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