Stalingrad during the battle. Battle of Stalingrad. Stages of the Battle of Stalingrad, its prerequisites

1. Date Battle of Stalingrad

1) 11/19/1942 – 02/2/1943

2) 15.05.1942 – 1.03. 1943

3) 02/23/1943 - 03/5/1943

2. What is the name of the military operation to destroy German troops at Stalingrad?

1) Ring

3) Ring

3. How many days did the Battle of Stalingrad last?

1) 900 days and nights

2) 200 days and nights

3) 100 days and nights

4. This order, signed by People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin, was announced throughout the army at the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. It spoke of the complete mobilization of forces to repel the enemy. State the date and number of this order.
1)Order No. 227 of July 28, 1942 “Not a step back”

5. In this battle, ended January 31, registered greatest number human losses in the entire history of battles - 2 million 100 thousand people. What is the name of this battle?

1) Battle for Moscow

2) Battle for the Caucasus

3)Battle of Stalingrad.

6. B battle at Cannae in 261 BC, where Hannibal defeated Terence Varro, for the first time in major battle this was applied. What is it if Battle of Stalingrad called Cannes of the 20th century?

1) Ram

2) Environment

3) Ambush

7. Its “re-equipment” was carried out in 1972 - five years after its creation (although according to the plan it should have appeared two years earlier). The edged weapons required for this underwent special tests in a wind tunnel.

1) Motherland

2) Stella “In Memory of the Fallen”

3) Monument “Black Rose”

8. This girl (her relatives called her Guleya) is a medical instructor from the 214th rifle division- carried 50 seriously wounded soldiers from the battlefield near the Panypino farm. By her example she inspired the fighters to attack. Being mortally wounded, she fired at the enemy with a machine gun until the weapon fell out of her hands

1) Lisa Chaikina

2) Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

3) Marionella Queen

9. In the winter of 1943, the Don Front captured 90 thousand soldiers and officers, 23 generals and one... Who?

1) General

2) Colonel

3)Field Marshal General.

10. During Battle of Stalingrad An elderly collective farmer arrived at the Saratov Aviation Plant with a sack full and asked the plant director for one favor. The director was very surprised, called the secretary of the regional committee, and he called the Air Force headquarters. Soon a telegram arrived from headquarters containing instructions for providing this service. After some time, the same collective farmer came to the plant again with the same request. This time everything went smoothly. What did the collective farmer want?

1)Buy a plane.

2) Buy a tank

3) Buy a Katyusha

11. His peace was disturbed on a June night. Soon he left the city of N and, accompanied by a group of scientists, went to Moscow, where a detailed description of his appearance was compiled. Among the special features: lameness, dry hands, red hair color. Events developed in such a way that the superstitious Stalin did not risk leaving him in Moscow, but ordered to be returned to the city of N, which was done a year and a half later. Name the city N.

1. Remains of Genghis Khan

2) Remains of Tamerlane

3) The remains of Batu

Samarkand. We are talking about the opening of Timur’s tomb on the night of June 22, 1941, and on December 20, 1942, at the height of Battle of Stalingrad, Timur’s remains were returned to their original place)

12. This gift from King George VI is carved with the inscription: “To the citizens of (city name missing) strong as steel.” The presentation of this gift took place in the capital of one of the Asian states. What kind of gift is this?

2) Sword

What year? (In 1943, this gift was a sword and was presented by Churchill to Stalin in Tehran in 1943; the sword was made in the town of Acton, famous for its gunsmiths, like Tula in Russia; it can be seen in the panorama museum " Battle of Stalingrad)

13. Fierce battles were fought for this house. Four soldiers - three privates and a sergeant - knocked the Germans out of it and held the defense for more than two days until reinforcements arrived. And then the defenders held it for another 58 days and did not give it to the enemy. In the memory of the people, this house remained named after this sergeant.

1) Ivanov's House

2) Pavlov's House

3) Smirnov House

14. Before the war, this city was called the “industrial heart” of the region. And the first 14 months of the Great Patriotic War one of the factories in this city was the main enterprise of the USSR tank industry, producing up to 40% of the T-34 tanks produced. Name this plant in three words

1) Kharkov Tractor Plant

2) Uralmash

3) Stalingrad tractor plant.

And the Kharkov Tractor Plant, as someone might have thought, at that time moved to the east and practically did not work for some time)

15.The English General McCarthur admired the instructional order of General Chuikov of the times Stalingrad defense “This is the style of a true gentleman: General Chuikov invites the soldiers to always accompany this lady and let her pass first when entering the premises.” Tell me the name of this "lady"

2) Grenade

16. An instrument is kept in one of the Volgograd museums, and a sign nearby informs that over 300 people were injured by this instrument. State the first and last name of the owner of the instrument.

1) Vasily Zaitsev. Zaitsev - rifle

2) Yakov Pavlov – gun

3) Ivan Smirnov - grenade

17. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the use of these machines in Moscow was stopped. During the war they were used only once, when a column of German prisoners of war was marched through Moscow after Stalingradskoyp lunches. What kind of cars are these?

1) Watering

18. On military maps this place of the most fierce battles was designated as height 102.0.

1) Pavlov's House

2) Volga River

3)Mamayev Kurgan

19. This Red Army armor-piercing soldier of the 883rd Infantry Regiment moved towards enemy tanks with bottles of flammable liquid. One of the bullet-pierced bottles caught fire. Flashing a torch, the soldier rushed at the tank and broke the second bottle on it. To this Hero Soviet Union A monument was erected at the site of his death. One of the streets of Stalingrad is named after him.
1)Mikhail Panikakha

2) Yakov Pavlov

3)Lenya Golikov

20. When communication stopped on Mamayev Kurgan at the height of the fighting, this ordinary signalman of the 308th Infantry Division repaired the wire break. With fragments of the mine crushed in both hands, he clamped the ends of the wire between his teeth.

