Battles of Stalingrad 1942. Battle of Stalingrad: defense of Stalingrad. Map of the Battle of Stalingrad

The turning point during the Second World War was the great. A summary of the events is not able to convey the special spirit of cohesion and heroism of the Soviet soldiers who participated in the battle.

Why was Stalingrad so important to Hitler? Historians identify several reasons why the Fuhrer wanted to capture Stalingrad at all costs and did not give the order to retreat even when defeat was obvious.

A large industrial city on the banks of the longest river in Europe - the Volga. A transport hub for important river and land routes that connected the center of the country with the southern regions. Hitler, having captured Stalingrad, would not only have cut an important transport artery of the USSR and created serious difficulties with the supply of the Red Army, but also would have reliably covered the German army advancing in the Caucasus.

Many researchers believe that the presence of Stalin in the name of the city made its capture important for Hitler from an ideological and propaganda point of view.

There is a point of view according to which there was a secret agreement between Germany and Turkey to join the ranks of the allies immediately after the passage for Soviet troops along the Volga was blocked.

Battle of Stalingrad. Summary of events

• Time frame of the battle: 07/17/42 - 02/02/43.
• Taking part: from Germany - the reinforced 6th Army of Field Marshal Paulus and Allied troops. On the USSR side - the Stalingrad Front, created on July 12, 1942, under the command of first Marshal Timoshenko, from July 23, 1942 - Lieutenant General Gordov, and from August 9, 1942 - Colonel General Eremenko.
• Periods of the battle: defensive - from 17.07 to 18.11.42, offensive - from 19.11.42 to 02.02.43.

In turn, the defensive stage is divided into battles on the distant approaches to the city in the bend of the Don from 17.07 to 10.08.42, battles on the distant approaches between the Volga and Don from 11.08 to 12.09.42, battles in the suburbs and the city itself from 13.09 to 18.11 .42 years.

The losses on both sides were colossal. The Red Army lost almost 1 million 130 thousand soldiers, 12 thousand guns, 2 thousand aircraft.

Germany and allied countries lost almost 1.5 million soldiers.

Defensive stage

• July 17th- the first serious clash of our troops with enemy forces on the shores
• August 23- enemy tanks came close to the city. German aircraft began to regularly bomb Stalingrad.
• September 13- storming the city. The fame of the workers of Stalingrad factories and factories, who repaired damaged equipment and weapons under fire, thundered throughout the world.
• October 14- the Germans launched an offensive military operation off the banks of the Volga with the aim of capturing Soviet bridgeheads.
• November 19- our troops launched a counteroffensive according to the plan for Operation Uranus.

The entire second half of the summer of 1942 was hot. A summary and chronology of defense events indicate that our soldiers, with a shortage of weapons and a significant superiority in manpower on the part of the enemy, accomplished the impossible. They not only defended Stalingrad, but also launched a counteroffensive in difficult conditions of exhaustion, lack of uniforms and the harsh Russian winter.

Offensive and victory

As part of Operation Uranus, Soviet soldiers managed to surround the enemy. Until November 23, our soldiers strengthened the blockade around the Germans.

• 12 December- the enemy made a desperate attempt to break out of the encirclement. However, the breakthrough attempt was unsuccessful. Soviet troops began to tighten the ring.
• December 17- The Red Army recaptured German positions on the Chir River (the right tributary of the Don).
• December 24- ours advanced 200 km into the operational depth.
• 31th of December- Soviet soldiers advanced another 150 km. The front line has stabilized at the Tormosin-Zhukovskaya-Komissarovsky line.
• January 10- our offensive in accordance with the “Ring” plan.
• January 26- The German 6th Army is divided into 2 groups.
• January 31- the southern part of the former 6th German Army was destroyed.
• 02 February- the northern group of fascist troops was eliminated. Our soldiers, the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, won. The enemy capitulated. Field Marshal Paulus, 24 generals, 2,500 officers and almost 100 thousand exhausted German soldiers were captured.

The Battle of Stalingrad brought enormous destruction. Photos by war correspondents captured the ruins of the city.

All the soldiers who took part in the significant battle proved themselves to be courageous and brave sons of the Motherland.

Sniper Vasily Zaitsev destroyed 225 opponents with targeted shots.

Nikolai Panikakha - threw himself under an enemy tank with a bottle of flammable mixture. He sleeps eternally on Mamayev Kurgan.

Nikolai Serdyukov - covered the embrasure of the enemy pillbox, silencing the firing point.

Matvey Putilov, Vasily Titaev are signalmen who established communication by clamping the ends of the wire with their teeth.

Gulya Koroleva, a nurse, carried dozens of seriously wounded soldiers from the battlefield of Stalingrad. Participated in the attack on the heights. The mortal wound did not stop the brave girl. She continued to shoot until the last minute of her life.

The names of many, many heroes - infantrymen, artillerymen, tank crews and pilots - were given to the world by the Battle of Stalingrad. A brief summary of the course of hostilities is not capable of perpetuating all the exploits. Entire volumes of books have been written about these brave people who gave their lives for the freedom of future generations. Streets, schools, factories are named after them. The heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad should never be forgotten.

The meaning of the Battle of Stalingrad

The battle was not only of enormous scale, but also of extremely significant political significance. The bloody war continued. The Battle of Stalingrad became its main turning point. Without exaggeration, we can say that it was after the victory at Stalingrad that humanity gained hope for victory over fascism.

The Battle of Stalingrad, which took place off the banks of the Volga, seems to be one of the most significant, as well as the largest battles in the history of mankind in the entire history of armed conflicts.

The turning point of the Great Patriotic War, after which the decline of the Third Reich began, is associated with it

Events and conditions on the eve of the battle

After Germany’s attack on the territory of the USSR on June 22, 1941 and subsequent border battles and engagements (the Battle of Moscow, etc.), by the winter of 1942, a certain parity had emerged between the opponents and the parties stopped conducting major operations.

This was due to the fact that the German army could not advance, since its combat-ready units were exhausted in previous battles, and it was replenishing reserves, plus the Wehrmacht General Staff made adjustments to the initial offensive plans (development of the Operation Blau plan).

The Soviet army, in turn, was not yet able to carry out any offensive (although there were such attempts - Kharkov, Vyazma, etc.) due to the lack of forces and weapons that were lost during the first months of the war, as well as under Moscow, where the army of the Soviet Union carried out a successful counter-offensive.

Balance of power

Before the start of the battle, the group of German troops of their allies (Italy, Hungary, Romania, etc.) numbered (all of the lists below indicate the approximate number of military personnel and military equipment):

• 430,000 soldiers and officers;
• 3000 guns;
• 200 tanks and assault guns;
• 1250 aircraft.

During the battle, the following was also introduced:

• 980,000 soldiers and officers;
• 10,500 guns;
• 730 aircraft;
• 500 tanks.

At the beginning of July 1942, the Soviet Union had:

• 386,000 soldiers and officers;
• 2200 guns;
• 230 tanks, more than half of them light;
• 200 aircraft;
• 60 air defense systems.

During the battle, reserves were introduced, which amounted to:

• 114,000 soldiers and officers;
• 12,500 guns and mortars;
• 600 aircraft;
• 500 tanks, of which 300 are light.

Technique

According to various sources, about 2 million people, more than 26,000 guns and mortars, more than 2,000 tanks and more than 2,000 aircraft took part in the battle on the part of Germany and the USSR.

From the balance of forces it is clear that the German army and its allies had a quantitative advantage (with the exception of guns, mortars and manpower) in all types of weapons, especially in aircraft, as well as tanks, where the technical advantage was felt.

The German army was armed mainly with medium tanks PzKpfw III, PzKpfw IV, self-propelled guns Sturmhaubitze 42, Sturmgesch?tz III, Marder III, as well as the Italian self-propelled gun "Samovente". Already during the battle, heavy Tiger tanks were introduced. From the very beginning of the Second World War, the Wehrmacht was armed with the Sd armored personnel carrier. Kfz.251/12 - “infantry thing”.

The Soviet Union at that time was armed with light tanks T-26, T-60, as well as the American M-3 Stuart (the tank was supplied under Lend-Lease), medium T-34 tanks also began to enter service from beyond the Urals , while a large number of tanks of this type were destroyed or captured and subsequently used by the Germans in the initial period of the war. KV-1 heavy tanks were also used, but their production was limited. Self-propelled guns began to be used by Soviet troops only in the spring of 1943 (SU-122), and the gun mounted on a tractor, the Zis 30, could hardly be called a full-fledged self-propelled gun, and moreover, only about 100 of them were produced.

