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LTC Stephen F.
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Edited 6 y ago
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The Battle of Stalingrad was the major battle for Wehrmacht Heeresgruppe Süd [Army-Group South] in 1942 SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL as part of Operation Braunschweig the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942.
"The operation was a continuation of the previous year's Operation Barbarossa, intended to knock the Soviet Union out of the war, and involved a two-pronged attack against the oil fields of Baku as well as an advance in the direction of Stalingrad along the Volga River, to cover the flanks of the advance towards Baku. For this part of the operation, Army Group South (Heeresgruppe Süd) of the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) was divided into Army Groups A and B (Heeresgruppe A and B). Army Group A was tasked with crossing the Caucasus mountains to reach the Baku oil fields, while Army Group B protected its flanks along the Volga.
Initially, the offensive saw gains, with an advance into the Caucasus capturing large areas of land and several oil fields. However, the Red Army defeated the Germans at Stalingrad, following Operations Uranus and Little Saturn. This defeat forced the Axis to retreat from the Caucasus. Only the city of Kursk and the Kuban region remained tentatively occupied by Axis troops."
Stalingrad was certainly a strategic loss for Germany because of the loss of Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus' VI Army. However Germany had 24 other Wehrmacht armies plus Afrika Korps.
Germany still possessed significant offensive capability after Stalingrad. When Germany gambled with the bulk of its advanced armor to expand the Kursk salient, the Soviet armored forces dealt a devastating blow to the German armored tank army capabilities.
Images: Eastern Front 7 May to 18 November 1942; 1942 panzerkampfwagen IV track repair with Sd.Kfz. 250 half-track; Map Battle of Stalingrad;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61eYOpEF7hk

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CPL Dave Hoover
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The Hells of an awful battle.
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MAJ Ken Landgren
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Thanks for the history. The Germans thought they could pound Stalingrad into submission but encountered a problem with that tactic. Many buildings were heavily damaged but still stood, thereby creating a labyrinth for Russians to hid in and fight from.
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