1) Yakov Pavlov

2) Matvey Putilov

3) Ivan Kuznetsov

21.This day is set as a holiday federal law“On the days of military glory (victorious days) of Russia” and is associated with the defeat of the Nazi troops by Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad.

22. Name the fronts that participated in the defense of Stalingrad (July-November 1942).

1) Southern, Western, Ural

2) Stalingradsky, South-Eastern, Donskoy

3) Moscow, Western, Stalingrad

23. The pilot of the 629th air regiment of the 102nd air defense division was the first to carry out an aerial ramming during the Battle of Stalingrad.
1)Alexander Popov

2) Viktor Talalikhin

3) Valery Chkalov

24. This one German field marshal assured Hitler that with a strike from two directions he would break the blockade and liberate those surrounded at Stalingrad German troops. The Fuhrer appointed him commander of Army Group Don*.

2) Manstein

3) Guderian

25. “The Soviet strategy turned out to be superior to ours... The best proof of this is the outcome of the battle on the Volga, as a result of which I was captured.” These words belong to the commander of the 6th Army, Field Marshal of the Wehrmacht. Call it his.
1) F. Paulus

2) Manstein

3) Guderian

26. Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the 62nd (8th Guards) Army. He was buried in Volgograd on Mamayev Kurgan.

1) M.S. Shumilov
2)Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov

3) A.M.Vasilevsky

27.. ​​Colonel General, Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the 64th (7th Guards) Army in the Battle of Stalingrad. " Honorary Citizen hero city of Volgograd. He was buried on Mamayev Kurgan.
1)Mikhail Stepanovich Shumilov

2) V.I. Chuikov

3) A.M.Vasilevsky

28. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943), four times Hero of the Soviet Union. Since August 1942 - Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, 1st Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR. Representative of the Supreme Command Headquarters in Stalingrad. Participated in the development of the counteroffensive plan Soviet troops near Stalingrad. Name this commander.

1) A.M.Vasilevsky

2)Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

3) V.I. Chuikov

29.In order to perpetuate the victory at Stalingrad Soviet government established the medal. Name it.

1)Medal for the Defense of Stalingrad

2) Medal for crossing the Volga

3) Medal to the Defender of Stalingrad

30.In 1934, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was approved in the USSR. The title was awarded for services to the state associated with the accomplishment of a civil feat. How many soldiers and officers were awarded this title for their exploits during the Battle of Stalingrad?

1) About 100 thousand soldiers and officers

2) About 120 soldiers and officers

3) About 150 thousand soldiers and officers

31.Name the former name of Stalingrad, as well as the modern name of this city.

1) Tsargrad

2)Tsaritsyn

3) Tsarskoe Selo

32. This giant plant was built in 1930. Its construction was one of the most ambitious in the history of the Soviet country. From the beginning of the war until August 1942, most of these legendary tanks - the best medium tanks in the world - were produced here. Installations for guns first used during the battles near Moscow were also installed here. Name this plant, as well as its peaceful and military products

1)Stalingrad Tractor Plant

2) Uralmashplant

3) Kharkov Tractor Plant

32.How long did Hitler want to take control of the city?

1) For a month

2)In two weeks

3) In a week

33.Which armies defended the city?

1) 62 Army, 64 Army, 65 Army, 6th Tank Brigade

2) 60th Army, 61st Army, 4th Tank Brigade

3) 55 Army, 62 Army, 1st Tank Brigade

34.What was awarded to the city of Stalingrad for the battle?

1) Medal “For Courage” and Gold Star of the Hero City

2)Order of Lenin and Gold Star of the Hero City

3) St. George's Cross and the Golden Star of the Hero City

35. One of these cities, like Stalingrad, was destroyed to the ground and is today the most famous sister city of Volgograd...
a) Shanghai, China b) Odessa, Ukraine
V) Hiroshima, Japan

36. The patron saint of Volgograd is:
A) Alexander Nevsky b) Yuri Dolgoruky
c) Dmitry Donskoy

37. About what monument-ensemble of Volgograd is its author, People's Artist of the USSR Vuchetich E.V. said: “Stones live longer than people, and only people made his stones immortal...”
A ) Mamayev Kurgan b) Stalingrad panorama
d) bridge over the Volga

38. The operation to counter-offensive Soviet troops near Stalingrad bore the code name:
a) “Citadel”, b) “ Uranus", c) “Bagration”, d) “Barbarossa”

39. There is such a legend: food supplies are delivered to German units surrounded at Stalingrad. First of all, you need ammunition, food and fuel. German planes, having made their way through the frost, Russian anti-aircraft guns and the front line, land at the airfields. What kind of cargo did they bring?
A) lollipops and chocolate b) portraits of Hitler c) crosses for heroes

40. During the Great Patriotic War, the main product of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant was
A) "T-34" b) "Katyusha" c) " heavy tank– KV (Klim Voroshilov)

41. Which Soviet writer took part in the Battle of Stalingrad?
a) A. Tvardovsky b) K. Simonov c) M. Sholokhov

42. There is a legend that after the capture of Paulus, Stalin was offered to exchange this man for a Russian soldier. To which Stalin replied: “I’m not changing a soldier for a field marshal!” What kind of soldier was this?
a) famous pilot A. Maresyev
b) Stalin's son - Joseph Dzhugashvili
c) Major Gavrilov - defense hero and commander Brest Fortress