Among the auxiliary armored vehicles, it is worth noting the BA-64 armored car, which was used by the Soviet army for reconnaissance purposes since the summer of 1942.

The Battle of Stalingrad is divided by historians into two stages - defensive battles waged by Soviet troops and their offensive followed by the encirclement and defeat of the Wehrmacht forces.

Start of the battle

The beginning of defensive battles is considered to be July 17, 1942, when divisions under the command of General Heitz clashed with Soviet forces under the command of Kolpakchi and Gordov.

The German offensive developed along the banks of the Don, and by August 23, the vanguard of the 6th Army of General F. Paulus, having crossed the Don waters, approached the suburbs of Stalingrad. During the battles, Soviet troops put up stubborn resistance and stopped German troops more than once (the battle at the 74th kilometer crossing, during which the 4th Tank Army of General G. Hoth, “rolling” towards Stalingrad from the south, wanted to rush into the city on the move, but was stopped by the competent defense of Soviet troops.

However, by the end of August, all land communications in the city area were cut by German tanks. To protect the city, a people's militia was created, which, together with units of the 62nd Army of General V. Chuikov and the 64th Army of General M. Shumilov, starting from September 13, fought constant street battles that broke out in the city.

Fighting in the city

Having a colossal superiority in armored vehicles and absolute superiority in the air in front of the defending units, the German troops could not take advantage of it, due to the specifics of street battles and the skillful defense of Soviet soldiers.

During the battle for the city itself, each house or building was turned into defensive fortresses and changed hands several times. During a month of bloody battles, German units were unable to completely capture the city.

On October 14, the German command launched another massive offensive, having previously subjected the city and its inhabitants to powerful artillery fire and a massive air raid.

During the ensuing battles, which lasted until November 14, German troops were able to push the defenders back to the Volga, taking the tractor plant (STZ) and the Barrikada plant, but it was not possible to finally “throw” the Red Army troops into the river. The soldiers of the 62nd and 64th armies, dug in on the banks of the river, were supported by artillery and aviation from the opposite bank, this gave the soldiers the opportunity not only to defend themselves, but also to launch daring hand-to-hand counterattacks.

Operation Uranus

The offensive part of the battle on the Volga began on November 19, when the troops of the Don and Southwestern Front under the command of Generals K. Rokosovsky and N. Vatutin from the north, and the troops of the Stalingrad Front under the command of A. Eremenko from the south, counter flank attacks entered the city area Kalach-on-Don, while blocking the 6th Army of General F. Paulus in Stalingrad and its environs.

During the counter-offensive operation, code-named “Uranus,” the Soviet command planned to immediately encircle and destroy the enemy forces located in the city area, but this did not work out, since the Wehrmacht General Staff, in turn, attempted to release the encircled Paulus group.

Then a counterattack was planned and launched (Operation “Winter Thunderstorm” on December 12-23), however, the offensive of the 4th Army of G. Hoth and units of Army Group Don, under the command of Manstein, was skillfully stopped by the troops of the Stalingrad Front, in particular the 51st the army of General Trufanov and the 2nd Army of General Malinovsky.

Starting from January 10, 1943, the already mentioned 62nd and 21st armies (commander Chistyakov) began moving towards each other with cutting blows and on January 26 they met on Mamayev Kurgan. Fighting in the city continued until February 2, when Paulus (at that time already a field marshal) ordered his troops to stop resistance, Paulus himself also surrendered.

Losses of the parties

Germany and its satellites lost:

• 1,100,000 people killed and wounded;
• 2000 tanks and self-propelled guns;
• 10,000 mortar guns;
• 3000 aircraft, including transport ones.

At the same time, about 100,000 soldiers and officers of the German army were captured; it is also worth emphasizing that on the battlefields of Stalingrad the following remained and were later used by Soviet units:

• 5700 guns;
• 1300 mortars;
• 1200 machine guns;
• 740 aircraft;
• 1500 tanks;
• 80,000 vehicles, as well as other military equipment.

Afterword

The Great Battle of Stalingrad, if speaking in the language of technology, showed that the German military “flywheel” had a second serious failure (the first was during the battle of Moscow in 1941), after which the German militaristic machine began to constantly “fail” until its final “breakdown” in 1945 At the same time, during the battle off the banks of the Volga, the main and, perhaps, fatal problems of Germany as a belligerent were outlined:

• limited human and raw material resources;
• a war with several opponents at once (except for the war with the USSR, Germany fought in Africa and the North Atlantic with the USA and Great Britain).

The Soviet Union, in turn, finally “moved away” from the defeats inflicted on it during the operations of 41-42 and accepted the role of a “punishing sword” during the global world war between the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, of which it was a member, and the Axis countries (Germany, Italy, Japan) .

The victory of the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad had a colossal propaganda and psychological role not only for the population of the USSR, but also for the whole world, since it was after this that the balance of power in the Second World War changed and the “pendulum of victory” swung towards the Soviet Union and its allies, and the sun of the “Third Reich” began its systematic decline.

The Battle of Stalingrad is a battle of the Second World War, an important episode of the Great Patriotic War between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht with its allies. Occurred on the territory of modern Voronezh, Rostov, Volgograd regions and the Republic of Kalmykia of the Russian Federation from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943. The German offensive lasted from July 17 to November 18, 1942, its goal was to capture the Great Bend of the Don, the Volgodonsk Isthmus and Stalingrad (modern Volgograd). The implementation of this plan would block transport links between the central regions of the USSR and the Caucasus, creating a springboard for a further offensive to seize the Caucasian oil fields. During July-November, the Soviet army managed to force the Germans to get bogged down in defensive battles, during November-January they encircled a group of German troops as a result of Operation Uranus, repelled the unblocking German strike "Wintergewitter" and tightened the encirclement ring to the ruins of Stalingrad. Those surrounded capitulated on February 2, 1943, including 24 generals and Field Marshal Paulus.

This victory, after a series of defeats in 1941-1942, became a turning point in the war. In terms of the number of total irretrievable losses (killed, died from wounds in hospitals, missing) of the warring parties, the Battle of Stalingrad became one of the bloodiest in the history of mankind: Soviet soldiers - 478,741 (323,856 in the defensive phase of the battle and 154,885 in the offensive phase), German - about 300,000, German allies (Italians, Romanians, Hungarians, Croats) - about 200,000 people, the number of dead citizens cannot be determined even approximately, but the count is no less than tens of thousands. The military significance of the victory was the removal of the threat of the Wehrmacht seizing the Lower Volga region and the Caucasus, especially oil from the Baku fields. The political significance was the sobering of Germany's allies and their understanding of the fact that the war could not be won. Turkey abandoned the invasion of the USSR in the spring of 1943, Japan did not begin the planned Siberian Campaign, Romania (Mihai I), Italy (Badoglio), Hungary (Kallai) began to look for opportunities to exit the war and conclude a separate peace with Great Britain and the USA.

Previous Events

On June 22, 1941, Germany and its allies invaded the Soviet Union, quickly moving inland. Having been defeated during the battles in the summer and autumn of 1941, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive during the Battle of Moscow in December 1941. German troops, exhausted by the stubborn resistance of the defenders of Moscow, not ready to wage a winter campaign, having an extensive and not completely controlled rear, were stopped on the approaches to the city and, during the counter-offensive of the Red Army, were thrown back 150-300 km to the west.

In the winter of 1941-1942, the Soviet-German front stabilized. Plans for a new offensive on Moscow were rejected by Adolf Hitler, despite the fact that German generals insisted on this option. However, Hitler believed that an attack on Moscow would be too predictable. For these reasons, the German command was considering plans for new operations in the north and south. An offensive to the south of the USSR would ensure control over the oil fields of the Caucasus (the area of ​​Grozny and Baku), as well as over the Volga River, the main artery connecting the European part of the country with the Transcaucasus and Central Asia. A German victory in the south of the Soviet Union could seriously undermine Soviet industry.

The Soviet leadership, encouraged by the successes near Moscow, tried to seize the strategic initiative and in May 1942 sent large forces to attack the Kharkov region. The offensive began from the Barvenkovsky ledge south of the city, which was formed as a result of the winter offensive of the Southwestern Front. A feature of this offensive was the use of a new Soviet mobile formation - a tank corps, which in terms of the number of tanks and artillery was approximately equivalent to a German tank division, but was significantly inferior to it in terms of the number of motorized infantry. Meanwhile, the Axis forces were planning an operation to encircle the Barvenkovo ​​salient.

