Battle of Stalingrad- the largest land battle in world history, fought between the forces of the USSR and Nazi Germany in the city of Stalingrad (USSR) and its environs during Patriotic War. The bloody battle began on July 17, 1942 and lasted until February 2, 1943.

Causes and background of the Battle of Stalingrad

As everyone well knows, the forces Nazi Germany On June 22, 1941, they launched a massive offensive against the USSR and their troops advanced rapidly, smashing units regular army Union one after another.
After the defeat in the attempt to capture Moscow, Adolf Hitler wanted to strike where the Soviet leadership did not expect, this target was the city of Stalingrad. This city was an important strategic point that opened the way to oil deposits, as well as the Volga River, the main water artery of the USSR. Hitler understood that the capture of Stalingrad would be a strong blow to industry for the Union.
After the defeat of the Red Army offensive near Kharkov in May 1942, the path to Stalingrad was completely open to the Germans. Hitler hoped by capturing this city to undermine morale Soviet army and most importantly, motivate your regular units, because the city bore the name of the leader Soviet Union.

Composition of forces

Before the Battle of Stalingrad itself, the Germans had 270 thousand soldiers, more than three thousand guns and almost a thousand tanks. The German army had air support in the form of 1,200 aircraft of the latest fighter models.
The number of Red Army soldiers before the start of the battle was almost 600 thousand soldiers, but not large number equipment, guns and aircraft. The number of aircraft was less than two, and the number of tanks was about a third less.

Progress of the Battle of Stalingrad

The Soviet leadership, realizing that the German army would strike Stalingrad, began preparations for the defense of the city. Most Union soldiers are new recruits who have never seen combat before. In addition, some units suffered from the absence or small quantity of weapons and ammunition.
The Battle of Stalingrad began on July 17, when the advanced units of the Red Army clashed with the German vanguard. Advance Detachments Soviet soldiers They held the defense tightly and in order for the Germans to break their defenses they needed to use 5 of 13 divisions in this area. The Germans managed to defeat the forward detachments only after five days. The German army then advanced towards the main defensive lines Stalingrad. Seeing that the Soviet army was desperately defending itself, Hitler reinforced the Sixth Army with even more tanks and aircraft.
On July 23 and 25, the forces of the northern and southern German groups launched a large-scale offensive. The Nazi army, thanks to technology and aviation, successfully pushed the direction and took positions in the Golubinsky area, reaching the Don River. As a result of a massive enemy attack, three divisions of the Red Army were surrounded, creating a catastrophic situation. A few days later, the Germans managed to push the Red Army back even further - now the Red Army’s defenses were located across the Don. Now the Germans needed to break through the defenses along the river.
More and more German forces gathered near Stalingrad, and at the end of July they were already marching desperate fights for the outskirts of the city. At the same time, an order came from Stalin, which said that soviet soldiers must stand to the death and not give up a centimeter of land to the enemy without a fight, and anyone who refuses to fight and runs should be shot without delay in the same place.
Despite the onslaught of the Germans, the soldiers of the Red Army firmly held their positions and the Germans’ plan - a swift, massive strike to immediately break into the city - did not work out for them. In connection with such resistance, the German command slightly reworked the offensive plan and on August 19 the offensive began again and this time successfully. The Germans managed to cross the Don and gain a foothold on its right bank. On August 23, a powerful air strike was carried out on Stalingrad, the total number of German bombers flown was about 2 thousand, entire neighborhoods were severely destroyed or completely wiped off the face of the earth.
A massive attack on Stalingrad began on September 13 and as a result, the Germans managed to enter the city for the first time; Soviet soldiers did not expect such an onslaught and could not resist it; fierce battles ensued for every street and house in the city. In August-September, the Red Army made several attempts to organize a counterattack, but they were able to break through only a few kilometers and with very heavy losses.
Before the Germans managed to break into the city, they managed to evacuate only a quarter of the city’s total population (100 thousand out of 400 thousand). Many women and children remained on the right bank and were forced to help organize the defense of the city. On the day of August 23, the German bombing killed more than 90 thousand civilians, this is a terrible figure that was paid for by a mistake in evacuating the city. In the city, especially in the central regions, terrible fires raged, caused by incendiary shells.
A fierce battle was fought for the tractor factory, where tanks were now being built. Right during the battle, the defense and work of the plant did not stop, and the tanks released from the assembly line immediately went into battle. Often even these tanks had to go into battle without a crew (having only a driver) and without ammunition. And the Germans advanced deeper and deeper into the city, but suffered heavy losses from Soviet snipers in the assault groups.
Since September 13, the Germans have continued to advance mercilessly and by the end of the month they have completely pushed back the 62nd Army and captured the river, now it is completely within reach of the German troops, and the Soviet army has lost the ability to cross its forces without huge losses.
In the city, the Germans could not fully use their ability to interact with different types of troops, so the German infantry was on par with the Soviet ones and they had to fight for every room of a residential building without the cover of their powerful tanks, artillery and aircraft. In the fire of Stalingrad, sniper Vasily Zaitsev was born - one of the most productive snipers in history, he has accounted for more than 225 soldiers and officers, including 11 snipers.
While the fighting in the city continued, the Soviet command developed a plan for a counteroffensive, which was called “Uranus”. And when it was ready, the Red Army went on the offensive on November 19. As a result of this attack, the Soviet army managed to encircle the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht, which cut off its supply of supplies.
In December, the German army launched a new offensive, but was stopped on December 19 by fresh Soviet forces. Then the Red Army's offensive resumed with new strength, and a few days later fresh tank troops were able to break through 200 km deep, the German defense began to burst at the seams. By January 31, the Soviet army, during Operation Ring, managed to divide the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht and capture Paulus' units. It was soon defeated, and the rest of the 6th Army and about 90 thousand soldiers were taken prisoner.
After the surrender of Paulus, almost all parts of the Wehrmacht began to capitulate, and the Soviet army liberated the city and surrounding area inexorably, although some German units still firmly defended themselves.