43. In Russian military history there were only 3 generalissimos. Two of them are A.D. Menshikov and A.V. Suvorov. Which Soviet military leader became the third generalissimo?
a) K.K. Rokossovsky, b) V.I. Chuikov, in ) I.V. Stalin

44. . What military holiday is celebrated annually in our country on the day of the start of the counteroffensive at Stalingrad - November 19?
A) day Missile Forces and artillery b) Soviet Army and Navy Day
c) police day d) airborne forces day

Introduction

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

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

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

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

Balance of forces and the first stage of the battle

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

The Southwestern Front, renamed Stalingrad on July 12, 1942, numbered about 160 thousand personnel, 2200 guns and mortars, about 400 tanks. Of the 38 divisions that were part of the front, only 18 were fully equipped, while the others had from 300 to 4000 people. The 8th Air Army, operating along with the front, was also significantly inferior in numbers to von Richthofen's fleet. With these forces, the Stalingrad Front was forced to defend an area more than 500 kilometers wide. A separate problem for the Soviet troops was the flat steppe terrain, where enemy tanks could operate at full strength. Taking into account the low level of anti-tank weapons in front units and formations, this made the tank threat critical.

The German offensive began on July 17, 1942. On this day, the vanguards of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht entered into battle with units of the 62nd Army on the Chir River and in the area of ​​the Pronin farm. By July 22, the Germans had pushed back Soviet troops almost 70 kilometers, to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. The German command, hoping to take the city on the move, decided to encircle the Red Army units at the villages of Kletskaya and Suvorovskaya, seize the crossings across the Don and develop an attack on Stalingrad without stopping. For this purpose, two strike groups were created, attacking from the north and south. The northern group was formed from units of the 6th Army, the southern group from units of the 4th Tank Army.

The northern group, striking on July 23, broke through the defense front of the 62nd Army and surrounded its two rifle divisions and a tank brigade. By July 26, the advanced units of the Germans reached the Don. The command of the Stalingrad Front organized a counterattack, in which mobile formations of the front reserve took part, as well as the 1st and 4th tank armies that had not yet completed their formation. Tank armies were a new regular structure within the Red Army. It is unclear who exactly put forward the idea of ​​their formation, but in the documents, the head of the Main Armored Directorate, Ya. N. Fedorenko, was the first to voice this idea to Stalin. In the form in which tank armies were conceived, they did not last long, subsequently undergoing a major restructuring. But the fact that it was near Stalingrad that such a staff unit appeared is a fact. The 1st Tank Army attacked from the Kalach area on July 25, and the 4th from the villages of Trekhostrovskaya and Kachalinskaya on July 27.

Fierce fighting in this area lasted until August 7-8. It was possible to release the encircled units, but it was not possible to defeat the advancing Germans. Negative influence The development of events was also influenced by the fact that the level of training of the personnel of the armies of the Stalingrad Front was low, and a number of errors in the coordination of actions made by the unit commanders.

In the south, Soviet troops managed to stop the Germans at the settlements of Surovikino and Rychkovsky. Nevertheless, the Nazis were able to break through the front of the 64th Army. To eliminate this breakthrough, on July 28, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered, no later than the 30th, the forces of the 64th Army, as well as two infantry divisions and a tank corps, to strike and defeat the enemy in the area of ​​the village of Nizhne-Chirskaya.

Despite the fact that the new units entered the battle on the move and this made them combat capabilities suffered, by the specified date the Red Army managed to push back the Germans and even create a threat of their encirclement. Unfortunately, the Nazis managed to bring fresh forces into the battle and provide assistance to the group. After this, the fighting flared up even hotter.

On July 28, 1942, another event occurred that cannot be left behind the scenes. On this day the famous Order was adopted People's Commissar USSR Defense No. 227, also known as “Not a Step Back!” He significantly toughened penalties for unauthorized retreat from the battlefield, introduced penal units for offending soldiers and commanders, and also introduced barrage detachments - special units that were engaged in detaining deserters and returning them to duty. This document, for all its harshness, was received quite positively by the troops and actually reduced the number of disciplinary violations in military units.

At the end of July, the 64th Army was nevertheless forced to retreat beyond the Don. German troops captured a number of bridgeheads on the left bank of the river. In the area of ​​the village of Tsymlyanskaya, the Nazis concentrated very serious forces: two infantry, two motorized and one tank division. Headquarters ordered the Stalingrad Front to drive the Germans to the western (right) bank and restore the defense line along the Don, but it was not possible to eliminate the breakthrough. On July 30, the Germans went on the offensive from the village of Tsymlyanskaya and by August 3 had significantly advanced, capturing the Remontnaya station, the station and the city of Kotelnikovo, and the village of Zhutovo. On these same days, the enemy’s 6th Romanian Corps reached the Don. In the zone of operation of the 62nd Army, the Germans went on the offensive on August 7 in the direction of Kalach. Soviet troops were forced to retreat to the left bank of the Don. On August 15, the 4th Soviet Tank Army had to do the same, because the Germans were able to break through its front in the center and split the defense in half.

By August 16, the troops of the Stalingrad Front retreated beyond the Don and took up defense on the outer line of the city fortifications. On August 17, the Germans resumed their attack and by the 20th they managed to capture the crossings, as well as a bridgehead in the area settlement Fidgety. Attempts to discard or destroy them were unsuccessful. On August 23, the German group, with the support of aviation, broke through the defense front of the 62nd and 4th tank armies and advanced units reached the Volga. On this day, German planes made about 2,000 sorties. Many blocks of the city were in ruins, oil storage facilities were on fire, and about 40 thousand civilians were killed. The enemy broke through to the line Rynok - Orlovka - Gumrak - Peschanka. The fight moved under the walls of Stalingrad.

