Battle path 62 army map. Yaroslav fires
He is one of the creators of the Victory in the Battle of Stalingrad. It was he, the commander of the 62nd Army, who in September 1942 received the task of defending Stalingrad. Far from today, in connection with this task, another phrase was added - "at any cost." The price of victory was indeed terribly high. A few years later, Chuikov himself wrote about this - in his memoirs, which he called succinctly and honestly - "The Beginning of the Road." In the 1970s, they will see the light under a different name - "The Battle of the Century." In any case, the memoirs are strikingly different from many other memoirs published in those years. Censorship and politeness were not able to "spoil" the vividness of Chuikov's memory. In this memory, there is a place not only for the "headquarters" war through the eyes of Commander-62. Although Vasily Ivanovich’s headquarters was alive ...
“By the evening of September 12, we arrived at the crossing in Krasnaya Sloboda. A T-34 tank has been loaded onto a motor ferry, and a second tank is being prepared for loading. My car is not allowed. I had to show the documents of the commander of the 62nd Army.
I introduced myself as the deputy commander of the tank corps for the technical part.
I asked him to describe the situation in his unit.
“By yesterday evening,” he reported, “there were about forty tanks in the corps, of which only half were on the move, the rest were knocked out, but were used as fixed firing points.
Our ferry goes around the sandy spit of Golodny Island from the north and heads to the central pier. Occasionally, shells explode on the water. The fire is not targeted. Not dangerous. We are approaching the coast. From afar you can see how, when our ferry approaches, the pier is filled with people. The wounded are carried out of the cracks, craters and shelters, people with bundles and suitcases appear. All of them before the approach of the ferry escaped from the fire in cracks, pits, funnels from bombs.
There were dried streaks of dirt on sooty faces - tears mixed with dust. Children, exhausted by thirst and hunger, stretch their arms to the water ... The heart contracts, a lump of bitterness rises to the throat.
Of course, a peasant son, Chuikov knew well the price of Victory. And, perhaps, only a peasant's son could fulfill the order - to keep the City, the battle for which daily grinded companies, battalions, regiments. Here he writes about the tragic September 1942: “In the atmosphere of those days, one could say“ time is blood ”; because the lost time will have to be paid with the blood of our people. He accepted the army when its units in the city were cut off from the main forces of the front, and the Germans had already reached the Volga. This 62nd had to fight for every house in Stalingrad. "Pavlov's House" is also the 62nd Army ...
We are reading today about Commander Chuikov and his understanding of fighting at any cost: “The army, under the command of V.I. Chuikov, became famous for the heroic six-month defense of Stalingrad in street battles in a completely destroyed city, fighting on isolated bridgeheads, on the banks of the wide Volga.
In Stalingrad, V. I. Chuikov introduces close combat tactics. Our and German trenches are located at a grenade throw distance. This complicates the work of enemy aviation and artillery, they are simply afraid to hit their own. Despite the fact that the superiority of Paulus in manpower is obvious, the Soviet troops are constantly counterattacking, and mostly at night. This makes it possible to recapture the positions left during the day. For the Red Army, the battles in Stalingrad were the first serious battles in the city. The appearance of special assault groups is also associated with the name of V.I. Chuikov. They were the first to suddenly burst into houses, and used underground communications for movement. The Germans did not understand when and, most importantly, where to expect a counterattack.
The soldiers loved him. They believed Chuikov. His instructions were followed: “Burst into the house together with a grenade. The grenade is ahead, you are behind it, so go through the whole house. Even from Stalingrad, Chuikov was called: General Sturm!
He really was in the right place. Chuikov was brought to this place not only by the flair and experience of the higher authorities. Let's say "politically correct": the future hero of Stalingrad was kept by fate itself. Soldier's Destiny! “During the departure on July 23, 1942, Chuikov’s life path almost ended prematurely. In the area of the settlement of Surovikino, the U-2 was attacked by a German aircraft. No weapons were installed on the U-2, and the pilot had to apply all his skill to evade enemy attacks. In the end, the maneuvers came to an end near the ground. U-2 just collided with the ground and fell apart. By a lucky chance, both the pilot and Chuikov escaped with only bruises, and the German pilot, most likely, decided that the job was done and flew away.
From the memoirs of the son of Marshal Chuikov, Alexander Vasilyevich: “He said:“ I stood with my fist clenched, and there was a desire to cross myself. And I feel that I can’t unclench my fingers, I can’t put them together for the sign of the cross, they cramped. And he crossed himself with his fist. Until the Victory, he was baptized with his fist. One day, after the death of Marshal, the son was sorting through his documents. In the party card I found a note written by my father's hand: “Oh, mighty one! Turn the night into day, and the earth into a flower garden. All difficult things are easy for me and help me. Soldier's prayer of a general nicknamed Sturm ...
After Stalingrad, the 62nd Army will become the 8th Guards. The army commander himself for the defense of the City will be presented with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. At the last moment, the performance will be changed. The Stars of the Hero will come to him later - in the 44th and 45th. For Stalingrad, Chuikov will receive the Order of Suvorov, I degree.
Until the end of the war, he will remain the commander of his army, "Stalingrad". Under his leadership, the 8th Guards would liberate Soviet Ukraine and Belarus, and clear Poland of fascism. Berlin will be taken by storm in 1945. At the command post of Colonel General Chuikov on May 2, 1945, the head of the Berlin garrison, General Weidling, will sign the surrender of the German troops and surrender - with the remnants of the garrison.
In July 1981, the former commander of the 62nd Army, former Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of the USSR, former head of the Civil Defense of the USSR, personal pensioner of allied significance, Marshal of the Soviet Union Chuikov, wrote to the Central Committee of the CPSU: request: after my death, bury the ashes on Mamaev Kurgan in Stalingrad, where I organized my command post on September 12, 1942 ... From that place you can hear the roar of the Volga waters, volleys of guns and the pain of the Stalingrad ruins, thousands of soldiers whom I commanded are buried there.
He will be gone in a few months, on March 18, 1982. Chuikov will be buried on Mamaev Kurgan - next to the fallen soldiers and commanders of the Stalingrad 62nd Army. The whole great city will come to say goodbye to Vasily Ivanovich...
62nd ARMYIt was formed on July 10, 1942 on the basis of the directive of the Headquarters of the Supreme Command of July 9, 1942 on the basis of the 7th Reserve Army with direct subordination to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. Initially, it included the 33rd Guards, 147th, 181st, 184th, 192nd and 196th Rifle Divisions, the 121st Tank Brigade, artillery and other units.
On July 12, 1942, the army was included in the newly created Stalingrad Front. At the beginning of the defensive battle on the outskirts of Stalingrad, the forces of the advanced detachments of the army fought stubborn battles with the vanguards of the German 6th Army at the turn of the Chir River. Since July 23, the main forces repelled fierce enemy attacks on the defensive line Kletskaya - north of Surovikino. Under the blows of the numerically superior enemy forces, the army troops were forced to retreat to the left bank of the Don. By mid-August, they entrenched themselves in positions along the outer defensive bypass of Stalingrad - from Vertyachey to Lyapichev and continued to wage stubborn battles.
After the enemy broke through the outer contour and the exit of his troops to the Volga north of Stalingrad, the army on August 30 was transferred to the South-Eastern (from September 30 - the Stalingrad Front of the 2nd Formation) Front.
By decision of the commander of the troops of the front, the main forces of the army retreated to the middle by August 31, and on September 2 to the inner defensive bypass of Stalingrad and entrenched themselves at the turn of Rynok - Orlovka - Gumrak - Peschanka. From September 13, the army troops fought defensive battles for more than two months. By the end of the defensive operation (July 17 - November 18), they held the area north of the tractor plant, the Lower Village of the Barrikada plant, individual workshops of the Krasny Oktyabr plant, and several blocks in the city center.
With the beginning of the Stalingrad strategic offensive operation (November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943), the army continued to fight in Stalingrad, holding down enemy forces. At the same time, her troops were preparing to go on the offensive.
On January 1, 1943, the army was transferred to the Don Front and, as part of it, participated in the operation to eliminate the group of German troops surrounded near Stalingrad.
After the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, from February 6, it was part of a group of troops under the command of Lieutenant General K. P. Trubnikov (from February 27, the Stalingrad Group of Forces), which was in the reserve of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.
In March-April, as part of the South-Western Front (since March 20), the army participated in the construction of a front-line defensive line on the left bank of the Oskol River.
On May 5, 1943, the army was reorganized into the 8th Guards Army.
Army commanders: Major General Kolpakchi V. Ya. (July-August 1942); Lieutenant General A. I. Lopatin (August - September 1942); Major General N. I. Krylov (September 1942); Lieutenant General Chuikov V. I. (September 1942 - April 1943)
Members of the Military Council of the Army: divisional commissar, from December 1942 - Lieutenant General K. A. Gurov (July 1942 - February 1943); Colonel V. M. Lebedev (February - March 1943)
Army Chiefs of Staff: Major General N. A. Moskvin (July - August 1942); colonel, from October 1942 - Major General I. A. Laskin (August - September 1942); Colonel Kamynin S. M. (September 1942); Major General N. I. Krylov (September 1942 - March 1943)
The battle for Stalingrad in terms of the duration and fierceness of the fighting, in terms of the number of people and military equipment participating, surpassed at that time all the battles of world history.
