What are the main stages of the Battle of Stalingrad. Description of the Battle of Stalingrad
Starting the war against the USSR, the German command planned to end fighting during one short-term campaign. However, during the winter battle of 1941-1942. The Wehrmacht was defeated and was forced to surrender part of the occupied territory. By the spring of 1942, the Red Army's counteroffensive had in turn stopped, and the headquarters of both sides began developing plans for the summer battles.
Plans and powers
In 1942, the situation at the front was no longer as favorable for the Wehrmacht as in the summer of 1941. The surprise factor was lost, and the overall balance of forces changed in favor of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). An offensive along the entire front to great depth, similar to the 1941 campaign. became impossible. The Wehrmacht High Command was forced to limit the scope of operations: in the central sector of the front it was planned to go on the defensive, in the northern sector a strike was planned to bypass Leningrad with limited forces. The main direction of future operations became the south. On April 5, 1942, in Directive No. 41, Supreme Commander Adolf Hitler outlined the goals of the campaign: “It is possible to completely destroy the manpower still remaining with the Soviets, to deprive the Russians of more the most important military-economic centers." The immediate task of the main operation on the Eastern Front was the exit of German troops to Caucasus ridge and the capture of a number of areas important in economically- primarily the oil fields of Maykop and Grozny, the lower reaches of the Volga, Voronezh and Stalingrad. The offensive plan was codenamed "Blau" ("Blue").
Army Group South played the main role in the offensive. It suffered less than others during the winter campaign. It was reinforced with reserves: fresh infantry and tank formations were transferred to the army group, some formations from other sectors of the front, some motorized divisions were reinforced with tank battalions seized from Army Group Center. In addition, the divisions involved in Operation Blau were the first to receive modernized armored vehicles - medium tanks Pz. IV and StuG III self-propelled guns with reinforced weapons, which made it possible to effectively fight against Soviet armored vehicles.
The army group had to operate on a very wide front, so contingents of Germany's allies were involved in the operation on an unprecedented scale. The 3rd Romanian, 2nd Hungarian and 8th Italian armies took part in it. The Allies made it possible to hold a long front line, but they had to take into account their relatively low combat effectiveness: neither in terms of the level of training of soldiers and the competence of officers, nor in the quality and quantity of weapons, the Allied armies were on the same level with either the Wehrmacht or the Red Army. To make it easier to control this mass of troops, already during the offensive, Army Group South was divided into Group A, advancing on the Caucasus, and Group B, advancing on Stalingrad. The main striking force of Army Group B was the 6th Field Army under the command of Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Panzer Army of Hermann Hoth.
At the same time, the Red Army was planning for the south westward defensive actions. However, the Southern, Southwestern and Bryansk Fronts in the direction of the first Blau attack had mobile formations for counterattacks. The spring of 1942 was a time of restoration tank troops The Red Army, and before the 1942 campaign, tank and mechanized corps of a new wave were formed. They had fewer capabilities than German tank and motorized divisions, had a small artillery fleet and weak motorized rifle units. However, these formations could already influence the operational situation and provide serious assistance to rifle units.
Preparations for the defense of Stalingrad began back in October 1941, when the command of the North Caucasus Military District received instructions from Headquarters to build defensive contours around Stalingrad - lines of field fortifications. However, by the summer of 1942 they were still not completed. Finally, supply problems seriously affected the capabilities of the Red Army in the summer and autumn of 1942. Industry has not yet produced a sufficient amount of equipment and Supplies to cover the needs of the army. Throughout 1942, the Red Army's ammunition consumption was significantly lower than that of the enemy. In practice, this meant that there were not enough shells to suppress the Wehrmacht’s defenses with artillery strikes or counter it in counter-battery warfare.
Battle in the Don Bend
On June 28, 1942, the main summer offensive of German troops began. Initially it developed successfully for the enemy. Soviet troops were thrown back from their positions in the Donbass to the Don. At the same time, a wide gap appeared in the front of the Soviet troops to the west of Stalingrad. In order to fill this gap, the Stalingrad Front was created on July 12 by a directive from Headquarters. Mainly reserve armies were used to defend the city. Among them was the former 7th Reserve, which, after entering the active army, received a new number - 62. It was she who was to defend Stalingrad directly in the future. In the meantime, the newly formed front was moving to the line of defense west of the big bend of the Don.
