Operation Uranus- code name of the Stalingrad strategic offensive operation of Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War (November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943). Counter-offensive of troops of three fronts: Southwestern (general N.F. Vatutin), Stalingrad (general A.I. Eremenko) and Don (general K.K. Rokossovsky), with the aim of encircling and destroying the enemy group of troops in the area city of Stalingrad.
Military situation before the operation
By the end of the defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 62nd Army held the area north of the Tractor Plant, the Barricades plant and the northeastern quarters of the city center, the 64th Army defended the approaches to its southern part. The general advance of German troops was stopped. On November 10, they went on the defensive on the entire southern wing of the Soviet-German front, with the exception of areas in the areas of Stalingrad, Nalchik and Tuapse. The position of the German troops became more complicated. The front of Army Groups A and B was stretched over 2,300 km, the flanks of the strike groups were not properly covered. The German command believed that after months of heavy fighting, the Red Army was not able to carry out a major offensive. For the winter of 1942/43, the German command planned to hold on to the occupied lines until the spring of 1943, and then go on the offensive again.
Balance of forces on the fronts
Before the start of the operation (November 19, 1942), the ratio of manpower, tanks, aircraft and auxiliary forces in this section of the theater of operations according to the “History of the Second World War, 1939-1945” was as follows:
Operation plan
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the General Staff began developing a counteroffensive plan in September. On November 13, the strategic counteroffensive plan, codenamed “Uranus,” was approved by Headquarters under the chairmanship of J.V. Stalin. The plan was as follows: the Southwestern Front (commander N.F. Vatutin; 1st Guards A, 5th TA, 21st A, 2nd Air and 17th Air Armies) had the task of delivering deep attacks from bridgeheads on the right bank of the Don from the Serafimovich and Kletskaya areas (offensive depth of about 120 km); The strike group of the Stalingrad Front (64th A, 57th A, 51st A, 8th Air Army) advanced from the Sarpinsky Lakes area to a depth of 100 km. Strike groups of both fronts were supposed to meet in the Kalach-Sovetsky area and encircle the main enemy forces near Stalingrad. At the same time, with part of the forces, these same fronts ensured the creation of an external front of encirclement. The Don Front, consisting of the 65th, 24th, 66th, 16th Air Armies, carried out two auxiliary strikes - one from the Kletskaya area to the southeast, and the other from the Kachalinsky area along the left bank of the Don to the south. The plan provided: to direct the main attacks against the most vulnerable sectors of the enemy’s defense, to the flank and rear of his most combat-ready formations; strike groups use terrain favorable to the attackers; with a generally equal balance of forces in the breakthrough sectors, by weakening the secondary sectors, create a 2.8 - 3.2-fold superiority in forces. Due to the deepest secrecy in the development of the plan and the enormous secrecy achieved in the concentration of forces, strategic surprise of the offensive was ensured.
Progress of the operation
Start of the offensive
The offensive of the troops of the Southwestern and right wing of the Don Front began on the morning of November 19 after powerful artillery bombardment. Troops of the 5th Tank Army broke through the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army. German troops tried to stop the Soviet troops with a strong counterattack, but were defeated by the 1st and 26th tank corps brought into the battle, the advanced units of which reached the operational depth, advancing to the Kalach area. On November 20, the strike group of the Stalingrad Front went on the offensive. On the morning of November 23, the advanced units of the 26th Tank Corps captured Kalach. On November 23, the troops of the 4th Tank Corps of the Southwestern Front and the 4th Mechanized Corps of the Stalingrad Front met in the area of the Sovetsky farm, closing the encirclement of the Stalingrad enemy group between the Volga and Don rivers. The 6th and the main forces of the 4th Tank Army were surrounded - 22 divisions and 160 separate units with a total number of 330 thousand people. By this time, most of the external front of the encirclement had been created, the distance of which from the internal one was 40-100 km.
On November 24, the troops of the Southwestern Front, having defeated the Romanian troops surrounded in the Raspopinskaya area, took 30 thousand prisoners and a lot of equipment. On November 24 - 30, the troops of the Stalingrad and Don fronts, waging fierce battles with the encircled enemy troops, reduced the area they occupied by half, trapping it in an area of 70-80 km from west to east and 30-40 km from north to south.
In the first half of December, the actions of these fronts to eliminate the encircled enemy developed slowly, since due to the reduction of the front in the cauldron, it condensed its battle formations and organized defense in equipped positions occupied by the Red Army in the summer of 1942. A significant (more than 3-fold) underestimation of the number of encircled German troops played a significant role in slowing down the offensive.
