Accounts of history's greatest conflicts, detailing the command strategies, tactics and battle experiences of the opposing forces throughout the crucial stages of each campaign, Stalingrad 1942-43 (1) The German Advance to the Volga, After failing to defeat the Soviet Union with Operation Barborossa in 1941, Adolf Hitler planned a major offensive for the summer of 1942 - Fall Blau - intended to demolish the Soviet Union's ability to continue the war. The bulk of Soviet field armies west of the Don were to be encircled and destroyed in a series of hard-hitting mobile battles reminiscent of the early days of Barbarossa. Then, the city of Voronezh would be taken, along with crossings over the Don, before German forces moved into the Caucasus to seize the oilfields. However, instead of a rapid or complete victory, German forces had to fight hard just to reach the outskirts of Stalingrad, losing tens of thousands of men in the process to an increasingly tougher opponent, who was no longer the cannon fodder of 1941.This first volume in the Stalingrad trilogy examines this epic battle and covers the land and air operations in the period from 28 June to 11 September 1942, including operations around Voronezh, and the brutal armour battles in the Don Bend. Book jacket.