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183-456: Initially: 1,570,287-1.805.000 (incl. Italian Eighth Army from early August) Case Blue (German: Fall Blau ) was the Wehrmacht 's plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II . The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku ( Azerbaijan SSR ), Grozny and Maikop for two purposes: to enable

366-524: A Croatian volunteer Legion and three Legions of Camicie Nere (Blackshirt fascist volunteers). It was equipped with 2,657 light and 1,742 heavy machine guns, 250 light and 600 heavy artillery pieces, 52 anti-aircraft guns , 874 light mortars (45mm) and 423 heavy mortars (81mm), 278 Italian 47/32 and 54 German 7.5 cm Pak 97/38 anti-tank guns, 25,000 pack animals , 16,700 vehicles and 4,770 motorcycles . Because of its heavy commitments in North Africa,

549-565: A German ruse, remaining convinced that the primary German strategic goal in 1942 would be Moscow, in part due to Operation Kremlin ( Fall Kreml ), a German deception plan aimed at the city. As a result, the majority of Red Army troops were deployed there, although the direction from which the Case Blue offensive would come was still defended by the Bryansk , Southwestern , Southern and North Caucasian Fronts . With about 1 million soldiers at

732-716: A Soviet breakthrough but Army Group A was ordered to withdraw from the Caucasus on 28 December. The Soviets launched several follow-up offensives, later called the Voronezh-Kharkov Strategic Offensive . The Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive began on 12 January and destroyed large parts of the Second Hungarian Army and the remnants of Eighth Italian Army at the Don south-east of Voronezh. With the southern flank in danger, Second German Army

915-594: A bombardment from BM-13 Katyusha rocket launchers which were followed by a tank attack of mostly T-34s. The attack lead to the retreat of the German forces in the area. The attack encirclement of German forces in Stalingrad was completed on 22 November 1942. That day Soviet formations also continued to fight pockets of Romanian resistance, such as that put up by the Romanian 5th Corps. The encirclement of 6th Army

1098-577: A breakout operation and began to pull back towards the northern end of Stalingrad. However, after the Germans had abandoned their winter bunkers, the Soviet 62nd Army was able to destroy the German 94th Infantry Division on the open ground; survivors of the German division were attached to the 16th and 24th Panzer Divisions. Although German military commanders were of the opinion that Heer forces caught in

1281-633: A constant danger. On 23 August, Sixth Army crossed the Don and Army Group B established a defensive line on one of its bends. Sixth Army reached the northern suburbs of Stalingrad later that day, beginning the Battle of Stalingrad . The Hungarian, Italian and Romanian armies were 60 km (37 mi) from Stalingrad, which was in range of forward air bases. Luftflotte 4 attacked the city, turning much of it to rubble. The Soviets reported that civilian casualties from 23–26 August were 955 dead and 1,181 wounded (a preliminary total; later reports of casualties in

1464-482: A front over 480 kilometers (300 mi) wide and several hundred kilometers deep, while the decision to conquer Stalingrad had stretched Axis forces even more thinly by drawing away personnel eastwards. For example, in early July, the Sixth Army was defending a 160-kilometer (100 mi) line, while also committing to an offensive which involved a distance of around 400 kilometers (250 mi). Army Group B, which

1647-481: A panzer corps belonging to the Fourth Panzer and Sixth Armies, and surviving elements of two Romanian divisions, a Croatian infantry regiment and other specialist units. Trapped equipment included around 100 tanks, 2,000 artillery pieces and mortars and 10,000 trucks. The withdrawal to Stalingrad left lines of retreat littered with helmets, weapons and other equipment, and heavy equipment which had been destroyed

1830-589: A part of the Novorossiysk naval base were captured. The Germans continued towards Tuapse on the Black Sea coast and in the east Elista was taken on 13 August. In the south, the German advance was stopped north of Grozny, after taking Mozdok on 25 August. German paratroopers assisted an insurgency in Chechnya , operating behind Soviet lines. German mountain troops failed to secure the Black Sea ports and

2013-557: A pending attack which would occur after 05:00 that morning; however, because his call had come in after five and false alarms were common during this time, the duty officer on the other end of the line was not keen on waking the Army Chief of Staff, General Arthur Schmidt . Although Soviet commanders suggested postponing the bombardment due to poor visibility from thick fog, front headquarters decided to proceed. At 07:20 Moscow time (05:20 German time) Soviet artillery commanders received

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2196-726: A planned German offensive in the area. The ensuing Second Battle of Kharkov ended in disaster for the Soviets, severely weakening their mobile forces. At the same time, the Axis clearing of the Kerch Peninsula together with the Battle of Sevastopol , which lasted until July, weakened the Soviets further and allowed the Germans to supply Army Group A across the Kerch Peninsula through the Kuban. The Red Army order of battle at

2379-487: A short exchange of fire. After clarification the linkup was achieved. It was reenacted later for the newsreels. The junction between the armored troops of 21st and 51st Armies from Vatutin's and Yeremenko's fronts completed the surrounding of Paulus's group of forces: two German armies among the most powerful in the Heer , 22 divisions and 150 separate regiments or battalions, and an enormous amount of materiel. Never before in

2562-558: A single Soviet division in the path of the spearhead during this phase. General Kazakov, the Bryansk Front's chief of staff, noted the strength and effectiveness of the Axis aviation. Within 26 days, the Soviets lost 783 aircraft from the 2nd , 4th , 5th and 8th Air Armies, compared to a German total of 175. By 5 July, forward elements of Fourth Panzer Army had reached the Don River near Voronezh and became embroiled in

2745-515: A slow advance but the First Panzer Army had freedom of action. On 29 July the Germans cut the last direct railway between central Russia and the Caucasus, causing considerable panic to Stalin and Stavka, which led to the passing of Order No. 227 "Not a step back!". Salsk was captured on 31 July and Stavropol on 5 August. Although the army group made a quick advance, by 3 August the vanguard comprised only light mobile forces and most of

2928-425: A slump in morale among the Soviet troops, who retreated in chaos, abandoning the outer defences of the city. After defeating the last Soviet counterattacks, Sixth Army resumed its offensive on 2 September, linking up with Fourth Panzer Army the following day. On 12 September, the Germans entered Stalingrad. The advance into Stalingrad against the 62nd Army was carried out by Sixth Army, while Fourth Panzer Army secured

3111-451: A strategic mistake not to have made greater efforts to hit the oil refineries at Grozny and Baku sooner, as their destruction would have been a greater blow to the Soviets than the loss of Stalingrad, where most of the air fleet was deployed. On 19 November, the Soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad compelled Richthofen to once more withdraw his units north to the Volga and bring an end to

3294-400: A total of 480. He was now down to 232, of which only 129 were combat ready. Nevertheless, the force could still deliver damaging blows. Attacks on the refineries reminded Richthofen of the attacks on Sevastopol several months earlier. Thick black smoke rose from the refineries to a height of 5,500 m (18,000 ft). On 12 October, further raids caused even more destruction. It had been

3477-465: A total of ten divisions. Four infantry divisions were sent: the 2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca" , the 3rd Infantry Division "Ravenna" , the 5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" , and the 156th Infantry Division "Vicenza" . In addition to the infantry divisions, three alpine divisions made up of Alpini were sent: the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" , the 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" , and the 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" . These divisions were added to

3660-533: The Luftwaffe ' s Luftflotte 4 . On 7 August, two German panzer corps were able to flank and encircle a Soviet force of 50,000 personnel and approximately 1,000 tanks, and on 22 August German forces began to cross the Don River to complete the advance towards the Volga. The following day, the Battle of Stalingrad began when vanguards of the Sixth Army penetrated the suburbs of the city. By November

3843-509: The 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" , 9th Infantry Division "Pasubio" , and 52nd Infantry Division "Torino" , which were already in Russia as part of the CSIR. The 8th Italian Army was organized into three corps: In addition to the ten divisions, the 8th Italian Army included By November 1942, the 8th Italian Army had a total of 235,000 men in twelve divisions, including

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4026-411: The 48th Panzer Corps , consisted of about 180 tanks, half being obsolete Panzer 35(t)s . The two Romanian armies were routed and Sixth Army with parts of Fourth Panzer Army were encircled in Stalingrad. Hitler ordered Sixth Army to remain on the defensive, rather than try to break out. It was intended the army would be supplied by air, but the quantity of supplies necessary was far beyond the ability of

4209-435: The 62nd and 64th Soviet Armies. On 26 July, XIV Panzer Corps broke through and reached the Don, where the new First and Fourth Tank Armies conducted several futile counter-attacks by inexperienced troops. In the south, Fourth Panzer Army made better progress against 51st Army . After crossing the Don, the Germans advanced on Kotelnikovo , reaching the town by 2 August. Soviet resistance convinced Paulus that Sixth Army