On November 24, Hitler, having rejected the proposal of the commander of the 6th Army F. Paulus to break through in a south-eastern direction, ordered Stalingrad to be held while awaiting outside help. The German troops operating against the outer front of the encirclement were united at the end of November into Army Group Don (commanded by Field Marshal E. Manstein), which included the encircled group.
Developments
In the areas of Kotelnikovsky and Tormosin, the Wehrmacht created two strike groups. On December 12, the Goth strike force, according to Soviet data, which had 9 infantry and 4 tank divisions, 125 thousand people, 650 tanks, which, however, is not confirmed by German sources, went on the offensive from Kotelnikovsky along the railway to Stalingrad, not waiting for the concentration of the Tormosinsk group in order to release the encircled troops. Using, according to the Soviet version, which is not confirmed by German sources, a significant superiority in forces over the 51st Army, the enemy pushed it beyond the river. Aksai, where his advance was stopped on December 15. On December 19, the enemy resumed the offensive, but was stopped by troops of the 2nd Guards and 51st armies on the river. Myshkova, 40 km from the encircled troops. On December 16, the offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front began on Morozovsk and Kantemirovka in order to defeat the enemy in the Middle Don region and reach the rear of the Tormosinsk group. During three days of fierce fighting, the enemy's defenses were broken through in five directions. By December 31, the Italian 8th Army and the German Task Force Hollidt were completely defeated. The 2nd Guards Army, during the counteroffensive on December 24-31, inflicted a complete defeat on the Goth group, which suffered heavy losses, including 5,200 prisoners, and threw it back to Zimovniki, pushing back the outer front of the encirclement by 200-250 km. 57th, 64th I and the 62nd Army of the Stalingrad Front were transferred to the Don Front to eliminate the encircled troops. On January 1, 1943, the Stalingrad Front was renamed the Southern Front and received the task of attacking in the Rostov direction. By the beginning of January, the situation of the encircled troops worsened. The space they occupied was shelled by artillery, and material supplies were depleted.
Elimination of German resistance
On January 8, 1943, the Soviet command presented the command of the encircled troops with an ultimatum to surrender, but, on Hitler’s orders, it rejected it. On January 10, the liquidation of the Stalingrad pocket by the forces of the Don Front began (Operation “Ring”). At this time, the number of surrounded troops was still approx. 250 thousand, the number of troops of the Don Front was 212 thousand. The enemy stubbornly resisted, but Soviet troops moved forward and on January 26 cut the group into two parts - the southern one in the city center and the northern one in the area of the tractor plant and the Barricades plant. On January 31, the southern group was liquidated, its remnants, led by Paulus, surrendered. On February 2, the northern group was finished. This ended the Battle of Stalingrad.
Results of the operation
During the Stalingrad offensive operation, two German armies were destroyed, two Romanian and one Italian armies were defeated. 32 divisions and 3 brigades were destroyed, 16 divisions were defeated. The enemy lost more than 800 thousand people, the losses of Soviet troops amounted to 485 thousand people, including irrevocable ones - 155. The conditions for conducting an outstanding operation were created by Soviet troops during the Stalingrad defensive operation starting in September 1942. “Before the Battle of Stalingrad, history did not know a battle , when such a large group of troops was surrounded and would have been completely destroyed. The defeat of the enemy on the Volga marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War as a whole, the expulsion of enemy troops from Soviet territory began.” - G. K. Zhukov. It should be noted that, of course, it is difficult to talk about the complete defeat of the encircled group - after all, a significant part of it was evacuated by air. The encircled group, which made no attempt to break through the internal front of the encirclement, was completely destroyed, down to the last unit. A significant number of wounded (from the diary of F. Paulus - 42 thousand) were evacuated from the cauldron by air, but Paulus does not say how many of the wounded managed to reach the “mainland”. It should be noted, however, that the word “evacuation” itself implies removal to the rear, that is, if Paulus used this word correctly, then he meant that all 42 thousand people reached the “mainland.”
additional information
Only during Operation Ring, according to Soviet data, 10.01. - 02.02. 1943 91,545 were captured and over 140 thousand (up to 147,200) enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed. According to various sources, from 30 to 42 thousand wounded were taken out of the cauldron by air. He lost 16,800 people in prisoners alone before the start of Operation Ring.
