Battle of Stalingrad: course of hostilities, heroes, meaning, map. Battle of Stalingrad defense of Soviet troops Battle of Stalingrad map
178. A Soviet machine gun crew changes its firing position in a broken house in Stalingrad. 1942
179. Soviet soldiers hold the line in a broken house in Stalingrad. 1942
180. German soldiers surrounded at Stalingrad.
181. Attack of Soviet soldiers on a destroyed house captured by German troops in Stalingrad. 1942
182. The assault group of the 13th Guards Division clears houses in Stalingrad, destroying enemy soldiers. 1942
183. Mortar men I.G. Goncharov and G.A. Gafatulin fire at German positions in the Stalingrad area from a 120-mm mortar. 1942
184. Soviet snipers take a firing position in a destroyed house in Stalingrad. January 1943
185. Commander of the 62nd Army of the Stalingrad Front, Lieutenant General t Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (with a stick) and member of the military council of the Stalingrad Front, lieutenant general t Kuzma Akimovich Gurov (on the left hand of Chuikov) in the Stalingrad area. 1943
186. German prisoners on the streets of Stalingrad.
187. German prisoners walk past the frozen corpse of a German soldier. Stalingrad. 1943
188. German self-propelled gun Marder III abandoned near Stalingrad. 1943
189. Soviet signalmen are laying a telephone line in the Stalingrad area. 1943
190. A Soviet officer inspects a German tank Pz.II Ausf. F, captured by Soviet troops at the Sukhanovsky farm. Don Front. December 1942
191. Member of the Military Council N.S. Khrushchev inspects a captured German tank Pz.Kpfw. IV in Stalingrad. 12/28/1942
192. German artillerymen move a LeIG 18 gun during the battle in Stalingrad. September 1942
193. Railway platforms with Soviet air bombs found by the Germans in the courtyard of one of the destroyed factories in Stalingrad. November 1942
194. The corpse of a German soldier near direction signs near Stalingrad. February 1943
195. A crashed German fighter Messerschmitt Bf.109 near Stalingrad. 1943
196. Captured German aircraft at Stalingrad and... a samovar. 1943
197. Romanian prisoners of war captured near the village of Raspopinskaya near the city of Kalach. On November 24, 1942, the troops of the Southwestern Front, having defeated the Romanian troops surrounded there, took 30 thousand prisoners and captured a lot of equipment.
198. Soviet assault group before the attack in Stalingrad. 1942
199. Soviet soldiers in battle in Stalingrad. Autumn 1942
200. A line of German prisoners of war near Stalingrad. February 1943
201. A German soldier cleans his carbine during a short break between battles in Stalingrad. Autumn 1942.
202. Soviet soldiers on the street of Stalingrad, hiding under a tarpaulin. February 1943
203. The frost-covered bodies of two German soldiers in a position near Stalingrad. 1942
204. Soviet aircraft technicians remove machine guns from a German Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighter. Stalingrad. 1943
205. German assault group on the ruins of a factory in Stalingrad. Late September - early October 1942.
206. The first Heroes of the Soviet Union in the 16th Air Army, awarded on January 28, 1943. From left to right: V.N. Makarov, I.P. Motorny and Z.V. Semenyuk. All of them served in the 512th Fighter Wing.
207. Killed German soldiers in the Stalingrad area, winter 1942-1943.
208. Nurse girl The teacher accompanies a wounded soldier in Stalingrad. 1942
209. Soviet soldiers in battle among destroyed buildings in Stalingrad. 1942
210. Soviet troops in battle in Stalingrad. January 1943
211. Killed soldiers of the 4th Romanian Army near Lake Barmatsak, Stalingrad area. November 20, 1942
212. The command post of the 178th artillery regiment (45th rifle division) of Major Rostovtsev in the basement of the calibration shop of the Red October plant. December 1942
213. A German Pz.Kpfw tank captured in good condition. IV. The territory of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. 02/01/1943
214. Retreat of German units of Army Group Don after an unsuccessful attempt to relieve Stalingrad. January 1943
215. Stalingrad after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. The wreck of a downed German He-111 bomber from the KG.55 “Greif” bomber group (griffin on the emblem). 1943
216. Field Marshal General Schal Friedrich Paulus (left), commander of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht surrounded in Stalingrad, chief of his staff, lieutenant general t Arthur Schmidt and his adjutant Wilhelm Adam after surrender. Stalingrad, Beketovka, headquarters of the Soviet 64th Army. 01/31/1943
217. Fight in one of the workshops of the Red October plant. December 1942
218. Taking the oath at the banner by marching reinforcements in the 39th Guards Rifle Division on the banks of the Volga, behind the Red October plant. On the left is the commander of the 62nd Army, Lieutenant General t V.I. Chuikov (the 39th Division was part of the 62nd Army), the banner is held by the division commander, Major General S.S. Guryev. December 1942
219. Gun crew of Sergeant A.G. Serov (45th Rifle Division) in one of the workshops of the Red October plant in Stalingrad. December 1942
220. Commander of the 65th Army of the Don Front, Lieutenant General t P.I. Batov with officers in the Stalingrad area. Winter 1942/43.
221. A front-line road near the village of Gorodishche in the Stalingrad region, an abandoned armored car and a dead German soldier.
