Tuesday, August 19, 2008
This Day in the History of Tactical Misteps for Political Ends
On this day in 1942, the German Sixth Army under General Paulus, which was already across the Don river, was ordered to capture Stalingrad. They nearly did; at least 90% of the city was in German hands when things went badly on the flanks. It probably would have been better to push on to the Caucuses as the German mechanized forces were constantly facing fuel shortages. The Germans never reached Soviet oil fields there, because they had to come back and try and rescue the Sixth. It all ended in tears early the next year in Stalingrad, then the real suffering for the captured Germans started.
Labels: WWII history; European theater; Eastern Front
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:09 AM 