The front initially had only small forces. The divisions that were already at the front managed to suffer heavy losses, and some of the reserve divisions were only moving to their designated lines. The front's mobile reserve was the 13th Tank Corps, which was not yet equipped with equipment.
The main forces of the front advanced from the depths and had no contact with the enemy. Therefore, one of the first tasks set by Headquarters to the first commander of the Stalingrad Front, Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, consisted of sending forward detachments to meet the enemy 30-80 km from leading edge defense - for reconnaissance and, if possible, occupation of more advantageous positions. On July 17, the forward detachments first encountered the vanguards of the German troops. This day marked the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. The Stalingrad Front collided with the troops of the 6th field and 4th tank armies of the Wehrmacht.
The fighting with front-line advanced detachments lasted until July 22. It is interesting that Paulus and Hoth were not yet aware of the presence of large forces of Soviet troops - they believed that only weak units were ahead. In reality, the Stalingrad Front numbered 386 thousand people, and was numerically little inferior to the advancing troops of the 6th Army (443 thousand people as of July 20). However, the front defended a wide zone, which allowed the enemy to concentrate superior forces in the breakthrough area. On July 23, when fighting for the main line of defense began, the Wehrmacht’s 6th Army quickly broke through the front of the Soviet 62nd Army, and a small “cauldron” formed on its right flank. The attackers were able to reach the Don north of the city of Kalach. The threat of encirclement hung over the entire 62nd Army. However, unlike the encirclements of the autumn of 1941, the Stalingrad Front had a maneuverable reserve at its disposal. To break through the encirclement, the 13th Tank Corps of T.S. was used. Tanaschishin, who managed to pave the way to freedom for the surrounded detachment. Soon, an even more powerful counterattack fell on the flanks of the German wedge that had broken through to the Don. To defeat the German units that had broken through, two tank armies were sent in - the 1st and 4th. However, each of them consisted of only two rifle divisions and one tank corps capable of participating in a counterattack.
Unfortunately, the battles of 1942 were characterized by the Wehrmacht's advantage at the tactical level. German soldiers and the officers had, on average, a better level of training, including in technical terms. Therefore, the counterattacks launched from both sides by tank armies in the last days of July crashed against the German defenses. The tanks advanced with very little support from infantry and artillery, and suffered unreasonably heavy losses. There was undoubtedly an effect from their actions: the forces of the 6th Field Army that entered the breakthrough could not build on their success and cross the Don. However, the stability of the front line could only be maintained until the forces of the attackers were exhausted. On August 6, the 1st Tank Army, having lost almost all its equipment, was disbanded. Within a day, Wehrmacht units, striking in converging directions, surrounded the large forces of the 62nd Army west of the Don.
The surrounded troops in several separate detachments managed to break out of the ring, but the battle in the Don bend was lost. Although German documents constantly emphasize the fierce resistance of the Red Army, the Wehrmacht managed to defeat the opposing Soviet units and cross the Don.
Fighting on the defensive lines of Stalingrad
At the moment when the battle in the great bend of the Don was developing, a new threat loomed over the Stalingrad front. It came from the southern flank, occupied by weak units. Initially, Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army did not aim at Stalingrad, but stubborn resistance on the Don forced the Wehrmacht command to turn it from the Caucasus direction to the rear of the Stalingrad Front. The front's reserves were already drawn into the battle, so the tank army could quickly advance to the rear of the defenders of Stalingrad. On July 28, the Headquarters ordered the new commander of the Stalingrad Front, A.I. Eremenko take measures to protect the southwest outer defense circuit. However, this order was somewhat late. On August 2, Goth's tanks reached the Kotelnikovsky district . Due to the dominance of German aviation in the air, Soviet reserves were crushed on the approaches, and entered the battle already seriously battered. On August 3, the Germans, having easily broken through the front, rushed to the northeast and deeply bypassed the positions of the defenders of Stalingrad. They were stopped only in the Abganerovo area - geographically this is already south, and not west of Stalingrad. Abganerovo was held for a long time thanks to the timely arrival of reserves, including the 13th tank corps. T.I. building Tanaschishina became the “fire brigade” of the front: the tankers eliminated the consequences of a serious failure for the second time.
