Was Reaching the Volga North of Stalingrad the WRONG move? BATTLESTORM STALINGRAD E12
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 лип 2024
- This is a battle-animation documentary covering the events of the Stalingrad Campaign on the 26th and 27th of August 1942, backed by over 100 sources, and multiple in-video references. And, after seeing how bad the situation is for Gustav Anton von Wietersheim's 14th Panzer Corps is, we will ask the question: Was reaching the Volga north of Stalingrad the wrong move? Could Paulus's 6th Army have gone southeast to meet with Hoths 4th Panzer Army? Be sure to give me your thoughts in the comments below!
(This was formerly S4/E12)
🔔 Subscribe for more History content: / @theimperatorknight
⏲️ Videos EVERY Monday at 5pm GMT (depending on season, check for British Summer Time).
⚔️ If you like Stalingrad, you may also enjoy historian Anton Joly's UA-cam channel "Stalingrad Battle Data". Link: / @armageddon4145
Looking for a Graphic Designer? Here's one who helped make the graphics for this video: www.terriyoungdesigns.co.uk/
If you'd like to learn more about the 64th Army, check out Dann Falk's book on the 64th Army, and his website here: falkenbooks.com/
- - - - -
📚 BIBLIOGRAPHY / SOURCES 📚
The specific Battlestorm Stalingrad bibliography docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Full list of all my sources docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
- - - - -
⭐ SUPPORT TIK ⭐
Want to ask a question? Please consider supporting me on either Patreon or SubscribeStar and help make more videos like this possible. For $5 or more you can ask questions which I will answer in future Q&A videos. Thank you to my current Patrons! You're AWESOME! / tikhistory or www.subscribestar.com/tikhistory
- - - - -
📽️ RELATED VIDEO LINKS 📽️
BATTLESTORM STALINGRAD playlist • BATTLESTORM STALINGRAD...
The BIG Reason the Luftwaffe Failed at Stalingrad | Airlift Statistics and Demyansk Comparison • The BIG Reason the Luf...
Poor Combat Performance of Waffen SS & NKVD Divisions? • Poor Combat Performanc...
Why No German Reinforcements at Stalingrad? • Why No German Reinforc...
The MAIN Reason Why Germany Lost WW2 - OIL • The MAIN Reason Why Ge...
History Theory 101 • [Out of Date, see desc...
- - - - -
ABOUT TIK 📝
History isn’t as boring as some people think, and my goal is to get people talking about it. I also want to dispel the myths and distortions that ruin our perception of the past by asking a simple question - “But is this really the case?”. I have a 2:1 Degree in History and a passion for early 20th Century conflicts (mainly WW2). I’m therefore approaching this like I would an academic essay. Lots of sources, quotes, references and so on. Only the truth will do.
This video is discussing events or concepts that are academic, educational and historical in nature. This video is for informational purposes and was created so we may better understand the past and learn from the mistakes others have made.
Its mind blowing that 12 episodes in they still haven’t reached the city, and by now your documentary is 4x larger that any other Stalingrad documentary i have seen. Bravo sir
I did originally say this would be 24 hours long... But I may have underestimated :)
@@TheImperatorKnight RIP the people who are planning to marathon
At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if the combined documentary for the beginning to the surrender takes a full week or more
Once we actually get to the city, the sources become much more detailed. So the pace of events might actually slow down!
I definitely know a lot more about the part before the Germans entered Stalingrad. I guess I was one of the simpletons who thought they just rolled right in and then the real fighting started.
The fighting outside Stalingrad was truly incredible, and to think that they still haven’t entered the city yet. The fighting inside the city will be even more brutal, as Chuikov fights for his life, and later Paulus as well. Great series!
Yes, exactly! It was desperate enough outside the city, let alone once they actually got to it!
"We're in the endgame now." *- Paulus and Chuikov*
@@Edax_Royeaux The Russians didn't particular liked to fight teenagers in Berlin
"History is lived forward and understood backwards"
This is why myths and legends end up ingrained in the collective consciousness of society, and why it's the job of future historians and economists to piece together exactly what happened, and separate the lies from the truth
@@TheImperatorKnight True, but you ruin all those other documentaries I've watched that just tow the party lines! Keep up the great work. Thanks TIK!
