On July 17, 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad broke out. Nazi Germany suffered 1.5 million casualties and the Soviet Union suffered 2 million casualties.
However, such a fierce and tragic battle, the Soviet army after the fight as if nothing happened, but the German army was greatly damaged, and the Battle of Stalingrad itself was regarded as an "important turning point in World War II", and the German army gradually turned into decline after the war. Why is this happening?
Restored color photograph of the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
Ever since Nazi Germany declared war on the Soviet Union, the Red Army struggled to gain battlefield superiority. It was not until December 1941 that the Red Army finally won the defense of Moscow.
After the defense of Moscow, the Germans were unable to launch another full-scale attack. At this time, Germany had to plan well in order to maintain its superiority on the battlefield. Halder and Hitler had different views on this.
Halder believed that the use of troops against Moscow should continue because the Red Army was victorious in the defense of Moscow, but the casualties and losses were also significant.
Painting of the defense of Moscow
Hitler, on the other hand, believed that Stalingrad should be attacked, because Army Group Center was badly damaged after the defense of Moscow, and the goal of using troops against Moscow again was too clear, and it was easy to be ambushed by the Soviet Union.
Moreover, the German army also needs to replenish some combat readiness resources, such as oil and food. Stalingrad was an important port for the Soviet Union's inland shipping routes, and the surrounding area was an important producer of Soviet grain, oil and coal, and occupying it could both replenish itself and weaken the Soviet Union.
At Hitler's insistence, the Germans launched an offensive towards Stalingrad. However, before the attack on Stalingrad, due to traffic problems, the German 6th Army, which was the main battle, slightly slowed down its advance, which provided the Soviet Red Army with some time to prepare.
Stills from Stalingrad film and television dramas
After the Battle of Stalingrad officially began, the German army had a clear advantage in the early stage, but as the front continued to lengthen, Stalin strictly ordered the front-line soldiers to "never take a step back", and the German army had to turn to a defensive posture due to the lack of support from armored forces.
This again gave the Red Army some respite, and during this time, Zhukov put three cutting-edge armies into battle, but this did not achieve the expected counterattack, and the Germans finally successfully entered the city.
Portrait of General Zhukov
After the city gates were broken, the Red Army and the Germans engaged in fierce street fighting, and after repeated positional battles, Stalingrad was reduced to ruins, and 80% of the city's residential areas were destroyed. The average Soviet Red Army soldier who went into battle lived no more than one day, while the average officer lived only about three days.
Even so, the Red Army did not give up, and after noticing the slowdown of the German offensive, the Soviet Red Army High Command began a major counteroffensive at the end of September using the "iron pincer offensive".
Outline of the Battle of Stalingrad
In order to defeat the German army as soon as possible, the Soviet Red Army took advantage of the bad weather, with intensive anti-aircraft fire to obstruct the German airdrop of materials, while shrinking the encirclement a little bit, although the German army tried to counterattack, but the battle was not smooth, coupled with the fierce pursuit of the Soviet Red Army, the German army was difficult to maintain the battle, and finally lost.
Losses in the battle between the two sides
At least 1 million people died on both sides of the Soviet Union and Germany in this congress. At the height of the battle, the combined Soviet and German forces exceeded 2 million. It was very common for the casualties of the German first-line divisions to reach more than 70%, so the Germans had to try their best to send troops to the front line.
The casualties on both sides at the Battle of Stalingrad were staggering
Like the Germans, the Soviets were looking for ways to replenish their forces to the front, which partly exacerbated the bloody Battle of Stalingrad. Later, both sides even ignored the casualties caused by the separation of military and civilian forces, because there were so many dead.
Nazi German troops in the western mountains
After the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet Union was like a superimposed blood buff, and there was still a strong force to attack the German army, but the German army was greatly damaged. There are three main reasons for this:
- The German army was empty before the defense of Stalingrad;
- The two sides invested different reinforcements in the battle;
- The "blitzkrieg" tactics no longer worked.
The defense of Stalingrad was terrible
Hitler decided to attack Stalingrad, not only because of the city's geographical importance, but also because the area around Stalingrad allowed the Germans to replenish their war readiness. In the previous defense of Moscow, under the influence of many factors such as severe cold, the German army suffered heavy losses and urgently needed to replenish food, oil and other military supplies.
If Stalingrad could be defeated, then the German army could quickly enrich itself, but unfortunately, the German army did not expect the Soviet Red Army to be so tenacious, even if most of the city had fallen, it still had to keep fighting.
The Soviet Red Army, which is still holding out to fighting
In the street battle of Stalingrad, the battle for positions between the two sides was even accurate to the "room", and a living room could change hands frequently. The reason why the German army was able to gain an advantage in the Soviet-German war was because it always attacked when the Soviet side was not fully prepared. The extreme use of the "blitzkrieg" tactics allowed the Germans to quickly take large swathes of Soviet territory.
But this tactic, which had a significant advantage in the early stages, would be at a disadvantage later in the war, especially in the face of a country as strategically deep as the Soviet Union. The all-out offensive of the German army was unsuccessful, resulting in the German army having to concentrate its forces and find a way to save some money to sustain the war.
Mock-up of the Battle of Stalingrad
It's just that the fierceness of the front and the tenacity of the Soviet Red Army led to the gradual loss of the German army's dominance of the war. With the "blitzkrieg" tactics largely ineffective, the Germans could only fight the Soviet Red Army. Although both sides are frantically pouring troops into the front line, their reinforcements are markedly different.
The Germans were trying to reinforce the elite troops in order to achieve the effect of taking Stalingrad as soon as possible, while the Soviet Red Army was a large number of poorly trained recruits and trying to consume the German elite. It's a bit like China's "horse race".
Stills from the film and television drama of the Battle of Stalingrad
When Stalingrad came to an end, the German army was greatly damaged by the sharp decline in elite, and the Soviet Red Army trained a group of rapidly growing combat soldiers through brutal combat screening.
The recruits who can come out of the cruel Stalingrad have undoubtedly become the new elite in the Soviet Red Army, coupled with the elite troops that have not yet entered Stalingrad, the quality of the Soviet Red Army has not decreased but increased, which makes the Soviet Red Army seem to have nothing to do after the Battle of Stalingrad, but the Nazi German army is obviously declining.