February 2, 1943 Battle Of Stalingrad ends

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The Battle Of Stalingrad

 

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The ferocious urban battle in Stalingrad

 

In the first days of the fighting, the Germans were confident that although Stalingrad's defenders fought fanatically from the beginning, they will quickly occupy the city. From the Russian side things didn't look better. There were initially 40,000 troops in Stalingrad, but mostly ill-equipped reserve soldiers and those of the local population who were not evacuated, and it was assumed that Stalingrad might be lost in a few days. It was desperately clear to the Russian leadership that the only thing which could still save Stalingrad from falling, is a superb commander with a combination of the highest military skill and an iron will, and every possible reinforcement.

 

Actually two such commanders were selected and given the task of saving Stalingrad:

 

In the national level, Stalin ordered General Zhukov to leave the Moscow front and simply go to South Russia and save what he can. Zhukov, the best and most influential Russian General of World War 2, practically served as Stalin's military "crisis solver".

 

In the local level, General Vasily Chuikov, the deputy commander of the 64th army South of Stalingrad, and an aggressive and determined commander, was called to the regional command post. The severe situation was presented to him, and he was appointed the new commander of the Russian 62nd army, which still held most of Stalingrad. Before he left, he was asked "How do you interpret your mission?". Chuikov's answer was "We will defend the city or die". His personal leadership during the following months, which projected catching determination and fatalism to Stalingrad's defenders, shows that he meant it.

 

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The results of the battle of Stalingrad

 

On February 2, 1943, the last German resistance ended. Hitler was furious, accusing von Paulus and Goering for the tremendous losses, instead of accusing himself. The Germans lost almost 150,000 soldiers, and 91,000 more were captured by the Russians. Only 5,000 of them returned home after years in Russian prison camps. Together with the losses of their Romanian and Italian allies, the German side lost about 300,000 soldiers. The Russians lost 500,000 soldiers and civilians.

 

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Stalingrad: 1943 and 2013

Austin Bay

2/6/13

 

Feb. 2 marked the 70th anniversary of the end of one of World War II's most decisive and utterly destructive battles, the five-months of slaughter in the Russian city then called Stalingrad.

 

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However, the defeat Adolf Hitler's war machine suffered at Stalingrad was far more thorough, demoralizing and militarily devastating. Stalingrad and combat operations linked to the city fight cost the Germans between 500,000 and 800,000 casualties (killed, wounded and captured). Germany lacked the manpower and training capacity to replace such a ghastly loss of experienced combat troops. Equipment losses were enormous. Little wonder more than a few scholars contend that Germany lost WWII in Stalingrad's rubble-strewn streets

 

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Every German attempt to relieve the trapped Sixth Army failed. Herman Goering boasted that the Luftwaffe could supply the Stalingrad pocket. It couldn't. House by house, Russian infantrymen won a close-in battle of grenades and submachine guns. The Russians paid for their victory: 750,000 casualties in the city, 1.1 million in the region.

 

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