@@TheImperatorKnight yes your attention to detail is ruining us for any other second world war documentaries that just parrot the usual explainations. i love the detail, especially during covid.
i really like that line
@@nilloc93 TIK is THE MAN!
l love the battestrom Stalingrad series
Yes, most series don't talk about the logistics like TIK does. Everything had to come by rail and most people still don't understand this.
@@hjalmar4565 and that is why i also love TIK's operation crusader vids. TIK's vids are highly detailed and overall fun to watch
I had a lot of fun making the Operation Crusader series. A great battle, hilarious at times
@@TheImperatorKnight I have to admit you are actually a natural at your job seriously
This series have really given me an entirely new view on the battle of Stalingrad, most documentaries wont even mention the drama that was unfolding along the Don river even before the fight for the city itself started.
I love how TIK hyped up Zhukov, reminds me a lot of ring announcers. The speech bubbles were a nice touch too.
And you'll have to wait until next season to find out how well or not the heavy weight will perform in the ring :)
@@nickafanasyev6550 eh
The scale of this conflict is so shocking compared to the West. This is a really good elaboration of what Glantz tries to get across in that UA-cam lecture where he is comparing the two theatres. Really eye opening.
100% agreed. I've seen that Glantz lecture, and he's right, the Western Front (while still important) is simply not on the scale of the Eastern Front.
The Russo/German war was titanic in terms of the sheer number of ground forces involved, which is one reason why so many people, including me, can't get enough. But you should be careful not to fall into the modern mental trap of thinking that the war in the West was a small-scale war, a "fake" war, or somehow less important or consequential than that which took place in the East. From the burning sands of Egypt, the warm waters under the Caribbean, the icy seas off of Norway, and in the air and ground over half of Europe, deadly battles raged that were as fierce, in their way, as those taking place in the cities, steppes and forests of the Soviet state. And that is to say nothing of the Pacific and Asian war...
@@TheImperatorKnight --- Three important aspects concerning this fact:
The Western Allies were classic sea-powers. All operations in the West had to initially be conducted as amphibious assaults against those areas held by the Axis with all the logistic consequences which that involved.
Germany and Russia were classic land powers with little experience in strategic naval warfare - (excepting Germany’s U-Boot strategy in both World Wars). Hitler stood on the French coast of the Channel after the victory over France in 1940 and would have had great difficulty in crossing it without landing craft and naval superiority, even if the Luftwaffe hadn’t been mauled by RAF-Fighter Command beforehand.
It took the Allies with all their massive assets until 1944 to prepare for the opposite operation -and even then Overlord could have failed. Stalin’s early call for a “Second Front” demonstrates his ignorance of the challenges involved.
My second point is that for both Hitler and Stalin human life was by far more expendable than for the Western democracies, demonstrated by the astronomical causalities of both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army. The Wehrmacht that undertook “Fall Blau” in 1942 was not the Wehrmacht of June 1941, which had suffered over a million casualties. This is also clearly demonstrated by the fact that only one German offensive prong instead of the three of 1941 was an option by 1942. And Hitler actually had to ask his allies for troop-contingents to buffer up the Wehrmacht, something he had only “graciously accepted” from Mussolini in 1941.
Third point: If Britain had been out of the war in 1940 (i.e. a peace treaty, say with a prime minister Halifax) and continued American neutrality, and without the massive American and British material supplies, not to mention the actual Allied military campaign against Germany, it is quite possible that Germany would have defeated the Soviets.
In that sense it was a common victory over Nazi Germany.
@@Stephanos480 American and British supplies came far too late to influence the critical battles in 1941, 1942, and 1943 which determined whether or not Soviet Russia would survive the initial German onslaught. Once that phase was over and Stalin wasn't deposed or open to a separate peace it was only a matter of time and casualties until the German defeat whether or not D-Day occurred or failed. it was only In 1944 and beyond the allies lend lease took effect enabling the Red Army to feed itself and to motorized its supply chain with hundreds of thousands of trucks which allowed the Red army to move its army groups great distances with the speed of western armies, something the Germans never were able to counter.
