Stalingrad: The Battle for the Martenovskii Shop

[@ArmyUniversityPress]

Thank you for watching! To view more of our films, check out our full collection at www.armyupress.army.mil/Films/Feature-Film-Catalog/

[@MrTarantino80]

Great research! I'm actually a Red October district resident, and here in Volgograd we care about our history very much, because noone must forget of how the Victory was achieved. This is very important for us. We have WWII memorials almost on every street. You did just a gigantic job, describing defence of the "Factory Area". With a great respect from City-Hero Volgograd, Russia.

[@toaderspanache8571]

thanks for saving the world, but no thanks for changing a fascist regime with a communist one in eastern europe countries, same horror, worse civilization and behavior from occupying soviet *heroes*.....

[@eh5048]

Toader Spanache Soviet Union Times we’re not that bad, nowhere near the horror of Nazis. Life after ww2 was pretty good and by 1960s it was comparable to the west at that time.

[@anaplastic]

@@toaderspanache8571 Romanian fascist, learn that: Romania was the shithole of Europe during the Kingdom, in say 1940, as during communism in say 1985. If anything, communists industrialized and modernized the country which in 1940 was 80% peasant illiterate. By 1970's, Romania was fully industrialized and the standard of living improved greatly. USSR has nothing to do with Romania being a shithole even today, it was even a worse shithole before the communists.

[@johnmcdonald9304]

@@toaderspanache8571 The only thing the Russians saved were themselves. They never talk about how they were just fine with being allies of the Germans until June 0f 1941 when Hitler decided he didn't need a partner anymore.

[@johnmcdonald9304]

@@eh5048 Yeah. Standing in line for hours hoping to get bread or toilet paper wasn't a problem, right?

[@pittieparty4804]

As a WW2 historical junkie who has literally watched hundreds of Docs on the subject I have never seen anything so amazing as this. The way this video was created in such detail left me hanging on the Narator's every word. I have watched hundreds of hrs of info on Stalingrad alone so it is quite satisfying to be able to see the entire city layout and learn the exact way the battle unfolded in various areas including which units were attacking where and even down to the exact casualties they received in specific actions. I cant say enough, truly incredible.

[@theforlanjoker4457]

Hes so bloody accurate, being a british vet lol at 35 his taste for detail is amazing, the reason why the germans dodnt win was pride and emotion, they should of flattend it 2 weeks of heavy bombardment followed by a ww1 style artillery walk infanty assault, would have stopped fireing postions being reinforced.

[@hanzsolo5460]

@@theforlanjoker4457 it for sure wasn’t pride and emotion, the wehrmacht was one of the most pride filled militaries at the time.

[@girthyrichar6947]

@@hanzsolo5460 Lol seriously. Wth is joker talking about

[@speggeri90]

I know it's 3 years later, but I would recommend highly the history channel TIKhistory on the battle of Stalingrad. The now 48th episode series is still ongoing, but it's providing superb context from the highest level of command on both sides to the lowest, but also breaking some myths and legends, and offering new insights.

[@seegurke93]

Check out TIKs 50+ hour documentary here on youtube

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

One of the biggest problems during this entire Battle for Stalingrad was that of supply, and I'm not talking about the Airlift after the encirclement, I mean during the entire battle. Rail lines were the key to operational success for the German Army in WW2 and rail gauging conversion operations were critical for the continued advances as well as resupply operations. When Case Blue was 1st developed, it encompassed both the 1st & 4th Panzer Army's driving south into the Oil Regions. The 1st Pz Army followed the line Rostov-Armavir and the 4th Pz Mororzsk-Salsk. But when then the 4th Pz Army was turned to the NE to attacj Stalingrad from the south, then all southern regauging operations for the 4th Pz were redirected to the NE towards Kokeinkovo. This place would later become famous for the launching point for Operation Winter Storm as it was the last place on any rail line safe from Soviet air attack to unload flatcars full of tanks and AFV's as well as major amounts of supplies. This was also the main corridor for supplies coming into Stalingrad for the 4th Pz Army as it was a split unit at this time. The main RR bridge for supply of the 6th Army was at Kalach, However it had been damaged so much that it could not be used for any rail service and was only used as a road bridge during the advance and subsequent encirclement battles. The main railroad line running from Morozovsk-Kalack-Stalingrad was unusable except as far Surovikino. Thus the Germans built a supply depot here and trains this far and unloading all 6th Army supplies to be reloaded onto trucks for transport into the city for use. I have read about the Germans using a "Loop" track for turning trains at Surovikino, but i doubt this. A simple run-around track would have sufficed. Also there was a Wye track in Morozovsk for turning any engines as well as a Wye track. This amother reason why the Germans has a hard time fighting the battle of Stalingrad, all of their supplies were on a string budget, only 2- rail lines and 1 was split, then a trans-loading situation on both ends requiring time, manpower and more fuel to get the food and ammunition up to the battle. This battle could have gone a 50-50 way up until Morozsk fell. Once that major bridgehead fell, both Airlife line and also the railroad switching point, All was lost then. Everyone had to be evacuated via a 1-rail mainline route thru Rostov, the 1st & 4th Panzer Armies and the 17th retreated to the Kuban. Even in today's military environment, How long would you last without a resupply of ammunition, food, or fuel? 6th Army lasted 44-days !!

[@justintaylor9871]

What an incredible amount of research, the horrors that these men faced shouldn't be forgotten. Thank you for keeping history alive!

[@fiddlersgreen2433]

Very interesting and informative. My grand fought there for 2.5 months being a lieutenant in 66 Army, commanded a 80mm mortar squad. Was wounded from an artillery shell and that same day was in close quarters melee fight and got 3 bullets in shoulder, survived and after that day the war for him was mostly over. That is why I exist now. It makes me crazy to just think about it.

[@johnrltr]

Your grandfather fought for the Soviets? There was a 62nd Soviet army in the battle, but there were no 80 mm mortars.

[@fiddlersgreen2433]

@@johnrltr he was in 66-th army, 84-th rifle division, right north to the city, not inside the city itself.

[@johnrltr]

@@fiddlersgreen2433 If you've never been to see the war memorial and statue you should try to go. You won't regret it. It was an unforgettable experience for me.

[@fiddlersgreen2433]

@@johnrltr I'm an American now, not sure when there will be a chance to visit those places.

