Editing Battle of Stalingrad (section)

==Tactics and battle conditions==
German [[military doctrine]] was based on the principle of [[Combined arms|combined-arms teams]] and close cooperation between tanks, infantry, [[Military engineer|engineers]], artillery and [[Ground attack aircraft|ground-attack aircraft]]. To negate the German usage of tanks and artillery in the ruins of the city, Soviet commander Chuikov introduced a tactic he described as "hugging" the enemy: keeping Soviet front-line positions as close as possible to those of the Germans, so German artillery and aircraft could not attack without risking friendly fire.{{sfn|Craig|1973|pp=90, 91}}{{sfn|Beevor|1998|pp=128, 129}} After mid-September, to reduce casualties, he ceased launching organized daylight counterattacks, instead emphasizing small unit tactics in which infantry moved through the city's sewers to strike into the rear of attacking German units.{{Sfn|Glantz|House|2009a|pp=166–167}} The Soviets preferred night attacks, which disrupted German morale by depriving them of sleep. Soviet reconnaissance patrols were used to find German positions and take prisoners for interrogation, enabling them to anticipate attacks. When Soviet troops detected a coming attack, they launched their own counterattacks at dawn before German air support could arrive. Soviet troops blunted the German attacks themselves through ambushes that separated tanks from their supporting infantry, as well as the employment of booby traps and mines. These tactical innovations became widespread.{{Sfn|Glantz|House|2009a|pp=713–714}}

The Soviets used the great amount of destruction to their advantage, by adding man-made defenses such as barbed wire, minefields, trenches, and bunkers to the rubble, while large factories even housed tanks and large-caliber guns within.<ref name="Spencer-2021"/> "Red Army soldiers enjoyed inventing gadgets to kill Germans. New booby traps were dreamed up, each seemingly more ingenious and unpredictable in its results than the last."<ref name="Beevor 1998-3">{{harvnb|Beevor|1998|p=153}}</ref> The battle saw all types of [[Urban warfare|''MOUT'']] combat techniques at the time.<ref name="McLaurin-1987"/>

The forces involved in the battle were composed of well-trained, and in some cases, very-experienced troops,<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Sayer |first=Richard H. |date=1964 |title=A Doctrine for Defense of a Major Urban Population Center by Division and Larger Units |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/tr/ADA375311 |pages= |access-date=3 March 2024 |degree=Master's |publisher=United States Army Command and General Staff College}}</ref> with the German 6th Army highly regarded, as it is noted that "Stalingrad was fought and lost by the finest collection of divisions in an army that had not known strategic defeat for a quarter of a century" in reference to German forces.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hanley |first=Brian |date=2006 |title=The Enduring Relevance of the Battle for Stalingrad |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA522165 |journal=JFQ |issue=43 |via=DTIC}}</ref>

Stalingrad was the supreme example of "[[total war]]",<ref name="Burton-1998">{{Cite thesis |last=Burton |first=Paul S. |date=1998 |title=Urban Operations, Untrained on Terrain |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/tr/ADA350062 |pages= |access-date=3 March 2024 |degree=Master's |publisher=United States Army Command and General Staff College}}</ref> described as "approaching [[Carl von Clausewitz|Clausewitz]]'s theoretical description of [[absolute war]]".<ref name="Johnson-1991" /> The Soviets persisted against German forces by using all available means, with the commitment being reflected in their planning, orders and actions. [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]’s commitment to Stalingrad became total, using every available resource to hold it, and ordering the city be held at all costs. Evidence of commitment was the vast casualties the Soviets were willing to sustain. Collateral damage was not a major concern, the first priority was victory and all weapons would be used to that end with little regard for collateral damage.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Smith |first=Dale R. |date=2003 |title=Commonalities in Russian Military Operations in Urban Environments |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA416194 |pages= |access-date=27 February 2024 |degree=Master's |publisher=Command and General Staff College}}</ref> This is also reflected by a common saying among the Soviet defenders, who often exclaimed that "for us, there is no land beyond the Volga".<ref>{{Cite web |title="За Волгой для нас земли нет". Маршал Чуйков - Радио Sputnik, 26.05.2021 |url=https://radiosputnik.ru/20200324/1569010301.html |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=radiosputnik.ru |date=24 March 2020 |language=ru}}</ref> Total war was reflected by Axis forces, as they attacked without concern and committed to a bombing campaign which utterly destroyed the city and killed thousands of civilians, and [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] would not allow for German forces to retreat, even with the threat of encirclement.<ref name="The National WWII Museum | New Orleans-2022" /> On 14 October, Hitler suspended all operations along the entire Eastern Front except for Stalingrad, and continued pushing even harder for Army Group B to capture the city, showing his willingness to capture it at all costs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacGregor |first=Iain |title=The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Hidden Truth at the Centre of WWII's Greatest Battle |publisher=Scribner |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-9821-6358-7 |location=New York |pages=176, 178 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-E0406-0022-001, Russland, Kesselschlacht Stalingrad.jpg|thumb|left|Soviets defend a position.]]

