GERMAN ADVANCE TO STALINGRAD 149
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CRIMEA
UKRAINE
U
S
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R
Army
Group B
German
6th Army
German 1st
Panzer Army
German
17th Army
German 4th
Panzer Army
German
2nd Army
Army
Group A
Stalingrad
Front
Soviet
62nd Army
Soviet
64th Army
North
Caucasus
Front
Trans-Caucasus
Front
German
11th Army
Kerch
Peninsula
Kamensk
Novoshakhtinsk
Novorossiysk
Novaya
Kalitva
Budyonnovsk
Apsheronsk
Eupatoria
Sevastopol
Slavyansk
Volgodonsk Kotelnikovo
Timashevsk
Ordzhonikidze
Gelendzhik
Lysychansk
Tikhoretsk
Cherkessk
Volchansk
Krasnodar
Berdyansk
Pyatigorsk
Stalingrad
Kropotkin
Makiivka
Voronezh
Stavropol
Kupiansk
Izyum
Chertkovo
Millerovo
Buynaksk
Makhachkala
Taganrog
Kalach
Belgorod
Mariupol
Horlivka
Grozny
Sukhumi
Batumi
Nalchik
Armavir
Mozdok
Maikop
Kharkov
Labinsk
Alagir
Gubkin
Poltava
Krasnograd
Tuapse
Valuyki
Rossosh
Rostov
Kerch
Kursk
Yeysk
Sochi
Livny
Elista
Proletarskaya
Kalmuk
Steppe
Orel
GERMAN ADVANCE
TO STALINGRAD
The Germans launched a huge offensive in the southern USSR in
the summer of 1942. Their target was the oil-rich Caucasus region,
which they planned to seize after taking the cities in the Don River
basin, the USSR’s industrial heartland. They advanced rapidly, and
by September had closed in on the city of Stalingrad.
Having failed to take Moscow (see
pp.100–101), the Germans planned a
new offensive that would bypass the
capital. Operation Blue (Fall Blau) aimed
to strike south-east to take the oil fields
of the Caucasus, seizing the Red Army’s
vital fuel supplies for Germany, and also
to capture Stalingrad, which would
secure transport links into the Caucasus
and protect the Germans’ flank. Hitler
also believed that the Soviets were near
breaking point, and that one more major
offensive would drive them to defeat.
First, the Germans needed to clear
Crimea and the Kharkov area of Soviet
forces, a task they achieved by early July.
Once Fall Blau began, however, Hitler
“If we don’t take Maikop and Grozny [oil fields in the
Caucasus] then I must put an end to the war.”
ADOLF HITLER, TO HIS GENERALS, JULY 23, 1942
ordered simultaneous attacks on
Stalingrad and the Caucasus. To achieve
this, Army Group South (including
Italian, Hungarian, and Romanian
divisions) was split in two on July 7, 1942.
Army Group A was to advance through
the Caucasus and secure the Black Sea
coast as far south as Batumi, while Army
Group B was to move on Stalingrad.
Over the next months, resources
were switched between the two
offensives; by mid-September the
Germans were spread across a vast area
and neither army group had achieved
its objective. Meanwhile, Stalin ordered
the Red Army to defend Stalingrad at
all costs (see pp.150–151).
1st Panzer
Army advance
17th Army
advance
Soviet
bombing raids
Oil fields
INTO THE CAUCASUS
JULY 23–NOVEMBER 18, 1942
The 1st Panzer Army drove south, fanning out on a
wide front, reaching the oil fields of Maikop and the
town of Pyatigorsk on August 9. The 17th Army,
meanwhile, was tasked with capturing the Black Sea
coast, but became bogged down in the marshes and
the rugged Caucasus foothills. As winter set in, the
panzers’ advance was also brought to a halt by fuel
shortages and Soviet bombing raids.
6
OIL IN THE CAUCASUS
The Caucasus had been an
important oil-producing region
since the start of the 20th
century, and by 1940 the region
was producing the majority
of the Soviet Union’s oil. In
1939–1940, the Soviets supplied
oil to Nazi Germany, but the
supply was cut off when the
two countries went to war.
In Operation Blue, Hitler was
determined to capture the oil
fields to fuel his war machine.
Oil derricks in the Caucasus
MAY 1942 JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
2
3
4
5
6
1
TIMELINE
TWO-PRONGED ATTACK
Germany and its allies made
spectacular gains from May to
September 1942, reaching their
furthest extent in the USSR. Split
in two directions, however, their
advance had halted by November.
KEY
Axis forces
on May 7
by Jul 23
by May 28
by Nov 18 (farthest
extent of advance in USSR)
by Jul 3
Front line,
Nov 18
Soviet forces Main
railroads
THE ADVANCE ON STALINGRAD
JULY 23–SEPTEMBER 12, 1942
The 4th Panzer Army was ordered to stop its advance
south and instead move on Stalingrad. The 6th Army’s
move toward Stalingrad met strong Soviet opposition
at Kalach, which it overcame in mid-August. By
September 12, German forces, now joined by the 4th
Panzer Army, had surrounded Stalingrad on the west
bank of the Volga River, and were preparing to take
the city itself (see pp.150–151).
4
THE CAPTURE OF ROSTOV JULY 7–23, 1942
Tasked with taking the Caucasus, Army Group A began
their campaign on July 7. The 1st Panzer Army (part of
Group A) headed east to Chertkovo—a key point on
the railroad from Moscow to Rostov—before turning
south. It crossed the Don River on July 22 and advanced
on Rostov, capturing the city the following day.
5
1st Panzer Army advance
GERMAN-HELD TERRITORY
4th Panzer Army
advance
Battle of Kalach, Jul 25–Aug 11
6th Army
advance
US_148-149_German_adv_Stalingrad.indd 149 20/03/19 2:18 PM