuratively speaking, inflicted a mortal wound on the army of the Third Reich.
The Battle of Stalingrad lasted about two hundred days and turned the once thriving peaceful city into smoking ruins. Of the half a million civilian population listed before the start of hostilities, by the end of the battle only about ten thousand people remained. It cannot be said that the arrival of the Germans was a surprise to the city residents. The authorities hoped that the situation would be resolved and did not pay due attention to the evacuation. However, it was possible to remove most of the children before the aircraft razed the orphanages and schools to the ground.
The battle for Stalingrad began on July 17, and already on the first day of battle colossal losses were noted both among the fascist invaders and in the ranks of the valiant defenders of the city.
German intentions
As was typical for Hitler, his plan was to take the city as quickly as possible. Having learned nothing from previous battles, the German command was inspired by the victories won before coming to Russia. No more than two weeks were allotted for the capture of Stalingrad.
For this purpose the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht was assigned. In theory, it should have been enough to suppress the actions of Soviet defensive detachments, subjugate the civilian population and introduce their own regime in the city. This is how the battle for Stalingrad seemed to the Germans. The summary of Hitler's plan was to seize the industries in which the city was rich, as well as crossings on the Volga River, which gave him access to the Caspian Sea. And from there a direct path to the Caucasus was open for him. In other words, to rich oil fields. If Hitler had succeeded in his plans, the results of the war could have been completely different.
Approaches to the city, or "Not a step back!"
The Barbarossa plan was a fiasco, and after the defeat near Moscow, Hitler was forced to reconsider all his ideas. Abandoning previous goals, the German command took a different path, deciding to seize the Caucasus oil field. Following the established route, the Germans take Donbass, Voronezh and Rostov. The final stage was Stalingrad.
General Paulus, commander of the 6th Army, led his forces to the city, but on the approaches his movement was blocked by the Stalingrad Front in the person of General Timoshenko and his 62nd Army. Thus began fierce fighting that lasted about two months. It was during this period of the battle that order No. 227 was issued, known in history as “Not a step back!” And this played a role. No matter how hard the Germans tried and threw in more and more forces to penetrate the city, they only moved 60 kilometers from their starting point.
The Battle of Stalingrad became more desperate as General Paulus's army increased in numbers. The tank component doubled, and aviation quadrupled. To contain such an onslaught from our side, the South-Eastern Front was formed, led by General Eremenko. In addition to the fact that the ranks of the fascists were significantly replenished, they resorted to roundabout maneuvers. Thus, the enemy movement was actively carried out from the Caucasian direction, but due to the actions of our army, it was of no significant use.
Civilians
According to Stalin's cunning order, only children were evacuated from the city. The rest fell under the order “Not a step back.” In addition, until the last day the people remained confident that everything would work out. However, an order was given to dig trenches near his house. This was the beginning of unrest among civilians. People without permission (and it was given only to the families of officials and other prominent figures) began to leave the city.
Nevertheless, many of the male component volunteered for the front. The rest worked in factories. And it was very useful, since there was a catastrophic lack of ammunition even in repelling the enemy on the approaches to the city. The machines did not stop day and night. Civilians did not indulge themselves in rest either. They did not spare themselves - everything for the front, everything for Victory!
Paulus's breakthrough into the city
Ordinary people remember August 23, 1942 as an unexpected solar eclipse. It was still early before sunset, but the sun was suddenly covered with a black curtain. Numerous aircraft released black smoke in order to confuse the Soviet artillery. The roar of hundreds of engines tore the sky, and the waves emanating from it crushed the windows of buildings and threw civilians to the ground.
With the first bombing, the German squadron razed most of the city to the ground. People were forced to leave their homes and hide in the trenches they had dug earlier. It was either unsafe to be in the building or, due to the bombs that had hit it, it was simply impossible. So the battle for Stalingrad continued in the second stage. The photos that the German pilots managed to take show the whole picture of what was happening from the air.