An important weapon was the [[flamethrower]], which was "effectively terrifying" in its use of clearing sewer tunnels, cellars, and inaccessible hiding places.<ref name="Beevor 1998-3"/> Operators were immediately targeted as soon as they were spotted.<ref name="Beevor 1998-3"/> The [[Katyusha rocket launcher]], known to the Germans as "Stalin's organ", was used with devastating effect.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1986-02-04 |title=CHEMICAL ARMS TALKS NEARING WITH U.S. FAR BEHIND SOVIETS |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp90-00965r000706130011-6 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=www.cia.gov}}</ref> In hand-to-hand fighting, spades were used as axes.<ref name="Intrec Inc-1974a">{{Cite journal |last=Intrec Inc |date=1974 |title=Weapons Effects in Cities. Volume II |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADB001991 |journal=Technical Report |via=DTIC}}</ref> Equipment used during the battle represented a full spectrum of World War II equipment, encompassing manufactured and field-improvised systems,<ref name="Burton-1998" /> as both sides fielded and used their complete arsenals.<ref name="Intrec Inc-1974b" />

The battle consumed a tremendous amount of ammunition and resources, in September fighting alone, the 6th Army expended 25 million rounds of small arms, 500,000 anti-tank rounds, 752,000 artillery shells and 178,000 hand grenades, with German forces expending 300 to 500 tons of artillery ammunition each day.<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacGregor |first=Iain |title=The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Hidden Truth at the Centre of WWII's Greatest Battle |publisher=Scribner |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-9821-6358-7 |location=New York |pages=164 |language=en}}</ref> The Red Army fired more ammunition in this battle than any other operation of the war.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spiller |first=Roger J. |url=https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/Sharp-Corners-Urban-Operations-at-Centurys-End-ul.pdf |title=Sharp Corners: Urban Operations at Century's End |publisher=U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Press |year=2000 |pages=64 |language=en}}</ref>

The Soviet urban warfare tactics relied on 20-to-50-man-assault groups, armed with machine guns, grenades and satchel charges, with buildings fortified as strongpoints with clear fields of fire. Strongpoints were defended by guns or tanks on the ground floor, while machine gunners and artillery observers operated from the upper floors. Assault groups used sewers or broke through walls into adjoining buildings, to maintain concealment while moving into the rear of German attacks. Soviet tactical innovations were a "combination of intelligence, discipline, and determination" enabling the Soviet defenders to keep fighting when the Germans had achieved victory by "all conventional measures."{{Sfn|Glantz|House|2009a|pp=713–714}}