Fighting in the city

Having forced the Soviet troops to retreat almost to the outskirts of Stalingrad, the enemy threw six German and one Romanian troops against the 62nd Army infantry divisions, two tank divisions and one motorized. The number of tanks in this Nazi group was approximately 500. The enemy was supported from the air by at least 1000 aircraft. The threat of capturing the city became tangible. To eliminate it, VGK rate handed over two completed armies to the defenders (10 rifle divisions, 2 tank brigades), re-equipped the 1st Guards Army (6 rifle divisions, 2 guards rifle brigades, 2 tank brigades), and also subordinated the 16th Air Army to the Stalingrad Front.

On September 5 and 18, the troops of the Stalingrad Front (it will be renamed Donskoy on September 30) carried out two major operations, thanks to which they managed to weaken the German pressure on the city, pulling about 8 infantry, two tank and two motorized divisions. It was again impossible to achieve the complete defeat of Hitler’s units. Fierce battles for the internal defensive line continued for a long time.

Urban fighting began on September 13, 1942 and continued until November 19, when the Red Army launched a counteroffensive as part of Operation Uranus. From September 12, the defense of Stalingrad was entrusted to the 62nd Army, which was placed under the command of Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov. This man, who before the start of the Battle of Stalingrad was considered insufficiently experienced for combat command, created a real hell for the enemy in the city.

On September 13, six infantry, three tank and two motorized German divisions were in the immediate vicinity of the city. Until September 18, there were fierce battles in the central and southern parts of the city. To the south of the railway station, the enemy onslaught was contained, but in the center the Germans drove out the Soviet troops all the way to the Krutoy ravine.

The battles for the station on September 17 were extremely fierce. During the day it changed hands four times. Here the Germans left 8 burned tanks and about a hundred dead. On September 19, the left wing of the Stalingrad Front tried to strike in the direction of the station with a further attack on Gumrak and Gorodishche. The advance failed, but a large enemy group was pinned down by the fighting, which made things easier for the units fighting in the center of Stalingrad. In general, the defense here was so strong that the enemy never managed to reach the Volga.

Realizing that they could not achieve success in the center of the city, the Germans concentrated troops further south to strike in the eastern direction, towards Mamayev Kurgan and the village of Krasny Oktyabr. On September 27, Soviet troops launched a pre-emptive attack, working in small infantry groups armed with light machine guns, petrol bombs and anti-tank rifles. Fierce fighting continued from September 27 to October 4. These were the same Stalingrad city battles, the stories about which chill the blood in the veins of even a person with strong nerves. Here the battles took place not for streets and blocks, sometimes not even for entire houses, but for individual floors and rooms. The guns fired directly at almost point-blank range, using incendiary mixtures and fire from short distances. Hand-to-hand combat has become commonplace, as in the Middle Ages, when edged weapons ruled the battlefield. During a week of continuous fighting, the Germans advanced 400 meters. Even those who were not intended for this had to fight: builders, soldiers of pontoon units. The Nazis gradually began to run out of steam. The same desperate and bloody battles raged near the Barrikady plant, near the village of Orlovka, on the outskirts of the Silikat plant.

At the beginning of October, the territories occupied by the Red Army in Stalingrad were so reduced that they were completely covered by machine gun and artillery fire. The fighting troops were supplied from the opposite bank of the Volga with the help of literally everything that could float: boats, steamships, boats. German aircraft continuously bombed the crossings, making this task even more difficult.

And while the soldiers of the 62nd Army pinned down and crushed enemy troops in battles, High Command was already preparing plans for a large offensive operation aimed at destroying the Stalingrad group of Nazis.

"Uranus" and the surrender of Paulus

By the time the Soviet counteroffensive began near Stalingrad, in addition to Paulus’s 6th Army, there were also von Salmuth’s 2nd Army, Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army, the Italian, Romanian and Hungarian armies.

On November 19, the Red Army launched a large-scale offensive operation on three fronts, codenamed “Uranus”. It was opened by about three and a half thousand guns and mortars. The artillery barrage lasted about two hours. Subsequently, it was in memory of this artillery preparation that November 19 became the professional holiday of artillerymen.

On November 23, an encirclement ring closed around the 6th Army and the main forces of Hoth's 4th Panzer Army. On November 24, about 30 thousand Italians capitulated near the village of Raspopinskaya. By November 24, the territory occupied by the encircled Nazi units occupied about 40 kilometers from west to east, and about 80 from north to south. Further “densification” progressed slowly, as the Germans organized a dense defense and clung to literally every piece of land. Paulus insisted on a breakthrough, but Hitler categorically forbade it. He had not yet lost hope that he would be able to help those around him from the outside.

The rescue mission was entrusted to Erich von Manstein. Army Group Don, which he commanded, was supposed to release the besieged army of Paulus in December 1942 with a blow from Kotelnikovsky and Tormosin. On December 12, Operation Winter Storm began. Moreover, the Germans did not go on the offensive in full force- in fact, by the time the offensive began, they were able to field only one Wehrmacht tank division and a Romanian infantry division. Subsequently, two more incomplete tank divisions and a number of infantry joined the offensive. On December 19, Manstein's troops clashed with Rodion Malinovsky's 2nd Guards Army, and by December 25, the "Winter Storm" had died down in the snowy Don steppes. The Germans rolled back to their original positions, suffering heavy losses.