At certain stages, more than 2 million people, up to 2 thousand tanks, more than 2 thousand aircraft, up to 26 thousand guns participated in it on both sides. The fascist German troops lost more than 800 thousand soldiers and officers, as well as a large number of military equipment, weapons and equipment, killed, wounded, captured.
Defense of Stalingrad (now Volgograd)
In accordance with the plan of the summer offensive campaign of 1942, the German command, having concentrated large forces in the southwestern direction, expected to defeat the Soviet troops, go to the big bend of the Don, seize Stalingrad on the move and capture the Caucasus, and then resume the offensive in the Moscow direction.
For the attack on Stalingrad, the 6th Army (commander - Colonel General F. von Paulus) was allocated from Army Group B. By July 17, it included 13 divisions, in which there were about 270 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars and about 500 tanks. They were supported by aviation of the 4th air fleet - up to 1200 combat aircraft.
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command moved the 62nd, 63rd and 64th armies from its reserve to the Stalingrad direction. On July 12, on the basis of the field administration of the troops of the Southwestern Front, the Stalingrad Front was created under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union S. K. Timoshenko. On July 23, Lieutenant General V.N. Gordov was appointed commander of the front. The front also included the 21st, 28th, 38th, 57th combined arms and 8th air armies of the former Southwestern Front, and from July 30 - the 51st Army of the North Caucasian Front. At the same time, the 57th, as well as the 38th and 28th armies, on the basis of which the 1st and 4th tank armies were formed, were in reserve. The Volga military flotilla was subordinated to the front commander.
The newly created front began to fulfill the task, having only 12 divisions, in which there were 160 thousand soldiers and commanders, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars and about 400 tanks, the 8th Air Army had 454 aircraft.
In addition, 150-200 long-range bombers and 60 air defense fighters were involved. In the initial period of defensive actions near Stalingrad, the enemy outnumbered the Soviet troops by 1.7 times in personnel, by 1.3 times in artillery and tanks, and by more than 2 times in the number of aircraft.
On July 14, 1942, Stalingrad was declared under martial law. Four defensive bypasses were built on the outskirts of the city: outer, middle, inner and city. The entire population, including children, was mobilized for the construction of defensive structures. The factories of Stalingrad completely switched to the production of military products. Militia units, self-defense work units were created at factories and enterprises. Civilians, equipment of individual enterprises and material values were evacuated to the left bank of the Volga.
Defensive battles began on the distant approaches to Stalingrad. The main efforts of the troops of the Stalingrad Front were concentrated in the large bend of the Don, where they occupied the defenses of the 62nd and 64th armies in order to prevent the enemy from forcing the river and breaking through it by the shortest route to Stalingrad. From July 17, the forward detachments of these armies fought defensive battles for 6 days at the turn of the Chir and Tsimla rivers. This allowed us to gain time to strengthen the defense at the main line. Despite the steadfastness, courage and perseverance shown by the troops, the armies of the Stalingrad Front failed to defeat the enemy groupings that had penetrated, and they had to retreat to the near approaches to the city.
On July 23-29, the 6th German Army made an attempt to encircle them with sweeping attacks on the flanks of the Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don, go to the Kalach region and break through to Stalingrad from the west. As a result of the stubborn defense of the 62nd and 64th armies and the counterattack of the formations of the 1st and 4th tank armies, the enemy's plan was thwarted.
Defense of Stalingrad. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
July 31, the German command turned the 4th Panzer Army Colonel General G. Goth from the Caucasus to the Stalingrad direction. On August 2, its advanced units reached Kotelnikovsky, creating a threat of a breakthrough to the city. Fighting began on the southwestern approaches to Stalingrad.
To facilitate command and control of troops stretched over a 500 km zone, on August 7, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command formed a new one from several armies of the Stalingrad Front - the South-Eastern Front, the command of which was entrusted to Colonel General A. I. Eremenko. The main efforts of the Stalingrad Front were directed to the fight against the 6th German Army, which was advancing on Stalingrad from the west and northwest, and the South-Eastern Front was directed to the defense of the southwestern direction. On August 9-10, the troops of the South-Eastern Front launched a counterattack on the 4th Panzer Army and forced it to stop.
On August 21, the infantry of the 6th German Army crossed the Don and built bridges, after which the tank divisions moved to Stalingrad. At the same time, Gotha's tanks launched an offensive from the south and southwest. 23 August 4th Air Army von Richthofen subjected the city to a massive bombardment, dropping more than 1000 tons of bombs on the city.
Tank formations of the 6th Army moved towards the city, encountering almost no resistance, however, in the Gumrak area, they had to overcome the positions of anti-aircraft gun crews that had been put forward to fight the tanks until the evening. Nevertheless, on August 23, the 14th Panzer Corps of the 6th Army managed to break through to the Volga north of Stalingrad near the village of Latoshynka. The enemy wanted to break into the city on the move through its northern outskirts, however, along with the army units, people's militia detachments, the Stalingrad police, the 10th division of the NKVD troops, sailors of the Volga military flotilla, cadets of military schools stood up to defend the city.
The enemy's breakthrough to the Volga further complicated and worsened the position of the units defending the city. The Soviet command took measures to destroy the enemy grouping that had broken through to the Volga. Until September 10, the troops of the Stalingrad Front and the reserves of the Headquarters transferred to its structure launched continuous counterattacks from the north-west on the left flank of the 6th German Army. It was not possible to push the enemy back from the Volga, but the enemy offensive on the northwestern approaches to Stalingrad was suspended. The 62nd Army was cut off from the rest of the troops of the Stalingrad Front and was transferred to the South-Eastern Front.
Since September 12, the defense of Stalingrad was entrusted to the 62nd Army, commanded by General V. I. Chuikov, and troops of the 64th Army General M.S. Shumilov. On the same day, after another bombardment, German troops launched an attack on the city from all directions. In the north, the main target was Mamayev Kurgan, from the height of which the crossing over the Volga was clearly visible, in the center the German infantry made its way to the railway station, in the south, Goth's tanks, with the support of the infantry, gradually moved towards the elevator.
On September 13, the Soviet command decided to transfer the 13th Guards Rifle Division to the city. Having crossed the Volga for two nights, the guards threw back the German troops from the area of the central crossing over the Volga, cleared many streets and quarters of them. On September 16, the troops of the 62nd Army, with the support of aviation, stormed the Mamaev Kurgan. Fierce battles for the southern and central parts of the city continued until the end of the month.
On September 21, on the front from Mamaev Kurgan to the Zatsaritsyno part of the city, the Germans launched a new offensive with the forces of five divisions. A day later, on September 22, the 62nd Army was cut into two parts: the Germans reached the central crossing north of the Tsaritsa River. From here they had the opportunity to view almost the entire rear of the army and conduct an offensive along the coast, cutting off the Soviet units from the river.
By September 26, the Germans managed to come close to the Volga in almost all areas. Nevertheless, Soviet troops continued to hold a narrow strip of the coast, and in some places even separate buildings at some distance from the embankment. Many objects changed hands many times.
The fighting in the city took on a protracted character. The troops of Paulus lacked the strength to finally throw the defenders of the city into the Volga, and the Soviet ones - to dislodge the Germans from their positions.
The struggle was for each building, and sometimes for part of the building, floor or basement. Snipers were active. The use of aviation and artillery, due to the proximity of enemy formations, became almost impossible.
From September 27 to October 4, active hostilities were waged on the northern outskirts for the villages of the Krasny Oktyabr and Barrikady factories, and from October 4 - for these factories themselves.
At the same time, the Germans were attacking in the center on Mamaev Kurgan and on the extreme right flank of the 62nd Army in the Orlovka area. By the evening of September 27, Mamaev Kurgan fell. An extremely difficult situation developed in the area of the mouth of the Tsaritsa River, from where the Soviet units, experiencing an acute shortage of ammunition and food and losing control, began to cross over to the left bank of the Volga. The 62nd Army responded with counterattacks of the newly arriving reserves.
They were rapidly melting, however, the losses of the 6th Army took on catastrophic proportions.
It included almost all the armies of the Stalingrad Front, except for the 62nd. Commander was appointed General K. K. Rokossovsky. From the composition of the South-Eastern Front, whose troops fought in the city and to the south, the Stalingrad Front was formed under the command General A. I. Eremenko. Each front was directly subordinated to the Stavka.
Commander of the Don Front Konstantin Rokossovsky and General Pavel Batov (right) in a trench near Stalingrad. Photo reproduction. Photo: RIA Novosti
By the end of the first decade of October, enemy attacks began to weaken, but in the middle of the month Paulus launched a new assault. On October 14, the German troops, after a powerful air and artillery preparation, went on the attack again.
Several divisions advanced on a sector of about 5 km. This offensive of the enemy, which lasted almost three weeks, led to the most fierce battle in the city.
On October 15, the Germans managed to capture the Stalingrad Tractor Plant and break through to the Volga, cutting the 62nd Army in half. After that, they launched an offensive along the banks of the Volga to the south. On October 17, the 138th division arrived in the army to support Chuikov's weakened formations. Fresh forces repelled enemy attacks, and from October 18, Paulus' ram began to noticeably lose its strength.
