The Decisive Battles of World History

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more troops to be fed into the battle for the city, Stalingrad

became the focal point of the entire war in Russia.

o The Russians, too, had sent reinforcements, but they had

been playing a clever game in which they committed the bare

minimum to the city to keep the Germans occupied while

secretly building up a reserve.

x As winter of 1942 approached, the all-important German drive to

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diverted to Stalingrad. Meanwhile, the Russians were down to only

a few hundred yards of ground as winter set in, but their objective

had been achieved. The Germans had bled themselves dry in the

useless battle. With the arrival of winter, the German offensive

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commanders had amassed a large reserve; with these men, they

now attacked the Germans. Two years of war had served to replace

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had experience in modern warfare. They imitated blitzkrieg tactics

and turned them back against the Germans.

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the enemy in place while launching pincers to the left and right.

Two powerful Russian armies blasted through the German lines on

either side of Stalingrad, then trapped Paulus and his entire army.

Hitler refused to acknowledge that his attack on Stalingrad had

failed and utterly rejected any suggestion that Paulus and his army

try to escape while they had the chance.

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effectively, and Paulus was forced to surrender the miserable

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army had surrendered, and its loss was an enormous and crippling

blow to the Germans, both materially and psychologically.