Paulus's group was doomed. It seemed that the only person who refused to admit this was Hitler. He was categorically against retreat when it was still possible, and did not want to hear about capitulation when the mousetrap was finally and irrevocably slammed shut. Even when the Soviet troops captured the last airfield from which Luftwaffe aircraft supplied the army (extremely weak and unstable), he continued to demand resistance from Paulus and his men.

On January 10, 1943, the final operation of the Red Army to eliminate the Stalingrad group of Nazis began. It was called "The Ring". On January 9, the day before it began, the Soviet command presented Friedrich Paulus with an ultimatum, demanding to surrender. On the same day, by chance, the commander of the 14th Panzer Corps, General Hube, arrived in the cauldron. He conveyed that Hitler demanded that resistance continue until a new attempt was made to break through the encirclement from the outside. Paulus carried out the order and rejected the ultimatum.

The Germans resisted as best they could. The Soviet offensive was even stopped from January 17 to 22. After regrouping, parts of the Red Army again went on the attack and on January 26, Hitler’s forces were split into two parts. The northern group was located in the area of ​​the Barricades plant, and the southern group, which included Paulus himself, was located in the city center. Paulus's command post was located in the basement of the central department store.

On January 30, 1943, Hitler awarded Friedrich Paulus the rank of field marshal. According to the unwritten Prussian military tradition, field marshals never surrendered. So on the part of the Fuhrer this was a hint at how the commander of the encircled army should have finished his military career. However, Paulus decided that it was better not to understand some hints. On January 31 at noon, Paulus surrendered. It took two more days to eliminate the remnants of Hitler's troops in Stalingrad. On February 2 it was all over. The Battle of Stalingrad is over.

About 90 thousand German soldiers and officers were captured. The Germans lost about 800 thousand killed, 160 tanks and about 200 aircraft were captured.

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.

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 passed into the hands of the Germans oil fields Caucasus;
• 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 attack 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 occurred 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 broke through the defenses Soviet forces, went to the Don, which created real threat 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: “ Not a 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, understanding 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 in the implementation of this plan for initial stage was allowed 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. 1 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(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 summary 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).

He was also captured German field marshal Paulus.

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 today have been thoroughly studied. 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.

76 years have passed since fascist tanks, like a jack-in-the-box, found themselves on the northern outskirts of Stalingrad. Meanwhile, hundreds of German planes dropped tons of deadly cargo on the city and its inhabitants. The furious roar of engines and the ominous whistle of bombs, explosions, groans and thousands of deaths, and the Volga engulfed in flames. August 23 was one of the most terrible moments in the city's history. For only 200 fiery days from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943, the great confrontation on the Volga continued. We remember the main milestones of the Battle of Stalingrad from the beginning to victory. A victory that changed the course of the war. A victory that was very costly.

In the spring of 1942, Hitler divides Army Group South into two parts. The first one must capture North Caucasus. The second is to move to the Volga, to Stalingrad. The Wehrmacht's summer offensive was called Fall Blau.

Stalingrad seemed to attract German troops to itself like a magnet. The city that bore the name of Stalin. The city that opened the way for the Nazis to the oil reserves of the Caucasus. A city located in the center of the country's transport arteries.

To resist the onslaught of Hitler's army, the Stalingrad Front was formed on July 12, 1942. The first commander was Marshal Timoshenko. It included the 21st Army and the 8th Air Army from the former Southwestern Front. More than 220 thousand soldiers of three reserve armies were also brought into the battle: the 62nd, 63rd and 64th. Plus artillery, 8 armored trains and air regiments, mortar, tank, armored, engineering and other formations. The 63rd and 21st armies were supposed to prevent the Germans from crossing the Don. The remaining forces were sent to defend the borders of Stalingrad.

The residents of Stalingrad are also preparing for defense; they are forming units of the people’s militia in the city.

The beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad was quite unusual for that time. There was silence; tens of kilometers lay between the opponents. Nazi columns quickly moved east. At this time, the Red Army was gathering forces to the Stalingrad line and building fortifications.

The start date of the great battle is considered to be July 17, 1942. But, according to the statements of military historian Alexei Isaev, soldiers of the 147th Infantry Division entered the first battle on the evening of July 16 near the villages of Morozov and Zolotoy not far from the Morozovskaya station.

From this moment on, bloody battles begin in the big bend of the Don. Meanwhile, the Stalingrad Front is replenished with the forces of the 28th, 38th and 57th armies.

The day of August 23, 1942 became one of the most tragic in the history of the Battle of Stalingrad. Early in the morning, General von Wittersheim's 14th Panzer Corps reached the Volga in the north of Stalingrad.

The enemy tanks ended up where the city residents did not expect to see them - just a few kilometers from the Stalingrad Tractor Plant.

And in the evening of the same day, at 16:18 Moscow time, Stalingrad turned into hell. Never again has any city in the world withstood such an onslaught. For four days, from August 23 to 26, six hundred enemy bombers made up to 2 thousand sorties daily. Each time they brought death and destruction with them. Hundreds of thousands of incendiary, high-explosive and fragmentation bombs continually rained down on Stalingrad.

The city was in flames, choking with smoke, choking with blood. Generously sprinkled with oil, the Volga also burned, cutting off people’s path to salvation.