The Red Army's offensive was so unexpected for the Wehrmacht that it almost ended in disaster for Army Group South. However, they decided not to change their plans and, thanks to the concentration of troops on the flanks of the ledge, broke through the defenses of the enemy troops. Most of the Southwestern Front was surrounded. In the subsequent three-week battles, better known as the “second battle of Kharkov,” the advancing units of the Red Army suffered a heavy defeat. According to German data, more than 240 thousand people were captured alone; according to Soviet archival data, the irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 170,958 people, and a large number of heavy weapons were also lost during the operation. After the defeat near Kharkov, the front south of Voronezh was practically open. As a result, the way to Rostov-on-Don and the lands of the Caucasus was opened for German troops. The city itself was held by the Red Army in November 1941 with heavy losses, but now it was lost.

After the Red Army's Kharkov disaster in May 1942, Hitler intervened in strategic planning by ordering Army Group South to split into two. Army Group A was to continue the offensive into the North Caucasus. Army Group B, including the 6th Army of Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Panzer Army of G. Hoth, was supposed to move east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

The capture of Stalingrad was very important for Hitler for several reasons. One of the main ones was that Stalingrad was a large industrial city on the banks of the Volga, along which and along which strategically important routes ran, connecting the Center of Russia with the southern regions of the USSR, including the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Thus, the capture of Stalingrad would allow Germany to cut off water and land communications vital for the USSR, reliably cover the left flank of the forces advancing in the Caucasus and create serious problems with supplies for the Red Army units opposing them. Finally, the very fact that the city bore the name of Stalin - Hitler's main enemy - made the capture of the city a victory from the point of view of ideology and the inspiration of the soldiers, as well as the population of the Reich.

All major Wehrmacht operations were usually given a color code: Fall Rot (red version) - the operation to capture France, Fall Gelb (yellow version) - the operation to capture Belgium and the Netherlands, Fall Grün (green version) - Czechoslovakia, etc. Summer offensive The Wehrmacht in the USSR was given the code name “Fall Blau” - the blue version.

Operation Blue Option began with the offensive of Army Group South against the troops of the Bryansk Front to the north and the troops of the Southwestern Front to the south of Voronezh. The 6th and 17th armies of the Wehrmacht, as well as the 1st and 4th tank armies, took part in it.

It is worth noting that despite a two-month break in active hostilities, for the troops of the Bryansk Front the result was no less catastrophic than for the troops of the Southwestern Front, battered by the May battles. On the very first day of the operation, both Soviet fronts were broken through tens of kilometers in depth, and the enemy rushed to the Don. The Red Army in the vast desert steppes could oppose only small forces, and then a chaotic withdrawal of forces to the east began. Attempts to re-form the defense also ended in complete failure when German units entered the Soviet defensive positions from the flank. In mid-July, several divisions of the Red Army fell into a pocket in the south of the Voronezh region, near the city of Millerovo in the north of the Rostov region.

One of the important factors that thwarted the German plans was the failure of the offensive operation on Voronezh. Having easily captured the right bank part of the city, the Wehrmacht was unable to build on its success, and the front line aligned with the Voronezh River. The left bank remained with the Soviet troops, and repeated attempts by the Germans to dislodge the Red Army from the left bank were unsuccessful. The Axis forces ran out of resources to continue offensive operations, and the battle for Voronezh entered the positional phase. Due to the fact that the main forces were sent to Stalingrad, the offensive on Voronezh was suspended, and the most combat-ready units from the front were removed and transferred to the 6th Army of Paulus. Subsequently, this factor played an important role in the defeat of German troops at Stalingrad.

After the capture of Rostov-on-Don, Hitler transferred the 4th Panzer Army from Group A (attacking the Caucasus) to Group B, aimed east towards the Volga and Stalingrad. The 6th Army's initial offensive was so successful that Hitler intervened again, ordering the 4th Panzer Army to join Army Group South (A). As a result, a huge traffic jam developed when the 4th and 6th armies needed several roads in the area of ​​​​operation. Both armies were stuck tightly, and the delay turned out to be quite long and slowed down the German advance by one week. With the advance slowing, Hitler changed his mind and reassigned the 4th Panzer Army's objective back to the Caucasus.

Disposition of forces before battle

Germany

Army Group B. The 6th Army (commander - F. Paulus) was allocated for the attack on Stalingrad. It included 14 divisions, which numbered about 270 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars, and about 700 tanks. Intelligence activities in the interests of the 6th Army were carried out by Abwehrgruppe 104.

The army was supported by the 4th Air Fleet (commanded by Colonel General Wolfram von Richthofen), which had up to 1,200 aircraft (the fighter aircraft aimed at Stalingrad, in the initial stage of the battle for this city, consisted of about 120 Messerschmitt Bf.109F- fighter aircraft 4/G-2 (Soviet and Russian sources give figures ranging from 100 to 150), plus about 40 obsolete Romanian Bf.109E-3).

USSR

Stalingrad Front (commander - S.K. Timoshenko, from July 23 - V.N. Gordov, from August 13 - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko). It included the Stalingrad garrison (10th division of the NKVD), the 62nd, 63rd, 64th, 21st, 28th, 38th and 57th combined arms armies, the 8th air army (Soviet fighter aviation at the beginning of the battle here consisted of 230-240 fighters, mainly Yak-1) and the Volga military flotilla - 37 divisions, 3 tank corps, 22 brigades, which numbered 547 thousand people, 2200 guns and mortars, about 400 tanks, 454 aircraft, 150-200 long-range bombers and 60 air defense fighters.

On July 12, the Stalingrad Front was created, the commander was Marshal Timoshenko, and from July 23, Lieutenant General Gordov. It included the 62nd Army, promoted from the reserve under the command of Major General Kolpakchi, the 63rd, 64th Armies, as well as the 21st, 28th, 38th, 57th Combined Arms and 8th Air Armies of the former Southwestern Front, and with July 30 - 51st Army of the North Caucasus Front. The Stalingrad Front received the task of defending in a zone 530 km wide (along the Don River from Babka 250 km northwest of the city of Serafimovich to Kletskaya and further along the line Kletskaya, Surovikino, Suvorovsky, Verkhnekurmoyarskaya), to stop the further advance of the enemy and prevent him from reaching the Volga . The first stage of the defensive battle in the North Caucasus began on July 25, 1942 at the turn of the lower reaches of the Don in the strip from the village of Verkhne-Kurmoyarskaya to the mouth of the Don. The border of the junction - the closure of the Stalingrad and North Caucasus military fronts ran along the line Verkhne-Kurmanyarskaya - Gremyachaya station - Ketchenery, crossing the northern and eastern part of the Kotelnikovsky district of the Volgograd region. By July 17, the Stalingrad Front had 12 divisions (a total of 160 thousand people), 2,200 guns and mortars, about 400 tanks and over 450 aircraft. In addition, 150-200 long-range bombers and up to 60 fighters of the 102nd Air Defense Aviation Division (Colonel I. I. Krasnoyurchenko) operated in its zone. Thus, by the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad, the enemy had a superiority over the Soviet troops in tanks and artillery - by 1.3 times and in airplanes - by more than 2 times, and in people they were inferior by 2 times.

Start of the battle

In July, when German intentions became completely clear to the Soviet command, it developed plans for the defense of Stalingrad. To create a new defense front, Soviet troops, after advancing from the depths, had to immediately take positions on terrain where there were no pre-prepared defensive lines. Most of the formations of the Stalingrad Front were new formations that had not yet been properly put together and, as a rule, did not have combat experience. There was an acute shortage of fighter aircraft, anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery. Many divisions lacked ammunition and vehicles.

The generally accepted date for the start of the battle is July 17. However, Alexey Isaev discovered in the combat log of the 62nd Army information about the first two clashes that occurred on July 16. The advance detachment of the 147th Infantry Division at 17:40 was fired upon by enemy anti-tank guns near the Morozov farm and destroyed them with return fire. Soon a more serious collision occurred:

“At 20:00, four German tanks secretly approached the Zolotoy village and opened fire on the detachment. The first battle of the Battle of Stalingrad lasted 20-30 minutes. Tankers of the 645th Tank Battalion stated that 2 German tanks were destroyed, 1 anti-tank gun and 1 more tank was knocked out. Apparently, the Germans did not expect to face two companies of tanks at once and sent only four vehicles forward. The detachment's losses were one T-34 burned out and two T-34s shot down. The first battle of the bloody months-long battle was not marked by anyone's death - the casualties of two tank companies amounted to 11 people wounded. Dragging two damaged tanks behind them, the detachment returned.” - Isaev A.V. Stalingrad. There is no land for us beyond the Volga. - Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008. - 448 p. - ISBN 978–5–699–26236–6.

