Battle of Stalingrad | History, Summary, Location, Deaths, & Facts
Battle of Stalingrad, (July 17, 1942–February 2, 1943), successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia, USSR, during World War II.
Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov
The turning point of the battle came with a huge Soviet counteroffensive, code-named Operation Uranus (November 19–23), which had been planned by Generals Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich Vasilevsky, and <anchor>Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov</anchor>. It was launched in two spearheads, some 50 miles (80 km) north and south of the German salient whose tip was at Stalingrad. The counteroffensive utterly surprised the Germans, who thought the Soviets incapable of mounting such an attack. The operation was a “deep penetration” maneuver, attacking not the main German force at the forefront of the battle for Stalingrad—the 250,000 remaining men of the Sixth Army and Fourth Panzer Army, both formidable foes—but instead hitting the weaker flanks. Those flanks were vulnerably exposed on the open steppes surrounding the city and were weakly defended by undermanned, undersupplied, overstretched, and undermotivated Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian troops. The attacks quickly penetrated deep into the flanks, and by November 23 the two prongs of the attack had linked up at Kalach, about 60 miles (100 km) west of Stalingrad; the encirclement of the two German armies in Stalingrad was complete. The German high command urged Hitler to allow Paulus and his forces to break out of the encirclement and rejoin the main German forces west of the city, but Hitler would not contemplate a retreat from the Volga River and ordered Paulus to “stand and fight.” With winter setting in and food and medical supplies dwindling, Paulus’s forces grew weaker. Hitler declared that the Sixth Army would be supplied by the Luftwaffe, but the air convoys could deliver only a fraction of the necessary supplies.
Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov | Soviet general | Britannica
Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov \| Soviet general \| Britannica

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Contents


# Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov

Soviet general

## **Learn about this topic** in these articles:

### Battle of Stalingrad

- ![Battle of Stalingrad](https://cdn.britannica.com/54/199954-050-51845DAC/soldiers-Soviet-offensive-troops-German-Battle-of-February-1943.jpg?w=300)
In [Battle of Stalingrad](https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Stalingrad#ref1259322)
Zhukov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich Vasilevsky, and Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov. It was launched in two spearheads, some 50 miles (80 km) north and south of the German salient whose tip was at Stalingrad. The counteroffensive utterly surprised the Germans, who thought the Soviets incapable of mounting such an attack. The operation was…
[Read More](/event/Battle-of-Stalingrad#ref1259322)

### role in World War II

- ![World War II: Germany invading Poland](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/188426-050-2AF26954/Germany-Poland-September-1-1939.jpg?w=300)
In [World War II: Stalingrad and the German retreat, summer 1942–February 1943](https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II/Stalingrad-and-the-German-retreat-summer-1942-February-1943#ref512045)
Vasilevsky, and Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov, was launched on Nov. 19–20, 1942, in two spearheads, north and south of the German salient whose tip was at Stalingrad. The twin pincers of this counteroffensive struck the flanks of the German salient at points about 50 miles north and 50…
[Read More](/event/World-War-II/Stalingrad-and-the-German-retreat-summer-1942-February-1943#ref512045)