Comments by "Cary Black" (@caryblack5985) on "TIKhistory" channel.

  1. I recommend Prit Buttar On A Knife's Edge for a very detailed operational history of fighting in the Ukraine Nov 1942-March 1943.
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  2. No they only sent partof the division. After enough weapons arrived the rest of the division was sent.
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  3. Many were wounded and sick in cellers and basements.
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  4.  @alanle1471  I am just saying that the NKVD division fought on the front line in Stalingrad and took casualties as did all the other units. How it was for them in other battles I could not say but I know about this battle.
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  5. Because Hitler wanted to keep all the conquest he made in Europe and then conquer the USSR. Eventually he could and would turn on the UK or at least turn it into a vassal state. That would be the end of Democracy in Europe. Also it would accept to terror that Germany visited on their conquered peoples. Do you think the Nazis would stop killing if they won the war?
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  6. Stalin was never close to the front. Spent most of his time in Moscow.
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  7. The original idea was that the Kotluban offensives would break through and join the 62nd Army in Stalingrad. When these offenses failed they started planning Uranus to surround the Germans. They needed time to conscript, train and arm troops and so the middle of Nov. was when it was supposed to begin. They sent reinforcements to the city but wanted the vast majority for the counteroffensive.
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  8.  @cccpredarmy  Lascar held out the 1st day and for the remaining 4 days until out of ammo and food and surrounded. Deny it but it still happened. I don't care what you think think since this is the reality. So if you want to deny that is up to you.
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  9. Richtofen was an ardent Nazi who was a very competent airfleet commander but had little knowledge of ground combat. He always assumed the army was not trying hard enough.
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  10. The Soviets (not Russians) did not realize the number trapped which was much greater than expected. Also the Germans fought fiercely mostly out of fear but they should be credited with doing all in their power to resist the Soviets.
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  11.  @samstewart4807  A number of high officers and specialists were flown out of Stalingrad. But quite a few generals as well as Paulus were not.
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  12. At this point in the war the Soviets had only a little success against the German Army. They did not know exactly what conditions were in the pocket and were surprised by the fierce resistance which may have given the Soviets the idea that the troops in the pocket were in better shape than what we know today. It may have been a case that we trapped them and we will make sure they are destroyed rather than taking troops away for a full scale attack elsewhere. I think it was a case of making sure this victory does not slip away.
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  13. Because the German narrative at least in the West prevailed after WWII since Halder and the German generals wrote about the Eastern front. More modern narratives such as Fritz Ostfront credit Romanians for doing fairly well considering their lack of armor and anti tank weapons
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  14. The Soviets wanted to be sure the 6th Army was destroyed. They wanted there to be no chance for any troops to escape.
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  15. Yes the fighting was bloody. The Soviets had lost many millions killed by this time. The Germans had by the end of Sept. 1942 674,303 killed on the Eastern front and about 1,922,000 wounded. US casualties do not compare.
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  16. Excellent episode and great content.
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  17. This helps explain some of the reasons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalry_corps_(Soviet_Union)
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  18. The figures given by Isaev are 48,360 men on September 11, 1941. The heavy machine guns and the light machine guns machine were only 20 to 25% of authorized strength. However only 1 division had 8,615 men (10 th rifle NKVD) 1 with over 3,000 men, three with over 2000 men and six with1000 or less.. The strength was in the rifle brigades , of the 8 averaged 4,000 men. Some of the units as you can see were very worn down and could be called divisions in name only.
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  19. If you are referring tp atrocities tan fewer civilians led to fewer atrocities but forced labor camps for Jews were set up in Tunisia.https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/labor-and-internment-camps-in-north-africa
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  20. They fought desperately because they knew there would br little chance for them as POWs. Many Germans believed that they would br shot immediately if they surrendered.
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  21. By radio.
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  22. They might have thought so or might have not but Hitler and the high command say you must take Stalingrad. If they refused they would simply be replaced. Also they have been fighting in the city for only 4 or 5 days and it looks like the Southern half may fall at any day.
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  23. I recommend Isaev Stalingrad City On Fire
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  24. There is the possibility of those aircraft to be used in combat in the future. They may only be temporarily unusable because of minor problems such as inability to start or need spare parts that will be available soon.
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  25. It was the Romanians who complained the loudest about the Soviet buildup opposite them. The warnings were ignored.
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  26.  @gunnerjensen5998  There was major offenses against Army Group Center at Rzhev. See thishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Rzhev
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  27. Not 20 extra divisions into the city. They had around 48,000 men on September 25th on Oct 1, 1942 they had approx. 41,000 on Oct10 they had approx 43,000 on Nov 20 they had approx 34,000. They replaced their losses to some extent but there was no buildup of Soviet forces in the city. See Isaev Stalingrad City On Fire p 132, p 165-66 p 179 p 218. Many of the divisions were worn down and some so small that they could not be called divisions or brigades or even companies.. The famous 13th Guards went from over 10,000 to 5,200 in November but this doesn't give an accurate picture because they had reinforcements throughout the battle. For more information see Isaev.