While the fighting was going on south of Stalingrad, Paulus was planning a new encirclement, already on the eastern bank of the Don. On August 21, on the northern flank, the 6th Army crossed the river and began an offensive east to the Volga. The 62nd Army, already battered in the “cauldron,” was unable to contain the blow, and the vanguards of the Wehrmacht rushed towards Stalingrad from the north-west. If German plans are implemented Soviet troops should have been surrounded west of Stalingrad and died in the flat steppe. So far this plan has been carried out.
At this time, the evacuation of Stalingrad was underway. Before the war, this city with a population of more than 400 thousand people was one of the most important industrial centers of the USSR. Now Headquarters was faced with the question of evacuating people and industrial facilities. However, by the time the fighting for the city began, no more than 100 thousand Stalingrad residents had been transported across the Volga. There was no talk of banning the export of people, but a huge amount of cargo and people awaiting crossing had accumulated on the western bank - from refugees from other areas to food and equipment. The capacity of the crossings did not allow everyone to be taken out, and the command believed that they still had time left. Meanwhile, events developed rapidly. Already on August 23, the first German tanks. On the same day, Stalingrad was subjected to a devastating air strike.
Back on July 23, Hitler pointed out the need for the “early” destruction of Stalingrad. On August 23, the Fuhrer's order was carried out. The Luftwaffe carried out attacks in groups of 30-40 aircraft, in total they made more than two thousand sorties. A significant part of the city consisted of wooden buildings; they were quickly destroyed by fire. The water supply was destroyed, so fire crews could not fight the fire. In addition, oil storage facilities caught fire as a result of the bombing. (On this day?) About 40 thousand people died in Stalingrad, mainly civilians, and the city was almost completely destroyed.
Since Wehrmacht units reached the city with a quick dash, the defense of Stalingrad was disorganized. The German command considered it necessary to quickly unite the 6th Field Army, advancing from the north-west, and the 4th Tank Army from the south. Therefore, the main task of the Germans was to close the flanks of the two armies. However, the new environment did not materialize. Counterattacks launched against the northern strike force tank brigades and front corps. They did not stop the enemy, but allowed the main forces of the 62nd Army to be withdrawn to the city. The 64th Army defended to the south. It was they who became the main participants in the subsequent battle in Stalingrad. By the time the 6th field and 4th tank armies of the Wehrmacht united, the main forces of the Red Army had already escaped from the trap.
Defense of Stalingrad
On September 12, 1942, a major personnel change took place: the 62nd Army was headed by General Vasily Chuikov. The army retreated to the city seriously battered, but it still had more than 50 thousand people, and now it had to hold a bridgehead before the Volga on a narrow front. Moreover, the German advance was inevitably slowed by the obvious difficulties of street fighting.
However, the Wehrmacht had no intention of getting involved in two months of street fighting. From Paulus's point of view, the task of capturing Stalingrad was solved within ten days. From the standpoint of post-knowledge, the Wehrmacht’s persistence in destroying the 62nd Army seems difficult to explain. However, at that particular moment, Paulus and his staff believed that the city could be occupied within a reasonable time with moderate losses.
The first assault began almost immediately. During September 14-15, the Germans took the dominant height - Mamayev Kurgan, combined the forces of their two armies and cut off the 62nd Army from the 64th Army operating to the south. However, in addition to the stubborn resistance of the city garrison, two factors influenced the attackers. Firstly, reinforcements regularly arrived across the Volga. The course of the September assault was turned by the 13th Guards Division of Major General A.I. Rodimtseva, who managed to regain some of the lost positions with counterattacks and stabilized the situation. On the other hand, Paulus did not have the opportunity to recklessly throw all his available forces into capturing Stalingrad. The positions of the 6th Army north of the city were subject to constant attacks by Soviet troops, who were trying to pave a land corridor to their own. A series of offensive operations in the steppe northwest of Stalingrad resulted in heavy losses for the Red Army with minimal progress. Tactical training the attacking troops turned out to be poor, and the superiority of the Germans in firepower made it possible to effectively disrupt the attacks. However, pressure on Paulus's army from the north did not allow him to concentrate on completing the main task.