Results of the battle

The Battle of Stalingrad went down in history as the bloodiest battle in the history of mankind. Also, this battle was decisive during the Great Patriotic War, as well as during the Second World War. After this victory, the Soviet army continued to advance inexorably along the entire front, and the Germans could not stop this advance and retreated to Germany.
The Red Army acquired the necessary experience of encircling enemy forces and their subsequent destruction, which was later very useful during the offensive.
It’s sad to talk about the victims of the Battle of Stalingrad - both the German and Soviet sides lost many of their best units, the amount of destroyed equipment was off the charts, but in addition, German aviation was also forever weakened, which later had a great impact on the attack of the Soviet army.
The world praised the victory of the Soviet army very highly. Also, for the first time during World War II, the German army suffered such a crushing defeat, but before it had won one victory after another. The world saw that the brilliant tactics of the Germans could crack. The leaders of many states (Churchill, Roosevelt) wrote to Stalin that this victory was simply brilliant.

By mid-summer 1942, the battles of the Great Patriotic War had reached the Volga.

The German command includes Stalingrad in the plan for a large-scale offensive in the south of the USSR (Caucasus, Crimea). Germany's goal was to take possession of an industrial city, the enterprises in which produced military products that were needed; gaining access to the Volga, from where it was possible to get to the Caspian Sea, to the Caucasus, where the oil necessary for the front was extracted.

Hitler wanted to implement this plan in just a week with the help of Paulus's 6th Field Army. It included 13 divisions, with about 270,000 people, 3 thousand guns and about five hundred tanks.

On the USSR side, German forces were opposed by the Stalingrad Front. It was created by decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on July 12, 1942 (commander - Marshal Timoshenko, since July 23 - Lieutenant General Gordov).

The difficulty was also that our side experienced a shortage of ammunition.

The beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad can be considered July 17, when, near the Chir and Tsimla rivers, the forward detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies of the Stalingrad Front met with detachments of the 6th German Army. Throughout the second half of the summer there were fierce battles near Stalingrad. Further, the chronicle of events developed as follows.

Defensive stage of the Battle of Stalingrad

August 23, 1942 German tanks approached Stalingrad. From that day on, fascist aircraft began to systematically bomb the city. The battles on the ground also did not subside. It was simply impossible to live in the city - you had to fight to win. 75 thousand people volunteered for the front. But in the city itself, people worked both day and night. By mid-September, the German army broke through to the city center, and fighting took place right in the streets. The Nazis intensified their attack. Almost 500 tanks took part in the assault on Stalingrad, and German aircraft dropped about 1 million bombs on the city.

The courage of the Stalingrad residents was unparalleled. Many European countries conquered by the Germans. Sometimes they only needed 2-3 weeks to capture the entire country. In Stalingrad the situation was different. It took the Nazis weeks to capture one house, one street.

The beginning of autumn and mid-November passed in battles. By November, almost the entire city, despite resistance, was captured by the Germans. Only a small strip of land on the banks of the Volga was still held by our troops. But it was too early to declare the capture of Stalingrad, as Hitler did. The Germans did not know that the Soviet command already had a plan for the defeat of the German troops, which began to be developed at the height of the fighting, on September 12. Development offensive operation“Uranus” was handled by Marshal G.K. Zhukov.

Within 2 months, in conditions of increased secrecy, a strike force was created near Stalingrad. The Nazis were aware of the weakness of their flanks, but did not assume that the Soviet command would be able to gather the required number of troops.

November 19 troops Southwestern Front under the command of General N.F. Vatutin and the Don Front under the command of General K.K. Rokossovsky went on the offensive. They managed to surround the enemy, despite resistance. Also during the offensive, five enemy divisions were captured and seven were defeated. During the week of November 23rd, efforts Soviet troops were aimed at strengthening the blockade around the enemy. In order to lift this blockade, the German command formed Army Group “Don” (commander - Field Marshal Manstein), but it was also defeated.

The destruction of the encircled group of the enemy army was entrusted to the troops of the Don Front (commander - General K.K. Rokossovsky). Since the German command rejected the ultimatum to end resistance, Soviet troops moved on to destroy the enemy, which became the last of the main stages of the Battle of Stalingrad. On February 2, 1943, the last enemy group was eliminated, which is considered the end date of the battle.

Results of the Battle of Stalingrad:

Losses in the Battle of Stalingrad on each side amounted to about 2 million people.

Significance of the Battle of Stalingrad

The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad is difficult to overestimate. The victory of the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad had a great influence on the further course of the Second World War. She intensified the fight against fascists in all European countries. As a result of this victory, the German side ceased to dominate. The outcome of this battle caused confusion in the Axis countries (Hitler's coalition). A crisis of pro-fascist regimes in European countries has arrived.

The Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all battles in world history at that time in terms of the duration and ferocity of the fighting, the number of people and military equipment involved.

At certain stages, over 2 million people, up to 2 thousand tanks, more than 2 thousand aircraft, and up to 26 thousand guns took part in it on both sides. Nazi troops They lost more than 800 thousand soldiers and officers killed, wounded, and captured, as well as a large amount of military equipment, weapons and equipment.

Defense of Stalingrad (now Volgograd)

In accordance with the plan for the summer offensive campaign of 1942, the German command, concentrating large forces in the southwestern direction, expected to defeat Soviet troops, enter the Great Bend of the Don, immediately capture Stalingrad and capture the Caucasus, and then resume the offensive in the Moscow direction.

For the attack on Stalingrad, the 6th Army was allocated from Army Group B (commander - Colonel General F. von Paulus). By July 17, it included 13 divisions, which numbered about 270 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars and about 500 tanks. They were supported by aviation from the 4th Air Fleet - up to 1,200 combat aircraft.

The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command moved the 62nd, 63rd and 64th armies from its reserve to the Stalingrad direction. On July 12, on the basis of the field control of the troops of the Southwestern Front, the Stalingrad Front was created under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko. On July 23, Lieutenant General V.N. Gordov was appointed commander of the front. The front also included the 21st, 28th, 38th, 57th combined arms and 8th air armies of the former Southwestern Front, and from July 30 - the 51st Army of the North Caucasus Front. At the same time, the 57th, as well as the 38th and 28th armies, on the basis of which the 1st and 4th tank armies were formed, were in reserve. The Volga military flotilla was subordinate to the front commander.

