Stalingrad: 1st assault

When German troops arrived in front of Stalingrad in early September 1942, they noticed that the long, straight city hugging the Volga River did not allow them to use their usual tactic, the pincer movement. They would have to make a frontal assault...

1942-09-14

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When German troops arrived in front of Stalingrad in early September 1942, they noticed that the long, straight city hugging the Volga River did not allow them to use their usual tactic, the pincer movement. They would have to make a frontal assault. On the 14th of September, units of the German 6.Armee launched their attack and focused on the center and the South of the city. In the center, Hill 102 (Mamaev Kurgan) and the central station were sites of intense close battles. In the South, the grain elevator was a Soviet bastion that heroically resisted German assaults until it was utterly overrun. On the 16th of September, Germans won an important tactical victory by essentially controlling the central station, Mamaev Kurgan and the southern part of Stalingrad. But it was only the beginning of the battle.

Stalingrad, Russia

In the Battle of Stalingrad, Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. Marked by fierce close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids, it is one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with an estimated 2 million total casualties. After their defeat at Stalingrad, the German High Command had to withdraw considerable military forces from the Western Front to replace their losses. The German offensive to capture Stalingrad, a major industrial and transport hub on the Volga River that ensured Soviet access to the Caucasus oil wells, began in August 1942, using the 6th Army and elements of the 4th Panzer Army. The attack was supported by intense Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. The battle degenerated into house-to-house fighting, as both sides poured reinforcements into the city. By mid-November, the Germans had pushed the Soviet defenders back at great cost into narrow zones along the west bank of the river.

Wikipedia: Battle of Stalingrad

German

Russian

Game Type: Overlord

Board Type: Countryside

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