How did the battle for Stalingrad begin?

41
How did the battle for Stalingrad begin?
Armored personnel carriers Sd.Kfz.251 / 1 of the Kleist group during the attack on Stalingrad

General position of Germany


By the spring of 1942, the Third Reich had overcome the first crisis caused by the failure of the blitzkrieg plan. Germany is moving on to a protracted war: it is conducting additional mobilization of people, expanding military production. Part of the men from production had to be sent to the front: from 1941 to 1942, the total number of German workers is reduced from 33,4 million to 31,5 million people. Young men are replaced by older men, women are transferred to handicraft factories, and workers are also transferred from militarily less important industries and enterprises to more important ones. The length of the working day at military enterprises is increasing, and the output of civilian products is being reduced to the detriment of military production.

The use of forced labor by foreign workers and prisoners of war is also increasing. In the same period, their number increases from 3 million to 7 million people. The Nazis are organizing on an enormous scale the forcible transfer of the population, especially young people, from the occupied countries to the Reich. Especially many people were driven into slavery from the occupied regions of the USSR.



The Nazis actively use the human and industrial resources of the occupied and neutral countries. In particular, Turkey, Switzerland, Spain and Sweden played a large role in obtaining important resources and war materials for Germany.

As a result, in 1942 Germany achieved an increase in military production and provided the Wehrmacht with everything necessary to continue offensive operations of strategic importance. By July 1942, compared with February 1942, the level of military production increased by 55%. The priority was the production of offensive weapons and ammunition. Mainly medium-sized Tanks - T-3 and T-4. The production of aircraft over the year increased by 24%, tanks and armored vehicles - by 79% (from 5,2 thousand to 9,3 thousand), guns with a caliber over 75 mm - by 70%, etc.

By the spring of 1942, Germany had 239 divisions and 5 brigades, which numbered 8,6 million people. The overwhelming majority of the troops were on the Russian front: 182 divisions and 4 brigades. Also, Germany's allies additionally put up: Romania - 20 divisions (2 armies), Hungary - up to 12 divisions (one army), Italy - 7-8 divisions (one army).

Germany was still operating in a favorable military-political situation. The USA and England were in no hurry to open a second front in Europe, since the protracted war between the Russians and the Germans was in their interests. England concentrated its efforts on North Africa and holding positions in the Asia-Pacific region. The United States sent most of its forces and resources to the fight against Japan. The USSR had to keep in mind that the Empire of Japan in the Far East and Turkey in the Caucasus could at any moment come out against us. This made it necessary to keep part of the forces in the Far Eastern and Transcaucasian directions. In addition, the Nazis occupied the economically developed western regions of the USSR. Russia has lost part of its economic and human potential.


German armored personnel carrier Sd.Kfz. 251/10 platoon commander of the 64th Panzergrenadier Regiment of the 16th Wehrmacht Panzer Division during the attack on Stalingrad. The machine is equipped with equipment for the installation of 280-mm Wurfrahmen 40 rocket artillery mounts


Soviet GAZ-AA truck and 76-mm horse-drawn F-22-USV divisional gun on the road near Stalingrad

Finish off Russia


The German headquarters still overestimated its capabilities and strength. On March 15, 1942, Hitler announced that during the summer of 1942 the Russian army would be destroyed. However, the German high command understood that it could no longer carry out an offensive along the entire vast stretch of the Russian front. Some of the German generals had doubts whether it was possible to defeat Russia if they attacked only in one strategic direction?

However, the Fuhrer insisted on a new offensive. Also, the German generals understood that it was impossible to give the initiative to the enemy, so it could be lost forever. In addition, because of the pause, the threat from America increased. Therefore, there was only one way out: to continue the offensive and crush the Russians.

Hitler instructed to concentrate efforts on the southern strategic direction. In successive operations, defeat the Red Army, capture the Crimea and the Caucasus, important resources and create the possibility of Turkey entering the war. The Fuhrer also believed that Russia would collapse, and the Third Reich would be able to take over the Middle East, India, which was already leading to the defeat of Britain.

