Stalingrad 1942-43 (1): The German Advance to the Volga
The first in a three-book series examining the Stalingrad campaign, one of the most decisive military operations in World War II that set the stage for the ultimate defeat of the Third Reich.

After failing to defeat the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Adolf Hitler planned a new campaign for the summer of 1942 that was intended to achieve a decisive victory: Operation Blue (Case Blau). In this new campaign, Hitler directed that one army group (Heeresgruppe A) would advance to seize the Soviet oilfields in the Caucasus, while the other (Heeresgruppe B) pushed on to the Volga River.

The expectation was for a rapid victory—instead, German forces had to fight hard just to reach the outskirts of Stalingrad, and then found themselves embroiled in a protracted urban battle amid the ruins of a devastated city on the Volga. The Soviet Red Army was hit hard by the initial German offensive but held onto the city and then launched Operation Uranus, a winter counteroffensive that encircled the German 6. Armee at Stalingrad. Despite a desperate German relief operation, the Red Army eventually crushed the German forces and hurled the remnants of the German southern front back in disorder.

This first volume in the Stalingrad trilogy covers the period from 28 June to 11 September 1942, including operations around Voronezh. The fighting in the Don Bend, which lasted weeks, comprised some of the largest tank battles of World War II—involving more armor than the tanks employed at Prokhorovka in 1943.

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Stalingrad 1942-43 (1): The German Advance to the Volga
The first in a three-book series examining the Stalingrad campaign, one of the most decisive military operations in World War II that set the stage for the ultimate defeat of the Third Reich.

After failing to defeat the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Adolf Hitler planned a new campaign for the summer of 1942 that was intended to achieve a decisive victory: Operation Blue (Case Blau). In this new campaign, Hitler directed that one army group (Heeresgruppe A) would advance to seize the Soviet oilfields in the Caucasus, while the other (Heeresgruppe B) pushed on to the Volga River.

The expectation was for a rapid victory—instead, German forces had to fight hard just to reach the outskirts of Stalingrad, and then found themselves embroiled in a protracted urban battle amid the ruins of a devastated city on the Volga. The Soviet Red Army was hit hard by the initial German offensive but held onto the city and then launched Operation Uranus, a winter counteroffensive that encircled the German 6. Armee at Stalingrad. Despite a desperate German relief operation, the Red Army eventually crushed the German forces and hurled the remnants of the German southern front back in disorder.

This first volume in the Stalingrad trilogy covers the period from 28 June to 11 September 1942, including operations around Voronezh. The fighting in the Don Bend, which lasted weeks, comprised some of the largest tank battles of World War II—involving more armor than the tanks employed at Prokhorovka in 1943.

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Stalingrad 1942-43 (1): The German Advance to the Volga

Stalingrad 1942-43 (1): The German Advance to the Volga

Stalingrad 1942-43 (1): The German Advance to the Volga

Stalingrad 1942-43 (1): The German Advance to the Volga

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Overview

The first in a three-book series examining the Stalingrad campaign, one of the most decisive military operations in World War II that set the stage for the ultimate defeat of the Third Reich.

After failing to defeat the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Adolf Hitler planned a new campaign for the summer of 1942 that was intended to achieve a decisive victory: Operation Blue (Case Blau). In this new campaign, Hitler directed that one army group (Heeresgruppe A) would advance to seize the Soviet oilfields in the Caucasus, while the other (Heeresgruppe B) pushed on to the Volga River.

The expectation was for a rapid victory—instead, German forces had to fight hard just to reach the outskirts of Stalingrad, and then found themselves embroiled in a protracted urban battle amid the ruins of a devastated city on the Volga. The Soviet Red Army was hit hard by the initial German offensive but held onto the city and then launched Operation Uranus, a winter counteroffensive that encircled the German 6. Armee at Stalingrad. Despite a desperate German relief operation, the Red Army eventually crushed the German forces and hurled the remnants of the German southern front back in disorder.

This first volume in the Stalingrad trilogy covers the period from 28 June to 11 September 1942, including operations around Voronezh. The fighting in the Don Bend, which lasted weeks, comprised some of the largest tank battles of World War II—involving more armor than the tanks employed at Prokhorovka in 1943.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781472842657
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: 01/26/2021
Series: Campaign , #359
Pages: 96
Sales rank: 638,876
Product dimensions: 7.10(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Robert Forczyk has a PhD in International Relations and National Security from the University of Maryland and a strong background in European and Asian military history. He retired as a lieutenant colonel from the US Army Reserves having served 18 years as an armor officer in the US 2nd and 4th infantry divisions and as an intelligence officer in the 29th Infantry Division (Light). Dr Forczyk is currently a consultant in the Washington, DC area.

Table of Contents

Origins of the Campaign 4

Chronology 7

Opposing Commanders 9

German Soviet

Opposing Forces 14

German

Soviet

Order of battle, 28 June 1942

Opposing Plans 28

German

Soviet

The Campaign 35

Blau Phase 1, 28 June-15 July 1942

Clearing the Donbass, 16-31 July 1942

Across the Don, 1-22 August 1942

To the Volga, 23 August-3 September 1942

The vital flanks

Analysis 89

The Battlefield Today 92

Further Reading 94

Table of ranks

Index 95

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