222. Evacuation of wounded Soviet soldiers. Factory "Barricades", Stalingrad. December 1942
223. German prisoners from the 11th Infantry Corps Colonel General ka Karl Strecker, who surrendered on February 2, 1943. Area of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. 02/02/1943
224. German Ju-52 transport aircraft captured by Soviet troops near Stalingrad. November 1942
225. Warming up Ju-52 engines using a heat gun at the Pitomnik airfield (Stalingrad area). January 1943
226. The reconnaissance group of the 39th Guards Rifle Division is leaving for a combat mission. Factory "Red October". Stalingrad. 1943
227. Rally in liberated Stalingrad. February 1943
228. Crew of the Soviet 14.5 mm Degtyarev PTRD-41 anti-tank rifle in the Stalingrad area. 1943
In July 1942, when the enemy strike group broke through the big bend of the Don, the greatest battle of the Second World War began. For several months, in the vast area where the Don approaches the Volga, the flames of continuous fierce battles raged. The Nazi generals spared nothing in order to reach the banks of the Volga and gain a foothold there.
By mid-July, it became clear to the Soviet command that the enemy was trying to break through to the Volga in the Stalingrad area and capture this important strategic point and the largest industrial area. Hitler's plan to take over the Soviet Union with lightning speed fell through long ago. The Nazis survived a terrible winter. But by the summer, taking advantage of the absence of a second front, they were able to transfer over 50 additional divisions from West to East, mobilize Allied forces and all reserves, and create a significant superiority of forces in the Southwestern direction. Hitler and his generals made a decisive bet on this summer offensive, believing that now they would definitely achieve the desired turning point in the war.
The southern group of fascist German armies was given the task of reaching the Volga at any cost and capturing Stalingrad. Capture of Stalingrad for the Nazis was of great importance; he threatened from the flank of Hitler’s armies advancing into the Caucasus. In July, having broken through the defenses of our southwestern front, fascist troops reached the bend of the Don. A difficult situation has arisen. The Stalingrad direction was poorly covered. Time was everything. A rapid advance of the fascist armies and the city will become their prey. But the Soviet command urgently allocated two reserve armies. A defensive line was created between the Don and Volga - the Stalingrad Front arose.
And the city itself immediately turned into a military camp. Everything was done to get as many women, children, and old people out of it as possible. Every day, 180 thousand Stalingrad residents went out to build defensive lines on the distant and near approaches to the city. Fifty thousand Stalingrad residents took up rifles.
Throughout the second half of July and August, fierce, bloody battles took place in the Stalingrad direction. By the end of August 23, the Nazis, at the cost of huge losses, managed to break through to the Volga, north of Stalingrad. Wave after wave of JUNKERS and HENKELS marched towards Stalingrad, with barbaric mercilessness, dropping hundreds of tons of bombs on the residential areas of the city. Buildings collapsed, huge pillars of fire rose towards it, the entire city was enveloped in smoke - the glow of burning Stalingrad could be seen tens of kilometers away.
From that day on, the Nazis began to systematically bomb the city. And on the ground, Nazi tanks and infantry attacked continuously and fiercely, and the artillery did not stop. A mortal danger looms over the city. It was simply impossible to live in such a city, but it was necessary to live and fight, live to win. And the Stalingraders proved it. Another 75 thousand volunteers went to the front line to defend every meter of their native land with heroic tenacity. And in the city itself everyone worked without rest, under bombs and shells day and night. Guns, tanks, and mortars were continuously repaired.
In mid-September, the enemy broke through to the Volga in the center of the city and along the banks of the Tsarina River. The fighting was already on the streets. The Nazis intensified their onslaught. Almost 500 tanks took part in the assault on Stalingrad, and enemy aircraft dropped almost a million bombs on the city.
During the year of war, the Nazis had already become well acquainted with the courage of the Soviet people. But what they encountered at Stalingrad was unprecedented. The Nazis conquered many European countries. Sometimes 2-3 weeks were enough for them to capture the entire country. Here it took months to cross one street, weeks to take one house. The fighting continued for every floor, for every room. Hot hand-to-hand fights broke out on stairs, in attics, and in basements. Houses, or rather the ruins of houses, changed hands more than once.
September, October, and half of November passed in continuous battles. The brutalized Nazis still hoped to take Stalingrad by winter. They had no idea that at that time the Soviet command had already developed a plan for the defeat of the fascist troops at Stalingrad.
On the morning of November 19, shock groups of 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. The shock group of the Southwestern Front broke through the enemy's defenses and advanced 30-35 km behind enemy lines. The strike group of the Don Front penetrated the enemy’s defenses at 3-5 km. Troops of the Stalingrad Front under the command of General A.I. Eremenko launched a counteroffensive on November 20. The front's troops broke through the enemy's defenses, launched a rapid offensive in the northwestern direction, and on November 23 united with the troops of the Southwestern Front. Thus, in the Stalingrad area, despite fierce enemy resistance, a large group consisting of 20 German and 2 Romanian divisions with a total number of over 300 thousand people was surrounded. with a large amount of military equipment and weapons. In addition, during the offensive from November 19 to 30, 5 enemy divisions were captured and 7 were defeated.
