How much did the weather REALLY fuck them at Stalingrad?

>How much did the weather REALLY fuck them at Stalingrad?

The winter wasnt as bad as the winter of 41-42.

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It was less the weather than the million Red Army soldiers surrounding them that fucked up Paulus's 6th Army.

Very little. Hell, according to Chuikov, the one time he thought they were really in danger in the city was when you had a partial freeze of the Volga, when the ice was too thin to send sleds across, but it still interrupted barge traffic, and thus made it hard to resupply.

Wasn't really the weather, just the fact troops weren't prepared if I recall

Also, fuck the italians

The Romanians and Hungarians were more to blame where Stalingrad was concerned.

They were reliant on air drops for supply near the end, already insufficient amount became less and less and soldiers began dying of starvation.

They were still wearing their summer gear lol

get fucked Jerry

contrary to belief, it wasn't D&D, and the russians weren't ice golems with +5 ice resistance.

It affected both sides.

can you really blame them, or is it moreso poor German planning? really, if I was in charge i'd just surround the city and keep moving the front line forward.

Well, it was poor German planning which put units they knew were horribly understrength guarding huge chunks of territory because they didn't have enough German forces to cover everything.

Which, by the way, is why they didn't blockade and keep advancing. They didn't have that kind of manpower to invest the city and attack anywhere else: They barely had enough to invest the city.

It affected both sides, but the Russians were prepared for winter, the Germans weren't.

Especially if you're talking about the winter of 1941-42, it's not so much that they were prepared for it, it's more that their air and armor forces were almost totally obliterated (and were hampered by doctrines so backwards they made them almost useless anyway), and infantry and artillery are less affected by winter conditions than things like tanks or planes: Furthermore, the bad weather enormously complicated logistics, and the Soviets had much shorter lines of communication than the Germans did.

It's not like they were all holed up in the city. No more than a third of the German Sixth Army ever entered the city proper. Furthest point in the German line on 9th January is 45 miles away.

>They were still wearing their summer gear lol

Some, not all. Which led to awful stories like this during the failed breakout;

youtu.be/-BNHlme2--A?t=1865

Even with poor German planning or the Romanians fucking up, I still cannot fathom how the Russians survived at all.

Pic related discusses the combat psychology of the Russians and how they were able to maintain/regain morale during the worst winter portions ("There is no land for us beyond the Volga!") while the Germans were getting bummed out at heavy losses and a long battle they were not prepared for.

My question: how much water does Jones' basic thesis that morale played a deciding factor hold? Any anons want to weigh in? I'm not too well-read on Stalingrad so I can't comment beyond what I've read in this book and snippets elsewhere.

>russians weren't ice golems with +5 ice resistance.
are you sure?
doesnt alcohol serve as a kind of antifreeze

The Russians actually drank anti-freeze to get drunk

>doesnt alcohol serve as a kind of antifreeze

That's a myth, but it does make you -think- you feel warmer, and psychological effects are often useful in war, i.e. US army tests showed most applique tank armor had no effect in stopping shaped charges, but the practice was allowed to continue because crews felt more protected with it.

Alcohol moves blood away from your head and torso into your extremities, This will delay frostbite (a little) but will also accelerate your overall loss of body heat. You're less likely to lose fingers and toes, and more likely to just die. Usually a bad trade.

Why was Stalingrad such a big deal?

Why do Soviet soldiers always look like hunchbacks in WW2 images?

They always run the same way, very low.

Because Hitler was retarded.

protip: if the cameraman is not behind cover its a staged photo

Thanks for the video user.

>That smug Russian at 41 minutes

>very low
so you don't get shot, retard

But Soviets in particular seem to always run lower than any other.

They look like rats infesting an area.

Germans weren't prepared for a war against the Soviet Union, period.

The weather affected resupply the most, Goring had promised Hitler that the Stalingrad "kessel"/ pocket would be resupplied by air just like the previous pocket (which was a lot smaller).

no, alcohol dilates your blood vessels.

This encourages the movement of body heat to your extremities, and will keep your fingers from falling off at the risk of hypothermia.

Would operation Barbarossa have been as successful as it actually turned out to be without the Romanian and Hungarian allies?

Sure, having NOTHING on the flanks would've been fucking awesome compared to having Romanian and Hungarian allies.

I think you are focused with Shitalians. The Romanians (not too sure about the Hungarians) were not THAT bad of an ally, they were a better ally than France was to the US.

I live in Montreal and it is almost as if the native Montrealers have some sort of inherent ice resistance.


Dead of winter, -25C, snow blowing sideways:
I go around in long-johns, pants, two t-shirts, a hoodie, parka, neck warmer, and toque
They walk round in pants, t-shirt, zip hoodie, ski jacket

I am depressed because i haven't seen the sun in weeks
They're happy it didn't snow too much last night

I stay inside and hate my life
They go out clubbing, ahve games of soccer in the snow, have barbeques in the snow etc

Something about being bred in the snow makes you immune to it