To alleviate the position of the 62nd Army, on October 19, troops from the Don Front went on the offensive from the area north of the city. The territorial success of the flank counterattacks was insignificant, but they delayed the regrouping undertaken by Paulus.
By the end of October, the offensive operations of the 6th Army slowed down, although in the area between the Barrikady and Krasny Oktyabr factories, no more than 400 m remained to go to the Volga. Nevertheless, the tension of the fighting weakened, and the Germans basically consolidated the captured positions.
November 11 was made the last attempt to capture the city. This time the offensive was carried out by the forces of five infantry and two tank divisions, reinforced by fresh engineer battalions. The Germans managed to capture another section of the coast 500-600 m long in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Barricades plant, but this was the last success of the 6th Army.
In other sectors, Chuikov's troops held their positions.
The offensive of the German troops in the Stalingrad direction was finally stopped.
By the end of the defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 62nd Army held the area north of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, the Barrikady plant, and the northeastern quarters of the city center. The 64th Army defended the approaches.
During the defensive battles for Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht, according to Soviet data, lost in July - November up to 700 thousand soldiers and officers killed and wounded, more than 1000 tanks, over 2000 guns and mortars, more than 1400 aircraft. The total losses of the Red Army in the Stalingrad defensive operation amounted to 643,842 people, 1,426 tanks, 12,137 guns and mortars, and 2,063 aircraft.
Soviet troops exhausted and bled the enemy grouping operating near Stalingrad, which created favorable conditions for a counteroffensive.
Stalingrad offensive operation
By the autumn of 1942, the technical re-equipment of the Red Army had been basically completed. At the factories located in the deep rear and evacuated, mass production of new military equipment was launched, which not only was not inferior, but often surpassed the equipment and weapons of the Wehrmacht. During the past battles, Soviet troops gained combat experience. The moment had come when it was necessary to wrest the initiative from the enemy and begin mass expulsion of him from the borders of the Soviet Union.
With the participation of the military councils of the fronts at Headquarters, a plan for the Stalingrad offensive operation was developed.
The Soviet troops were to launch a decisive counter-offensive on a front of 400 km, encircle and destroy the enemy strike force concentrated in the Stalingrad area. This task was assigned to the troops of three fronts - the South-Western ( Commander General N. F. Vatutin), Donskoy ( Commander General K. K. Rokossovsky) and Stalingrad ( Commander General A. I. Eremenko).
The forces of the parties were approximately equal, although in tanks, artillery and aviation, Soviet troops already had a slight superiority over the enemy. Under such conditions, in order to successfully carry out the operation, it was necessary to create a significant superiority in forces in the directions of the main attacks, which was achieved with great skill. The success was ensured primarily due to the fact that special attention was paid to operational camouflage. The troops moved to the assigned positions only at night, while the radio stations of the units remained in the same places, continuing to work, so that the enemy had the impression that the units remained in their previous positions. All correspondence was forbidden, and orders were given only orally, and only to direct executors.
The Soviet command concentrated more than a million people on the direction of the main attack in a 60 km sector, supported by 900 T-34 tanks that had just rolled off the assembly line. Such a concentration of military equipment at the front has never happened before.
One of the centers of fighting in Stalingrad is an elevator. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The German command did not show due attention to the position of its Army Group "B", because. was waiting for the offensive of the Soviet troops against the Army Group "Center".
Group B Commander General Weichs did not agree with this opinion. He was worried about the bridgehead prepared by the enemy on the right bank of the Don opposite his formations. According to his urgent demands, by the end of October, several newly formed Luftwaffe field units were transferred to the Don in order to strengthen the defensive positions of the Italian, Hungarian and Romanian formations.
Weichs' predictions were confirmed in early November, when aerial reconnaissance photographs showed the presence of several new crossings in the area. Two days later, Hitler ordered the transfer of the 6th Panzer and two infantry divisions from the English Channel to Army Group B as reserve reinforcements for the 8th Italian and 3rd Romanian armies. It took about five weeks for their preparation and transfer to Russia. Hitler, however, did not expect any significant action from the enemy until early December, so he calculated that reinforcements should have arrived in time.
By the second week of November, with the appearance of Soviet tank units on the bridgehead, Weichs no longer doubted that a major offensive was being prepared in the zone of the 3rd Romanian army, which, possibly, would also be directed against the German 4th tank army. Since all of his reserves were at Stalingrad, Weichs decided to form a new grouping as part of the 48th Panzer Corps, which he placed behind the 3rd Romanian Army. He also transferred the 3rd Romanian armored division to this corps and was about to transfer the 29th motorized division of the 4th tank army there, but changed his mind, because he also expected an offensive in the area where the Gota formations were located. However, all the efforts made by Weichs turned out to be clearly insufficient, and the High Command was more interested in building up the power of the 6th Army for the decisive battle for Stalingrad than in strengthening the weak flanks of General Weichs' formations.
On November 19, at 0850, after a powerful, almost one and a half hour artillery preparation, despite the fog and heavy snowfall, the troops of the Southwestern and Don fronts, located northwest of Stalingrad, went on the offensive. The 5th Panzer, 1st Guards and 21st Armies acted against the 3rd Romanian.
Only one 5th tank army in its composition consisted of six rifle divisions, two tank corps, one cavalry corps and several artillery, aviation and anti-aircraft missile regiments. Due to a sharp deterioration in weather conditions, aviation was inactive.
It also turned out that during the artillery preparation, the enemy’s firepower was not completely suppressed, which is why the offensive of the Soviet troops at some point slowed down. After assessing the situation, the commander of the Southwestern Front, Lieutenant-General N.F. Vatutin, decided to bring tank corps into battle, which made it possible to finally crack the Romanian defense and develop the offensive.
On the Don Front, especially fierce battles unfolded in the offensive zone of the right-flank formations of the 65th Army. The first two lines of enemy trenches, passing along the coastal hills, were captured on the move. However, decisive battles unfolded behind the third line, which took place along the chalk heights. They were a powerful defense center. The location of the heights made it possible to fire at all the approaches to them with crossfire. All the hollows and steep slopes of the heights were mined and covered with barbed wire, and the approaches to them crossed deep and winding ravines. The Soviet infantry that reached this line was forced to lie down under heavy fire from the dismounted units of the Romanian cavalry division, reinforced by German units.
The enemy carried out violent counterattacks, trying to push the attackers back to their original position. At that moment it was not possible to get around the heights, and after a powerful artillery raid, the soldiers of the 304th Infantry Division stormed the enemy fortifications. Despite the hurricane of machine-gun and automatic fire, by 4 p.m. the enemy's stubborn resistance had been broken.
As a result of the first day of the offensive, the troops of the Southwestern Front achieved the greatest success. They broke through the defenses in two areas: southwest of the city of Serafimovich and in the Kletskaya area. A gap up to 16 km wide was formed in the enemy defenses.
On November 20, south of Stalingrad, the Stalingrad Front went on the offensive. This came as a complete surprise to the Germans. The offensive of the Stalingrad Front also began in adverse weather conditions.
It was decided to begin artillery preparation in each army as soon as the necessary conditions for this were created. It was necessary to abandon its simultaneous conduct on the scale of the front, however, as well as from aviation training. Due to limited visibility, it was necessary to fire at unobservable targets, with the exception of those guns that were launched for direct fire. Despite this, the enemy's fire system was largely disrupted.
Soviet soldiers are fighting in the streets. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
After the artillery preparation, which lasted 40-75 minutes, the formations of the 51st and 57th armies went on the offensive.
Having broken through the defenses of the 4th Romanian army and repelled numerous counterattacks, they began to develop success in the western direction. By the middle of the day, conditions were created for the introduction of army mobile groups into the breakthrough.
The rifle formations of the armies advanced after the mobile groups, consolidating the success achieved.
To close the gap, the command of the 4th Romanian army had to bring into battle its last reserve - two regiments of the 8th cavalry division. But even this could not save the situation. The front collapsed, and the remnants of the Romanian troops fled.
The incoming reports painted a bleak picture: the front was cut, the Romanians were fleeing the battlefield, the counterattack of the 48th Panzer Corps was thwarted.
The Red Army went on the offensive south of Stalingrad, and the 4th Romanian Army, which was defending there, was defeated.
The Luftwaffe command reported that due to bad weather, aviation could not support ground troops. On the operational maps, the prospect of encirclement of the 6th Wehrmacht Army clearly loomed. The red arrows of the blows of the Soviet troops hung dangerously over its flanks and were about to close in the area between the Volga and the Don. In the course of almost continuous meetings at Hitler's headquarters, there was a feverish search for a way out of the situation. It was necessary to urgently make a decision about the fate of the 6th Army. Hitler himself, as well as Keitel and Jodl, considered it necessary to hold positions in the Stalingrad region and confine themselves to a regrouping of forces. The leadership of the OKH and the command of Army Group "B" found the only way to avoid disaster in withdrawing the troops of the 6th Army beyond the Don. However, Hitler's position was categorical. As a result, it was decided to transfer two tank divisions from the North Caucasus to Stalingrad.
The Wehrmacht command still hoped to stop the offensive of the Soviet troops with counterattacks by tank formations. The 6th Army was ordered to stay where it was. Hitler assured her command that he would not allow the encirclement of the army, and if it did happen, he would take all measures to unblock it.