On April 5, 1942, Directive No. 41 of the German High Command was issued. It stated that the goal of the offensive was to destroy the remaining forces of the Red Army and deprive them of their most important military and economic centers. Simultaneous attacks on Stalingrad (Volga) and the Caucasus were planned in order to capture the southern regions of the USSR rich in strategic resources. At the same time, positions were maintained in the central direction. There was no chronological framework for the end of the campaign. It was envisaged to carry out a number of successive operations in the Crimea, Kharkov region, in the Voronezh, Stalingrad and Caucasian directions. The operation to capture Leningrad and establish direct contact with the Finnish army was made dependent on the solution of the main task in the south. Army Group Center was to maintain and improve its operational position through a series of private operations.

On June 1, 1942, Hitler, accompanied by Keitel, arrived at the headquarters of Army Group South in Poltava. Here preparations for a general offensive in the south were completed.


The deterioration of the position of the Red Army


By the spring of 1942, the winter offensive of the Red Army had stalled. Soviet troops went on the defensive everywhere. The Headquarters and the General Staff proceeded from the fact that the enemy would deliver the main blow in the central (Moscow) direction in order to end the war in his favor. The largest grouping of the Wehrmacht was located here. Therefore, the General Staff proposed organizing a temporary strategic defense, accumulating reserves, and then launching a counteroffensive again. The headquarters approved this idea. At the same time, it was planned to carry out private offensive operations in a number of directions: near Leningrad, in the Demyansk region, in the Smolensk, Kursk, Kharkov and Crimean directions. Our troops had to improve their operational position, hold the initiative and, if possible, thwart the enemy offensive.

In many ways, the failure of the Red Army was associated with the proposal of the command of the South-Western direction (Timoshenko, Khrushchev and Bagramyan) to conduct a large offensive operation in May by the forces of the Bryansk, South-Western and Southern fronts. However, the poorly organized offensives of our armies in the southern strategic direction led to a number of disasters. The Crimean Front was unable to break through the enemy defenses in the Kerch direction. The 11th German Army in May 1942 carried out its counteroffensive, which led to the collapse of the Soviet front and the loss of the Kerch Peninsula. Our troops suffered heavy losses and retreated to the Taman Peninsula (Kerch catastrophe of the Red Army; Part 2). This worsened the situation of Sevastopol. Manstein was able to concentrate his efforts on the capture of the Sevastopol fortress. On June 7, the third assault on Sevastopol began. By July 4, the fortress had fallen. The coastal army was killed (How the Germans took Sevastopol; Part 2).


Soldiers of the 578th Infantry Regiment of the Wehrmacht at a halt during the attack on Stalingrad. July–August 1942

In the north, the situation was also difficult. Leningrad could not be unblocked. In May, the North-Western Front failed to succeed in the Demyansk direction. The Volkhov grouping of the Leningrad Front (formerly the Volkhov Front) was unable to achieve victory on the western bank of the river. Volkhov. The Germans launched a counterattack and blocked the troops of the 2nd shock army (Battle on the Volkhov; Part 2). Most of the army died in the Myasnoy Bor area.

On May 12, 1942, the troops of the Southwestern Front, with the support of the Southern Front, launched an offensive in the Kharkov direction. The start of the offensive was successful. But on May 17, the Germans (1st tank and 17th field armies) launched a counteroffensive from the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk region. The 6th Army of Paulus also launched a counterattack. The command of the South-Western direction underestimated the enemy and did not start the withdrawal of troops in a timely manner. As a result, a large grouping of our troops fell into the "boiler". A smaller part of the troops broke through from the encirclement (The failure of the Kharkov operation; How Khrushchev shifted all the blame for the Kharkov disaster to Stalin).

The Kharkov disaster turned into further tragedies for the Soviet troops. The situation in the southern direction has changed dramatically in favor of the enemy. Our troops in the Crimea and near Kharkov suffered heavy losses, which they did not have time to make up for by the beginning of the enemy offensive, the armies did not have time to put in order, to gain a foothold on new lines of defense.


German tractors Sd.Kfz. 8, towing 150-mm howitzers sFH 18, on the march near Stalingrad


German tanks Pz.Kpfw. III riding in formation across the steppe during the attack on Stalingrad

The Germans go on the offensive


Army Group "South" was divided (this was finally formalized on July 7) into Army Group "A" (Caucasian direction) of Field Marshal List as part of the 1st Panzer, 17th and 11th Field and 8th Italian armies and a group armies "B" (Stalingrad direction) of Field Marshal von Bock as part of the 4th tank, 2nd and 6th field and 2nd Hungarian armies.