On July 17, at the turn of the Chir and Tsimla rivers, the forward detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies of the Stalingrad Front met with the vanguards of the 6th German Army. Interacting with the aviation of the 8th Air Army (Major General of Aviation T.T. Khryukin), they put up stubborn resistance to the enemy, who, in order to break their resistance, had to deploy 5 divisions out of 13 and spend 5 days fighting them. In the end, German troops knocked down the advanced detachments from their positions and approached the main defense line of the troops of the Stalingrad Front. The resistance of the Soviet troops forced the Nazi command to strengthen the 6th Army. By July 22, it already had 18 divisions, numbering 250 thousand combat personnel, about 740 tanks, 7.5 thousand guns and mortars. The troops of the 6th Army supported up to 1,200 aircraft. As a result, the balance of forces increased even more in favor of the enemy. For example, in tanks he now had a twofold superiority. By July 22, the troops of the Stalingrad Front had 16 divisions (187 thousand people, 360 tanks, 7.9 thousand guns and mortars, about 340 aircraft).

At dawn on July 23, the enemy’s northern and, on July 25, southern strike groups went on the offensive. Using superiority in forces and air supremacy, the Germans broke through the defenses on the right flank of the 62nd Army and by the end of the day on July 24 reached the Don in the Golubinsky area. As a result, up to three Soviet divisions were surrounded. The enemy also managed to push back the troops of the right flank of the 64th Army. A critical situation developed for the troops of the Stalingrad Front. Both flanks of the 62nd Army were deeply engulfed by the enemy, and its exit to the Don created a real threat of a breakthrough of Nazi troops to Stalingrad.

By the end of July, the Germans pushed the Soviet troops behind the Don. The defense line stretched for hundreds of kilometers from north to south along the Don. To break through the defenses along the river, the Germans had to use, in addition to their 2nd Army, the armies of their Italian, Hungarian and Romanian allies. The 6th Army was only a few dozen kilometers from Stalingrad, and the 4th Panzer, located south of it, turned north to help take the city. To the south, Army Group South (A) continued to push deeper into the Caucasus, but its advance slowed. Army Group South A was too far to the south to provide support to Army Group South B in the north.

On July 28, 1942, People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin addressed the Red Army with order No. 227, in which he demanded to strengthen resistance and stop the enemy's advance at all costs. The strictest measures were envisaged against those who showed cowardice and cowardice in battle. Practical measures were outlined to strengthen morale and discipline among the troops. “It’s time to end the retreat,” the order noted. - No step back!" This slogan embodied the essence of order No. 227. Commanders and political workers were given the task of bringing to the consciousness of every soldier the requirements of this order.

The stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops forced the Nazi command on July 31 to turn the 4th Tank Army (Colonel General G. Hoth) from the Caucasus direction to Stalingrad. On August 2, its advanced units approached Kotelnikovsky. In this regard, there was a direct threat of an enemy breakthrough to the city from the southwest. Fighting broke out on the southwestern approaches to it. To strengthen the defense of Stalingrad, by decision of the front commander, the 57th Army was deployed on the southern front of the outer defensive perimeter. The 51st Army was transferred to the Stalingrad Front (Major General T.K. Kolomiets, from October 7 - Major General N.I. Trufanov).

The situation in the 62nd Army zone was difficult. On August 7-9, the enemy pushed her troops beyond the Don River, and surrounded four divisions west of Kalach. Soviet soldiers fought in encirclement until August 14, and then in small groups they began to fight their way out of encirclement. Three divisions of the 1st Guards Army (Major General K. S. Moskalenko, from September 28 - Major General I. M. Chistyakov) arrived from the Headquarters Reserve and launched a counterattack on the enemy troops and stopped their further advance.

Thus, the German plan - to break through to Stalingrad with a swift blow on the move - was thwarted by the stubborn resistance of Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don and their active defense on the southwestern approaches to the city. During the three weeks of the offensive, the enemy was able to advance only 60-80 km. Based on an assessment of the situation, the Nazi command made significant adjustments to its plan.

On August 19, Nazi troops resumed their offensive, striking in the general direction of Stalingrad. On August 22, the 6th German Army crossed the Don and captured a 45 km wide bridgehead on its eastern bank, in the Peskovatka area, on which six divisions were concentrated. On August 23, the enemy's 14th Tank Corps broke through to the Volga north of Stalingrad, in the area of ​​the village of Rynok, and cut off the 62nd Army from the rest of the forces of the Stalingrad Front. The day before, enemy aircraft launched a massive air strike on Stalingrad, carrying out about 2 thousand sorties. As a result, the city suffered terrible destruction - entire neighborhoods were turned into ruins or simply wiped off the face of the earth.

On September 13, the enemy went on the offensive along the entire front, trying to capture Stalingrad by storm. Soviet troops failed to contain his powerful onslaught. They were forced to retreat to the city, where fierce fighting broke out on the streets.

At the end of August and September, Soviet troops carried out a series of counterattacks in the southwestern direction to cut off the formations of the enemy's 14th Tank Corps, which had broken through to the Volga. When launching counterattacks, Soviet troops had to close the German breakthrough in the Kotluban and Rossoshka station area and eliminate the so-called “land bridge”. At the cost of enormous losses, Soviet troops managed to advance only a few kilometers.

“In the tank formations of the 1st Guards Army, out of 340 tanks that were available at the start of the offensive on September 18, by September 20 only 183 serviceable tanks remained, taking into account replenishment.” - Zharkoy F.M.

Battle in the city

By August 23, 1942, out of 400 thousand residents of Stalingrad, about 100 thousand were evacuated. On August 24, the Stalingrad City Defense Committee adopted a belated resolution on the evacuation of women, children and the wounded to the left bank of the Volga. All citizens, including women and children, worked to build trenches and other fortifications.

On August 23, the 4th Air Fleet carried out its longest and most destructive bombardment of the city. German aircraft destroyed the city, killed more than 90 thousand people, destroyed more than half of the housing stock of pre-war Stalingrad, thereby turning the city into a huge territory covered with burning ruins. The situation was aggravated by the fact that after the high-explosive bombs, German bombers dropped incendiary bombs. A huge fire whirlwind formed, which burned the central part of the city and all its inhabitants to the ground. The fire spread to other areas of Stalingrad, since most of the buildings in the city were built of wood or had wooden elements. Temperatures in many parts of the city, especially in its center, reached 1000 C. This would later be repeated in Hamburg, Dresden and Tokyo.

At 16:00 on August 23, 1942, the strike force of the 6th German Army broke through to the Volga near the northern outskirts of Stalingrad, in the area of ​​​​the villages of Latoshinka, Akatovka, and Rynok.

In the northern part of the city, near the village of Gumrak, the German 14th Tank Corps encountered resistance from Soviet anti-aircraft batteries of the 1077th regiment of Lieutenant Colonel V.S. German, whose gun crews included girls. The battle continued until the evening of August 23. By the evening of August 23, 1942, German tanks appeared in the area of ​​the tractor plant, 1-1.5 km from the factory workshops, and began shelling it. At this stage, Soviet defense relied heavily on the 10th Infantry Division of the NKVD and the people's militia, recruited from workers, firefighters, and policemen. The tractor plant continued to build tanks, which were manned by crews consisting of plant workers and immediately sent off the assembly lines into battle. A. S. Chuyanov told members of the film crew of the documentary “Pages of the Battle of Stalingrad” that when the enemy came to Mokraya Mechetka before organizing the defense line of Stalingrad, he was scared off by Soviet tanks that drove out of the gates of the tractor plant, and only drivers were sitting in them this plant without ammunition and crew. On August 23, the tank brigade named after the Stalingrad Proletariat advanced to the defense line north of the tractor plant in the area of ​​the Sukhaya Mechetka River. For about a week, the militia actively participated in defensive battles in the north of Stalingrad. Then gradually they began to be replaced by personnel units.

By September 1, 1942, the Soviet command could only provide its troops in Stalingrad with risky crossings across the Volga. In the midst of the ruins of the already destroyed city, the Soviet 62nd Army built defensive positions with firing points located in buildings and factories. Snipers and assault groups detained the enemy as best they could. The Germans, moving deeper into Stalingrad, suffered heavy losses. Soviet reinforcements were transported across the Volga from the eastern bank under constant bombardment and artillery fire.

From September 13 to 26, Wehrmacht units pushed back the troops of the 62nd Army and broke into the city center, and at the junction of the 62nd and 64th armies they broke through to the Volga. The river was completely under fire from German troops.

