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Text: Zhang Runchen
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introduction
The Battle of Stalingrad, one of the most brutal battles in human history, was also a turning point in the Soviet-German battlefield of World War II. After this battle, the Soviet army basically turned from defense to attack, and the German troops in the Soviet Union were also crushed, and the last way was beaten by the Soviet army to Berlin.
In this battle, the Soviet army participated in the battle of 3 million people, while the German army participated in the battle reached 2 million, which was also the largest battle on the Eastern Front of World War II. The Soviet losses in the battle were as high as 1.15 million men, and the German losses also amounted to 850,000. This number seems very staggering, but are all these lost soldiers really dead?
(Battle of Stalingrad)
1. How many people did the 13th Guards Division sacrifice?
The Battle of Stalingrad broke out in July 1942 and was so tragic that it could be demonstrated by a division of the Soviet Army.
The 13th Guards Division was a model of Soviet valor and tenacity in the Battle of Stalingrad. Looking at the personnel data of this division, we can basically see how the two sides of the battle are fighting for their lives.
The 13th Guards Division arrived at midnight on September 14 to provide support. In other words, the 13th Guards Division was actually a typical support force, and the pressure was far less than that of the Soviet troops who had fought in Stalingrad earlier.
(Brutal Battlefield)
Because it did not receive the most fierce attack from the Germans, the losses of the 13th Guards Division were relatively small, but in more than a week, the 13th Guards Division was basically wiped out. There are many sources about the 13th Guards Division, some of which claim that the 13th Guards Division numbered 10,000 people, but at that time the number of a full-fledged division in the Soviet Union was actually only 8,000.
Even if the 13th Guards Division is overstaffed, it should not reach the figure of 10,000, and the probability is still in the range of 8,000-9,000. The biggest controversy about the casualty figures of the 13th Guards Division is its casualties during the river crossing, with some voices on the Chinese Internet saying that the 13th Guards Division lost 3,000 men during the river crossing alone.
If this was the case, then the 13th Guards Division should have collapsed by the time it entered Stalingrad, because a division of 8000 people, including at least 3000 logisticians and reserves, did not cross the river at all, but remained on the opposite bank. In other words, the Soviet troops involved in the crossing of the river at that time were only 6,000 people at most, which is still counting the supernumerary.
(Stalingrad Battlefield)
If they had lost 3,000 men on the first night alone, which was equivalent to the loss of half of their numbers, then the 13th Guards Division would have been unable to perform a follow-up excellent record, because they had already lost their combat capability! After all, if 3,000 people were killed, there would certainly be more wounded, so the 13th Guards Division would have been completely wiped out.
In fact, the 42nd Infantry Regiment of the division, as the first echelon, did not lose a single one, and one of the barges in the follow-up unit was sunk, and the Soviets lost only 12 people. And on the 15th, the 13th Guards Division and the Germans officially began to fight, and the death toll of the Soviet troops on this day reached 124.
On the 16th, the day when the losses of the 13th Guards Division began to increase in a straight line, on this day the 13th Guards Division recaptured the Mamayev Heights, which were occupied by the Germans. Then the 13th Guards Division fell into repeated tug-of-war with the Germans, and by September 19, the 13th Guards Division had only more than 2,700 men left in its active force, and the division's combat effectiveness across the river had lost about half.
(Stalingrad Battlefield)
This figure is actually quite credible, if we calculate according to 5000 fighters, then the total losses of the Soviet army during this period were 2300 people, the vast majority of which were wounded. After the 13th Guards Division entered Stalingrad, the course of the second half of the campaign was collectively called the "Counterattack Campaign".
According to the figures given by Russia Today, the total losses of the Soviet army in the counterattack campaign reached 486,000, of which only 155,000 were killed, and the death toll accounted for about 32% of the total losses, or more precisely, 31.89%. 32% of 2300 is 736 people, and below we list the daily death toll of the 13th Guards Division for a week or so after it entered the battlefield.
It can be seen that from the 14th to the 19th, the number of Soviet troops killed, seriously wounded and incurred, plus the number of missing, happened to be 736! That is to say, this ratio is basically correct, and the number of Soviet deaths is actually only about 32 percent of the total losses. In the 9 days given in the table, the average daily losses of the 13th Guards Division remained at about 100 people.
(Daily number of killed and missing of the 13th Guards Division)
Second, the losses of the 13th Guards Division are still very serious
The 13th Guards Division took part in the battle to retake the city center, and the losses became even more severe, until the 13th Guards Division received follow-up reinforcements on September 22, and only a few hundred people remained alive, of which the worst battalion was only 6 survivors.
Of course, the vast majority of these losses were not deaths, but injuries ... After several days of fierce fighting, the death and missing toll of the 13th Guards Division reached 1,344, and if 1,344 was only 32% of them, then the 13th Guards Division should not have a few hundred men left.
