163 - Stalingrad Thunderdome: Paulus vs. Chuikov! - WW2 - October 9, 1942
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- Опубліковано 8 жов 2021
- Things are looking pretty grim for Vassily Chuikov's 62nd Army in Stalingrad this week, as the German 6th Army launches its biggest series of attacks so far. The Axis are unable to get anywhere in the Caucasus, though, and the American Marines win a local victory over the Japanese on Guadalcanal, but everyone's thoughts there are on reinforcing and more reinforcing.
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We thought we would share with you this personal account from Chuikov recalling the flaming Volga.
"On October 2 the Germans, probably having spotted our post, launched a heavy air and artillery bombardment against it. Bombs dropped all over the bank, blowing up the oil-tanks full of oil, and a burning mass gushed across our dug-outs towards the Volga. The command post was in the middle of a sea of flames. The streams of flame burned everything in their path. Reaching the bank of the Volga, the burning oil poured on to the barges standing near the command post. The burning oil floated down with the current. The Volga itself seemed to be bursting into flame. Telephone lines also went up in flame. Communication could be maintained only by radio, which worked with interruptions. We were imprisoned by fire, descending on us from directions, and we stood in the gully alongside our smoking dug-outs.
On everyone's face was the same question -- what were we going to do?
Krylov, the Chief of Staff, gave an order: 'Everyone stay where they are! Let's get to work in the dug-outs still intact! Let's establish and maintain contact with the troops by radio!'
He then came up to me and in a whisper asked: 'What do you think? Will we be able to stand it?'
I answered: 'Yes, of course! But in case of need, let's clean our pistols.'
We had understood each other."
- The Battle for Stalingrad, Vasil Chuikov, p.184
That end is cold, Chuikov was serious when he say that they are going to defend the city or die trying
Mad max thunder dome
The bit about Paulus and his officers lives in captivity on the Stalingrad Battle Data channel really surprised me. We're constantly told that only a tiny number of the captured soldiers from Stalingrad made it home from captivity in the USSR, and it is easy to assume that Germans were sent to gulags and worked to death, but overall only 10% of captured German soldiers died, with the losses from Stalingrad in captivity being attributed to their already terrible health after first the exhaustion of the meatgrinder and then their starvation after encirclement. But at the same time it is really hard to find a lot of info on this and it would be really interesting to see your take on the situation at some point. Thanks!
What a Visualization of events, this extra information is deep in details given an already state of chaos. Thanks a lot, you guys rock!
@@briantarigan7685 Chuikov was a boss, he never would have crossed back east over the Volga if it came to that. Although he was so lucky he probably would have survived his last stand attempt too.
"Who's watching the flanks?"
uh oh, foreshadowing
I flunked flanks.
Nah, I think that's just the writers trying to raise the suspense for the season 3 finale. I'm sure this Paulus fella got that covered and is going to play a major role in the upcoming season. He might even earn himself a promotion before that.
Always watch the flanks. The flanks don't lie.
@@Arashmickey as the great poet shakira said indeed. "flanks dont lie''
@@cambuurleeuwarden "Reds, I didn't know you could hang tight like this, you really managed to bog down my blitz. Stalingrad. Bombed it out. Su casa, mi casa."
It is a small point, but the Luftwaffe being ordered to set the Grozny oilfields alight is a tacit admission that the Fall Blau offensive has failed in its strategic objectives.
At least for now. Germany could still rebuild the once they're taken. As they are not taken yet, denying the enemy important resources is better than letting them stand.
Moving the present; no matter what, burning the oil wells/fields to slow down the Soviets production/distribution of oil still slow them down. For how long...depends on if the Allies can get more convoys through.
@@alexandercaires5921 Not really. What MJBull515 say is correct. Hitler to his Generals (23 July 1942):
"If we don’t take Maikop and Grozny, then I must put an end to the war."
The German army had not enough oil for its tanks and airplanes, to do the big offensives planned for 1943. So people even say, the whole Fall Blau was to get the oil.
At least Hitler fear, without the Sowjet oil, it need a miracle to win the war.
@@alexandercaires5921 As had been explained at the start of Fall Blau, they needed to capture the oilfields as intact as possible so they can get the oil. Having unproductive oil fields do not do the Axis any good.
@@mjbull5156 But those oilfields were going to be destroyed by the Soviets before the Germans got to them anyway. They already knew that from their experience at Maikop. Might as well deny them to the Red Army too.
The soviets would have destroyed the oil wells before letting them get captured so Germany would have found them ablaze anyway.
I don't really like the idea of Indy actually talking to someone on phone we can actually hear. It felt better just guessing to whom or about what he was talking to on the phone.
I agree; it just makes it a conversation with poor pacing and distorted sound. The skit is in hearing only one side, and it also flows better.
The Soviet boatmen and river flottila in Volga is forgotten hero in the battle of stalingrad, under such firepower they still keep the supply line running
They had their own kind of D-Day everyday...
@Bobb Grimley ur*
Another forgotten hero was the tramways inside Stalingrad. 🚊💙
Another example of the Mariners contribution to essential war and battle effort. In the American Revolution the famous crossing of the Delaware River by Gen. Washington's Army in harsh Winter weather, to successfully attack the Hessian garrison at Trenton, NJ. was only made possible by the rough Merchant Mariners from Massachusetts known as "The Marblehead boys". Their boat handling and rigging skills were superb.
@Bobb Grimley Brian is the director of a successful corporation who likes to comment without using punctuation and caps because he is rich and powerful. Only losers believe in rules and follow them blindly, i.e. only losers punctuate and use caps.
