Battle of Stalingrad

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The Pittsburgh Press (November 17, 1942)

NAZIS CAUGHT UNPREPARED BY RUSSIAN COLD
Winter sets in solidly on all areas of front

Russians kill 3,000 more at Stalingrad, keep going in Caucasus
By Henry Shapiro, United Press staff writer

Moscow, USSR –
Freezing cold today swept the Don Valley and the Voronezh area, where summer-clad German troops battled the weather and Marshal Semyon Timoshenko’s slashing Russian armies who, front reports said, killed another 3,000 Axis troops in Stalingrad.

The Germans were unprepared for the severe Russian winter, correspondents reported, and, as during last year’s biting cold, were dropping out of the battle lines with frostbite, colds and other illnesses.

The Russians, taking enemy prisoners, found them dancing in the snow, trying to keep warm. Others wrapped themselves in looted peasant shawls, felt rags and blankets. The prisoners said the German command had not yet issued heavy clothing.

Deep snow in north

The Russian winter, which took thousands of German lives last year, was setting in solidly along the far-flung front. Deep snows were reported in the north, along the entire Karelian front, where the first detachments of ski troops were operating.

Stockholm, quoting the French Havas News Agency, said snow and rain had paralyzed operations from one ends of the Russian front to the other. Havas reported that German attacks in Stalingrad appeared to have halted with the attackers preparing to hole up for the winter.

At Stalingrad, the Russians consolidated their positions in freezing weather, and the initiative appeared to be alternating between the defenders and the Nazis, front dispatches said.

Ready for offensive

These dispatches suggested that the defenders, having smashed the latest German offensive, probably would soon have the initiative entirely in their hands.

Attacking yesterday, Red Army forces in Stalingrad had dislodged the Germans from positions they occupied three days ago, killed up to 1,500 troops and destroyed two tanks, six guns and three planes. Today’s communiqué told of the killing of 1,500 more.

Gen. Ditwar, the German High Command’s spokesman, tried to explain on Radio Berlin why Stalingrad had not been taken. He admitted that the capture of Stalingrad was the real objective of the German campaign in Russia, but said it could not be encircled because of the Volga River and the Russians had better communications.

Caucasus gains continue

The Russians counteroffensive southeast of Nalchik in the Central Caucasus maintained steadily progress and the noon communiqué reported that Soviet tanks had driven a wedge into enemy defenses and killed a platoon of infantry, in addition to destroying three anti-tank guns and several machine-gun ports.

The Germans sent up 12 tanks in a futile effort to drive back the wedge. Four of them were destroyed.

The Red Army also held the initiative on the Western Caucasian Front southeast of Tuapse Naval Base. “Numerically superior” forces of the enemy attacked a height southeast of Nalchik, the noon communiqué asserted, but the Russians counterattacked, killed 160 and forced the enemy to retreat.

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The Russian counteroffensive

Does that mean Operation Uranus has begun? Or are they probing for weak areas?

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Still coming soon, my friend…

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The Pittsburgh Press (November 18, 1942)

NAZIS STEMMED AGAIN IN FIERCE STALINGRAD FIGHTING
Reds capture two mountains near Nalchik

Germans pay heavily for small gain in drive to reach Volga
By Henry Shapiro, United Press staff writer

Moscow, USSR –
Front dispatches said today that the defenders of Stalingrad had again stemmed the Germans and that Red Army forces on the offensive southeast of Nalchik in the Caucasus had captured two mountains.

The army organ, Red Star, reviewing a German advance yesterday in a northern factor district of Stalingrad, said the Germans had paid an exorbitant price for a small gain. In a suddenly revived offensive, the Germans had tried to accomplish their long frustrated purpose of driving to the Volga, where ice floes were hampering the delivery of supplies to the defenders.

Gains cost Nazis 1,000 men

Their gains cost them at least 1,000 men, besides 60 trucks and other material.

Northwest of Stalingrad, Soviet artillery dispersed and partly wiped out two companies of Axis infantry.

Although the latest communiqué reported no new Russian advance southeast of Nalchik, dispatches from that area said the Red Army continued to advance. Soviet forces drove the Germans from two strongly fortified mountains, then fresh Soviet units drove them to an unnamed river, forced the river and continued the pursuit, these dispatches said.

Snipers take toll at Leningrad

Northeast of Tuapse Naval Base, the other Caucasian front, Soviet scouts penetrated the rear of the enemy and smashed a company of Romanian infantry.

Soviet snipers have killed 529 Germans on the Leningrad Front in three days, the communiqué reported.

Last midnight’s communiqué had reported a Russian setback on the Volkhov Front, above Lake Ilmen on the northwestern front. The Germans, after losing 3,000 men in six attacks on a strategic locality the Russians had recently taken, broke through to the outskirts on the seventh attempt.

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Stalingrad Front is 400 yards wide

Moscow, USSR (UP) –
German troops recently ordered by Adolf Hitler to capture Stalingrad by Nov. 1, have narrowed their offensive against the city to a front measuring about 200 to 400 yards, top avoid repetition of the heavy losses suffered in October, the army newspaper Red Star reported today.

