Russia 1943 ▶ Battle of Stalingrad after Capitulation (1) German 6th Army Paulus HQ (February 43)

140 Russia 1943 ▶ Battle of Stalingrad after Capitulation (Part 1) German 6th Army Paulus HQ Headquarter (February 43) German History Archive ▶ The armies of the Don Front then launched their last major offensive against the remnants of the 6th Army on January 10, 1943, in Operation Kolzo (Russian: Ring). The goal was to “smash“ the Stalingrad encirclement. On the one hand, the ring around the encircled troops was tightened, on the other hand, the immediate front moved further to the west, which cut off the 6th Army even more from its own troops. In this process, the Soviet troops also succeeded in capturing the two airfields of Pitomnik (January 16) and Gumrak (January 22). From then on, Wehrmacht planes took off and landed only at the makeshift airport “Stalingradski“, until it, too, fell into Soviet hands and supply material could only be dropped over the cauldron. Finally, on January 25, the Wehrmacht forces were split into a souther