[@markprange238]

1:17 21:42 The apartment buildings are still standing in 2019. Between Atlasova and Tarifnaya, northwest of Ulitsa Marshala Eremenko. 1:59 13:32 23:49 Looking west across Stalingrad South. Some of the buildings are still standing in 2019. 2:02 The Square of Fallen Fighters in Stalingrad Center. 2:03 & 34:06 Ulitsa Gogolya, in the direction of the main railway terminal. 2:11 52:42 Stalingrad South. View west across Ulitsa Raboche-Krestyanskaya, and along Ogareva. The (L-shaped) building catercorner is the House for River Port Workers. Still there in 2019. The vantage point is up in the (L-shaped) House of Canning Factory Workers--still standing in 2019. 52:48 The building a block away is the House for Hydrolytic Plant Workers. Many of the buildings further left are still standing. 5:18 (inset), 50:46 51:07 The courtyard of the apartment house (in Stalingrad South) for workers of the hydrolytic plant. The building is still standing southwest of Kozlovskaya & Barrikadnaya. The courtyard is mostly enclosed, but can be entered with Google Maps. 5:46 14:26 Germans in the north corner of the Barrikady factory. 8:05 14:36 The church on Bolshievitskaya Ulitsa in Stalingrad Center. 8:56 44:15 Power station of Red October. 13:23 23:46 From up on the church by Dvinskaya Ulitsa, (uphill from the main railyard), looking downtown. 13:44 16:15 Krasnyi Oktyabr' Metallurgicheskiy Zavod in the Spring after the Battle. 14:16 In Stalingrad South, looking northeast. The trestle bridge across the Tsaritsa is in the foreground of the bright white building right of center. (--Shown more clearly (at 4:43) in YT video "Battle of Stalingrad 1942/1943 - Nazi Germany vs Soviet Union." 14:45 At the flight school. 14:48 19:13 Germans arriving at the main railyard in Stalingrad Center. Mid-September! 15:01 17:18 Staged in Krasnoarmeysk, south of Stalingrad. The building at right is still standing by Arsenyeva Ulitsa. 17:01 18:59 Footbridge across the main railyard. Terminal building at right. 18:43 44:03 Looking northeast toward the Martenovskii Shop. At right is Halle 7. At left is a raised concrete octagon. 23:03 Halle 7 is beyond 6. The octagon between them is at extreme right. 51:09 Main railway terminal building in Stalingrad Center. Many Stalingrad fotos have been identified in books authored or published by Jason Mark. Alexander Trofimov is very expert at identifying Stalingrad locations in fotos. The special Stalingrad issue of "After the Battle" magazine has some of his many astute identifications. "Stalingrad Aerial Scans" online has interesting fotos of Stalingrad. Views of the Martenovskii Workshop are in the film "Stalingrad Restarts" at the British Pathé website.

[@ryanconroy9163]

These animations of what it might have looked during the attack are amazing! It's really hard to comprehend what battlefields looked like during battle and it's one of the major problems when trying to explain a battle because you have to be able to imagine the layout of cities or fields. You did a terrific job on this. This makes understanding what actually happened at Stalingrad so much easier. Thanks for the brain food!

[@harrybriscoe7948]

Did you ever think of what it must have smelled like when it got warm ? Human waste and rotten meat

[@ryanconroy9163]

@@harrybriscoe7948 I couldnt even imagine.

[@oceanhome2023]

Yes it is much easier to get an idea what is going on looking at these illustrations than the actual pictures

[@RustyShackleford]

It looked like hell warmed up

[@joem1413]

I'm amazed at the amount of research that went into this.

[@VT-mw2zb]

The lion's share of the research has been done by Ret. Col. David Glantz who painstakingly went through unit records to reconstruct the battle in his 5 volumes, 10k pages Stalingrad "triology".

[@theforlanjoker4457]

Imagine if msm put this much effort in

[@bushyrho1674]

@@VT-mw2zb Do you know where I can find a full set. I have looked and can not find one. Thanks!

[@rangerb6530]

@@bushyrho1674 I've found all of them on EBay for great prices; there's usually several copies for sale of each title. If you're not willing to wait on the bid process, you can get a copy off Amazon - there's always used editions for sale. Many of them are in 'like new' condition.

[@sav2236]

Incredible, thank you.

[@jordantredway4793]

On behalf of all military history buffs, WWII history buffs in particular, ever….. thank you for making this. Videos like this are pretty much the best thing ever. I love the detail. I could seriously watch this sort of stuff all day every day, and never be bored.

[@stochasticwhistles]

In the past war Germany school teacher asks. "children what is the biggest city in the world?" Greta, "New York" Teacher, "very nice, who knows more big cities?" Hans, "Stalingrad!" Teacher, "how come little Hans?" Hans, "my daddy told me, it took them a whole month just to walk down one street!"

[@zamanium7517]

Stupid tale

[@firstlast1047]

@@zamanium7517 Ты слишком умный, чтобы понять

[@zamanium7517]

@@firstlast1047 Что там понимать . Идиотский анекдот .

[@aidatungatarova2233]

Excuse me for my English, I write as good as I was taught in school. First of all, hats off to those who made a research into Stalingrad battle, unbelievable details. You are watching this and wondering, how come, these Americans know more details than we, soviet soldiers descendants know? Amazing job. You watch this film and understand that our grandfathers were just cannon meat in somebody’s games. When sovient archieves for WW2 open up, we will realize that half of our losses could have been avoided. But this is not the worst feeling in those who are direct descendants of great red army soldiers, the funnies thing is that our grandfathers were living and died in much worse conditions than those whose asses we kicked in 1945).

[@jimbennett3788]

Since before recorded history - for the most part people are people the world over. All we want is food on our table, a roof over our heads and a decent education for our children. If we are fortunate, we are blessed with good health. Its governments that screw things up.

[@I_Lemaire]

The sacrifices of your grandfathers were not trivial. The Germans were unable to take the city due to extremely high levels of Soviet tenacity. Stalingrad is a great example of the effectiveness of tough-minded battle leadership.

[@beefcleavebeefcleave6449]

Hi! When will the archives open up?

[@user-ye9jj9vy4n]

Мне чисто интересно,а какие именно архивы говорят о том,что половины жертв можно было избежать? Или это из серии правды о войне от эха москвы?

[@Conn30Mtenor]

You are correct about the Soviet high command did not care about the Russian soldiers. Part of the problem was that many Soviet generals were shot by Stalin for losing battles. When generals are worried about being shot for failure they dint really worry too much about casualties.

[@SaltyChip]

Ive been constantly watching and reading up on WW2 ever since adulthood, over 20 yrs ago. Stories of battles over a building or small area are by far my favorite by a large margin. Pavlov's House is the most famous. If anyone out there that know of other stories where the enemies take and lose and take and lose a spot would be greatly appreciated. I couldn't imagine being stuck on the 4th floor and you booby trap every entrance possible and have to try to get ur couple hours of sleep while it's your turn and trying to close your eyes knowing the enemy is on the floor above and below ya. You're almost out of ammo and the only way to resupply is to take it off the person that you just killed. BRUTAL!

[@philliestuntz7214]

Unprecedented approach to the battle. Very informative. Thank you for the invested effort and time

[@gowithgroove]

@@ArmyUniversityPress I must agree with the OP - I've read and watched countless videos and books on Stalingrad, and the visual approach here is fantastically thorough and illuminating.

[@johnsmith1474]

@@ArmyUniversityPress - You will be complimented by people who don't watch a lot of alternatives, or have not read in depth on the subject. In fact I'm annoyed by the shallow lists of battalion numbers ie complete lack of depth of analysis, and even more annoyed by the repeating clips of vid and pointless vidgame quality - pointless guesswork graphics. I suggest you read John Keegan's "The Face of Battle" to learn to describe an attack in real terms. Your commentary style: "101 attacked on the right, 102 attacked on the left" etc says NOTHING. It's so dry as to be useless. It's a dull reading of lists. The pity is that plenty of memoirs exist for this battle, use real remembrances of real men who were on scene to describe the scene.