While the German command was looking for ways to prevent the impending catastrophe, the Soviet troops developed the success achieved. A unit of the 26th Panzer Corps, during a daring night operation, managed to capture the only surviving crossing over the Don near the town of Kalach. The capture of this bridge was of great operational importance. The rapid overcoming of this large water barrier by the Soviet troops ensured the successful completion of the operation to encircle the enemy troops near Stalingrad.
By the end of November 22, the troops of the Stalingrad and Southwestern fronts were separated by only 20-25 km. On the evening of November 22, Stalin ordered the commander of the Stalingrad Front, Yeryomenko, to join tomorrow with the advanced troops of the Southwestern Front, which had reached Kalach, and close the encirclement.
Anticipating such a development of events and in order to prevent the complete encirclement of the 6th field army, the German command urgently transferred the 14th tank corps to the area east of Kalach. Throughout the night of November 23 and the first half of the next day, units of the Soviet 4th mechanized corps held back the onslaught of enemy tank units rushing south and did not let them through.
The commander of the 6th Army already at 18 o'clock on November 22 radioed to the headquarters of Army Group "B" that the army was surrounded, the situation with ammunition was critical, fuel supplies were running out, and food was enough for only 12 days. Since the command of the Wehrmacht on the Don did not have any forces that could release the encircled army, Paulus turned to the Headquarters with a request for an independent breakthrough from the encirclement. However, his request went unanswered.
Red Army soldier with a banner. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Instead, he was ordered to immediately go to the boiler, where to organize an all-round defense and wait for help from outside.
On November 23, the troops of all three fronts continued the offensive. On this day, the operation reached its climax.
Two brigades of the 26th Panzer Corps crossed the Don and launched an offensive against Kalach in the morning. A stubborn battle ensued. The enemy fiercely resisted, realizing the importance of holding this city. Nevertheless, by 2 p.m., he was driven out of Kalach, which housed the main supply base for the entire Stalingrad group. All the numerous warehouses with fuel, ammunition, food and other military equipment located there were either destroyed by the Germans themselves or captured by Soviet troops.
At about 4 p.m. on November 23, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts met in the Sovetsky area, thus completing the encirclement of the enemy's Stalingrad grouping. Despite the fact that instead of the planned two or three days, the operation took five days, the success was achieved.
An oppressive atmosphere reigned at Hitler's headquarters after the news of the encirclement of the 6th Army was received. Despite the obviously disastrous situation of the 6th Army, Hitler did not even want to hear about the abandonment of Stalingrad, because. in this case, all the successes of the summer offensive in the south would have been nullified, and with them all hopes for conquering the Caucasus would have disappeared. In addition, it was believed that the battle with the superior forces of Soviet troops in the open field, in harsh winter conditions, with limited vehicles, fuel and ammunition, had too little chance of a favorable outcome. Therefore, it is better to gain a foothold in the positions occupied and strive to unblock the grouping. This point of view was supported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Reichsmarschall G. Goering, who assured the Fuhrer that his aviation would provide air supply to the encircled group. On the morning of November 24, the 6th Army was ordered to take up an all-round defense and wait for a deblocking offensive from the outside.
Violent passions also flared up at the headquarters of the 6th Army on November 23. The encirclement ring around the 6th Army had just closed, and a decision had to be made urgently. There was still no response to Paulus's radiogram, in which he requested "freedom of action". But Paulus hesitated to take responsibility for the breakthrough. By his order, the corps commanders gathered for a meeting at the army headquarters in order to work out a plan for further actions.
Commander of the 51st Army Corps General W. Seidlitz-Kurzbach called for an immediate breakthrough. He was supported by the commander of the 14th Panzer Corps General G. Hube.
But most of the corps commanders, led by the chief of staff of the army General A. Schmidt spoke out against. Things got to the point that in the course of a heated dispute, the infuriated commander of the 8th Army Corps General W. Gates threatened to personally shoot Seydlitz if he insisted on disobeying the Fuhrer. In the end, everyone agreed that Hitler should be approached for permission to break through. At 23:45, such a radiogram was sent. The answer came the next morning. In it, the troops of the 6th Army, surrounded in Stalingrad, were called "troops of the fortress of Stalingrad", and the breakthrough was denied. Paulus again gathered the corps commanders and brought them the order of the Fuhrer.
Some of the generals tried to express their counterarguments, but the army commander rejected all objections.
An urgent transfer of troops from Stalingrad began to the western sector of the front. In a short time, the enemy managed to create a grouping of six divisions. In order to pin down his forces in Stalingrad itself, on November 23, the 62nd Army of General V.I. Chuikov went on the offensive. Its troops attacked the Germans on the Mamayev Kurgan and in the area of the Krasny Oktyabr plant, but met with fierce resistance. The depth of their advancement during the day did not exceed 100-200 m.
By November 24, the encirclement was thin, an attempt to break through it could bring success, it was only necessary to remove troops from the Volga front. But Paulus was a too cautious and indecisive person, a general who was used to obeying and accurately weighing his actions. He obeyed the order. Subsequently, he confessed to the officers of his headquarters: “It is possible that the daredevil Reichenau after November 19, he would have made his way to the west with the 6th Army and then told Hitler: "Now you can judge me." But, you know, unfortunately, I'm not Reichenau."
On November 27, the Fuhrer ordered Field Marshal von Manstein prepare the deblockade of the 6th field army. Hitler relied on new heavy tanks - "Tigers", hoping that they would be able to break through the encirclement from the outside. Despite the fact that these machines had not yet been tested in combat and no one knew how they would behave in the conditions of the Russian winter, he believed that even one battalion of "Tigers" could radically change the situation near Stalingrad.
While Manstein received reinforcements from the Caucasus and prepared the operation, Soviet troops expanded the outer ring and fortified it. When on December 12 Panzer Group Gotha made a breakthrough, it was able to break through the positions of the Soviet troops, and its advanced units were separated from Paulus by less than 50 km. But Hitler forbade Friedrich Paulus to expose the Volga Front and, leaving Stalingrad, to make his way towards the “tigers” of Goth, which finally decided the fate of the 6th Army.
By January 1943, the enemy was driven back from the Stalingrad "cauldron" by 170-250 km. The death of the encircled troops became inevitable. Almost the entire territory occupied by them was shot through by Soviet artillery fire. Despite Goering's promise, in practice, the average daily aviation capacity in supplying the 6th Army could not exceed 100 tons instead of the required 500. In addition, the delivery of goods to the encircled groups in Stalingrad and other "boilers" caused huge losses in German aviation.
The ruins of the fountain "Barmaley" - which has become one of the symbols of Stalingrad. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
On January 10, 1943, Colonel General Paulus, despite the hopeless situation of his army, refused to capitulate, trying to tie down the Soviet troops surrounding him as much as possible. On the same day, the Red Army launched an operation to destroy the 6th field army of the Wehrmacht. In the last days of January, Soviet troops pushed the remnants of Paulus's army into a small area of the completely destroyed city and dismembered the Wehrmacht units that continued to defend. On January 24, 1943, General Paulus sent one of the last radiograms to Hitler, in which he reported that the group was on the verge of destruction and offered to evacuate valuable specialists. Hitler again forbade the remnants of the 6th Army to break through to his own and refused to take out of the "cauldron" anyone except the wounded.
On the night of January 31, the 38th motorized rifle brigade and the 329th sapper battalion blocked the area of the department store where Paulus' headquarters was located. The last radio message received by the commander of the 6th Army was an order for his promotion to field marshal, which the headquarters regarded as an invitation to suicide. Early in the morning, two Soviet parliamentarians made their way into the basement of a dilapidated building and handed over an ultimatum to the field marshal. In the afternoon, Paulus rose to the surface and went to the headquarters of the Don Front, where Rokossovsky was waiting for him with the text of surrender. However, despite the fact that the field marshal surrendered and signed the capitulation, in the northern part of Stalingrad the German garrison under the command of Colonel General Stecker refused to accept the terms of surrender and was destroyed by concentrated heavy artillery fire. At 16.00 on February 2, 1943, the terms of surrender of the 6th field army of the Wehrmacht came into force.
The Hitlerite government declared mourning in the country.
For three days, the funeral ringing of church bells sounded over German cities and villages.
Since the Great Patriotic War, Soviet historical literature has claimed that a 330,000-strong enemy grouping was surrounded in the Stalingrad area, although this figure is not confirmed by any documentary data.
The point of view of the German side on this issue is ambiguous. However, with all the scatter of opinions, the figure of 250-280 thousand people is most often called. This figure is consistent with the total number of evacuees (25,000), captured (91,000), and enemy soldiers killed and buried in the battle area (about 160,000). The vast majority of those who surrendered also died from hypothermia and typhus, and after almost 12 years in Soviet camps, only 6,000 people returned to their homeland.
Kotelnikovsky operation Having completed the encirclement of a large grouping of German troops near Stalingrad, the troops of the 51st Army of the Stalingrad Front (commander - Colonel-General A. I. Eremenko) in November 1942 came from the north to the approaches to the village of Kotelnikovsky, where they entrenched themselves and went on the defensive.