4392-555: The Blackshirt legions, some tank crews or Carabinieri military police. Italian paratroopers in North Africa were equipped exclusively with this weapon and gave outstanding combat results. There was a total absence of any portable anti-tank weapon, thus making hand grenades , machine guns and mortars the last resort against Soviet armour. Italian hand grenades ( OTO , Breda and SRCM ) were light, weighing 200–300 g, but were not very effective. The light 45 mm Brixia Model 35 mortar

4575-475: The Caspian Sea coast. Heavy Soviet resistance and the long distances from Axis sources of supply reduced the Axis offensive to local advances only and prevented the Germans from completing their strategic objective of capturing the main Caucasus oilfield at Baku. Luftwaffe bombers destroyed the oilfields at Grozny but attacks on Baku were prevented by the insufficient range of the German fighters. However,

4758-537: The Caucasus as its principal objective. On 5 April 1942, Hitler laid out the elements of the plan now known as "Case Blue" ( Fall Blau ) in Führer Directive No. 41 . The directive outlined the main goals of the 1942 summer campaign on Germany's Eastern Front : holding attacks for Army Group (AG) Centre , the capture of Leningrad and the link-up with Finland for AG North , and the capture of

4941-539: The Caucasus . Due to the length of the front lines created by the German 1942 summer offensive , which had aimed at taking the Caucasus oil fields and the city of Stalingrad , German and other Axis forces were over-extended. The German decision to transfer several mechanized divisions from the Soviet Union to Western Europe exacerbated their situation. Furthermore, Axis units in the area were depleted by months of fighting, especially those which had taken part in

5124-546: The Luftwaffe provided only negligible opposition. The withdrawal of the 1st Romanian Cavalry Division, originally positioned on the German 376th Infantry Division 's flank, allowed the 65th Army to bypass German defenses. As German forces began to react late on 19 November, another attack was launched on the Sixth Army's southern flank. In the early morning of 20 November Stavka telephoned Stalingrad Front commander Andrei Yeremenko asking if he would begin his portion of

5307-651: The Luftwaffe supporting the southern front, only reconnaissance aircraft being left behind. The Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily (VVS) brought in about 800 bombers, a third of which were operational. With the transfer of air cover and flak units, Soviet bombers were free to harass the German advance. The quality of the Soviet resistance increased, with many of the forces used coming from local levies, who Kleist thought were willing to fight harder for their homeland. German units were especially bogged down by fighting Georgian alpine and mountain troops, who greatly contributed to stalling their advance. The quantity of replacements and supplies

5490-535: The Luftwaffe to carry. Sixth Army's strength diminished and the Soviets gained the upper hand inside the city. To stabilize the situation on the Eastern Front, Army Group Don ( Heeresgruppe Don ) under Field Marshal Erich von Manstein was created to fill the gap between Army Groups A and B. On 12 December, a relief operation called Operation Winter Storm was launched from the South by fresh reinforcements of

5673-620: The Soviet Union 's oil—about 24 million tons in 1942 alone. The Caucasus also possessed plentiful coal and peat , as well as nonferrous and rare metals. Manganese deposits at Chiatura , in Transcaucasia, formed the richest single source in the world, yielding 1.5 million tons of manganese ore annually, half of the Soviet Union's total production. The Kuban region of the Caucasus also produced large amounts of wheat , corn , sunflower seeds , and sugar beets, all essential in

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5856-459: The Volga by fulfilling Operation Fischreiher. Supported by 2,035 Luftwaffe aircraft and 1,934 tanks and assault guns , the 1,570,287-man Army Group South began the offensive on 28 June, advancing 48 kilometers on the first day and easily brushing aside the 1,715,000 Red Army troops opposite, who wrongly expected a German offensive on Moscow even after Blau commenced. The Soviet collapse in

6039-536: The battle to capture the city . Stalin and the Soviet command still expected the main German thrust in the north against Moscow, and believed the Germans would turn north after Voronezh to threaten the capital. As a result, the Soviets rushed reinforcements into the town to hold it at all costs and counterattacked the Germans' northern flank in an effort to cut off the German spearheads. 5th Tank Army, commanded by Major General A.I. Liziukov , managed to achieve some minor successes when it began its attack on 6 July, but

6222-482: The "gate to the Caucasus", on 23 July 1942 relatively easily. The Luftwaffe had air superiority in the early phase of the operation, which was of great help to the ground forces. With the Don crossing secured and Sixth Army's advance flagging on the Volga front, Hitler transferred the Fourth Panzer Army to Army Group B and sent it back to the Volga. The redeployment used enormous amounts of fuel to transfer

6405-451: The 26th Tank Corps split of southwards along the Liska river inlet in a small advance towards a bridge near the town of Nish Tschirskaya. The reason for the attack was not only to push the German forces away from the railroads leading to Stalingrad but to also cut the support provided to the German 6th army still surrounded near the Don. The Russian forces had attacked the German positions with

6588-587: The 47/32 type ( Cannone da 47/32 M35 ). Both the L6/40 light tanks and the 47 mm anti-tank guns were out of date compared to what the Soviets had available to them in late 1942 and early 1943. As far as heavy artillery was concerned, however, the ARMIR received preferential treatment over Italian forces in North Africa. It boasted, for instance, the only existing battery of 210/22 howitzers ( Obice da 210/22 ), 36 of

6771-431: The 4th Panzer Army. The offensive surprised the Soviets and the Germans were able to penetrate the Soviet line for 50 km (31 mi) towards Stalingrad. Despite these gains, the Sixth Army was not allowed to attempt to break out and link up, so this led to nothing. The failure was followed by a siege that lasted for almost two months, during which the Sixth Army was destroyed. Following the success of Operation Uranus,

6954-404: The 51 available 149/40 guns ( Cannone da 149/40 modello 35 ), and all 36 modern 75/32 field guns in existence at the time. The 75/18 and 75/32 howitzers balanced the limited suitability of the 47/32 guns to some degree. The 36 75/32 howitzers of the 201st Motorised Artillery Regiment ( Celere ), proved particularly effective in the anti-tank role. As was the complaint of General Messe with

7137-406: The 5th Tank Army near the town of Kalach. In total, the Soviets had amassed 11 armies and various independent tank brigades and corps. Preparations for the offensive were, however, far from perfect; on 8 November, Stavka issued orders to postpone the launch date of the operation, because transportation delays had prevented many units from being able to move into place. In the meantime, units at

7320-612: The ARMIR faced Operation Little Saturn in December 1942. The aim of this Soviet operation was the complete annihilation of the Italian 8th Army, as a result of the operations related to the Battle of Stalingrad . On 11 December 1942 the Soviet 63rd Army , backed by T-34 tanks and fighter-bombers, first attacked the weakest Italian sector. This sector was held on the right by the Ravenna and Cosseria infantry divisions. Indeed, from

7503-589: The ARMIR was made up of mountain troops ( Alpini ), which were ill-suited to the vast, flat expanses of southern Russia. Like the CSIR, the ARMIR included an Aviation Command ( Comando Aereo ) with a limited number of fighters, bombers, and transport aircraft. This command was part of the Regia Aeronautica ( lit. "Royal Air Force") and was also known as the Corpo Aereo Spedizione in Russia ("Air Expeditionary Corps in Russia"), under

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7686-572: The Axis also failed to break the defences on the coastal plain from Novorossiysk to Tuapse, having only the strength to stabilize the line. Romanian Army losses were particularly high and the Romanian 3rd Mountain Division was nearly wiped out by a Soviet counter-attack from 25–26 September. Further east, the Axis enjoyed greater success and on 1 September, the Germans took Khulkhuta  [ ru ] (Хулхута́), halfway between Elista and Astrakhan . During August and September, German patrols raided

7869-524: The Black Sea, and Grozny , about halfway between the Black and the Caspian Seas, produced about 10 percent of all Soviet oil. South of the mountains lay Transcaucasia , comprising Georgia , Azerbaijan and Armenia . This heavily industrialized and densely populated area contained some of the largest oilfields in the world. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, was one of the richest, producing 80 percent of

8052-648: The CSIR was expanded without his further input. Just prior to commanding the ARMIR, Gariboldi was the Governor-General of Italian Libya . He was criticized after the war for being too submissive to the Germans in North Africa . Messe remained commander of the 3 initial divisions of the CSIR, which was renamed XXXV Army Corps , but was subordinate to Gariboldi. He was replaced by Francesco Zingales in November 1942. Air Brigade General Enrico Pezzi

8235-491: The CSIR, the ARMIR was short of adequate winter equipment. Infantry small arms were also often inadequate. The Carcano M91 , the standard Italian rifle in both world wars, was a fairly good weapon, although less effective than its British and German counterparts. The 6.5 mm Breda 30 light machine gun was innovative for its time, roughly comparable to the American Browning Automatic Rifle , but

