November 19, 1942 - The Red Army of the Soviets counterattacked and besieged the Germans at Stalingrad

Operation Uranus besieged 330,000 German troops in a 50km long basin from East to West and 40km from North to South in Northwest Stalingrad, with a circumference of up to 170km.

November 19, 1942 - Soviet Red Army opens up Uranus

Operation Uranus is the codename of the strategic Soviet campaign of late 1942 during the Second World War in the area south of the Soviet-German front , on two bends bordering the East River and the river. Volga with the center is the city of Stalingrad. As a result of this campaign, the three sides of the Soviet army surrounded the 6th Army and part of the Nazi Army Tank 4, severely damaged the Romanian 3rd and 4th Army Groups. , the Italian 8th Army and the outer ring of the German Tank Tank Army 4.

Soviet infantry attacked the Axis forces during the Uranus campaign.

Through analysis of intelligence, research on the battlefield situation and based on the reality of newly built reserve army groups, the number of weapons and war facilities provided by the defense industry In mid-September 1942, the supreme commander of the Soviet army made plans to encircle and destroy the southern wing (the main wing) of the Army Group B (Germany) in the Stalingrad region. At the end of September, the most basic features of this plan were completed with the codename Uranus - Uranus.

In order to secure forces and means for the campaign, Soviet troops mobilized more than 27,000 cars to transport troops, mobilizing 1,300 rounds of train cars every day. Transport of people and vehicles across the East River and Volga River becomes complicated because of the beginning of icebergs. All of the burden of transport across the river was assumed by two Volga transport fleets, the Song Dong and the soldiers. Army groups at Stalingrad front were subjected to intense bombardments, making the transfer of troops even more difficult. The 38th Infantry Battalion stationed at the front was responsible for transferring ammunition, soldiers and vehicles across the ferry across the Volga and at the same time conducting a small reconnaissance along the zones of the battlefield, which would be the points. puncture the front line of the upcoming attack.

In the last 3 weeks of October, the Soviet Army transported nearly 111,000 troops, 420 tanks and 556 guns across the Volga. From November 1 to November 19, the transfer speed was pushed higher. More than 160,000 soldiers and officers, 16,000 horses, 430 tanks, more than 600 cannons, 14,000 cars and nearly 7,000 tons of bullets were transported across the Volga. But that is not enough. On November 11, during the final inspection trip, Marshal Zhukov found that air preparations were not enough to support the ground forces. In the Stalingrad Front there are still two infantry divisions (87 and 315) that have not yet arrived because of a lack of transport, Volsky Major General's Army Corps 4 has only focused on a tank brigade and lack of cargo. hundred tons of fuel. At the 51st and 57th Army groups, it was necessary to transfer ammunition and warm coats forward to soldiers before November 14.

Scheme of Soviet advance plan.

Based on reports from the battlefield, 13h10 on November 15, 1942, Stalin sent the following telegram to Zhukov: "To Comrade Konstantinov, the evacuation day of Fedorov and Ivanov may be viewed and decided by comrades, then report to me when I return to Moscow If you feel that either of them needs to start evacuating sooner or later than a day or two, I authorize the comrade to decide and that problem is caused by comrades data " . In the end, the Soviet army's supreme commander-in-chief had delayed the opening of the Uranus campaign until November 19 (for the North wing) and November 20 (for the South wing). The difference of one day is because the Southwestern Front had to go a long way. The Stalingrad Front had hundreds of kilometers to be able to meet in the Kalach - Sovietskaya area and even cross the East River in the process of advancing.

At 7h20 on November 19, 1942 Moscow time (5:20 am German time), the Soviet artillery commanders received the siren signal, simultaneously conducting the 80-minute shelling directly into three Romanian military groups and Italy is defending both sides of the German army. Nearly 3,500 cannons turned toward Romania's Third Army and the northernmost flank on the left flank of Army Group 6 (Germany). The prolonged artillery bombardment has put many Roman bombs and artillery fire on; Electric wire communications were cut off, many ammunition depots were destroyed and the observatory forward were all collapsed. Many Romanian soldiers who survived the artillery began to flee backwards. More than an hour later, Soviet gunners switched lanes, aiming for artillery and fortifications on the Romanian army's second line of defense, suppressing these positions and disrupting the enemy lineup.