The German command made every effort to break through the corridor to the 6th Army surrounded by Soviet troops. For this purpose, in early December, in the area of the village. Kotelnikovsky, an attack group was created consisting of 13 divisions (including 3 tank and 1 motorized) and a number of reinforcement units under the command of Colonel-General G. Goth - the Goth army group. The group included a battalion of heavy Tiger tanks, which were first used on the southern sector of the Soviet-German front. In the direction of the main attack, which was delivered along the Kotelnikovsky-Stalingrad railway, the enemy managed to create a temporary advantage over the defending troops of the 51st Army in men and artillery by 2 times, and in terms of the number of tanks - more than 6 times.
They broke through the defenses of the Soviet troops and on the second day they reached the area of the village of Verkhnekumsky. In order to divert part of the forces of the shock group, on December 14, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Nizhnechirskaya, the 5th Shock Army of the Stalingrad Front went on the offensive. She broke through the German defenses and captured the village, but the position of the 51st Army remained difficult. The enemy continued the offensive, while the army and the front no longer had any reserves left. The Soviet Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, in an effort to prevent the enemy from breaking through and releasing the encircled German troops, allocated the 2nd Guards Army and a mechanized corps from its reserve to reinforce the Stalingrad Front, setting them the task of defeating the enemy strike force.
On December 19, having suffered significant losses, the Goth group reached the Myshkova River. 35-40 km remained to the encircled grouping, however, Paulus's troops were ordered to remain in their positions and not strike back, and Goth could no longer move further.
On December 24, having jointly created approximately double superiority over the enemy, the 2nd Guards and 51st Armies, with the assistance of part of the forces of the 5th Shock Army, went on the offensive. The 2nd Guards Army delivered the main blow towards the Kotelnikov group with fresh forces. The 51st Army was advancing on Kotelnikovsky from the east, while enveloping the Gotha group from the south with tank and mechanized corps. On the first day of the offensive, the troops of the 2nd Guards Army broke through the enemy's battle formations and captured the crossings across the Myshkova River. Mobile formations were introduced into the breakthrough, which began to rapidly move towards Kotelnikovsky.
On December 27, the 7th Panzer Corps came out to Kotelnikovsky from the west, and the 6th Mechanized Corps bypassed Kotelnikovsky from the southeast. At the same time, the tank and mechanized corps of the 51st Army cut off the enemy grouping's escape route to the southwest. Continuous strikes against the retreating enemy troops were carried out by aircraft of the 8th Air Army. On December 29, Kotelnikovsky was released and the threat of an enemy breakthrough was finally eliminated.
As a result of the Soviet counter-offensive, the enemy's attempt to release the 6th Army encircled near Stalingrad was thwarted, and the German troops were thrown back from the outer front of the encirclement by 200-250 km.
During the Great Patriotic War, the talent of a whole galaxy of outstanding Soviet military leaders was clearly revealed - Georgy Zhukov, Konstantin Rokossovsky, Ivan Konev and many others.
In this series, a special place is occupied by Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov. Fate was destined for him to be in the very epicenter of the turning point of the war - the Battle of Stalingrad.
The biography of Vasily Chuikov is an example of the implementation of the principle "who was nobody, he will become everything." He was born on February 12, 1900 in the Moscow region, in Serebryanye Prudy, into a poor peasant family, whose main wealth was children - as many as 13.
At the age of 7, Vasya was sent to a parochial school, after four classes of which he "came out into the people" - he went to work in Petrograd. At the age of 12, he was already working as a master's apprentice in a spur workshop.
In September 1917, at the height of the war, the workshop closed, and Vasily's elder brothers, who served in the Baltic Fleet, advised him to volunteer for the fleet. So in the fall of 1917, Vasily Chuikov became the cabin boy of the mine training detachment of the Baltic Fleet.
The October Revolution did not put before the young sailor a choice with whom he was. Chuikov's whole short life brought him into the ranks of the Bolsheviks.
Two orders and four wounds
In 1918, Chuikov, a cadet of the 1st Moscow military instructor course, was already suppressing a counter-revolutionary rebellion in the capital. And then the difficult situation at the front forced the command to send cadets into the heat of battle.
At the age of 19, Vasily Chuikov replaced the regiment commander wounded in battle and fought in this position until 1921.
During the Civil War, he was wounded four times, awarded 2 Orders of the Red Banner, personalized gold watches and gold weapons.
After the end of the Civil War, he studied at the Military Academy, then studied at a special Oriental faculty.
In 1927, Chuikov was sent as a military adviser to China. After two years of work, he returns to the USSR, where he continues to constantly study the most advanced trends in modern military art.
Chuikov holds the positions of brigade commander, commander of a rifle corps, participates in the Polish campaign and the Soviet-Finnish war.
From China to Stalingrad
In 1940, Chuikov, who received the rank of lieutenant general, was appointed to the post of Soviet military attaché to the Chinese army of Chiang Kai-shek.
Chuikov faced the most difficult task - to unite the forces of the communists and supporters of the Kuomintang at war with each other for a joint struggle against the Japanese militarists. After the United States entered World War II, Chiang Kai-shek begins to rely on American assistance, which makes Chuikov's mission inappropriate.
General Chuikov himself was only glad of this recall - he had long sought to be sent to the active army.
However, to begin with, Chuikov is sent near Tula, where he is engaged in the formation of a reserve army. At the beginning of July, the reserve army was sent to the region of the big bend of the Don, to the Stalingrad Front.
Prior to the appointment of the army commander, Chuikov actually performs his functions, and then leads the group of the 64th army, leading the defense in the southern sector.
Chuikov still no one knows in the case - neither their own, nor the Germans. And he carefully studies the actions of the enemy, looking for weaknesses, while some of the victorious pace of the Nazis in the summer of 1942 plunges into a real panic.
RIA Novosti / Georgy Zelma
Master of surprises
Chuikov notes that German generals prefer to act according to patterns that have already brought success, and any non-standard response actions unsettle them.
Later, Vasily Ivanovich wrote: “To observe the enemy, to study his strengths and weaknesses, to know his habits means to fight with him with open eyes, to catch his mistakes and not expose your weak points to a dangerous blow.”
Meanwhile, our troops had plenty of weak points. The enemy had an advantage not only in experience, but also in technology and radio communications. Under these conditions, putting the Germans in an uncomfortable position is an almost impossible task.
Chuikov, however, coped with it. At dawn, the enemy, who had prepared for the offensive, was suddenly dealt a powerful blow by Soviet artillery. The Germans, having suffered significant losses, took countermeasures, but the next time “greetings from Chuikov” did not arrive in the morning, but before sunset, when the actions of German aviation were paralyzed.
The general bribed his fighters with personal courage. In July 1942, Chuikov flew out to determine the position of troops on a U-2 aircraft. Suddenly, a German fighter from out of nowhere chased after the Soviet intelligence officer. The pursuit ended with the fall of the U-2, however, both Chuikov and the pilot, unlike the aircraft, survived and continued the war.
Vasily Chuikov. 1942 Photo: RIA Novosti / Oleg Knorring
With cane and gloves
The command nevertheless looked at Chuikov with suspicion. The experience of working as a military attache taught him to be diplomatic and correct behavior, which seemed pretentious to some at the front. Member of the Military Council of the Stalingrad Front and future Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev considered the general arrogant and endowed with bourgeois habits - Chuikov allegedly walked with a stack (thin cane) and white gloves.
As for the stack, it was simply more convenient for Chuikov to walk with it, since old wounds bothered him and the cane served as an additional support.
And for white gloves, they even took bandages on their hands. The fact is that during the Battle of Stalingrad, the general developed severe eczema from nervous overstrain, and he needed daily dressings.
However, the sidelong glances faded rather quickly. Chuikov proved himself to be the best, and it was he who in September 1942 was entrusted with the defense of the city blocks of Stalingrad.
Chuikov vs. Paulus: duel in Stalingrad
On September 12, 1942, Vasily Chuikov was appointed commander of the 62nd Army with an order to keep Stalingrad at all costs.
The position of the 62nd Army at that time was the most difficult - it was cut off from the rest of the forces of the front and was forced to defend Stalingrad, being pressed to the Volga.
Chuikov knew how to make the most of the resources at his disposal and find non-trivial solutions.
In order to minimize the effectiveness of enemy aviation operations, the positions of the Soviet units were pulled close to the Germans - so much so that the bombing caused damage to the German units as well.
The headquarters were also pulled up to the front line - Chuikov insisted that the fighters in these conditions should constantly see their commanders, understand that they were not left to the mercy of fate. Privates often saw in the trenches at the forefront and the army commander himself.
It was Chuikov who found the most effective tactics in the conditions of street battles - they began to be conducted mainly not by the forces of linear units, but by specially created assault groups, which were given sappers, anti-tank weapons, and a large number of grenades. Assault groups acted unexpectedly for the enemy, inflicting heavy damage on him.
The general taught his subordinates that a completely passive defense leads to defeat, so the soldiers of the 62nd Army exhausted the Nazis with constant counterattacks, suddenly repulsing the buildings that had just been occupied by the Nazis with great difficulty and losses.
Chuikov noted the importance of sniper action in street fighting, and the enemy suffered heavy losses from the actions of Soviet sniper groups.