8418-478: The Caucasus region for Army Group South. The main focus was to be the capture of the Caucasus region. The Caucasus, a large, culturally diverse region traversed by its eponymous mountains, is bounded by the Black Sea to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east. The region north of the mountains was a production center for grain , cotton and heavy farm machinery, while its two main oilfields, at Maykop , near

8601-444: The Caucasus, had required that the reserve units be sent elsewhere, as well as the armoured division, so that ARMIR was disposed with all the divisions in the first line and but a few small supporting units in the divisional sectors. Moreover, there were no anti-tank weapons or anti-aircraft weapons needed for resisting any enemy action. Gariboldi had objected to this situation but was commanded from Rome to bow to all dispositions made by

8784-497: The Don River by 24 November, and demolished the bridges to seal off the Fourth Panzer and Sixth Armies from the Soviets in Stalingrad. The Sixth Army, in the midst of chaos, began to build defensive lines, hampered by the lack of fuel, ammunition and rations, and further burdened by the advancing Russian winter. It was also tasked with plugging gaps in the line caused by the disintegrating Romanian forces. On 23 November, some German units destroyed or burned everything not necessary for

8967-419: The Don River west of Stalingrad, and Fourth Romanian Army, south-east of Stalingrad, had been under constant Soviet attack since September. Third Romanian Army had been transferred from Caucasus on 10 September to take over Italian positions on the Don, opposite the Soviet bridgeheads. The Romanians were understrength and had only around six modern anti-tank guns per division. The bulk of the German tank reserve,

9150-638: The Eastern Front. Germany was forced to withdraw some 800 kilometers back to a new battle about 100 kilometers west of the city of Kursk. This withdrawal set the pace for Operation Citadel in the summer of 1943, which was unsuccessful, and resulted in a permanent swing of fortunes in the Soviets' favor for the remainder of the war. Italian Army in Russia The three divisions of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia ( Corpo di spedizione italiano in Russia , or CSIR), sent to

9333-617: The First Romanian Armored Division was equipped with around 100 Czech-built R-2 tanks , armed with a 37-millimeter (1.5 in) gun ineffective against the armor of Soviet T-34 tanks. Similarly, their 37-millimeter (1.5 in) PaK anti-tank guns were also antiquated and they were largely short of ammunition. Only after repeated requests did the Germans send the Romanian units 75-millimeter (3.0 in) PaK guns; six per division. These units were extended over very large sections of front; for example,

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9516-543: The Fourth Romanian Army to escape destruction. On 22 November Soviet forces began to cross the Don River and continued their advance towards the town of Kalach-on-the-Don . German forces defending Kalach, mostly composed of maintenance and supply personnel, were not aware of the Soviet offensive until 21 November, and even then did not know in what strength the Red Army was approaching. The task of taking

9699-497: The German 11th Corps, while the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps crashed into the German unit's rear. The German 376th Infantry Division and the Austrian 44th Infantry Division began to redeploy to face the enemy on their flanks, but were hindered by shortage of fuel. The 14th Panzer Division 's panzer regiment destroyed a flanking regiment of the Soviet 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps, but its anti-tank artillery suffered heavy casualties when it

9882-519: The German Sixth Army in an effort to attack German units there directly in the rear. While the Red Army prepared, the German high commanders—influenced by their belief that the Red Army, building up opposite German Army Group Center to the north, was incapable of mounting a simultaneous offensive in the south—continued to deny the possibility of an impending Soviet offensive. Case Blue involved German and other Axis forces sprawled out across

10065-567: The German command, this course having been agreed on by the two allies. Giovanni Messe, the commander of the XXXV Army Corps, wrote that it was necessary for him to refuse to accept a mission which endangered the very existence of the entire Italian 8th Army and the prestige of Italian arms. Personally, for various reasons, on 23 September 1943, he asked to be replaced in the command of the XXXV Army Corps, and obtained authorization to return to Italy where he arrived on 1 November. Finally,

10248-587: The German high command attempted to maintain its existing mechanized units. Furthermore, during the course of the German offensive between May and November 1942, two motorized divisions, the elite Leibstandarte and the Großdeutschland , were redeployed from Army Group A to the West, to provide a mechanized reserve in case of an Allied landing in France . The Sixth Army had also suffered many casualties during

10431-523: The Germans attempted in vain to mount local counterattacks to break the encirclement. By this time Axis personnel inside the encirclement moved east towards Stalingrad to avoid Soviet tanks, while those that managed to escape the encirclement moved west toward German and other Axis forces. Operation Uranus trapped between 250,000 and 300,000 Axis soldiers within an area stretching 50 kilometers (31 mi) from east to west and 40 kilometers (25 mi) north to south. The pocket contained four infantry corps,

10614-402: The Germans captured most of the Black Sea naval bases but were held up at Novorossiysk, where the Soviet 47th Army had prepared for a long siege. The port fell on 10 September, after a four-day battle, the final German victory in the Caucasus. It left the heights south of the port and several coast roads in the hands of 47th Soviet Army. Attempts to push out of Novorossiysk were costly failures and

10797-456: The Germans to re-supply their low fuel stock and also to deny their use to the Soviet Union , thereby bringing about the complete collapse of the Soviet war effort. After Operation Barbarossa failed to destroy the Soviet Union as a political and military threat the previous year, Adolf Hitler , the Führer of Nazi Germany, recognized that Germany was now locked in a war of attrition , and he

10980-438: The Germans, while fake bridges were put up to divert attention from the real bridges being built across the Don River. The Red Army also stepped up attacks against Army Group Center and set up dummy formations to maintain the idea of a main offensive against German forces in the center. The Soviet Stalingrad Front forces were subject to heavy bombardment, making mobilization more difficult. The 38 engineer battalions allocated to

11163-563: The Iron Cross Second Class. On 12 July, two weeks after Case Blue began, the XXXV Army Corps (ex CSIR), along with two German corps, began an offensive designed to take the important coal-mining basin of Krasnyi Luch (southeast of Kharkiv ) with a rapid enveloping manoeuvre. After a week of heavy fighting in which all three Italian divisions took part the Krasnyi Luch basin, one of the richest coal deposits in

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11346-436: The Italian 2nd Army Corps which, with the "Cosseria" and "Ravenna" Divisions, occupied a 60 km front, was also attacked. The divisions counterattacked and pursued the enemy across the Don. In October and November of 1942, there occurred a pause in the operations on the front occupied by Italian forces. The ARMIR laboured intensively at the task of fortifying the broad front of nearly 300 km that had been assigned to it. It got back

11529-536: The Italian 8th Army reached its assigned sector on the Don on the left flank of the 6th Army 's XVII Corps. The Italians had to defend a 270-kilometre front along the right bank of the Don. On 20 August 1942, the first battle in defence of the Don began. The Russians succeeded in making progress on the front of the XVII German Army Corps drawn up on the right of the Italian XXXV, which also

11712-527: The Italian armoured force in Russia. On 14 January 1943, after a short pause, the 6th Soviet Army attacked the divisions of the Alpine Corps. These units had been placed on the left flank of the Italian army and, to date, were still relatively unaffected by the battle. However, the Alpini's position had turned critical after the collapse of the Italian centre, the collapse of the Italian right flank, and

11895-513: The Italians forced the Russians to halt operations, but when they had received reinforcements, the Soviets resumed the offensive, continuing it until 26 September. On that day the weather conditions permitted intervention by Italian and German Air Forces which dropped large caliber bombs in the midst of Russian concentrations, forcing the Soviets to halt their operations. On 11 and 12 September,

12078-556: The Luftwaffe also played an important role in this early success. It contained the Red Air Force , through air superiority operations, and provided interdiction through attacks on airfields and Soviet defence lines. At times, the German air arm acted as a spearhead rather than a support force, ranging on ahead of the tanks and infantry to disrupt and destroy defensive positions. As many as 100 German aircraft were concentrated on

12261-547: The Mediterranean in early November to support the Axis operations in Tunisia . Sixth Army had captured about 90 percent of the city. On 19 November, the Soviets launched Operation Uranus , a two-pronged counter-offensive against the flanks of Sixth Army. With the battle for the city and the exhaustion of Fourth Panzer Army, the flanks were mainly guarded by Romanian, Hungarian and Italian soldiers. Third Romanian Army, on

12444-451: The Red Army began Operation Saturn to cut off Army Group A and all troops east of Rostov. During the German relief operation at Stalingrad, Soviet forces had been redeployed, lesser objectives substituted, and the operation renamed "Little Saturn". The attack fell on Eighth Italian Army and the remnants of Third Romanian Army, and led to the destruction of most of Eighth Army. On the verge of collapse, Army Groups B and Don were able to prevent