Every ship and even a boat was hunted. Despite this, during the battle for the city, over 82 thousand soldiers and officers, a large amount of military equipment, food and other military cargo were transported from the left bank to the right bank, and about 52 thousand wounded and civilians were evacuated to the left bank.

German military doctrine was based on the interaction of military branches in general and especially close interaction between infantry, sappers, artillery and dive bombers. In response, Soviet soldiers tried to position themselves tens of meters from enemy positions, in which case German artillery and aviation could not operate without the risk of hitting their own. Often the opponents were separated by a wall, floor or landing. In this case, the German infantry had to fight on equal terms with the Soviet infantry - rifles, grenades, bayonets and knives. The fight was for every street, every factory, every house, basement or staircase. Even individual buildings were included on the maps and given names: Pavlov's House, the Mill, the Department Store, the prison, the Zabolotny House, the Dairy House, the House of Specialists, the L-shaped House and others. The Red Army constantly carried out counterattacks, trying to recapture previously lost positions. Mamaev Kurgan and the railway station changed hands several times.

The assault groups of both sides tried to use any passages to the enemy - sewers, basements, tunnels.

Street fighting in Stalingrad.

On both sides, the combatants were supported by a large number of artillery batteries (Soviet large-caliber artillery operated from the eastern bank of the Volga), up to 600-mm mortars.

Soviet snipers, using the ruins as cover, also inflicted heavy losses on the Germans. Sniper Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev during the battle destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers (including 11 snipers).

On the morning of October 14, the German 6th Army launched a decisive offensive against the Soviet bridgeheads near the Volga. It was supported by more than a thousand aircraft of the 4th Luftwaffe Air Fleet. The concentration of German troops was unprecedented - on a front of only about 4 km, three infantry and two tank divisions were advancing on the tractor plant and the Barricades plant. Soviet units stubbornly defended themselves, supported by artillery fire from the eastern bank of the Volga and from the ships of the Volga military flotilla. However, the artillery on the left bank of the Volga began to experience a shortage of ammunition in connection with the preparation of the Soviet counter-offensive. On November 9, the cold weather began, the air temperature dropped to minus 18 degrees. Crossing the Volga became extremely difficult due to ice floes floating on the river, and the troops of the 62nd Army experienced an acute shortage of ammunition and food. By the end of the day on November 11, German troops managed to capture the southern part of the Barricades plant and, in a 500 m wide area, break through to the Volga, the 62nd Army now held three small bridgeheads isolated from each other (the smallest of which was Lyudnikov Island). The divisions of the 62nd Army, after suffering losses, numbered only 500-700 people. But the German divisions also suffered huge losses, in many units more than 40% of their personnel were killed in battle.

Preparing Soviet troops for a counteroffensive

The Don Front was formed on September 30, 1942. It included: 1st Guards, 21st, 24th, 63rd and 66th Armies, 4th Tank Army, 16th Air Army. Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky, who took command, actively began to fulfill the “old dream” of the right flank of the Stalingrad Front - to encircle the German 14th Tank Corps and connect with units of the 62nd Army.

Having taken command, Rokossovsky found the newly formed front on the offensive - following the order of the Headquarters, on September 30 at 5:00, after artillery preparation, units of the 1st Guards, 24th and 65th armies went on the offensive. Heavy fighting raged for two days. But, as noted in the TsAMO document, parts of the armies did not advance, and moreover, as a result of German counterattacks, several heights were abandoned. By October 2, the offensive had run out of steam.

But here, from the reserve of the Headquarters, the Don Front receives seven fully equipped rifle divisions (277, 62, 252, 212, 262, 331, 293 infantry divisions). The command of the Don Front decides to use fresh forces for a new offensive. On October 4, Rokossovsky ordered the development of a plan for an offensive operation, and on October 6 the plan was ready. The date of the operation was set for October 10. But by this time several events occur.

On October 5, 1942, Stalin, in a telephone conversation with A.I. Eremenko, sharply criticized the leadership of the Stalingrad Front and demanded that immediate measures be taken to stabilize the front and subsequently defeat the enemy. In response to this, on October 6, Eremenko made a report to Stalin about the situation and considerations for further actions of the front. The first part of this document is justification and blaming the Don Front (“they had high hopes for help from the north,” etc.). In the second part of the report, Eremenko proposes to conduct an operation to encircle and destroy German units near Stalingrad. There, for the first time, it was proposed to encircle the 6th Army with flank attacks on Romanian units and, after breaking through the fronts, to unite in the Kalach-on-Don area.

Headquarters considered Eremenko's plan, but then considered it impracticable (the depth of the operation was too great, etc.). In fact, the idea of ​​launching a counteroffensive was discussed as early as September 12 by Stalin, Zhukov and Vasilevsky, and by September 13 preliminary outlines of a plan were prepared and presented to Stalin, which included the creation of the Don Front. And Zhukov’s command of the 1st Guards, 24th and 66th armies was accepted on August 27, simultaneously with his appointment as Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The 1st Guards Army was part of the Southwestern Front at that time, and the 24th and 66th Armies, specifically for the operation entrusted to Zhukov to push the enemy away from the northern regions of Stalingrad, were withdrawn from the Headquarters reserve. After the creation of the front, its command was entrusted to Rokossovsky, and Zhukov was tasked with preparing the offensive of the Kalinin and Western Fronts in order to tie down the German forces so that they could not transfer them to support Army Group South.

As a result, the Headquarters proposed the following option for encircling and defeating German troops at Stalingrad: the Don Front was proposed to deliver the main blow in the direction of Kotluban, break through the front and reach the Gumrak region. At the same time, the Stalingrad Front is launching an offensive from the Gornaya Polyana area to Elshanka, and after breaking through the front, units move to the Gumrak area, where they join forces with units of the Don Front. In this operation, the front command was allowed to use fresh units: Don Front - 7 rifle divisions (277, 62, 252, 212, 262, 331, 293), Stalingrad Front - 7th Rifle Corps, 4th Cavalry Corps). On October 7, General Staff Directive No. 170644 was issued on conducting an offensive operation on two fronts to encircle the 6th Army; the start of the operation was scheduled for October 20.

Thus, it was planned to encircle and destroy only the German troops fighting directly in Stalingrad (14th Tank Corps, 51st and 4th Infantry Corps, about 12 divisions in total).

The command of the Don Front was dissatisfied with this directive. On October 9, Rokossovsky presented his plan for the offensive operation. He referred to the impossibility of breaking through the front in the Kotluban area. According to his calculations, 4 divisions were required for a breakthrough, 3 divisions to develop a breakthrough, and 3 more to cover from enemy attacks; thus, seven fresh divisions were clearly not enough. Rokossovsky proposed delivering the main blow in the Kuzmichi area (height 139.7), that is, according to the same old scheme: encircle units of the 14th Tank Corps, connect with the 62nd Army and only after that move to Gumrak to link up with units of 64 th army. The headquarters of the Don Front planned 4 days for this: from October 20 to 24. The “Oryol salient” of the Germans had haunted Rokossovsky since August 23, so he decided to first deal with this “callus” and then complete the complete encirclement of the enemy.

The Stavka did not accept Rokossovsky's proposal and recommended that he prepare the operation according to the Stavka plan; however, he was allowed to conduct a private operation against the Oryol group of Germans on October 10, without attracting fresh forces.

On October 9, units of the 1st Guards Army, as well as the 24th and 66th armies began an offensive in the direction of Orlovka. The advancing group was supported by 42 Il-2 attack aircraft, covered by 50 fighters of the 16th Air Army. The first day of the offensive ended in vain. The 1st Guards Army (298, 258, 207) had no advance, but the 24th Army advanced 300 meters. The 299th Infantry Division (66th Army), advancing to height 127.7, having suffered heavy losses, made no progress. On October 10, the offensive attempts continued, but by the evening they finally weakened and stopped. The next “operation to eliminate the Oryol group” failed. As a result of this offensive, the 1st Guards Army was disbanded due to losses incurred. Having transferred the remaining units of the 24th Army, the command was transferred to the reserve of Headquarters.

Soviet offensive (Operation Uranus)

On November 19, 1942, the Red Army began its offensive as part of Operation Uranus. On November 23, in the Kalach area, an encirclement ring closed around the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht. It was not possible to completely implement the Uranus plan, since it was not possible to split the 6th Army into two parts from the very beginning (with the attack of the 24th Army between the Volga and Don rivers). Attempts to liquidate those surrounded on the move under these conditions also failed, despite a significant superiority in forces - the superior tactical training of the Germans was telling. However, the 6th Army was isolated and its fuel, ammunition and food supplies were progressively dwindling, despite attempts to supply it by air by the 4th Air Fleet under the command of Wolfram von Richthofen.