What appeared before us on August 23 in Stalingrad struck us like a terrible nightmare. Fire-smoke plumes of bean explosions soared upward continuously, here and there. Huge columns of flame rose to the sky in the area of ​​oil storage facilities. Streams of burning oil and gasoline rushed towards the Volga. The river was burning, the steamships on the Stalingrad roadstead were burning. The asphalt of the streets and squares smelled stinking. Telegraph poles flared up like matches. There was an unimaginable noise, straining the ears with its hellish music. The screech of bombs flying from a height mixed with the roar of explosions, the grinding and clanging of collapsing buildings, and the crackle of raging fire. The dying people moaned, the women and children cried angrily and cried out for help, he later recalled Commander of the Stalingrad Front Andrei Ivanovich Eremenko.

In a matter of hours, the city was practically wiped off the face of the Earth. Houses, theaters, schools - everything turned into ruins. 309 enterprises in Stalingrad were also destroyed. The factories "Red October", STZ, "Barricades" lost most of their workshops and equipment. Transport, communications, and water supply were destroyed. About 40 thousand residents of Stalingrad died.

Red Army soldiers and militias hold the defense in the north of Stalingrad. The troops of the 62nd Army are fighting heavy battles on the western and northwestern borders. Hitler's aircraft continue their barbaric bombing. From midnight on August 25, a state of siege and special order were introduced in the city. Violation of it is punishable strictly, including execution:

Persons involved in looting and robberies should be shot at the scene of the crime without trial or investigation. All malicious violators of public order and security in the city should be tried by a military tribunal.

A few hours before this, the Stalingrad City Defense Committee adopted another resolution - on the evacuation of women and children to the left bank of the Volga. At that time, no more than 100 thousand were evacuated from a city with a population of more than half a million people, not counting those evacuated from other regions of the country.

The remaining residents are called to the defense of Stalingrad:

We will not hand over our hometown to the Germans for desecration. Let us all stand as one in defense of our beloved city, our home, our family. We will cover all the streets of the city with impenetrable barricades. Let's make every house, every block, every street impregnable fortress. All for the construction of barricades! Everyone who is capable of carrying weapons, go to the barricades, to defend their hometown, their home!

And they respond. Every day, about 170 thousand people go out to build fortifications and barricades.

By the evening of Monday, September 14, the enemy had penetrated into the very heart of Stalingrad. The railway station and Mamayev Kurgan were captured. Over the next 135 days, height 102.0 will be recaptured more than once and lost again. The defenses at the junction of the 62nd and 64th armies in the area of ​​Vitriol Balka were also broken through. Hitler's troops were able to shoot through the banks of the Volga and the crossing along which reinforcements and food were coming to the city.

Under heavy enemy fire, Volzhskaya soldiers military flotilla and pontoon battalions begin transferring from Krasnoslobodsk to Stalingrad of units of the 13th Guards Rifle Division of Major General Rodimtsev.

In the city there are battles for every street, every house, every piece of land. Strategic objects change hands several times a day. The Red Army soldiers try to stay as close to the enemy as possible in order to avoid attacks from enemy artillery and aircraft. Fierce fighting continues on the approaches to the city.

Soldiers of the 62nd Army are fighting in the area of ​​the tractor plant, Barricades, and Red October. At this time, workers continue to work almost on the battlefield. The 64th Army continues to hold the defense south of the Kuporosnoye village.

And at this time, the fascist Germans gathered forces in the center of Stalingrad. By the evening of September 22, Nazi troops reach the Volga in the area of ​​9 January Square and the central pier. These days begin the legendary history of the defense of the “House of Pavlov” and “House of Zabolotny”. Bloody battles for the city continue; the Wehrmacht troops still fail to achieve their main goal and take possession of the entire bank of the Volga. However, both sides suffer heavy losses.

Preparations for a counteroffensive near Stalingrad began in September 1942. The plan for the defeat of the Nazi troops was called “Uranus”. Units of the Stalingrad, Southwestern and Don Fronts were involved in the operation: more than a million Red Army soldiers, 15.5 thousand guns, almost 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns, about 1350 aircraft. In all positions, Soviet troops outnumbered the enemy forces.

The operation began on November 19 with a massive shelling. The armies of the Southwestern Front strike from Kletskaya and Serafimovich, during the day they advance 25-30 kilometers. The forces of the Don Front are thrown in the direction of the Vertyachiy farm. November 20 south of the city The Stalingrad Front also went on the offensive. On this day the first snow fell.

On November 23, 1942, the ring closes in the area of ​​Kalach-on-Don. The 3rd Romanian Army was defeated. About 330 thousand soldiers and officers of 22 divisions and 160 individual parts German 6th Army and part of the 4th Panzer Army. From this day on, our troops begin their offensive and every day they squeeze the Stalingrad cauldron more and more tightly.

In December 1942, troops of the Don and Stalingrad fronts continued to crush the encircled Nazi troops. On December 12, Field Marshal von Manstein's Army Group attempted to reach the encircled 6th Army. The Germans advanced 60 kilometers in the direction of Stalingrad, but by the end of the month the remnants of the enemy forces were driven back hundreds of kilometers. It's time to destroy Paulus's army in the Stalingrad cauldron. The operation, which was entrusted to the soldiers of the Don Front, received the code name “Ring”. The troops were reinforced with artillery, and on January 1, 1943, the 62nd, 64th and 57th armies of the Stalingrad Front became part of the Don Front.

On January 8, 1943, an ultimatum with a proposal to surrender was transmitted by radio to Paulus's headquarters. By this time, Hitler’s troops were very hungry and freezing, and their reserves of ammunition and fuel had come to an end. Soldiers are dying from malnutrition and cold. But the offer of surrender was rejected. An order comes from Hitler's headquarters to continue the resistance. And on January 10, our troops launched a decisive offensive. And already on the 26th, on Mamayev Kurgan, units of the 21st Army linked up with the 62nd Army. The Germans surrender by the thousands.

