Editing Battle of Stalingrad (section)

==Prelude==
{{blockquote|text=If I do not get the oil of [[Maikop]] and [[Grozny]] then I must finish [''liquidieren''; "kill off", "liquidate"] this war.|sign=Adolf Hitler<ref name="Kershaw2000"/>{{Rp|514|date=June 2011}}|20px}}
[[File:Stanowisko dowodzenia na froncie nad Donem (2-1532).jpg|thumb|left|German and Romanian command personnel consult in a field position near the Don River, August 1942.]]
[[File:German Summer Offensive, 7 May-23 July 1942.PNG|thumb|left|upright=1.3|The German advance to the [[Don River (Russia)|Don River]] between 7 May and 23 July]]

[[Army Group South]] was selected for a sprint forward through the southern Russian [[steppe]]s into the Caucasus to capture the vital Soviet [[oil field]]s [[Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan#World War II|there]]. The planned summer offensive, [[Code name|code-named]] ''Fall Blau'' ([[Case Blue]]), was to include the German 6th, [[17th Army (Wehrmacht)|17th]], [[German Fourth Panzer Army|4th Panzer]] and [[1st Panzer Army|1st Panzer]] Armies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McTaggart |first=Pat |date=2020 |title=Derailing Case Blue |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/derailing-case-blue/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Warfare History Network |language=en-US}}</ref>

Hitler intervened, however, ordering the [[Army Group]] to split in two. Army Group South (A), under the command of [[Wilhelm List]], was to continue advancing south towards the Caucasus as planned with the 17th Army and First Panzer Army. Army Group South (B), including Paulus's 6th Army and [[Hermann Hoth]]'s 4th Panzer Army, was to move east towards the Volga and Stalingrad. [[Army Group B]] was commanded by General [[Maximilian von Weichs]].{{sfn|Shirer|1990|p=915}}

The start of ''Case Blue'' had been planned for late May 1942. However, a number of German and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romanian]] units that were to take part in ''Blau'' were [[Siege of Sevastopol (1942)|besieging Sevastopol]] on the [[Crimean Peninsula]]. Delays in ending the siege pushed back the start date for ''Blau'' several times, and the city did not fall until early July.

Operation Fridericus I by the Germans against the "Izyum bulge", pinched off the Soviet [[Salient (military)|salient]] in the Second Battle of Kharkov, and resulted in the [[envelopment]] of a large Soviet force between 17 May and 29 May. Similarly, Operation Wilhelm attacked Voltshansk on 13 June, and Operation Fridericus attacked Kupiansk on 22 June.{{sfn|Adam|Ruhle|2015|pp=18, 22}}

''Blau'' finally opened as Army Group South began its attack into southern Russia on 28 June 1942. The German offensive achieved rapid success, as Soviet forces offered little resistance in the vast empty steppes and started streaming eastward. Several attempts to re-establish a defensive line failed when German units [[flanking maneuver|outflanked]] them. Two major pockets were formed and destroyed: the first, northeast of Kharkov, on 2 July, and a second, around [[Millerovo]], [[Rostov Oblast]], a week later. Meanwhile, the [[Second Army (Hungary)|Hungarian 2nd Army]] and the German 4th Panzer Army had launched an [[Battle of Voronezh (1942)|assault on Voronezh]], capturing the city on 5 July.

The initial advance of the 6th Army was so successful that Hitler intervened and ordered the 4th Panzer Army to join Army Group South (A) to the south. A massive road block resulted when the 4th Panzer and the 1st Panzer choked the roads, stopping both in their tracks while they cleared the mess of thousands of vehicles. The traffic jam is thought to have delayed the advance by at least one week. With the advance now slowed, Hitler changed his mind and reassigned the 4th Panzer Army back to the attack on Stalingrad.

By the end of July, Soviet forces were pushed back across the [[Don River, Russia|Don River]]. At this point, the Don and Volga Rivers are only {{convert|65|km|mi|abbr=on}} apart, and the Germans left their main supply depots west of the Don. The Germans began using the armies of their [[Italian war in Soviet Union, 1941-1943|Italian]], Hungarian and [[Romanian Armies in the Battle of Stalingrad|Romanian]] allies to guard their left (northern) flank. Italian actions were also mentioned in official German communiques.<ref>{{Cite news |author=German High Command (communique)|date=27 October 1941|title=Text of the Day's War Communiques |work= New York Times|issue=28 October 1941|url=http://collections.civilisations.ca/warclip/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=5000808|access-date=27 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=German High Command (communique)|date=10 November 1942|title=Text of the Day's War Communiques on Fighting in Various Zones|work= New York Times |issue=10 November 1942|url= http://collections.civilisations.ca/warclip/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=5001262| access-date=27 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=German High Command (communique)|date=26 August 1942|title=Text of the Day's War Communiques on Fighting in Various Zones|work= New York Times|issue=26 August 1942|url=http://collections.civilisations.ca/warclip/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=5001240|access-date=27 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=German High Command (communique) |date=12 December 1942|title=Text of the Day's War Communiques |work= New York Times|issue=12 December 1942|url= http://collections.civilisations.ca/warclip/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=5001290| access-date =27 April 2009}}</ref> Italian forces were generally held in little regard by the Germans, and were accused of low morale: in reality, the Italian divisions fought comparatively well, with the [[3rd Infantry Division "Ravenna"]] and [[5th Infantry Division "Cosseria"]] showing spirit, according to a German liaison officer.<ref>{{cite book |last= Steinberg |first= Johnathan |date= 2003 |title= All or Nothing: The Axis and the Holocaust 1941–43 |publisher= Routledge |quote= "In spite of the unfavourable balance of forces – the 'Cosseria' and the 'Ravenna' faced eight to nine Russian divisions and an unknown number of tanks – the atmosphere among Italian staffs and troops was certainly not pessimistic&nbsp;... The Italians, especially the officers of the 'Cosseria', had confidence in what they thought were well built defensive positions."}}{{page needed|date= April 2021}}</ref> Italian forces were forced to retreat only after a massive armoured attack in which German reinforcements failed to arrive in time.{{sfn|Müller|2012|p=84|ps=: "The attack at dawn failed to penetrate fully at first and developed into a grim struggle with Italian strong-points, lasting for hours. The Ravenna Division was the first to be overrun. A gap emerged that was hard to close, and there was no holding back the Red Army when it deployed the mass of its tank forces the following day. German reinforcements came too late in the breakthrough battle."}}

To the south, [[Army Group A]] was pushing far into the Caucasus, but the advance slowed as supply lines grew overextended. The two German army groups were too far apart to support one another.

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B28822, Russland, Kampf um Stalingrad, Infanterie.jpg|thumb|German infantry and a supporting [[Sturmgeschütz III|StuG III assault gun]] during the battle]]

After German intentions became clear in July, Stalin appointed General [[Andrey Yeryomenko]] commander of the Southeastern Front on 1 August 1942. Yeryomenko and [[Commissar]] [[Nikita Khrushchev]] were tasked with planning the defence of Stalingrad.{{sfn|Craig|1973|pp=25, 48}} Beyond the Volga River on the eastern boundary of Stalingrad, additional Soviet units were formed into the 62nd Army under [[Lieutenant General]] [[Vasily Chuikov|Vasiliy Chuikov]] on 11 September 1942. Tasked with holding the city at all costs,{{sfn|Adam|Ruhle|2015|pp=80}} Chuikov proclaimed, "We will defend the city or die in the attempt."{{sfn|Beevor|1998|p=127}} The battle earned him one of his two [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] awards.