On June 28, 1942, the 2nd field and 4th tank armies attacked the left flank of the Bryansk Front. The Germans broke through our defenses. On June 30, the 6th Army of Paulus went on the offensive and broke through the defenses of the armies of the right wing of the Southwestern Front. The enemy went to the Don, crossed it in the Voronezh region, occupying most of the city. The German strike group developed an offensive to the south along the right bank of the Don.

On July 8, the 1st Panzer Army attacked Starobelsk from the Slavyansk, Artemovsk area. By mid-July, the troops of the 6th and 4th tank armies reached the large bend of the Don and occupied Bokovskaya, Morozovsk, Millerovo, Kantemirovka. The 1st Panzer and 17th Army advanced on Novocherkassk and Rostov-on-Don. The troops of the Southwestern Front with heavy fighting retreated to the Don, to Stalingrad, the troops of the Southern Front - to the lower reaches of the Don. Rostov fell on July 25. The Battle for the Caucasus has begun.


The accumulation of Soviet vehicles destroyed by the German aviation in the Don area


Soviet artillerymen firing at the enemy from a 76-mm divisional gun of the 1939 model (F-22-USV) in a large bend of the Don

With the exit of the Wehrmacht into the great bend of the Don, there was a threat of an enemy breakthrough to Stalingrad, one of the leading industrial centers of the USSR. Also, the Germans could cut the Volga communications, which are important for the economy and the country's defense capability. The Germans initially attached an auxiliary importance to the operation to capture Stalingrad - ensuring the left flank of the troops that were advancing on the Caucasus. But soon it was here that the decisive battle of the 1942 campaign and one of the main battles of the entire war broke out.

On July 12, 1942, the Stalingrad Front (SF) was formed on the basis of the field administration and troops of the Southwestern Front. It included the reserve 63rd, 62nd and 64th armies, which retreated beyond the Don, the 21st army and the 8th air army of the Southwestern Front. The front was headed by Marshal Timoshenko, from July 23 - General Gordov. The troops of the front received the task of stopping the enemy, preventing his breakthrough to the Volga and holding Stalingrad. Also, the 28th, 38th and 57th armies of the former Southwestern Front retreated to the Northern Fleet and were included in its composition. These armies were drained of blood, needed to be replenished with personnel and equipment. On July 25, the Volga flotilla.

On July 14, the Stalingrad region was declared under martial law. Stalingrad became a front-line city. Stalingrad is being prepared for defense. On the night of July 23, the city was attacked by enemy aircraft.

On July 17, 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad began. The forward units of the 62nd Army entered the battle on the river. Chir with forward detachments of the 6th German Army. Fighting began on the distant approaches to Stalingrad. As the German army advanced towards Stalingrad, its left wing was strongly stretched along the right bank of the Don with a front to the northeast. The forces of the Paulus army were increased to 18 divisions. By the end of July 26, the Nazis reached the right bank of the Don north of Kalach. The 62nd Army faced the threat of encirclement. On July 25 - 27, the Soviet reserve 1st and 4th tank armies were thrown into battle, which had not yet been fully formed. This made it possible to delay the advance of the German 6th Army and prevent the enemy from encircling the troops of the 62nd and partially 64th armies. The enemy was unable to capture Stalingrad on the move, as planned. However, the situation remained critical.


Soviet 76-mm guns F-22 (USV), captured by the Germans near Stalingrad. In the background, walking Soviet prisoners of war are visible.