Fight for every meter
Army Group B, completely strengthened by arriving reinforcements, launched a major offensive. Thus, cutting off the 62nd Army from the main front. So the battle for Stalingrad moved to urban areas. No matter how hard the Red Army soldiers tried to neutralize the corridor for the Germans, nothing worked.
The Russian stronghold had no equal in its strength. The Germans simultaneously admired the heroism of the Red Army and hated it. But they were even more afraid. Paulus himself did not hide his fear of Soviet soldiers in his notes. As he claimed, several battalions were sent into battle every day and almost no one returned back. And this is not an isolated case. This happened every day. The Russians fought desperately and died desperately.
87th Division of the Red Army
An example of the courage and perseverance of the Russian soldiers who knew the Battle of Stalingrad is the 87th Division. Remaining with 33 people, the fighters continued to hold their positions, fortifying themselves at the height of Malye Rossoshki.
To break them, the German command threw 70 tanks and an entire battalion at them. As a result, the Nazis left 150 fallen soldiers and 27 damaged vehicles on the battlefield. But the 87th Division is only a small part of the city’s defense.
The fight continues
By the beginning of the second period of the battle, Army Group B had about 80 divisions. On our side, reinforcements included the 66th Army, which was later joined by the 24th.
The breakthrough to the city center was carried out by two groups of German soldiers under the cover of 350 tanks. This stage, which included the Battle of Stalingrad, was the most terrible. The soldiers of the Red Army fought for every inch of land. There were battles everywhere. The roar of tank shots was heard in every point of the city. Aviation did not stop its raids. The planes stood in the sky as if they were never leaving.
There was no district, not even a house, where the battle for Stalingrad did not take place. The map of military operations covered the entire city with neighboring villages and hamlets.
Pavlov's House
The fighting took place both with weapons and hand-to-hand. According to the recollections of surviving German soldiers, the Russians, wearing only tunics, ran into the attack, exposing the already exhausted enemy to horror.
The fighting took place both on the streets and in buildings. And it was even harder for the warriors. Every turn, every corner could hide the enemy. If the first floor was occupied by the Germans, then the Russians could gain a foothold on the second and third. While on the fourth the Germans were again based. Residential buildings could change hands several times. One of these houses holding the enemy was the Pavlovs' house. A group of scouts led by commander Pavlov entrenched themselves in a residential building and, having knocked out the enemy from all four floors, turned the house into an impregnable citadel.
Operation Ural
Most of the city was taken by the Germans. Only along its edges were the forces of the Red Army based, forming three fronts:
- Stalingradsky.
- Southwestern.
- Donskoy.
The total strength of all three fronts had a slight advantage over the Germans in technology and aviation. But this was not enough. And in order to defeat the Nazis, true military art was necessary. This is how Operation Ural was developed. An operation more successful than the Battle of Stalingrad had ever seen. Briefly, it consisted of all three fronts attacking the enemy, cutting him off from his main forces and encircling him. Which soon happened.
The Nazis took measures to free the army of General Paulus, who was encircled. But operations “Thunder” and “Thunderstorm” developed for this purpose did not bring any success.
Operation Ring
The final stage of the defeat of Nazi troops in the Battle of Stalingrad was Operation Ring. Its essence was to eliminate the encircled German troops. The latter were not going to give up. With about 350 thousand personnel (which was sharply reduced to 250 thousand), the Germans planned to hold out until reinforcements arrived. However, this was not allowed either by the rapidly attacking soldiers of the Red Army, smashing the enemy, or by the condition of the troops, which had significantly deteriorated during the time that the battle for Stalingrad lasted.
As a result of the final stage of Operation Ring, the Nazis were cut into two camps, which were soon forced to surrender due to the onslaught of the Russians. General Paulus himself was captured.
Consequences
The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad in the history of World War II is colossal. Having suffered such huge losses, the Nazis lost their advantage in the war. In addition, the success of the Red Army inspired the armies of other states fighting Hitler. As for the fascists themselves, to say that their fighting spirit has weakened is to say nothing.
Hitler himself emphasized the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad and the defeat of the German army in it. According to him, on February 1, 1943, the offensive in the East no longer made any sense.