[@johnsmith1474]

@@gowithgroove - Nonsense. But then you've saved "Ram Jam - Black Betty" lol!

[@hey_joe7069]

John Smith - Since you were so dissatisfied with this video is it safe to assume that these are the last and only comments i'm going to have to read from you on this channel ? Correct ? I mean, these cretins who did this video, their vision and abilities are so inferior to your masterful knowledge and expectations of what a proper production would entail. Hope you go way in disgust and stay away.

[@johnsmith1474]

@@hey_joe7069 - Stupid Tucker Carlson Rush Shitbag fans says what?

[@165Dash]

Semi-relevant but interesting factoid: The Red October Factory was designed by the eminent American Industrial architect Albert Kahn of Detroit who also designed, among other notable buildings, Ford’s River Rouge complex and Ford’s Willow Run Plant where B-24 Liberator bombers were built. In a sense his work impacted, albeit indirectly 2 major WWII battles...Stalingrad and the European bomber campaign. Kahn was the undisputed “dean” of 20th century industrial architecture and did much work in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Coincidentally his chief structural engineer was Harry Ellsberg, father of Dan Ellsberg.

[@DataWaveTaGo]

re: "Ford’s Willow Run Plant where B-24 Liberator bombers were built." Wasn't that a GM plant? The Corvair was built there from 1960 - 1969.

[@165Dash]

DataWaveTaGo Willow Run was built by Ford but no Ford auto products were produced there. Ford apparently sold it to the government and leased it back for the B24 program. GM bought the plant in the early 1950s.

[@DataWaveTaGo]

@@165Dash Thanks!

[@morrighanwermarn-arnburg7333]

That is interesting. Parts of Detroit today look a lot like Stalingrad did in December 1942. If anyone ever wanted to make another film about Stalingrad, they could film it in Detroit.

[@165Dash]

Amber Maynard Perhaps! I will say this though. With this “polar vortex” due to bring near-zero to sun-zero temperatures to the Midwest this week one will get a small taste of “Stalingrad conditions”...on a “warm” day that is. Any “Stalingrad reenactors” up for a camp out at River Rouge this Wednesday...LOL? Don’t forget to bring the lice!

[@dannyudov6712]

Stalingrad campaign has every type of WWII combat; beginning with a sweeping panzerblitz along hot Dusty roads and warfare of movement through stubborn street battles of colossal size; and ends with urban warfare and an attacking army besieged in winter blizzard conditions. The citys distance from Germany is astounding. Both sides fought heroicly and gave it all they had.

[@65kaweber]

This was the best treatment of this battle that I have ever seen or read, and Stalingrad has been one of my obsessions for about 40 years now. Well done!

[@Martina-Kosicanka]

I highly recommend this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZebg6CcadJrqNU

[@andrewrobertson3894]

What an amazing documentary. It strikes me that in an area of such size, the carnage must have been indescribable. I mean, there would have been bodies and body parts everywhere. It surely would have been nearly impossible to recover casualties, especially for the attacking forces.

[@vladvlad8218]

19:25 Felt really surprised to realize I have been there already! Red Orchestra 2, RedOctoberFactory , detailed map, based on photos of the fight involving combats in blocks 10, 9 8, 8a and partially 5.

[@stray_dog3960]

I was so excited to have seen that same photo, it made the game that much better for me.

[@markprange4386]

The inside (after the Battle) is also shown in some British Pathé films. Two are on KZbin: "Leningrad Restarts Aka Stalingrad Restarts," and "Stalingrad After the War."

[@cowgoesmoo3850]

@@stray_dog3960 I got the game a Lil bit ago, now that is some realistic game. Bullet drop, you get shot once you bleed out can die. My favorite thing was seeing the artillery rain down and it effected the soldiers in the game to.

[@jackt7331]

@@markprange4386 Could you link it?

[@markprange4386]

@@jackt7331: Two of the British Pathé films are on eBay: "Leningrad Restarts Aka Stalingrad Restarts" and "Stalingrad After The War."

[@erichaugustusvonmellenthin6954]

I AM EXTREMELY IMPRESSED! As a German operational maneuver warfare aficionado/armchair/bookworm/ history freak this is exceptional work. Bravo!

[@johnsmith1474]

Rather than this poorly written cartoon quality review of the battle try this excellent well written piece: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZytdmBsfcp_kKc

[@jimreily7538]

Check out Close Combat 3, and Close Combat 5, the Stalingrad mod, and CC5, the CC5: Der Kessel mod. They all have detailed maps, based on similar maps to this one, of the factories in Stalingrad. Google the game if you're unfamiliar with it. I guarantee you'll enjoy it if you're keen on strategic small unit warfare tactics.

[@1PPPete]

@@johnsmith1474 This shows the battle in much more detailed scale, describibg owens, roofs etc. Its two completely different things.

[@johnsmith1474]

@@1PPPete - None of it is accurate, it's bullshit. It plays on the video game mentality, not history. Junk presentation.

[@1PPPete]

@@johnsmith1474 Maybe if you had little bit of decency, somebody could take you seriously.

[@schwerpunckt163]

Wow, that was awesome. I’ve read about it, and seen maps, but the way you guys show the front lines, and movements of the regiments was really great. Thank you!

[@jimreily7538]

Check out Close Combat 3, and Close Combat 5, the Stalingrad mod, and CC5, the CC5: Der Kessel mod. They all have detailed maps, based on similar maps to this one, of the factories in Stalingrad. Google the game if you're unfamiliar with it. I guarantee you'll enjoy it if you're keen on strategic small unit warfare tactics.

[@jimreily7538]

Remarkably well done. Anyone who has played Close Combat 3, or the CC5 mods like the Stalingrad mod or Der Kessel mod, will recognise having spent hours fighting in these very factory complexes. I am impressed with how accurate the Close Combat maps are, particularly the Stalingrad and the Der Kessel modification.

[@braddocke.hutton7392]

My Dad brought my brother and myself to see the movie "Stalingrad" when it came out here in Minnesota. There was only one theater which showed the movie, and that theater was very old and the boiler wasn't working, so there was no heat in the building. The bitter cold made the movie hit different. Whenever the winter chill sets in each November, my thoughts return to those soldiers on both sides at Stalingrad.

[@alexandershorse9021]

Very impressed with the presentation thank you Striking how small the actual sharp end forces were in these key battles.

[@user-fi2ix7mr6i]

Taking those shops was deceiving at first. Mostly ruined and blasted away. But the maneuver and attack,in those blds. Was a nightmare. I had no idea the complexity and terror of such battle.

[@keyboarddancers7751]

Russia lost so many men during WW2 that the demographic impact is still evident today in terms of lost generations which resulted from a shortage of fertile available men; Russia's current demographic decline (shrinking birth rate and ageing population) is partly attributable to its catastrophic losses in WW2.

[@Crashed131963]

Not often the losing side loses less soldiers than the winning side. The Germans lost 4 million on the Eastern front the Russians lost 11 million.