L. Viskoostrovski, Red Star’s correspondent, said the attack was being directed against the northern factory district because that is the shortest route to the Volga River.

Prisoners taken by the Russians reported that Hitler had ordered Stalingrad taken by Nov. 1, he said. This order was later modified and the city’s hall was scheduled for Nov. 6.

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Stalingrad’s defenders send thanks to U.S. women for warm garments

Scarfs, hoods, sweaters and mittens knitted by Americans

New York –
From the frontlines of shattered, burning Stalingrad, where German attacks are fought from block to block, American women all over the country have recently received letters from Red Army men, thanking them for gifts of warm winter garments.

Hundreds of wool scarfs, hoods, sweater and mittens were knitted by American women volunteers. They were made last summer at club meetings, bridge parties, during vacations, lunch hours and even on subways and buses going to work.

The gifts arrived in time to bring warm comfort to the fighters as the dread Russian winter settled its icy grip on the front.

Russian soldiers and ambulance girls, upon receiving the parcels, look first of all to see whether there is a note or a letter of some kind, according to the New York Russian Relief office, which recently received the “thank you” letters by transocean Clipper.

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Wow, just a sign that everyone did what he/she could do! Not sure if singling out Stalingrad was done to get more woolies for the Ruskees (ok Soviets) knittted.

The German Stalingradfront is down to 400 yards, the battle now is truly epic. Will the Germans finally get Stalingrad? and spend the Winter in the city?

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Since today marks the beginning of Operation Uranus, I have been working over November, using the Tabletop Simulator port of boardgame publisher The Gamers “Guderian’s Blitz II” and “Case Blue” to create the situation across the Eastern Front as of November 19.

Keep in mind I am following the instructions for troop locations as given by the book. All rights go to The Gamers and Tabletop Simulator. While I imagine this is relatively close to historical records, do not take this as fact, rather another medium to demonstrate the vastness of the war in the East.

20211119105503_1

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The Pittsburgh Press (November 19, 1942)

Nazis checked by Red armies

Fog grounds fliers; Russians attack in Stalingrad
By Henry Shapiro, United Press staff writer

Moscow, USSR –
While heavy fog deprived the Germans of air support in Stalingrad today and hampered their ground attacks, the Russians attacked in the southern part of the city and captured a number of strongpoints.

The Nazi Radio Vichy said that heavy snow was falling in Stalingrad.

For the first time since September, the Soviet High Command reported “no changes on the fronts” in its latest communiqué, but it was the second time in 24 hours that the Russians had gained inside Stalingrad. They retook some positions the Germans had won earlier in northern Stalingrad yesterday and captured several strongpoints.

Soviet gains were reported on two Caucasian fronts – northeast of Nalchik, in the Central Caucasus, and northeast of Tuapse Naval Base, in the Western Caucasus.

Nazis held for three days

Dispatches from Stalingrad said the Germans were concentrating “reduced blows” – by a total of 6,000 men and small tanks – against a small sector in the factory area where they were nearest the Volga.

They had not gained in three days, the dispatches said, and continued to lose an average of 1,000 men a day. The fog grounded their dive bombers.

The Germans, it was believed, had withdrawn forces in the Caucasus from the Nalchik front to throw them into resumed attacks in the Mozdok area, 50 miles northeast of Nalchik.

Fail in Mozdok area

They apparently did not have the strength left to attack in both places simultaneously, although the objectives were the same; the Grozny oil fields and Ordzhonikidze, terminus of the Georgian military highway.

The Germans ended a lull of several weeks bin the Mozdok area yesterday by sending 2,000 men and 50 tanks against Russian defenses that bled them for 10 weeks last summer and this fall. All attacks were beaten off, 17 tanks were burned or disabled and the Russians captured six disabled ones.

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Enemy broadcast –
Germans admit big Red attacks

Dispatches from enemy countries are based on broadcasts over controlled radio stations and frequently contain false information for propaganda purposes.

Berlin, Germany (UP) – (German broadcast recorded in New York)
The German military communiqué admitted today that the Soviet Army had launched “new and heavy attacks” east of Alagir in the South Caucasus and on the Don River front.

The attack were repulsed, according to the communiqué.

The communiqué made terse mention to Stalingrad, asserting only that there was “shock troop fighting” there.

The African fighting was mentioned only briefly. In Cyrenaica, according to the communiqué, German-Italian troops “have disengaged themselves a further distance from the enemy."

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The Pittsburgh Press (November 20, 1942)

Stalingrad quiet –
Russians open winter drives

Nazis lose 20,000 men as Reds gain in Caucasus
By Henry Shapiro, United Press staff writer

Moscow, USSR –
The government newspaper Izvestia said today that the Soviet victory at Ordzhonikidze, where more than 20,000 Germans were killed or wounded and the rest routed, was the beginning of a Russian winter offensive that would hit the Axis along the entire 2,000-mile front.

Soviet forces were hotly pursuing the remnants of the routed German Army through the Central Caucasus, following the momentous victory on the approaches of Ordzhonikidze, southeast of Nalchik.