The Soviet command estimated the size of the group that was to be encircled in the final version of Operation Uranus in the range of 80 - 90 thousand. The initial version had a more modest scale. The underestimation did not have a significant impact on the rapid encirclement, which occurred within 4-5 days (instead of the estimated 3 days), but it greatly slowed down the liquidation of the encircled troops. Such a major underestimation with a brilliant final result is not the only example in military history. A similar example is the Battle of Novi. The continued presence of a huge cauldron, which attracted all the forces and attention of the enemy and sharply limited the possible options for his actions on the entire southern wing, allowed the Soviet command to brilliantly develop the success of the encirclement and inflict new huge losses on the enemy.
Memory
At the site of the junction of the troops of the South-Western and Stalingrad fronts (the modern village of Pyatimorsk), the monument “Union of Fronts” was erected in 1955. Author E. V. Vuchetich, architects L. Polyakov and L. Dyatlov.
The encirclement of Red Army units near Kharkov in May 1942 and the defeat near Kerch sharply worsened the situation on the entire southern wing of the Soviet-German front. The Germans launched new attacks almost without respite. At the end of July 1942, the Germans managed to cross the Don in its lower reaches and capture Rostov. Tank and motorized columns of Field Marshal List moved in an unstoppable stream across the endless expanses of the Kuban. Large oil fields in the Maykop region soon came under German occupation. Once again, as in the summer of 1941, mortal danger loomed over the country.
On July 28, 1942, Headquarters order No. 227 appeared, signed personally, known as “Not a step back!”
(No publication)
The enemy is throwing more and more forces to the front and, regardless of the great losses for him, climbs forward, rushes into the depths of the Soviet Union, captures new regions, devastates and ruins our cities and villages, rapes, robs and kills the Soviet population. Fighting is taking place in the Voronezh region, on the Don, in the south, at the gates of the North Caucasus. The German occupiers are rushing towards Stalingrad, towards the Volga and want to capture Kuban and the North Caucasus with their oil and grain riches at any cost(...)
The population of our country, who treats the Red Army with love and respect, begins to become disillusioned with it, loses faith in the Red Army, and many of them curse the Red Army for putting our people under the yoke of the German oppressors, and itself flowing to the east( ...)
Every commander, Red Army soldier and political worker must understand that our funds are not unlimited. The territory of the Soviet state is not a desert, but people - workers, peasants, intelligentsia, our fathers, mothers, wives, brothers, children... We no longer have superiority over the Germans either in human reserves or in grain reserves. To retreat further means to ruin ourselves and at the same time ruin our Motherland. Every new piece of territory we leave behind will strengthen the enemy in every possible way and weaken our defenses, our Motherland in every possible way(...)
It follows from this that it is time to end the retreat.
No step back! This should now be our main call (...)
There is a lack of order and discipline in companies, battalions, regiments, divisions, tank units, and air squadrons. This is now our main drawback. We must establish the strictest order and iron discipline in our army if we want to save the situation and defend our Motherland(...)
The Supreme Command of the Red Army orders:
1. To the military councils of the fronts and, above all, to the commanders of the fronts:
a) unconditionally eliminate retreating sentiments in the troops and suppress with an iron fist the propaganda that we can and should allegedly retreat further to the east, that such a retreat will supposedly cause no harm;
b) unconditionally remove from post and send to Headquarters to bring to court martial the army commanders who allowed the unauthorized withdrawal of troops from their positions without an order from the front command;
c) form within the front from one to three (depending on the situation) penal battalions (800 people each), where to send middle and senior commanders and relevant political workers of all branches of the military who are guilty of violating discipline due to cowardice or instability, and place them on more difficult sections of the front to give them the opportunity to atone for their crimes against the Motherland with blood.
2. Military councils of armies and, above all, commanders of armies(...)
b) form within the army 3-5 well-armed barrage detachments (up to 200 people each), place them in the immediate rear of unstable divisions and oblige them, in the event of panic and disorderly withdrawal of division units, to shoot panickers and cowards on the spot and thereby help honest fighters divisions to fulfill their duty to the Motherland;
c) form within the army from five to ten (depending on the situation) penal companies (from 150 to 200 people in each), where to send ordinary soldiers and junior commanders who have violated discipline due to cowardice or instability, and place them in difficult areas army to give them the opportunity to atone for their crimes against the Motherland with blood(...)
The order should be read in all companies, squadrons, batteries, squadrons, teams, and headquarters.