[@StonewallTitlow]

I need more of these videos, because I have never seen such detailed tactical play by play of the fighting in Stalingrad like this.

[@Seansaighdeoir]

Thanks very much for providing students of the battle with a tour de force of a video. Compelling viewing and will need to be watched and studied again and again.

[@user-oe2cc3tc5t]

2:03 The fact that this city had the name of Stalin is of a minor, if any, relevance to its being important for both sides. The narrative fails to confront the fact that the city of Donetsk had the name of Stalino back in the time, yet the Red Army abandoned it prior to the Stalingrad battle with nothing close to the fierce resistance that it offered in case of Stalingrad. The road junction and the proximity of Volga to the fronline at Stalingrad were the crucial points.

[@kanokrojjanakitti9155]

The narrative never fail to confront any fact.The problem is your self righteousness of this topic.The operation babarossa was doomed at its starting point because Hitler underestimated the industrial power of then Soviet Union.He ignored the aspect of industrial war which had played the vital role of Allied victory in WW one and the inferior of German industry to support the protracted struggle in WW two.

[@milky55way2012]

What was so important about the huge pile of Stalingrad rubble, other than a political goal? No military value when compared to say the Battle of Moscow? More people died at the Moscow battle but Stalingrad became a legend of Soviet making like Kursk (which had significant military value).

[@zara8359]

Excellent. Many of the terrain features , buildings, etc are still clearly visible on Google Maps. Going back and forth from the animations to the present day satellite view, I cannot even begin to imagine just how close the Germans came to the Volga and how hard the Soviets must have fought to hold them back.

[@comNartheus]

Full misunderstanding of strategic aspects. Stalingrad was the last defensible position for the Soviets for hundreds of kilometers , both East and North. And for Germans keeping troops in and around the city was a question of denying both Soviet oil supply and southern lend lease route.

[@comNartheus]

Michael Kovalchuk Well, afaik Soviet decision to defend the city as it was stated in Stavka documents was dictated by the fact that Stalingrad was a) already turned into a logistical hub that supported the left flank of 1942 winter-spring offensive b) no significant reinforcements could be moved to the Low Volga area to form another defensive position in appropriate time c) nearest railway river crossing point is Saratov 235 miles away, nearest existing boat crossing point is about half way there and is significantly weaker then one in Stalingrad or Saratov. There were no cities, hills or significant rivers on the left bank for at least 400 miles, and there were only one railway line there. So the situation was that either the troops retreated from Rostov-on-Don and naturally assembled in Stalingrad would hold it long enough for Stavka to prepare a substantial counter offensive, or the Germans would get full control over the Southern Russia with their mobile units. From the German perspective it was, afaik, the situation when they had 3 significantly weakened but still somewhat combat effective Soviet armies assembled at the left flank of the army group A. So they had a choice to either go to Astrakhan and mount a defensive or try to crush this threat. Moreover, logistics on Rostov-Stalingrad line was slightly better then on Rostov-Astrakhan.

[@davidolie8392]

This is very well done, and thanks for it. This video has never been on my recommended list before today. By a very odd coincidence, today I received my copy of the Advanced Squad Leader "Red Factories" module, which covers this same battle.

[@JohnDoe-vp2yn]

Frankly, this is the best documentary I have ever seen about this battle. Thank you.

[@Martina-Kosicanka]

Have you seen this? I was amazed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZebg6CcadJrqNU

[@jamesmortimer4016]

Most german units in stalingrad were not equipped with the MG-42 but the MG-34 it´s predecessor, as the MG-42 had been developed when the forces reached the city and manufacturing had begun, but the number of units produced and the logistical strain, plus the fact that many soldiers were simply untrained with the new 42´s.

[@Conn30Mtenor]

Sorry, but you are wrong about that. The MG42 was in mass production by May of 1942

[@jamesmortimer4016]

@@Conn30Mtenor Mass production yes. Still the output was low till the end of the year

[@spencethegreat38]

It's eerie to think about to the amount of violence, suffering, and loss of life that occurred during the changes of the frontline shown in this video..

[@cryptclown]

Glad I found this video. This really was street war, having to assign troops to hallways and capture rooms, schools and strong points.

[@davidoshea73]

That was fascinating thank you very much. I’ve wanted to see videos like this showing in detail how strategic objectives affect unit movement on the battlefield. Very informative on such a historically significant moment in the war. Many would argue that Germany had lost the war after it’s defeat at Moscow in so much as resource wise it would never now out produce the Soviets and as a fighting force it’s teeth were significantly blunted. Militarily that might be very true but it’s fair to say Stalingrad was the loss of the ideological war. Watching this video and the battle raging over building four, troop numbers down to a couple of hundred on both side involved in savage fighting. It all came down to this! If the Germans had held the ground when they attacked and managed to reinforce and eventually captured the building they would have straightened the line and certainly pushed to the river. Building eight would have been systematically destroyed and perhaps helping to avoid the crushing defeat the 6th army would suffer a few months later. In those few meters of space where the Germans entered arguably is the turning point of the battle for Stalingrad, the Soviets would always now have a bridgehead on the wast bank of the river and this was naturally very significant in their victory.

[@martinetti123]

THX, the Germans, especially in Stalingrad, were excellent fighters, heroes - far ahead of their time...

[@spekenbonen72]

Heavily overstated use of the MG42 in Stalingrad, since it was used at Div HQ's primarily. German units made distinction between "Leichter" (light mg) and "Schwerer" (heavy mg) MG's (without tri-pods for "Leichte" and with tri-pods for "Schwere") www.fireonthevolga.com/IR54-MG42.JPG

[@brianwilling9403]

This is an excellent documentary!

[@paulsaunders6536]

Brilliant research, detail and presentation. 👍🏻

[@larrysamhat5862]

Red Army lost more soldiers k.i.a. at Stalingrad than the American army lost k.i.a. in the ENTIRE war!

[@davidjackson6152]

We dont waste our soldiers.

[@blafuckyou]

about 3 times more. lol

[@rvpixie]

@@davidjackson6152 You DO waste your soldiers fighting oil wars and us army likes to waste civilians.

[@davidjackson6152]

@@rvpixie Whose oil have we taken? And I'll tell you something else pal, the U.S. military attempts to limit civilian casulties harder and better than any army.

[@jlastre]

They should teach their soldiers to duck especially the ones in "punishment" units.

[@Blitzschnell1]

I've been fascinated by this battle for years and this video is by far the best I have ever seen at bringing it to life. In fact, I'd say this is the best video I've ever watched discussing detailed troop movements in any conflict. Thank you for this.

[@columbiahd7110]

Very good commentary. I've studied this battle for years and I very much enjoyed the detail in which you discussed it. Thank you for your hard work.

[@marcusberns3746]

Absolutely incredible production, well done and thank you.