The battle was notable for [[hand-to-hand combat]],<ref name="Mark-2018">{{Cite book |last=Mark |first=Jason D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psVNDwAAQBAJ&q=Epitome |title=Island of Fire: The Battle for the Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=2018 |isbn=9780811766197 |pages=92 |language=en}}</ref> the "most savage hand-to-hand battle in human memory".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Garrard |first1=John Gordon |url=https://archive.org/details/bonesofberdichev0000garr |title=The Bones of Berdichev: The Life and Fate of Vasily Grossman |last2=Garrard |first2=Carol |publisher=The Free Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0684822952 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=xvii |language=en}}</ref> Ferocious fighting raged for ruins, streets, factories, houses, basements, and staircases.<ref name="Mark-2018" /><ref name="Spencer-2021"/> Blocks and buildings would change hands numerous times through intense hand-to-hand fighting.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Glantz |first=David M. |date=2008-05-28 |title=The Struggle for Stalingrad City: Opposing Orders of Battle, Combat Orders and Reports, and Operational and Tactical Maps. Part 2: The Fight for Stalingrad's Factory District – 14 October–18 November 1942 |journal=The Journal of Slavic Military Studies |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=377–471 |doi=10.1080/13518040802067383 |s2cid=144323491 |issn=1351-8046|doi-access=free }}</ref> Combat was so close at times that soldiers preferred using melee weapons, such as knives, and grenades being tossed in such short distances they could be thrown back before they exploded.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Roberts, Baron Roberts of Belgravia |title=The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-06-122860-5 |pages=322, 326 |language=en}}</ref> "Every building had to be fought for; single buildings and single blocks became major military objectives. Often both German and Russian troops occupied parts of the same building."<ref name="Intrec Inc-1974a" /> Even the sewers saw firefights. The Germans called this unseen [[urban warfare]] "Rat War".<ref>{{harvnb|Bellamy|2007|pp=514–517}}, 550</ref> Buildings had to be cleared room by room through the bombed-out debris of residential areas, office blocks, basements and apartment high-rises. [[Antony Beevor]] describes how this process was particularly brutal, "In its way, the fighting in Stalingrad was even more terrifying than the impersonal slaughter at Verdun...It possessed a savage intimacy which appalled their generals, who felt that they were rapidly losing control over events."<ref>{{harvnb|Beevor|1998|pp=148–149}}</ref> According to [[Peter Calvocoressi]] and Guy Wint, "The closest and bloodiest battle of the war was fought among the stumps of buildings burnt or burning".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Calvocoressi |first1=Peter |author-link=Peter Calvocoressi |url=https://archive.org/details/totalwar0000pete/page/n5/mode/1up |title=Total War: The Story of World War II |last2=Wint |first2=Guy |publisher=Pantheon Books |year=1972 |isbn=978-0394471044 |location=New York |pages=452 |language=en}}</ref> Buildings saw floor-by-floor, [[close combat]], with the Germans and Soviets on alternate levels, firing at each other through holes in the floors.<ref name="Roberts-2012">{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Roberts, Baron Roberts of Belgravia |title=The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-06-122860-5 |pages=324 |language=en}}</ref> Fighting on and around [[Mamayev Kurgan]], a prominent hill above the city, was particularly merciless; indeed, the position changed hands many times.{{sfnm|1a1=Adam|1a2=Ruhle|1y=2015|1pp=67–68|2a1=Beevor|2y=1998|2pp=135–137}}<ref name="Craig 1973">{{harvnb|Craig|1973}}, p. 385.</ref> A notable building brutally fought for was [[Gerhardt's Mill]], still kept as a memorial. It was eventually cleared by the 39th Guards Regiment in close-quarters combat.<ref name="Beevor 1998-2">{{harvnb|Beevor|1998|p=135}}</ref> Another example was on 14 September, the main railway station changed hands five times, and over the course of the next three days, another thirteen times.<ref name="Roberts-2012" /> 

The brutality was shown by the military casualties taken by units.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Hartle |first=Anthony E. |date=1975 |title=Breaching Walls in Urban Warfare |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADB006686 |pages= |access-date=4 March 2024 |degree=Master's |publisher=United States Army Command and General Staff College}}</ref> The 13th Guards Rifle Division suffered 30% casualties in the first twenty-four hours, with only 320 men out of 10,000 remaining at the battle's conclusion.<ref name="Beevor 1998-2" /> With buildings and floors changing hands dozens of times and taking up days to win, platoons and companies took up to 90% and even 100% casualties to win a building or floor within it.<ref name="Spencer-2021"/> Chuikov estimated that about three thousand Germans had been killed during the fighting for the tractor factory on 14 October alone.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chuikov |first=Vasily |author-link=Vasily Chuikov |url=https://archive.org/details/battleforstaling00chui/mode/1up |title=The Battle for Stalingrad |publisher=Holt, Rinehart & Winston |year=1964 |location=New York |pages=197–198 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-617-2571-04, Stalingrad, Soldaten beim Häuserkampf Recolored.jpg|thumb|German soldiers positioning themselves for urban warfare (colourised)]]

