The name is "Die Verratene Armee" (The Betrayed Army), written in 1957, historical fiction about the whole Stalingrad battle. I'm at the part where the Rumanian upper front is about to collapse. The Romanian Army had no heavy artillery or armor. The Romanian intelligence has been feeding the German High Command detailed reports about the build up but they keep telling them it simply isn't possible for the Russians to mount a counterattack after all their losses.

This is what a German Infantry Captain had to say about the high command:

"They sit up there and count. They count the destroyed Divisions all together and determine that the Russian has been destroyed. The calculate so long at their green table that they begin to believe it themselves. One of them figures that the Russians have lost forty Divisions more than even is statistically possible for them to have had. So he's not only dead, he's over dead. So for almost a year now we have fought against an Army that on paper is dead as a mouse. And every damn day he is getting stronger. "

And of course the destroyed Russians flipped on them and destroyed the German Sixth Army.

Axis casualties during the Battle of Stalingrad are estimated to have been around 800,000, including those missing or captured. Soviet forces are estimated to have suffered 1,100,000 casualties, and approximately 40,000 civilians died. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the deadliest battles in World War II.

Losses meant nothing to the Russians. Civilian deprivation meant nothing to the Russians. Giving up territory meant nothing to the Russians. Winning at any cost does.

Same applies today.

Interesting. Might add this one to the read list.

The one written by Anthony Beevor might be better - its in English. I've read several on the battle, Beevor's is very good.


Stalingrad

This is a good one minute map depiction of the battle

Hear it was so cold, they if they pulled their pants down to use the bathroom. It would only take seconds to become frostbit.

I think a lot of people overlook the damage to the Russian population during WW2. Google says they had 8.7 million military deaths and about 19 million civilians killed. To compare, we lost 400,000 US service members. They didn’t have a baby boomer generation because they really didn’t have anyone left to make babies.

It’s incredibly sad to think of the loss of humanity when you start tacking on exponents of imaginary children to the number of killed in WW2.

Doesn’t really have anything to do with Stalingrad, but I just wanted to raise the point and make sure people really think about the numbers of casualties instead of just looking a number as a value of winners vs losers.

Sounds interesting Roadkill. Greatest Tank Battles documentary series had some interesting stories on the Eastern Front. Amazing some of the battle stories from Stug assault guns and Tiger 1 tank crews trying to stop the advance of the Soviets up in the Baltics. They had one guy that was a count whose army was surrounded by the Soviets with no means of escape. So he found a village where they were and used 20-25 Tiger tanks to coordinate an attack with Axis naval gunfire. Caught them with their pants down and destroyed 3 times his own group of tanks and infantry and busted through creating an escape corridor. Basically their superior tactics and gunnery training prolonged the war. In another incident in the Baltics two Tiger 1 aces went scouting into a Russian village and encountered a JS tank which had a big gun but also big issues. The gun was down and they had to hand crank to raise the gun up before they could turn the turret to try to destroy the 2 Tigers. So While this happened the 2 Tigers snuck behind them and destroyed the tank. They then surprised 20 more tanks while the Soviets were eating and destroyed them before the Soviet tank crews could do anything. Even outnumbered they held the Soviets off for a while.

Roadkill,

I think you would enjoy reading "The Memoirs of Sergeant Bourgogne"

It's about Napoleon's ill fated invasion into Russia in 1812 and the catastrophic retreat that followed. It was written by a common Sergeant in the "Grande Armee." It will really make you enjoy a hot cup of coffee, a fire and a piece of buttered bread. Those French and allied soldiers went through a living, frozen Hell...

The Russians are like the Afghans. You could kill everyone of them, completely destroy and salt the earth and they would still fight until there was no one left to fight.

I enjoyed reading this, gives a perspective from the German side. He was a conscript from Austria.


Sniper on the Eastern Front : the memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross

Sounds good , will check it out

I've read that one - Have you heard of "The Forgotten Soldier" ? A 19 year old from Alsace, French father, German mother, drafted into the German Army, couldn't speak German, spent three years on the Eastern front in one battle after another, his last year was with the Waffen SS Gross Deutschland. Unbelievable story.

Hitler had Moscow, but wanted Stalingrad, so he redirected his forces.

Yep.

Roadkill - you may appreciate this book. I have not read it front to back, but a couple of quotes I've read were pretty powerful.

https://www.amazon.com/Black-March-Personal-Story-S-S/dp/0553253603

I have seen that book but not read it. Thanks for the recommendation, will try to read it soon.

I've read it - its very good. Thanks

Enemy at the Gates is a good movie about a sniper duel that took place amidst the rubble of Stalingrad. The Battle of Kursk was fought on the Eastern Front in 1943 and is the largest tank battle in history. Open plains, two massive armies, and thousands of tanks and armored vehicles going at it face to face. Lots of books and documentaries about that battle. Footage is pretty incredible.

While the Germans exacted a horrible toll on the Soviet population, Stalin is directly responsible for killing 8-10 million of his own citizens. Stalin couldn’t gain control of the rural population and farmers and enacted a policy to move into the countryside and exterminate, enprison or “deport” millions of farmers to allow for the communists to take over the farms. The views of the urban communists towards their independent rural countrymen is similiar to the views of the current progressive movement in the US. They view folks in fly over country as deplorable or as “other than”.

You are right and they would love to exterminate us. That is probably the biggest reason why they hate the 2nd amendment. Obama, Hillary, and Biden have all made public statements of their disdain for people outside the urban centers.

Please let me live to be apart of it if they ever want to Be “Our Huckleberry”. I am game and am waiting on them.

Red Dawn bros.....since Wolverines has already been taken somebody come up with a new catchy name .....