er in May, Stalin began to allow his troops to retreat, which overrode his famous earlier order, "Not one step back!" Also, by this point the Russian soldiers heard of the horrible POW camps, and now preferred to die in battle than be captured. Both of these factors reduced the number of Russian soldiers that were captured during the war. In July, the German 6th Army, led by Paulus, advanced toward Stalingrad. At the same time Russian General Chuikov also moved toward Stalingrad to help General Zhukov, who was in charge of the defenses of Stalingrad. Despite the German army's huge losses, Hitler was determined to take Stalingrad. Stalin did not want to let it fall-especially because it was named after himself. Hitler wanted the city not only because it dominated the Caucasus and its oil fields, but also for its symbolic and propaganda value. He also believed that if he took Stalingrad it would eventually lead to the destruction of the Soviet Union. The battle of Stalingrad began on August 23, 1942 at 6:00 P.M. when one thousand German planes dropped incendiary bombs on the city. Air raids such as these were very destructive, especially since many buildings were made out of wood. One raid of 600 planes killed an estimated 40,000 civilians. That same day the German army arrived in the suburbs of Stalingrad. The first attacks by the German Panzers were taken by a single division of troops and some workers from a nearby factory. When the German soldiers entered the city they found the ruins from their bombings. They were surprised to find any life left in the city. Many small battles erupted soon afterwards. The German army encountered fierce resistance from not only the determined soldiers of the Red Army, but also from the patriotic civilians as well. Hitler had already claimed victory just as Napoleon had in 1812, but this battle was far from over. Fighting was harsh and neither side made many gains. One German general s...