[@tarimdarya]

Amazing analysis of this key piece of battle for Stalingrad. Heroic defense of Martevovski bounded the bulk of 6th Army inside Stalingrad, enabling Zhukov to complete preparations for Operation Uranus. Germans were disciplined and methodical, but Russians shown great motivation and courage. It appears that Russian units were not ordinary soldiers, but the best of the best, specially selected and trained for this task. In this "battle of wills", the German will cracked, and was not able to recover further on. I'd like to visit Stalingrad some time, to pay tribute to these heroic defenders

[@ExiledSpiritunderground]

HANds DOWN THE GREATEST, BEST Military HìStORY Documentary Series I've ever witnessed,. ONLY The United States ARMY Could Do Such an Incredible Job as ThìS💯

[@AlexanderDunetz]

This series is the best I have ever seen about : WW2 Eastern Fron Barbarossa Stalingrad Uranus Bagration If our USA military and cadets study both the strategic and tactical aspects discussed by this Combined Arms documentary series , they will become more informed and benefit.

[@susanurban5920]

Excellent. This explains everything in a way that anyone can understand. Thank you.

[@Bladerunner5434]

I've seen a lot of videos on this battle but I like this one the best.

[@design_studio_tashkent]

Дом Павлова ( мельница) в Сталинграде. Мы удерживали 6 армию 58 дней. 31 солдат красной армии противостояния уничтожили много немцев. ( точно не известно ) Танки и самоходки. В День было до 5 атак.

[@altair458]

A lot of these comments are from brits...they have a difficult time facing the fact that were it not for the Soviets and the Americans they would be speaking German in parliament. Sorry but it’s a fact.

[@zeitgeistx5239]

Not really considering Sea Lion couldve never happened and the Germans only made rudimentary planning for it. Any invasion against the largest navy in the world with several dozen destroyers and several dozen Capitol ships at that time against a few token German destroyers and river barges planned for the landing would've been a massacre.

[@annoyingbstard9407]

I think most Brits fully appreciate the role of Russia in defeating Germany. The Americans tend to refuse to accept the war was actually won mainly thanks to the "commits."

[@afterthesmash]

American financial support of the Russian war effort amounted to $127 billion in 2018 dollars. ¶ _Perhaps most directly, without Lend-Lease trucks, rail engines, and railroad cars, every Soviet offensive would have stalled at an earlier stage, outrunning its logistical tail in a matter of days. In turn, this would have allowed the German commanders to escape at least some encirclements, while forcing the Red Army to prepare and conduct many more deliberate penetration attacks in order to advance the same distance._ ¶ In total, America pumped $500 billion of warfighting aid into the European theatre (2018 dollars) while simultaneously fighting a costly war with the Japanese. ¶ It's kind of ridiculous to pare Britain's allies away from Britain, while leaving the Germany axis fully constituted, and then declaring that Germany would have won. America helped out because it was in the American geopolitical interest not to permit a fascist Germany to gain control of all of Europe, Britain, and half of the Asian steppes. France at the time was heavily fortified and had a large well-trained standing army, and the British had naval supremacy. In France doesn't fall in a few short weeks, Britain doesn't find itself relying on American self-interest to such an immediate and extreme degree. Wheels within wheels. ¶ There was also a point in history where if the Chinese had pressed their immense naval advantage, the British might have ended up speaking Chinese, but not in parliament, because there would not longer have been a parliament, but some other totally different system of government. But the Chinese think differently, and they thought they already controlled most of the world worth having. ¶ But so what? Anyone who studies history knows it can go a hundred different ways. Unless you believe in God's master plan. Then history can only go a few different ways, which are unclear from the human vantage point, but can nevertheless be relied upon to always finally favour the chosen devout.

[@diegomontoya796]

Cope

[@michaelcodelmar9547]

The research is incredible, the details, looking at it if you were the wermacht worst than the jungles of Vietnam or any of the pacific wars.

[@tylerstamps2786]

These Stalingrad docs are absolutely phenomenal! I have a macabre fascination with this battle and the detail provided here is chilling.

[@jackt7331]

Same here, I am so interested in the stalingrad battle. One of my biggest wish would be to travel back in time to witness it. Unfortunately there are very little footage of the battle. The german movie Stalingrad and Enemy at the Gate help get a better understanding of what it looked like.

[@kimhansen8615]

Wow! Whatever your background and education is, you have done a fabulous job preseting these events as clearly and well explained, that not only could I - a mere civilian - follow the development but even found it very interesting and really exciting. I have seen quite a few documentaries and done a fair amount of studying into the Stalingrad battle, but your immense reseach and fine visualizations of this one battle area really put blood and bone on this key moment in WWII. I'm amazed how much closer an idea I got from your straight and dry presentation - how insanely close and bitter the fight was and how absolutely horrible it must have been for the poor men doing that fighting (not to mention in winter conditions). More vivid than any major account I've seen before. Two big thumbs up to you, my good Sir!

[@harveytyler4869]

I’m so enjoying your programs, I’m a retired marine, just 4 years, but I love the history of the Russian army, but we still kick the most ass. Keep it up

[@cabdikariincali1401]

What ass did you kick

[@GenghisVern]

3:33 that would make for an excellent 4'x6' gaming table layout, but unit scale--- so many troops fighting in that small area!

[@TomF1970]

Excellent. Well done.

[@edwardschmitt5710]

I love this series. The narrative that America came in late and saved Europe that I grew up with in "American History", I realized glossed over the Soviet Union's contributions. It is too bad politics ruined the alliance we once had over a common foe. The Russian people are tough as hell. Certainly America has never wanted to be communist, but we are all not speaking German either. The animation really puts you on the scene.

[@guswesson2902]

Excellent video ! very informative. I am looking forward to further videos analyzing more battles.

[@armyvet8279]

Well researched and delivered. Thank you for your time and effort.

[@varovaro1967]

Wow, this is outstanding!! More and more please!!

[@1daddyDA]

Absorbing and truly fascinating. My late Father (who retired as a Major in the British Army) fought in the Far East in WW2. I have enough interested in things military since I played with my first Toy Soldiers. I am always fascinated by the history of WW2 especially. Loved this insight into history and military tactics. Will certainly subscribe to this channel.

[@johnrltr]

Tremendous amount of detail, but a few glaring inaccuracies: Paulus did NOT surrender 250,000 men. The best estimates put the figure at about 91,000. Many died of starvation, and only five or six thousand survived the war. While it can be argued that the Soviets treated the German prisoners very badly, they were not without justification. The German atrocities committed against the Soviet (mostly Russian; Ukrainian; Belarusian) populace were simply horrific and inhuman, and, yes, the captured Germans paid a terrible price when the Russians took their revenge. I went to Volgograd (Stalingrad) as a tourist. The Mother Russia statue is just incredible. Just the sword that she brandishes is 108 feet long! And I have to say that the experience of standing in the memorial hall, realizing that almost two million people were either dead, wounded, or missing in this battle caused unexpected emotion. I believe it to be the most important battle of the entire war. The Germans were no longer invincible, and the psychological impact of that cannot be overestimated.

[@brufnus]

Paulus didn't surrender about 250,000 soldiers; at the time of capitulation only some 90-92,000 were still alive.

[@ziblot1235]

I have seen it more properly worded, "Paulus lost 300,00 troops at Stalingrad". Yes by the time of the surrender, this number was whittled down. It was surely "hell on earth". I dont imagine there were many cowards on either side.