People's Commissar of Defense I. STALIN. Living memory. The Great Patriotic War: the truth about the war. In three volumes. Volume one. - WITH.Although in certain areas of Stalingrad the enemy was only 150-200 m from the Volga bank, he could no longer advance further. The fight was for every street, for every house. The defense of just one house by soldiers under the command of Sergeant Ya. Pavlov became a legend. For 58 days and nights, Soviet soldiers defended their positions and did not surrender them to the enemy.
The counter-offensive of the Red Army near Stalingrad began on the morning of November 19, 1942. The troops of the South-Western (commanded by General N. Vatutin), Don (formed on September 28, 1942, commanded by General K. Rokossovsky), and then Stalingrad (commanded by General A. Eremenko ) fronts, having broken through the enemy’s defenses, rushed in converging directions towards Kalach, located in the enemy’s rear. The main attacks were carried out on positions occupied mainly by Romanian and Italian divisions. On the evening of November 21, Moscow radio broadcast an emergency message from the Sovinformburo, which said:
The other day, our troops located on the approaches to Stalingrad went on the offensive against the Nazi troops. The offensive began in two directions: from the northwest and from the south of Stalingrad. Having broken through the enemy’s defensive line with a length of 30 km in the north-west (in the Serafimovich region), and in the south of Stalingrad - with a length of 20 km, our troops in three days of intense fighting, overcoming enemy resistance, advanced 60 - 70 km... Thus both railways supplying enemy troops located east of the Don were interrupted. During the offensive of our troops, six enemy infantry and one tank divisions were completely destroyed. Heavy losses were inflicted on seven enemy infantry, two tank and two motorized divisions. In three days of fighting, 13 thousand prisoners and 360 guns were captured, as well as many machine guns, mortars, rifles, vehicles, and a large number of warehouses with ammunition, weapons and food. The enemy left 14 thousand corpses of soldiers and officers on the battlefield. The troops of Lieutenant General Romanenko, Major General Chistyakov, Major General Tolbukhin, Major General Trufanov, and Lieutenant General Batov distinguished themselves in battles. The offensive of our troops continues.
Kulkov E.N., Myagkov M.Yu., Rzheshevsky O.A. War 1941-1945 Facts and documents. M., 2010.On November 23, 1942, strike groups of the Soviet fronts united in the Kalach area and closed a ring around 22 divisions and 160 separate units with a total number of more than 300 thousand people from the enemy’s 6th field and 4th tank armies. Hitler's army had never known such a shock.
FROM THE ULTIMATUUM OF THE SOVIET COMMAND TO THE COMMANDER OF THE 6TH GERMAN ARMY COLONEL GENERAL PAULUS, January 8, 1943
The 6th German Army, formations of the 4th Panzer Army and the reinforcement units assigned to them have been completely surrounded since November 23, 1942. Units of the Red Army surrounded this group of German troops in a tight ring. All hopes of saving your troops by advancing German troops from the south and southwest did not materialize. The German troops rushing to your aid are defeated by the Red Army and the remnants of these troops are retreating to Rostov (...) The situation of your encircled troops is difficult. They experience hunger, illness and cold. The harsh Russian winter is just beginning; severe frosts, cold winds and snowstorms are still ahead, and your soldiers are not provided with winter clothing and are in severe unsanitary conditions.
You, as the commander and all the officers of the encircled troops, understand perfectly well that you have no real opportunity to break through the encirclement. Your situation is hopeless and further resistance makes no sense.
In the current hopeless situation for you, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, we invite you to accept the following conditions of surrender:
1) All German encircled troops led by you and your headquarters cease resistance.
2) You must place all personnel and weapons at our disposal in an organized manner. all military equipment and military property are in good condition.
We guarantee life and safety to all officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers who have ceased resistance, and, after the end of the war, return to Germany or any country where prisoners of war wish.
We retain military uniforms, insignia and orders, personal belongings, valuables for all personnel of the surrendered troops, and for senior officers, edged weapons.
All surrendered officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers will be provided with normal food immediately. All wounded, sick and frostbitten will be provided with medical assistance.
