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Originally Posted by Ironcross
I obtained this information from many documentaries i have watched. According to them, the Russian thought they have trapped seventy-five thousand Germans, when two hundred and fifty thousand Germans have been trapped.
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Obviously we haven't been watching the same documentaries...
6th Army after Op. Uranus (the encirclement, launched Nov.19th) was cut off and had little in terms of fuel, food and ammunition left to be able to conduct offensive operations for a breakout. Contrary to general thought, the Red Army was a well organized force which was able to provide two siege lines, circumvalation and countervallation in technical terms, one to contain the encircled force, the other to defeat any relief effort.
If the Red Army was able to defeat the von Manstein relief offensive with a part of it's force, certainly it would be able to contain the weak and spluttery effort 6th Army would be able to provide.
And if the bag was bigger than initailly forecast (I still don't know where those figures come from), so much the better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironcross
I think if the armies in the pocket attempted to break out when the Russians drove westward after the encirclement, they might have a good chance.
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You are being simplistic. There was no mad rush to Rostov. The forces surrounding Stalingrad were left in place in the same steel vise and a new offensive was launched towards Rostov (Op. Saturn, Dec. 16th) by an entirely separate group of forces. Read the Wikipedia article on the Battle of Stalingrad, it's a very decent summary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironcross
What i do not know is this: what did Hitler do when confronted with the Russian build up.
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Nothing. The Red Army was able to maintain secrecy for long enough so the bolt when shot was a complete surprise. And what reports there were of the impending offensive were disregarded as 'hysterical Romanians whining'.