[@Mishands2]

Dear lovers of military history, Welcome to the hero city of Stalingrad, Volgograd! We have something to see and what to show you! In Volgograd there is the greatest monument "Motherland Calls" at an altitude of 102.0 known as "Mamayev Kurgan". Also in Volgograd there are memorial complexes "Lyudnikov Island" with a preserved building - the headquarters of Lyudnikov's division and a panoramic museum "Battle of Stalingrad" with the preserved "ruins of Gerhardt's mill", where you can see the "sword of Stalingrad" donated by Great Britain, the rifle of the famous sniper Vasily Zaitsev who acted in Stalingrad and much more interesting! the whole city of Volgograd is a continuous monument! We have a tram in the metro, a huge hydroelectric power station, beaches for 8 months a year with clean water and sand and a very budgetary vacation, hotels are inexpensive, and southern fruits-apricots grow right in the yards. Watermelons and melons ... There is an international airport and train connections! Everything is very cheap and budget! Welcome to Volgograd!

[@DAVIDGM1973]

Amazing work!!! I love how you brought this battle into perspective for us history nerds!

[@stevep5408]

After all this brilliant strategy to capture these positions didn't anyone understand on the German side understand that grinding down your units at a distance hundreds of times farther from supply and reinforcement than your enemy was madeness?

[@herpderp6705]

It wasnt the first big city to be captured, so it wasnt such a concern to german planners; Kiew, Rostow, Minsk, Sevastopol, Saporischschja, Dniepropetrovsk, Charkiw and other cities had been captured before as well, so it wasnt unrealistic to expect Stalingrad to be taken with the forces that were there. Logistics were never a thing the german military was/is good at anyway....

[@jamesspeetjens8838]

one might have thought Adolph might have read his history ,Napolean?

[@jamesspeetjens8838]

@Doug B ,one might have thought that Adolph would have read his history and considered Napolean,s blunder.

[@volvo1354]

by the time the Germans were near the Volga, they were using combat engineers to replace lost infantry foot soldiers.

[@CharlesvanDijk-ir6bl]

Pioneers in the German army are actually elite combat soldiers, akin to the rangers in the US army. Your statement is actually ridiculous.

[@battlebible1382]

This is one of the most comprehensive and informative videos I've seen on a topic; nice graphics and storytelling.

[@mofa9745]

thanks for this. One of the most intelligent videos I've seen on KZbin. And no suffocating mood music - a breath of fresh air.

[@milosmevzelj5205]

Thank you for this great work. Greetings from Slovenia

[@jacobmasters438]

Very well narrated and produced!!!! Can't wait for more videos in the near future.

[@user-rc5nn5hr7v]

If this analysis is how U.S. army does analytics then it is no wonder why Afghanistan and Iraq were such disasters. Stalingrad was a very important strategic point, both industrially and as a transportation center. It was one of the largest industrial area in the Soviet union. If Stalingrad had fallen there would be nothing between the Germans and the Caucus oil fields. Furthermore, volga was also an important logistical route that would have been closed had the Stalingrad fallen.

[@alganhar1]

Perhaps, but consider this, if the city had simply been enveloped and allowed to die on the vine what then? Sure, Stalingrad was an important Industrial and Transportation centre, but actually *capturing* the city was not necessary. Simply cutting it off would have had the same Strategic effect as capturing it without the cost in men and materiel that a grinding battle of attrition in a battlefield for which the German army was simply not trained or equipped to fight in. And that is the main point really, it is not that the City was not strategically important, it was that its CAPTURE was not Strategically important. Cut it off from its transportation networks and the city is no longer relevant either as a transportation or industrial hub. Unlike Leningrad, Stalingrad *could* be surrounded on all sides, and it did not have a Lake Ladoga.....

[@v4enthusiast541]

alganhar1 How would the Germans manage to cross the river in large numbers when the East side was filled with Ruskies? Also, this would make them even more vulnerable to encirlement because of overextension.

[@thomascampbell4730]

Concur entirely. The center of gravity that was articulated for the summer 1942 campaign was to capture the oil wells. The capture of the city was initially secondary. A limited siege could have been maintained with a fraction of the forces and would have left the mobile divisions free as a strategic reserve. The real problem was that the German army was grossly overextended for such an ambitious thrust.

[@saucejohnson9862]

Afghanistan and Iraq they learned a lot from the Chechen wars. Hence no Shatoy ambush happened since the shatoy ambush.

[@pare]

Good video. Why dont you make video of Stalingrad buildings or locations that the germans were able to capture? Such as the tractor factory, Or even better the grain elevator? Both these locations had prolonged fighting. Also i would like to suggest putting in some german and soviet soldiers in the 3D parts it would give the videos a more sinister feel to see dead bodies laying around as well as living ones fighting.

[@mrshark8094]

Yeah dont expect the 3d editing

[@derekk.2263]

I'd love to see that, people don't realize just how much bodies can pile up and it really drives home the human cost of warfare like this.

[@oakvue45]

And the Colonel Professor says to the cheerful cadets....Now it's off to Fallujah...

[@ziblot1235]

There is no comparison.

[@cowgoesmoo3850]

@@ziblot1235 absolutely NO comparison. Millions killed in this single battle alone. Just about the only similarity Is they were both battles lol.

[@ziblot1235]

I believe Wolfs" attack is the one dramatized in the German movie :stalingrad". Wolf is the officer with an artifical hand. I could be wrong but they were a Pioneer Btn and had just arrived from Italy. Great movie anyway. I just wish these movies wold go a little easy on the Anti Hitler stuff because they get kinda preachy. Like Louie Mayer said.."If Ii want to send a message I go to Western Union". These USA lectures are really great. Very accurate. Altho I didnt see my uncles unit 16th Pzr, that was the first to break into the city.

[@Mat-threw]

Yes. The thing about Stalingrad or das boot is that they are anti fascist movies, heavily biased which goes without saying for any German war film.. I’d be amazed if we ever got an actual non political film depicting a 2nd world war action. A shame. that said it’s still better than the Hollywood garbage.

[@Mat-threw]

Btw. I think one exception could be considered downfall (untergang). Which I did like.

[@ziblot1235]

@@Mat-threw You are so right Matt. "they" never miss a chance to burden us with their agenda. I think Louie MAyer said it best. "If I wanna send a messsage, Ill go to Western Union" haha I liked the Hitler in "The Last 10 days" better tho. Alec Guiness seemed to nail it. Altho Downfall is hard to find fault with.

[@clivestegosaurus4136]

I love these. Thanks for posting and putting them together.

[@alejandrocasalegno1657]

Superb video..........................no more words!!!!!

