vember 22nd 1942 he ordered Paulus to fortify his position and wait for reinforcements to arrive. General Manstein arrived with reinforcements and told Paulus to join up with him. Paulus refused because he didnt have a direct order from Hitler to do so. If Paulus would of attacked to break the Russian lines, and joined up with Manstein it would of a least prevented a total loss for Germany. But instead Mansteins force was driven off and now Paulus and his army were alone, surrounded, and at the mercy of the Russians and the cold winter. On January 8th 1943 the Russians demanded that the Germans surrender, but they refused and two days later the Russians attacked. Paulus radioed to Hitler that it was hopeless, but Hitler insisted that Paulus would not surrender. By the 25th of January 1943, the Russians took the last German airfield thus totally cutting off the flow of supplies. By this point the German army was almost out of food and ammunition. Thousands of soldiers were wounded but couldnt be helped because there were no medical supplies. On January 31st, 1943 Hitler promoted Paulus to field marshal and reminded Paulus that never in Germany s history had a field marshal surrendered. Hitler urged Paulus to commit suicide to avoid the dishonor of having to surrender from happening, but instead Paulus finally surrendered on February 2nd, 1943. The Russians took over 110,000 prisoners including 24 generals. In the whole battle of Stalingrad over 800,000 German soldiers died. The defeat at Stalingrad went further than casualties and captured soldiers, but it also ended the German campaign in Russia. It also showed that the Germans could be beaten. The battle was the first major victory for the Soviets and set the stage for a counter offensive that would not only reclaim all of their lost land, but would eventually bring them to Berlin. ...