Credit where credit's due: Paulus conducted one heck of an accurate war game!
appreciate the fascist to praise some looser
This guy is nuts
He was a competent staff officer. He was not a competent field commander.
@@gerddergaertner5071 You need some serious help, buddy.
@@gerddergaertner5071 cope harder
Who knows, he might even become Field Marshall one day
You know it's bloody when it's not a regional name, like battle of the caucausus, but something super tiny, like battle of the tractor plant...
There was also fortified building blocks that the germans tried to take, most famous of them being the Pavlo's House, so it's literally fighting over which side controls a building, a street or an alley.
Battle of little round top
Battle of Steve’s living room
@@totallynotalpharius2283 Brutal.
With apologies to Astrid, I preferred the silence on the other end of the phone, It was fun to guess what was said on the other side.
If fairness, it is hard for someone who doesn’t speak Russian to pronounce the words behind the initials GRU & NKVD. So outside help is appreciated in that videos. It would probably be fun if David from the Cold War channel would answer some of the calls as he seems to be an expert in reading Russian
I believe he means the telephone skits that Indy does at the start of his episodes.
I have to agree with this. It was more entertaining and left more up to your own imagination.
I'm in the same boat. It was a more entertaining way of presenting the conversation when we only heard one side.
edit: thankfully that boat isn't crossing a burning river under heavy shellfire!
same
My Algebra teacher in high school (Mister Sweetland) was a pilot in a B-24 that bombed Peenemunde in WWII. I had another teacher who fought at Monte Casino and another who was a pilot in the Cactus Air Force. I just realised the other day that those guys were all in their early 50s when they taught me in 1976-1980, I am turning 59 next month.
It kind of puts it all into perspective how close this still is to us all.
Exactly, people act like this was hundreds of years ago
@@1millionangels My mom told me many stories about her experiences in Italy during the war. So I grew up hearing this fairly often. When I went to the small town where she lived in Italy it was very hard to imagine German soldiers and tanks in the streets, but they were there. I was even shown where the German headquarters was in that little town. I saw the bridge leading to the town that the Germans blew up when they retreated; it has since been rebuilt. I still find it hard to comprehend how countless charming little towns across Europe were touched by the horrors of war.
Maybe not to "all of us", there are some kids and young adults around here who never knew anyone that fought in the war because even their great-grandfathers were too young
@@yourstruly4817 Whether or not they are that physically-connected to the event, WW II was not that long ago, and the world is still heavily-influenced by WW II.
@@SpartacusColo I'm just saying that how long ago something feels like is very subjective, for a twenty year old, 80 years feel like four lifetimes ago while for a 100-year old it may feel like "yesterday".
It is intersting to see how over 1942 the Allies are getting more and more proficient at the game that the axis used to play so well. The Sowjet performance during Fall Blau and the american one at Gudalcanal for example. The Axis are not so invincible anymore.
Probably Napoleon was right and you should not be fighting your enemys for to long, or you teach them all your tricks :) Great video
Napoleon said something to that effect, after Aspern-Essling or Wagram, if I'm not mistaken. The quote was "these animals are learning !".
Almost like history repeats itself 🤔😁
It probably didn't help that axis was very much dependent on those trips to succeed, while allies didn't need them as much so they could build counter tactics for the tricks that relied on the strengths of the allies (for example Soviets holding Stalingrad meant they were bleeding the Germans of their limited resources while denying the Germans the opportunity to use their speed).
soviet not sowjet
@@mbathroom1 My mistake. In German it is "Sowjetunion"
Sigma rule 1942: If the enemy advances to your important city and is on your doorstep , you appoint Chuikov
Sigma dong.
Sovietillionaire grindset.
and u bring in Zhukov
I hope we get a bio episode about Paulus.
One on Gotthard Heinrici and Ewald Von Kleist and Fedor Von bock , Herman Hoth , Erwin Rommel would be amazing
Chuikov!
A very misunderstood man/general
Check out Battleground Stalingrad channel they cover Paulus being captured and even interviews with him very good stuff
@Mister Baker - yes!!!! They do a deep dive into Paulus that’s fascinating. I thought I would only watch a few minutes (they’re all 40+ mins) and ended up bingeing the whole series.
It may not have caught the attention of Adolf Hitler nor of Tojo but what has become increasingly apparent in the past few weeks of the war is that the aura of invincibility that the German armed forces enjoyed in the first three years of the conflict and the Japanese armed forces had in the first 8 months or so of their participation, is rapidly fading away.
With every passing day, their enemies grow stronger and more numerous.
Thanks to the extreme levels of interference and the blatantly biased edits from Franz Halden that people ended up with for many decades, I’d say that the German aura of near invincibility still endures well after the war’s end.
Only today is the aura of German invincibility slowly starting to dissolve due to the diligent efforts of good and honest historians (which is then slammed by those unwilling to believe the truth as “revisionism”).
Come on!!! Look at how much land they’ve taken!! I mean, yeah, sure, the invasion of Russia is not going as smoothly as the Furry predicted. And Yeah, the Germans have been losing more soldiers and tanks these past few weeks at a rate well beyond their ability to replace both. And Yeah, the Americans have joined the allies and are getting more supplies and munitions across the Atlantic than the U-boats have been able to send to the bottom. And yeah, Stalingrad is proving a tougher nut to crack.
