October 1942

Eastern Front

A lull settles over Stalingrad, both the 62nd and 64th Armies having fought themselves to a standstill. Paulus intends to reinforce and regroup during the lull for what he expects will be the final attack that will break the 62nd Army.

The Red Army hastens to complete its preparations for Operation URANUS. The pland is revised slightly as the Southwest Front's attack from Serafimovich wi the 5th Tank and 21st Armies is altered so that these forces move on the Chir and Kalach while the 1st Guards supports the attacks on the Chir line. The Stalingrad Front is to attack with the 64th 57th and 51st Armies from the Sarpa lakes to Sovetski and Kalach. The 57th Army (2 rifle divisions, XIII Tank Corps and 2 tank brigades) is to attack an 8-mile front southwest of Kundutovo, enabling the XIII Tank Corps to penetrate into the Rumanian rear while the 51st Army (4 rifle divisions, IV Mechanized Corps and IV Cavalry Corps) attacks between Lakes Tsatsa and Barmantsak on a 6-mile front. The IV Mechanized Corps is to exploit these gains. The 64th Army (5 rifle divisions) is to attack from the Beketovka salient, while the 62nd pins the 6th Army inside Stalingrad.