The newly created front began to carry out the task with only 12 divisions, in which there were 160 thousand soldiers and commanders, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars and about 400 tanks; the 8th Air Army had 454 aircraft.

In addition, 150-200 long-range bombers and 60 air defense fighters were involved. IN initial period During the defensive actions at Stalingrad, the enemy outnumbered the Soviet troops in personnel by 1.7 times, in artillery and tanks by 1.3 times, and in the number of aircraft by more than 2 times.

On July 14, 1942, Stalingrad was declared under martial law. On the approaches to the city, four defensive contours were built: external, middle, internal and urban. For construction defensive structures the entire population was mobilized, including children. The factories of Stalingrad completely switched to the production of military products. Militia units and workers' self-defense units were created in factories and enterprises. Civilians, equipment of individual enterprises and material assets were evacuated to the left bank of the Volga.

Defensive battles began on the distant approaches to Stalingrad. The main efforts of the troops of the Stalingrad Front were concentrated in the large bend of the Don, where the 62nd and 64th armies occupied the defense in order to prevent the enemy from crossing the river and breaking through by the shortest route to Stalingrad. From July 17, the forward detachments of these armies fought defensive battles for 6 days at the turn of the Chir and Tsimla rivers. This allowed us to gain time to strengthen the defense on the main line. Despite the steadfastness, courage and tenacity shown by the troops, the armies of the Stalingrad Front were unable to defeat the invading enemy groups, and they had to retreat to the near approaches to the city.

On July 23-29, the 6th German Army attempted to encircle the flanks of the Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don, reach the Kalach area and break through to Stalingrad from the west. As a result of the stubborn defense of the 62nd and 64th armies and a counterattack by formations of the 1st and 4th tank armies, the enemy's plan was thwarted.

Defense of Stalingrad. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

On July 31, the German command turned the 4th Panzer Army Colonel General G. Goth from the Caucasian to the Stalingrad direction. On August 2, its advanced units reached Kotelnikovsky, creating the threat of a breakthrough to the city. Fighting began on the southwestern approaches to Stalingrad.

To facilitate the control of troops stretched over a 500 km zone, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on August 7 formed a new one from several armies of the Stalingrad Front - the South-Eastern Front, the command of which was entrusted to Colonel General A. I. Eremenko. The main efforts of the Stalingrad Front were directed towards the fight against the 6th German Army, which was attacking Stalingrad from the west and north-west, and the South-Eastern Front - towards the defense of the south-western direction. On August 9-10, troops of the South-Eastern Front launched a counterattack on the 4th Tank Army and forced it to stop.

On August 21, the infantry of the 6th German Army crossed the Don and built bridges, after which tank divisions moved to Stalingrad. At the same time, Hoth's tanks began attacking from the south and southwest. 23 August 4th Air Army von Richthofen subjected the city to a massive bombardment, dropping more than 1,000 tons of bombs on the city.

Tank formations of the 6th Army moved towards the city, meeting almost no resistance, but in the Gumrak area they had to overcome the positions of anti-aircraft gun crews that had been deployed to fight the tanks until the evening. Nevertheless, on August 23, the 14th Tank Corps of the 6th Army managed to break through to the Volga north of Stalingrad near the village of Latoshinka. The enemy wanted to immediately break into the city through its northern outskirts, but along with army units, detachments stood up to defend the city people's militia, Stalingrad police, 10th division of the NKVD troops, sailors of the Volga military flotilla, cadets of military schools.

The enemy's breakthrough to the Volga further complicated and worsened the position of the units defending the city. The Soviet command took measures to destroy the enemy group that had broken through to the Volga. Until September 10, the troops of the Stalingrad Front and the Headquarters reserves transferred to it launched continuous counterattacks from the north-west on the left flank of the 6th German Army. It was not possible to push the enemy back from the Volga, but the enemy offensive on the northwestern approaches to Stalingrad was suspended. The 62nd Army found itself cut off from the rest of the troops of the Stalingrad Front and was transferred to the South-Eastern Front.

From September 12, the defense of Stalingrad was entrusted to the 62nd Army, whose command was taken by General V.I. Chuikov, and troops of the 64th Army General M.S. Shumilov. On the same day German troops after another bombing they began an attack on the city from all directions. In the north main goal there was the Mamayev Kurgan, from the height of which the crossing of the Volga was clearly visible, in the center the German infantry was making its way to the railway station, in the south Hoth's tanks, with the support of the infantry, were gradually moving towards the elevator.

On September 13, the Soviet command decided to transfer the 13th Guards Rifle Division to the city. Having crossed the Volga for two nights, the guards pushed back German troops from the area of ​​the central crossing across the Volga and cleared many streets and neighborhoods of them. On September 16, troops of the 62nd Army, supported by aviation, stormed Mamaev Kurgan. Fierce battles for the southern and central part the cities were fought until the end of the month.

On September 21, at the front from Mamayev Kurgan to the Zatsaritsyn part of the city, the Germans launched a new offensive with five divisions. A day later, on September 22, the 62nd Army was cut into two parts: the Germans reached the central crossing north of the Tsaritsa River. From here they had the opportunity to view almost the entire rear of the army and conduct an offensive along the coast, cutting off Soviet units from the river.

By September 26, the Germans managed to come close to the Volga in almost all areas. Nevertheless, Soviet troops continued to hold a narrow strip of the coast, and in some places even individual buildings at some distance from the embankment. Many objects changed hands many times.

The fighting in the city became protracted. Paulus’s troops lacked the strength to finally throw the city’s defenders into the Volga, and the Soviet troops lacked the strength to drive the Germans out of their positions.

The fight was fought for each building, and sometimes for part of the building, floor or basement. Snipers were actively working. The use of aviation and artillery became almost impossible due to the proximity of enemy formations.