But come on….this is German army!! The same army that people said could never take Poland or France and now occupy both! Same army that’s been dancing circles around the British in Africa. Stalingrad will break! They just need time, patience and an iron will!
Ditto for the Japanese. What’s Guadalcanal anyway? A malarial speck of green on the ass end of nowhere. Far from Japan. And what’s a few lost carriers?!? Just build more!!! Yeah……
Definitely the apex of the war. Next to The World at War from 1973 this series is the gold standard in World War II documentaries.
@@garcalej Thanks, you have convinced me.
@@paultyson4389 You’re continued faith in the Furry is commendable, soldier. BTW, you got telephone wire duty tonight. Here’s a pistol. Try not to make too much noise.
When Zhukov said "November" for his counter attack, he was wise not to add exactly when in November...
It's amazing how much damage the sunk cost fallacy can do in warfare.
whats that
@@SuperCompany007 the more assets you lose the more you're willing to loose again to make it worth it and win
@@konanhuet623 sounds like gambling but with lives instead of money
@@SuperCompany007 Most wars are gambling, but Hitler was only about gambles... .
@@SuperCompany007 Also known as throwing good money after bad or good men after lost men
4:30 - Good Lord! 2,000 dive bomber attacks in ONE DAY and against ONE part of a city? And this is happening while men are on the ground there, shooting at each other with guns and tanks? That truly sounds hellish.
'Sometimes it seemed as though the gently rippling Volga was something fixed and stable, and that the quaking earth was huddling against its still margins.' - Grossman, Life and Fate
The sound of the mortars
The music of death
We're playing the devils symphony
Our violins are guns conducted from hell
Sabaton
Indeed, the air war on the eastern front is often overlooked. On the first day of the assault on Stalingrad the luftwaffe dropped more bombs and killed more people and did more damage than in the entirety of the blitz over London.
It's amazing to me how little damage that amount of air power did to the Soviets. Or really in general throughout the history of WWII air campaigns. Once the buildings are collapsed, all you need is a hole and a bit of overhead cover and anything but a direct hit is survivable. And one dive-bombing sortie per foxhole is a heck of an inefficient way to wipe out an enemy force. No wonder they resorted to large-scale firebombing later in the war.
@@Raskolnikov70 during attacks and counterattacks air power responsible for a lot of casualties, sometimes fully stopping attacks
I appreciate that the main focus is on Stalingrad, but I'm surprised at how small a portion of Guadalcanal the Americans and Japanese are fighting over. I thought it was the whole island, but it turns out it's just part of the northern coast.
The terrain really resticted the area in which combat was at all possible. Or rather the are to which movement of large bodys of man was possible to conduct military operations. The Japanese really suffered from their inability to resupply the island and then resupply the forward troops in the Jungle.
I read and reviewd "Touched with Fire" by Eric M. Bergerud on my small channel, it is a very good book on the land campaigne in the south pacific, and reading about the Japanese efforts and colossal problems on Gudalcanal was amazing.
Most of the island is worthless jungle...
Can't wait for Tarawa...
At the point the engagements are small unit actions similar to that in Vietnam. Both sides are trying to build up for the big one, the battle of Henderson field
@@TacticalGAMINGzz Just looked up what you meant. 5,000 people died over that...
Please keep Indies's calls one-sided. It's tradition !
Agree with this, I also like to think it's different 'actors' in world history talking to him... At some points it could be Montgomery, or Stalin, or Hitler or whomever... Or someone on the front/in logistics. Adds a little to the imagination haha
@@saekhmet4186 Imagination is so so good...
Sometimes the person at the other end might be a bit loud-speaking tho. Of course you could hear that from 2 rooms over
I agree
I agree
Two armies enter, One army leaves
Oh, they're both going to leave. Just one of them won't be carrying any weapons with them when they board the trains.
@@Raskolnikov70
Dude I know. Hello!, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome reference.
"The Eagles are coming! No wait... those are more stukas. I guess they overheard the location of my command post." -Chuikov in between rivers of fire.
It's Germany who had the Eagles during the war. And they used them!
It's always stukas because Soviet aerodromes were bombed with planes on the ground into oblivion around 6 a.m., right when the war was declared (corresponding with the fact that hundreds of German bombers crossed the border several hours *before* the war was declared). That's why countries since then are always worried if air carriers or rockets are stationed nearby...
I would have liked to see a fistfight between Chuikov and Golikov...Those are some mean looking doods and you just know that they're brawlers.
Thanks for the uploads Indie and Pals.
Fifteen rounds, broadcast throughout the Soviet Union to amuse the troops and raise morale, loser gets sent to the Siberian front.
@@eldorados_lost_searcher I'd watch
@@eldorados_lost_searcher
You mean winner gets to go to Siberia for a "watch the Japanese" vacation while the loser stays in fucking Stalingrad.
I’ll bet 5 rubles on Chuikov, if anyone can dislocate somebody’s jaws with ease, it’s him.
I would certainly love a video about the non-German Axis on the Eastern Front! Here they are referenced again tantalizingly. Love your channel :D
Romanians, Italians, Hungarians, and Croatians in order of decreasing numbers. French and Spanish "legions" were fighting in the North far from Stalingrad. SS Division "Viking" had volunteers from the Scandinavian countries.
They won't. I'm expecting in Romania's case to be pictured as 2 face assholes who changed sides just to get on the winning side without much context to it. Probably will have a special episode destined to catch the audience up to speed on what happened there from 1939 to 1944. They did the same thing when they covered ww1 only talked about this country in too few episodes. At least then I understood it was because of lack of documents in English language. But here ?!