Friedrich Paulus, the brilliant commander, commander of the 6th German army, did not manage to pick up the keys to the "Chuikov defense". The Nazis were firmly stuck in the destroyed quarters of Stalingrad.
Marshal Vasily Chuikov. Photo: RIA Novosti / G. Weil
Impossible is possible
The 62nd Army also took part in the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops, which ended in the complete defeat of the Nazi group.
In April 1943, the 62nd Army for courage and heroism in the defense of Stalingrad received the honorary name of the 8th Guards. Vasily Chuikov himself was presented with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but in the end he was awarded the Order of Suvorov, I degree.
Vasily Chuikov remained commander of the 8th Guards Army until the very end of the war. He continued to find extraordinary and non-standard solutions - during the assault on Zaporozhye, General Chuikov initiated a unique night attack by the forces of three combined arms armies, tank and mechanized corps, which ended in complete success.
It is difficult to list all the military triumphs of Chuikov at the final stage of the war; it is worth dwelling only on the main ones. During the Vistula-Oder operation, Chuikov's guards quickly captured the Magnushevsky bridgehead, which ensured the further development of the offensive.
Sometimes Chuikov even did the impossible: the 8th Guards Army simultaneously took the Polish city of Poznan and participated in the capture of the Kustrinsky bridgehead on the western bank of the Oder.
Berlin surrendered to Chuikov
During the Berlin operation, the 8th Guards Army operated in the main direction of attack of the 1st Belorussian Front. Chuikov's soldiers broke through the enemy's defenses on the Seelow Heights and broke into the Nazi capital.
In Berlin, the Stalingrad experience came in handy - the newly formed assault groups destroyed the last lines of German defense.
On May 2, 1945, the last commander of the defense of Berlin, General Weidling, arrived at the command post of General Chuikov and signed the surrender of the Berlin garrison.
Chuikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union twice - in March 1944 for the heroism and courage shown in the battles for the liberation of Southern Ukraine, and in April 1945 - for the heroism and courage shown during the Vistula-Oder operation.
Until 1953, Chuikov remained in Germany, holding various positions in the command of a grouping of Soviet troops, including the post of head of the Soviet military administration in Germany.
In 1955, Vasily Chuikov was promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union, and in 1960 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, the highest post in his military career. It was in this position that Chuikov was one of the military leaders of the secret operation "Anadyr" - the delivery of Soviet missiles with atomic weapons to Cuba.
Marshal's testament
Marshal Chuikov retired in 1972, but until the last days the army remained for him the main business of life.
Vasily Ivanovich was an honorary citizen of two cities with which he was closely connected by the war - Volgograd and Berlin. In united Germany, they hastened to forget about Chuikov - he was deprived of the title of honorary citizen of the German capital in September 1992. Volgograd never forgot the name of the general whose soldiers defended it in 1942, just as the commander himself never forgot the main city of his destiny.
In July 1981, Marshal Chuikov sent a letter to the Central Committee of the CPSU, which said: “Feeling the approach of the end of my life, I, in full consciousness, make a request: after my death, bury the ashes on Mamayev Kurgan in Stalingrad, where I organized on September 12, 1942 my command post ... From that place one can hear the roar of the Volga waters, volleys of guns and the pain of the Stalingrad ruins, thousands of soldiers whom I commanded are buried there ... "
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov died on March 18, 1982. His last will was fulfilled - the hero of the Battle of Stalingrad was interred on the Mamaev Kurgan, at the foot of the Motherland monument, next to his comrades.
These days the word - Stalingrad - has become like a greeting exchanged by honest people in all corners of the globe. And everyone who hates Hitler's Germany and her barbarian hordes thinks admiringly of the valiant 62nd Army defending the mighty city on the Volga with a military splendor never before seen in the history of mankind.
The People's Commissariat of Defense went to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a request to establish special medals to reward all participants in the defense of the four hero cities. The petition, which mentions the armies defending Stalingrad, emphasizes the special role of the 62nd Army, which repelled the main German attacks on the city, its commander, Lieutenant General Chuikov and his main assistants - Colonel Gorokhov, Major General Rodimtsev, Major General Guryev, Colonel Bolvinov, Colonel Gurtiev, Colonel Saraev, Colonel Skvortsov and others, as well as gunners and pilots.
At all times, in the armies of all peoples, there were glorified, elite units. The men-at-arms of Alexander the Great, the veterans of Turenne, the old grenadiers of Napoleon, the seasoned soldiers of Wellington, more than once decided the fate of the battle where other troops were powerless to succeed. These experienced warriors took to the battlefields in the halo of their sparkling glory, fully armed with many years of experience. The Red Army is young. Its regiments were tempered in the fire of the Patriotic War and, like steel that passed through the crucible of a demanding master, turned into a formidable and noble sword of the people.
But so lofty is the goal of our struggle against the enemy, and so viable are the principles of the Bolshevik military organization, that every day of battle brings forward more and more combat formations into the ranks of the Soviet first-class troops. In the young Red Army, the 62nd Army is one of the youngest in terms of age and already the most deserved in terms of its military skills. Its actions in Stalingrad show the mighty strength of our reserve formations. With the firm hand of a brilliant sculptor, our fatherland is carving out of the granite of folk material, unshakable Soviet troops. That's it!
It came to Stalingrad in those days when only a thin line of our troops blocked the way forward for the enemy divisions. The ability for lightning-fast maneuver was the first thing that the 62nd Army showed at that critical time. Only flexible maneuverability could save the situation then. And the army skillfully transferred its battalions and regiments along the front, was not afraid to withdraw units from one sector and send them to where they were most needed at that very moment. The army skillfully plugged the gaps into which the enemy force was already ready to pour, broke the enemy's wedges, forced him to feverishly rush in all directions in front of the city defense line that was just being created. The Germans, confident that they would take Stalingrad on the move, were forced to stop in front of dozens of deadly steel needles, which alternately and from different sides bristled the battle formation of the army.
The Germans firmly believed that the city would soon fall. They were mesmerized by the power of their technique. From the experience of the wars of the past, they knew that for a long time, since large armies with their powerful artillery learned how to mechanically destroy strong fortifications, the cities lost the desire to gamble their forces only in order to delay surrender for some time. But the general course of the Red Army's battles with the Germans showed that Soviet cities play an enormous role in our defense system, as knots linking the strategic fabric of the entire war. This happened with Stalingrad. First of all, thanks to the 62nd Army, the city became a real shield against the German offensive, blocking their way to our Volga and Ural rear.
Having occupied the defense lines, the 62nd army did not retreat from them a single step. “Our army is not retreating,” say its fighters, who nicknamed their army commander “General Perseverance.” How to "explain the fact that some streets were in the hands of the enemy? And in response to this question, the greatest courage of the soldiers of the 62nd army is revealed, their contempt for death in the name of victory. A large city building. They withstood dozens of fierce German attacks. Who is retreated? Nobody. Only some time later, one seriously wounded Red Army soldier crawled out of the building. The rest of the battalion's people laid down their heads to the last, and only after that the Germans moved forward. The battalion did not retreat, it remained in place. The soldiers of the 62nd army did not retreat!
Who now does not know about the unparalleled courage of four armor-piercers - Boloto, Aleinikov, Samoilov and Belikov,! These are the defenders of Stalingrad, the fighters of the 62nd Army! Throughout our country and beyond its borders, the feat of 33 Soviet soldiers who repelled a fierce attack by 70 fascist armored vehicles is known. These are the defenders of Stalingrad, the fighters of the 62nd Army! What these heroes did is not an exception, but the law of the behavior of army soldiers who decided to die, but not to retreat, not to surrender the city to the enemy, where every stone is sacred to the Soviet people. Sniper Vasily Zaitsev, who exterminated 40 Nazis, while receiving a government award, said: “Please tell Comrade Stalin that there is no land beyond the Volga for us, the soldiers and commanders of the 62nd Army. We ".
The army carried out a truly active defense. Not only did she not retreat and to the end held the occupied lines. Reflecting the attacks of the enemy, units of the 62nd Army themselves attacked him, made bold sorties, took the initiative into their own hands and forced the enemy to defend. 62 the army forever left in the history of military art not only examples of active defense, but also itself as a whole, as an extraordinary military organism that developed perfect forms of street fighting that had never been used before. She brought to the level of a high military class the protection of buildings, dilapidated walls, individual floors, rooms and even stairs, using all kinds of technical means of struggle. Passing through the harsh school of military experience, the young army at the same time created a university of urban combat by its actions.
The military theorist of the past, Clausewitz, wrote: “If there were such a country where populated areas were defended by their inhabitants and neighboring peasants, then in this country the speed of the course of the war would be so weakened, and the attacked people would put pressure on the scales with such a large part of all efforts. which he is capable of, that the talent and willpower of the enemy commander would be completely suppressed. Yes, such a country exists! This is our Soviet Union. When the 62nd Army approached Stalingrad, numerous detachments formed from volunteers - Stalingrad workers - completely joined the part of Colonels Sarayev, Gorokhov and General Rodimtsev. Yesterday's locksmiths, blacksmiths, carpenters became harsh warriors, the first in courage, courage and heroism. Having dissolved in the mass of fighters, they formed together with them that noble metal alloy, which turned out to be able to withstand any test.
