Armageddon's video: Could Stalingrad Have Been Taken At Once

Stalingrad City Center could have been taken right away, if it were not for a handful of men. Had this been so, then the entire city could have been in German hands in a few days, just as was planned by the German Command. It’s a well-known fact that General Rodimtsev’s 13th Guards Division saved the day, on September 14, 1942, as 6th Army’s forward units were about to seize City Center and the main Volga River crossings. But the division only began crossing over to Stalingrad at dusk. So that Paulus had almost a full day at his disposal in order to defeat Chuikov before Rodimtsev’s men could arrive. The bulk of 62nd Army’s forces were concentrated in the northern and southern parts of the city. Yet between them, there was almost nothing. And maybe the fate of the Battle of Stalingrad was contained there, in this “almost”… So who were these men who paved the way for 13th Guards Division's arrival, thus probably saving the city, and what units did they belong to? And what was the state of the first German troops to enter the city? This video is based on the usual primary sources as in the StalData book series (from German and Soviet archival documents), but also and for the first time, on the very promising author Egor Kobiakov, a Russian colleague. His studies are definitely the most investigative, and the most accurate of all when it comes to the fighting in the streets of Stalingrad. His first book has just been released in Russia, and I’m working on English translation. With people like Egor, Brad and TIK, we’ll try and propose you the definitive Stalingrad studies, and provide answers to many still pending questions.