From November 23 to 30, the main efforts of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts were aimed at creating a strong blockade of the encircled group and strengthening the position of their troops on the external line. By November 30, the external front of the encirclement passed along the border of the Chir River, the settlements of Verkhne-Kurmoyarskaya, north of Kotelnikovo.
At the end of November, the fascist German command, in order to release the encircled group, formed Army Group Don under the command of Field Marshal Manstein. The main forces of Army Group Don were concentrated in the Kotelnikovo and Tormosin areas. Army Group Don was supposed to, striking from these areas, break through to the encircled group and restore the lost position. On December 12, the enemy went on the offensive from the Kotelnikovo area along the railway to Stalingrad. Having created some superiority here in forces, the enemy by December 16 broke through to the line of the Esaulovsky Aksai River. On December 19, the enemy resumed the offensive and, after 4 days of fighting, reached the Myshkova River, where he was stopped by the organized defense of the troops of the 2nd Guards Army under the command of General R.Ya.
After the encirclement of the 6th and 4th tank armies, the Soviet command decided to defeat the 8th Italian army and the enemy troops thrown back to the Chir and Don rivers in order to push the outer front away from the encirclement area by 150-200 km and exclude for the enemy any opportunity to relieve the blockade surrounded group. For this purpose, it was planned to launch two strikes in converging directions: from the north - from the Upper Mamon area and from the east - from the area north of Chernyshevskaya in the general direction of Morozovsk. The offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front began on December 16. The front's main attack group broke through the enemy's defenses south of Upper Mamon and by December 18 reached the southern bank of the Boguchar River. Developing the offensive from December 22 to 24, they surrounded and then destroyed the main forces of the 8th Italian Army and the left wing of Army Group Don. By December 31, Soviet troops gained a foothold on the line of Novaya Kalitva, Chertkovo, Millerovo, Chernyshkovsky. As a result of this offensive, the troops The Southwestern Front completely destroyed or captured 5 divisions and 3 brigades of Italian troops and defeated 6 German and Romanian divisions. The successful offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front created favorable conditions for the destruction of the enemy group in the Kotelnikovo area.
On December 24, the troops of the Stalingrad Front launched a decisive offensive and on December 26 reached the southern bank of the Esaulovsky Aksai River, and by the morning of December 29 they captured Kotelnikovo and continued to develop an offensive in the southwestern direction, and with part of their forces towards Tormosin. On December 31, front troops reached the line west of Tormosin, Nizhne-Kurmoyarskaya, Komissarovsky, east of Zimovniki.
By the beginning of January, the outer front of the encirclement was 170-250 km away from the Stalingrad area. The position of the encircled enemy troops deteriorated significantly. Stocks of ammunition, food, fuel and medicine have sharply decreased. Air supplies did not meet even the minimum needs of the encircled troops.
;The liquidation of the enemy group surrounded in the Stalingrad area was entrusted to the troops of the Don Front under the command of General K.K. Rokossovsky. The Soviet command, trying to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, on January 8 presented the enemy command with an ultimatum to stop resistance, which was rejected. On January 10, the troops of the Don Front began to destroy the group. The main blow was delivered from the area southwest of Vertyachiy in the direction of the Red October plant, auxiliary attacks - from the Varvarovka area in the direction of the Basargino station and from the area southwest of Erzovka to Gorodishche. By the end of January 12, front troops reached the Rossoshka River and on January 17 they approached the inner defensive line of the city. After 5 days of preparation, Soviet troops resumed the offensive and on January 25 they broke into Stalingrad from the west and dismembered the encircled group into 2 parts. On January 31, the enemy’s resistance in the southern part of the city was broken and he was captured. General Field Marshal Paulus. On February 2, after a powerful artillery fire strike, Soviet troops eliminated the last enemy group in the northern part of the city. This ended the battle. Stalingrad.
In total, during the Battle of Stalingrad, 48 divisions and 3 brigades of the enemy were defeated, which amounted to 20% of all its forces operating on the Soviet-German front. The victory of the Soviet Army at Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the 2nd World War.
As a result of the successful counter-offensive at Stalingrad, the Soviet Army seized the strategic initiative and, already in January 1943, launched a general offensive on a huge front, beginning the mass expulsion of the enemy from the USSR.
The fascist command could not imagine that their so carefully developed plan had suffered complete defeat, and the troops who were surrounded did not yet believe that they were doomed. Therefore, when our command, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, presented the Nazis with an ultimatum to surrender on January 8, 1943, they refused. However, already on February 2, the Nazis were forced to completely capitulate.
The Nazis suffered colossal losses: more than 147 thousand were killed alone, more than 90 thousand soldiers and officers, including 24 generals, surrendered. 750 aircraft, 1,550 tanks, 6,700 guns, more than 8,000 machine guns, and 90,000 rifles were captured.
The defeat of the enemy on the Volga is the largest military-political event of the Second World War. The Great Battle, which ended in the encirclement, defeat and capture of a selected enemy group, marked the beginning of a radical change in both the Great Patriotic War and the entire Second World War. The Red Army demonstrated its invincible strength and superiority over the Nazi military machine. This victory means the complete failure of the military doctrine of the Nazi army. Our strategies, operational art and tactics have withstood severe testing. The Soviet Armed Forces carried out an operation that, in its results and consequences, had no equal in military history.