@@dpeasehead An early peace with Britain (and no America later on) would not only have lessened the flow of lend-lease supplies to Russia (small as they were initially, as you basically point out), it would have freed up many German troops and aircraft for service in the East, even in '41. Moreover, without the blockade imposed by the Royal Navy (and the air war later on) the German supply situation, and its war production, would have been greatly improved -- again even at the launch of Barbarossa. A weakened Russia and a strengthened Germany from the beginning of the campaign onward would have surely doomed the Reds, I think, close as things were IRT.
Modern TV documentaries are targeted at people who don't care about history so that they don't change the channel
TIK is making history for people who care about history
Truly excellent stuff, keep up the great work
@Heinrich Dering you don't seem to care about the Deutschen committing genocide.
@Heinrich Dering Genocide? How?
@Heinrich Dering If you're right, it wouldn't have been called a genocide. Yes it's true, really late into the war and a little while after there were soldiers on the allies side, raping women and killing innocents. There will always be bad people that exist in every army on both sides. However millions?? I doubt that. You could argue that the Soviets were a little more on the oppressive side when it came to east Germany, but If we think about it; would they really kill millions? They needed workers and such. I mean people were defecting in masses to escape east germany and the Soviets were struggling to keep them in. One of major reasons the wall between both then countries was built. To keep people from escaping. Where'd you hear that the allies were committing genocide on the Germans from?
And not to mention, the massive industrial damage from the bombed out houses and factories that needed repairing. Why would they kill all those people when they were needed to rebuild it all?
@Heinrich Dering It's not hard to comprehend. It's hard to find any actual proof however. Go ahead, and educate me if you got anything. I'd like to know more :)
How on earth did Halder keep his job for this long when he keeps making massive strategic mistakes over and over again?
But Halder said Madman Hitler was to blame, so why would Halder be sacked?
The usual way: shirking responsibility for mistakes, obsequious support for the man in charge.
TIK Glad to know the chief of the OKH staff has the maturity of a kindergartner
@@Willk4 Halder was not chief of OKH. He was chief of OKH staff. OKW (lead by Keitel) and commander-in-chief of the army (Hitler at that time) are higher than him.
And it is his final month in OKH.
Reminds me of the Operation Crusader crisis where Cunningham had to be relieved.
Easily the most in-depth analysis of Stalingrad I’ve ever seen.
I’m holding out for this treatment for the Battle of Imphal some day... poor Uncle Bill Slim keeps getting forgotten, along with 14th Army...
That goes for me too. I particularly value the maps TIK does (especially considering the otherwise bewildering number of Soviet/Axis units, place-names etc), along with the list of sources he provides.
Regarding the Pacific campaign, there are a few others starting to cover them. I found one on the early Japanese offensives by this channel on UA-cam: Vector Historia. It has the campaign maps a little bit like TIK's, but doesn't yet cover the Burma campaign and the robotic voice is a bit off-putting at first. Also does not provide any sources, but at least it's a start!
Yes, I too would like to see the battles of Kohima-Imphal handled like this, and a similar treatment on Slim's 1944 offensive into Burma/Myanmar.
That's an entire theater that gets ignored. If we hear about it at all in the US, it's usually a quick mention of Merrills Mauraders, and nothing about the British or Indian contributions to the war there.
@@Raskolnikov70 You're forgetting about the Chindits, but yes, the Burma theatre tends to be completely ignored.
Update: I've just read that *Vector Historia* intends to cover the campaign in Burma (as well as the Philippines). I can strongly recommend the videos he/she has done so far.
Very nice animated maps & an area of the war most people do not cover. You just have to put up with a robotic voice - but that might change - fingers crossed. The guy is apparently Malaysian and doesn't appear that confident of using his/her own voice, but seems to be looking for some other way of doing it.
It's a site that doesn't have many views or subscribers yet, so perhaps in need of anyone's support & encouragement.
“And then it got worse...”
- The pessimist's History of Russia
There's nothing wrong with pessimism!
I thought the phrase refered to the optimist History of Russia
Nah, that is the realist one.
That's pretty optimistic for a Russian.
@@TheImperatorKnight Pessimist is an optimist with life experience.
This is very interesting, I was totally unaware that at the time going into Stalingrad was probably the best decision. I was sure that there were genuine arguments for going into Stalingrad, but I wasn't aware they were that strong. Now that I am aware of the need to block reinforcements I can even understand them not clearing the don bridgehead, which was really baffling me until now. Thanks so much for explaining all this and making things clear.