Headquarters Representative
Supreme High Command of the Red Army, Colonel General of Artillery Voronov
Commander of the Don Front troops, Lieutenant General Rokossovsky
The Great Patriotic War. Military historical essays. Book 2. Fracture. M., 1998. P.429Paulus's refusal to capitulate to Soviet troops at the beginning of January 1943 was essentially a death sentence for both German soldiers killed in battle and captured. The vast majority of the 91 thousand soldiers captured in Stalingrad by the beginning of February turned into living corpses - frostbitten, sick, exhausted people. Hundreds of them died before they even had time to reach the assembly camps. After the end of the battles in Stalingrad, the Soviet people rejoiced. Such a bright and obvious victory was inspiring. In Germany, on the contrary, three days of mourning were declared, which became the external reaction of the German leadership to the events that took place. “The possibility of ending the war in the East by means of an offensive no longer exists,” Hitler said at a meeting of the Wehrmacht’s senior command on February 1, 1943.
The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad in history is very great. It was after its completion The Red Army launched a full-scale offensive, which led to the complete expulsion of the enemy from the territory of the USSR, and the Wehrmacht allies abandoned their plans ( Türkiye and Japan planned a full-scale invasion in 1943 to the territory of the USSR) and realized that it was almost impossible to win the war.
In contact with
The Battle of Stalingrad can be briefly described if we consider the most important things:
- background of events;
- a general picture of the disposition of enemy forces;
- progress of the defensive operation;
- progress of the offensive operation;
- results.
Brief background
German troops invaded the territory of the USSR and, moving quickly, winter 1941 found themselves near Moscow. However, it was during this period of time that the Red Army troops launched a counteroffensive.
At the beginning of 1942, Hitler's headquarters began to develop plans for the second wave of the offensive. The generals suggested continue the attack on Moscow, but the Fuhrer rejected this plan and proposed an alternative - an attack on Stalingrad (modern Volgograd). The attack to the south had its reasons. If you're lucky:
- control of the oil fields of the Caucasus passed into the hands of the Germans;
- Hitler would have access to the Volga(which would cut off the European part of the USSR from the Central Asian regions and Transcaucasia).
If the Germans captured Stalingrad, Soviet industry would have suffered serious damage from which it would have been unlikely to recover.
The plan to capture Stalingrad became even more realistic after the so-called Kharkov disaster (complete encirclement of the Southwestern Front, loss of Kharkov and Rostov-on-Don, complete “opening” of the front south of Voronezh).
The offensive began with the defeat of the Bryansk Front and from a positional stop of German forces on the Voronezh River. At the same time, Hitler could not decide on the 4th Tank Army.
The transfer of tanks from the Caucasus to the Volga direction and back delayed the start of the Battle of Stalingrad for a whole week, which gave the opportunity for Soviet troops to better prepare for the defense of the city.
Balance of power
Before the start of the offensive on Stalingrad, the balance of enemy forces looked as follows*:
*calculations taking into account all nearby enemy forces.
Start of the battle
The first clash between the troops of the Stalingrad Front and the 6th Army of Paulus took place July 17, 1942.
Attention! Russian historian A. Isaev found evidence in military journals that the first clash took place a day earlier - on July 16. One way or another, the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad was mid-summer 1942.
Already by July 22–25 German troops, having broken through the defenses of Soviet forces, reached the Don, which created a real threat to Stalingrad. By the end of July, the Germans successfully crossed the Don. Further progress was very difficult. Paulus was forced to resort to the help of allies (Italians, Hungarians, Romanians), who helped surround the city.
It was during this very difficult time for the southern front that I. Stalin published order No. 227, the essence of which was reflected in one short slogan: “ No step back! He called on the soldiers to strengthen their resistance and prevent the enemy from getting closer to the city.
In August Soviet troops saved three divisions of the 1st Guards Army from complete disaster who entered the battle. They launched a timely counterattack and slowed down the enemy's rapid advance, thereby foiling the Fuhrer’s plan to rush to Stalingrad.
In September, after certain tactical adjustments, German troops went on the offensive, trying to take the city by storm. The Red Army could not resist this onslaught, and was forced to retreat to the city.
Street fighting
August 23, 1942 Luftwaffe forces launched a powerful pre-assault bombardment of the city. As a result of the massive attack, ¼ of the city’s population was destroyed, its center was completely destroyed, and severe fires began. On the same day shock the 6th Army group reached the northern outskirts of the city. At this moment, the defense of the city was carried out by the militia and forces of the Stalingrad air defense, despite this, the Germans advanced into the city very slowly and suffered heavy losses.
On September 1, the command of the 62nd Army decided to cross the Volga and entering the city. The crossing took place under constant air and artillery fire. The Soviet command managed to transport 82 thousand soldiers to the city, who in mid-September stubbornly resisted the enemy in the city center; a fierce struggle to maintain bridgeheads near the Volga unfolded on Mamayev Kurgan.