The commanders of the units of the 62nd Army are genuine Soviet military leaders who have mastered the science of driving troops, and skillfully led the battles. The formation of Colonel Gorokhov, almost completely surrounded on a patch of Volga land, for a long time skillfully beat off the blows of the enemy and paralyzed all his efforts to achieve the slightest success. Now, after a month and a half siege, the formation has received a strong interaction with its neighbor and is already attacking the enemy itself. The military talents of Generals Rodimtsev and Guryev, Colonels Bolvinov, Gurtyev and Skvortsov also played a huge role in the successful defense of the city. Their names are now repeated with great gratitude by the Soviet country.
The steadfastness of the 62nd Army, which struck the whole world, made it possible for our command to gather strength, go on the offensive and inflict a heavy defeat on the Nazi hordes. The enemy is still holding out in Stalingrad, the street battles are still thundering, the German submachine gunners are still snooping around, like, among the destroyed houses, the clang of enemy tanks is still heard in the streets of Stalingrad, but the valiant 62nd Army is already clearing the Nazis one house after another, meter by meter.
The glory of the 62nd army will survive the centuries. Years will pass. The battlefields torn apart by shells will grow with green grass, new bright buildings will grow in free Stalingrad, and the veteran warrior will proudly say:
Yes, I fought under the banner of the valiant 62nd!
_______________________________
("The New York Times", USA)
* ("Red Star", USSR)
("The Times", UK)
("The New York Times", USA)
("The New York Times", USA)
("The New York Times", USA)
* ("Red Star", USSR)
* ("Izvestia", USSR)
NORTH-WEST OF STALINGRAD
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Churchill's speech on the radio
LONDON, 30 November. (TASS). According to Reuters, in his speech on the radio on the evening of November 29, Churchill said:
… “There was no need for the Italian people to go to war. Nobody was going to attack him. We did everything we could to convince him to remain neutral. But Mussolini could not resist the temptation to stab in the back the defeated France and England, which he considered powerless. In vain I warned him. He didn't want to listen. The wise and far-sighted appeals of the President of the United States came across deaf ears and a heart of stone. Hyena by nature, Mussolini violates all boundaries of decency, not to mention common sense. Today his empire is gone. Over 100 Italian generals and almost 300,000 soldiers are in our hands as prisoners of war. Agony covers a beautiful country - Italy "...
The gigantic battle, which has already brought results of paramount importance, is approaching its climax. It should be remembered that this is only part of the vast Russian front stretching from the White to the Black Sea, and on this front the Russians attack at many points. The second Russian winter. 180 German divisions, many reduced to brigade size by loss and deprivation, and an army of miserable Italians, Romanians and Hungarians, torn from their homes in a maniac's fantasy, retreating, staggering, under the fire and lead of Soviet avenging armies, must prepare with weakened strength and increased fear of a new portion of what they already received by the last year. They can console themselves with the knowledge that they are commanded and led not by the General Staff, but by Corporal Hitler himself.
MUSSOLINI REMOVES "UNRELIABLE ELEMENTS" FROM THE ITALIAN ARMY
LONDON, 30 November. (TASS). The News Chronicle, referring to reliable information received in London, reports that the Italian fascist authorities are removing "unreliable elements" from the Italian army. Recently, 570 handcuffed Italian soldiers were brought under heavy police protection to the port city of Civita Vecchia, near Rome. They were brought to the city in the dead of night and immediately transferred to the Polluche transport ship. According to reports, soldiers sentenced to 15-20 years in prison are sent to the small island of Asinara (off the northwestern coast of Sardinia). A special prison has been set up there for soldiers accused of "subversion." This prison is a real "house of death".
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NORTH-WEST OF STALINGRAD. The fighters of the unit commanded by Colonel Shekhtman occupy the settlement.
Snapshot special photocorr. TASS newsreels by E. Evzerikhin 
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STALINGRAD FRONT, 30 November. (By telegraph from our correspondent). In the northern part of Stalingrad, the enemy, without showing much activity, fired machine guns and mortars. Our units advanced in small groups in separate sectors in order to improve their positions. In the area of the plant, one of our blocking detachments took possession of three dugouts, destroying up to 70 Nazis in the process. The detachment operating in the neighborhood exterminated up to 100 fascist soldiers and officers.
Our artillery inflicts great damage on the enemy. Yesterday the gunners, firing mainly at direct fire, destroyed 3 enemy cannons, 9 machine guns and 2 vehicles, destroyed 11 bunkers and 15 dugouts, dispersed and partially consumed up to 3 enemy infantry battalions.
South of the city center, our troops, overcoming the stubborn resistance of the Germans, are actively fighting. The enemy has been heavily damaged. In the area southwest of Stalingrad, our units continued to conduct offensive battles. The enemy offered stubborn resistance and went into frequent counterattacks with the participation of tanks. The Germans launched the strongest counterattack in the area of one settlement. Here they threw into battle up to an infantry battalion and 30 tanks. The counterattack was repulsed. The enemy lost up to 150 soldiers and officers killed and seven tanks, of which four were burned and three were knocked out.
Some time later, the Germans again repeated the counterattack in this area, but it also was not successful. Having lost up to 200 soldiers and officers killed and four tanks, the Nazis retreated to their original position.
Along the railroad running southwest of the city, Soviet troops continued to pursue the retreating enemy groups and fought with his rearguards. A number of settlements are occupied. In all other sectors, our troops were entrenched on the achieved lines.
Bold raid on enemy positions
BRYANSK FRONT, 30 November. (by telegraph). At dawn, a group of our machine gunners, consisting of eight people, under the command of senior sergeant Borisov, cautiously approached the wire fence of the Germans. The commander examined the previously made passage and let them know that it was possible to go further. The wire was left behind, the German trenches were not far away, and the soldiers soon began to crawl forward.
Here is the enemy dugout. A sleepy German came out of there. Senior Sergeant Borisov threw a grenade at him, laying the fascist on the spot. This was the signal to attack. The machine gunners immediately rushed to the dugout and threw grenades at it.
A commotion arose in the camp of the enemy, indiscriminate firing from machine guns and machine guns began. 12 Germans ran out of the neighboring dugout. Our machine gunners met them with point-blank fire and grenades. On the left, in the course of the message, 15 fascists tried to go to the rear of a group of daredevils. The Red Army soldier Smorkalov noticed the enemy's trick in a timely manner. He threw a grenade and destroyed four Nazis. Soon this group of Germans was also dispersed.
Having completed the task, the submachine gunners retreated to their positions under the cover of machine-gun fire.
FIGHTING ACTIVITIES OF EXCELLENT SHOOTS
NORTH-WESTERN FRONT, November 30. (by telegraph). On one of the sections of the North-Western Front, snipers and excellent shooters every day. Only in the last four days they destroyed 373 fascists.
Every day, new groups of fighters go to the forefront to hunt down the enemy. Their well-aimed bullets lie in wait for the Germans at every turn. Taking a comfortable position, comrade. Vasiliev killed five fascists in one day, exterminated the same number of comrade. Mitenkov. The fighters Patrushenko and Kurochkin destroyed seven Germans in two days.
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Field repair of tanks
VORONEZH FRONT, November 30. (By telegraph from our correspondent). The repair unit under the command of Major Augustov gained wide popularity in the operating units. In the days of the autumn battles, repairmen in the field quickly restored tanks that failed. Under the leadership of Major Augustov and his assistant for the technical part, Captain Lobachev, in three weeks the soldiers carried out current and medium repairs of 150 tanks, returning them to service. Many of these machines several times participated in hot battles near Voronezh.
Repair of optical devices is well organized in the subdivision. Junior military technician Tatarenko collects lenses from broken optical sights, cleans them and puts them into action. In one month, he assembled 23 optical sights. The repair of tank guns has been adjusted in the same way. Technician Lieutenant Sinitsyn and foreman Korotenko are restoring broken guns, changing barrels, sorting out mechanisms.
Every month, the subdivision overhauls tank engines and vehicles beyond plan. In a short time, it restored about 600 different combat and auxiliary vehicles.
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DESIGN LENIN ROOM
SERVICE ARMY, 30 November. (By telegraph from our correspondent). For the upcoming seminar of army agitators, the House of the Red Army of the N formation operating in the Voronezh region equipped a demonstration Lenin's room. This room is a model for a battalion Leninist dugout.
On the walls hang boards with materials for Comrade Stalin's report of November 6, 1942. There is a board for, here is a map of the North African theater of operations, newspaper clippings on the current moment, a shield with portraits of the heroes of our front. The walls are decorated with slogans and posters. There is also a map of the world and a map of the Soviet Union.
On the tables are the latest editions of the Library of the Red Army. On other tables there are chess, checkers, dominoes.
The agitators who arrived from the units willingly visit and examine with interest the exemplary Lenin's room.
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NORTH-WEST OF STALINGRAD. Military equipment of the enemy, defeated by our troops.
Snapshot special photocorr. TASS newsreels by E. Evzerikhin 
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From the Soviet Information Bureau
In the northern part of the city of Stalingrad, large enemy infantry forces attacked our positions. With a counterattack, the Soviet soldiers threw the Nazis back to their original positions, while destroying 450 enemy soldiers and officers. In the factory settlement, the N-th unit exterminated 200 Nazis and knocked out 2 German tanks.