Immediately after the artillery bombardment ended, Soviet forces from Stalingrad's North wing swept through the Axis line. The groundbreaking mission at the northern front was assigned to the assault army, including the 21st Army Group and the 5th Tank Group. Supporting the left flank for this wing was the 65th Army Group of the Eastern Song Front. click from Kleskaya pedal but follow the direction to the East of Southeast. The first two raids were repulsed by Romanian defenses, and the aftermath of actual intense fireworks made the Soviet armored vehicles more difficult to cross landmines and terrain. However, the lack of anti-tank guns makes the Romanian line of defense quickly collapse. By noon, the line in this area was pierced by the Soviet Union. In the following days, the Soviet army advanced further into the northern area of ​​Stalingrad and waited only for the southern army to appear to carry out a plan to encircle the German Sixth Army.

T-34 tanks swarm through the Axis line.

Meanwhile, at the southern front, 10 am on November 20, the attack of the Southwestern Front began to take place without a bomber. Major General Trufanov's 51st Army attacked Romania's 6th Army Corps in the general direction to Plodovitoye - Avganerovo, capturing many prisoners of 1st, 2nd and 10th divisions of this army. General Tolbukhin's Army of 57 attacked in general direction to Kalach. On the southern outskirts of Stalingrad, General Sumilov's 64th Army attacked from Ivanovka to Gavrilovka and Vakhvarovka.

The Germans immediately responded by making the 560 anti-tank self-propelled artillery division the only reserve force they had in the area to advance. Despite the initial successes in fighting the Soviet armored forces, Romania's 4th Army line still quickly collapsed, forcing the division to relocate in an attempt to restore the line of defense. southern. The counterattack of the 29th anti-tank self-propelled artillery division destroyed about 50 Soviet tanks and caused the Soviet Army Command to worry about the safety of their left flank. withdrawing and re-arranging the 29th Division also made the German defensive line inside thin. By the end of November 20, only the Romanian 6th Cavalry Regiment was stationed between Soviet forces advancing into the East River.

The Soviet pincer attack was completed on November 23, 1942, the entire German Sixth Army Group as "fish on the cutting board". While the Germans were inside and around Stalingrad were in danger, Hitler ordered German forces to establish a comprehensive defense and force arrangement between the East and Volga rivers, such as Stalingrad fortress, breaking hopes. trying to open the way for the Sixth Army. When receiving an urgent report on the dangerous situation of the Sixth Army, accompanied by the telegram of Friedrich Paulus, Hitler immediately rejected the intention of the retreat of Friedrich Paulus, he ordered: " The Sixth Army must arrange the defensive of the arc, waiting for the counterattack from outside to disband."

Uranus campaign summary.

The counter-attack Hitler referred to was the campaign Unternehmen Wintergewitter - Winter storm - which was carried out in December 1942 by the newly formed Song Dong Army Group, led by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein. The Sixth Army, the other Axis units and most units of the German Fourth Tank Group had entered the encirclement increasingly tightening of the three Soviet forces. Only the 16th self-propelled anti-tank artillery division began fighting to escape. The battle is still ongoing after November 23 when German forces desperately tried to launch counter-attacks from inside to break the siege.

Operation Uranus besieged 330,000 German troops in a 50km long basin from East to West and 40km from North to South in Northwest Stalingrad, with a circumference of up to 170km. This was the first time since the Soviet-Soviet War broke out, the Nazi army was besieged in such a large "pan." The encircled German Army consisted of 8, 17, 29, 51 infantry corps and 40th Army Corps of the Sixth Army, 24th Army Corps of the Fourth Tank Group and the army of 2 Army Groups 3 , 4 (Romania), a Croatian infantry regiment and technical units. Surrounded by an army of 22 divisions, there were 340 tanks (of which more than 200 became fixed-armored fortifications), 5,230 guns and mortars and more than 10,000 vehicles download types.