On the last day of January 1943, the southern group stopped resisting. In the morning, Paulus was brought the last radiogram from Hitler; in anticipation of suicide, he was awarded the next rank of field marshal general. So he became the first Wehrmacht field marshal to surrender.

In the basement of the Central Department Store of Stalingrad they also took the entire headquarters of the 6th German Field Army. In total, 24 generals and more than 90 thousand soldiers and officers were captured. The history of world wars has never known anything like this, either before or since.

It was a disaster from which Hitler and the Wehrmacht were never able to recover - they dreamed of the “Stalingrad cauldron” until the end of the war. The collapse of the fascist army on the Volga convincingly showed that the Red Army and its leadership were able to completely outplay the vaunted German strategists - this is how he assessed that moment of the war General of the Army, Hero of the Soviet Union, participant in the Battle of Stalingrad Valentin Varennikov. - I remember well with what merciless jubilation our commanders and ordinary soldiers greeted the news of the victory on the Volga. We were incredibly proud that we had broken the back of the most powerful German group.

Despite the surrender, the northern group 6th Army The Wehrmacht under the command of Colonel General Strecker continued resistance, but it did not last long. It's already February 2 commander of the 11th Army Corps Karl Strecker compiled and transmitted his last radiogram to the headquarters of Army Group Don:

The 11th Army Corps, consisting of six divisions, fulfilled its duty. The soldiers fought until the last bullet. Long live Germany!

Battle of Stalingrad (part 1 of 2): the beginning of the collapse of the Third Empire

The Battle of Stalingrad is 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 the Patriotic War. The bloody battle began on July 17, 1942 and lasted until February 2, 1943.

The battle was one of major events World War II and along with the battle on Kursk Bulge was turning point during military operations, after which German troops lost the strategic initiative.

For the Soviet Union, which suffered heavy losses during the battle, the victory at Stalingrad marked the beginning of the liberation of the country, as well as the occupied territories of Europe, leading to the final defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Centuries will pass, and the unfading glory of the valiant defenders of the Volga stronghold will forever live in the memory of the peoples of the world as the brightest example of courage and heroism unparalleled in military history.

The name “Stalingrad” is forever inscribed in golden letters in the history of our Fatherland.

“And the hour struck. The first blow fell,
The villain is retreating from Stalingrad.
And the world gasped when it learned what loyalty means,
What does the rage of believing people mean..."
O. Berggolts

It was an outstanding victory Soviet people. The soldiers of the Red Army showed massive heroism, courage and high military skill. 127 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad” was awarded to over 760 thousand soldiers and home front workers. 17,550 soldiers and 373 militia received orders and medals.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, 5 enemy armies were defeated, including 2 German, 2 Romanian and 1 Italian. Total losses Nazi troops killed, wounded and prisoners amounted to more than 1.5 million people, up to 3,500 tanks and assault guns, 12 thousand guns and mortars, more than 4 thousand aircraft, 75 thousand vehicles and large number other technology.

Corpses of soldiers frozen in the steppe

The battle is one of the most important events of the Second World War and, along with the Battle of Kursk, became a turning point in the course of hostilities, after which German troops finally lost the strategic initiative. The battle included the Wehrmacht's attempt to capture the left bank of the Volga in the area of ​​Stalingrad (modern Volgograd) and the city itself, a standoff in the city, and a Red Army counteroffensive (Operation Uranus), which brought the Wehrmacht's 6th Army and other German allied forces inside and near the city they were surrounded and partly destroyed, and partly captured.

The losses of the Red Army in the Battle of Stalingrad amounted to over 1.1 million people, 4341 tanks, 2769 aircraft.

The flower of Hitler's Wehrmacht found a grave near Stalingrad. The German army had never suffered such a catastrophe before...

Historians believe that total area, where military operations took place during the Battle of Stalingrad, is equal to one hundred thousand square kilometers.

Background to the Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was preceded by the following historical events. In December 1941, the Red Army defeated the Nazis near Moscow. Encouraged by the success, the leaders of the Soviet Union gave the order to launch a large-scale offensive near Kharkov. The offensive failed and soviet army was destroyed. German troops then went to Stalingrad.

After the failure of the Barbarossa plan and the defeat near Moscow, the Nazis were preparing for a new offensive on Eastern Front. On April 5, 1942, Hitler issued a directive outlining the goals of the 1942 summer campaign, including the capture of Stalingrad.

The capture of Stalingrad was necessary for the Nazi command to various reasons. Why was Stalingrad so important to Hitler? Historians identify several reasons why the Fuhrer wanted to capture Stalingrad at any cost and did not give the order to retreat even when defeat was obvious.

Firstly, the capture of the city, which bore the name of Stalin, the leader of the Soviet people, could break the morale of opponents of Nazism, and not only in the Soviet Union, but throughout the world;

Secondly, the capture of Stalingrad could give the Nazis the opportunity to block all vital communications for Soviet citizens that connected the center of the country with its southern part, in particular, with the Caucasus with its oil fields;

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

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

Battle periods:

defensive - from 17.07 to 18.11.42,

offensive - from 11/19/42 to 02/02/43.

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

To protect the city, the Soviet command formed the Stalingrad Front, led by Marshal S.K. Tymoshenko. The Battle of Stalingrad began briefly on July 17, when, in the bend of the Don, units of the 62nd Army engaged the vanguard of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht. Defensive battles on the approaches to Stalingrad lasted 57 days and nights.

On July 28, People's Commissar of Defense J.V. Stalin issued order No. 227, better known as “Not a step back!”

