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BLAU ( June 28–November 18, 1942) OKH It corresponded to what Soviet historians call the “Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad defensive operation” ( June 28–July 27, 1942), during which Army Group South was opposed by five Soviet armies, comprising Southwestern Front under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko and four more armies of Southern Front led by Major General Rodion Malinovsky BLAU I aimed to drive to the Don The Wehrmacht struck first for Voronezh on the Soviet extreme right flank, reaching that city on the upper Don on July Having flanked the Soviet line, the Germans drive swung south, as Bock carried out a classic series of rolling flank attacks while also bringing pressure to bear toward the middle Don The result was one of the most terrible Soviet defeats of the entire war, as a yawning hole was ripped open and nearly 400,000 men and over 2,400 tanks were lost The fact that another Kessel was not created by the Panzers was mainly a result of the vast expanse of the battle area, which militated against encirclement Also, most of the Panzer armies were elsewhere BLAU II was planned as a rapid drive over the Donbass to take Rostov It was later renamed CLAUSEWITZ The Germans reached Rostov at the mouth of the Don on July 23 Instead of assaulting the heavily defended city they crossed the river to the north, then encircled Rostov from the east Hitler and the OKH next divided Army Group South into Army Groups A and B Army Group A was sent into the Caucasus, reaching for the oil fields at Baku, which had drawn Hitler’s eye away from Moscow and Leningrad in the first place Initially called BLAU IV, the OKH retermed the drive EDELWEISS Russian historians call it the “North Caucasus strategic defensive operation” ( July 25–December 31, 1942) Meanwhile, BLAU III got underway Recoded to FISCHREIHER (“Heron”) by the OKH, the advance by Army Group B was intended as an auxiliary operation to cover the flank of what Hitler saw as the more critical effort to seize the minerals of the Caucasus But Army Group B trapped Soviet 62nd Army in the great Don bend in mid-August and crossed the river on August 21 That opened a clear road to the Volga Russian historians call the Red Army defense against the drive that ensued the “Stalingrad strategic defensive operation” ( July 23–November 18, 1942) That was followed by the great Soviet counteroffensive launched on November 19, which smashed several minor Axis armies and trapped and annihilated German 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad During 1942 the Wehrmacht showed that it was still operationally superior to the Red Army But the series of BLAU operations also demonstrated that German military intelligence was persistently inadequate and that Germany’s top political and military leadership was strategically inept Wehrmacht army groups thus tore through Soviet defenses to reach the Don and the Volga and cut deep into the Caucasus They encircled and destroyed whole Soviet armies and took vast swaths of territory The Wehrmacht outran its logistical systems by November, both in the Caucasus and at the Volga, where 6th Army and other forces were badly extended into a deep and vulnerable pocket The Stavka exploited that vulnerability to smash weaker Axis armies on either side of Stalingrad and entrap 6th Army The Soviet counteroffensive nearly trapped Army Group Don as well It was clear by January 1943 that Hitler and the OKH had suffered a strategic defeat and not merely a lost battle or frustrated summer campaign The Axis order of battle was 164
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