In October, the left flank of the 6th Army, stretched far to the west, was covered by Romanian troops, which made it possible to use two additional divisions in a new assault on Stalingrad. This time, an industrial zone in the north of the city was attacked. As during the first assault, the Wehrmacht was faced with reserves approaching from other sectors of the front. The headquarters closely monitored the situation in Stalingrad and gradually transferred fresh units to the city. Transportation took place in an extremely difficult situation: the watercraft were attacked by Wehrmacht artillery and aircraft. However, the Germans failed to completely block traffic along the river.
The advancing German troops suffered high casualties in the city and advanced very slowly. The extremely stubborn battles made Paulus's headquarters nervous: he began to make openly controversial decisions. Weakening the positions across the Don and handing them over to Romanian troops was the first risky step. Next is the use of tank divisions, the 14th and 24th, for street fighting. Armored vehicles did not have a significant impact on the course of the battle in the city, and the divisions suffered heavy losses and got involved in a hopeless confrontation.
It should be noted that in October 1942, Hitler already considered the goals of the campaign as a whole achieved. The order of October 14 stated that “the summer and autumn campaigns of this year, with the exception of certain ongoing operations and planned offensive actions of a local nature, are completed.”
In reality, the German forces had not so much completed the campaign as lost the initiative. In November, freeze-up began on the Volga, which greatly worsened the situation of the 62nd Army: due to the situation on the river, the delivery of reinforcements and ammunition to the city was difficult. The defense line in many places narrowed to hundreds of meters. However, stubborn defense in the city allowed Headquarters to prepare the decisive counter-offensive of the Great Patriotic War.
To be continued...
The Battle of Stalingrad is one of the largest in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. It began on July 17, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943. According to the nature of the fighting, the Battle of Stalingrad is divided into two periods: defensive, which lasted from July 17 to November 18, 1942, the purpose of which was the defense of the city of Stalingrad (from 1961 - Volgograd), and offensive, which began on November 19, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943 year with the defeat of the group of fascist German troops operating in the Stalingrad direction.
For two hundred days and nights on the banks of the Don and Volga, and then at the walls of Stalingrad and directly in the city itself, this fierce battle continued. It unfolded over a vast territory of about 100 thousand square kilometers with a front length of 400 to 850 kilometers. More than 2.1 million people took part in it on both sides at different stages of the hostilities. In terms of goals, scope and intensity of military operations, the Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all previous battles in world history.
From the side of the Soviet Union in the Battle of Stalingrad in different time troops of the Stalingrad, South-Eastern, South-Western, Don, left wing of the Voronezh fronts, the Volga military flotilla and the Stalingrad air defense corps region (operational-tactical formation of Soviet troops) took part air defense). General management and coordination of the actions of the fronts near Stalingrad on behalf of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SHC) was carried out by Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Army General Georgy Zhukov and Chief General Staff Colonel General Alexander Vasilevsky.
The fascist German command planned in the summer of 1942 to defeat Soviet troops in the south of the country, seize the oil regions of the Caucasus, the rich agricultural regions of the Don and Kuban, disrupt communications connecting the center of the country with the Caucasus, and create conditions for ending the war in its favor. This task was entrusted to Army Groups "A" and "B".
For the offensive in the Stalingrad direction, the 6th Army under the command of Colonel General Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Tank Army were allocated from the German Army Group B. By July 17, the German 6th Army had about 270 thousand people, three thousand guns and mortars, and about 500 tanks. She was supported by aircraft of the 4th air fleet(up to 1200 combat aircraft). The Nazi troops were opposed by the Stalingrad Front, which had 160 thousand people, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars, and about 400 tanks. It was supported by 454 aircraft of the 8th Air Force and 150-200 long-range bombers. The main efforts 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.