Active from September 27 to October 4 fighting were fought on the northern outskirts for the villages of the Red October and Barricades factories, and from October 4 - for these factories themselves.

At the same time, the Germans launched an attack in the center on Mamayev Kurgan and on the extreme right flank of the 62nd Army in the Orlovka area. By the evening of September 27, Mamayev Kurgan fell. An extremely difficult situation developed in the area of ​​the mouth of the Tsaritsa River, from where Soviet units, experiencing an acute shortage of ammunition and food and having lost control, began to cross to the left bank of the Volga. The 62nd Army responded with counterattacks from newly arriving reserves.

They were rapidly melting, however, the losses of the 6th Army were taking on catastrophic proportions.

It included almost all the armies of the Stalingrad Front, except the 62nd. The commander was appointed General K.K. Rokossovsky. From the South-Eastern Front, whose troops fought in the city and to the south, the Stalingrad Front was formed under the command of General A.I. Eremenko. Each front reported directly to Headquarters.

Commander of the Don Front Konstantin Rokossovsky and General Pavel Batov (right) in a trench near Stalingrad. Reproduction of a photograph. Photo: RIA Novosti

By the end of the first ten days of October, enemy attacks began to weaken, but in the middle of the month Paulus took new assault. On October 14, German troops, after powerful air and artillery preparation, went on the attack again.

Several divisions were advancing on an area of ​​about 5 km. This enemy offensive, which lasted almost three weeks, led to the most fierce battle in the city.

On October 15, the Germans managed to capture the Stalingrad Tractor Plant and break through to the Volga, cutting the 62nd Army in half. After this, they began an offensive along the banks of the Volga to the south. On October 17, the 138th Division arrived in the army to support Chuikov’s weakened formations. Fresh forces repulsed enemy attacks, and from October 18, Paulus's ram began to noticeably lose its power.

To ease the situation of the 62nd Army, on October 19, troops of the Don Front went on the offensive from the area north of the city. The territorial success of the flank counterattacks was insignificant, but they delayed the regrouping undertaken by Paulus.

By the end of October, the offensive actions of the 6th Army had slowed down, although in the area between the Barrikady and Red October factories there was no more than 400 m to go to the Volga. Nevertheless, the tension of the fighting eased, and the Germans mostly consolidated the captured positions.

On November 11, the last attempt was made to capture the city. This time the offensive was carried out by five infantry and two tank divisions, reinforced by fresh sapper battalions. The Germans managed to capture another section of the coast 500-600 m long in the area of ​​the Barricades plant, but this was the last success of the 6th Army.

In other areas, Chuikov’s troops held their positions.

The advance of German troops in the Stalingrad direction was finally stopped.

By the end of the defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 62nd Army held the area north of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, the Barricades plant and the northeastern quarters of the city center. The 64th Army defended the approaches.

During the period of defensive battles for Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht, according to Soviet data, lost up to 700 thousand soldiers and officers killed and wounded, more than 1,000 tanks, over 2,000 guns and mortars, and more than 1,400 aircraft in July - November. Total losses The Red Army in the Stalingrad defensive operation consisted of 643,842 people, 1,426 tanks, 12,137 guns and mortars, and 2,063 aircraft.

Soviet troops exhausted and bled the enemy group operating near Stalingrad, which created favorable conditions for launching a counteroffensive.

Stalingrad offensive operation

By the fall of 1942, the technical re-equipment of the Red Army was basically completed. At factories located deep in the rear and evacuated, mass production of new military equipment was established, which was not only not inferior, but often superior to the equipment and weapons of the Wehrmacht. During the past battles, Soviet troops gained combat experience. The moment came when it was necessary to wrest the initiative from the enemy and begin their mass expulsion from the borders of the Soviet Union.

With the participation of the military councils of the fronts at Headquarters, a plan for the Stalingrad offensive operation was developed.

Soviet troops had to launch a decisive counter-offensive on a front of 400 km, encircle and destroy the enemy strike force concentrated in the Stalingrad area. This task was entrusted to the troops of three fronts - Southwestern ( Commander General N.F. Vatutin), Donskoy ( Commander General K.K. Rokossovsky) and Stalingrad ( Commander General A. I. Eremenko).

The forces of the parties were approximately equal, although the Soviet troops already had a slight superiority over the enemy in tanks, artillery and aviation. In such conditions, for the successful completion of the operation, it was necessary to create a significant superiority in forces in the directions of the main attacks, which was achieved with great skill. Success was ensured primarily due to the fact that special attention was paid to operational camouflage. The troops moved to the given positions only at night, while the radio points of the units remained in the same places, continuing to work, so that the enemy would have the impression that the units remained in the same positions. All correspondence was prohibited, and orders were given only orally, and only to the immediate executors.

The Soviet command concentrated more than a million people on the main attack in a 60 km sector, supported by 900 T-34 tanks fresh from the production line. Such a concentration of military equipment at the front has never happened before.

One of the centers of battles in Stalingrad was the elevator. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

The German command did not show due attention to the position of its Army Group B, because... expected an offensive by Soviet troops against Army Group Center.

Commander of Group B, General Weichs did not agree with this opinion. He was concerned about the bridgehead prepared by the enemy on the right bank of the Don opposite his formations. At his urgent request, by the end of October, several newly formed Luftwaffe field units were transferred to the Don to strengthen the defensive positions of the Italian, Hungarian and Romanian formations.

Weichs' predictions were confirmed in early November when aerial photographs showed several new crossings in the area. Two days later, Hitler ordered the 6th Panzer and two infantry divisions to be transferred from the English Channel to Army Group B as reserve reinforcements for the 8th Italian and 3rd Romanian armies. It took about five weeks to prepare them and transport them to Russia. Hitler, however, did not expect any significant action from the enemy until early December, so, according to his calculations, reinforcements should have arrived on time.