Operation Wintergewitter

The newly formed Wehrmacht Army Group Don, under the command of Field Marshal Manstein, attempted to break through the blockade of the encircled troops (Operation Wintergewitter (German: Wintergewitter, Winter Storm). It was originally planned to begin on December 10, but the offensive actions of the Red Army on the outer front of the encirclement forced the start to be postponed operations on December 12. By this date, the Germans managed to present only one full-fledged tank formation - the 6th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht and (from the infantry formations) the remnants of the defeated 4th Romanian Army. These units were under the command of the 4th Panzer Army. G. Gotha. During the offensive, the group was reinforced by the very battered 11th and 17th tank divisions and three air field divisions.

By December 19, units of the 4th Tank Army, which had actually broken through the defensive formations of the Soviet troops, encountered the 2nd Guards Army, which had just been transferred from the Headquarters reserve, under the command of R. Ya. Malinovsky, which included two rifle and one mechanized corps.

Operation Little Saturn

According to the plan of the Soviet command, after the defeat of the 6th Army, the forces involved in Operation Uranus turned west and advanced towards Rostov-on-Don as part of Operation Saturn.

At the same time, the southern wing of the Voronezh Front attacked the Italian 8th Army north of Stalingrad and advanced directly west (towards the Donets) with an auxiliary attack to the southwest (towards Rostov-on-Don), covering the northern flank of the Southwestern front during a hypothetical offensive. However, due to the incomplete implementation of “Uranus”, “Saturn” was replaced by “Little Saturn”.

A breakthrough to Rostov-on-Don (due to Zhukov’s diversion of the bulk of the Red Army troops to carry out the unsuccessful offensive operation “Mars” near Rzhev, as well as due to the lack of seven armies pinned down by the 6th Army at Stalingrad) was no longer planned.

By December 25, these reserves launched counterattacks, during which they cut off V. M. Badanov’s 24th Tank Corps, which had just broken into the airfield in Tatsinskaya (about 300 German aircraft were destroyed at the airfield and in trains at the station). By December 30, the corps broke out of the encirclement, refueling the tanks with a mixture of aviation gasoline captured at the airfield and motor oil. By the end of December, the advancing troops of the Southwestern Front reached the line of Novaya Kalitva, Markovka, Millerovo, Chernyshevskaya. As a result of the Middle Don operation, the main forces of the 8th Italian Army were defeated (with the exception of the Alpine Corps, which was not hit), the defeat of the 3rd Romanian Army was completed, and great damage was inflicted on the Hollidt task force. 17 divisions and three brigades of the fascist bloc were destroyed or suffered heavy damage. 60,000 enemy soldiers and officers were captured. The defeat of the Italian and Romanian troops created the preconditions for the Red Army to launch an offensive in the Kotelnikovsky direction, where the troops of the 2nd Guards and 51st armies reached the Tormosin, Zhukovskaya, Kommisarovsky line by December 31, advancing 100-150 km and completed the defeat of the 4th th Romanian Army and pushed back units of the newly formed 4th Tank Army 200 km from Stalingrad. After this, the front line temporarily stabilized, since neither the Soviet nor the German troops had enough forces to break through the enemy’s tactical defense zone.

Combat during Operation Ring

The commander of the 62nd Army V.I. Chuikov presents the guards banner to the commander of the 39th Guards. SD S.S. Guryev. Stalingrad, Red October plant, January 3, 1943

On December 27, N.N. Voronov sent the first version of the “Ring” plan to the Supreme Command Headquarters. Headquarters, in Directive No. 170718 of December 28, 1942 (signed by Stalin and Zhukov), demanded changes to the plan so that it would provide for the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two parts before its destruction. Corresponding changes have been made to the plan. On January 10, the offensive of the Soviet troops began, the main blow was delivered in the zone of the 65th Army of General Batov. However, German resistance turned out to be so serious that the offensive had to be temporarily stopped. From January 17 to 22, the offensive was suspended for regrouping, new attacks on January 22-26 led to the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two groups (Soviet troops united in the Mamayev Kurgan area), by January 31 the southern group was eliminated (the command and headquarters of the 6th was captured 1st Army led by Paulus), by February 2 the northern group of those surrounded under the command of the commander of the 11th Army Corps, Colonel General Karl Strecker, capitulated. Shooting in the city continued until February 3 - the Hiwis resisted even after the German surrender on February 2, 1943, since they were not in danger of being captured. The liquidation of the 6th Army, according to the “Ring” plan, was supposed to be completed in a week, but in reality it lasted 23 days. (The 24th Army withdrew from the front on January 26 and was sent to the General Headquarters reserve).

In total, more than 2,500 officers and 24 generals of the 6th Army were captured during Operation Ring. In total, over 91 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers and officers were captured, of which no more than 20% returned to Germany at the end of the war - the majority died of exhaustion, dysentery and other diseases. The trophies of the Soviet troops from January 10 to February 2, 1943, according to the headquarters of the Don Front, were 5,762 guns, 1,312 mortars, 12,701 machine guns, 156,987 rifles, 10,722 machine guns, 744 aircraft, 166 tanks, 261 armored vehicles, 80,438 cars, 10,679 motorcycles , 240 tractors, 571 tractors, 3 armored trains and other military equipment.

A total of twenty German divisions capitulated: 14th, 16th and 24th Panzer, 3rd, 29th and 60th Motorized Infantry, 100th Jäger, 44th, 71st, 76th I, 79th, 94th, 113th, 295th, 297th, 305th, 371st, 376th, 384th, 389th infantry divisions. In addition, the Romanian 1st Cavalry and 20th Infantry Divisions surrendered. The Croatian regiment surrendered as part of the 100th Jaeger. The 91st air defense regiment, the 243rd and 245th separate assault gun battalions, and the 2nd and 51st rocket mortar regiments also capitulated.

Air supply to the encircled group

Hitler, after consulting with the leadership of the Luftwaffe, decided to arrange air transport for the encircled troops. A similar operation had already been carried out by German aviators who supplied troops in the Demyansk cauldron. To maintain acceptable combat effectiveness of the encircled units, daily deliveries of 700 tons of cargo were required. The Luftwaffe promised to provide daily supplies of 300 tons. Cargo was delivered to the airfields: Bolshaya Rossoshka, Basargino, Gumrak, Voroponovo and Pitomnik - the largest in the ring. The seriously wounded were taken out on return flights. Under successful circumstances, the Germans managed to make more than 100 flights per day to the encircled troops. The main bases for supplying the blocked troops were Tatsinskaya, Morozovsk, Tormosin and Bogoyavlenskaya. But as the Soviet troops advanced westward, the Germans had to move their supply bases further and further from Paulus’s troops: to Zverevo, Shakhty, Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Novocherkassk, Mechetinskaya and Salsk. At the last stage, airfields in Artyomovsk, Gorlovka, Makeevka and Stalino were used.

Soviet troops actively fought against air traffic. Both supply airfields and others located in the surrounded territory were subjected to bombing and attack. To combat enemy aircraft, Soviet aviation used patrolling, airfield duty, and free hunting. At the beginning of December, the system of combating enemy air transport organized by Soviet troops was based on division into zones of responsibility. The first zone included the territories from which the surrounded group was supplied; units of the 17th and 8th VA operated here.

Due to increasing opposition from the Soviet Air Force, the Germans had to switch from flying during the day to flying in difficult weather conditions and at night, when there was a greater chance of flying undetected. On January 10, 1943, an operation began to destroy the encircled group, as a result of which on January 14, the defenders abandoned the main airfield of Pitomnik, and on the 21st and last airfield - Gumrak, after which the cargo was dropped by parachute. A landing site near the village of Stalingradsky operated for a few more days, but it was accessible only to small aircraft; On the 26th, landing on it became impossible. During the period of air supply to the encircled troops, an average of 94 tons of cargo was delivered per day. On the most successful days, the value reached 150 tons of cargo. Hans Doerr estimates the Luftwaffe's losses in this operation at 488 aircraft and 1,000 flight personnel and believes that these were the largest losses since the air operation against England.

Results of the battle

The victory of Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad is the largest military-political event during the Second World War. The Great Battle, which ended in the encirclement, defeat and capture of a selected enemy group, made a huge contribution to achieving a radical turning point during the Great Patriotic War and had a serious impact on the further course of the entire Second World War.

In the Battle of Stalingrad, new features of the military art of the USSR Armed Forces manifested themselves with all their might. Soviet operational art was enriched by the experience of encircling and destroying the enemy.

An important component of the success of the Red Army was the set of measures for the military-economic support of the troops.