"Now that I am aware of the need to block reinforcements I can even understand them not clearing the don bridgehead, which was really baffling me until now."
I hadn't even considered that, but that makes perfect sense! Thank you!
@@TheImperatorKnight Its an honour to have been even a very small help to you. You're very welcome. Keep up the good work!
there is also a terrain advantage to having your front "anchor" off of a large river, the Volga was too large to cross easily, the most troops on the other side could do is lob shells across it, greatly lowering the manpower needed to hold an entire flank.
@@TheImperatorKnight There is actually a speech from Hitler. Where he explains his decision, to attack Stalingrad. He made a joke, saying that he could have done it just because of them name. But he then explicity states, that this is not the reason, and the reasons are more strategical. But who knows if this is true, maybe he did it for propaganda purposes after all.
Pretty soon the patreon names are going to have to start scrolling before the episode starts so they can all fit in.
I'm actually beginning to worry about that particular issue
@@TheImperatorKnight just stop doniting for fuck sake.
@@TheImperatorKnight you could leave like 5 min in the end were all the patreons apear like history matters doea.
@@TheImperatorKnight I would bet that most of those Patreons don't really care about having their names displayed for a couple of seconds and the main motivation for being a supporter is the awesome content that you provide... that's the best perk. I, for one thing, don't give a rat's behind about my name being displayed, and I second the opinion of others in that it is becoming a little annoying and taking too much screen time from showing other images/maps that could be way more relevant to what you are saying at that moment.
Reduce font
Weitersheim's Corps are performing really well here - if they hadn't held out as well as they did historically and were instead crushed, the Soviets would have achieved a major victory that would leave the Germans scrambling to regain initiative, and, if they had pulled back or broken out, the Soviets would have been able to re-man a significant portion of the Stalingrad defences, which would not have been easy to push through.
If Wietersheim had died in place like a good Nazi, Paulus and crew (maybe even Hitler) might have realized that they in over their heads and called the drive on Stalingrad off. This would have left them out of the trap and in the freeer ground west of the Don.
As it was they blamed him for the set back and kept bulling forward.
@@jamestheotherone742 I don't know. They may have done what they did in Normandy and the Ardennes, continue to pour troops into a losing proposition. In this they would not be alone. The Red Army did this several times (the May Kharkov offensive being one), as did the American Army in the Hurtgen Forest and the French Army in WWI in 1914. The issue is tunnel vision, and it has ruined many armies.
@benvolio mozart Except if the Germans had refused the trap and the war of attrition and kept biting off whole chunks of the Soviet Army that had been their success to this point.
I donno as @
Nicholas Conder wrote, historically the die was already cast not only by the mentality of German leadership (Hitler) but also the limitations of their logistics. But this was really the last time they could have made this change, and the shock of losing an entire corps (for the first time?) could have been that impitus.
@@nicholasconder4703 not just tunnel vision but also in a massive way the sunk cost fallacy
@benvolio mozart Get over your bias, he is making a good point
So far these battlestorm series have had me on the edge of my seat, perhaps because this was a crucial turning point.
It's also amazing to see how much your channel has grown.
Keep up the excellent work!
And we've not even got to the city yet ;)
@@TheImperatorKnight You're really very good at dramatic reading - better than some audiobooks I've listened to - well you've had lots of practice! ;)
I love your point here; It takes some pretty good material to keep a large group of history enthusiasts in suspense,but I can't wait to see how these Germans make out...
@@jameshope7933 Oh, waiting on the edge of my seat to see how these Germans make it out! Forlorn HOPE, James, Haha, ROTFL.
@@SaulKopfenjager maybe some secret weapon will turn things around...or the Steiner attack..
The fact that Wietersheim's forces withstood the massive offensives from both front and the rear simultaneously seems to me nothing short of a miracle. They even had Soviets defecting to them at that very moment for crying out loud!
They even destroyed close to 250 tanks that day, while only suffering 800 casualities in manpower. That's amazing! How is this battle not known at all? In comparison to Mannstein's phoney "miracle on the Don", this is a real snatching a decisive victory from the jaws of inevitable defeat.