By the second week of November, with the appearance of Soviet tank units on the bridgehead, Weichs no longer doubted that a major offensive was being prepared in the zone of the 3rd Romanian Army, which, possibly, would be directed against the German 4th Panzer Army. Since all his reserves were at Stalingrad, Weichs decided to form a new group within the 48th Panzer Corps, which he placed behind the Romanian 3rd Army. He also transferred the 3rd Romanian Armored Division to this corps and was going to transfer the 29th Motorized Division of the 4th Panzer Army to the same corps, but changed his mind because he expected an offensive also in the area where the Gotha formations were located. However, all the efforts made by Weichs turned out to be clearly insufficient, and the High Command was more interested in increasing the power of the 6th Army for the decisive battle for Stalingrad, rather than in strengthening the weak flanks of General Weichs' formations.

On November 19, at 8:50 a.m., after a powerful, almost one and a half hour artillery preparation, despite fog and heavy snowfall, the troops of the Southwestern and Don Fronts, located northwest of Stalingrad, went on the offensive. The 5th Tank, 1st Guards and 21st Armies acted against the 3rd Romanian Army.

Only one 5th tank army It consisted of six rifle divisions, two tank corps, one cavalry corps and several artillery, aviation and anti-aircraft missile regiments. Due to the sharp deterioration of weather conditions, aviation was inactive.

It also turned out that during the artillery barrage, the enemy’s fire weapons were not completely suppressed, which is why the advance of the Soviet troops at some point slowed down. Having assessed the situation, the commander of the troops of the Southwestern Front, Lieutenant General N.F. Vatutin, decided to introduce tank corps into the battle, which made it possible to finally break into the Romanian defenses and develop the offensive.

On the Don Front, especially fierce battles took place in the offensive zone of the right-flank formations of the 65th Army. The first two lines of enemy trenches, running along the coastal hills, were captured on the move. However, the decisive battles took place over the third line, which ran along the chalk heights. They represented a powerful defense unit. The location of the heights made it possible to bombard all approaches to them with crossfire. All the hollows and steep slopes of the heights were mined and covered with wire fences, and the approaches to them were crossed by deep and winding ravines. The Soviet infantry that reached this line was forced to lie down under heavy fire from dismounted units of the Romanian cavalry division, reinforced by German units.

The enemy carried out fierce counterattacks, trying to push the attackers back to their original position. It was not possible to bypass the heights at that moment, and after a powerful artillery attack the soldiers of the 304th rifle division went to storm enemy fortifications. Despite hurricane machine-gun and machine gun fire, by 16:00 the enemy's stubborn resistance was broken.

As a result of the first day of the offensive, the troops of the Southwestern Front achieved the greatest successes. They broke through the defenses in two areas: southwest of the city of Serafimovich and in the Kletskaya area. A gap up to 16 km wide opened in the enemy defenses.

On November 20, the Stalingrad Front went on the offensive south of Stalingrad. This came as a complete surprise to the Germans. The offensive of the Stalingrad Front also began in unfavorable weather conditions.

It was decided to begin artillery training in each army as soon as the necessary conditions for this were created. It was necessary to abandon its simultaneous implementation on a front-line scale, however, as well as aviation training. Due to limited visibility, it was necessary to fire at unobserved targets, with the exception of those guns that were deployed for direct fire. Despite this, the enemy's fire system was largely disrupted.

Soviet soldiers are fighting in the streets. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

After artillery preparation, which lasted 40-75 minutes, formations of the 51st and 57th armies went on the offensive.

Having broken through the defenses of the 4th Romanian Army and repelled numerous counterattacks, they began to develop their success in a western direction. By mid-day, conditions had been created for introducing army mobile groups into the breakthrough.

Rifle formations of the armies advanced after the mobile groups, consolidating achieved success.

To close the gap, the command of the 4th Romanian Army had to bring its last reserve into the battle - two regiments of the 8th Cavalry Division. But even this could not save the situation. The front collapsed, and the remnants of the Romanian troops fled.

The messages received painted a bleak picture: the front was cut, the Romanians were fleeing the battlefield, and the counterattack of the 48th Tank Corps was thwarted.

The Red Army went on the offensive south of Stalingrad, and the 4th Romanian Army defending there was defeated.

The Luftwaffe command reported that due to bad weather, aviation could not support ground troops. On the operational maps, the prospect of encircling the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht clearly emerged. The red arrows of the attacks of the Soviet troops hung dangerously over its flanks and were about to close in between the Volga and Don rivers. During almost continuous meetings at Hitler's headquarters, there was a feverish search for a way out of the current situation. It was urgent to make a decision about the fate of the 6th Army. Hitler himself, as well as Keitel and Jodl, considered it necessary to hold positions in the Stalingrad area and limit ourselves only to a regrouping of forces. The OKH leadership and the command of Army Group B found the only way to avoid disaster was to withdraw the troops of the 6th Army beyond the Don. However, Hitler's position was categorical. As a result, it was decided to transfer two tank divisions from the North Caucasus to Stalingrad.

The Wehrmacht command still hoped to stop the advance of the Soviet troops with counterattacks from tank formations. The 6th Army received orders to remain in its original location. Hitler assured her command that he would not allow the army to be encircled, and if this did happen, he would take all measures to relieve the blockade.

While the German command was looking for ways to prevent the impending catastrophe, Soviet troops were building on the success they had achieved. During a daring night operation, a unit of the 26th Tank Corps managed to capture the only surviving crossing across the Don near the city of Kalach. The capture of this bridge was of enormous operational significance. The rapid overcoming of this major water barrier by Soviet troops ensured the successful completion of the operation to encircle enemy troops at Stalingrad.

By the end of November 22, the troops of the Stalingrad and Southwestern fronts were separated by only 20-25 km. On the evening of November 22, Stalin ordered the commander of the Stalingrad Front, Eremenko, to link up tomorrow with the advanced troops of the Southwestern Front, which had reached Kalach, and close the encirclement.

Anticipating such a development of events and in order to prevent the complete encirclement of the 6th Field Army, the German command urgently transferred the 14th to the area east of Kalach tank corps. Throughout the night of November 23 and the first half of the next day, units of the Soviet 4th Mechanized Corps held back the onslaught of enemy tank units rushing south and did not let them through.

