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Early Access: Why didn't the Germans encircle Stalingrad? (Patreon)

Published:
2021-09-26 12:23:25
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2026-06
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Why didn't the Germans encircle Stalingrad?

Why didn't the Germans encircle Stalingrad? A question by an Oberst (Supporter) “The Wehrmacht in the first couple years of the war as all about massive encirclements and 'bewegungskrieg'. I cant seem to find anywhere a reason why it was decided to attack Stalingrad directly and not cut it off like other cities (Kiev, Leningrad) or the 'cauldrons' during Barbarossa. The OKW and Hitler must have been aware about large cities being so difficult to take directly by force.” For this we look at various misconceptions, original directives, the development of the campaign and geography. Cover design by vonKickass. »» GET OUR BOOKS «« » The Assault Platoon of the Grenadier-Company November 1944 (StG 44) - http://sturmzug.com » Army Regulation Medium Panzer Company 1941 - http://www.hdv470-7.com »» SUPPORT MHV «« » patreon, see videos early (adfree) - https://www.patreon.com/join/mhv » subscribe star - https://www.subscribestar.com/mhv » paypal donation - https://paypal.me/mhvis »» MERCHANDISE «« » teespring - https://teespring.com/stores/military-history-visualized » SOURCES « Hubatsch, Walther: Hitlers Weisungen für die Kriegführung 1939 - 1945: Dokumente des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht. Karl Müller Verlag: Erlangen, Germany, 1999. Wettstein, Adrian E.: Die Wehrmacht im Stadtkampf 1939-1942. Ferdinand Schöningh: Paderborn, Germany, 2014. Boog, Horst et al: Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg 6: Der Globale Krieg. Bd. 6. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt: Stuttgart, Germany, 1990. Mawdsley, Evan: Thunder in the East. The Nazi-Soviet War 1941-1945. Second Edition. Bloomsbury: London, 2016. Citino, Robert M.: Death of the Wehrmacht. The German Campaigns of 1942. University Press of Kansas: Lawrence, Kansas, 2007. Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathan M.: To the Gates of Stalingrad. The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 1: April-August 1942. University Press of Kansas: United States, 2009. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga #Stalingrad,#WhyStalingrad,#BattleOfStalingrad

Comments

Stugbit Fz

Soviet artillery played an important role in the Battle of Stalingrad and it was deployed in a safe position with the Volga shielding it from German land attacks. Together with the Soviet reinforcing forces using the night to cross the river and so forth. It would have been better not to get too close to the city itself. The German goal was both to protect the Caucasus flank against an Soviet attack from that area and perhaps cutting the Volga supply route. All those tasks might have been achievable without reaching too close to the city. And what broke the German front in that area were Soviet attacks towards the German allies covering the flanks. The main Soviet attack didn't come from the city itself.

Ted M Jones

It would be useful to see the roads and rail lines on a map. My guess is that most of them went through rather than around Stalingrad which would make an encirclement logistically difficult. And the 6th Army was having series supply problems before it even reached the Volga. I think a better question is why didn't they just create a half-hearted siege and batter the city with artillery and air attack -- something they did in any case. And I think the answer to this is that they initially thought they could just over-run the defenders. It wasn't until they were fully committed to the urban warfare that they realized their true situation and then it was too late. It is curious that the Germans ended up in virtually the same situation -- having over-run their logistics -- at both Stalingrad and El Alamein at the same time.

Military History Visualized
>>68910417

as far as I remember from my break out video there were only 3 lines that led to Stalingrad and they were also not enough. I don't know for El Alamein, but for Stalingrad they assumed they just needed a bit more to take the last parts. Generally, as mentioned in my logistics video there seems to be a "tradition" in German military history to outrun the logistics.