Defensive stage

• July 17, 1942 - the first serious clash of our troops with enemy forces on the banks of the Don tributaries.
• August 23 - enemy tanks came close to the city. German aircraft began to regularly bomb Stalingrad
• September 13 - storming of the city. The glory of the workers of the Stalingrad factories and factories, who repaired damaged equipment and weapons under fire, thundered throughout the world.
• October 14 - The Germans launched an offensive military operation off the banks of the Volga with the aim of capturing Soviet bridgeheads.
• November 19 - our troops launched a counteroffensive according to the plan for Operation Uranus.

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

Offensive and victory

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

December 12, 1942 - the enemy made a desperate attempt to break out of the encirclement. However, the breakthrough attempt was unsuccessful. Soviet troops began to tighten the ring.

December 31 - soviet soldiers advanced another 150 km. The front line has stabilized at the Tormosin-Zhukovskaya-Komissarovsky line.

February 2, 1943 - the northern group of fascist troops was liquidated. Our soldiers, heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, won. The enemy capitulated. Field Marshal Paulus, 24 generals, 2,500 officers and almost 100 thousand exhausted German soldiers were captured.

Hitler's government declared mourning in the country. Three days over German cities and the villages heard the funeral ringing of church bells.

Then, near Stalingrad, our fathers and grandfathers again “gave a light.”

Some Western historians, trying to belittle significance of the Battle of Stalingrad, put it on a par with the Battle of Tunisia (1943), El Alamein (1942), etc. But they were refuted by Hitler himself, who declared on February 1, 1943 at his headquarters:

“The possibility of ending the war in the East through an offensive no longer exists...”

Unknown facts about the Battle of Stalingrad

Entry from the “Stalingrad” diary of a German officer:

“None of us will return to Germany unless a miracle happens. Time has turned to the side of the Russians.”

The miracle did not happen. For not only time passed to the side of the Russians...

1. Armageddon

At Stalingrad, both the Red Army and the Wehrmacht changed their methods of warfare. From the very beginning of the war, the Red Army used flexible defense tactics with waste in critical situations. The Wehrmacht command, in turn, avoided large, bloody battles, preferring to bypass large fortified areas. In the Battle of Stalingrad, the German side forgets about its principles and embarks on a bloody slaughter. The beginning was made on August 23, 1942, when German aircraft carried out a massive bombing of the city. 40.0 thousand people died. This exceeds the official figures for the Allied air raid on Dresden in February 1945 (25.0 thousand casualties).

2. Get to the bottom of hell

Under the city itself there was a large system of underground communications. During the fighting, underground galleries were actively used by both Soviet troops and the Germans. Moreover, even local battles took place in the tunnels. It is interesting that from the beginning of their penetration into the city, German troops began to build a system of their own underground structures. Work continued almost until the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, and only at the end of January 1943, when the German command realized that the battle was lost, the underground galleries were blown up.

It remained a mystery what the Germans were building. One of the German soldiers later ironically wrote in his diary that he had the impression that the command wanted to get to hell and call on demons for help.

3. Mars vs. Uranus

A number of esotericists claim that on a number of strategic decisions The Soviet command in the Battle of Stalingrad was influenced by practicing astrologers. For example, the Soviet counteroffensive, Operation Uranus, began on November 19, 1942 at 7.30. At this moment, the so-called ascendant (the point of the ecliptic rising above the horizon) was located in the planet Mars (the Roman god of war), while the setting point of the ecliptic was the planet Uranus. According to astrologers, it was this planet that ruled German army. It is interesting that in parallel, the Soviet command was developing another major offensive operation on the Southwestern Front - “Saturn”. IN last moment they abandoned it and carried out Operation Little Saturn. Interestingly, in ancient mythology it was Saturn (in Greek mythology Kronos) who castrated Uranus.

4. Alexander Nevsky vs. Bismarck

Military operations were accompanied by a large number of signs and omens. Thus, a detachment of machine gunners fought in the 51st Army under the command of Senior Lieutenant Alexander Nevsky. The then propagandists of the Stalingrad Front started a rumor that Soviet officer is a direct descendant of the prince who defeated the Germans on Lake Peipsi. Alexander Nevsky was even nominated for the Order of the Red Banner.

And on the German side, the great-grandson of Bismarck took part in the battle, who, as you know, warned “never fight with Russia.” A descendant of the German chancellor, by the way, was captured.

5.Timer and tango

During the battle Soviet side applied revolutionary innovations psychological pressure on the enemy. Thus, from the loudspeakers installed at the front line, favorite hits of German music were heard, which were interrupted by messages about the victories of the Red Army in sections of the Stalingrad Front. But most effective means became the monotonous sound of the metronome, which was interrupted after 7 beats by a commentary in German:

“Every 7 seconds one German soldier dies at the front.”

At the end of a series of 10 - 20 “timer reports,” a tango sounded from the loudspeakers.

6. Revival of Stalingrad

In early February, after the end of the battle, the Soviet government raised the question of the inappropriateness of rebuilding the city, which would cost more than building a new city. However, Stalin insisted on rebuilding Stalingrad literally from the ashes. So, so many shells were dropped on Mamayev Kurgan that after the liberation, grass did not grow on it for 2 years.

What is the assessment of this battle in the West?

What did US and British newspapers write in 1942 - 1943 about the Battle of Stalingrad?

“The Russians fight not only bravely, but also skillfully. Despite all temporary setbacks, Russia will endure and, with the help of its allies, will ultimately expel every last Nazi from its land” (F.D. Roosevelt, US President, “Fireside Chats,” September 7, 1942).