Anti-tank battery of 76,2 mm divisional guns mod. 1939 (USV) of the Soviet 99th tank brigade is firing near Stalingrad. August 1942
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  1. -3
    17 July 2022 06: 17
    The defeat of the Wehrmacht near Stalingrad is a classic example of how politicians demand one thing from the army, and the generals explain to them that this cannot be done. If Hitler had obeyed the military, such a monstrous defeat would not have happened ...
    1. -3
      17 July 2022 08: 40
      Revanchism.
      The generals moved the necessary German politicians for revenge in Europe and the world.
      There was a modest naval officer canaris, there were other WWII veterans.
      There were also bankers and industrialists who needed colonies and raw materials, sales markets and native recruits.
    2. +5
      17 July 2022 09: 18
      "obey Hitler" this can be put as an epigraph as a memoir of German generals.
      With all the antipathy towards Aloizovich, this is tiring. From adorable: "Father of the Nation" to a monkey in a uniform.
      More interesting weighted assessment.
      And self-praise like: I almost broke, but the corporal.
      Or thanks to my mind, but Stalin.
      I'm not interested and tired
    3. 0
      17 July 2022 12: 09
      History does not know the subjunctive mood wink
    4. +1
      17 July 2022 13: 54
      Quote: Luminman
      The defeat of the Wehrmacht near Stalingrad is a classic example of how politicians demand one thing from the army, and the generals explain to them that this cannot be done. If Hitler had obeyed the military, such a monstrous defeat would not have happened ...

      Ugum, but if Hitler had obeyed the generals near Moscow, the Germans would have rolled back immediately to Smolensk, and there would have been no Rzhev massacre.

      And in general, if the generals are such pacifists, they would immediately say that the war is lost and we must surrender, back in the fall of 1940.
      1. 0
        17 July 2022 14: 37
        And in general, if the generals are such pacifists

        Generals are not pacifists. They know better the state of affairs at the front...
        1. +1
          17 September 2022 16: 51
          But perhaps our modern ones are not quite like that
      2. +2
        18 July 2022 13: 03
        Quote: deddem
        And in general, if the generals are such pacifists, they would immediately say that the war is lost and we must surrender, back in the fall of 1940.

        In 1936 - during the remilitarization of the Rhineland. smile
        ICHH, in all the memoirs of beaten generals it is constantly found: "Now, if England and France had taken a tougher position, then we would definitely have gone against Adolf"But, PMSM, this is nothing more than an attempt by the surviving members of the German military elite to justify their inaction, or rather, assisting in the preparation of the Reich for war - blaming everything on Hitler, since he is dead and cannot justify himself, as well as on the Allies. Be the position of the Allies tougher - the revanchists would have risked anyway, and then they would have written in the same way in their memoirs - they say, they should have been even tougher.
      3. -1
        31 August 2022 03: 25
        If they had listened to the "Iron Chancellor" Bismarck, they would not have climbed into the USSR at all, but would have gone to the impudent Saxons and the story would have turned out completely different, but they don’t remember the instructions of smart people, considering their messages to be the nonsense of old senile people, and after all, history has not taught anything how many armies came and no one won ..
  2. +2
    17 July 2022 06: 38
    Of the 10 photographs in the article, only three are from our side, the Soviet side.

    Does the author push us to the idea that the Great Patriotic War should be looked at more from the enemy side?
    1. +4
      17 July 2022 10: 40
      Quote: icant007
      Of the 10 photographs in the article, only three are from our side, the Soviet side.

      Does the author push us to the idea that the Great Patriotic War should be looked at more from the enemy side?

      The author generally "ends" from the first two periods of the war - the Blitzkrieg of June 1941 - November 1941 and December 1941 - August 1942.

      True, there were three more periods - September 1942 - June 1943, July 1943 - December 1944, January 1945 - May 1945. However, they are not interesting to the author, as in principle, and to many on the forum.

      The poor in thinking are unable to assess either the causes of the defeats of the first two periods, or the growth of the skill of the Red Army in the next three periods. Those who sold the country for used foreign cars, clothes and grub in the 90s talk about the "mediocrity of the top political and military leadership of the Stalin era."

      First, study the losses of the parties in these five periods of the war, flawed! Then the brains will fall into place, and respect will appear for the generation of winners! Including, to the highest political and military leadership of the Stalin era.
      1. +1
        17 July 2022 11: 17
        You are right .. there is one component that exceeded everything = the number of firearms fired by spacecraft exceeded the number of Wehrmacht ammunition after the Smolensk battle on the entire front line in 1942. Maybe somewhere there was an advantage of the Wehrmacht, but it was not significant
    2. +2
      17 July 2022 11: 13
      It just unobtrusively pushes to the opinion that now they could drink Bavarian.
      Not everyone has it in their heads what would actually happen.
      1. +4
        18 July 2022 13: 07
        Quote: demiurg
        It just unobtrusively pushes to the opinion that now they could drink Bavarian.