The victory at Stalingrad had a decisive influence on the further course of the Second World War. As a result of the battle, the Red Army firmly seized the strategic initiative and now dictated its will to the enemy. This changed the nature of the actions of German troops in the Caucasus, in the areas of Rzhev and Demyansk. The attacks of the Soviet troops forced the Wehrmacht to give the order to prepare the Eastern Wall, which was supposed to stop the advance of the Soviet Army.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies (22 divisions), the 8th Italian army and the Italian Alpine Corps (10 divisions), the 2nd Hungarian army (10 divisions), and the Croatian regiment were defeated. The 6th and 7th Romanian Army Corps, part of the 4th Panzer Army, which were not destroyed, were completely demoralized. As Manstein notes: “Dimitrescu was powerless alone to fight the demoralization of his troops. There was nothing left to do but take them off and send them to the rear, to their homeland.” In the future, Germany could not count on new conscription contingents from Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. She had to use the remaining Allied divisions only for rear service, fighting partisans and in some secondary sectors of the front.

The following were destroyed in the Stalingrad cauldron:

As part of the 6th German Army: the headquarters of the 8th, 11th, 51st Army and 14th Tank Corps; 44, 71, 76, 113, 295, 305, 376, 384, 389, 394 infantry divisions, 100th mountain rifle, 14, 16 and 24 tank, 3rd and 60th motorized, 1st Romanian cavalry, 9 1st Air Defense Division.

As part of the 4th Tank Army, the headquarters of the 4th Army Corps; 297 and 371 infantry, 29 motorized, 1st and 20th Romanian infantry divisions. Most of the artillery of the RGK, units of the Todt organization, large forces of the engineering units of the RGK.

Also the 48th Tank Corps (first composition) - 22nd Tank, Romanian tank division.

Outside the cauldron, 5 divisions of the 2nd Army and the 24th Tank Corps were destroyed (lost 50-70% of their strength). The 57th Tank Corps from Army Group A, the 48th Tank Corps (second-strength), and the divisions of the Gollidt, Kempff, and Fretter-Picot groups suffered enormous losses. Several airfield divisions and a large number of individual units and formations were destroyed.

In March 1943, in Army Group South, in a sector of 700 km from Rostov-on-Don to Kharkov, taking into account the reinforcements received, only 32 divisions remained.

As a result of actions to supply the troops encircled at Stalingrad and several smaller pockets, German aviation was greatly weakened.

The outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad caused confusion and confusion in the Axis countries. A crisis began in the pro-fascist regimes in Italy, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. Germany's influence on its allies sharply weakened, and disagreements between them noticeably worsened. The desire to maintain neutrality has intensified in Turkish political circles. Elements of restraint and alienation began to prevail in the relations of neutral countries towards Germany.

As a result of the defeat, Germany faced the problem of restoring the losses incurred in equipment and people. The head of the economic department of the OKW, General G. Thomas, stated that the losses in equipment were equivalent to the amount of military equipment of 45 divisions from all branches of the military and were equal to the losses for the entire previous period of fighting on the Soviet-German front. Goebbels declared at the end of January 1943, “Germany will be able to withstand Russian attacks only if it manages to mobilize its last human reserves.” Losses in tanks and vehicles amounted to six months of the country's production, in artillery - three months, in small arms and mortars - two months.

The Soviet Union established the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”; as of January 1, 1995, it had been awarded to 759,561 people. In Germany, after the defeat in Stalingrad, three days of mourning were declared.

German general Kurt von Tipelskirch in his book “History of the Second World War” assesses the defeat at Stalingrad as follows:

“The result of the offensive was stunning: one German and three allied armies were destroyed, three other German armies suffered heavy losses. At least fifty German and Allied divisions no longer existed. The remaining losses amounted to a total of another twenty-five divisions. A large amount of equipment was lost - tanks, self-propelled guns, light and heavy artillery and heavy infantry weapons. Losses in equipment were, of course, significantly greater than those of the enemy. The losses in personnel should have been considered very heavy, especially since the enemy, even if he suffered serious losses, still had significantly larger human reserves. Germany's prestige in the eyes of its allies was greatly shaken. Since an irreparable defeat was inflicted at the same time in North Africa, the hope for a general victory collapsed. The morale of the Russians has risen high."

Reaction in the world

Many statesmen and politicians highly praised the victory of the Soviet troops. In a message to J.V. Stalin (February 5, 1943), F. Roosevelt called the Battle of Stalingrad an epic struggle, the decisive result of which is celebrated by all Americans. On May 17, 1944, Roosevelt sent Stalingrad a letter:

“On behalf of the people of the United States of America, I present this certificate to the city of Stalingrad to commemorate our admiration for its valiant defenders, whose courage, fortitude and selflessness during the siege from September 13, 1942 to January 31, 1943 will forever inspire the hearts of all free people. Their glorious victory stopped the tide of invasion and became a turning point in the war of the allied nations against the forces of aggression.”

British Prime Minister W. Churchill, in a message to J.V. Stalin on February 1, 1943, called the victory of the Soviet Army at Stalingrad amazing. King George VI of Great Britain sent Stalingrad a dedicatory sword, on the blade of which the inscription was engraved in Russian and English:

"To the citizens of Stalingrad, strong as steel, from King George VI as a sign of the deep admiration of the British people."

At a conference in Tehran, Churchill presented the Sword of Stalingrad to the Soviet delegation. The blade was engraved with the inscription: "A gift from King George VI to the staunch defenders of Stalingrad as a sign of respect from the British people." Presenting the gift, Churchill made a heartfelt speech. Stalin took the sword with both hands, raised it to his lips and kissed the scabbard. When the Soviet leader handed over the relic to Marshal Voroshilov, the sword fell out of its sheath and fell to the floor with a crash. This unfortunate incident somewhat overshadowed the triumph of the moment.

During the battle, and especially after its end, the activity of public organizations in the USA, England, and Canada intensified, advocating more effective assistance to the Soviet Union. For example, New York union members raised $250,000 to build a hospital in Stalingrad. The Chairman of the United Garment Workers Union stated:

“We are proud that the workers of New York will establish a connection with Stalingrad, which will live in history as a symbol of the immortal courage of a great people and whose defense was a turning point in the struggle of mankind against oppression ... Every Red Army soldier who defends his Soviet land by killing a Nazi, saves the lives of American soldiers. We will remember this when calculating our debt to the Soviet ally.”

American astronaut Donald Slayton, a participant in World War II, recalled:

“When the Nazis surrendered, our jubilation knew no bounds. Everyone understood that this was a turning point in the war, this was the beginning of the end of fascism.”

The victory at Stalingrad had a significant impact on the lives of the occupied peoples and instilled hope for liberation. A drawing appeared on the walls of many Warsaw houses - a heart pierced by a large dagger. On the heart is the inscription “Great Germany”, and on the blade is “Stalingrad”.

Speaking on February 9, 1943, the famous French anti-fascist writer Jean-Richard Bloch said:

“...listen, Parisians! The first three divisions that invaded Paris in June 1940, the three divisions that, at the invitation of the French General Denz, desecrated our capital, these three divisions - the hundredth, one hundred and thirteenth and two hundred and ninety-fifth - no longer exist! They were destroyed at Stalingrad: the Russians avenged Paris. The Russians are taking revenge for France!

The victory of the Soviet Army highly raised the political and military prestige of the Soviet Union. Former Nazi generals in their memoirs recognized the enormous military-political significance of this victory. G. Doerr wrote:

“For Germany, the battle of Stalingrad was the worst defeat in its history, for Russia - its greatest victory. At Poltava (1709), Russia achieved the right to be called a great European power; Stalingrad was the beginning of its transformation into one of the two greatest world powers.”

Prisoners

Soviet: The total number of captured Soviet soldiers for the period July 1942 - February 1943 is unknown, but due to the difficult retreat after the lost battles in the Don bend and on the Volgodonsk isthmus, the count is no less than tens of thousands. The fate of these soldiers is different depending on whether they found themselves outside or inside the Stalingrad “cauldron”. The prisoners who were inside the cauldron were kept in the Rossoshki, Pitomnik, and Dulag-205 camps. After the encirclement of the Wehrmacht, due to a lack of food, on December 5, 1942, the prisoners were no longer fed and almost all of them died within three months from hunger and cold. During the liberation of the territory, the Soviet army managed to save only a few hundred people who were in a dying state of exhaustion.

