This is my timeline for the Battle of Stalingrad. The maps are largely from: RKKA in WW2: Maps 1942 South-Western Direction.
Stalingrad 1942-43
Alexander V. Suvorov, the best Russian prior to WW2 and probably of all time, said:
To surprise is to conquer
The Russians took this to heart when, between Aug 1942 and Feb 1943, the Germans and Soviets slugged it out in Stalingrad, Stalin’s modern city on the Volga. It was brutal and nasty. Both sides took enormous casualties in the street fighting. The Soviets referred to Stalingrad as the “Academy of Street Fighting” to reflect the new ways of fighting they had to develop. In the long term the Soviets came out the winners when their carefully prepared offensive crashed into the formations on the flanks of the Sixth Army.
Academy of Street Fighting: Tactics during the Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad started on the River Don and ended when the Soviets destroyed the Sixth Army’s flanking formations north and south of the city. But the heart of the battle was in the streets of Stalingrad itself. This is where the Russian soldiers and militia held the German on slaught. Where the defenders demonstrated an unexpected aptitude for urban warfare. And where both sides developed new tactics to deal with fighting in built up areas.
Sources for the Battle of Stalingrad
Annotated bibliography for the Battle of Stalingrad.
Orders of Battle at Stalingrad
Both the Soviets and Germans poured troops into the Battle of Stalingrad. Having said that the aims were different. Hitler wanted to win in the city. Stalin, or more accurate Zhukov, wanted to hold in the city and win elsewhere. So where as the Germans massed troops the Soviets merely fed in sufficient troops to retain a presence on the western bank of the Volga.
Russian Naval Infantry in WW2
My interest in the Russian Naval Infantry of WW2 was sparked when reading accounts of the fighting at Stalingrad and in the Crimea. Sometime later I purchased and painted a Russian Naval Infantry Battalion to use for Crossfire. My challenge now is scenarios where I can use them.