This situation is not inexplicable, because the 13th Guards Division is most likely supported by the reserves of its own troops, so it held out until the reinforcements arrived. Therefore, it is true that the 13th Guards Division was wiped out, but it would be nonsense to say that all the losses of the 13th Guards Division were killed in battle.
(Commander of the Soviet Army)
But such losses were still very cruel and unacceptable for the Soviet army. In a telephone call from Chuikov to Khrushchev, Chuikov said: "If the fighting continues for a few more days, then our army group will be exhausted! The reserves have been exhausted again, and we urgently need the support of 2-3 divisions." ”
However, Chuikov's words also corroborate one point, that is, the Soviet army has reserves, so it is very reasonable for the 13th Guards Division to have reserves. But the problem is that due to the intensity of the Battle of Stalingrad, even if the Soviet army has the support of reserves, the reserves are being depleted very quickly.
This was when the 13th Guards Division did not withstand the heaviest initial attack, and in fact the situation was much more serious in early September, before the 13th Guards Division entered Stalingrad. However, a division of the Soviet army often only had a regimental size, and a brigade could often only form a battalion.
(Map of Stalingrad)
From the total losses in the Battle of Stalingrad, we can see that the Soviet army, which had the advantage of home field, still suffered a high proportion of losses compared to the German army. This was due to the fact that the Soviet army had extensively conscripted militia to replenish the militia in Stalingrad, and the total losses of the 13th Guards Division in nine days of fighting were higher than the theoretical number of the division, both for the support of reserves and possibly for the conscription of militia.
Of course, in this case, the Soviet troops often had to draw with the smaller German troops, but because Paulus's troops were barely reinforced by a full division. Therefore, when the German army faced the Soviet army, it was often a situation with fewer people. This also puts the Stalingrad battlefield in a strange equilibrium, with both sides constantly consuming human lives...
But the balance of victory was still tilting in favor of the Soviets, who were always able to get a large number of reinforcements nearby. General Hult of the German army said: "We always overestimate the combat effectiveness of the Soviet army, but underestimate their reserve strength..."
(Stalingrad Battlefield)
Of course, in any case, the huge casualties of the Soviet troops were real, and in mid-October Chuikov's 62nd Army had already disbanded the army guard battalions, replenishing soldiers and equipment to the front-line units. In addition to this, deserters, stragglers, workers and even ordinary citizens were replenished into the ranks ...
Of course, the Germans just didn't get reinforcements from full divisions, but they didn't have any support. It's just that the quality of these German reinforcements may be worse than that of the citizens of Stalingrad, who have endured months of war ...
Third, the German army was also having a hard time
Although the average daily losses of each German division were not as high as those of the Soviet army, they also reached between 10 and 80 men, although they were basically not more than 100 men, but they were also unacceptable for the small number of German troops. And at the height of the Soviet offensive, even the Germans would be greatly consumed. But in terms of the death toll alone, the German army only numbered a few dozen people a day.
(Brutal Battlefield)
The 305th Division had received some reinforcements, and generally speaking, the German front-line troops would train for a period of time when they had just received reinforcements. However, due to the tense fighting in Stalingrad, the 305th Division directly put the reinforcements into the front-line battlefield, which also led to the mental breakdown of a large number of reinforcements...
The Reinforcements had only undergone some quick training, and they were unprepared for the brutal battlefield. After the battle, these recruits often developed serious mental disorders, ranging from babbling gibberish, lying in the snow and rolling in the snow, or even aiming their weapons at their comrades, or even running desperately to escape the battlefield.
In the end, the German veterans had no choice but to disarm them and send them back to the medical station. But when the Germans were completely surrounded, the fate of these people was unknown, because the German veterans could no longer care about them. After the start of Operation Uranus, the formation activities of the German army had basically been reduced to the battalion level, because the German infantry and engineer losses were extremely heavy.
(Stalingrad Battlefield)
At this time, the Germans were completely incapable of attacking, and in the absence of support, they could only passively defend against the Soviet offensive. The German army began to merge some soldiers from various units with heavy losses to form the so-called "assault company" as a storming force, which shows that the German army also needs to rely on the combination of troops to maintain combat effectiveness at this time.
Generally speaking, the problems faced by the Soviet army on the battlefield are actually the problems faced by the German army. It's just that the Soviet army has an advantage, but the German army does not have it at all. However, the advantages of the German army were not enough to turn the whole tide of the war, which directly led to the crushing defeat of the German army in the Stalingrad battlefield...
Resources:
Huangpu, 2022(4):4.
Bloodstained City: Battle of Stalingrad[M].Military Science Press,2000.