The Germans used aircraft, tanks and [[heavy artillery]] to clear the city with varying success. Towards the end of August, the gigantic [[railroad gun]] [[Dora (artillery)|nicknamed ''Dora'']] was brought in, being withdrawn soon after due to Soviet threats to the gun.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hogg |first=Ian V. |url=https://archive.org/details/germanartilleryo0000hogg/page/n2/mode/1up |title=German Artillery of World War Two |publisher=Greenhill Books |year=2002 |location=London |pages=138 |isbn=978-1-85367-480-8 |language=en}}</ref> Germans would shell Soviet reinforcements coming across the Volga without pause, with the Soviets firing back.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hardesty |first1=Von |url=https://archive.org/details/redphoenixrising0000hard |title=Red Phoenix Rising: The Soviet Air Force in World War II |last2=Grinberg |first2=Ilya |publisher=University Press of Kansas |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7006-1828-6 |pages=128 |language=en |chapter=Stalingrad}}</ref> Despite the notion of the vulnerability of tanks in urban settings, [[Armoured warfare|tank warfare]] was important, and the basis of every Soviet position was [[anti-tank warfare]], with significant efforts made to resist German tank assaults.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stone |first=David R. |date=2009-05-29 |title=Stalingrad and the Evolution of Soviet Urban Warfare |journal=The Journal of Slavic Military Studies |language=en |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=195–207 |doi=10.1080/13518040902918089 |issn=1351-8046|doi-access=free }}</ref> The ''Luftwaffe'' conducted 100,000 sorties and dropped 100,000 tons of bombs on the city and river crossings.{{sfn|Werth|1946|pp=|p=207}}

The battle epitomized the use of [[sniper]]s in urban warfare.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Spencer |first1=John |last2=Geroux |first2=Jayson |date=2022-02-14 |title=Defending the City: An Overview of Defensive Tactics from the Modern History of Urban Warfare |url=https://mwi.westpoint.edu/defending-the-city-an-overview-of-defensive-tactics-from-the-modern-history-of-urban-warfare/ |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=Modern War Institute |language=en-US}}</ref> Snipers on both sides used the ruins to inflict casualties, with Soviet command heavily emphasizing sniper tactics to wear down the Germans. The most famous [[Soviet sniper]] was [[Vasily Zaitsev (sniper)|Vasily Zaytsev]], who became a propaganda hero,{{Sfn|Glantz|House|2009a|pp=713–714}} credited with 225 kills. Targets were often soldiers bringing up food or water to forward positions. Artillery spotters were an especially prized target for snipers.<ref>{{harvnb|Beevor|1998|p=204}}</ref>

The ferocious and intense fighting was not only within the city itself. Most brutal fighting that consumed both forces occurred outside and west of the city, in the snow-covered steppes.<ref name="Winchester-2011" /> The battle turned from the [[maneuver warfare|mobile warfare]] during the German push towards the city into positional warfare,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hardesty |first1=Von |url=https://archive.org/details/redphoenixrising0000hard |title=Red Phoenix Rising: The Soviet Air Force in World War II |last2=Grinberg |first2=Ilya |publisher=University Press of Kansas |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7006-1828-6 |pages=162 |language=en |chapter=Stalingrad}}</ref> with [[trench warfare]] becoming common inside and outside the city, as both sides entrenched themselves and built up positions, with trenches being turned into strongpoints and brutally fought for.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walsh |first=Stephen |title=A History of Modern Urban Operations |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-27088-9 |editor-last=Fremont-Barnes |editor-first=Gregory |pages=83, 89–90, 93 |language=en |chapter=The Battle of Stalingrad, September–November 1942}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Forczyk |first=Robert |title=Stalingrad 1942–43 (2): The Fight for the City |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=9781472842695 |edition=1st |pages=38, 45, 91}}</ref><ref name="Kaplan-2023" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Mike |date=2023-03-31 |title=The First World War tactic helping Ukraine fight a modern conflict |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/03/31/ukraine-trenches-war-russia-first-world-war-history/ |access-date=2024-03-30 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

[[File:Soviet marines-in the battle of stalingrad volga banks.jpg|thumb|Soviet marines landing on the west bank of the [[Volga River]]]]