@@legatvsdecimvs3406 they are also dutch and vishy france ss divisions on eastern front but idk which side of front are they on, and i remembered while i was typing this there are 3 divisions of slovakia puppet state and they are on southern front around stallingrad
@@legatvsdecimvs3406 Slovaks too
@@DMS-pq8 And the Finns (though technically not Axis)
Gotta say, I'm not a huge fan of the voice on the other side of the phone. It's funnier without. No other real complaints though
Eh, it's a funny bit; let the rest of the cast join in!
14:44 This week on October 3rd 1942, the first A-4 rocket (later known as the *V-2 rocket* ) is successfully launched from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde Airfield in Germany. The rocket will reach a height of nearly 85km, becoming the first man-made object to reach space. It will still need more tests before it can enter service, but it has shown a lot of potential even at its current stage.
Interestingly, Wernher von Braun would later be the chief architect behind the Saturn V rocket that would propel the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the Moon in 1969.
I think there were some artillery shells during WWI that technically reached space, but the V-2 was certainly a major development.
@@Valdagast rail arty shells (that weren't fired by charlie chaplin) never got anywhere near space, they got well into the upper atmosphere (statosphere etc) though. This is also the reason that meteorology became such a big field in ww1, because of how far the shells started moving off the intended target when they got in there and how the weather would affect that
Werner Von Braun aimed for the stars but mainly hit London.
I just put them up, where they come down is not my department says Werner Von Braun.
@@davidwright7193 I believe a not insignificant number of POWs and other slaves died working in the V2 factories.
...Operation Paperclip
Hitler be like “guys come on can’t we just get beyond thunderdome? I mean Stalingrad”
Stalin: “NO. TWO MEN ENTER. ONE MAN LEAVES.”
Hitler: 😳
Whoevers writing this story deserves a raise, so much tension and plot twists
I am 65 years old and have had the internet since 1961 and this is the best channel I have found keep up the good work young lady
We're honoured!
4:00 My Romanian forefathers were good soldiers, but lacked modern equipment when it comes to big guns and armor, a large portion of their field artillery was from ww1 and the AT guns were of low calibers and thus no match for the T34 an KV tanks, when it comes to armor they barely received 22 Panzer III and IV and a few dozens Czech made Panzer 38t, which were lost mostly because lack of proper training.
not to mention that they had very little reason to fight. once Bassarabia was back in Romanian hands, it was hard to justify to the soldiers what they were doing hundrends and hundres of kilometers from home.
14:56 so it's faster than a stuka, but carries less and isn't reusable
literally hitler: I'll take 1000
Also not as accurate. But, also doesn't risk an aircrew. There are tradeoffs.
And it will come down multiple kilometers from its supposed target. But on the plus site, you don't need a pilot.
But it doesn't need a pilot. Comparing it with a Stuka missile would be more accurate.
@@SpartacusColo uses up 30 tons of potatoes for the fuel in each rocket- oh who am I kidding ze germans won't care, it's not their mouths the food's coming out of
@@SpartacusColo It's not accurate in the slightest. It can only be targeted against big cities to ensure a hit, while a stuka can hit a tank.
I enjoy the longer videos because of the additional detail rather than making it seem like just a brief overview.
If the Soviet artillery was so devastating from the East Bank, there must be some serious air cover from their AA guns to prevent the German dive bombers from annihilating those positions. Sure, camouflage is also something to consider, but hundreds of artillery pieces require space for the tons of ammo and spent shells. I’m no military genius, but it would seem like eliminating an enemy’s artillery shield would seem to be the better alternative to victory.
Edit: I’m well aware of the realities of warfare and that other objectives hold greater priority. It’s just so fascinating to see these two forces slug it out over this city in the middle of no where.
Have always looked for sources about details of what was going on over there, who was in charge, the targeting, the rail heads, any and everything,,, guess Glance tril.... but not much in the condensed version
@@artiombeknazaryan7542 That's what I figured. I watched the Soviet Storm documentaries and recall how Moscow's air defenses tore the Luftwaffe a new one. Its so crazy to see the huge amounts of resources and preparation that goes into these battles. Needless to say that the Soviets got their act together by this point in history, considering the strategies used for defending the eastern banks of the Volga.
They did try a few times but it’s the same old problem of limited resources and combined with strong AA as well as a large red Air Force presence makes hitting the batteries not worth commuting the planes and pilots
ua-cam.com/video/ziH9fleTWQM/v-deo.html
@@artiombeknazaryan7542 Also after the encirclement of the 6th Army, the Soviet moved their AA guns west of the city and made it almost impossible to supply the surrounded Germans by air.
These intros remind me of the old Command and Conquer cutscene videos before playing a mission!
"Comrade General! This is Yuri."
You’re taking me back, man
Imagine the amount of stress Chuikov was under?
I guess, he calculated that he will get shot. Ether from Germans or from Stalin....
Lots - and Paulus too. "Chuikov experienced an outbreak of eczema that required him to have his hands completely bandaged."
@@marshalleubanks2454 Probably unable to take a bath for months. Troops on both sides were combating lice as well as each other.
I appreciate how this channel shows how the war was being fought everywhere. Too many history type channels focus just on Stalingrad or Guadalcanal or North Africa. Seeing them all together gives a great new perspective.