The battles in Stalingrad entered world military history as one of the most brutal. They fought for literally every street and every house.
Firearms and artillery weapons were practically not used in the city (for fear of ricochet), only piercing and cutting weapons. often went hand-to-hand.
The liberation of Stalingrad was accompanied by a real sniper war (the most famous sniper was V. Zaitsev; he won 11 sniper duels; the story of his exploits still inspires many).
By mid-October the situation had become extremely difficult as the Germans launched an attack on the Volga bridgehead. On November 11, Paulus’s soldiers managed to reach the Volga and force the 62nd Army to take a tough defense.
Attention! Most of the city's civilian population did not have time to evacuate (100 thousand out of 400). As a result, women and children were taken out under fire across the Volga, but many remained in the city and died (counts of civilian casualties are still considered inaccurate).
Counteroffensive
A goal such as the liberation of Stalingrad became not only strategic, but also ideological. Neither Stalin nor Hitler wanted to retreat and could not afford defeat. The Soviet command, realizing the complexity of the situation, began preparing a counteroffensive back in September.
Marshal Eremenko's plan
September 30, 1942 was The Don Front was formed under the command of K.K. Rokossovsky.
He attempted a counteroffensive, which completely failed by early October.
At this time A.I. Eremenko proposes to Headquarters a plan to encircle the 6th Army. The plan was fully approved and received the code name "Uranus".
If it were 100% implemented, all enemy forces concentrated in the Stalingrad area would be surrounded.
Attention! A strategic mistake during the implementation of this plan at the initial stage was made by K.K. Rokossovsky, who tried to take the Oryol ledge with the forces of the 1st Guards Army (which he saw as a threat to the future offensive operation). The operation ended in failure. The 1st Guards Army was completely disbanded.
Chronology of operations (stages)
Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe command to transfer cargo to the Stalingrad ring in order to prevent the defeat of the German troops. The Germans coped with this task, but the fierce opposition of the Soviet air armies, which launched a “free hunt” regime, led to the fact that German air traffic with the blocked troops was interrupted on January 10, just before the start of Operation Ring, which ended defeat of German troops at Stalingrad.
Results
The following main stages can be distinguished in the battle:
- strategic defensive operation (defense of Stalingrad) - from June 17 to November 18, 1942;
- strategic offensive operation (liberation of Stalingrad) - from 11/19/42 to 02/02/43.
The Battle of Stalingrad lasted in total 201 days. It is impossible to say exactly how long the further operation to clear the city of Khivi and scattered enemy groups took.
Victory in the battle affected both the state of the fronts and the geopolitical balance of power in the world. The liberation of the city was of great importance. Brief results of the Battle of Stalingrad:
- Soviet troops acquired invaluable experience in encircling and destroying the enemy;
- were established new schemes for military-economic supply of troops;
- Soviet troops actively prevented the advance of German groups in the Caucasus;
- the German command was forced to devote additional forces to the implementation of the Eastern Wall project;
- Germany's influence on the Allies was greatly weakened, neutral countries began to take a position of non-acceptance of German actions;
- The Luftwaffe was greatly weakened after attempting to supply the 6th Army;
- Germany suffered significant (partly irreparable) losses.
Losses
The losses were significant for both Germany and the USSR.
The situation with the prisoners
At the end of Operation Cauldron, 91.5 thousand people were in Soviet captivity, including:
- ordinary soldiers (including Europeans from among the German allies);
- officers (2.5 thousand);
- generals (24).
German Field Marshal Paulus was also captured.
All prisoners were sent to a specially created camp No. 108 near Stalingrad. For 6 years (until 1949) surviving prisoners worked on construction sites in the city.
Attention! The captured Germans were treated quite humanely. After the first three months, when the mortality rate among prisoners reached its peak, they were all placed in camps near Stalingrad (some in hospitals). Those who were able to work worked a regular working day and received wages for their work, which they could spend on food and household items. In 1949, all surviving prisoners, except war criminals and traitors, were sent to Germany.
Street fighting in Stalingrad
Historical significance of the battle
The Battle of Stalingrad and its historical significance have been thoroughly studied today. The liberation of Stalingrad played a very important role. We are talking not only about the Great Patriotic War, but also about the Second World War, since it became clear to the allies of the USSR and the Axis countries (allies of Germany) that the Wehrmacht's plans finally failed and the strategic initiative of an offensive nature was concentrated in the hands of the Soviet command.