        The most interesting thing is that the whitewashing of the Reich is often done by people who the Nazis would definitely not have had anything to do with. smile
    3. +8
      17 July 2022 11: 27
      Of the 10 photographs in the article, only three are from our side, the Soviet side.
      The author's bias is annoying, but the saturation of the German troops with cameras and, accordingly, the number of posted pictures is many times greater than ours. Maybe that's why.
      1. +2
        17 July 2022 11: 51
        Quote: Aviator_
        Of the 10 photographs in the article, only three are from our side, the Soviet side.
        The author's bias is annoying, but the saturation of the German troops with cameras and, accordingly, the number of posted pictures is many times greater than ours. Maybe that's why.

        Sure, not a problem! The Germans had 8 mm portable cameras everywhere, from privates to officers. Because German photographs are an order of magnitude larger than Soviet ones.

        The problem is that on the basis of this, an opinion was formed in society about the space human losses of the Red Army in front of the Wehrmacht. This indeed took place in the first two periods of the war, but in the remaining three periods the situation changed dramatically.
        1. +2
          17 July 2022 13: 45
          The problem is that on the basis of this, an opinion was formed in society about the space human losses of the Red Army in front of the Wehrmacht.
          We formed data on losses not only and not so much by this. In particular, the losses of the Wehrmacht for the winter-spring of 1945 are completely absent (there are no documents preserved), they often included the entire male adult population of the occupied territory as prisoners (therefore, they took more of them in the Kiev cauldron than we had fighters at the beginning of the operation), well etc.
          1. 0
            17 July 2022 20: 57
            Quote: Aviator_
            We formed data on losses not only and not so much by this. In particular, the losses of the Wehrmacht for the winter-spring of 1945 are completely absent (no documents have been preserved),

            I know a clearly built SYSTEM OF FALSIFICATIONS by both Müller-Gillebrand and Rüdiger Overmans. They worked with German precision, and therefore all the balance sheet items were identified by me with an item-by-item accuracy of up to 1000 people. That's their accuracy, not mine!

            So, for the period from 1.1.1945/12/1945 to May 18, XNUMX (possibly the last date is May XNUMX), the losses of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS were:
            -- 1 dead (052 on the Eastern Front, 000 on the Western);
            --1 prisoners of war from 012/000/1.1.1945 to 30.4.1945/656/500 (30.4.1945 in the East, sent to Soviet camps until 355/500/XNUMX; XNUMX in the West);
            -- 605 more sent to Soviet POW camps after 000/1.5.1945/195 and approximately 000 liberated by Soviet fronts after 1.5.1945/22/000 (173 French, British and Americans captured in the Wehrmacht and handed over to America, England and France; approximately 000 seriously wounded in the Berlin, Moravian-Ostrosha and Prague operations that ended up in the Soviet zone of responsibility);
            -- 3 Wehrmacht and SS soldiers who capitulated to the Allies after 708/200/1.5.1945.

            In total, 6 Wehrmacht and SS soldiers were killed, prisoners of war and capitulated from 572/200/1.1.1945 to 12-18 May 1945.

            In addition, there were "commissioned for disability" and "commissioned for chronic diseases" for the period from 1.1.1945/30.4.1945/700 to 000/30.4.1945/173 and 000 "Wounded in hospitals on XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX" (still, as you understand, XNUMX seriously wounded will be released in the Soviet zone of responsibility, see above).
            1. 0
              17 July 2022 21: 34
              Is this data in Gareev's book?
              1. +1
                17 July 2022 22: 08
                Quote: Aviator_
                Is this data in Gareev's book?

                I worked purely on the fundamental works of Krivosheev, Müller-Gillebrand, Rüdigerois Overmans, Zemskov and the ADH Commission.

                There is a system of falsifications built on four or five universal techniques. It was first developed by Müller-Hillebrand in 1958 in his work "The Land Army of the Wehrmacht 1933-45".