[@roblouw3038]

Stalingrad was pure recklessness by the Germans - earlier successes where the Germans executed Blitzkrieg strategies worked for them every time - going room by room through Stalingrad was fantasy - Chuikov cleverly fed enough men into the contested areas to keep the Germans focused on taking Stalingrad - whilst Zhukov was assembling the forces necessary for the great pincer attack through Kalach - how the Germans did'nt notice the buildup on their flanks is a really pertinent question - instead of attempting to take Stalingrad the Germans should have remained somewhat at the outskirts of the city and used artillery and Luftwaffe to reduce important sections whilst allowing Kleist to continue in the Caucasus and the Oil Fields - 6th Army would have remained intact and Russians would have been cut off in the Caucasus - more than 25% of Russian oil production came from that region - Germany would have then solved their crippling oil shortage and the economic situation would have actually reversed in favour of the Germans - having secured the Caucasus oil region Hitler should have then given Rommel another 3 Infantry Divisions and 1 Panzer Division to take the British out of Egypt and then to have him link up with Kleist capturing vast oil reserves - this would have crippled Allied industry within 6 months and the war would have effectively been over - I mean, strategically that is'nt difficult to see but war is a funny business and the Victor is normally the side that makes the fewest tactical mistakes - fascinating though....

[@cgbspender6923]

Indeed. I never understood why the Germans focused so much on Stalingrad. This was their most fatal mistake, the rest is history.

[@andykay8949]

Getting Caucasus oil was a pipe dream - germans captured some of the oil fields but the soviets shut in the wells before retreating. It would take them a year to drill the new wells, and then you need to refine the oil into diesel, all deep into enemy territory, thousands of miles away from supply lines, under air bombing raids and counterattacks. It was a fool's quest.

[@andraslibal]

There was no need to take Stalingrad whatsoever ... the 6th army could have just dug in on the Don bend and make use of the open terrain before it to conduct a mobile defense in front of the well entrenched positions that could not easily be outflanked in operation Uranus. while Army group A could have pushed to Astrakhan and cut off the oil. The Germans should have thrown everything into Case Blue and should have even allowed for a gradual fighting withdrawal from Rhzev in face of operation Mars to have enough strength to complete case blue. This was the very last very slim chance to finish off the Soviets, after the end of 42 the amount of land-lease and exhaustion of the German army and materiel supplies made victory impossible.

[@command_unit7792]

When stalingrad offensive failed the entire southern push was at risk of being encircled! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHKcgnV-edmZebM

[@slim_senya]

You have to understand that Case Blue was very optimistic at best. Even if the Germans had somehow captured Baku, the German forces would be increadibly overstretched over the vast predominantly steppe terrain that would be a nightmare to defend and supply through, due to the underdevelopment of the local infrastructure. Moreover, the Soviet side would still maintain over 1 mln fighting force in Armenia, Georgia and Southern Azerbaijan, well fortified in the mountains, maintainig air superiority due to the Luftwaffe simply not having any airfields nearby, and supplyied through Iran by the Allies. The Caucasian Soviet Front would threaten the German supply lines over the whole Southern front of Army Group South which would at that time stretch for 1275km of steppes which are increadibly difficult to defend especially in winter. As for the Astrakhan plan, it was also quite optimistic: the city is further 400 km to the east from Stalingrad and since all railroad jinctions were held by the soviet forces of Stalingrad, the advancing German forces would be supplied by tracks along the Volga river with no air support from Luftwaffe due to the lack of the nearby airfields. The Soviet side also had a significant fleet of gunboats and transports which would again allow the Soviets to harass these supply lines along the river. Also, the oilfields of Baku had no strategic value in themselves for the Germans: they had to somehow transport the oil from Baku to the Reich or Romania, which was impossible since at the time only three major transport routes existed from Baku: via Caspian sea into Volga (which was impossible for Germans due to the lack of German naval presence in the Caspian sea and Soviet-held Stalingrad), via old pipelines and railroads into Armeia and Georgia (again held by 1mln strength, well-fortified Soviet forces) or by railroad northward through Stalingrad railroad junction again held by the Soviets. So, to sum up, even if the Case Blue had somehow succeded, it would put the Germans into the worse postion than before the offensive: the Army Group South would be increadibly overstretched, under the threat of Soviet offensives from five directions (over the Don bend, through the steppes between Volga and Don, over the Volga, in Kuban from Eastern Black-sea coast and in Kalmykia from Caucasus) with only Don bend postitions actually favoring the defenders, while others were increadibly difficult to defend due the opennes of terrain and lack of any infrastructure and shelter for the troops (and you have to keep in mind that mobile defense was not an option for the Germans due to the shortages of fuel). And while the loss of Astrakan and Baku would severely hinder Red Army abilities as well, in the short run the Soviets would probably had enough oil reserves to pull off one last major offensive in winter 1942/1943.

[@andraslibal]

@@slim_senya this is true it was a last ditch effort that they did not take very seriously. Germany is not mobilized for full warfare well into 1943, whereas all of the Allies including Russia are. They planned again to attack simultaneously in the north and the south at the same time (divisions were around Leningrad with Manstein that were sorely missing from the southern front). Keitel still defied the plan and sent most reinforcements to the center where they fought defensively and won against a Russian offensive larger than that launched at Stalingrad (operation Mars and the Rhzev salient). And in the South there was confusion as two contradicting targets were given: Stalingrad (which was of no value) and the oil fields (the main objective). This lost them several weeks, the crucial time when the Russians were in disarray because they still thought the main attack is in the center and this is a diversion. I think the Germans could have pulled it off had they only concentrated on one objective. Would this have meant the war? Not likely. By the end of 42, vast quantities of US land lease started arriving, Russian factories were operational beyond the Urals and beyond any German bomber's reach, mass mobilization was working, and the Russians started to realize that the Germans are not liberators but in fact are much worse than Stalin. The capture of Baku would have made the Russians more reliant on land-lease, possibly adding a year more to the war - and an atomic bomb over Germany.

[@morfarviksturmm2652]

@@slim_senya Very well said Thank You.

[@waynefrench4139]

This is the fiest time I have had the privelige to hearing the true story of the battle of Stalingrad eventhought I have made this part of my life's interest in trying to understand what made Hitler to do what he did concerning the whole of his Russian campagne.

[@harrybriscoe7948]

Growing up in the 1960s I used to hear the , you will go to the Russian front jokes on Hogans Heros , Until I saw The World at War , I had no idea what the eastern front was like

[@generalposlijebitke6688]

He had no other choice...

[@MrDarrylR]

I object to the premise that Stalingrad wasn't strategically important. Much, if not all, of the petrol produced by Baku was transported by barge on the Volga. Regardless of whether Volgograd had been renamed after Stalin or a minor figure, a German presence on the Volga could interdict vital resources. I appreciate the purpose of these videos: making the more abstract field manuals of the US Army more relevant to students, many of whom may not be history majors at West Point. But its still important to get the history right.

[@trashpanda314]

Great video. Love the way the FMs are tied into the tactical presentation.

[@PTQ4Q4Q4Q4]

Great breakdown, great watch, thanks for this video.

[@Kanovskiy]

Really great video, I enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot.

[@raincoast2396]

The video commentary is WRONG (51:10) when it says: "Paulus was forced to surrender 250,000 troops". Paulus surrendered on January 31, 1943 a day after Hitler promoted him to the rank of Field Marshal. The Battle of Stalingrad ended on February 2, 1943 with the elimination of straggling German troops. The Russian's took 91,000 German's prisoner. At the start of the battle, the German sixth army had a strength of 250,000.