But this is not the only significance of the Battle of Stalingrad. It undermined the faith of Hitler's soldiers in victory, it frightened Hitler's allies - the fascist rulers of Italy, Hungary, Romania so much that they began to look for opportunities to move away from the Fuhrer. The victory of the fascist troops at Stalingrad was supposed to be a signal for open action against the Soviet Union by Japan and Turkey. The defeat of the Nazis forced Japan and Turkey to abandon their plans.
The victory of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad intensified the struggle of anti-fascists in all European countries: the ground caught fire under the feet of the invaders in France and Poland, in Bulgaria and Holland, in Belgium, Norway...
The defeat of the Nazis at Stalingrad was the beginning of their defeat throughout Europe. And it is no coincidence that the streets and squares of many European cities after the war were named after the city on the Volga.
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 in 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.
How the victory of the Soviet Union in the Battle of Stalingrad affected the course of the war. What role did Stalingrad play in the plans of Nazi Germany and what were the consequences. The course of the Battle of Stalingrad, losses on both sides, its significance and historical results.
The Battle of Stalingrad – the beginning of the end of the Third Reich
During the winter-spring campaign of 1942, an unfavorable situation for the Red Army developed on the Soviet-German front. A number of unsuccessful offensive operations were carried out, which in some cases had some local success, but overall ended in failure. Soviet troops failed to take full advantage of the winter offensive of 1941, as a result of which they lost very advantageous bridgeheads and areas. In addition, a significant part of the strategic reserve, intended for large offensive operations, was activated. The headquarters incorrectly determined the directions of the main attacks, assuming that the main events in the summer of 1942 would unfold in the north-west and center of Russia. The southern and southeastern directions were given secondary importance. In the fall of 1941, orders were given for the construction of defensive lines on the Don, the North Caucasus and the Stalingrad direction, but they did not have time to complete their equipment by the summer of 1942.
The enemy, unlike our troops, had complete control of the strategic initiative. His main task for the summer - autumn of 1942 was to capture the main raw materials, industrial and agricultural regions of the Soviet Union. The leading role in this was given to Army Group South, which suffered the least losses since the beginning of the war against the USSR and had the greatest combat potential.
By the end of spring it became clear that the enemy was rushing to the Volga. As the chronicle of events showed, the main battles would take place on the outskirts of Stalingrad, and subsequently in the city itself.
Progress of the battle
The Battle of Stalingrad of 1942-1943 will last 200 days and will become the largest and bloodiest battle not only of the Second World War, but also in the entire history of the 20th century. The course of the Battle of Stalingrad itself is divided into two stages:
- defense on the approaches and in the city itself;
- strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops.
Plans of the parties for the start of the battle
By the spring of 1942, Army Group South was divided into two parts - "A" and "B". Army Group A was intended to attack the Caucasus, this was the main direction, Army Group B was intended to deliver a secondary attack on Stalingrad. The subsequent course of events will change the priority of these tasks.
By mid-July 1942, the enemy captured Donbass, pushed our troops back to Voronezh, captured Rostov and managed to cross the Don. The Nazis entered the operational space and created a real threat to the North Caucasus and Stalingrad.
Map of the "Battle of Stalingrad"
Initially, Army Group A, advancing into the Caucasus, was given an entire tank army and several formations from Army Group B to emphasize the importance of this direction.
Army Group B, after crossing the Don, was intended to equip defensive positions, simultaneously occupy the isthmus between the Volga and Don and, moving between the rivers, strike in the direction of Stalingrad. The city was ordered to occupy and then advance with mobile formations along the Volga to Astrakhan, completely disrupting transport links along the main river of the country.
The Soviet command decided, with the help of stubborn defense of four unfinished engineering lines - the so-called bypasses - to prevent the capture of the city and the Nazis’ access to the Volga. Due to untimely determination of the direction of the enemy's movement and miscalculations in planning military operations in the spring-summer campaign, the Headquarters was unable to concentrate the necessary forces in this sector. The newly created Stalingrad Front had only 3 armies from the deep reserve and 2 air armies. Later, it included several more formations, units and formations of the Southern Front, which suffered significant losses in the Caucasian direction. By this time, serious changes had occurred in military command and control. The fronts began to report directly to Headquarters, and its representative was included in the command of each front. On the Stalingrad Front, this role was performed by Army General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov.
Number of troops, ratio of forces and means at the beginning of the battle
The defensive stage of the Battle of Stalingrad started out difficult for the Red Army. The Wehrmacht had superiority over the Soviet troops:
- in personnel by 1.7 times;
- in tanks 1.3 times;
- in artillery 1.3 times;
- in airplanes more than 2 times.
Despite the fact that the Soviet command continuously increased the number of troops, gradually transferring formations and units from the depths of the country, the defense zone over 500 kilometers wide was not completely occupied by troops. The activity of enemy tank formations was very high. At the same time, air superiority was overwhelming. The German Air Force had complete air supremacy.
Battle of Stalingrad - fighting on the outskirts
On July 17, the forward detachments of our troops entered into battle with the enemy vanguard. This date marked the beginning of the battle. During the first six days, we managed to slow down the pace of the offensive, but it still remained very high. On July 23, the enemy attempted to encircle one of our armies with powerful attacks from the flanks. The command of the Soviet troops in a short time had to prepare two counterattacks, which were carried out from July 25 to 27. These attacks prevented encirclement. By July 30, the German command threw all its reserves into battle. The offensive potential of the Nazis was exhausted. The enemy switched to a forced defense, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements. Already on August 1, the tank army, transferred to Army Group A, was returned back to the Stalingrad direction.