Probably for two reasons. First, Paulus eventually lost the battle for Stalingrad, so this history was glossed over. Secondly, he was not a boastful man and lived more or less in obscurity after the war, unlike Manstein, Guderian and Co., who trumpeted they great battles in self-adulatory memoirs.
@joanne chon Can you give me a rundown of the battles where an army was attacked from every possible side by superior forces and won with minimal casualties? I'll let you skip on such detailes of given engagements as workers militia, where only half of the men are armed, storming enemy trenches or a tank turning around mid charge and firing on their comrads in arms. All of this happened on the *same day* north of Stalingrad.
@joanne chon please explain your point of view
@@nicholasconder4703 Seems a shame if Wietersheim was quiet after the war, TBH I didn't know he survived, not to tell his tale, especially since he and his Pz Korps have a very important date with planet Uranus... and possibly some Soviet trained circus mice!
@@Gew219 Rorke's Drift? Bir Hakeim? The stand at Snipe?
I have studied Stalingrad since I was nine years old. Everything we thought we knew about it then has changed.I am exceedingly grateful for the work of David Glantz and those who (like TIK) have made it accessible to armchair historians like myself who have “day jobs” and limited time for hobbies. That said, speculating about alternate histories is probably the funnest part about studying World War II. The flood of information we have received since the end of the Cold War is in itself almost an alternate history as we are learning stories we never heard about before. Now for my alternative scenario: what if the Germans had simply called off the attack on the city after the initial attempt to storm it in September bogged down? What if they had fortified their flanks and reinforced the Don River line instead of pouring all those additional troops into the house to house fighting during October? At that point Stalingrad was already wrecked completely and the Volga was useless as a transportation corridor as it was dominated by German artillery and the Luftwaffe. There doesn’t seem to be a strategically sound reason for the big influx of reinforcements to the German effort inside the city of Stalingrad itself. Ultimately those troops just wound up trapped with Paulus. Did the Germans learn nothing from the Moscow campaign the year before? Why didn’t they see the big Russian counteroffensive coming? Were they really so myopic in the fall of 1942?
Good questions. Yes they were myopic . Over and over again from Hitler, Halder, the Okh and the high command back in Germany, not at the front, the refrain was ":the Russianis finished", we are hurting but the Soviets are worse off. They might launch an attack but won't be successful. Also since are soldiers are so much superior to the Soviets we will always win. On top of that the German intelligence service and intelligence on the Eastern front was very poor and they did not seem to be able to get a real idea of the resources and manpower of the USSR.
Germans wasn't myopic. Paulus was. Paulus like a dog just follow orders and please his master. In this series he try to reason Paulus. i beg the differ, he was giving the false impression that he can achieve the task. If i was in his position, i would create a defensive line btw Don to Volga further north or south of stalingrad. primary objective is not defeat red army or take stalingrad, it is Oil. He follow Red army reinforcement strategy and ask more resource to cope with it when he is in offensive position (suicide). let south armies take oil fields, maybe Astrakhan when paulus blocking red army around stalingrad. i simply ask HQ a new general, if they insist offensive.
Hoth's failure is accurate statement. if i m Hoth, i would argue going NE. If they insist, again i would ask a new general. Hoth's movement open space for retard paulus' offensive, eventually doom to melt in front of growing red army defence.
NOte: Germans did that at France, just go backroad instead head to head. it worked.
This was in deed a great episode! Clear, sound explanation of the "what ifs", and a grand "Zhukov" finale!
Although, as we will see, Zhukov ends up wasting a lot of men in fruitless attacks. It is perhaps not his finest hour.
@@nicholasconder4703 When would Zhukov not waste men? He would do the same thing even when attacking Berlin at Seelow Heights.
@@sergeontheloose Not arguing. I think Eremenko and Rokossovsky were better generals. However, they weren't Stalin's "friends", so never get the credit they deserved.
I am convinced now why they went for the city. On another note TIK's voice acting skills are undeniable. I am like omg omg what's going to happen now. Brilliant work!
To all future viewers, 100 years from now - I was here watching it the same day as it was uploaded. 😛
🙂
This battle is simply compelling, thanks in major part to the way TIK is telling us about it. Fantastic stuff. 👏👏👏
Every time I see this notification. I drop everything and watch
The "Oil" video is one of the best TIK has ever done folks if you havent seen it, and follow the link in its description for another great point of view on the topic that buttresses TIKs point.