A historical debate concerns the degree of terror in the Red Army. Beevor noted the "sinister" message from the Stalingrad Front's Political Department on 8 October 1942 that: "The defeatist mood is almost eliminated and the number of treasonous incidents is getting lower" as an example of the coercion Red Army soldiers experienced under the Special Detachments (renamed [[SMERSH]]).{{sfn|Beevor|2004|pp=154–168}} On the other hand, Beevor noted the often extraordinary bravery of the Soviet soldiers, and argued terror alone cannot explain such self-sacrifice.{{sfn|Beevor|1998|pp=154–168}} A Soviet officer interviewed, explained the feeling, "There was this sense that every soldier and officer in Stalingrad was itching to kill as many Germans as possible. In Stalingrad people felt a particularly intense hatred for the Germans."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hellbeck |first=Jochen |url=https://archive.org/details/stalingradcityth0000hell/mode/1up |title=Stalingrad: The City that Defeated the Third Reich |publisher=PublicMedia |year=2015 |pages=338 |isbn=9781610394963 |language=en}}</ref> German observers were perplexed by the relentlessness of the Soviets, with a 29 October 1942 article in the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] newspaper, ''[[Das Schwarze Korps]]'', stating "The Bolshevists attack until total exhaustion, and defend themselves until the physical extermination of the last man and weapon . . . Sometimes the individual will fight beyond the point considered humanly possible".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hellbeck |first=Jochen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRKCBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |title=Stalingrad: The City that Defeated the Third Reich |publisher=PublicAffairs |year=2015 |isbn=9781610394963 |pages=9 |language=en}}</ref> One example of the heroism seen in Soviet troops was Soviet marine [[Mikhail Panikakha]], who was covered in flames after his Molotov cocktail was shot while attempting to throw it, however he continued with another Molotov and destroyed a tank.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Roberts, Baron Roberts of Belgravia |title=The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-06-122860-5 |pages=330 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Richard Overy]] addresses the question of how important the Red Army's coercive methods were to the war effort compared with other factors such as hatred for the enemy, stating that while it is "easy to argue that from the summer of 1942 the Soviet army fought because it was forced to fight," to concentrate solely on coercion is nonetheless to "distort our view of the Soviet war effort."<ref>Overy, Richard. Russia's War (New York: 1997), 201.</ref> After conducting interviews with Soviet veterans on the terror on the Eastern Front – and specifically Order No. 227 ("Not a step back!") – [[Catherine Merridale]] notes, seemingly paradoxically, "their response was frequently relief."{{sfn|Merridale|2006|p=156}} Infantryman Lev Lvovich's explanation is typical, "[i]t was a necessary and important step. We all knew where we stood after we had heard it. And we all – it's true – felt better. Yes, we felt better."{{sfn|Merridale|2006|p=156}}

Many women fought on the Soviet side or were under fire. As General Chuikov acknowledged, "Remembering the defence of Stalingrad, I can't overlook the very important question&nbsp;… about the role of women in war, in the rear, but also at the front. Equally with men they bore all the burdens of combat life and together with us men, they went all the way to Berlin."<ref>{{harvnb|Bellamy|2007|pp=520–521}}</ref> At the beginning of the battle there were 75,000 women and girls from the Stalingrad area who had finished military or medical training, and they were to serve in the battle.<ref>{{harvnb|Pennington|2004|pp=180–182}}</ref> Women staffed many anti-aircraft batteries that fought the ''Luftwaffe'' and German tanks.<ref>{{harvnb|Pennington|2004|p=178}}</ref> Soviet nurses not only treated wounded personnel under fire but were involved in the dangerous work of bringing wounded soldiers back to hospitals under fire.<ref>{{harvnb|Pennington|2004|pp=189–192}}</ref> Many Soviet wireless and telephone operators were women who often suffered heavy casualties when their command posts came under fire.<ref>{{harvnb|Pennington|2004|pp=192–194}}</ref> Though women were not usually trained as infantry, many Soviet women fought as machine gunners, mortar operators, scouts,{{sfn|Pennington|2004|p=197}} and as snipers.<ref>{{harvnb|Pennington|2004|pp=201–204}}</ref> Three air regiments at Stalingrad were entirely female.{{sfn|Pennington|2004|p=197}} At least three women won the Hero of the Soviet Union while driving tanks.<ref>{{harvnb|Pennington|2004|pp=204–207}}</ref>

