Operation Winterstorm: Von Manstein’s First (& Worst) Defeat Soon after 23 November, when the Soviets surrounded Sixth Army, its escape was authorized by Hitler. He had seemingly come to accept that a breakout by the army, and its abandonment of Stalingrad, was the only way to avoid catastrophe. However, the next day, he radioed a standfast order to Sixth Army headquarters. He gave his “personal assurance” the army would be rescued via a counteroffensive from the outside.

Articles

• Compare & Contrast: British & Germans Tactics in Operation Crusader Each of the combat arms enjoyed particular advantages over one or more of the others. Gen. Erwin Rommel, commander of the Afrika Korps, trained his men in the use of offensive tactics calling for close cooperation between tanks and towed anti-tank guns. On the defense, he concentrated on wrecking key British units rather than holding any piece of ground. In contrast, British tactics relied on mass, with tank formations supporting each other but not cooperating with the other combat arms.
• Wuhan: Battle for Central China, 1938 The goal the Japanese chose for themselves in China in 1938 was to occupy the triple cities of Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang (aka Wuhan) on the Yangtze River. In that way, they would force Chiang Khai-shek’s Nationalist regime out of central China and—or so they hoped—force him to the negotiating table, where he would have to accept terms that would effectively be a capitulation.
• Kriegsakademie: Germany’s War College The German general staff was informally known as the “brains of the army,” and its officer candidates studied for two years at the Kriegsakademie (War College) in Berlin. They were taught to operate using a standard set of principles, which critics have since dismissed as little more than institutionalized groupthink. Though the system did not produce perfect solutions, it almost always produced ones that worked. It also produced them quickly, which gave the Germans an advantage over their opponents early in the war.