Northwest of Stalingrad, our troops, overcoming enemy resistance and repulsing his counterattacks, continued to move forward. In battles in one sector, our units destroyed up to 1,500 enemy soldiers and officers yesterday. 66 guns, 2 serviceable aircraft, up to 200 vehicles with military cargo, 7 tanks, 6 tractors, 2 ammunition depots, 80 barrels of aviation gasoline and other trophies were captured. In another section, our fighters occupied a settlement after a fierce battle. On the outskirts of the settlement and on its streets, 800 enemy corpses were counted. 11 German tanks destroyed and captured.
Our pilots shot down in air battles and destroyed 12 German fighters, 6 bombers and 46 transport aircraft at enemy airfields near Stalingrad. In total, 64 German aircraft were destroyed during the day.
Southwest of Stalingrad, our troops continued their offensive and occupied several settlements. The fighters of one of our formations exterminated 700 Nazis and captured 8 guns, 35 machine guns, 19 mortars, an ammunition depot and 2 clothing stores. The Soviet artillery advances along with the infantry and inflicts heavy losses on the enemy. Artillerymen of the N-th part in two days knocked out 22 German tanks, destroyed 14 guns, up to 40 vehicles, dispersed and partly exterminated up to two enemy infantry battalions.
The Nazi bastards completely robbed the peasants of the village of Vystavka, Leningrad Region. They took the cattle, food and personal belongings from the peasants. Hitler's executioners shot and hanged 17 villagers. Collective farmer Ignatius Savelyev, his wife and.
In the northern part of the city of Stalingrad, the enemy launched attacks in the area of a workers' settlement occupied by our troops. Our troops repulsed the attacks of the Nazis and destroyed over 750 enemy soldiers and officers. 13 machine guns, 165 rifles, several mortars and anti-tank rifles were captured. On the southern outskirts of the city, our units moved forward by 300-400 meters. On the battlefield. Captured weapons and ammunition.
Northwest of Stalingrad, our troops continued to wage stubborn offensive battles. The enemy tried to delay the advance of the Soviet units with counterattacks. All attacks by the Nazis were repulsed with heavy losses for them. During the day, 1,400 enemy soldiers and officers, 13 guns and 90 vehicles were destroyed. Many prisoners were taken. Captured 19 guns, 47 machine guns and 2 ammunition depots. Our fighters, overcoming the resistance of the enemy, occupied several fortified settlements.
Southwest of Stalingrad, our troops moved forward with part of their forces and occupied several settlements. In other areas, our units repulsed the fierce attacks of the Nazis. Enemy. According to incomplete data, more than 1,000 enemy soldiers and officers, 15 tanks, 20 guns, 15 mortars, 48 machine guns and 30 bunkers were destroyed. Trophies were captured: 28 guns, 200 vehicles, 500,000 shells, over 2 million rounds of ammunition and various military equipment. The N-th cavalry unit successfully pursues the retreating Nazis.
Our pilots shot down 11 German transport planes.
In the factory part of the city of Stalingrad, our troops conducted a firefight and reconnaissance of the enemy's defenses. Artillery and mortar fire destroyed up to a battalion of German infantry, 3 artillery batteries, 21 machine guns, destroyed 38 bunkers and dugouts. On the southern outskirts of the city, the fighters of the N-th unit launched a night attack and cleared 12 bunkers and dugouts from the Nazis.
Northwest of Stalingrad, our troops, having broken through the enemy's new line of defense along the eastern bank of the Don, fought their way forward. During the night, up to 1,000 German soldiers and officers were destroyed. N-sky rifle unit, acting together with tankers under the command of comrade. Granovsky and artillerymen under the command of comrade. Glebova, occupied an important fortified point of the enemy and advanced several kilometers.
Southwest of Stalingrad, our troops continued their successful offensive. The fighters of the N-th part, reflecting the enemy's counterattack, burned and knocked out 11 German tanks and exterminated over 200 German machine gunners. Anti-aircraft artillery shot down 3 enemy aircraft. In another section, our units occupied a settlement and seized 50 wagons with ammunition, 3 wagons with medicines, an ammunition depot, a fuel depot, a food depot, 36 guns, 50 motorcycles, 100 bicycles and other military property.
On the Central Sector of the Front, our troops, overcoming resistance and repelling German counterattacks, moved forward and occupied several settlements. The fighters of the N-th unit in a stubborn battle destroyed 7 German tanks and 350 Nazis. In another section, our units captured the enemy stronghold and captured 8 guns, 14 machine guns, 3 mortars, a radio station and an ammunition depot. Up to 600 enemy corpses remained on the battlefield.
South-east of Nalchik, enemy infantry and tanks launched an attack. Artillerymen under the command of Comrade. Lyubimov was knocked out by 3 German tanks. The enemy infantry following the tanks was dispersed by the fire of the machine gunners of the unit under the command of Comrade. Kravtsov. The enemy suffered heavy losses and retreated to their original positions.
A partisan detachment operating in the Baranovichi region derailed 3 railway echelons with manpower and 5 echelons with enemy military equipment. More than 300 German soldiers and officers were killed, 8 locomotives and 82 wagons were destroyed.
After the settlement of Yagodny, Stalingrad region, was liberated from the German invaders, a group of soldiers and commanders of the Red Army drew up an act on the following: “The Nazi robbers ruined the collective farmers of the settlement and. Of the 144 houses and other buildings, 135 were destroyed and destroyed by the Nazis. The German bandits slaughtered all the cattle and destroyed the orchards. The Nazis caused the collective farm and collective farmers losses of several million rubles.
In the factory district of Stalingrad, our units were engaged in a firefight with the enemy. On the southern outskirts of the city, our troops were actively fighting and cleared a number of bunkers and dugouts from the Nazis. In one area, two battalions of German infantry with 30 tanks tried to counterattack our units. Having lost up to 200 soldiers and officers and 7 tanks in this battle, the enemy retreated to their original positions.
Northwest of Stalingrad, our troops fought in the depths of the enemy's defenses on the eastern bank of the Don. Several fortifications with an extensive system of communication passages, bunkers, anti-tank and anti-personnel obstacles were occupied. Over 800 German soldiers and officers, 12 tanks, 29 guns and 47 machine guns were destroyed. In the fortified point Vertyachiy occupied yesterday by our units, 17 German tanks, 5 guns, 110 vehicles, 17 motorcycles, 50 carts, an ammunition depot and a forage depot were captured.
Southwest of Stalingrad, our troops, overcoming the stubborn resistance of the enemy and repulsing his counterattacks, continued their successful offensive. During the day, up to 1,500 enemy soldiers and officers, 12 tanks, 15 guns, 14 mortars, 65 machine guns were destroyed in battles, 36 bunkers and dugouts were destroyed. The soldiers under the command of Comrade. Cherny was knocked out by the Germans from the settlement, which they turned into a fortified defense center. Unable to withstand the joint attack of artillery, tanks and infantry, the enemy, leaving their weapons and military equipment, hastily retreated. More than 300 enemy corpses were counted on the streets of the settlement. 9 guns, 42 machine guns were destroyed, several warehouses with military equipment were captured. .
On the Central Front, our troops fought stubborn offensive battles and occupied a number of settlements. The enemy, relying on heavily fortified defense centers, throws the reserves that have approached into counterattacks. Reflecting counterattacks and moving forward, the Soviet units inflict heavy losses on the Germans. The soldiers of the N-th unit in the village just liberated from the Nazis counted 650 enemy corpses and 7 burnt tanks. 6 guns, 19 machine guns, an ammunition depot, a food depot and a lot of various military equipment were captured. In another sector, our troops inflicted a heavy defeat on units of one enemy division. Hundreds of dead Germans remained on the battlefield. Our soldiers captured 16 guns and 6 German tanks.
Our pilots in air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire over the battlefield.
A group of Leningrad partisans derailed a German railway train. As a result of the crash, a locomotive and 25 wagons were destroyed. The movement of trains on this section of the railway was stopped for two days.
Southeast of Nalchik, Soviet units recently occupied one Ossetian village. They established that the Nazi bandits during the occupation. The Nazis went from house to house and took away food, clothes and everything of any value. Robbery and robbery were accompanied by bullying of the elderly and women. The bandits beat the collective farmers Kostuyeva and Kokoyeva with ramrods. The seventy-year-old old man Saltanov died from beatings inflicted on him by the Nazis. Under the ruins of the collective farm stables, our fighters. It was established that the Nazi scoundrels subjected the captured Red Army soldiers to torture, and then shot them.
German newspapers report on the arrests and executions of persons "expressing dissatisfaction with the war and disbelief in the victory of Germany." In Leipzig, the SS and police arrested 130 workers. In Dresden, a large group of fascist officials was dismissed and arrested "for indifference and passivity in the struggle against discontented elements." The Nazis intensified their repressions against foreign workers as well. At one munitions factory in Berlin, they arrested 80 Italians and Frenchmen who did not meet the production standards. // .
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("The New York Times", USA)
("The New York Times", USA)
("The New York Times", USA)
("The New York Times", USA)
("The New York Times", USA)
("The New York Times", USA)
("Das Reich", Germany)
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