The defensive operation began on the distant approaches to the city at the border of the Chir and Tsimla rivers. July 22, having suffered big losses, Soviet troops retreated to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. Having regrouped, enemy troops resumed their offensive on July 23. The enemy tried to encircle Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don, reach the area of the city of Kalach and break through to Stalingrad from the west.
Bloody battles in this area continued until August 10, when the troops of the Stalingrad Front, having suffered heavy losses, retreated to the left bank of the Don and took up defense on the outer perimeter of Stalingrad, where on August 17 they temporarily stopped the enemy.
The Supreme Command headquarters systematically strengthened the troops in the Stalingrad direction. By the beginning of August, the German command also introduced new forces into the battle (8th Italian Army, 3rd Romanian Army). After a short break, having a significant superiority in forces, the enemy resumed the offensive along the entire front of the outer defensive perimeter of Stalingrad. After fierce battles on August 23, his troops broke through to the Volga north of the city, but were unable to capture it on the move. On August 23 and 24, German aircraft launched a fierce massive bombardment of Stalingrad, turning it into ruins.
Building up their forces, German troops came close to the city on September 12. Fierce street battles broke out and continued almost around the clock. They went for every block, alley, for every house, for every meter of land. On October 15, the enemy broke through to the area of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. On November 11, German troops made their last attempt to capture the city.
They managed to get to the Volga south of the Barrikady plant, but they could not achieve more. With continuous counterattacks and counterattacks, Soviet troops minimized the enemy's successes, destroying his manpower and equipment. On November 18, the advance of German troops was finally stopped along the entire front, and the enemy was forced to go on the defensive. The enemy's plan to capture Stalingrad failed.
© East News / Universal Images Group/Sovfoto
© East News / Universal Images Group/Sovfoto
Still during the defensive battle Soviet command began to concentrate forces to launch a counteroffensive, preparations for which were completed in mid-November. By the beginning of the offensive operation, Soviet troops had 1.11 million people, 15 thousand guns and mortars, about 1.5 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns artillery installations, over 1.3 thousand combat aircraft.
The enemy opposing them had 1.01 million people, 10.2 thousand guns and mortars, 675 tanks and assault guns, 1216 combat aircraft. As a result of the massing of forces and means in the directions of the main attacks of the fronts, a significant superiority of Soviet troops over the enemy was created - on the South-Western and Stalingrad fronts in people - by 2-2.5 times, in artillery and tanks - by 4-5 or more times.
The offensive of the Southwestern Front and the 65th Army of the Don Front began on November 19, 1942 after an 80-minute artillery preparation. By the end of the day, the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army were broken through in two areas. The Stalingrad Front launched its offensive on November 20.
Having struck the flanks of the main enemy group, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts closed the encirclement ring on November 23, 1942. It included 22 divisions and more than 160 individual parts 6th Army and partly the 4th Tank Army of the enemy, with a total number of about 300 thousand people.
On December 12, the German command attempted to release the encircled troops with a strike from the area of the village of Kotelnikovo (now the city of Kotelnikovo), but did not achieve the goal. On December 16, the Soviet offensive began in the Middle Don, which forced the German command to finally abandon the release of the encircled group. By the end of December 1942, the enemy was defeated in front of the outer front of the encirclement, its remnants were thrown back 150-200 kilometers. This created favorable conditions for the liquidation of the group surrounded at Stalingrad.
To defeat the encircled troops by the Don Front, under the command of Lieutenant General Konstantin Rokossovsky, an operation codenamed “Ring” was carried out. The plan provided for the sequential destruction of the enemy: first in the western, then in the southern part of the encirclement ring, and subsequently - the dismemberment of the remaining group into two parts by a blow from west to east and the liquidation of each of them. The operation began on January 10, 1943. On January 26, the 21st Army linked up with the 62nd Army in the Mamayev Kurgan area. The enemy group was cut into two parts. On January 31, the southern group of troops led by Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus ceased resistance, and on February 2, the northern group stopped resistance, which was the completion of the destruction of the encircled enemy. During the offensive from January 10 to February 2, 1943, over 91 thousand people were captured and about 140 thousand were destroyed.