During the first 10 days of August, the enemy was able to reach the outer defensive perimeter and, in some places, break through it. Due to active enemy actions, the defense zone of our troops increased from 500 to 800 kilometers, which forced our command to divide the Stalingrad Front into two independent ones - Stalingrad and the newly formed South-Eastern Front, which included the 62nd Army. Until the end of the battle, V.I. Chuikov was the commander of the 62nd Army.
Until August 22, fighting continued on the outer defensive perimeter. Stubborn defense was combined with offensive actions, but it was not possible to keep the enemy at this line. The enemy overcame the middle line almost immediately, and on August 23, fighting began on the internal defensive line. On the near approaches to the city, the Nazis were met by NKVD troops from the Stalingrad garrison. On the same day, the enemy broke through to the Volga north of the city, cutting off our combined arms army from the main forces of the Stalingrad Front. German aviation caused enormous damage that day with a massive raid on the city. The central regions were destroyed, our troops suffered serious losses, including an increase in the number of deaths among the population. There were more than 40 thousand dead and died from wounds - old people, women, children.
On the southern approaches the situation was no less tense: the enemy broke through the outer and middle defensive lines. Our army launched counterattacks, trying to restore the situation, but the Wehrmacht troops methodically advanced towards the city.
The situation was very difficult. The enemy was in close proximity to the city. Under these conditions, Stalin decided to strike somewhat to the north to weaken the enemy’s onslaught. In addition, it took time to prepare the city defensive perimeter for combat operations.
By September 12, the front line came very close to Stalingrad and passed 10 kilometers from the city. It was urgently necessary to weaken the enemy's onslaught. Stalingrad was in a semi-ring, surrounded from the northeast and southwest by two tank armies. By this time, the main forces of the Stalingrad and South-Eastern fronts occupied the city defensive contour. With the withdrawal of the main forces of our troops to the outskirts, the defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad on the approaches to the city ended.
City defense
By mid-September, the enemy had practically doubled the number and armament of its troops. The group was increased by the transfer of units from the west and the Caucasus. A significant proportion of them were troops of Germany's satellites - Romania and Italy. Hitler, at a meeting at the Wehrmacht headquarters, which was located in Vinnitsa, demanded that the commander of Army Group B, General Weyhe, and the commander of the 6th Army, General Paulus, capture Stalingrad as soon as possible.
The Soviet command also increased the grouping of its troops, moving reserves from the depths of the country and replenishing existing units with personnel and weapons. By the beginning of the struggle for the city itself, the balance of forces was still on the side of the enemy. If there was parity in personnel, then in artillery the Nazis outnumbered our troops by 1.3 times, in tanks by 1.6 times, and in airplanes by 2.6 times.
On September 13, the enemy launched an attack on the central part of the city with two powerful blows. These two groups included up to 350 tanks. The enemy managed to advance to the factory areas and come close to Mamayev Kurgan. The enemy's actions were actively supported by aviation. It should be noted that, having air supremacy, the German planes inflicted enormous damage on the city’s defenders. During the entire period of the Battle of Stalingrad, Nazi aviation carried out an unimaginable number of sorties, even by the standards of the Second World War, turning the city into ruins.
Trying to weaken the onslaught, the Soviet command planned a counterattack. To carry out this task, a rifle division was brought in from the General Headquarters reserve. On September 15 and 16, its soldiers managed to complete their main task - to prevent the enemy from reaching the Volga in the city center. Two battalions occupied Mamayev Kurgan, the dominant height. Another brigade from the Headquarters reserve was transferred there on the 17th.
Simultaneously with the fighting in the city north of Stalingrad, the offensive operations of our three armies continued with the task of pulling part of the enemy forces away from the city. Unfortunately, the advance was extremely slow, but forced the enemy to continuously tighten their defenses in this area. Thus, this offensive played a positive role.
On September 18, preparations were made, and on the 19th, two counterattacks were launched from the Mamayev Kurgan area. The attacks continued until September 20, but did not lead to a significant change in the situation.
On September 21, the Nazis with fresh forces resumed their breakthrough to the Volga in the city center, but all their attacks were repulsed. The fighting for these areas continued until September 26.
The first assault on the city by Nazi troops between September 13 and 26 brought them limited success. The enemy reached the Volga in the central areas of the city and on the left flank.
From September 27, the German command, without weakening the pressure in the center, concentrated on the outskirts of the city and factory areas. As a result, by October 8, the enemy managed to capture all the dominant heights on the western outskirts. From them the entire city was visible, as well as the bed of the Volga. Thus, crossing the river became even more complicated, and the maneuver of our troops was constrained. However, the offensive potential of the German armies was coming to an end. Regrouping and replenishment were needed.
At the end of the month, the situation required the Soviet command to reorganize the control system. The Stalingrad Front was renamed the Don Front, and the South-Eastern Front was renamed the Stalingrad Front. The 62nd Army, proven in battle in the most dangerous sectors, was included in the Don Front.
