October 1942

Eastern Front

At 1000 hours the 64th Army launches another attack toward Stalingrad. Fierce fighting erupts as the Soviets claw their way toward Kuporosnoye. Inside Stalingrad, the fightin in the factories intensifies as the Germans launch repeated attacks upon the Red October and Barrikady plants.

In the Caucasus, the III Panzer Corps launches a surprise attack toward Ordzhonikidzhe, taking the 37th Army off guard. The 13th Panzer, 23rd Panzer and 2nd Rumanian Mountain Division attack along the road to Nalchik. As the Germans advance, the Soviet defenses disintegrate, Luftwaffe intervention proving decisive as it pins the Soviets down.

Preparations for Operation URANUS enter their final stages. The operation calls for the Southwest and Stalingrad Fronts to launch deep envelopment attacks against Rumanian forces on each flank of the 6th Army, cutting off the German units attacking the 62nd Army inside the city. Southwest Front is to attack the 3rd Rumanian Army from Serfimovich and press southeast to secure the Don at Kalach. It will establish a secure front on the line of the Chir and Kriv to repel any German relief attacks. The Don Front is to attack north of Stalingrad from the Kletskaya bridgehead and push south into the left flank of the 6th Army near Vertyachi. The Stalingrad Front will strike the VI and VII Rumanian Corps south of the 4th Panzer Army. Once the Rumanian positions have been pierced, Soviet mechanized forces will move west to Sovetski and Kalach, effecting a junction with the Southwest Front. The operation plans to isolate 90,000 German soldiers inside Stalingrad. The outer wing of the Stalingrad Front is also to strike southwest upon Kotelnikovo to threaten the lines of communication with Army Group A. On the Kalmuyk Steppe, the 28th Army is to move up from Astrakhan to attack the 16th Motorized Division. The offensive is to begin on November 9 and 10 respectively, the Southwest Front jumping off first. The Southwest Front numbers 340,000 ment, Don Front 292,000 and the Stalingrad Front 383,000.

The Stavka required considerable nerve to carry out its lengthy preparations for URANUS. With Stalingrad and the 62nd Army on the verge of destruction, the Stavka had to tread a fine line between feeding in enough troops to prolong the battle but not so many as to arouse German suspicions. It was a strategy they carrie out remarkably well considering their faiures in the earlier campaigns.