During the Stalingrad offensive operation, the German 6th Army and 4th Tank Army, the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies, and the 8th Italian Army were defeated. The total enemy losses were about 1.5 million people. In Germany, national mourning was declared for the first time during the war.
The Battle of Stalingrad made a decisive contribution to achieving a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet armed forces seized the strategic initiative and held it until the end of the war. The defeat of the fascist bloc at Stalingrad undermined confidence in Germany on the part of its allies and contributed to the intensification of the Resistance movement in European countries. Japan and Türkiye were forced to abandon plans for active action against the USSR.
The victory at Stalingrad was the result of unbending perseverance, courage and mass heroism Soviet troops. Behind combat distinctions demonstrated during the Battle of Stalingrad, 44 formations and units were given honorary titles, 55 were awarded orders, 183 were converted into guards units. Tens of thousands of soldiers and officers were awarded government awards. 112 of the most distinguished soldiers became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
In honor of the heroic defense of the city, the Soviet government established the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad” on December 22, 1942, which was awarded to more than 700 thousand participants in the battle.
On May 1, 1945, in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Stalingrad was named a hero city. On May 8, 1965, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the hero city was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
There are over 200 in the city historical places associated with his heroic past. Among them are the memorial ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on Mamayev Kurgan, the House of Soldiers' Glory (Pavlov's House) and others. In 1982, the Panorama Museum "Battle of Stalingrad" was opened.
Day February 2, 1943 according to Federal law dated March 13, 1995 “On the days of military glory and memorable dates Russia" is celebrated as the day of military glory of Russia - the Day of the defeat of Nazi troops by Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The material was prepared based on informationopen sources
(Additional
On July 17, 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) began - one of the largest and fiercest battles, which radically changed the course of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War. The Battle of Stalingrad is conventionally divided into two periods: defensive (July 17 - November 18, 1942) and offensive (November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943).
In the summer of 1942, fascist German troops launched an offensive on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front with the aim of reaching the fertile regions of the Don, Kuban, Lower Volga and the oil regions of the Caucasus. For the attack on Stalingrad, the 6th Army was allocated from Army Group B under the command of General F. Paulus. By July 17, it included 13 divisions (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 forces of the advancing enemy were opposed by the Stalingrad Front, which was created by decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on July 12, 1942. It included the 62nd, 63rd, 64th, 21st, 28th, 38th, 57th I Army and the 8th Air Army of the former Southwestern Front. The front was commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko (since July 23 - Lieutenant General V.N. Gordov). The front was given the task of stopping the enemy's further advance while defending in a 520 km wide zone. The front began carrying out this task with only 12 divisions (160 thousand people, 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 fighters of the 102nd Air Defense Air Division operated here. The enemy outnumbered the Soviet troops in men by 1.7 times, in artillery and tanks by 1.3 times, and in aircraft by more than 2 times.
From July 17, the forward detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies offered fierce resistance to the enemy at the border of the Chir and Tsimla rivers for 6 days. The Germans were forced to deploy part of their main forces, and this allowed them to gain time to improve the defense on the main line. As a result of stubborn fighting, the enemy's plans to encircle Soviet troops and break through into the city were thwarted.
In September 1942, to capture Stalingrad, the Germans created a 170,000-strong group, primarily from the forces of the 6th Army. On September 13, German troops reached the Volga in the area of the Kuporosnaya gully; the next day, the enemy broke through to the city center, where battles broke out for the Stalingrad-I railway station. By decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the 13th Guards Rifle Division under the command of Major General A.I. Rodimtsev was transferred from across the Volga. The crossing took place in difficult conditions under continuous enemy mortar and artillery fire. Having landed on the right bank, the division immediately entered the battle for the city center, the railway station, January 9th Square (now Lenin Square) and Mamayev Kurgan.
On October 14, the Germans launched a general assault on Stalingrad, which lasted three weeks: the attackers managed to capture the Stalingrad Tractor Plant and reach the Volga in the northern sector of the 62nd Army’s defense. On November 14, the German command made a third attempt to capture the city: after a desperate struggle, the Germans took the southern part of the Barricades plant and broke through in this area to the Volga. However, this was their last success.
The defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad lasted almost three months. During this period, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command began to develop a plan, codenamed “Uranus”. Representatives of the Headquarters - General of the Army G. K. Zhukov, Colonel General A. M. Vasilevsky, Colonel General of Artillery N. N. Voronov - were sent to the area of combat operations on the Volga to study on the spot issues related to the preparation of the counteroffensive. The offensive Stalingrad operation ended on February 2, 1943 with the defeat of the Nazi troops.
On October 15, 1967, it was solemnly opened in Volgograd
monument-ensemble “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” .Lit.: A great victory on the Volga. M., 1965; Wieder I. Disaster on the Volga. Memoirs of intelligence officer of the 6th Army Paulus. M., 1965; Same [ Electronic resource]. URL:http://militera.lib.ru/memo/german/wieder/index.html; Doerr G. March on Stalingrad. M., 1957; The same [Electronic resource]. URL:http://militera. lib. ru / h / doerr _ h / index . html; Isaev A.V. Stalingrad. There is no land for us beyond the Volga. M., 2008; The same [Electronic resource]. URL: http://militera. lib. ru / h / isaev _ av 8/ index . html; Krylov N.I. Stalingrad line. M., 1979; Nekrasov V.P. In the trenches of Stalingrad. M., 1995; The same [Electronic resource]. URL: http://militera.lib.ru/prose/russian/nekrasov1/index.html; Stalingrad: To the 60th anniversary of the battle on the Volga. M., 2002; The Stalingrad epic: Sat. M., 1968.
Battle of Stalingrad Museum-Reserve: website. B. d. URL: http://stalingrad-battle. ru.
See also in the Presidential Library:
The ceremony of handing over the honorary sword - a gift from King George IV of Great Britain to the citizens of Stalingrad in commemoration of the heroic defense of the city: November 1943: photograph. [B. m.], 1943
.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, captured, as well as a large number 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, hoped 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 values 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 for 6 days. defensive battles at the border 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 6th German Army crossed the Don and built bridges, after which 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, whose command 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 main goal there was Mamayev Kurgan, from the height of which the crossing of the Volga was clearly visible, in the center the German infantry was making its way to railway station, in the south, Hoth's tanks, supported by infantry, gradually advanced 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 part the cities were fought 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 river Queen. 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 power.
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.
November 11th was undertaken last try take over 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, it was established mass production new military equipment, 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 in orally, and only to the direct performers.
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 insistent demands, by the end of October several newly formed field units Luftwaffe to strengthen the defensive positions of Italian, Hungarian and Romanian formations.
Weichs' predictions were confirmed in early November when photographs taken aerial reconnaissance, showed the presence of several new crossings in the area. Two days later, Hitler ordered the 6th Panzer and two infantry divisions 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 the Soviet tank units At the bridgehead, Weichs no longer doubted that a major offensive was being prepared in the zone of the 3rd Romanian Army, which might also 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 a sharp deterioration 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 Soviet forces in an open field, in harsh winter conditions, with limited means of transportation, supplies of fuel and ammunition, has 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 with fire. Soviet artillery. 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 total number evacuated (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 created an attack force consisting of 13 divisions (including 3 tank and 1 motorized) and a number of reinforcement units under the command of Colonel General G. Goth - 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.
2-02-2016, 18:12
The military history of Russia knows many examples of courage, heroism and military valor. But the battle that changed the course of the Great Patriotic War - the battle for Stalingrad - deserves special mention.
The date of the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad is considered to be July 17, 1942. It was on this day that units of the 62nd Army entered into battle with the advanced units of the Wehrmacht - this is how the first, defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad began. Under the pressure of superior enemy forces, Soviet troops were forced to constantly retreat, occupying either poorly equipped or completely unequipped lines.
By the end of July, German troops reaching the Don created the threat of a breakthrough to Stalingrad. That is why on July 28, 1942, the order of the Supreme Command Headquarters No. 227, better known as the order “Not a step back!”, was communicated to the troops of the Stalingrad and other fronts. However, despite the stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops, the enemy managed to break through the defenses of the 62nd Army and reach Stalingrad.