12627-539: The Red Army defeated the Germans at Stalingrad, following Operations Uranus and Little Saturn . This defeat forced the Axis to retreat from the Caucasus in order to avoid getting cut off by the Red Army, which was now advancing from Stalingrad towards Rostov in order to achieve the cut-off. Only the Kuban region remained tentatively occupied by Axis troops. On 22 June 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa with

12810-584: The Romanian defense to collapse; a breakthrough by the 4th Tank Corps and 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps was established by noon. Soon after, the 5th Tank Army was able to gain a breakthrough against the Second Romanian Corps, followed by the Eighth Cavalry Corps. As Soviet armor navigated through the thick fog by compass, overrunning Romanian and German artillery positions, three Romanian infantry divisions began to fall back in disarray;

12993-414: The Romanian oilfields, with the latter supplying 75% of Germany's oil imports in 1941. Aware of his declining oil resources, and fearful of enemy air attacks on Romania (Germany's main source of crude oil), Hitler's strategy was increasingly driven by the need to protect Romania and acquire new resources, essential if he wanted to continue waging a prolonged war against a growing list of enemies. In late 1941,

13176-524: The Romanians warned Hitler that their stocks were exhausted and they were unable to meet German demands. For these reasons, the Soviet oilfields were extremely important to Germany's industry and armed forces as the war became global, the power of the Allies grew, and shortages started to occur in Axis resources. The German plan involved a three-staged attack: The strategic objectives of the operation were

13359-569: The Sea of Azov, to cut off the German forces east of Donetsk. The operations began simultaneously at the end of January. The Soviets broke through quickly and in the north, Kursk fell on 18 February and Kharkov on 16 February after a German withdrawal, while in the south the Germans were pushed back to a line west of Voroshilovgrad. Army Groups Don, B and parts of Army Group A were renamed Army Group South, commanded by Manstein, on 12 February. The Kharkov and Donbas operations were started on 25 February by

13542-549: The Sixth Army had occupied most of Stalingrad, pushing the defending Red Army to the banks of the Volga River. By this stage, there were indications of an impending Soviet offensive which would target Wehrmacht forces around the city, including increased Soviet activity opposite the Sixth Army's flanks, and information gained through the interrogation of Soviet prisoners. The German command remained focused upon finalizing its capture of Stalingrad and were unsure of where or when

13725-417: The Sixth Army to attempt to break out. The Sixth Army, other Axis units, and most of the Fourth Panzer Army's German units were caught inside the growing Soviet encirclement. Only the 16th Panzergrenadier Division began to fight its way out. Lack of coordination between Soviet tanks and infantry as the Red Army's tank corps attempted to exploit the breakthrough along the Germans' southern flank allowed much of

13908-549: The Soviet 21st Army and the Soviet 5th Tank Army attacked and defeated what remained of the Romanians to the right of the Italians. At about the same time, the Soviet 3rd Tank Army and parts of the Soviet 40th Army hit the Hungarians to the left of the Italians. This resulted in a collapse of the Axis front, north of Stalingrad: the ARMIR was encircled, but for some days the Italian troops were able—with huge casualties—to stop

14091-481: The Soviet artillery from correcting their aim, their weeks of preparation and ranging allowed them to lay down accurate fire on enemy positions along the front. The effect was devastating, as communication lines were breached, ammunition dumps destroyed and forward observation points shattered. Many Romanian personnel who survived the bombardment began to flee to the rear. Soviet heavy artillery aimed at Romanian artillery positions and second-echelon formations also caught

14274-482: The Soviet bridgehead at Mamon, 15 divisions—supported by at least 100 tanks—attacked the Italian Cosseria and Ravenna Divisions, and although outnumbered 9 to 1, the Italians resisted until 19 December, when ARMIR headquarters finally ordered the battered divisions to withdraw. Only before Christmas both divisions were driven back and defeated, after heavy and bloody fighting. Meanwhile, on 17 December 1942,

14457-586: The Soviets committed increased, and faced with these difficulties, the Axis advance slowed after 28 August. In the south-east, the Wehrmacht headed in the direction of Grozny and Baku , the other important petroleum centers. More installations and industrial centers fell into German hands, many intact or only slightly damaged during the Russian retreat. From August–September, the Taman Peninsula and

14640-490: The Soviets continued to advance southwards, many Soviet tank crews began to suffer from the worsening blizzard , which affected men and equipment and blocked gunsights. It was not uncommon for tanks to lose traction and for crew members to break their arm from being tossed around inside the hull. However, the blizzard also neutralized the German corps' coordination. The rout of the Third Romanian Army began by

14823-483: The Third Romanian Army had been outflanked to the west and east. After receiving the news of the Soviet attack, Sixth Army headquarters failed to order the 16th and 24th Panzer Divisions, hitherto engaged in Stalingrad, to reorient themselves to bolster the Romanian defenses; instead the task was given to the seriously understrength and poorly equipped 48th Panzer Corps . The 48th Panzer Corps had fewer than 100 serviceable modern tanks. Furthermore, they lacked fuel, and

15006-405: The Third Romanian Army occupied a line 140 kilometers (87 mi) long, while the Fourth Romanian Army protected a line no less than 270 kilometers (170 mi) long. The Italians and Hungarians were positioned at the Don west of the Third Romanian Army. Generally, German forces were in no better shape; they were weakened by months of fighting the Red Army, and, while Stavka raised new armies,

15189-405: The U.S.S.R., was in Axis hands. As the Italians moved forward to the Don river pursuing the withdrawing Soviet 63rd Army , the highly-mobile riflemen ( Bersaglieri ) of the motorized 3rd Cavalry Division were diverted to help the Germans eliminate the Soviet bridgehead at Serafimovič on the Don river. From 30 July to 13 August, the Italians fought off a heavy Soviet attack, took the town, swept

15372-520: The advance fell short of Grozny as supply difficulties arose once more. The Soviets dug in the 9th and 44th armies of the North Transcaucasian Front along the rocky Terek River bank in front (north) of the city. The Luftwaffe was unable to support the German army that far forward and Soviet aviation attacked bridges and supply routes virtually unopposed. The Germans crossed the river on 2 September but made only slow progress. At

15555-606: The aerial offensive. Much damage was done at Grozny, but the remaining oilfields were beyond the logistical reach of the German Army as well as of the fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe. Grozny was within range of German bombers from 4th Air Corps, based near the Terek River. But Grozny and the captured oilfields at Maikop produced only ten per cent of Soviet oil. The main fields at Baku were out of German fighter range. German bombers could have reached them, but it meant flying

15738-429: The air offensive to be carried out no later than 14 October, as he required air assets for a major effort at Stalingrad. As a result, on 10 October 1942, Fliegerkorps IV of Luftflotte 4 (4th Air Corps of Fourth Air Fleet) was ordered to send every available bomber against the oilfields at Grozny. Fourth Air Fleet was in poor shape by this time – Richthofen had begun Case Blue with 323 serviceable bombers out of

15921-709: The ambitious objectives of Case Blue, Hitler made a series of changes to the plan in Führer Directive No. 45 on July 23, 1942: There is no evidence Hitler was opposed by, or received complaints from Franz Halder , Chief of the General Staff, or anyone else, about the directive until August 1942. The new directive created enormous logistical difficulties, with Hitler expecting both Army Groups to advance along different routes. Logistics lines were already at breaking point with ammunition and fuel shortages most apparent and it would be impossible to advance using

16104-413: The armoured component of the ARMIR was tiny. The LXVII Armored Bersaglieri Battalion included two companies of L6/40 light tanks (armed with a turret-mounted 20 mm Breda Model 35 gun), numbering about 60 tanks. The XIII Self-propelled Anti-tank Group "Cavalleggeri di Alessandria" had two squadrons of 19 Semovente da 47/32 assault guns. For anti-tank defence, the ARMIR had been allocated 278 guns of

16287-601: The army by air and road. After crossing the Don on 25 July, Army Group A fanned out on a 200 km (120 mi) front from the Sea of Azov to Zymlianskaya (today Zymlyansk). The German Seventeenth Army, along with elements of the Eleventh Army and the Romanian Third Army, manoeuvred west towards the east coast of the Black Sea, while the First Panzer Army attacked to the south-east. The Seventeenth Army made

16470-523: The attack at 10:00, the situation developed in such a way that the Stalingrad Front could throw its armored corps into battle. The German 297th Infantry Division watched as its Romanian support failed to put up resistance against the Red Army . However, confusion and lack of control caused the Soviet 4th and 13th Mechanized Corps to stumble as they began to exploit the breakthroughs achieved by

16653-655: The attacking Soviet troops. The Soviet 1st Guards Army then attacked the Italian centre which was held by the 298th German, the Pasubio, the Torino, the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta, and the Sforzesca divisions. After eleven days of bloody fighting against overwhelming Soviet forces, these divisions were surrounded and defeated and Russian air support resulted in the death of General Paolo Tarnassi , commander of

