Marshall Georgy Zhukov, masterminded the progress of Battle of Stalingrad from A to Z finally defeating the Nazis and negotiating the surrender of the Sixth Army of Wehrmacht. Let me trace you the salience of the battle and the similar fate that might fall Kiev in Ukraine.
Since August 1942 Wehrmacht fought the Red Army for the control of Stalingrad which remained as the single most gateway to the Caucasus oil fields. The Fuhrer was beset with dwindling energy resources in the hands of Germans and badly needed the Russian oil. It was not a walk in the park for Germans. Under the guidance of Marshall Zhukov, Russians were valiantly defending their position.
Fuhrer poured more men and material drawn from other theatres to Stalingrad because on the one hand the intensity of war is equally balanced on both sides and re-supply being of crucial importance. The other was reluctance by the Fuhrer to avoid being bogged down. Devastation continued unabated; toll of men dead was passing 2 million and the entire city was systematically razed to the ground.
Marshall Zhukov adopted a brilliant strategy of reducing the ability of Wehrmacht to continue battling and enhancing the Red Army to get onto the top of the situation. Here are the vectors:
1. Hugging the Germans: To slow down advance by Germans, Red Army made constant foray into the German ranks whose war doctrine is based on co-ordination of tanks & artillery, infantry along with the use of ground aircrafts.
2. Interdicting re-supply: German war command resupplied forces mainly via land and when Russians blocked it resorted to Luftwaffe. Not to be outdone Russians shot down as many aircrafts as possible. This made re-supplying the German Sixth army in Stalingrad theatre a daunting proposition for the Germans.
3. Retaliatory artillery barrage: Immense dependence on artillery and heavy bombardment by Germans was a big plus especially when they brought out railroad guns. Marshall Zhukov arranged setting up of counter artillery on the banks of Volga River that was able to retaliate for artillery fire from Germans and some cases initiating same into vital positions of the Third Army.
4. Using snipers: Russians have an unblemished reputation as snipers in action. The use of snipers firing on senior commanders was something the Germans never expected. As commanders were gunned down attacking German army began to be demoralised.
5. Final trump card was after surrounding the Fifth Army, Russians closed every avenue of getting essential staples and more than anything else, drinking water from the river Volga and wells located in the outer perimeter of the city of Stalingrad.
Friedrich Paulus the General commanding Fifth Army sent an urgent telegram to Fuhrer requesting permission to surrender. As expected the Fuhrer declined and promoted Paulus as Field Marshall. The hint was since no German Field Marshall has ever surrendered Paulus was expected to commit suicide. But this could not solve the problem of getting food & water to the starving men. So on January 31, 1943 Paulus along with 22 other Generals surrendered to Marshall Zhukov. More than 90,000 German soldiers gave up and the process was completed on February 2, 1943.
Will history repeat this time in Kiev, Ukraine, roles reversed?
Cheers!
Muthu
Ashraff Rajulu
Business Strategist
Mobile: + 94 777 265677
E-mail: cosmicgems@gmail.com
Blog: Business Strategist
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