The commander of the 6th Army already at 18:00 on November 22 radioed to the headquarters of Army Group B that the army was surrounded, the ammunition situation was critical, fuel reserves were running out, and there would only be enough food for 12 days. Since the Wehrmacht command on the Don did not have any forces that could relieve the encircled army, Paulus turned to Headquarters with a request for an independent breakthrough from the encirclement. However, his request remained unanswered.

Red Army soldier with a banner. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Instead, he received orders to immediately head to the cauldron, where he would organize a perimeter defense and wait for outside help.

On November 23, troops from all three fronts continued their offensive. On this day the operation reached its culmination.

Two brigades of the 26th Tank Corps crossed the Don and launched an attack on Kalach in the morning. A stubborn battle ensued. The enemy resisted fiercely, realizing the importance of holding this city. Nevertheless, by 2 p.m. he was driven out of Kalach, where the main supply base for the entire Stalingrad group was located. All the numerous warehouses with fuel, ammunition, food and other military equipment located there were either destroyed by the Germans themselves or captured by Soviet troops.

At about 16:00 on November 23, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts met in the Sovetsky area, thus completing the encirclement of the enemy’s Stalingrad group. Despite the fact that instead of the planned two or three days, the operation took five days to complete, success was achieved.

A depressing atmosphere reigned at Hitler's headquarters after the news of the encirclement of the 6th Army arrived. Despite the obviously catastrophic situation of the 6th Army, Hitler did not even want to hear about the abandonment of Stalingrad, because... in this case, all the successes of the summer offensive in the south would have been nullified, and with them all hopes of conquering the Caucasus would have disappeared. In addition, it was believed that a battle with superior forces of Soviet troops in an open field, in harsh winter conditions, with limited means of transportation, fuel supplies and ammunition, had too little chance of a favorable outcome. Therefore, it is better to gain a foothold in your positions and strive to unblock the group. This point of view was supported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Reichsmarschall G. Goering, who assured the Fuhrer that his aircraft would provide supplies to the encircled group by air. On the morning of November 24, the 6th Army was ordered to take up a perimeter defense and wait for a relief attack from the outside.

Violent passions also flared up at the headquarters of the 6th Army on November 23. The encirclement ring around the 6th Army had just closed, and a decision had to be made urgently. There was still no response to Paulus’s radiogram, in which he requested “freedom of action.” But Paulus did not dare to take responsibility for the breakthrough. By his order, corps commanders gathered for a meeting at army headquarters to develop a plan for further action.

Commander of the 51st Army Corps General W. Seydlitz-Kurzbach spoke in favor of an immediate breakthrough. He was supported by the commander of the 14th Tank Corps General G. Hube.

But the majority of corps commanders, led by the Chief of Army Staff General A. Schmidt spoke out against. Things got to the point that during the heated argument, the commander of the 8th Army Corps, who became enraged, General W. Geitz threatened to shoot Seydlitz himself if he insisted on disobeying the Fuhrer. In the end, everyone agreed that they should approach Hitler for permission to break through. At 23:45, such a radiogram was sent. The answer came the next morning. In it, the troops of the 6th Army, surrounded in Stalingrad, were called “troops of the Stalingrad fortress”, and a breakthrough was denied. Paulus again gathered the corps commanders and conveyed the Fuhrer's order to them.

Some of the generals tried to express their counterarguments, but the army commander rejected all objections.

An urgent transfer of troops from Stalingrad began to the western sector of the front. In a short time, the enemy managed to create a group of six divisions. To pin down his forces in Stalingrad itself, on November 23, the 62nd Army of General V.I. Chuikov went on the offensive. Its troops attacked the Germans at Mamayev Kurgan and in the area of ​​the Red October plant, but met fierce resistance. The depth of their advance during the day did not exceed 100-200 m.

By November 24, the encirclement ring was thin, an attempt to break through it could bring success, it was only necessary to remove troops from the Volga Front. But Paulus was too cautious and indecisive a man, a general who was used to obeying and carefully weighing his actions. He obeyed the order. He subsequently admitted to his staff officers: “It is possible that the daredevil Reichenau after November 19, he would have made his way to the west with the 6th Army and then told Hitler: “Now you can judge me.” But, you know, unfortunately, I am not Reichenau.”

On November 27, the Fuhrer ordered Field Marshal von Manstein prepare a relief blockade for the 6th Field Army. Hitler relied on new heavy tanks, the Tigers, hoping that they would be able to break through the encirclement from the outside. Despite the fact that these vehicles had not yet been tested in combat and no one knew how they would behave in the Russian winter, he believed that even one Tiger battalion could radically change the situation at Stalingrad.

While Manstein was receiving reinforcements arriving from the Caucasus and preparing the operation, Soviet troops expanded the outer ring and strengthened it. When Hoth's tank group made a breakthrough on December 12, it was able to break through the positions of the Soviet troops, and its advanced units were separated from Paulus by less than 50 km. But Hitler forbade Friedrich Paulus to expose the Volga Front and, leaving Stalingrad, to fight his way towards Hoth’s “tigers,” which finally decided the fate of the 6th Army.

By January 1943, the enemy was driven back from the Stalingrad “cauldron” to 170-250 km. The death of the encircled troops became inevitable. Almost the entire territory they occupied was covered with fire. Soviet artillery. Despite Goering’s promise, in practice, the average daily power of aviation in supplying the 6th Army could not exceed 100 tons instead of the required 500. In addition, the delivery of goods to the encircled groups in Stalingrad and other “cauldrons” caused huge losses in German aviation.

The ruins of the Barmaley fountain, which became one of the symbols of Stalingrad. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

On January 10, 1943, Colonel General Paulus, despite the hopeless situation of his army, refused to capitulate, trying to pin down the Soviet troops surrounding him as much as possible. On the same day, the Red Army began an operation to destroy the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. IN last days January, Soviet troops pushed the remnants of Paulus's army into a small area of ​​the completely destroyed city and dismembered the Wehrmacht units continuing to defend. On January 24, 1943, General Paulus sent Hitler one of the last radiograms, in which he reported that the group was on the verge of destruction and proposed to evacuate valuable specialists. Hitler again forbade the remnants of the 6th Army to break through to his own and refused to remove anyone from the “cauldron” except the wounded.

