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Battle Begins
German Soldiers cross the Aksay River towards Stalingrad -
Attack!
The German General, Friedrich Paulus orders the attack of the Soviet city of Stalingrad -
Under Siege
Stalingrad is officially under Germany's control -
Strategy
Germans take the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk -
Hitler Tells Troops to Stop
Adolf Hitler orders all offensives towards the Soviet to stop, and orders all commanders to remain in their current position until 1943. -
Operation Uranus
Operation Uranus: a two-pronged attrack through the romanian-held defenses, was launched by the Red Army (Soviet.) -
Second Offensive
Soviet order a second offensive to move towards the south of Stalingrad-- meeting the troops of Operation Uranus, they capture and trap and the German troops within Stalingrad in 2 days. -
Soviets Trap Germans
The Red Army trap a quarter million of German soldiers within Stalingrad. As the Soviet troops move closer, German general Friedrich Paulus asks permission from Berlin to withdraw and surrender. However, Hitler does not approve. -
Operation Little Saturn
The Soviet Army puts Operation Little Saturn into effect to punch through the Axis army on the Don and take Rostov. This led to the battles in the northern Caucasus and Donets Basin regions of the Soviet Union. If the operation was successful the remainder of Army Group South, 1/3 of the entire German army in Caucasus, Russia. -
Stalingrad put on hold
All further attempts to relieve Stalingrad are put on hold, indefinitely. -
Soviet Army launches Fresh New Attack
The Soviet Army launches a fresh attack at Kotelnikovo, routing its Romanian defenders and putting them into full retreat. Zhukov responded on Christmas Day and launched an attack and pushed the Germans so far back that resupply to Paulu;s troops was all but impossible. Air drops were an option but weather generally curtailed any support for the 6th. The besieged Germans erected hasty defenses for the time beign and regrouped. -
Attempt at Formal Request for Surrender
Soviet General Rokossovsky delivered a formal request for surrender of the German Army on January 8th. This was quickly rejected and the final phase of the Battle of Stalingrad was put into effect by the Soviet Army. Artillery, ground and air elements of the Red Army pummeled the German 6th into oblivion. -
Germany Surrenders
Germany officially surrenders to the Soviet Army formally ending
the siege of Stalingrad and the battle as well. 300,000 German Army soldiers fought in the Battle of Stalingrad. 160,000 died in battle and 35,000 German Army soldiers were successfully rescued by the Luftwaffe before the city fell back to Soviet control, leaving a further 90,000 to deal with the Soviet brand of justice. Only 5,000 of these men were seen again in the post-war years, the rest of these men died from long marches.