                Then, with jeweler's precision, like a blueprint, it was repeated by the ADH commission in 1990, Krivosheev in 1993, Rüdiger Overmans in 1998. If you know these techniques, then the data is decomposed into two parts - a hidden part and a falsified add-on. The hidden part is, most likely, the closed archives of the Defense Ministry and the Bundeswehr. Otherwise, why was it so carefully hidden!

                This suggests that the ADH commission, Krivosheev, and Rüdiger Overmans were familiar with this system of falsification and its four or five basic principles. I believe that the American intelligence services.

                German registration runs up to 30.4.1945 and there was no mess there! Muller-Hillebrand himself threw this idea into the historical community and strengthened it in his book back in 1958.
      2. +4
        17 July 2022 14: 22
        There is one more point that is not related to the Military Review.
        For some reason, Yandex has been stubbornly giving Guderian's book with memoirs in contextual advertising for some reason to me, as a person who is interested in military history.
        I read Guderian a long time ago. Yes, to hell with it.
        I'm not specifically looking for German war memoirs at all.
        But why do these advertising engines work so one-sidedly, clearly trying to shove propaganda of Nazism, fascism, etc. into us?

        Why don't I see a pancake in advertising, for example, A. V. Suvorov "The Science of Winning."
        The question is rhetorical.
        1. +5
          17 July 2022 14: 37
          For some reason, Yandex has been stubbornly releasing Guderian's book with memoirs lately.
          Memories of beaten generals are a separate type of literature. Basically, there is suffering on the topic - what would he do if he was given additional forces and means. And lamentations that the Bolsheviks threw corpses at him, and he took care of his corpses.
        2. 0
          17 July 2022 17: 55
          And as a forum member of the VO, I am annoyed by advertising with a proposal to hang out from military service.
        3. 0
          17 July 2022 22: 10
          Ha, there is such a moment laughing Somehow, in Yandex Mail, with the help of banners on the left, Frissner ("Faithful Battles") was stuck all the time on the left, although I did not look for him in a search engine. what
          It can be seen that there was a wave of advertising campaign. Now there is no such
      3. +2
        17 July 2022 14: 33
        This is all clear. But the author must have civil liability.
        The visual range has a very cool effect on the subconscious.

        Take the book of the famous historian Isaev. "Invasion. June 22, 1941."

        Again there are German photos.
        The first Soviet photo on page 43 is General Kuznetsov, commander of the Baltic Front.
        The second is already on page 178, General Pavlov.
        The third is General Ryabyshev. 245 page.
        And so on.
        What is this - an ode to the Wehrmacht?

        And here we are clasping our hands - from where Nazi-fascism becomes commonplace.
        It turns out that studying the history of the Second World War by the younger generation through such books is a double-edged sword.
        1. 0
          18 July 2022 15: 00
          Quote: icant007
          Take the book of the famous historian Isaev. "Invasion. June 22, 1941."

          Again there are German photos.
          The first Soviet photo on page 43 is General Kuznetsov, commander of the Baltic Front.
          The second is already on page 178, General Pavlov.
          The third is General Ryabyshev. 245 page.
          And so on.
          What is this - an ode to the Wehrmacht?

          Everything is simpler - in 1941 and almost all of 1942 we retreated. So ours were much less likely to photograph the same recent battlefield. Plus, as already mentioned, the Germans had more corny cameras. Plus, our craving for secrecy and coordinating everything and everything, so the shooting was carried out only with proven frames with ideologically verified plots.
          So photo battlefield for 1941-1942 it will most often be German. And we have either staged photos of battles, or ceremonial photos of the rear. Actually, Ulanov and Shein wrote about this in "The First T-34. Combat Use":
          Here the authors would like to say a few words about the photographic materials used to illustrate the book. The development of events in the first months of the Great Patriotic War took on the character of an unprecedented military catastrophe for the USSR, and the very existence of the Soviet state was called into question. In a situation of deep enemy breakthroughs, encirclement, confusion, panic and chaos, in the conditions of the capture of the battlefield by the enemy after the tragic denouement of the fierce "defense to the last bullet, to the last drop of blood, to the last breath" authentic, non-staged photographs of the participation of "thirty-fours" in battle, taken by Soviet photographers are extremely rare. It seems appropriate to note the fact that in the Wehrmacht a personal camera in the hands of a soldier was much more common than in the ranks of the Red Army.
          The authors are far from uncritical admiration for the "invincible German military machine"; the problem is that, to our deep regret, the main leitmotif of the photographic materials illustrating the actions of the T-34 in the first months of the war is the posing of the invaders around the wrecked and disabled Soviet tanks.