At the beginning of October, the Wehrmacht headquarters planned a general assault on the city, managing to concentrate large forces on almost all sectors of the front. On October 9, the attackers resumed attacks on the city. They managed to capture a number of Stalingrad factory villages and part of the Tractor Plant, cut one of our armies into several parts and reach the Volga in a narrow area of 2.5 kilometers. Gradually, enemy activity faded away. On November 11, the last assault attempt was made. After suffering losses, German troops switched to a forced defense on November 18. On this day, the defensive stage of the battle ended, but the Battle of Stalingrad itself was only approaching its climax.
Results of the defensive phase of the battle
The main task of the defensive stage was completed - Soviet troops managed to defend the city, bled the enemy strike forces dry and prepared the conditions for the start of a counteroffensive. The enemy suffered unprecedented losses. According to various estimates, they amounted to about 700 thousand killed, up to 1000 tanks, about 1400 guns and mortars, 1400 aircraft.
The defense of Stalingrad gave invaluable experience to commanders of all levels in command and control of troops. The methods and methods of conducting combat operations in urban conditions, tested in Stalingrad, subsequently turned out to be in demand more than once. The defensive operation contributed to the development of Soviet military art, revealed the leadership qualities of many military leaders, and became a school of combat skills for each and every soldier of the Red Army.
Soviet losses were also very high - about 640 thousand personnel, 1,400 tanks, 2,000 aircraft and 12,000 guns and mortars.
Offensive stage of the Battle of Stalingrad
The strategic offensive operation began on November 19, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943. It was carried out by forces of three fronts.
To make a decision to counterattack, at least three conditions must be met. First, the enemy must be stopped. Secondly, it should not have strong nearby reserves. Thirdly, the availability of forces and means sufficient to carry out the operation. By mid-November, all these conditions were met.
Plans of the parties, balance of forces and means
From November 14, according to Hitler's directive, German troops switched to strategic defense. Offensive operations continued only in the Stalingrad direction, where the enemy stormed the city. The troops of Army Group B occupied the defense from Voronezh in the north to the Manych River in the south. The most combat-ready units were located at Stalingrad, and the flanks were defended by Romanian and Italian troops. The commander of the army group had 8 divisions in reserve; due to the activity of Soviet troops along the entire length of the front, he was limited in the depth of their use.
The Soviet command planned to carry out the operation with forces from the Southwestern, Stalingrad and Don fronts. The following tasks were identified to them:
- The Southwestern Front - a strike group consisting of three armies - should go on the offensive in the direction of the city of Kalach, defeat the 3rd Romanian Army and join forces with the troops of the Stalingrad Front by the end of the third day of the operation.
- Stalingrad Front - a strike group consisting of three armies to go on the offensive in a northwestern direction, defeat the 6th Army Corps of the Romanian Army and link up with the troops of the Southwestern Front.
- Don Front - strikes of two armies in converging directions to encircle the enemy with subsequent destruction in the small bend of the Don.
The difficulty was that in order to carry out encirclement tasks it was necessary to use significant forces and means to create an internal front - to defeat the German troops inside the ring, and an external one - to prevent the release of those encircled from the outside.
Planning for the Soviet counteroffensive began in mid-October, at the height of the fighting for Stalingrad. The front commanders, by order of the Headquarters, managed to create the necessary superiority in personnel and equipment before the start of the offensive. On the Southwestern Front, Soviet troops outnumbered the Nazis in personnel by 1.1, in artillery by 1.4, and in tanks by 2.8. In the Don Front zone the ratio was as follows: in personnel 1.5 times, in artillery 2.4 times in favor of our troops, in tanks there was parity. The superiority of the Stalingrad Front was: 1.1 times in personnel, 1.2 times in artillery, 3.2 times in tanks.
It is noteworthy that the concentration of strike groups took place secretly, only at night and in bad weather conditions.
A characteristic feature of the developed operation was the principle of massing aviation and artillery in the directions of the main attacks. It was possible to achieve an unprecedented artillery density - in some areas it reached 117 units per kilometer of front.
Difficult tasks were also assigned to engineering units and units. There was a huge amount of work to be done to clear mines from areas, terrain and roads, and to establish crossings.
Progress of the offensive operation
The operation began as planned on November 19. The offensive was preceded by powerful artillery preparation.
In the first hours, the troops of the Southwestern Front penetrated the enemy defenses to a depth of 3 kilometers. Developing the offensive and introducing fresh forces into the battle, our strike groups advanced 30 kilometers by the end of the first day and thereby encircled the enemy from the flanks.
Things were more complicated at the Don Front. There, our troops faced stubborn resistance in conditions of extremely difficult terrain and the enemy’s defense was saturated with mine and explosive barriers. By the end of the first day, the depth of the wedge was 3-5 kilometers. Subsequently, the front troops were drawn into protracted battles and the enemy 4th Tank Army managed to avoid encirclement.
For the Nazi command, the counteroffensive came as a surprise. Hitler's directive on the transition to strategic defensive actions was dated November 14, but they did not have time to move on to it. On November 18, in Stalingrad, Nazi troops were still advancing. The command of Army Group B mistakenly determined the direction of the main attacks of the Soviet troops. During the first 24 hours, it was at a loss, only sending telegrams to Wehrmacht headquarters stating the facts. The commander of Army Group B, General Weihe, ordered the commander of the 6th Army to stop the offensive in Stalingrad and allocate the necessary number of formations in order to stop the Russian pressure and cover the flanks. As a result of the measures taken, resistance in the offensive zone of the Southwestern Front increased.