[@Jim-Tuner]

The 250,000 number comes from one of the later reported ration strength of the forces in the pocket. Its extremely doubtful if actual strength in the pocket was at that level. There isn't proper or trustworthy documentation for exact troop strength in the pocket. The 91,000 surrender number is more reliable and more easily documented due to it being a prisoner count. The exact strength and composition of the forces surrounded at Stalingrad is one of those things that is debated endlessly to no clear resolution because there just isn't enough information to come to a definitive answer. Generally, its estimated that most of the units in 6th army were at about 60% of their authorized strength by November 1942. The other controversy in the number is how to estimate the number of Russians and others fighting for (and with) 6th army. There is an equal or worse problem with how people calculate Axis losses in the "battle of stalingrad". The problem is in how one defines the scope of the battle. At one extreme, you have the actual losses involved in the battle fighting for the city itself. At the other extreme, you have expansive definitions of the "battle" which include every military operation associated with "case blue" starting in June and going all the way to the start of the 3rd battle of Kharkov. Depending on how the scope of the battle is defined, the losses on the German side can range from a couple hundred thousand to well over a million. And this creates endless confusion. There are all sorts of "experts" who read the Wikipedia page on Stalingrad and come away convinced that the urban battle inside Stalingrad cost the lives of 700,000 or more Axis soldiers. David Glantz estimated total losses to 6th army from 21 august to 17 October were around 40,000. And maybe another 20,000 up until the end of the offensive of the city in November. That number has to be discounted by whatever proportion of those losses were associated with defensive operations by 6th army to the north of the city. So you get to a total number on the Axis side for casualties in the urban fighting of maybe 50,000. Which is on the same order of magnitude as the totally defensive losses of the Axis in the Rzhev battles of 1942. As far as what Paulus actually surrendered, that can be debated. Around the 28th of January, the German forces had been split into three pockets. On the 31st, the chief of staff of 6th army (Arthur Schmidt) negotiated the surrender of 6th army headquarters. Paulus attempted to play out an elaborate story where he was "taken by surprise" and did not surrender. By the end of the battle Arthur Schmidt was de-facto running things at sixth army headquarters. He negotiated the surrender of the headquarters (and Paulus) with the Russians. Paulus and Schmidt refused to surrender and forced a divisional commander (Roske) to do it instead. The other two pockets eventually gave up under conditions that approached mutiny. In the central pocket, the LI corps command (von Seydlitz-Kurzbach) told his subordinate officers several days before that surrender was a personal choice for them to make. He was releived of command but eventually fled from the german lines under fire. The northern pocket held out the longest, but eventually surrendered after the commander had been notified that some of his junior officers intended to negotiate surrender of the pocket on their own.

[@rustymoose618]

@@Jim-Tuner Hey Jim great info. Can I trouble you for a source? I have had a hell of a time with the numbers myself and am certainly interested in a more in depth looks and the German surrender.

[@Jim-Tuner]

For the casualty numbers, there is a large amount of raw data available (collected from other sources) in the David Glantz "trilogy" of books on Stalingrad. The first book concerns the fighting to get to Stalingrad, the second book focuses on the fighting in the city and the third focuses on events after November. But be warned that these are massive books that are not light reading. The raw data shows what is known and what is not known. David Glantz in those particular books presents the raw data, his methods for coming to conclusions about it and the conclusions he reached. So at least its somewhat transparent. The axis prisoner records at the end of the battle are a definitive set of data. But knowing the total number of Axis soldiers in the pocket or knowing casualties in the fighting for Stalingrad is difficult because of the nature of the data available. As far as the details of the surrender, its a very complicated subject and there is no one source. Accounts often conflict with each other. There are the soviet accounts of what happened which are often of limited use. And then there are the accounts by the individual officers involved which have their own issues. There were three "pockets" toward the end. Its best to look for accounts written by whoever was commanding the particular pocket, try and figure out who the officers were around them and then look for accounts written by those officers.

[@alganhar1]

@@Jim-Tuner Good replies. One also has to note that not all those who were captured were 'Axis' forces, many were former Soviets who had been either forced into German uniform, or who had willingly entered the German military. These mens casualties are almost entirely unrecorded. Even their actual numbers is pretty much unknown, I have seen estimates ranging from a few thousand to well over a hundred thousand.

[@dirkmoller5104]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@BruceJamesPhotography]

Amazing series. Well done!

[@RustyShackleford]

This battle is very well depicted in the PC game Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad. The tractor factory is also well represented in the game - it's called Cold Steel though.

[@wtf_media918]

Have you gone mad? The game RO2 does not represent any battle fought within Stalingrad accurately. During the real Battle of Stalingrad the germans, at this one specific spot during WW2, heavily outnumbered the Russian troops during the first few months of fighting. 270,000 germans vs only 40,000 russian troops. But still, something was able to stop the german soldiers. And it certainly was not 40k russian troops. So what could it have been??? It was the people of Stalingrad. The 450,000 citizens. Men, women, and children fought the germans using sticks, stones, molotov cocktails, metal poles, and captured german weapons. This gigantic force is what slowed the germans enough and took the wind out of their sails. But still, there was a huge number of russian casualites. Only 1,500 of these citizens remained at the end of the battle and returned to their homes. The game, on the other hand, portrays a fantasy that is much different. What we see is waves of heavily armed Russian soldiers fighting germans, in relatively equal numbers. That didnt happen in real life. This battle is NOT well depicted in the game RO2

[@Nik-xi2ri]

​@@wtf_media918 I want whatever you're smoking

[@fuckThisComputerOoO]

somehow seeing the exact point where the wave of Evil forces broke down, collapsed and eventually rolled back all the way to where it started warms my heart.

[@markprange4386]

The high water mark was somewhere there in the Martenovskiy 'Shop.

[@nolifemerc3824]

Mp-40 effective range 200m? that would be a lucky strike.

[@2001lextalionis]

Fantastic presentation. Its a shame more information wasn't presented about the heroic efforts of the Red Army and how through attrition they delayed the German advance to the point where they held the last strategic positions near the river thus granting Stavka the time and resources to launch operation Uranus 19-23 Nov thus sealing the city and dooming the fascists and their allies.

[@mikemurray2027]

The strategic importance of the Volga was that it was the major supply route to Russia from the Caspian sea. It was an important internal supply line as well.

[@hatac]

That CGI map would be great in any of the WW2 first person combat games. It may need a few extra sandbag lines and trenches but that can be done.

[@whoisjoelsmith]

Wow the attention to detail rivals the Battlefield series. Very impressive. Great use of 3D mapping. Overall must’ve been a ton of work.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Y'know, all these years I've had in mind a modest factory floor building with perhaps some holding tanks and open ground surrounding. No, no - it's a giant complex and I am a fool. lol This 3D mapping is pretty amazing, though. Anyone know the source?

[@theskiboy721]

Excellent commentary, dont think that this cannot happen again, history has away of repeating..

[@samernabeel7822]

No way

[@leodoro8877]

Excellent presentation, very informative. Thanks!

[@theforlanjoker4457]

Absolutely fantastic thank you.