The phased offensive
Directive 41 made the southern wing the main effort for the 1942 campaign. Its first operational requirement was destruction of the Soviet forces west of the Don rather than an immediate dash by every mobile formation toward the oilfields. The intended sequence used Voronezh and the Don to secure the northern side of the offensive, then carried the main effort through the Don bend and toward Stalingrad while opening the southern route toward the Caucasus. Stalingrad therefore belonged to the original design as part of the Volga and flank problem.…
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