Between this and TIK this is the golden era of Stalingrad coverage on UA-cam
I don't have a lot of respect for TIK. He posted an analysis showing that the 6th Army got a below-average level of reinforcements. I posted a comment pointing out that there were substantial numbers of foreign troops involved (who would surely be reinforced by their own countries) and he had only taken German reinforcements/replacements into account. TIK deleted my comment.
@@monicsperryn8497 TIK has an agenda, and so does everyone else.
Buy he truly provides more details than everyone else.
I read somewhere that it in this week that Zhukov had a meeting with Stalin. There Zhukov told Stalin an idea to attack the flanks of Axis around Stalingrad. He needed still time to prepare his troops for the attack. Stalin aprooved Zhukov's plan.
In Isaev Stalingrad City On Fire he dates the suggestion for the counteroffensive to Sept 27-28 instead of Zhukov's Sept 12, 1942. Even so it went through a number of revisions and it took time to gather, train and equip the men.
@@caryblack5985 really? I quess I was mistaken. I really thought the plan was shown Stalin at the beginning of October. Oh well...
Spoiler:
41 days left until Uranus. Time is ticking.
@@rikuvakevainen6157 Well Sept 28 is not that far off from beginning of October.
Just a bit of unsolicited feedback. I think I enjoy the intro phonecalls to be one way. I actually think not hearing the otherside adds to it. I may be in the minority though. Keep up the great work!
Alright more Stalingrad let’s go!
... said no one in Stalingrad . 😆😆
It really seems like Hitler is flailing here. He ordered the bombing of the oilfields at Grozny, when initially the capture of them was one of the primary objectives of Fall Blau. That's also fascinating that the US managed to send the Russians all of those supplies through Iran. Whenever I think I've satisfied my curiosity concerning the second world war, you guys always find a way to amaze me and treat me to something new. Cheers to all of you. Thanks as always.
God that 160K # was really facinating, the scale of the Soviet reinforcements... wonder how many survived the battle
These are wiki numbers so please do be sceptical.
Soviet losses:
478,741 - KIA
650,878 - Wounded or sick
Axis losses:
747,300-868,374 Killed, captured or wounded
I completely agree. It must've been a meat grinder for both sides, even before the encirclement. Battles like this are a grim reminder of how far humans will go to achieve victory, let alone survive.
@@armchairgeneralissimo When the western allies got involved in the ground fighting in Europe, both the American and British experience was that the ratio of wounded to killed was about 5 to 1.
The numbers you cite show only about 1.5 to 1.
If those numbers are anything close to accurate, it illustrates what an utter blood bath the fighting in and around Stalingrad was.
An estimation for the life expectancy of a soviet stalingrad soldier is 24 hours
@@silentotto5099 a lot of it is probably the lousy food and medical situation. The number of ordinary German soldiers from Stalingrad who survived captivity was tiny, while overall only about 10% of German soldiers died in captivity. But they were so malnourished and exhaused by the meat grinder they didn't make it. By contrast the upper-escelon officers who stayed well-fed through the whole thing had no issues. Granted the Soviets were also extra-nice to them hoping to turn them, while the soldiers went to work camps, still they were abiding by the Geneva conventions rather than sending them to gulags.
3:47 interesting to see where and how the 2nd Hungarian army fought. We lost so many soldiers at the "Don kanyar" (Don bend).
I hope we get to know more about smaller nation's armies fighting on the eastern front, like hungary, romania and so on.
Jobb lett volna, a Duna kanyaron maradni.
Voronezh front most likely
The Hungarians were so much hated for their atrocities against the civilians that the Russians rarely took them prisoners.
15:09 A rather interesting note that happens this week on October 8 1942 is that prisoners of war (POWs) that were captured in the Dieppe raid in August 19 1942 are manacled in retaliation for the alleged tying of prisoners during the Sark raid on October 3 to 4 1942. This was announced over Nazi German radio with the British replying in response that they would shackle German POWs in Canada starting from October 10.
I'm thinking they're saving for a WAH episode.
They worked these real-life events into the otherwise fictional film "The Mackenzie Break".
7:29 Interesting pic of a German soldier holding a Soviet PPSh-41 submachinegun, can't blame him since they were outstanding weapons.
Thanks for reminding me that I need to finish watching the videos about Paulus' captivity and return home over on the Stalingrad Battle Data channel.
Uh, sorry... spoilers, I guess...
The Russian submachine guns of WW2 were all fantastic, even when they simplified them and ended up with the PPS guns they were outstanding in an odd way they improved them slightly by ditching the drum magazine and using a very well designed stick magazine. Much better than the MP-40 and Stens.
All sides are using all available weapons and ammunition
The Germans loved to surprise the Russians with a German T-34 (captured at the beginning of the war)
Equally, the Russians later liked the capture of the Tigers (1st Tank Guards Army), their only problem was the lack of ammunition.
It may also have been a wise move because the higher rate of fire of the German submachine guns gave them a distinctive sound which might attract Russian fire in return. In urban warfare you have to outsmart your enemy as much as outfight them.
@@Kevin-mx1vi You've got it the wrong way around. The German MP-40 is renowned for having a fairly low rate of fire. Whilst the Russian submachine guns had a high rate of fire.
@@armchairgeneralissimo Indeed, you are correct. My apologies. Anyway, the point was that the German and Russian weapons had distinct sounds.
I know Paulus is going to crush the Soviets any day now since he's been promised "great things." But he is taking his time about it!
Poland was occupied in 35 days. In 35 days the Germans only took some streets in Stalingrad.
France was occupied in 6 weeks. In 6 weeks the Germans could only occupy a few buildings in Stalingrad.