The First War For Oil #WW2
Best yet! Finally explaining clearly the tactical reasons for trying to take the city and not just move South and besiege it.
Thank you TIK, Another great video. The Content, commentary, coverage, speaker voice. All were outstanding. Appreciate all the hard work put into these detailed maps
I am loving this series. Thank you so much for your work on them and the detailed explanations. I also really appreciate the “at the moment without hindsight” views. I’m learning more from your videos than I was able to in college. Great job sir.
This series u are doing on Stalingrad is just fantastic.... i hope this is a format u will use going forward for other major campaigns of WW2... keep em coming!!
Thank you TIK! Always pleased by your quality and educational productions!
I have had all 3 Glantz books for many years, very detailed descriptions, but your illustrations really help clarify the various movements involved, thanks!
The only historian who takes the insult of Captain Hindsight seriously and therefore produces viable and worthwhile historical documentaries
I would like to thank you for the great documental series you are making about Stalingrad. It must be a exhausting effort. I am impress with the level of detail you went to. If I am allowed to add something, I would like to say I read in a book the 6A was already well undersupply because there were only 2 railroad lines to reach Stalingrad. The maintenance was very poor as a result of combats and the war in general. The Germans needed to move around 20 trains per day to supply Paulus. However, they only managed to sent betwen 5 and 10. The Germans could not supply the 6A properly that is why Paulus army was well under strenth. In a war, logistics are the key. Mainly if there is an atrition war as this one. Thanks Tik for this wonderfull effort to explain the battle.
I really like this "what if" scenario analysis in addition to already awesome battlestorm content.
well, its funny how logistics is such a overlooked factor in the war. But then trucks aren't as sexy as guns and tanks. It is baffeling to me how no one has connected the railway, trucks and horses when making their "the germans should just have done this and this" arguments... This is why your channel is Gold! and in my opinion.. one day you should be doing nice books... they would get a pristine location in my bookshelf that is for sure.
Nice video! It is so easy to pass judgement of historical events with our own backward facing biases. It is probably one of the most important aspects of historical study to try and understand the contemporary mindset and see the events from the bias of the people experiencing it. Always appreciate the counter arguments and debate, it makes you think.
Another great video ! Now more than ever it is good to have something else to think about. Thanks!
good conclusions! I read Glantz´s book about Stalingrad. Your argumentation is on point and always makes sense! You are like a good and unbiased commentator of a very exciting football match in the best English tradition! Unfortunately that specific football match killed hundreds of thousands:(
Make that "millions"
Finally , been waiting for this like crazy , best series about the battle ever
Please keep up the fantastic work. Dealing with this complex battle on a division or even battalion and regiment scale really helps to put things into perspective. I like how you demonstrate with your explanation of logistics why certain decisions were made, and demonstrate why many armchair theorists are wrong in their conclusions. It's also great how you "clear the fog of war" that has lain over most of this campaign, and dispelled the facades of rewritten history created by many self-serving generals after the war. Well done.
Here I am its 3:30 in the morning I am binge watching this series for 3 days and cant bealive of all the details you are giving us I cant imagine how much work you had to do to make this! I dont know if you remmember but I was exited about the anouncement for this series and commented that I would sit thgru it all the way and you sayed that you would keep me by my word! Well I wasnt able to do it until now but boy did you do a GREAT JOB! Thank you is just nothing for this you deserve a lot more!
Great video again TIK! Keep up the good work!!
Your content never dissapoints. Thank you for that.
love your vids, i donno how you do it but your dedication and hard work is admirable.
Better than any cable TV docu... Thanks champ !! Napels loves your insights..
Great Series! Thanks.
Epic as always! Absolutely love this series.
Great video TIK. Can't imagine how much time it took to make this vid
I haven't watched this yet, woo woo! can't wait! THANKS TIK!
Nice Work thanks for the effort!
The significant point is that the major electrical generating facility for the Stalingrad complex was across the Volga river on the East bank. Reaching the Volga might have been important if the Nazi's had crossed the Volga and utterly destroyed the generating facilities.
Today, high speed turbine generators take a minimum of 10 months to build, much less transport and install. The Soviets had no spare generators available. Many of their generators were imported (GE) during the 'Five Year' Plan(s).