On November 20, the offensive of the Stalingrad Front began, which once again came as a complete surprise to the Wehrmacht leadership. The Nazis urgently needed to look for a way out of the current situation.
On the first day, the troops of the Stalingrad Front broke through the enemy’s defenses and advanced to a depth of 40 kilometers, and on the second day to another 15. By November 22, a distance of 80 kilometers remained between the troops of our two fronts.
Units of the Southwestern Front crossed the Don on the same day and captured the city of Kalach.
The Wehrmacht headquarters did not stop trying to find a way out of the difficult situation. Two tank armies were ordered to be transferred from the North Caucasus. Paulus was ordered not to leave Stalingrad. Hitler did not want to accept the fact that he would have to retreat from the Volga. The consequences of this decision will be fatal both for Paulus’s army and for all Nazi troops.
By November 22, the distance between the advanced units of the Stalingrad and Southwestern fronts was reduced to 12 kilometers. At 16.00 on November 23, the fronts joined forces. The encirclement of the enemy group was completed. There were 22 divisions and auxiliary units in the Stalingrad “cauldron”. On the same day, Romanian corps numbering almost 27 thousand people were captured.
However, a number of difficulties arose. The total length of the outer front was very large, almost 450 kilometers, and the distance between the inner and outer front was insufficient. The task was to move the external front as far to the west as possible in the shortest possible time in order to isolate the encircled Paulus group and prevent its release from the outside. At the same time, it was necessary to create powerful reserves for stability. At the same time, the formations on the internal front had to begin destroying the enemy in the “cauldron” in a short time.
Until November 30, troops on three fronts tried to cut the surrounded 6th Army into pieces, while simultaneously compressing the ring. By this day, the area occupied by enemy troops had decreased by half.
It should be noted that the enemy stubbornly resisted, skillfully using reserves. In addition, his strength was assessed incorrectly. The General Staff assumed that there were approximately 90 thousand Nazis surrounded, while the real number exceeded 300 thousand.
Paulus turned to the Fuhrer with a request for independence in decision-making. Hitler deprived him of this right and ordered him to remain surrounded and wait for help.
The counteroffensive did not end with the group's encirclement; Soviet troops seized the initiative. The defeat of the enemy troops was soon to be completed.
Operation Saturn and Ring
The Wehrmacht headquarters and the command of Army Group B began the formation of Army Group Don in early December, designed to relieve the group that was encircled at Stalingrad. This group included formations transferred from Voronezh, Orel, the North Caucasus, from France, as well as parts of the 4th Tank Army that escaped encirclement. At the same time, the balance of forces in favor of the enemy was overwhelming. In the breakthrough area, he outnumbered the Soviet troops in men and artillery by 2 times, and in tanks by 6 times.
In December, Soviet troops had to begin solving several tasks at once:
- Developing the offensive, defeat the enemy in the Middle Don - to solve this, Operation Saturn was developed
- Prevent the breakthrough of Army Group Don to the 6th Army
- To eliminate the encircled enemy group - for this they developed Operation Ring.
On December 12, the enemy launched an offensive. At first, using their great superiority in tanks, the Germans broke through the defenses and advanced 25 kilometers in the first 24 hours. During the 7 days of the offensive operation, enemy forces approached the encircled group at a distance of 40 kilometers. The Soviet command urgently activated reserves.
Map of Operation Little Saturn
In the current situation, the Headquarters made adjustments to the plan for Operation Saturn. The troops of the South-Western and part of the forces of the Voronezh Front, instead of attacking Rostov, were ordered to move it to the south-east, take the enemy in pincers and go to the rear of the Don Army Group. The operation was called "Little Saturn". It began on December 16, and in the first three days they managed to break through the defenses and penetrate to a depth of 40 kilometers. Using our advantage in maneuverability, bypassing pockets of resistance, our troops rushed behind enemy lines. Within two weeks, they pinned down the actions of Army Group Don and forced the Nazis to go on the defensive, thereby depriving Paulus’s troops of their last hope.
On December 24, after a short artillery preparation, the Stalingrad Front launched an offensive, delivering the main blow in the direction of Kotelnikovsky. On December 26, the city was liberated. Subsequently, the front troops were given the task of eliminating the Tormosinsk group, which they completed by December 31. From this date, a regrouping began for the attack on Rostov.
As a result of successful operations in the Middle Don and in the Kotelnikovsky region, our troops managed to thwart the Wehrmacht’s plans to release the encircled group, defeat large formations and units of German, Italian and Romanian troops, and push the external front away from the Stalingrad “cauldron” by 200 kilometers.
Aviation, meanwhile, put the encircled group in a tight blockade, minimizing the attempts of the Wehrmacht headquarters to organize supplies for the 6th Army.
Operation Saturn
From January 10 to February 2, the command of the Soviet troops carried out an operation code-named “Ring” to eliminate the encircled 6th Army of the Nazis. Initially, it was assumed that the encirclement and destruction of the enemy group would take place in a shorter period of time, but the lack of forces on the fronts affected them, and they were unable to cut the enemy group into pieces right off the bat. The activity of German troops outside the cauldron delayed part of the forces, and the enemy himself inside the ring by that time had not weakened at all.