Result: capture of the encircled Axis group
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| to the start of the operation 187 thousand Human Total 1.14 million Human . | to the start of the operation 270 thousand Human Total > 1 million Human. |
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| 1 million 143 thousand people (irretrievable and sanitary losses), 524 thousand units. shooter weapons 4341 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2777 aircraft, 15.7 thousand guns and mortars | 1.5 million total | ||||||||||||||||
Stalingrad offensive operation- strategic operation of Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War. The goal is to defeat the enemy group operating in the Stalingrad direction (the main forces of Army Group B) and create conditions for the defeat of the entire southern wing of the Nazi troops. . Code name - "Uranus".
Conducted by troops of the Southwestern, Don and Stalingrad fronts (from January 1, 1943, renamed the Southern Front) from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943. The development of the operation was carried out by the General Staff and the Supreme Command Headquarters. The main contribution to the preparation of the offensive was made by Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief G.K. Zhukov and Chief of the General Staff A.M. Vasilevsky.
Operation Uranus has undergone major changes compared to the original plan, which involved encircling and eliminating 80-90 thousand enemy forces. The encircled group, numbering about 300 thousand people or more, suspended the offensive of the troops of the Don Front, and therefore the Soviet command was required to develop and introduce an additional operation into Operation Uranus - “Ring”, as well as take measures to neutralize enemy actions on the external front of the encirclement in December 1942.
The encirclement of the enemy group occurred from November 19 to November 23 as a result of Soviet troops delivering counter flank strikes: by the Southwestern Front with the active support of the right wing of the Don Front from the Serafimovich area from the bridgehead on the Don on November 19 and the Stalingrad Front from the Sarpinsky Lakes area on November 20 in the general direction on Kalach-Sovetsky. During the 5-day encirclement, the 3rd Romanian Army and the 48th German Tank Corps were defeated; the German 4th Panzer Army and the Romanian 4th Army suffered significant losses; The 6th Field Army lost 73 thousand people killed, wounded and captured, including 39 thousand prisoners. As a result of the offensive, one of the largest groupings in the history of war was surrounded - 22 divisions and 160 separate units of the 6th and parts of the 4th tank armies with a total number of up to 330,000 people.
By the end of November, Soviet troops had created an external encirclement front and halved the area occupied by the encircled enemy. Further offensive was stopped by the stubborn resistance of the enemy, who thickened the battle formations by reducing the front and organized defense in positions prepared by Soviet troops in the summer of 1942.
On December 12, 1942, in order to release the encircled group from the Kotelnikovsky area, the Goth army group launched an offensive. Taking advantage of the great numerical superiority over the 51st Army, in particular, over the 4th Mechanized Corps, which took the main blow, with heavy fighting, by December 19, it advanced 40 km to the line of the Aksai River and was 80 km from the Stalingrad pocket . However, by December 19, the main forces of the 2nd Guards Army had already been deployed at the turn of the Myshkova River, sent by the Supreme High Command Staff to defeat the Goth group. This meant the failure of the unblocking strike. Until December 23, the Goth group, without encountering strong resistance from the deliberately retreating troops of the 4th Mechanized Corps, advanced to the line of the Myshkova River, 35–40 km from the encircled troops. On August 24, the 2nd Guards Army, in cooperation with the 51st Army, launched a counteroffensive. By December 31, the Goth group was completely defeated and thrown back 200-250 km.
From December 16 to 31, troops of the Southwestern Front, during Operation Little Saturn, defeated the 8th Italian Army and the Hollidt task force in the Middle Don, which were preparing to begin the relief of the encircled group together with the Goth group.
From January 10 to February 2, 1943, troops of the Don Front carried out Operation Ring to dissect and destroy the encircled group. As a result of this operation, the northern and southern enemy groups, separated from each other, capitulated on January 28 and February 2, 1943, respectively. 91,545 enemy soldiers and officers were captured, including 24 generals led by Field Marshal General F. Paulus. Another 16,800 were captured before Operation Ring began. The total number of German soldiers and officers captured in the Stalingrad offensive operation was 232,000. In addition, up to 30,000 Romanians (from the 3rd Romanian Army) and about 60,000 Italians (from the 8th Italian Army) were captured ) soldiers and officers.