The "Stalingrad Front" would have been a 400,000 prisoner self directed Kriegsgefangenenlager that starved itself into impotency.
Thank you TIK, loving this series.
This is brilliantly done. Superb doc.
Truly, these series have only improved. Even video to video, difference is noted. Love it TIK!
This series, like all the other Battlestorm videos is an absolutely immense amount of research and knowledge. Utterly outstanding work!
Presenting it in a dynamic map combines the clarity of an Osprey Campaign series set of maps and the movement of a 1980s Avalon Hill board game, e.g. Panzer Blitz or Russian Front.
:-)
Very good one sir, thank you for your great work.
this series is amazing, thank you.
Incredible job! Thank you so much!
It seems that after the Battle of the Don, it would have made sense to instead concentrate on heading south to Astrakhan and reducing the Don bridgeheads, since that was the main objective of Army group B, to cover the flanks, not to capture Stalingrad. Additionally, the soviets were not deployed to easily prevent this move from occurring and may have to divert forces that were defending the Grozny oil fields.
The question is, could it have been done practically. As I mentioned in the video, by the time you get to mid-August, it's not clear if the option to do that was possible any more
@@TheImperatorKnight Yes it probably would have been difficult, probably the best method would be to make limited attacks until around September and a large enough oil+ammunition reserve could be created for the drive towards Astrakhan. Additionally, most of the Sixth Army would have to remain in the region to at least prevent a breakthrough into the rear of the forces driving towards Astrakhan. Overall, this prediction is partly made with hindsight, as at the time Paulus probably thought the Stalingrad operation could be completed in a month, leaving enough time to drive south to Astrakhan before the rains in October. Though whether there was enough supply to do both operations is unclear.
I honestly dont understand people who keep advocating going to Astrakhan. do you have any idea how far away Astrakhan was? It would be logistically impossible to move there without the rail road. The was a rail road going there but guess what hub it was connected to? Thats right stalingrad. In order to get supplies to astrakhan by the rail road you would need to capture the rail road hub in Stalingrad.
Excellent point, Vitross!
@@TheImperatorKnight Stalingrad was thought of as a consolation prize... a way to scratch out a victory from the jaws of defeat after Budyoni's successful defense of most of the Caucuses region.
Excelent as always!
I believe that this series is your best work yet thanks Tik for this
Great analysis. You clearly and conclusively answered a question I've had for 50 years. Thank you.
Excellent video, mate!
You did a great job with this episode 👍
Awesome work btw!
Wow anther cliff hanger... it seems like a moth passing by between the episodes. Thank you for making it so interesting!
Great work as always
Really love the analysis of the situation in this and many previous episodes. Especially how you disprove the 20/20 hindsight "If that action ended badly, then clearly all other options were better." approach.
Thumbs up. Another great video.
Superb series mate, deserves a slot on the history channel!!!
Great episode!
I love your content. Keep up the good work.
As any HOI IV player would tell you, they had to take Stalingrad in order to gain the victory points.
Great as always!
This is great! Thank you, the amount of work should later translate into some book.
I kid you not I'm so impressed by your videos, they are very professional in what they are, the research and consistent citations but ofcourse the execution of depicting the scenerio for this battle was so authentic, excuse me for my big words but i had to subscribe, hope you enjoy your work, i did.
I just love the addition of the commander pictures on the tiles.
This documentary format is revolutionary.
Off course I have to say your analysis made a whole new point of view to the debate. I love these series and I have to tell you TIK, every single episode is better. Can'r wait for the next episode.
TIK another great video. Actually, when you posted it, I was watching a live stream from Prokhorovka battlefield on another channel. I stopped the live stream because i could not wait for the end of broadcast to see what the next episode of Battle-storm Stalingrad brings. And it was well worth it. It is a brilliant episode and it covered some aspects that i didn't expect to see.
Speaking of that, it seems that some of my comments to the previous video partially foreshadowed the narrative of this episode, as such they were sort of spoilers, and I apologize for that. This was not done intentionally, I simply did not expect that some of these details will be covered in the series. It seems that closer to the city we get, the deeper into little details you go.( Soon enough, you will have episodes covering one single day, and If the trend continues, few episodes further down the series and you will have the episodes that will be in real time: "Episode 20-something: 35 minutes, covering half an hour of the battle").