16836-478: The beginning of September, Hitler had a major argument with the High Command and specifically List, as he perceived the advance of the German forces as too slow. As a result, Hitler dismissed List on 9 September and took direct command of Army Group A himself. Axis ships transported 30,605 men, 13,254 horses and 6,265 motor vehicles across the Black Sea from Romania, from 1–2 September. With the reinforcements,

17019-407: The bridge at Kalach was given to the Soviet 26th Tank Corps, which used two captured German tanks and a reconnaissance vehicle to approach it and fire on the guards. Soviet forces broke into the town by mid-morning and drove the defenders out, allowing themselves and the 4th Tank Corps to link up with the Red Army's 4th Mechanized Corps approaching from the south. Meanwhile, on a later date of Dec.13,

17202-474: The city itself in late August. Nonstop Luftwaffe airstrikes , artillery fire and street-to-street combat completely destroyed the city and inflicted heavy casualties on the opposing forces. After three months of battle, the Germans controlled 90% of Stalingrad on 19 November. In the south, Army Group A captured Rostov on 23 July and swept south from the Don to the Caucasus, capturing the demolished oilfields at Maikop on 9 August and Elista on 13 August near

17385-527: The city of Rostov . Following the fall of Rostov, Hitler split German forces operating in the southern extremity of the southern Russian SFSR in an effort to simultaneously capture the city of Stalingrad and the Caucasus oil fields . The responsibility to take Stalingrad was given to the Sixth Army , which immediately turned towards the Volga River and began its advance with heavy air support from

17568-499: The codeword "Siren", prompting an 80-minute artillery bombardment directed almost entirely against the non-German Axis units protecting the German flanks. At 07:30, the Katyusha rocket-launchers fired the first salvos and were soon joined by the 3,500 guns and mortars stretching along the few breakthrough sectors in front of the Third Romanian Army and the northern shoulder of the German Sixth Army's flank. Although thick fog prevented

17751-582: The command of Brigadier General Ioan Dumitrache took Nalchik , the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria and also the farthest point of Axis advance into the Caucasus. This victory earned the Romanian General the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . Up to 10,000 prisoners were captured in two days, before the advance toward Grozny was stopped again west of the city at Vladikavkaz . On 5 November, Alagir

17934-426: The command of General Enrico Pezzi . The ARMIR was subordinated to German Army Group B ( Heeresgruppe B ) commanded by General Maximilian von Weichs . In February 1943, after its near destruction during the Battle of Stalingrad , Mussolini disbanded what was left of the Italian 8th Army and the surviving Italian troops were unceremoniously brought home from Russia. Mussolini sent seven fresh divisions to Russia for

18117-708: The conservative supply rates he demanded. The divergence of the Army Groups would also open a dangerous gap between the Armies, which could be exploited by the Soviets. The Italian Alpine Corps , of the Italian Army in the Soviet Union , did not arrive in the Caucasus Mountains with Army Group A, instead remaining with Sixth Army. Army Group A was expected to operate in mountain terrain with only three mountain divisions and two infantry divisions unsuited to

18300-458: The counterattack would take place. Actions were taken to provide a reserve behind the Italian and Romanian armies, with 6th Panzer Division and two additional infantry divisions ordered to Russia from France. However, this move would only be completed by December. Head of Army General Staff General Franz Halder had been dismissed in September after his efforts to warn about the danger which

18483-575: The direction of the main German strategic offensive anticipated in 1942, even though they were in possession of the German plans. On 19 June, the chief of operations of the 23rd Panzer Division , Major Joachim Reichel, was shot down over Soviet-held territory while flying an observation aircraft over the front near Kharkov. The Soviets recovered maps from his aircraft detailing the exact German plans for Case Blue. The plans were handed over to Stavka , in Moscow. Joseph Stalin , however, believed it to be

18666-500: The distance between the outer and inner encirclements was around 16 kilometers (10 mi). The Soviet high command also began planning for Operation Saturn , which was aimed at destroying the Italian Eighth Army and cutting off German forces in the Caucasus . The Soviet Stavka planned Saturn to start on about 10 December. German forces in the area had been further split up, as German general Erich von Manstein

18849-478: The east bank of the Volga and caused many casualties during Soviet attempts to reinforce the defenders on the west bank. From mid-September until early November the Germans made three big attacks on the city and ground forward in mutually-costly fighting. By mid-November, the Soviets were penned into four shallow bridgeheads, with the front line only 180 m (200 yd) from the river. Anticipating victory, substantial numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft were withdrawn to

19032-477: The eastern front in July 1941, were very successful, taking a number of towns and cities and creating a favourable impression on their German allies. In July 1942, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini decided to scale up the Italian effort in the Soviet Union , the existing CSIR was expanded to become the ARMIR. Unlike the "mobile" CSIR which it replaced, the ARMIR was primarily an infantry army. A good portion of

19215-426: The encircled German units. Soviet armies would attack German units to the east and the south, aiming to split German units into smaller groups. These orders became effective on 24 November, and were to be executed without a major regrouping or movement of reserves. The outer encirclement ran for an estimated 320 kilometers (200 mi), although only three-quarters of that distance was actually covered by Soviet troops;

19398-726: The encirclement and reached new defensive positions set up to the west by the German Army . Many of the troops who managed to escape were frostbitten, critically ill, and deeply demoralized: for practical purposes, the Italian Army in Russia did not exist anymore by February 1943. "The Italian participation in operations in Russia proved extremely costly. Losses of the 8th Army from 20 August 1942-20 February 1943 totalled 87,795 killed and missing (3,168 officers and 84,627 NCOs and soldiers) and 34,474 wounded and frostbitten (1,527 officers and 32,947 NCOs and soldiers). In March–April 1943,

19581-429: The encirclement should break out, between 23 and 24 November Hitler decided instead to hold the position and attempt to resupply the Sixth Army by air. The personnel trapped in Stalingrad would require at least 680 tonnes (750 short tons) of supplies per day, a task which the depleted Luftwaffe was in no condition to carry out. Furthermore, the revived Red Air Force was a threat to German aircraft attempting to fly over

19764-424: The encirclement. Although by December the Luftwaffe had assembled a fleet of around 500 aircraft, this was still insufficient to supply the Sixth Army and elements of the Fourth Panzer Army with the required supplies. During the first half of December the Sixth Army received less than 20% of their daily requirements. In the meantime, the Red Army strengthened its outer encirclement with the intention of destroying

19947-468: The end of 19 November. The Soviet 21st Army and 5th Tank Army captured 27,000 Romanians—the bulk of three divisions—and then continued their advance southwards. Soviet cavalry was used to exploit the breakthrough, sever communications between the Romanians and the Italian 8th Army, and to block any counterattack against the Soviet flank. While the Red Air Force strafed retreating Romanian soldiers,

20130-539: The fighting in the city of Stalingrad proper. In some cases, such as that of the 22nd Panzer Division, their equipment was no better than that of the First Romanian Armored Division. German formations were also overextended along large stretches of front; the XI Army Corps, for example, had to defend a front around 100 kilometers (62 mi) long. The Red Army allocated an estimated 1,100,000 personnel, 804 tanks, 13,400 artillery pieces and over 1,000 aircraft for

20313-556: The front line and another 1.7 million in reserve armies, their forces accounted for about one quarter of all Soviet troops. Following the disastrous start of Case Blue for the Soviets, they reorganized their frontlines several times. Over the course of the campaign, the Soviets also fielded the Voronezh Front , Don Front , Stalingrad Front , Transcaucasian Front , and the Caucasian Front , though not all existed at

20496-503: The front went through a number of war games to practice repelling an enemy counterattack and exploiting a breakthrough with mechanized forces. These movements were masked through a deception campaign by the Soviets, including the decrease of radio traffic, camouflage, operational security, using couriers for communication instead of radio, and active deception, such as increasing troop movements around Moscow. Troops were ordered to build defensive fortifications, to offer false impressions to

20679-411: The front were responsible for ferrying ammunition, personnel and tanks across the Volga River while carrying out minor reconnaissance along sections of the front which were to be the breakthrough points of the impending offensive. In three weeks the Red Army transported around 111,000 soldiers, 420 tanks and 556 artillery pieces across the Volga. On 17 November Vasilevsky was recalled to Moscow, where he

20862-454: The front. The disaster at Stalingrad was the end of Case Blue and the territorial gains had been reversed by the end of 1943, except for the Kuban bridgehead on the Taman peninsula, retained for a possible second offensive to the Caucasus, which was held until 19 October 1943. The failure of the operation, mainly due to the disastrous defeat at Stalingrad, marked the turning point in the war on