-BBC
Excellent instalment, good excitement from Indy, fascinating facts and figures. But oh, the humanity.
Thank you for another informative and well presented video.
The amount of research is amazing.....Thank you.
The Volga is actually on fire...
Cleveland enters the chat.
At least they're not Detroit!
Hey, Cleveland's river hasn't caught fire for many decades now.
👍Been Waiting for WW2 in Real Time Upload All Morning!!! You Guys Really Make it Feel Like This Is Happening Right Now!!!👍
Well done. It is very important that these events not be forgotten.
Thank you Indy!
Good video! Love the animated maps of how the battles progress.
the animations seem to have been borrowed from TIK
I wouldn't have been surprised if they hadn't prepared this episode together, TIK has already spent over 30 hours on the Battle of Stalingrad
@@tihomirrasperic That type of animation has been used throughout this entire series. Whoever came up with the idea, it's a great visual aid. It's possible that it is the same person who is doing all of these animations, in which case, good for them.
@@tihomirrasperic Nope. From Eastory
@@tihomirrasperic TIK is a moron who believes Hitler was a socialist. Nothing he says can be trusted.
Such an outstanding series. Thank you all ladies and gentlemen. Odd that a person should find a bit of sane viewing despite the horrific topic.
Another great episode!
Loving these episodes, great content
Thank you!
ro2 (and ro1) maps mentioned this week: mamayev, red october factory, (barrikady), (tractorworks), station*
*mentioned to describe chuikov's positions
fun RO2 fact:
there is an in-game encumbrance system which slows players down as they pick up more equipment. This most affected AT soldiers, Engineers and MGs who would quickly lag behind the rest of the troops. To fix this, all MG classes counted machine guns (theirs or picked up off the ground) as 35% of their actual weight, leading to silly scenarios where rambo mgs would ditch their other equipment and suddenly the guy with the biggest gun was also the fastest guy on the map.
However, this only affected the weight of the gun itself - ammunition also counted towards encumbrance, and suddenly being handled 250-300 rounds of ammo by another soldier was like picking up another gun and would noticably slow you down
What’s ro2?
@@srinivasgorur-shandilya1788 Red Orchestra
Game physics are always fun to laugh at. I play Minecraft and my character can carry the mass of a main-series star in his pocket and fly away with it. Realism is for the wonks at military colleges doing wargames.
To add on Romanian situation, 3rd Army had roughly 150.000 men (and 11.000 Germans) for 138km long front which was far beyond its capabilities. And making things worse was the fact that despite line running parallel with Don river Soviets had managed to maintain bridgeheads at Serafimovic and Klestkay. Romanians would make multiple requests to push them back but were ignored and lacking the necessary equipment to do so (as Germans really wanted Stalingrad so all the supplies were largely for them). And despite having nominally the Romanian 1st Armored Division in reserve, it was largely equipped with R-2 tanks (with 37mm guns) and only 22 German medium tanks. Later the 3rd army could call upon 22nd Panzer Division which was actually the last panzer division to be equip with Panzer 38(t)s and was placed on reserve after losing majority of its tanks.
To make things more concerned, Romanian anti-tank cabalities are very lacking, mainly having 37mm guns (both Pak36 and Bofors), captured Soviets 45mm guns and French/Italian 47mm guns. Heavier German provided guns (no Pak40) are only available in token amounts scattered in various units. So it is not a big suprise that Romanians like to use anti-tank mines, satchel charges and molotov cocktails which were more then enough on some lone tank.
Although things are grim, it was more critical for 4th Army with its front being over 270km long...
Also the Romanians weren't nearly given the amount of mines they were promised. Only about one third
Well even tho Romanians morale was low and their forces were depleted they were still fighting fiercely during Op Uranus
"Soviets had managed to maintain bridgeheads at Serafimovic and Klestkay" - this was the biggest forseeable mistake Paulus made in the campaign. We understand why he did it, he was going hell-for-leather towards Astrakhan in order to cover the advance in the Caucusus, but it was such an obvious fatal flaw that he never should have allowed to develop. Slowing down the advance in order to deal with those bridgeheads would have been the correct thing to do.
@@Raskolnikov70 Not Paulus' mistake but Hitler's. Hitler wanted to take Stalingrad. He didn't listen to generals and ignored threat of weak flanks of 6th and 4th Panzer
Jesus christ imagine trying to push back t-34s and KV-1s in a fucking 38(t)
Thank you - this was an interesting and informative episode.👍👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
I love your channel keep up the great stuff
I find it really ironic that Paulus was the one to help predict a German defeat in Russia. I wonder if that irony was running in the back of his head when he eventually surrendered to the Russians.
I prefered it when the phone was silent...
Enjoyed the video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
The guy weedwhacking with the .30 cal at 13:32 is a maniac lol. Great footage!
Finally.... my saturday night isn't complete without update from this channel 🥸
"Krasnyi Oktyabr, Barrikady, *Tractor Plant* " lol
Fascinating video as usual
Love it..just subscribed ✌😎
Thanks @Ricky Bach , your support really helps!
I do hope we go back to not hearing the other side of the phone call, I found it to be a lot more charming that way.
Hi Indy
Awesome episode..
This war getting more bloody ever been. Slowly germany army advancing toward defeat..
Been rooted to see upcoming episode and battle of stalingrad..
Thank you..
I'm glad you started including the other end of the phone line in your intros.
Always great work!
Thank you!
A side note on unit history the 164th Infantry was a North Dakota National Guard Unit and the whole Americal Division was National Guard as well. Staying tuned for more updates on the coming slug fest.
