Kai, not having read the book or knowing too much about it, i think he might be referring to the battle of Stalingrad itself. Say, if they had been forced across the river, then the Germans would have captured Stalingrad, the city named after Russia's great leader. That would have been a crushing blow to the Russians and a major victory for the Germans. The Russians would have been very demoralized and probably wouldnt have been able to take it back immediately. Look at how the few Russians defended it right from the outset - a small number holding the ferry, for example - they were fighting for their Stalin, in Stalingrad. So they get a morale boost from holding on to it, and an even bigger one when they destroy the German Army trying to take it. An Army with High Morale can do wonderous things.

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