You must have heard of the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II, but do you know the Soviet crisis of 1942? The crisis was like a huge ice cave that threatened the very existence of the Soviet Union. The German Nazis stared at the Soviet Union like hungry wolves, while the Soviet Red Army struggled to resist.
At that time, the Soviet Union lost more than 13% of its industry, and 25% of the population remained in the German occupation zone. Coal, iron ore and other minerals in the Donets basin fell into the hands of the Germans. Imagine how hard life would be if your home lost electricity and heat! To make matters worse, the morale of the Soviet troops was as low as a deflated ball.
The Germans took advantage of the opportunity to speed up, and by late July they had crossed the Eurasian border, the Manech River. As if victory was at hand, the German Army Group A planned to go straight to Batumi and blockade the Soviet naval base.
However, the Soviets did not give up. They engaged in fierce battles with the Germans at the mouth of the Sea of Azov, on the Taman Peninsula and in the port of Novorossiysk. The Romanian and German armies joined forces to clear the Soviet defenders stationed on the eastern shore of the mouth of the Sea of Azov and eventually entered the port of Novorossiysk.
At Maikop, 6,500 technicians arrived with the expectation of extracting 3.5 million tonnes of oil. However, they were attacked by the guerrillas, and the oil wells were no longer usable. The Germans were given only 50 barrels of oil, and the quick-witted partisans managed to blow up the engineer's station. The Germans were trapped.
Hitler was so furious that he even stopped socializing. He realized that he was no longer able to achieve the operational goals of 1942. In August, the Germans lost 200,000 soldiers, and only half of them could be replenished.
By 24 July, the German offensive on the east bank of the Don was well underway, approaching Karachi. On 30 July, Hort's 4th Panzer Army and a Romanian corps were incorporated into Army Group B, as the commander of the 6th Army was Friedrich Paulus, with few infantry and could not storm Stalingrad. The weather was very hot, the troops were marching on the arid steppes, and drinking water was very scarce.
On 7 August, the Germans won a swift victory in the advance on Karachi, capturing 570,000 Soviet troops and capturing 1,000 tanks, 750 artillery pieces and 650 aircraft. But the Soviets bought time. On 24 August, Hort's Panzer Army moved north from the south, and Soviet resistance gradually weakened. By early September, the Germans were closing on the outskirts of Stalingrad. Obviously, the Germans will meet stubborn resistance here.
This crisis is not only about the survival of the Soviet Union, but also about the course of the war in the whole world. In that era of gunsmoke and blood and tears, every decision could change the course of history. And this crisis is an important turning point in this world war.
However, at this critical moment, the Soviet Red Army began to launch a counterattack. They took advantage of the slowdown in the German advance and the weakness of fighting in a hot and arid environment to launch a fierce counterattack against the Germans. The commanders of the Soviet Red Army used their armies flexibly, constantly striking and harassing the German army.
The Germans began to look exhausted by the counterattack of the Soviet Red Army, they found themselves severely damaged in their supply lines, and the activity of the Soviet partisans also caused great trouble for their operations. In addition, as time went on, the Germans became more aware that their situation in the Battle of Stalingrad was not rosy. By early 1943, the Soviet Red Army had succeeded in forcing the Germans out of the Soviet border and began to regain the lands they had lost at the beginning of the war. The crisis ended with the victory of the Soviet Red Army, which not only saved the Soviet Union, but also changed the course of World War II. Victory in this war is inseparable from the dedication and efforts of everyone involved, and the Soviet Red Army showed amazing courage and determination in this war. In the end, the tenacity and stubborn resistance of the Soviet Red Army won the crucial moment of this war.
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