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  28. It makes them look silly and we know that German logistics were much worse and their production capacity was much inferior to the Soviets. Enemy At The Gates is entertainment not history.
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  29. The Germans were warned repeatedly by the Romanians. Anti tank weapons were promised but never delivered.
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  30. I don't know about the travel of the 13th Guards but I know some troops marched as much as 200 kilometers to get to Stalingrad. They may have marched at night and took cover in the day. The Luftwaffe could do little at night. The Stukas concentrated on the boats over the Volga and river crossings and docks but it did not stop the Soviets. There was also heavy artillery shelling of the crossings.
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  31. He dismissed Rudel's comment because of the weather at the time and recent evidence that the Romanians did resist the Soviet attack better than the narrative given by the Germans.
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  32. The Luftwaffe in the Stalingrad area had to also take care of the offense in the Caucasus, so they were splitting their time between the two offenses. See Joel Hayward Stopped At Stalingrad. As to your other many questions I think you will have to consider buying the Glantz series on Stalingrad and Isaev Stalingrad City On Fire.
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  33.  @mroblongo  They had little choice. They were fending off two strong attacks one in the North and one in the center and running two offenses one at Stalingrad one in the Caucasus. Not enough men even with their allies on the Don.
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  34. no the trump
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  35. They were around because the combat troops were greatly reduced in the fighting in the city and at the Kotluban attacks. These were head quarters. supply, transport, medical , people to care for the horses, signals and other vital areas. All divisions depend on a number of noncombat troops to enable the combat troops to function.
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  36. I think so. They took all the wounded they could on return flights and also those who were ordered to leave. In some cases the full loads of wounded were a hazard in takeoffs.
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  37.  @adamjaquay4279  Nobody was clean but some were much dirtier than others.
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  38.  @Anthony-jo7up  Well you have to have trained men , ships, amphibious landing craft and the ability to supply all the troops. I don't see this in1942 for the Allies.
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  39. They did aerial surveillance. There seemed to be several splits in the German intelligence and assumptions regarding the Soviets. The Fremde Heere Ost, German intelligence in the east expected an attack at the center. Some in the OKH thought the Soviets were too weak to attack at all. Some thought they might attack but were too weak for the attack to be significant. It seems that no one expected two powerful attacks at the same time, one in the center, one in the south. This came from the chronic underestimation of the Soviets and German arrogance.
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  40. Don't forget that the Germans had superiority in armored vehicles and artillery as well as air superiority in the city.
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  41. Well they did attack areas on the east side of the Volga. However they could hardly stop giving almost total support to the German units attacking and since the Soviets were dug in and close to the German lines it mad it even more difficult. The Luftwaffe did their best to attack the small Soviet boats on the river but they were well camouflaged, hard to hit and operated at night when the only way you could bomb the was by flare. The idea you can win a land battle with mostly air power was totally discredited in WWII as the Allies learned.
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  42. Yes the vast majority of horses were already moved to winter quarters.
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  43. There was almost no chance of the Germans reaching Baku. They captured Maikop but never reached Grozny which was 354 miles (not Kilometers) further.. From Miakop to Baku is another 676 miles or over 1000 kilometers. Not only would the Soviets stop fighting but the Germans would have to have a new logistics system.
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  44. The Germans had to protect slow flying and unarmed transports which really burdened them and were flying out of poorly organized airfields. The Germans were effective to the extent they could but in this case the Soviet air force was getting stronger and could be resupplied with fresh plaens while the German got weaker and were undersupplied
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  45. If you read Isaev Stalingrad City On Fire he goes into much detail on the Kotluban offenses as does Glantz.
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  46. There are conflicting ideas of when the planning for Uranus started. Zhukov says middle of September but Isaev has some evidence that it was not until 3 weeks later. But I think your point is correct. They would want to hold Stalingrad but use as many troops for the counter offensive and the least they could to hold the city. The question becomes what amount of troops will be sufficient to hold Stalingrad?
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  47. The simple answer is no.
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  48. They could hear not see the artillery in the distance and then it faded.
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  49.  @alanpennie8013  If you are wounded you are a casualty whether you are lightly wounded and can still fight or have to be sent to a hospital. That is why the wounded is 3 times as great as killed. Many Germans and Soviets were wounded more than once and sent back to the front lines after recovery.
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  50. No it doesn't. As we learn more about the battle and the archives have opened the understanding of what went on changes. In fact much information that is not favorable to the Soviets has come out. An example is Operation Mars which was simultaneous to Uranus. Mars was an offensive on the Moscow axis as Uranus was on the Stalingrad axis. Mars was a failure and Uranus was a success. Mars was never talked about and was almost unknown until Glantz ,the same historian who wrote the 5 volumes about Stalingrad, wrote about a book about it. Your idea is false and if you don't care for the facts given in these videos you can choose not to watch. You are entitled to your own opinion but not to your own facts.
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