21045-560: The impending threat. By late 22 November, the northern and southern Soviet forces linked up at the town of Kalach , encircling some 290,000 Axis personnel east of the Don River . Instead of attempting to break out of the encirclement, German leader Adolf Hitler decided to keep Axis forces in Stalingrad and to resupply them by air. On 28 June 1942, the Wehrmacht began its offensive against Soviet forces opposite of Army Group South , codenamed Case Blue . After breaking through Red Army forces by 13 July, German forces encircled and captured

21228-400: The intention of defeating the Soviet Union in a quick offensive which was expected to last only 3 months. The Axis offensive had met with initial success and the Red Army had suffered some major defeats before halting the Axis units just short of Moscow (November/December 1941). Although the Germans had captured vast areas of land and important industrial centers, the Soviet Union remained in

21411-485: The irresponsible attitude of commanders". Although Soviet intelligence made honest efforts to collect as much information as possible on the disposition of the Axis forces arrayed in front of them, there was not much information on the state of the German Sixth Army. Vasilevsky wanted to call off the offensive. The Soviet commanders, overruling Vasilevsky, agreed the offensive would not be called off, and Stalin personally rang Volsky, who reiterated his intention to carry out

21594-512: The leadership of General Aleksandr Vasilevsky . The Stavka developed two major operations to be conducted against Axis forces near Stalingrad, Uranus and Saturn , and also planned for Operation Mars , designed to engage German Army Group Center in an effort to distract reinforcements and to inflict as much damage as possible. Operation Uranus involved the use of large Soviet mechanized and infantry forces to encircle German and other Axis forces directly around Stalingrad. As preparations for

21777-564: The left flank to protect the first attack, moving in the direction of Stalingrad along the Don River , known as Operation Fischreiher . Army Group South ( Heeresgruppe Süd ) of the German Army was divided into Army Groups A and B ( Heeresgruppe A and B ). Army Group A was tasked with fulfilling Operation Edelweiss by crossing the Caucasus Mountains to reach the Baku oil fields, while Army Group B protected its flanks along

21960-407: The most direct, thus most predictable route without protection. In August it may have been possible to carry out these operations owing to the weakness of Soviet air power in the region, but by October it had been considerably strengthened. On 23 July, the main body of Army Group B started its advance toward the Don. The Germans met with increasing Soviet resistance from the new Stalingrad Front, with

22143-500: The most part the German flanks were held by arriving non-German Axis armies, while German forces were used to spearhead continued operations in Stalingrad and in the Caucasus. While Adolf Hitler expressed confidence in the ability of non-German Axis units to protect German flanks, in reality these units relied on largely obsolete equipment and horse-drawn artillery, while in many cases the harsh treatment of enlisted personnel by officers caused poor morale. In regard to mechanization,

22326-482: The mountain corps ("Tridentina", "Cuneense", and "Julia" Divisions) in the beginning destined for the Caucasus but, because of the lack of success of the German operations in that direction, they were sent back to the ARMIR. The Italians ought to have had in reserve three divisions and, further back, a German armoured division. But the Russian counteroffensive against the German forces which were aiming at Stalingrad and

22509-478: The new Central Front led by Rokossovsky, with the forces freed after the surrender of the Germans in Stalingrad on 2 February. The operations were aimed at Army Group Center in the north and timed to coincide with the expected successes of the Soviet operations in the south. Army Group South escaped encirclement and prepared a counter-offensive, which led to the Third Battle of Kharkov and the stabilization of

22692-401: The newly formed ARMIR, instead of General Giovanni Messe . As commander of the CSIR, Messe had opposed an enlargement of the Italian contingent in Russia until it could be properly equipped. Rather than a numerical reinforcement of Italian troops in Russia, Messe asked for a rise in heavy artillery supply, motor vehicles, tanks and antitank weapons. As a result, he was overruled by Mussolini and

22875-515: The north were being destroyed in isolated battles, while the Red Army began to engage flanking portions of the German Fourth Panzer and Sixth Armies . The German 22nd Panzer Division, despite attempting a short counterattack, was reduced to little more than a tank company and forced to withdraw to the southwest. The Soviet 26th Tank Corps, having destroyed a large portion of the Romanian 1st Armored Division, continued its advance to

23058-472: The northern flank of Army Group B, between Stalingrad and Voronezh. From 20–28 August, the 63rd Army and the 21st Army counter-attacked near Serafimovich , forcing the Italian Eighth Army to fall back. The 1st Guards Army attacked near Novo-Grigoryevskaja , extending its bridgehead. These and several other bridgeheads across the Don, opposed by the Eighth Italian and Second Hungarian armies, were

23241-420: The offensive commenced, the attack's starting points were positioned on stretches of front to the rear of the German Sixth Army, largely preventing the Germans from reinforcing those sectors quickly where Axis units were too overstretched to occupy effectively. The offensive was a double envelopment ; Soviet mechanized forces would penetrate deep into the German rear, while another attack would be made closer to

23424-494: The offensive if Stalingrad could be taken. In the first week of October 1942, Hitler came to recognize that the capture of the Caucasus oil fields was unlikely before winter, which forced the Germans to take up defensive positions. Unable to capture them, he was determined to deny them to the enemy and ordered the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL) to inflict as much damage as possible. On 8 October, Hitler called for

23607-403: The offensive on schedule, at 08:00. He responded he would do so only if the fog lifted; although the 51st Army opened its artillery barrage on time because front headquarters could not contact the division, the rest of the forces prepared for the operation received orders to postpone the attack until 10:00. The 51st Army engaged the Romanian 6th Corps, taking many prisoners. As the 57th Army joined

23790-421: The offensive. Soviet troop movements were not without problems: concealing their build-up proved difficult, and Soviet units commonly arrived late due to logistical issues. Operation Uranus was first postponed by the Soviet high command ( Stavka ) from 8 to 17 November, then to 19 November. At 07:20 Moscow time on 19 November, Soviet forces assaulted the northern flank of the Axis forces at Stalingrad; attacks in

23973-453: The oil fields had been sufficiently destroyed by the Red Army to take about a year to be repaired. Shortly afterwards Pyatigorsk was taken. On 12 August, Krasnodar was captured and German mountain troops hoisted the Nazi flag on the highest mountain of the Caucasus, Mount Elbrus . The length of the German advance created chronic supply difficulties, particularly of petrol; the Black Sea

24156-468: The oilfields at Maykop, Grozny and Baku. As in Barbarossa, these movements were expected to result in a series of grand encirclements of Soviet troops. The offensive was to be conducted across the southern Russian (Kuban) steppe utilizing the following Army Group units: Northern Sector (Volga campaign) Southern Sector (Caucasus campaign) The Soviet army command ( Stavka ) failed to discern

24339-436: The opening offensive. The Germans responded quickly by redeploying their only reserve in the area, the 29th Panzergrenadier Division. Despite initial victories against Soviet armored forces, the Romanian collapse forced the division to again redeploy in an attempt to shore up defenses to the south. The 29th Panzergrenadier Division's counterattack cost the Red Army around fifty tanks, and caused Soviet commanders to worry about

24522-560: The opening phase. Once again, as it had done during the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, and Barbarossa in 1941, the Luftwaffe's Junkers Ju 52 transport fleet flew in supplies to keep the army going. The situation remained difficult with German troops forced to recover fuel from damaged or abandoned vehicles, and in some cases, leave behind tanks and vehicles with heavy fuel consumption to continue their advance. This undermined

24705-639: The operation if ordered to do so. Operation Uranus, postponed until 17 November, was again postponed for two days when Soviet General Georgy Zhukov was told the air units allotted to the operation were not ready; it was finally launched on 19 November. Shortly after 5 a.m. Lieutenant Gerhard Stöck, posted with the Romanian IV Army Corps on the Kletskaya sector called Sixth Army headquarters housed in Golubinsky, offering intelligence on

24888-551: The poor state of Soviet roads. The Luftwaffe sent an ad-hoc force of 300 Ju 52 transport aircraft, enabling the Germans to advance; some bombers were diverted from operations to supply flights under the Stalingrad Transport Region force . The Soviet defence at the Don forced the Germans to commit more and more troops to an increasingly vulnerable front, leaving few reserves to back up the Axis divisions on either flank. The Soviets made several counter-attacks on

25071-677: The production of food. These resources were of immense importance to the German war effort. Of the three million tons of oil Germany consumed per year, 85 percent was imported, mainly from the United States , Venezuela , and Iran . When war broke out in September 1939, the British naval blockade cut Germany off from the Americas and the Middle East, leaving the country reliant on oil-rich European countries such as Romania to supply

25254-506: The railway around Kizlyar , north-east of Grozny, marking the farthest advance of the German forces towards the Caspian Sea. In the south, the First Panzer Army advance on Grozny was stopped by the Red Army and the 14th Air Army . By late September, supply failures and the resistance of the Red Army slowed the Axis advance. The Germans took Nakchik on 26 October. On 2 November 1942, Romanian mountain troops ( Vânători de munte ) under