North Dakota, eh? Sounds perfect preparation for JUNGLE WARFARE.
@@MM22966 they trained on New Caledonia for 5 months before getting deployed to Guadalcanal. And if you think National Guardsmen can't adapt to changing circumstances, you know literally nothing about the National Guard.
@@natekaufman1982 I was being facetious. Take an even keel.
@@MM22966 Next stop. The Sahara Desert.
@@andresmartinezramos7513 What actually made think of it was the Aleutian operation. It was scratch-notice op with a pickup team for a ground force, so they grabbed the first unit that was reasonably ready to go: 10th Mountain Div. That sounds reasonable, right? Alaska+mountains= mountain troops, right?
Only problem was, 10th Mountain had been preparing to go to N. Africa and had zero cold weather training/equipment....
It's Okay guys Steiner's attack will bring everything under control
I'm happy to see the He 177 in the background
On the 6th October, Paulus ordered a suspense to offensive operations within Stalingrad that would last until the 14th. This did not mean that fighting ceased, but even Chuikov noted - "the intensity of the fighting dropped dramatically". This break in the fighting allowed Richtofen to switch Luftflotte 4 to the Caucasus to support 1st Panzer Army and bomb Grozny on the 10th and 12th of October.
Phone calls without dialogue seemed better. Will see if it grows on me
Why do I have the feeling that things are about to start going bad for the Axis? And keep going worse?
Because you don't speak German and don't live in the slave/concentration/death camp with words over then entrance like "Arbeit macht frei"?.. ^^
So after six months of watching this series as much as possible I finally caught up with the real time.
Now it‘s my time to join the Time Ghost Army. Especially now which is 3 weeks from when my grandfathers brother dies in Stalingrad and a few weeks ago my other grandfather lost his left foot due to british shrapnell in North-Africa. This format is done is just brilliant. Thank you so much for the single best thing on UA-cam. You do such a great job!
Most importantly however: I join the TG Army for Sparty and the WAH Series. I force myself to watch every episode. There is no joy, no excitement and no entertainment in them. It is the plain necessity to learn about the dark abyss of human minds. I have heard the words „Never forget“ hundreds of times on memorial days of the local concentration camps liberation or the capitulation date and often in TV documentaries. But none of these had the humbling and haunting effect of Spartys episode closings. This needs to be out there for everybody to witness. Thank you so much and keep going!
These are incredibly kind and motivating words, Thank you, and a heartfelt welcome to The TimeGhost Army.
Beautiful work!
Thank you!
I do not like the person talking on the other side of the phone. The questions Indy asks make it obvious what they would be saying anyways.
The phone bit works better with no voice on the other side
Great series!!!
Thank you!
Love your work.
Thank you!
Is this the first time we hear the other side of the conversation?
15:35 All Axis war criminals must be handed over and tried... unless they can benefit us, in which case we let them go with a slap on the wrist.
We could just let them go...or we recruit them!
no, few weeks ago there was also the other side of conversation
@@kaig7316 We just need to entice them with some valuable paperclips, yes? :)
they weren't really let go, they knew their positions in allied governments post-war were Completely Voluntary™
To be fair it was that loser senator McArthie that is responsible for that, British and French were keen to prosecute a lot of war criminals. But McArthie threatened them with calling in any debts if they didn’t let them go so they could help America against the USSR. Literally the whole McArthie family should be extinguished from the earth just because of what that Loser did in his life.
2000 stuka attacks....ummm, can we get some of those on east bank Soviet artillery?
The Stuka is only able to operate in a permissive environment. It takes unsustainable casualties in a contested environment like the east bank of the Volga.
@@davidwright7193 Correct. The long straight dive path makes them easy targets for ground-based AA guns.
My fave 20 mins in the week..
Thank you!
Love hearing so much about New Caledonia. Just learned of it when my favorite Chicago gangster-turned-botanist uploaded a video of his visit there.
Keep the phone calls one sided
Awesome video once again but what is going on in China?We havent heard anything from that front in quite a while.Have the Japanese seized all offensive action there?I d love to know on a regural episode or even Out of the Trenches :)) Keep the excelent work up!
Yeah, it seems that China got forgotten, or have no time for it in the program, while reporting about German or Allied offensives. That may also be a problem, when WW2 is reported in such a format: It just cant show all. When reporting about the single buildings in Stalingrad, other fronts have to be quiet. For example, the weekly U-boat report was also missing. . .
The issue with covering China in this war is that the fighting there had very little impact on the course and the ultimate outcome of the war. Even the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945 was a sideshow, the outcome of the war had been decided long before then. I think they do a pretty good job of choosing which events deserve to be covered during the weekly episodes, they're usually the ones that matter because they're impactful or decisive. Giving equal time to every theater doesn't always make sense.
@@Raskolnikov70 Well, it depends on the point of view. This channel reports to a great expend the British perspective. For example, the fighting in Burma was given a big place, while other things happend was ignored. Often the biography of British officers, even lower level, take big parts, while other WW2 theatres are completely ignored. While we hear in this channel every single dispute of a British commander with Churchill, we know nothing similiar from the Italian, or Chinese side. Or Finland.
While there is still fighting in China there are no major offensive operations active at present, with the lines mostly static. In short, there really isn't much for the channel to cover there at the moment. China is still reeling from the defeats in Burma and the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign both of which were covered by the channel here and on instagram. The weather in Burma in October also isn't ideal for offensive operations for either side. As such China isn't quite ready to go over onto the offensive, while the Japanese focus has shifted away from mainland Asia and toward operations in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.