Operation Uranus ended in a crushing defeat of the Nazi troops, whose total losses for the first time during the Great Patriotic War significantly exceeded the losses of the Red Army, and irretrievable losses exceeded the irretrievable losses of the Red Army by more than 2 times. The defeat of the Nazi troops, carried out by Soviet troops, without significant superiority in forces, was a triumph of Soviet military art and marked a radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War.
Operation Uranus created the preconditions for the successful conduct of Operation Little Saturn and the defeat of Italian and German troops in the Middle Don with the goal of defeating the entire Army Group B. During the Ostrogozh-Rossoshansky operation from January 13 to 27, the 2nd Hungarian and the remnants of the 8th Italian army were defeated. Over 120 thousand people were destroyed and captured. Even further north, the Voronezh-Kastornensky cauldron included the remnants of the Hungarian troops and the main forces of the 2nd German Army (9 divisions from the 3rd Army Corps). From January 24 to February 2, they were defeated, over 100 thousand German soldiers died or were captured. The defeat and mass surrender began even before the group was completely surrounded. The remnants of several divisions (totaling about 20 thousand people) went for a breakthrough, but only a few thousand managed to escape from the encirclement by mid-February. Thus, the entire Army Group B was defeated.
Taking into account the tasks being solved, the peculiarities of the conduct of hostilities by the parties, the spatial and temporal scale, as well as the results, the Battle of Stalingrad includes two periods: defensive - from July 17 to November 18, 1942; offensive - from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943
The strategic defensive operation in the Stalingrad direction lasted 125 days and nights and included two stages. The first stage is the conduct of defensive combat operations by front-line troops on the distant approaches to Stalingrad (July 17 - September 12). The second stage is the conduct of defensive actions to hold Stalingrad (September 13 - November 18, 1942).
The German command delivered the main blow with the forces of the 6th Army in the direction of Stalingrad along the shortest route through the big bend of the Don from the west and southwest, just in the defense zones of the 62nd (commander - Major General, from August 3 - Lieutenant General , from September 6 - Major General, from September 10 - Lieutenant General) and the 64th (commander - Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov, from August 4 - Lieutenant General) armies. The operational initiative was in the hands of the German command with an almost double superiority in forces and means.
Defensive combat operations by troops of the fronts on the distant approaches to Stalingrad (July 17 - September 12)
The first stage of the operation began on July 17, 1942 in the big bend of the Don with combat contact between units of the 62nd Army and the advanced detachments of German troops. Fierce fighting ensued. The enemy had to deploy five divisions out of fourteen and spend six days to approach the main defense line of the troops of the Stalingrad Front. However, under the pressure of superior enemy forces, Soviet troops were forced to retreat to new, poorly equipped or even unequipped lines. But even under these conditions they inflicted significant losses on the enemy.
By the end of July, the situation in the Stalingrad direction continued to remain very tense. German troops deeply engulfed both flanks of the 62nd Army, reached the Don in the Nizhne-Chirskaya area, where the 64th Army held the defense, and created the threat of a breakthrough to Stalingrad from the southwest.
Due to the increased width of the defense zone (about 700 km), by the decision of the Supreme High Command Headquarters, the Stalingrad Front, which was commanded by a lieutenant general from July 23, was divided on August 5 into the Stalingrad and South-Eastern fronts. To achieve closer cooperation between the troops of both fronts, from August 9, the leadership of the defense of Stalingrad was united in one hand, and therefore the Stalingrad Front was subordinated to the commander of the South-Eastern Front, Colonel General.
By mid-November, the advance of German troops was stopped along the entire front. The enemy was forced to finally go on the defensive. This completed the strategic defensive operation of the Battle of Stalingrad. The troops of the Stalingrad, South-Eastern and Don Fronts completed their tasks, holding back the powerful enemy offensive in the Stalingrad direction, creating the preconditions for a counter-offensive.
During the defensive battles, the Wehrmacht suffered huge losses. In the fight for Stalingrad, the enemy lost about 700 thousand killed and wounded, over 2 thousand guns and mortars, more than 1000 tanks and assault guns and over 1.4 thousand combat and transport aircraft. Instead of a non-stop advance towards the Volga, enemy troops were drawn into protracted, grueling battles in the Stalingrad area. The German command's plan for the summer of 1942 was thwarted. At the same time, the Soviet troops also suffered heavy losses in personnel - 644 thousand people, of which irrevocable - 324 thousand people, sanitary 320 thousand people. The losses of weapons amounted to: about 1,400 tanks, more than 12 thousand guns and mortars and more than 2 thousand aircraft.
Soviet troops continued their offensive