On the night of January 31, the 38th Motorized Rifle Brigade and the 329th Engineer Battalion blocked the area of ​​the department store where Paulus' headquarters was located. The last radiogram that the commander of the 6th Army received was an order to promote him to field marshal, which the headquarters regarded as an invitation to suicide. Early in the morning, two Soviet envoys made their way into the basement of a dilapidated building and gave the field marshal an ultimatum. In the afternoon, Paulus rose to the surface and went to the headquarters of the Don Front, where Rokossovsky was waiting for him with the text of surrender. However, despite the fact that the field marshal surrendered and signed the capitulation, in the northern part of Stalingrad the German garrison under the command of Colonel General Stecker refused to accept the terms of surrender and was destroyed by concentrated heavy artillery fire. At 16.00 on February 2, 1943, the terms of surrender of the 6th Wehrmacht Field Army came into force.

Hitler's government declared mourning in the country.

For three days the funeral ringing of church bells sounded over German cities and villages.

Since the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet historical literature it is alleged that a 330,000-strong enemy group was surrounded in the Stalingrad area, although this figure is not confirmed by any documentary data.

The German side's point of view on this issue is ambiguous. However, with all the diversity of opinions, the figure most often cited is 250-280 thousand people. This value is consistent with the total number of evacuees (25 thousand people), captured (91 thousand people) and enemy soldiers killed and buried in the battle area (about 160 thousand). The vast majority of those who surrendered also died from hypothermia and typhus, and after almost 12 years in Soviet camps, only 6 thousand people returned to their homeland.

Kotelnikovsky operation Having completed the encirclement of a large group of German troops near Stalingrad, the troops of the 51st Army of the Stalingrad Front (commander - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko) in November 1942 came from the north to the approaches to the village of Kotelnikovsky, where they gained a foothold and went on the defensive.

The German command made every effort to break through a corridor to the 6th Army surrounded by Soviet troops. For this purpose, in early December in the area of ​​the village. Kotelnikovsky, a strike force was created consisting of 13 divisions (including 3 tank and 1 motorized) and a number of reinforcement units under the command of Colonel General G. Goth - the army group "Goth". The group included a battalion of heavy Tiger tanks, which were first used on the southern sector of the Soviet-German front. In the direction of the main attack, which was delivered along railway Kotelnikovsky - Stalingrad, the enemy managed to create a temporary advantage over the defending troops of the 51st Army in men and artillery by 2 times, and in the number of tanks - by more than 6 times.

They broke through the defenses of the Soviet troops and on the second day reached the area of ​​​​the village of Verkhnekumsky. In order to divert part of the forces of the shock group, on December 14, in the area of ​​​​the village of Nizhnechirskaya, the 5th Shock Army of the Stalingrad Front went on the offensive. She broke through the German defenses and captured the village, but the position of the 51st Army remained difficult. The enemy continued the offensive, while the army and the front no longer had any reserves left. The Soviet Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, trying to prevent the enemy from breaking through and releasing the encircled German troops, allocated the 2nd Guards Army and the Mechanized Corps from its reserve to strengthen the Stalingrad Front, giving them the task of defeating the enemy’s strike force.

On December 19, having suffered significant losses, Goth's group reached the Myshkova River. There were 35-40 km left to the encircled group, but Paulus’s troops were ordered to remain in their positions and not launch a counterattack, and Hoth was no longer able to advance further.

On December 24, having jointly created approximately double superiority over the enemy, the 2nd Guards and 51st armies, with the assistance of part of the forces of the 5th Shock Army, went on the offensive. Main blow The 2nd Guards Army attacked the Kotelnikov group with fresh forces. The 51st Army attacked Kotelnikovsky from the east, while simultaneously enveloping the Gotha group from the south with tank and mechanized corps. On the first day of the offensive, troops of the 2nd Guards Army broke through the enemy's battle formations and captured crossings across the Myshkova River. Mobile formations were introduced into the breakthrough and began to rapidly advance towards Kotelnikovsky.

On December 27, the 7th Tank Corps approached Kotelnikovsky from the west, and the 6th Mechanized Corps bypassed Kotelnikovsky from the southeast. At the same time, tank and mechanized corps The 51st Army cut off the enemy group's escape route to the southwest. Continuous attacks on the retreating enemy troops were carried out by aircraft of the 8th Air Army. On December 29, Kotelnikovsky was released and the threat of an enemy breakthrough was finally eliminated.

As a result of the Soviet counteroffensive, the enemy's attempt to relieve the 6th Army encircled at Stalingrad was thwarted, and German troops were thrown back 200-250 km from the outer front of the encirclement.

On July 17, 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad began - one of the main turning point battles of the Great Patriotic War.

200 days and nights of fierce fighting ended in a decisive victory for the Russian troops. After the defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler declared three days of mourning in the Third Reich. The word Stalingrad has become synonymous with the steadfastness of the Russian army and the courage of the Russian soldier.

Film 1st."Over the Abyss"
Film 2."Fracture."

For reference:

At the beginning of 1942, Hitler abandoned plans for a new offensive against Moscow and concentrated his attention on the southern direction. The key to Caucasian oil and transport communications between the European part of the USSR, Transcaucasia and Central Asia was Stalingrad - a large industrial center, an important source of supply for the front and, moreover, a city bearing the name of the leader: its capture would also have propaganda value.

The 6th Army was allocated for the attack on Stalingrad under the command of Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus. It included 13 divisions (270 thousand people), 3,000 guns and mortars and about 500 tanks. The hastily created Stalingrad Front was inferior to it in numbers personnel 1.7 times, in tanks and artillery - 1.3 times, and in aviation - more than 2 times. The offensive began in July 1942. Very quickly, the fighting moved from the approaches and outskirts to the streets and squares of the city. The massive German bombing on August 23 destroyed Stalingrad: more than 40 thousand people died, half of the buildings turned into burning ruins, and Soviet soldiers fought for each of them until their last breath (see on our website the film adaptation of the novel by Vasily Grossman - series "Life and Fate") . According to General Chuikov, the Nazi losses during the attempts to take the famous “Pavlov’s House” exceeded the losses during the capture of Paris.