The operation was entrusted by the Headquarters to the Don Front. In addition, part of the forces was allocated by the Stalingrad Front, which by that time had been renamed the Southern Front and was given the task of attacking Rostov. The commander of the Don Front in the Battle of Stalingrad, General Rokossovsky, decided to dismember the enemy group and destroy it piece by piece with powerful cutting blows from west to east.
The balance of forces and means did not give confidence in the success of the operation. The enemy outnumbered the troops of the Don Front in personnel and tanks by 1.2 times and was inferior in artillery by 1.7 times and in aviation by 3 times. True, due to a lack of fuel, he could not fully use motorized and tank formations.
Operation Ring
On January 8, the Nazis received a message with a proposal to surrender, which they rejected.
On January 10, under the cover of artillery preparation, the offensive of the Don Front began. During the first day, the attackers managed to advance to a depth of 8 kilometers. Artillery units and formations supported the troops with a new type of accompanying fire at that time, called the “barrage of fire.”
The enemy fought on the same defensive lines on which the Battle of Stalingrad began for our troops. By the end of the second day, the Nazis, under pressure from the Soviet army, began to randomly retreat to Stalingrad.
Surrender of Nazi troops
On January 17, the width of the encirclement was reduced by seventy kilometers. There was a repeated proposal to lay down the arms, which was also ignored. Until the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, calls for surrender from the Soviet command were received regularly.
On January 22, the offensive continued. Over four days, the depth of advance was another 15 kilometers. By January 25, the enemy was squeezed into a narrow area measuring 3.5 by 20 kilometers. The next day this strip was cut into two parts, northern and southern. On January 26, a historic meeting between two front armies took place in the Mamayev Kurgan area.
Until January 31, stubborn fighting continued. On this day, the southern group stopped resisting. The officers and generals of the 6th Army headquarters, led by Paulus, surrendered. The day before, Hitler awarded him the rank of field marshal. The northern group continued to resist. Only on February 1, after a powerful artillery fire raid, the enemy began to surrender. On February 2, the fighting stopped completely. A report was sent to Headquarters about the end of the Battle of Stalingrad.
On February 3, the troops of the Don Front began regrouping for further actions in the direction of Kursk.
Losses in the Battle of Stalingrad
All stages of the Battle of Stalingrad were very bloody. The losses on both sides were colossal. Until now, data from different sources differ greatly from each other. It is generally accepted that the Soviet Union lost over 1.1 million people killed. On the part of the fascist German troops, the total losses are estimated at 1.5 million people, of which the Germans account for about 900 thousand people, the rest are the losses of the satellites. Data on the number of prisoners also vary, but on average their number is close to 100 thousand people.
Equipment losses were also significant. The Wehrmacht was missing about 2,000 tanks and assault guns, 10,000 guns and mortars, 3,000 aircraft, and 70,000 vehicles.
The consequences of the Battle of Stalingrad were fatal for the Reich. It was from this moment that Germany began to experience mobilization hunger.
The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad
The victory in this battle served as a turning point in the entire Second World War. In figures and facts, the Battle of Stalingrad can be represented as follows. The Soviet army completely destroyed 32 divisions, 3 brigades, 16 divisions suffered a heavy defeat, and it took a long time to restore their combat capability. Our troops pushed back the front line from the Volga and Don hundreds of kilometers.
The major defeat shook the unity of the Reich's allies. The destruction of the Romanian and Italian armies forced the leadership of these countries to think about leaving the war. Victory in the Battle of Stalingrad and then successful offensive operations in the Caucasus convinced Turkey not to join the war against the Soviet Union.
The Battle of Stalingrad and then the Battle of Kursk finally secured the strategic initiative for the USSR. The Great Patriotic War lasted another two years, but events no longer developed according to the plans of the fascist leadership
The beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad in July 1942 was unsuccessful for the Soviet Union, the reasons for this are known. The more valuable and significant it is for us to win it. Throughout the battle, military leaders previously unknown to a wide circle of people underwent formation and gained combat experience. By the end of the battle on the Volga, these were already the commanders of the great Battle of Stalingrad. Every day, front commanders gained invaluable experience in managing large military formations and used new techniques and methods of using various types of troops.
Victory in the battle had enormous moral significance for the Soviet army. She managed to crush the strongest enemy, inflicting a defeat on him, from which he was never able to recover. The exploits of the defenders of Stalingrad served as an example for all soldiers of the Red Army.
The course, results, maps, diagrams, facts, memories of participants in the Battle of Stalingrad are to this day the subject of study in academies and military schools.
In December 1942, the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad” was established. Over 700 thousand people have been awarded it. 112 people became heroes of the Soviet Union in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The dates November 19 and February 2 became memorable. For the special merits of artillery units and formations, the day of the start of the counteroffensive became a holiday - the Day of Rocket Forces and Artillery. The day of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad is marked as the Day of Military Glory. Since May 1, 1945, Stalingrad has been awarded the title of Hero City.
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, which advanced 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 back Soviet troops 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 2,000 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 territory occupied by the Red Army in Stalingrad was so reduced that it was 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 Nazi 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.