DK - World War II Map by Map

152 THE WIDENING WAR 1942

SOVIET VICTORY

AT STALINGRAD

In November 1942, the Soviets launched an unexpected

counteroffensive at Stalingrad—not pushing through the front line

in the city itself, but encircling the city to cut off, then annihilate, the

German army within. Following this victory, the Soviets went on

to push the Germans out of the Caucasus and the Don River basin.

The Germans disregarded what limited

intelligence they had about a major

Soviet counteroffensive, believing that

the Soviets could not have the men or

equipment to mount such an attack.

As a result, the speed and success of

the Red Army assault in November

1942 came as a shock to them. The

Soviets’ plan was ingenious: they

targeted Germany’s allies, the weaker

Romanian, Italian, and Hungarian

armies that flanked the German

6th Army in Stalingrad and held the

front line along the Don River. By

November 23, the 6th Army was

isolated from the stronger German

forces to the west and south.

“18,000 wounded without any supplies or dressings or

drugs. Further defense senseless. Collapse inevitable.”

GENERAL PAULUS, MESSAGE TO ADOLF HITLER, JANUARY 24, 1943

The Soviets then launched a series

of operations to clear the Don basin

and Caucasus. By the time the Red

Army launched its final assault on

Stalingrad in mid-January 1943, it had

decimated the Germans’ allies and

retaken much of the territory lost to the

German advance of 1942 (see pp.148–

149). Hitler only averted further disaster

by allowing Army Group A to retreat

from the Caucasus. It had seemed as

if the German retreat might turn into

a rout, but by February the Soviet

army was overstretched. A successful

counterattack at Kharkov boosted

German morale as they planned their

next offensive (see pp.178–179).

GERMAN ALLIES AT STALINGRAD

The Italian, Hungarian, and Romanian

armies at Stalingrad were expected

to protect the Germans’ flanks and

stabilize the front, but they were fatally

overstretched and—as the Soviet

marshal Zhukov noted—less well

armed, less experienced, and less

efficient at defense than the Germans.

Having neglected to reinforce their

positions along the Don River,

Germany’s allies provided an easy

target for the Soviet counterattack.

Romanian POWs at Stalingrad

THE AXIS IN RETREAT

Between November 1942 and

March 1943, the Red Army

executed a well-planned

counterattack to retake much of

the territory lost to Germany’s

Operation Blue (see pp.148–149).

TIMELINE

NOV 1942 DEC JAN 1943 FEB MAR APR

2

3

4

5

1

6

7

KEY

Soviet forces

Soviet-held territory, Nov 18, 1942

Soviet gains by Mar 31, 1943

Axis forces

Front line, Mar 31, 1943

△ Red Army victory

A soldier of the Red Army raises the Soviet flag on

the roof of a Stalingrad department store that had

housed the staff of German General Paulus.

Black

Sea

Kalmuk

Steppe

Sea of

Azov

Dn

iep

er

Kuban

La

ba

Volg

a

D

on

D

on

Done

ts

D

one

ts

Don

Chir

Ma

nyc

h C a u c a s u s M o u

n

t

a

i n

s

CR

IM

EA

U

S

S

U R

K

R

A

I N

E

Soviet Bryansk

Front

Soviet Voronezh

Front

Soviet

South-West Front

German Army

Group B

German Army

Group A

German Army

Group Don

German Army

Group South

Soviet Don

Front

Soviet Stalingrad Front

(Later South Front)

Soviet North

Caucasus Front

Soviet Trans-

Caucasus Front

Italian

8th Army

German

17th Army

Hungarian

2nd Army

German

2nd Army

Romanian

3rd Army

Romanian

4th Army

German

6th Army

German 4th

Panzer Army

Kamensk

Novoshakhtinsk

Nevinnomyssk

Novorossiysk

Budyonnovsk

Slavyansk

Volgodonsk

Kotelnikovo

Timashevsk

Lysychansk

Tikhoretsk

Cherkessk

Volchansk

Krasnodar

Berdyansk

Pyatigorsk

Stalingrad

Makiivka

Voronezh

Ostrogozhsk

Stavropol

Izyum

Chertkovo

Millerovo

Taganrog

Kalach

Belgorod

Mariupol

Horlivka

Sukhumi

Nalchik

Mozdok

Maikop

Kharkov

Krasnograd

Pavlograd

Labinsk

Alagir

Poltava

Tuapse

Valuyki

Rossosh

Rostov

Yelets

Kastornoye

Kerch

Kursk

Yeysk

Sochi

Livny

Elista

Proletarskaya

Lgov

Orel

Kremenchuk

Kerch

Peninsula

M

ius

GERMANS ENTRAPPED NOVEMBER 19–23, 1942

On November 19, the Soviets launched Operation

Uranus, aimed at destroying the Axis forces in and

around Stalingrad. Attacking far behind the city, they

drove from the north and south through the Romanian

armies guarding the German 6th Army’s flanks. As the

Soviet South-West and Stalingrad Fronts linked up at

Kalach, the Romanian 3rd Army was destroyed, the

4th Army was in retreat, and more than 290,000 Axis

troops were encircled in Stalingrad.

1

Soviet advances Encircled Germans

RESCUE ATTEMPT DECEMBER 13–23, 1942

In mid-December, Field Marshal von Manstein began

an operation to relieve the 6th Army, named Winter

Storm. General Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army, which had only

partly escaped encirclement in the city, tried to create a

corridor from Kotelnikovo to Stalingrad. The Soviets

were surprised by the assault but quickly bedded into

defensive positions south-west of Stalingrad; Hoth

could not break through and halted his advance.

2

German advance, Operation Winter Storm

US_152-153_Russian_counter-offensive.indd 152 20/03/19 2:18 PM