Front dispatches reported that the Red Army had captured a mountain southeast of Nalchik and were attempting to round up and exterminate the Germans, from whom they had captured huge quantities of equipment.

‘This is only beginning’

Izvestia said:

The victory… is only the beginning of Soviet counterblows and constituted a signal for further activization of the Red Army against the enemy.

The Germans won’t be able to take advantage of winter to regroup their worn-out units, because the Russians won’t give them any respite.

The military situation has been radically changed by the liberation of North Africa, Izvestia said. It now favors the British, Russians and Americans and:

…will add to the efforts of the Soviet people in their unrelenting fight against the Germans.

Light attacks in Stalingrad

Front dispatches said at least 7,000 Germans were killed. A special communiqué had placed German dead at more than 5,000 and said “several times” that many were wounded.

Again, the latest communiqué reported “no changes on the fronts.”

It reported only light attacks in Stalingrad, where the Russians had full control of the situation.

Northeast of Tuapse Naval Base in the Western Caucasus, the Russians fought small German groups without losing a man, the communiqué said.

It also reported a substantial Soviet advance on the Volkhov Front, below Leningrad. There the Russians took an inhabited place, and repulsing counterattacks for three days, killed several thousand Germans.

Dispatches revealed that the battle in which the Germans were routed on the approaches of Ordzhonikidze lasted from Nov. 1 to 11.

A German spearhead of one tank division and three infantry regiments (9,000 men) penetrated Soviet defenses, reached the approaches of Ordzhonikidze Nov. 3 and threatened to cut the Georgian military highway, which runs over the mountains to the Southern Caucasus.

Artillery halts Germans

Massed Soviet artillery halted the drive, and pounded the Germans so hard they concentrated their tanks in three villages and buried them for use as fixed artillery.

Maintaining a constant curtain of fire, Russian artillery finally drove the Germans against the foothills of the mountains, where they were shelled by long-range and medium guns.

Having rushed up reserves, the Russians captured two of the villages and plunged the Germans into precipitate flight. The Russians immediately took out after them.

P. Nikitin, Izvestia’s correspondent, reported that most of the more than one million cartridges the Russians captured were stamped “1942” and were made of iron instead of brass. A large number of unexploded shells and mines fell into Russian hands, he said, and all showed a sharp deterioration in the quality of German arms and ammunition.

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Kinda wonder if the famous slave labor saboteurs were busy or maybe it is just the cold and the same wire eating mice that caused havoc. Or just companies throwing junk on the market to match the production number goals?

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Yeah… baybeee … Operation uranus is here.

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What is bay bee? Anyway I can see why the Soviets were nervous. No Air support but the Soviets are still kicking the axis in the 7th Planet.:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::joy:.

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By the way Uranus happens to be an an ice giant​:cold_face::cold_face::cold_face::cold_face::cold_face: a fitting end to fall Blau (blue)

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Baybee… Is baby but in an exaggerated form.

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You mean that Call of Duty Infinite Warfare was historically accurate? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

(Explanation : COD infinite warfare was COD but in space… )

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Lol, Uranus only lasted a short time so we have to be quick with memes and jokes :innocent:

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You didn’t realise it but you made another joke there

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Völkischer Beobachter (November 21, 1942)

Nach Zerstörung aller militärischen Anlagen –
Bengasi planmäßig geräumt

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 20. November –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:
Bei örtlichen Kampfhandlungen im Westkaukasus warfen deutsche Truppen feindliche Kräfte im Gegenangriff, durch starke Nahkampffliegerverbände unterstützt, auf ihre Ausgangsstellungen zurück. Im Raum von Alagir und ostwärts von Mosdok scheiterten wiederholte feindliche Angriffe an der wachsamen Abwehr unserer Truppen, die zwei schwächere Kampfgruppen des Gegners vernichteten.

In Stalingrad nahmen eigene Stoßtrupps einige Häuserblocks. Feindliche Gegenstöße brachen zusammen. An der Donfront stehen rumänische und deutsche Truppen in harten Kämpfen gegen starke feindliche Panzer- und Infanterieangriffe.

Deutsche und italienische Spähtrupps vernichteten in der Cyrenaika einige feindliche Panzerspähwagen. Bengasi wurde nach Zerstörung aller militärischen Anlagen planmäßig geräumt. Die Luftwaffe bekämpfte laufend britische Kraftfahrzeugkolonnen.

Im algerisch-tunesischen Grenzgebiet griffen Nahkampfflieger feindliche Vorhuten und gaullistische Verbände, die den eigenen Vormasch aufzuhalten suchten, mit sichtbarem Erfolg an.

Schnellboote stießen in der Nacht zum 19. November gegen die britische Küste vor. Sie versenkten aus stark gesicherten Geleiten vier Handelsschiffe mit zusammen 9000 BRT.

An der holländischen und norwegischen Küste verlor die britische Luftwaffe bei militärisch wirkungslosen Angriffen fünf Flugzeuge, davon drei durch Flakartillerie der Kriegsmarine. Ein eigenes Flugzeug wird vermißt.