Chapter 52 Chapter 13 The Southern Russian Winter Campaign of 1942

When 1942 and 1943 were about to turn, the eyes of the whole of Germany were fixed on the city of Stalingrad, and many anxious hearts were praying for the children who were fighting there.But at the same time, on the southern flank of the Eastern Front, bitter fighting was being fought on a scale even greater than the battle to save the lives and freedom of the 200,000 strong men at Stalingrad. The issue at stake here is not only the fate of one army group, but the fate of the entire southern flank of the Eastern Front, and in the end it can even be said that the fate of the entire German Army on the Eastern Front.

This struggle is to avoid the tragedy of defeat, although there is also a short-lived victory in it. This is the last victory of the Second World War.This battle is full of turbulent crises, and its tension can be said to be unprecedented. This battle is considered the most exciting in the entire war.On the German side, the hope of eventual victory was out of the question.With the failure of leadership in the summer and autumn campaigns of 1942, the main objective now is simply to avoid defeat.The overwhelming superiority of the enemy gives him every possible chance of victory.The German High Command had to do it again and again, and the heroism of the combat troops was unprecedented.

Although its end was neither a grand victory nor a mourning drum for the Sixth Army, the battle was nonetheless worth recording.Because it was a retreat, it was doomed to no glorious victory.But in fact, its end was far from a failure, and it also gave the German high command an opportunity to form at least a military stalemate, which was probably worth more than an ordinary victory.