For Stalin and Hitler, Stalingrad became a matter of prestige beyond its strategic significance.{{sfn|Werth|1946|pp=193–194}} A book analyzing urban warfare remarked that "Among the cases collected here, the most extreme example of politics and sentiment investing a city with importance is that of Stalingrad".<ref>{{Citation |author1=Robertson, William G and Yates Lawrence A (Ed) |title=Block by Block: The Challenges of Urban Operations |pages=443 |url=https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/Primer-on-Urban-Operation/Documents/BlockByBlock_TheChallengesOfUrbanOperations.pdf |access-date=4 March 2024 |publisher=US Army Command and General Staff College Press, Fort Leavenworth Kansas USA}}</ref> Another paper notes "the battle between German and Soviet forces at Stalingrad was representative of the battle of wills between Hitler and Stalin".<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Howard |first=James R. |date=2003 |title=The Roots of Soviet Victory: The Applications of Operational Art on the Eastern Front, 1942-1943 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA416926 |pages= |access-date=4 March 2024 |degree=Master's |publisher=United States Army Command and General Staff College}}</ref> The strain on military commanders was immense: Paulus developed an uncontrollable tic in his eye, which eventually affected the left side of his face, while Chuikov experienced an outbreak of [[eczema]] that required him to have his hands completely bandaged. Troops on both sides faced the constant strain of close-range combat.<ref name="Beevor 1998-4">{{harvnb|Beevor|1998|p=187}}</ref>

The Soviets used [[psychological warfare]] tactics to intimidate and demoralize. On loudspeakers throughout the ruined city, it was continuously announced that "Every seven seconds a German soldier dies in Russia. Stalingrad. . .mass grave".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tarrant |first=V.E. |url=https://archive.org/details/stalingradanatom0000tarr/page/230/mode/2up |title=Stalingrad: Anatomy of an Agony |publisher=Leo Cooper |year=1992 |isbn=978-0850523423 |location=London |pages=175 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Nappi-2023">{{Cite web |last=Nappi |first=Kyle |date=2023-06-07 |title=War of the Words: Lessons in Psychological Operations from the Eastern Front in World War II |url=https://mwi.westpoint.edu/war-of-the-words-lessons-in-psychological-operations-from-the-eastern-front-in-world-war-ii/ |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=Modern War Institute |language=en-US}}</ref> The sound was interspersed with the monotonous sound of a ticking clock, and an orchestral melody dubbed the "Tango of Death".<ref name="Nappi-2023" />

===Medical and food conditions===
The conditions of both armies were atrocious. Disease ran rampant, with many deaths due to dysentery, typhus, diphtheria, tuberculosis and jaundice, causing medical staff to fear a possible epidemic.<ref name="Kaplan-2000">{{Cite journal |last=Kaplan |first=Robert |date=2000 |title=Medicine at the Battle of Stalingrad |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=93 |issue=2|pages=97–98 |doi=10.1177/014107680009300219 |pmid=10740585 |pmc=1288080 }}</ref> Rats and mice were plentiful, serving as one reason Germans could not counterattack in time, due to mice having chewed their tank wiring.<ref name="Kaplan-2000" /> Lice were heavily prevalent, and plagues of flies would gather around kitchens, adding to the possibility of wound infections. Brutal winter conditions affected soldiers tremendously,<ref name="Spencer-2021"/> with temperatures at times reaching as low as −40&nbsp;°C in the second half of November,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jaskulski |first=Konrad |date=2011 |title=Role of the Atmosperic Phenomenon in World War 2 |url=https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/2084505.pdf |journal=Prace i Studia Geograficzne |language=en, pl}}</ref> and −30&nbsp;°C in late January.<ref name="Kaplan-2000" /> The weather conditions were considered to be extreme and the worst possible.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dobbin |first=Thomas |date=2007 |title=Arctic Warfare |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/AD1111458 |journal=Army Military Press |via=Defense Technical Information Center}}</ref><ref name="Spencer-2021"/> The weather conditions caused rapid frostbite, with many cases of gangrene and amputation. The conditions saw soldiers dying en masse due to frostbite and hypothermia.<ref name="Kaplan-2000" /> Both armies suffered food shortages, with mass starvation on both sides. Stress, tiredness and the cold upset the metabolism of soldiers, receiving a reduced amount of calories from food.<ref name="Kaplan-2000" /> German forces eventually ran out of medical supplies such as ether, antiseptics and bandages. Surgery had to be done without anaesthesia.<ref name="Kaplan-2000" />

Biologist [[Ken Alibek|Kenneth Alibek]] suggested the Red Army used [[tularemia]] as a [[Biological agent|biological weapon]] during the battle, though this is thought to have resulted from natural causes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Croddy |first1=Eric |last2=Krčálová |first2=Sarka |date=2001 |title=Tularemia, Biological Warfare, and the Battle for Stalingrad (1942–1943) |url=https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/166/10/837/4819330 |access-date=2024-02-21 |journal=Military Medicine|volume=166 |issue=10 |pages=837–838 |doi=10.1093/milmed/166.10.837 |pmid=11603230 }}</ref>