          They managed to find only one photograph of the T-34 in 1941 in the archive, taken by Soviet photographers in a combat situation.
          1. 0
            15 August 2022 06: 14
            Quote: Alexey RA
            Everything is simpler - in 1941 and almost all of 1942 we retreated. So ours were much less likely to photograph the same recent battlefield. Plus, as already mentioned, the Germans had more corny cameras.


            Was there a problem with the photos of our military leaders too? ) Or are they still not enough?
    4. 0
      30 August 2022 12: 51
      He also has a Russian front, not a Soviet one.
  3. +1
    17 July 2022 09: 20
    Comrades, off topic.
    My personal does not work, so call me. Do not read, do not congratulate someone I can not
  4. +7
    17 July 2022 09: 40
    interesting like BUT here are the phrases "Russian front" - quote The vast majority of the troops were on the Russian front ... instead of SOVIET ... the destruction of Russia (finish off Russia) instead of the USSR, it has an unpleasant scent of liberalism ...
  5. +4
    17 July 2022 11: 07
    Traditional heading: astronauts and homosexuals on topvar.
    Just a reminder that this is: https://doctor-moriarty.livejournal.com/23168.html
    TLDR is for the lazy: it's covert propaganda.

    In slandering the history of the Second World War, the topvar reached unprecedented heights. Even in the Battle of Stalingrad, only the first part is shown.

    And there is always an excuse: such as Operation Bagration, the beating of Dietrich by Tolbukhin, the liberation of Karelia, everyone already knows.

    I have an opinion that the author, judging by the articles, is a latent bulkokhrust-Westerner. Russia, judging by his articles, again, won only under the tsar father (and even then, with the help of German generals).
    1. +2
      17 July 2022 11: 45
      Quote: demiurg
      In slandering the history of the Second World War, the topvar reached unprecedented heights. Even in the Battle of Stalingrad, only the first part is shown.

      And there is always an excuse: such as Operation Bagration, the beating of Dietrich by Tolbukhin, the liberation of Karelia, everyone already knows.

      I have an opinion that the author, judging by the articles, is a latent bulkokhrust-Westerner. Russia, judging by his articles, again, won only under the tsar father (and even then, with the help of German generals).

      Yes, I noticed that he was generally "pierced" in the first two periods of the war. Whatever the topic, it is strictly for the period June 1941-August 1942.
      1. +3
        17 July 2022 13: 25
        And even then, superficially, well-known literature is used by all, probably Samsonov was going to the south, so he’s threshing a pretty penny
        1. 0
          17 July 2022 21: 48
          Quote: Andrey VOV
          And even then, superficially, well-known literature is used by all, probably Samsonov was going to the south, so he’s threshing a pretty penny

          Yes, he hammers all year round. It is clear that the losses were large before the Battle of Stalingrad, and the level of the Red Army was inferior to the Wehrmacht before the Battle of Kursk. However, how much can you endlessly scroll through the period June 1941 - August 1942!
  6. 0
    17 July 2022 13: 28
    informative and short. not smeared. It is appropriate to recall the famous order "no step back." Its content is - excellent information about that situation. By the summer of 1942, the Germans conquered the territory where 70 million people of the population of the USSR lived. Almost all of this territory worked for the Reich, at will, like Western Ukraine, or under duress, it doesn’t matter. It is difficult even now to imagine the level of organization of defense, mobilization, industry that would ultimately break the back of the "European nation"
    1. -1
      17 July 2022 22: 30
      I ignored, and did not even mention the operation to disinform the Red Army "Kremlin". Yes, what to say, if only if only he would go
  7. 0
    17 July 2022 17: 29
    On April 5, 1942, Directive No. 41 of the German High Command was issued. It stated that the goal of the offensive was to destroy the remaining forces of the Red Army and deprive them of their most important military and economic centers. Simultaneous attacks on Stalingrad (Volga) and the Caucasus were planned in order to capture the southern regions of the USSR rich in strategic resources.