Wehrmacht and allies: The total number of captured soldiers of the Wehrmacht and their allies for the period July 1942 - February 1943 is unknown, so the prisoners were taken on different fronts and were held according to different accounting documents. The exact number of those captured at the final stage of the battle in the city of Stalingrad from January 10 to February 22, 1943 is known - 91,545 people, of which about 2,500 officers, 24 generals and Field Marshal Paulus. This figure includes military personnel from European countries and labor organizations of Todt who took part in the battle on the side of Germany. Citizens of the USSR who went over to serve the enemy and served the Wehrmacht as “hiwis” are not included in this figure, as they were considered criminals. The number of captured Hiwis out of 20,880 who were in the 6th Army on October 24, 1942 is unknown.

To hold prisoners, Camp No. 108 was urgently created with its center in the Stalingrad workers' village of Beketovka. Almost all the prisoners were in an extremely exhausted state; they had been receiving rations on the verge of starvation for 3 months, since the November encirclement. Therefore, the mortality rate among them was extremely high - by June 1943, 27,078 of them had died, 35,099 were being treated in Stalingrad camp hospitals, and 28,098 were sent to hospitals in other camps. Only about 20 thousand people were able to work in construction due to health reasons; these people were divided into construction teams and distributed among construction sites. After the peak of the first 3 months, mortality returned to normal, and 1,777 people died between July 10, 1943 and January 1, 1949.

The prisoners worked a regular working day and received a salary for their work (until 1949, 8,976,304 man-days were worked, a salary of 10,797,011 rubles was issued), for which they bought food and household essentials in camp stores. The last prisoners of war were released to Germany in 1949, except for those who received criminal sentences for personally committed war crimes.

The Battle of Stalingrad, as a turning point in World War II, had a great influence on world history. In cinema, literature, and music, the theme of Stalingrad is constantly addressed; the word “Stalingrad” itself has acquired numerous meanings. In many cities around the world there are streets, avenues, and squares associated with the memory of the battle. Stalingrad and Coventry became the first sister cities in 1943, giving birth to this international movement. One of the elements of the linkage of sister cities is the name of the streets with the name of the city, therefore in the sister cities of Volgograd there are Stalingradskaya streets (some of them were renamed Volgogradskaya as part of de-Stalinization). Names associated with Stalingrad were given to: the Parisian metro station "Stalingrad", the asteroid "Stalingrad", the type of cruiser Stalingrad.

Most of the monuments to the Battle of Stalingrad are located in Volgograd, the most famous of them are part of the Battle of Stalingrad Museum-Reserve: “The Motherland Calls!” on Mamayev Kurgan, panorama “The defeat of the Nazi troops at Stalingrad”, Gerhardt’s mill. In 1995, in the Gorodishchensky district of the Volgograd region, the Rossoshki soldiers’ cemetery was created, where there is a German section with a memorial sign and the graves of German soldiers.

The Battle of Stalingrad left a significant number of documentary literary works. On the Soviet side, there are memoirs of the First Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Zhukov, the commander of the 62nd Army Chuikov, the head of the Stalingrad region Chuyanov, the commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Division Rodimtsev. "Soldier's" memories are presented by Afanasyev, Pavlov, Nekrasov. Stalingrad resident Yuri Panchenko, who survived the battle as a teenager, wrote the book “163 days on the streets of Stalingrad.” On the German side, the memories of the commanders are presented in the memoirs of the commander of the 6th Army, Paulus, and the head of the personnel department of the 6th Army, Adam; the soldier’s vision of the battle is presented in the books of Wehrmacht fighters Edelbert Holl and Hans Doerr. After the war, historians from different countries published documentary literature on the study of the battle; among Russian writers, the topic was studied by Alexey Isaev, Alexander Samsonov, and in foreign literature they often refer to the writer-historian Beevor.

Starting the war against the USSR, the German command planned to complete hostilities 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: “To finally destroy the manpower still remaining with the Soviets, to deprive the Russians of as many of the most important military-economic centers as possible.” The immediate task of the main operation on the Eastern Front was the withdrawal of German troops to the Caucasus Range and the capture of a number of economically important areas - 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 defensive actions in the southwestern direction. 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 the time of restoration of the tank forces of 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 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. The industry has not yet produced enough equipment and consumables 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 plug 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 advancing 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 the front line of defense - for reconnaissance and, if possible, occupying more advantageous lines. On July 17, advanced detachments first encountered the vanguard of 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 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 were implemented, Soviet troops were to be surrounded west of Stalingrad and die 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 reached the northern outskirts. 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?) In Stalingrad, about 40 thousand people died, mostly 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. Tank brigades and front corps launched counterattacks against the northern strike group. 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 build 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. The tactical preparation of 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, ice began to freeze on the Volga, which greatly worsened the situation of the 62nd Army: the situation on the river made it difficult to deliver reinforcements and ammunition to the city. The defense line in many places narrowed to hundreds of meters. However, stubborn defense in the city allowed Headquarters to prepare a decisive counter-offensive of the Great Patriotic War.

To be continued...

Introduction

On April 20, 1942, the battle for Moscow ended. The German army, whose advance seemed unstoppable, was not only stopped, but also pushed back 150-300 kilometers from the capital of the USSR. The Nazis suffered heavy losses, and although the Wehrmacht was still very strong, Germany no longer had the opportunity to attack simultaneously on all sectors of the Soviet-German front.

While the spring thaw lasted, the Germans developed a plan for the summer offensive of 1942, codenamed Fall Blau - “Blue Option”. The initial target of the German attack was the oil fields of Grozny and Baku with the possibility of further development of the offensive against Persia. Before the deployment of this offensive, the Germans were going to cut off the Barvenkovsky ledge - a large bridgehead captured by the Red Army on the western bank of the Seversky Donets River.

The Soviet command, in turn, also intended to conduct a summer offensive in the zone of the Bryansk, Southern and Southwestern fronts. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the Red Army was the first to strike and at first managed to push the German troops almost to Kharkov, the Germans managed to turn the situation in their favor and inflict a major defeat on the Soviet troops. On the sector of the Southern and Southwestern fronts, the defense was weakened to the limit, and on June 28, Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army broke through between Kursk and Kharkov. The Germans reached the Don.

At this point, Hitler, by personal order, made a change to the Blue Option, which would later cost Nazi Germany dearly. He divided Army Group South into two parts. Army Group A was to continue the offensive into the Caucasus. Army Group B was to reach the Volga, cut off the strategic communications connecting the European part of the USSR with the Caucasus and Central Asia, and capture Stalingrad. For Hitler, this city was important not only from a practical point of view (as a large industrial center), but also for purely ideological reasons. The capture of the city, which bore the name of the main enemy of the Third Reich, would be the greatest propaganda achievement of the German army.

Balance of forces and the first stage of the battle

Army Group B, advancing on Stalingrad, included the 6th Army of General Paulus. The army included 270 thousand soldiers and officers, about 2,200 guns and mortars, about 500 tanks. From the air, the 6th Army was supported by the 4th Air Fleet of General Wolfram von Richthofen, numbering about 1,200 aircraft. A little later, towards the end of July, Hermann Hoth's 4th Tank Army was transferred to Army Group B, which on July 1, 1942 included the 5th, 7th and 9th Army and the 46th Motorized housings. The latter included the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

The Southwestern Front, renamed Stalingrad on July 12, 1942, consisted of about 160 thousand personnel, 2,200 guns and mortars, and about 400 tanks. Of the 38 divisions that were part of the front, only 18 were fully equipped, while the others had from 300 to 4,000 people. The 8th Air Army, operating along with the front, was also significantly inferior in numbers to von Richthofen's fleet. With these forces, the Stalingrad Front was forced to defend an area more than 500 kilometers wide. A separate problem for the Soviet troops was the flat steppe terrain, where enemy tanks could operate at full strength. Taking into account the low level of anti-tank weapons in front units and formations, this made the tank threat critical.

The German offensive began on July 17, 1942. On this day, the vanguards of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht entered into battle with units of the 62nd Army on the Chir River and in the area of ​​the Pronin farm. By July 22, the Germans had pushed Soviet troops back almost 70 kilometers, to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. The German command, hoping to take the city on the move, decided to encircle the Red Army units at the villages of Kletskaya and Suvorovskaya, seize the crossings across the Don and develop an attack on Stalingrad without stopping. For this purpose, two strike groups were created, attacking from the north and south. The northern group was formed from units of the 6th Army, the southern - 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, which 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 this idea was first voiced to Stalin by the head of the Main Armored Directorate, Ya. N. Fedorenko. In the form in which tank armies were conceived, they did not last long, subsequently undergoing a serious 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 (it will be renamed Donskoy on September 30) 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 Nazi 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 they could not achieve success in the center of the city, the Germans concentrated troops further south to strike in the 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 the 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.