On the positive side, it seems that we are of almost exactly the same opinion on many aspects of the battle.
Anyway, in order to avoid spoilers I will cut down on my comments (though it's not always easy, your story telling is very inspirational...not to mention the questions you raise).
Cheers
Excellent vid!
The best thing when its monday, just came home from working the the rain all day, dinner ready and a new battlstorm just released. Makes the start of the week really good!
Thank you TIK for all that you are doing)
Wow, what a wild ride. Every one of those little unit rectangles hides a military and civilian tragedy. Every one.
35:22 *Zhukov takes command of Stalingrad*
6th Army: "Why do I hear boss music?"
Love the channel
Super engaging video.
Really great episode! Might I suggest adding a very quick introduction to these videos to add a little bit of context? Might be helpful for people who stumble upon your channel for the first time.
It sucks that I’m going to have to wait another month for the next season. But as always tik keep up the awesome work.
The wait might be a little bit longer this time... I'll let you know in the Addendum video
TIK Okay thanks for letting us know
You are at your very best in this video, TIK! Kudos and congrats! Brilliant! I love how you show that the pocket (Kessel?) that Hube and Wietersheim's corps found themselves trapped in prefigures quite perfectly the overall Kessel occupied by the entirety of the 6th Army. In a lot of ways, if Witersheim's corps hadn't struck east as they did, it seems possible that the 6th Army wouldn't have ended up being surrounded and annihilated, as they were. Perhaps Hube was right!
It's also fascinating that "Papa" Hoth, who matched Guderian's accomplishments in every respect during Barbarossa, was so incredibly impotent during the drive on Stalingrad. His decision to drive east to the lakes below Stalingrad was a major catastrophe, given the terrain and all. Why didn't he strike northeast, directly towards Stalingrad, instead? ("The world wonders" - - as they did about Bull Halsey in 1944).
Aww snap look out here comes Zhukov looking forward to the next one thanks tik
Your so thorough and thank you for that a lot. Suggestion is to empowe grafics because its hard to follow all informations in existing ones. Thank you again for everything
Going thru all of these this needs more views
Every time a new episode comes out my day is saved!
as a german..milchfarm is quiet funny...love your vids
I really struggle to pronounce the "ch" part of German words. I keep forgetting how to say it, so I think I pronounce it two different ways in this video!
@@TheImperatorKnight yeah but you did rly good. keep it up.
at 27:30 ist was nearly perfect
*it
Its a toponym left from Volga German settlers.
Having just finished the excellent and harrowing 'Breakout at Stalingrad' (well worth a read) this is quenching my thirst for knowledge on this part of the WW2 saga. Great stuff!
If you wanted to siege the city which was part of the original plan you would need to reach the Volga at some point north of the city. The mistake was sending the bulk of the 6th army into the city to capture it exposing its flanks making encirclement easy. Waiting for some one to comment "but Germans had to go into the city to survive the winter"
The oil comes from south of Stalingrad.
@@hermitoldguy6312 my point is the 6th army could have held the siege over winter, allowing it to transfer most of its panzer divisions to the 4th panzer Army take the oil fields.
wow. really an epic achievement this serie.
Things a really hotting up at the moment. Zhukov dropping in, the 6th bloodying itself on the North, and Hoth finally shifting his boys about. I'll need to go back a bit and work out what the Romanians have been doing. Cause I've looked at that section of the front and gone, its quite, there's not a lot of strength there, a good smack or strike could role up the lines and break the southern front. I'm missing something no doubt, but I'm defiantly becoming more enlightened to how things were really going down.
Keep up the good work TIK, looking forward to your next episode of video on things. 👍
Stalin starts to trust Zhukov and Vasilevsky.
When Zhukov arrived he replaced Gordov with Rokossovsky
I love your love for details😘🤩
1:45 That picture is of a Uralmash T-34, which wasn't produced before september 1942 in Yekaterinburg. It's different from the other hexagonal turrets in that it's made of a single stamped plate of armor and thus has a more rounded shape.
Great, comprehensive analysis! Thanks for addressing this long standing question of why not avoid Stalingrad altogether.
Was the terrain south of Stalingrad unsuitable for tanks due to the balki (dry riverbed ravines)?