25437-449: The remnant (a little more than 400 men) of the German 129th Infantry Regiment. The reinforcement of the entire broad front with the few available units meant their attenuation, robbing them of their efficiency. Messe decided to counterattack, choosing his directions of attack and concentrating in those places all the forces available to him. The counterattack began favourably and important positions were retaken. The counterattack executed by

25620-406: The remnants of 4th and 5th Corps, whereas the neighboring 1st Armored Division was still trying to break free and link with 22nd Panzer Division. That day German General Friedrich Paulus , commander of the Sixth Army, received reports that the Soviets were less than 40 kilometers (25 mi) from his headquarters; furthermore, there were no remaining units which could contest the Soviet advance. In

25803-469: The remnants of the Army returned to Italy for rest and reorganization. Upon the surrender of Italy in September 1943, the Army was disbanded." Officially, ARMIR losses were 114,520 of the original 235,000 soldiers Armies with the Italian 8th Army and Army Group B at Stalingrad : Operation Uranus Operation Uranus ( Russian : Опера́ция «Ура́н» , romanized :  Operatsiya "Uran" )

25986-406: The resource. An indication of German reliance on Romania is evident from its oil consumption; in 1938, just one-third of the 7,500,000 tons consumed by Germany came from domestic stocks. Oil had always been Germany's Achilles heel , and by the end of 1941, Hitler had nearly exhausted Germany's reserves, which left him with only two significant sources of oil, the country's own synthetic production and

26169-434: The retreating Romanian soldiers. The offensive against the Third Romanian Army began at 08:50, led by the 21st and 65th Soviet Armies and the 5th Tank Army. The first two assaults were repulsed by the Romanian defenders, and the effects of the heavy artillery bombardment had actually made it more difficult for Soviet armor to navigate through the minefields and terrain. However, the lack of heavy anti-tank artillery caused

26352-517: The safety of their left flank. However, the German division's redeployment meant that by the end of the day only the 6th Romanian Cavalry Regiment stood between advancing Soviet forces and the Don River. While the Stalingrad Front launched its offensive on 20 November, the 65th Soviet Army continued to apply pressure to the German 11th Corps along the northern shoulder of the Sixth Army's flank. The Red Army's 4th Tank Corps advanced beyond

26535-542: The same time. With the German thrust expected in the north, Stavka planned several local offensives in the south to weaken the Germans. The most important of these was aimed at the city of Kharkov and would be conducted mainly by the Southwestern Front under Semyon Timoshenko , supported by the Southern Front commanded by Rodion Malinovsky . The operation was scheduled for 12 May, just prior to

26718-643: The second phase of the operation, on 9 July, Army Group South was split into Army Group A and Army Group B, with Wilhelm List appointed as commander of Army Group A and Army Group B commanded by Maximillian von Weichs. Only two weeks into the operation, on 11 July, the Germans began to suffer logistical difficulties, which slowed the advance. The German Sixth Army was continually delayed by fuel shortages. Eight days later, on 20 July, shortages of fuel were still undermining operations, leaving many units unable to execute their orders. The 23rd Panzer Division and 24th Panzer Division both became stranded during

26901-529: The shortage of tanks forced commanders to organize tank crews into infantry companies; the 22nd Panzer Division , which formed part of the corps, was almost completely destroyed in the fighting that ensued. The 22nd had entered the fighting with fewer than thirty working tanks, and left with a company of tanks. The Romanian 1st Armored Division, attached to the 48th Panzer Corps, engaged the Soviet 26th Tank Corps after having lost communications with their German corps commanders, and were defeated by 20 November. As

27084-538: The simultaneous collapse of the Hungarian troops to the left of the Alpini. The Julia Division and Cuneense Division were destroyed. Members of the 1 Alpini Regiment , part of Cuneese Division, burned the regimental flags to keep them from being captured. Part of the Tridentina Division and other withdrawing troops managed to escape the encirclement. On 26 January 1943, the Alpini remnants breached

27267-421: The south allowed the Germans to capture the western part of Voronezh on 6 July and reach and cross the Don River near Stalingrad on 26 July. Army Group B's approach toward Stalingrad slowed in late July and early August owing to constant counterattacks by newly deployed Red Army reserves and overstretched German supply lines. The Germans defeated the Soviets in the Battle of Kalach and the combat shifted to

27450-535: The south began the next day. Although the Romanian units succeeded in repelling the first Soviet attacks, by the end of 20 November the Third and Fourth Romanian armies were in headlong retreat, as the Red Army bypassed several German infantry divisions. German mobile reserves proved too weak to parry the Soviet mechanized spearheads, while the Sixth Army did not react quickly or decisively enough to disengage German armored forces in Stalingrad and re-orient them to countering

27633-414: The south, after a brief halt, the Soviet 4th Mechanized Corps continued its advance north, removing German defenders from several towns in the area, towards Stalingrad. As German forces in and around Stalingrad were at risk, Hitler ordered German forces in the area to establish an "all-around defensive position" and designated forces between the Don and Volga rivers as "Fortress Stalingrad", rather than allow

27816-410: The southeast, avoiding engaging enemy left behind, although remnants of the Romanian 5th Corps were able to reorganize and put up a hastily constructed defense in the hope that it would be aided by the German 48th Panzer Corps. Surrounded by 5th Tank Army on one side and 21st Army on the other, the bulk of 3rd Romanian Army was isolated in the region of Raspopinskaya where General Lascăr took control of

27999-434: The southern flank. The city was a 24 km (15 mi) ribbon along the west bank of the Volga, which forced the Germans to conduct a frontal assault, and the ruins of the city gave the defenders an advantage. To counter Luftwaffe air superiority, the commander of the 62nd Army, General Vasily Chuikov , ordered his troops to "hug" the Germans, negating German tactical mobility. The Luftwaffe suppressed Soviet artillery on

28182-399: The start of the campaign was as follows: Northern Sector (Volga campaign) Armies deployed north to south: The German offensive commenced on 28 June 1942, with Fourth Panzer Army starting its drive towards Voronezh. Due to a chaotic Soviet retreat, the Germans were able to advance rapidly, restoring Wehrmacht confidence for the upcoming major offensive. Close air support from

28365-414: The strength of the units, which were forced to leave fighting vehicles behind. Nevertheless, the Luftwaffe flew in 200 tons of fuel per day to keep the army supplied. Despite this impressive performance in keeping the army mobile, Löhr was replaced by the more impetuous and offensive-minded Richthofen. Believing that the main Soviet threat had been eliminated, desperately short of oil and needing to meet all

28548-483: The struggle for Stalingrad. The Germans could only count on the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps , which had the strength of a single panzer division, and the 29th Panzergrenadier Division as reserves to bolster their Romanian allies guarding the German Sixth Army's flanks. These Romanian armies lacked the heavy equipment to deal with Soviet armor. In contrast, the Red Army deployed over one million personnel for

28731-414: The tanks lagged behind, due to lack of fuel and supply breakdowns, despite the efforts of 4th Air Corps, which flew in supplies around the clock. On 9 August, the First Panzer Army reached Maikop in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains, having advanced more than 480 kilometers (300 mi) in fewer than two weeks. The western oil fields near Maikop were seized in a commando operation from 8–9 August, but

28914-415: The task. The splitting of Army Group South enabled the launching of Operation Edelweiss and Operation Fischreiher, the two main thrusts of the Army Groups. Both groups had to achieve their objectives simultaneously, instead of consecutively. The success of the initial advance was such that Hitler ordered the Fourth Panzer Army south to assist the First Panzer Army to cross the lower Don river. This assistance

29097-477: The tens of thousands were probably exaggerations). Sixth Army advanced from the north via Kalach and Fourth Panzer Army came up from the south through Kotelnikovo. In the first few days, the XIV Panzer Corps opened a corridor between the main body of Sixth Army and the northern Stalingrad suburbs at the Volga. In the south, Soviet resistance repulsed the Fourth Panzer Army. On 29 August another attempt

29280-402: The upcoming offensive. Across the Third Romanian Army, the Soviets placed the redeployed 5th Tank Army, as well as the 21st and 65th Armies, in order to penetrate and overrun the German flanks. The German southern flank was targeted by the Stalingrad Front's 51st and 57th Armies, led by the 13th and 4th Mechanized Corps; these would punch through the Fourth Romanian Army, in order to link up with

29463-460: The war were so many troops of the German army caught together. Such a feat was so unusual that the Stavka ' s own initial estimation of the encircled enemy force was only a quarter of its actual strength, because besides the fighting troops there was a huge number of extra personnel from various professions, engineer sections, Luftwaffe ground staff and others. Fighting continued on 23 November as

