August 1942, USSR...the tide of the war in the Eastern Front is about to change, but not where most people think it did at Stalingrad. Bear with me a minute history buffs, the rest of my friends skip right on by. Von Paulus German 6th Army was moving east towards Stalingrad, and met unexpected resistance in a bend in the Don River. Hitler, as usual, overestimated his strength in the area and sent 4th Panzer to the Caucasus area, leaving 6th Army with little mechanized support. Although the Soviets were eventually pushed back with heavy casualties they had slowed 6th Army by 3 weeks and inflicted 10,000 German casualties. As 6th Army entered the northern suburbs of Stalingrad, the southern flank was attacked by 4th Panzer, recalled by a furious Hitler due to 6th Armys slow progress. Now for the real turning point. Northeast of Stalingrad nestled in the huge steppe is a town called Kotluban. This was the name given to 4 Soviet counteroffensive operations in the area beginning in August. Stalin threw 2-4 armies in a poorly planned and executed manner into the battles, which at times were suicidal in their ferocity against 6th Armys flank. 4th Panzer was forced to swing a westerly arc to head north and stop the Russians. With 4th Panzer effectively tied up north of the city, 6th Army was forced to enter the city with infantry and fight the well-documented urban battle. Due to the appalling casualties and eventual Russian loss this action in Kotluban is relegated to a back seat in the grand scheme of things. Stalin used the economy of force tactic and fed just enough replacements into the city to keep the Germans engaged while he amassed forces that would eventually crush the 6th Army in Operation Uranus that led to Von Paulus being the only Field Marshal in German history to surrender. On 31Jan1943 80-90,000 Germans marched away to captivity, only about 5,000 came home, most after 1948 or better...
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 04:00:55 +0000
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