On November 19, 1942, the Red Army began its offensive as part of Operation Uranus, and 4 days later, in the Kalach area, the encirclement ring around Paulus’s army closed. The Nazis desperately resisted. New attacks - already in January 43rd - led to the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two groups (Soviet troops united in the Mamayev Kurgan area), by the end of the month the southern one was destroyed, the command and headquarters led by Paulus were captured, and after The northern group capitulated for two days.

The total losses of both sides in the Battle of Stalingrad - the largest during the Second World War - exceed two million people. About 90 thousand soldiers, more than 2,500 officers and 24 generals were captured. The trophies of the Soviet troops were thousands of guns, mortars and machine guns, more than 700 aircraft, over one and a half thousand tanks and other military equipment - the same amount Germany had lost before on the entire Eastern Front.

The defeat of the Nazis in the Battle of Stalingrad - along with the successful defense of Moscow and the battle on Kursk Bulge- a key turning point of the Second World War as a whole: German troops then finally lost the strategic initiative, and confusion and confusion in the Axis countries led to a crisis of pro-fascist regimes in Italy, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.

There is a saying in Russian: “I disappeared like a Swede near Poltava.” In 1943, it was replaced by an analogue: “disappeared, like a German at Stalingrad.” The victory of Russian weapons in the Battle of Stalingrad on the Volga clearly turned the tide of the Second World War.

Reasons (oil and symbolism)

The area between the Volga and Don rivers in the summer of 1942 became the target of the main attack of the Nazis. There were several different reasons for this.

  1. By that time, the original plan for the war with the USSR had already been completely disrupted and was no longer suitable for action. It was necessary to change the “edge of attack”, choosing new promising strategic directions.
  2. The generals offered the Fuhrer a new blow to Moscow, but he refused. One can understand him - hopes for a “blitzkrieg” were finally buried near Moscow. Hitler motivated his position by the “obviousness” of the Moscow direction.
  3. The attack on Stalingrad also had real goals - the Volga and Don were convenient transport arteries, and through them there were routes to the oil of the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea, as well as to the Urals, which Hitler considered as the main frontier of German aspirations in this war.
  4. There were also symbolic goals. The Volga is one of the symbols of Russia. Stalingrad is a city (by the way, representatives of the anti-Hitler coalition stubbornly saw the word “steel” in this name, but not the name of the Soviet leader). The Nazis did not succeed in striking other symbols - Leningrad did not surrender, the enemy was thrown back from Moscow, the Volga remained to solve ideological problems.

The Nazis had reason to expect success. In terms of the number of soldiers (about 300 thousand) before the start of the offensive, they were significantly inferior to the defenders, but they were 1.5-2 times superior to them in aviation, tanks and other equipment.

Stages of the battle

For the Red Army, the Battle of Stalingrad was divided into 2 main stages: defensive and offensive.

The first of them lasted from July 17 to November 18, 1942. During this period, battles took place on the distant and near approaches to Stalingrad, as well as in the city itself. It was virtually wiped off the face of the earth (first by bombing, then by street fighting), but never came completely under enemy rule.

The offensive period lasted from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943. The essence of the offensive actions was to create a huge “cauldron” for the German, Italian, Croatian, Slovak and Romanian units concentrated near Stalingrad, followed by their defeat by compressing the encirclement. The first stage (the actual creation of the “cauldron”) was called Operation Uranus. On November 23, the encirclement closed. But the surrounded group was too strong and it was impossible to defeat it immediately.

In December, Field Marshal Manstein attempted to break through the blockade ring near Kotelnikov and come to the aid of those surrounded, but his breakthrough was stopped. On January 10, 1943, the Red Army launched Operation Ring - the destruction of the encircled German group. On January 31, Hitler promoted von Paulus, the commander of the German formations at Stalingrad and who found himself in the “cauldron,” to field marshal. In his congratulatory letter, the Fuhrer transparently indicated that not a single German field marshal had ever surrendered. On February 2, von Paulus became the first, surrendering along with his entire army.

Results and significance (radical fracture)

Battle of Stalingrad in Soviet historiography is called the “moment of radical change” in the course of the war, and this is true. At the same time, the course of not only the Great Patriotic War, but also the Second World War was turned around. As a result of the battle, Germany

  • lost 1.5 million people, more than 100 thousand only as prisoners;
  • lost the trust of its allies (Italy, Romania, Slovakia thought about leaving the war and stopped sending conscripts to the front);
  • suffered colossal material losses (on the scale of 2-6 months of production);
  • lost hope that Japan would enter the war in Siberia.

The USSR also suffered huge losses (up to 1.3 million people), but did not allow the enemy into strategically important areas of the country, destroyed a huge number of experienced soldiers, deprived the enemy of offensive potential and finally seized the strategic initiative from him.

Steel City

It turned out that all the symbolism in the battle went to the USSR. Destroyed Stalingrad became the most famous city in the world. The entire Anti-Hitler coalition was proud of the residents and defenders of the “steel city” and tried to help them. In the USSR, any schoolchild knew the names of the heroes of Stalingrad: sergeant Yakov Pavlov, signalman Matvey Putilov, nurse Marionella (Guli) Koroleva. The son of the leader of the Spanish Republic Dolores Ibarruri, Captain Ruben Ibarruri, and the legendary Tatar pilot Amet Khan Sultan received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for Stalingrad. Such outstanding people distinguished themselves in planning the battle Soviet military leaders, like V.I. Chuikov, N.F. Vatutin, F.I. Tolbukhin. After Stalingrad, “parades of prisoners” became traditional.

And Field Marshal von Paulus then lived in the USSR for quite a long time, teaching in the highest military educational institutions and wrote memoirs. In them, he very highly appreciated the feat of those who defeated him at Stalingrad.