29646-498: The war. In the winter of 1941–42, the Soviets struck back in a series of successful counteroffensives, pushing back the German threat to Moscow. Despite these setbacks, Hitler wanted complete destruction of Russia, for which he required the oil resources of the Caucasus. By February 1942 the German Army High Command ( OKH ) had begun to develop plans for a follow-up campaign to the aborted Barbarossa offensive – with

29829-401: The woods and swamps around it, and fought off infiltrations and counter-attacks, destroying an enemy armoured brigade, knocking out 35 Soviet tanks and taking 1,600 prisoners. The 75/32 battery proved very effective at short range and destroyed twelve tanks. The battle cost the division 2,989 dead and wounded and the division was withdrawn from the front line to rest and regroup. On 13 August,

30012-912: Was a Soviet 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II which led to the encirclement of Axis forces in the vicinity of Stalingrad : the German Sixth Army , the Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the German Fourth Panzer Army . The Red Army carried out the operation at roughly the midpoint of the five-month long Battle of Stalingrad , aiming to destroy German forces in and around Stalingrad. Planning for Operation Uranus had commenced in September 1942, and developed simultaneously with plans to envelop and destroy German Army Group Center ( Operation Mars ) and German forces in

30195-442: Was also aware that Germany was running low on fuel supply and would not be able to continue attacking deeper into enemy territory without more stock. With this in mind, Hitler ordered for the preparation of offensive plans for summer 1942 to secure the Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus. The operation involved a two-pronged attack: one from the Axis right flank against the oil fields of Baku , known as Operation Edelweiss , and one from

30378-616: Was an over-complicated weapon firing a very light bomb - only 480 g - with just 70 g of burster charge, at 500 m, while the 81 mm 81/14 Model 35 mortar was quite an effective weapon that could fire a 3.3 kg–6.6 kg grenade up to 1,100 m. The Aviation Command of the ARMIR had a total of roughly 100 aircraft. The ARMIR had the following aircraft available to it: Macchi C.200 “Arrow" ( Saetta ) fighter , Macchi C.202 “Lightning" ( Folgore ) fighter , Caproni Ca.311 light reconnaissance-bomber , and Fiat Br.20 “Stork" ( Cicogna ) twin-engined bomber . Italian General Italo Gariboldi took command of

30561-775: Was appointed commander of the air force component of the Italian Army in Russia, distinguishing himself in operations on the Eastern Front, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Savoy and his fifth and last Silver Medal for Military Valor by the Italian authorities, as well as the Cross of Merit of the Order of the German Eagle 1st Class with Swords, the Iron Cross First Class and

30744-629: Was attacked in force and threatened on its flank and in its rear by the partial yielding of the German Forces. Italian forces were fighting on a wide front (30 km for the XXXV Army Corps), but succeeded in holding the enemy who was superior, both numerically and in combat means. On 22 August, Giovanni Messe's XXXV Army Corps received as reinforcements the 3rd Cavalry Division , the Cervino Mountain Battalion and

30927-539: Was developing along the over-extended flanks of the Sixth Army and the Fourth Panzer Army . As early as September the Soviet Stavka (high command) began planning a series of counteroffensives to encompass the destruction of German forces in the south, fighting in Stalingrad and in the Caucasus, and against Army Group Center. Ultimately, command of Soviet efforts to relieve Stalingrad was put under

31110-420: Was effective on 23 November. Around 16:00, near the village of Sovetsky, the forward detachments of 36th Mechanized Brigade from the Stalingrad Front's 4th Mechanized Corps sighted the approaching tanks of 45th Brigade from the Southwestern Front's 4th Tank Corps. At first they mistook them for Germans because they did not fire green flares as was agreed for a reconnaissance signal and several tanks were damaged in

31293-435: Was forced back to its starting positions by 15 July, losing about half of its tanks in the process. Although the battle was a success, Hitler and Fedor von Bock , commander of Army Group South, argued over the next steps in the operation. The heated debate, and continuing Soviet counterattacks, which tied down Fourth Panzer Army until 13 July, caused Hitler to lose his temper and dismiss Bock on 17 July. As part of

31476-545: Was forced to withdraw from Voronezh and the Don. The operations continued until January and led Stavka to believe that they could deal a fatal blow to the Germans and decide the war in southern Russia. Operation Star , conducted by the Voronezh Front, was aimed at Kharkov, Kursk and Belgorod . Operation Gallop was conducted by the South-western Front against Voroshilovgrad , Donetsk and then towards

31659-473: Was given command of the newly created Army Group Don , comprising the German Fourth Panzer and Sixth Armies, and the Third and Fourth Romanian Armies. Although the situation looked bleak for the Germans, a moment of relative calm had settled after the end of Operation Uranus; German and Soviet forces were planning their next movements. The link-up of the Soviet forces, not filmed at the time,

31842-500: Was judged too dangerous and fuel was brought by rail through Rostov or delivered by air, but panzer divisions were sometimes at a standstill for weeks. Even petrol trucks ran out of fuel and oil had to be brought up on camels. With the Soviets often retreating instead of fighting, the number of prisoners fell short of expectations and only 83,000 were taken. As Hitler and OKH began to concentrate on Stalingrad, some of Kleist's mobile forces were diverted. Kleist lost his flak corps and most of

32025-561: Was left on the side of the road. Bridges spanning the Don River were jammed with traffic, as surviving Axis soldiers hastily made their way westwards in the cold weather, attempting to escape Soviet armor and infantry threatening to cut them off from Stalingrad. Many wounded Axis personnel were trampled, and many of those who attempted to cross the river on foot on the ice fell through and drowned. Hungry soldiers filled Russian villages scouring for supplies, while supply dumps were often looted in search of cans of food. The last stragglers crossed

32208-434: Was made with Hoth turning his forces west directly through the center of 64th Army. The attack was unexpectedly successful and Fourth Panzer Army got behind 62nd and 64th Armies with the chance to encircle and cut off 62nd Army. Weichs ordered Sixth Army to complete the encirclement; a Soviet counter-attack held up the advance for three days and the Soviets escaped and retreated towards Stalingrad. The rapid German advance caused

32391-451: Was not needed and Kleist later complained that Fourth Panzer Army clogged the roads and that if they had carried on toward Stalingrad, they could have taken it in July. When it turned north again two weeks later, the Soviets had gathered enough forces together at Stalingrad to check its advance. With air support from the Ju 87s of Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 , List's Army Group A recaptured Rostov,

32574-434: Was not strong enough to cross the Don by itself, so he waited for Fourth Panzer Army to fight its way north. On 4 August, the Germans were still 97 km (60 mi) from Stalingrad. By 10 August, the Red Army had been cleared from most of the west bank of the Don, but Soviet resistance continued in some areas, further delaying Army Group B. The Wehrmacht advance on Stalingrad was also impeded by supply shortages caused by

32757-454: Was overrun by Soviet forces. By the end of the day the Soviet 1st Tank Corps was chasing the retreating 48th Panzer Corps, while the Soviet 26th Tank Corps had captured the town of Perelazovsky, almost 130 kilometers (81 mi) to the northwest of Stalingrad. The Red Army's offensive continued on 21 November, with forces of the Stalingrad Front achieving penetrations of up to 50 kilometers (31 mi). By this time remaining Romanian units in

32940-489: Was prone to jamming and had to be kept for a long time on a source of heat to work properly in extreme climatic conditions. Much better was the standard heavy machine gun, the 8mm Breda M37 , which proved to be a simple (only four moving parts) and fairly reliable weapon. The old belt-fed Fiat 14 was also seen in small numbers, but was obsolete. The praised high-quality Beretta 38A submachine guns were extremely rare, and given only in small numbers to specialized units, such as

33123-577: Was seized and the Alagir – Beslan – Malgobek line reached became the farthest German advance in the south. By this time, the gap between Army Groups A and B had left them vulnerable to a counter-offensive. Only the German 16th Motorized Infantry Division remained inside the gap, guarding the left flank of the First Panzer Army by securing the road towards Astrakhan. On 22 November, after several Soviet counter-attacks, Hitler appointed Kleist as Group commander with orders to hold his position and prepare to resume

33306-424: Was shown a letter written to Stalin by General Volsky , commander of the 4th Mechanized Corps, who urged calling off the offensive. Volsky believed the offensive as planned was doomed to failure due to the state of the forces earmarked for the operation; he suggested postponing the offensive and redesigning it entirely. Many Soviet soldiers had not been issued with winter garments, and many died of frostbite, "due to

33489-457: Was split from Army Group South (the forces operating around the Caucasus were named Army Group A), seemed strong on paper: it included the Second and Sixth German, Fourth Panzer, Fourth and Third Romanian, Eighth Italian, and Second Hungarian Armies. Army Group B had the 48th Panzer Corps, which had the strength of a weakened panzer division, and a single infantry division as reserves. For

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