    The author confuses Directive 41 and 45.
    In Directive 41, the destruction of the main forces of the Red Army west of the Don and the capture of the Caucasus were to be carried out sequentially: first - the destruction, and only then - the turn to the Caucasus.
    The general initial plans for the campaign in the East remain in force: the main task is to, while maintaining the position in the central sector, take Leningrad in the north and establish contact on land with the Finns, and make a breakthrough to the Caucasus on the southern flank of the front.
    This task can be accomplished by dividing it into several stages, since it is necessary to take into account the situation created after the end of the winter campaign, the availability of forces and means, as well as transport capabilities.
    Therefore, first of all, all available forces should be concentrated to conduct the main operation in the southern sector with the aim of destroying the enemy west of the Don, in order to then capture the oil-bearing regions in the Caucasus and cross the Caucasus Range.

    The Caucasus is not mentioned anywhere else in the text of Directive 41. Moreover, the operation itself is limited to the area of ​​the Don River (from Voronezh to Taganrog) and the Stalingrad Isthmus,
    The beginning of this operation should serve as a comprehensive offensive or breakthrough from the area south of Orel in the direction of Voronezh. Of both groups of tank and motorized troops intended for maneuvering, the north should be stronger than the south. The purpose of this breakthrough is to capture the city of Voronezh. While part of the infantry divisions will have the task of immediately equipping a powerful defensive line from the original offensive area (Oryol) in the direction of Voronezh, tank and motorized formations will have to continue the offensive with their left flank from Voronezh along the Don River to the south to interact with troops making a breakthrough from the Kharkov region to the east. And here the main task is not to force the Russians to push their front, but to, in cooperation with motorized formations striking downstream the Don River, destroy the forces of the Russians.
    The third offensive in the framework of this operation must be organized in such a way that the forces striking downstream of the Don river join forces in the Stalingrad region from those coming from the Taganrog, Artemovsk region between the lower reaches of the Don river and Voroshilovgrad through the Donets river to the East. These forces should then join with the tank army advancing on Stalingrad.

    But after the failure of Directive 41, Directive 45 was issued, in which the GA "South" divided in two was given the task of advancing in divergent directions. GA "A" was supposed to eliminate the forces of the Red Army south of the Don and then capture the Black Sea coast and advance into the Caucasus. In turn, GA "B" was supposed to, having provided defense from the north along the line of the Don, to defeat the forces of the Red Army near Stalingrad and then strike at Astrakhan.
  8. -1
    18 July 2022 11: 20
    And I think the Battle of Stalingrad began on February 15, 1942 with a decree of the State Defense Committee on the construction of the Volga Rokada, signed by Stalin. In August, this most important highway was launched and the accumulation of our troops began for a powerful counterattack, and the Germans did not notice this accumulation, even our military command did not know about it, there was the strongest secrecy, only those who were directly involved in this knew. And the retreat to the Volga sometimes seems to have been planned in order to lure our new formations such as the created tank armies into attack. Even order 227 was issued with the aim of misinforming the German command about how bad everything is with us. Although our units, when retreating towards the Volga, were not ordered to stand to the death, but were ordered to march at an accelerated pace, without engaging in rearguard battles.
  9. 0
    18 July 2022 14: 06
    The Wehrmacht campaign in Stalingrad was the last time I studied at a military school, but I liked the conclusion the most. The Red Army defeated the Germans, captured the generals, they all survived the war, captured the ordinary soldiers of the Wehrmacht, part of the Italians and about 95, about 000 former prisoners of war returned home, that's what I call a model prisoner of war camp. am
  10. 0
    19 July 2022 09: 14
    Articles by this author from 2017 Campaign of 1942 are much more informative and informative.
  11. 0
    30 August 2022 12: 41
    Author ! In the Second World War, there was no "Russian Front", there was a Soviet Front. To whose tune you "dance anti-Soviet. Write "historical" stories about modern bourgeois-capitalist Russia. Here you will have Russian fronts, etc., etc. and heroes of capitalist labor.

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