Expect things to be rather "quiet" in China & Burma until 1943.
There's at least one more thing US contributed to Battle of Stalingrad: trucks that carried Katyushas were quite often land-leased Studebakers.
👍👍👍Great feature guys!
Thanks!
So much lives lost on the Eastern front. In both wars, it was the Russians, and leter the Soviets who lost the most.
@fuckyoutubepolicy staff Folks need to revisit Yeltsin's revelations: Stalin started WWII in Europe via his Contract for War -- usually titled the R-M Pact.
Using Soviet state archives Yeltsin established before the astonished world's press -- a generation ago -- that cutting up Poland was Stalin's idea -- not Hitler's. It was Stalin that launched everything. His intent was to aim Adolf WEST against France, Belgium, Holland and Britain -- intending for WWI to be replayed -- with Moscow now the ultimate victor. Yup. Stalin thought that his pact would push the USSR west in every direction while the Nazis bled themselves out fighting the West.
Adolf was so bloody minded that he was willing to sign off on anything Stalin proffered -- so as to get out of the box that Paris and London had caged him in. The whole bit about the Reds invading Poland on the 17th of September was a crafty dodge. Stalin sandbagged Adolf with excuses while laying the whole war ignition on his ultimate enemy, Adolf. And it worked -- for decades. Virtually all orthodox histories blame Adolf as the exclusive initiator of WWII in Europe.
For proof, Yeltsin simply released all of the secret side-deals that were part of the pact. It's notable that Stalin rather promptly attacked Finland, Romania and held onto eastern Slovakia. The latter turf was invaded by Stalin as Hitler invaded Prague. Hence, it's almost always omitted from histories.
Lastly, Stalin set the Polish partition -- personally. Molotov actually had nothing to do with the treaty - other than commit it to paper. You name it, Stalin drafted what he wanted -- and Rippy just signed on the line that was dotted. He didn't even bring an original back to Berlin -- just a copy. The diplomatic staffers that usually would be committed to such a deed were entirely excluded by both sides. (!!!) Stalin then ejected his (very Jewish) diplomats in a huge purge starting the very next day. It was not a pleasant experience.
@Alex Funk Wrong. WWI started with Austria - and then it sucked in all of the other powers. What no-one realized was that once a major power mobilized -- that alone was enough to compel its peer to mobilize -- in a domino of mobilizations. Even when the Kaiser finally comprehended his folly, he could NOT shut off his own Prussians ! They just HAD to follow the Big Plan.
The cat didn't know how to climb down out of the tree.
The big swing power was Britain. For more on how astonishing the events were, read "Dreadnought." Right up until Belgium was invaded, London was in Berlin's camp -- and had been for centuries. The Big Plan forced Britain against Germany. The Royal Navy ultimately decided the war. The Central Powers became cut-off from the world -- meaning America -- Germany's BIG trading counter-party at the time.
If you want a lot more detail on the Battle of Stalingrad I would recomend watching Tik's series called Battlestorm Stalingrad. It's not finished yet but it's already very long and detailed, very well put together. ua-cam.com/video/YAfo5mse-ag/v-deo.html
yes, the series has been running for over 30 hours and is only halfway through the battle
Bad timing to post this, this week is when the series ends! (because it's still being made). A couple of people mentioned it 3 months ago, and I've been watching it in parallel
@@Dustz92 TIK is still going to be making Stalingrad videos while this channel is covering V-E and V-J days at the rate he's going. Wish he had a bigger team because it sucks waiting 2 or 3 weeks for each new episode :(
I hope we get to see some specials on specific interesting Divisions at some point, like the 5th SS (panzer) division Wiking, a division made up of volunteers from the low countries, Denmark, Norway, Finland and according to some sources eastern Europe, similarly the US 442nd infantry Regiment. (I am sure other nations had similarly interesting units)
A very interesting thing to look at would be why these men decided to join these divisions.
I like it to hear the phone conversation, its easyer if u get to hear the answer
I know that Stalingrad is the main point of attention, but what's going on in Leningrad?
Cary Black
17 seconds ago (edited)
Here is what is happening in the north en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinyavino_offensive_(1942)
They're still figuring out different recipes for alley cat and sawdust bread. Siege is still ongoing. And going.....
This was about the time when Vasily Grossman, as a journalist embedded with the 62nd Army, was accompanying Vasily Zaitsev and other snipers on their missions to see up close how they killed Germans. Much later, and much altered, Zaitsev's exploits were made into a Hollywood movie.
The movie is based on the book "war of rats" which was in itself a highly fictionalized version off vasily zaitsev's exploits.
And his two books Stalingrad and life and fate are truly spectacular.
@@aldreymenezes7652 I didn't see anything about it in "A Writer at War." Grossman did not like the practice of "Field Wives," but those were for officers.
@@srinivasgorur-shandilya1788 Indeed they are, I highly recommend them, and also "A Writer at War." I know Indy has been perusing that one lately.
I think one interesting thing you could do is to make specific campaign videos cutting parts of the weekly episodes. For example, make a Fall Blau video, a battle of Stalingrad video, a North Africa campaign video, simply cutting and combining parts of the weekly episodes. I often want to see a specific part of the war in one shot and go through past weekly episodes looking for the parts that relate
I'm not sure I'm a fan of hearing a voice on the other side of the phone. Part of the humor was being able to fill in the blanks yourself.