On August 23, Stalingrad experienced its longest and most destructive bombardment. After the raid, which claimed the lives of more than 90 thousand people, the city turned into burning ruins - almost half of the city was destroyed. It was on this day that the city defense committee addressed the population of the city, in which “everyone who is capable of bearing arms” was called upon to defend their hometown. The call was heard and thousands of citizens joined the units of the 62nd and 64th armies defending the city.
In early September, the enemy was able to capture certain areas of the city located in the northern part. Now he was faced with the task of going to the city center to cut the Volga. The enemy's attempts to break through to the river led to colossal losses: in the first ten days of September alone, the Germans lost more than 25 thousand people killed. As a result, the commanders of the German armies operating near Stalingrad were summoned to Hitler's headquarters, where they received orders to capture the city in as soon as possible. By mid-September, about 50 enemy divisions were involved in the Stalingrad direction, and the Luftwaffe, flying up to 2,000 sorties a day, continued to destroy the city. On September 13, after a powerful artillery barrage, the enemy launched the first assault on the city, hoping that superior forces would allow them to take the city outright. There will be four such assaults in total.
It is after the first assault that the fighting in the city will begin - the most fierce and intense. Fights in which every house was turned into a fortress. Defense began on September 23 famous House Pavlova. The enemy will not be able to take this house, which has become a symbol of the courage of the defenders of Stalingrad, despite the fact that it was defended by about three dozen soldiers, and will be marked as a “fortress” on Paulus’s operational map. There were no pauses or lulls in the battles on the territory of the city - the battles went on continuously, “grinding” soldiers and equipment.
It was only by mid-November that the advance of German troops was stopped. The plans of the German command were thwarted: instead of a non-stop and rapid advance to the Volga, and then to the Caucasus, German troops were drawn into grueling battles in the Stalingrad area.
The Soviets held back the enemy's advance and were able to create the preconditions for a counteroffensive. Operation Uranus – strategic offensive Soviet troops, began on November 19, 1942. Colonel General A.I. described the events of those days best of all. Eremenko “... just yesterday we, gritting our teeth tightly, said to ourselves, “Not a step back!”, And today the Motherland ordered us to move forward!” The Soviet troops, who launched a rapid offensive, inflicted terrible blows on the enemy, and in just a few days the German troops faced the threat of encirclement.
On November 23, units of the 26th Tank Corps, joining forces with units of the 4th Mechanized Corps, surrounded an enemy force of almost 300,000. On the same day, a German group of troops capitulated for the first time. This memoir will be published later German officer intelligence department “stunned and confused, we did not take our eyes off our headquarters maps (...) with all the forebodings, we did not even think about the possibility of such a catastrophe.”
However, the disaster was not long in coming: soon after the encirclement of German troops, the Supreme High Command Headquarters decided to eliminate the encircled enemy group...
On January 24, F. Paulus will ask Hitler for permission to surrender. The request will be rejected. And on January 26, units of the 21st and 62nd armies will meet in the Mamayev Kurgan area: thereby, the Soviet troops will cut the already surrounded enemy group into two parts. On January 31, Paulus will surrender. Only the northern group of troops will offer meaningless resistance. On February 1, 1,000 guns and mortars will rain down an avalanche of fire on enemy positions. As the commander of the 65th Army, Lieutenant General P.I., recalled. Batov “...after three to five minutes the Germans began to jump out and crawl out of the dugouts and basements...”
In the report of I.V. To Stalin, representative of the Supreme Command Headquarters, Marshal of Artillery N.N. Voronov and Colonel General K.K. Rokossovsky reported: “Fulfilling your order, the troops of the Don Front at 16.00 on February 2, 1943 completed the defeat and destruction of the enemy’s Stalingrad group. Due to the complete liquidation of the encircled enemy troops, combat operations in the city of Stalingrad and in the Stalingrad region ceased.”
This is how the Battle of Stalingrad ended - greatest battle, which turned the tide not only in the Great Patriotic War, but also in the Second World War as a whole. And on the day Military Glory Russia, on the day of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, would like to pay tribute to the memory of every Soviet soldier who died in those terrible battles and thank those who lived to this day. Eternal glory to you!