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Defeat at Stalingrad, QuickTime movie, 447Mb, 260x195.
| | Defeat at Stalingrad (November 1942/February 1943)
The Soviets determine that Stalingrad shall not fall, and a campaign of almost unparalleled savagery erupts as the Soviets hold the Germans in the western part of the city and pour men and equipment across the River Volga to hold the eastern part.
Then the Soviets launch powerful offensives north and south of Stalingrad, break through and debouch into the Axis rear areas to line up and thereby isolate the German 6th Army in Stalingrad.
Reichsmarschall Goering says that his Luftwaffe can supply the beleaguered army and Hitler orders it to stand fast. The German air effort is never large enough and suffers heavy losses, and the 6th Army is forced to surrender.
The Il-2 has been designed from the outset as a ground attack aircraft, and has been nicknamed the 'flying tank' of the Eastern Front. Originally a single-seater armed with wing cannon and rocket rails plus internal bomb bay, it performs heroically in the battles of Moscow and Stalingrad. Upped to a two-seater with a rear machine gun to fend off enemy fighters, it is sudden death to German tanks while its crew are protected from ground fire by an armoured 'bathtub'. | |  |
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