Xuan Hua 06 September 2024
In the early winter stages of 1942, the Germans in Stalingrad generally believed that they could win. According to the Leader and Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces Secret Order No. 41: “The winter campaign in Russia is coming to an end. Thanks to the tenacity and sacrifice of our officers and men on the Eastern Front, the German army has won a great victory in the defensive war. The enemy has suffered heavy losses in men and materials. During this winter the enemy, in their attempts to enlarge the so-called initial gains, has greatly depleted the core of their reserve forces, which were to be used in future operations. Once the weather and terrain conditions are in place, the superiority of the German commanders and troops will once again win the initiatives and force the enemy into submission. Our objective is the final annihilation of the remaining forces of the Red Army and the capture of as many of their most important war economic resources as possible. To this end, all available forces of the Wehrmacht and our Allies shall be devoted to this objective. At the same time, the coast of the occupied territories in the west and north of Europe must be secured by all means.”
When Directive 41 was executed, the German 6th Army group compresed of 14 divisions with a total of 270 thousand men, plus two panzer divisions with 500 tanks and 3000 guns, not to mention the support of the Luftflotte 4, which meant they had 1200 combat aircraft to maintain air superiority.
These figures were not just a source of confidence for the Germans. For the Soviet behemoth, Germany had confronted with it, the legendary giant of the Bible, the Philistine Goliath. However, contrary to the historical story, their view was that this Goliath was so bloated and inefficient. Moreover, it even got rid of its commanding officer, General Tukhachevsky, known as the "Red Napoleon", just a few years back. It was viewed by the Germans as like cutting off a strong arm.
Germany, on the other hand, is more like that David, only this time it is a well equipped and confident David. This group of young people had no direct experience of the ceremony in Compiegne's train car in November 1918, as many were not even born yet. They only feel that some diminutive figure, godlike man had carried their country out of their despair and economic depression, such that they can again raise their heads before England and France. When they conquered France, they marched in the full glory of their uniforms into the pride of the rooster, the Arc de Triomphe. As for the British lions, as expected, they had relied on the English Channel to survive further onslaught.
When every logic substantiates this faith, it is inevitable that it results in this faith in their own invincibility. For more than a year of fighting against the Soviet Union, this belief was reinforced. Although, the Battle of Moscow did not achieve its goal, the gains at Kharkov once again proved that this David had the ability to slay dragons. The wreckage of the T-34 and KV tanks burned alongside the Panzer III on the march, accompanied by the strong morale of the German soldiers.
This time, the Führer wishes to humiliate the Georgian bear. Stalingrad, a city named after their mythologized leader. A capture of this city, which seemed more like a mental and pyschological blow, took precedence over the objectives of conquering the oil fields to the south. Stalingrad was, of course, viewed as the strategic location of the Soviet Union's central region, as a gateway to the important economic regions of the South. The capture of Stalingrad, was equivalent to controlling the Caucasus Area, such that if held, they can then attack Moscow from the south of the Persian Gulf. At the same time, west and south of Stalingrad was the Soviet war resource concentration area - in short, whether the battle was a strategic thinking or a move between two players on the chessboard, the fate of hundreds of thousands of pieces on the chessboard was rewritten.
The battle of Stalingrad is considered a turning point in the battle between the Allies and the Axis in World War II. A few months earlier, the American navy had achieved a turning point in the Pacific with the Battle of Midway, but this one on the eastern front was far more bloody and costly. The Germans want Stalingrad at all cost! Little did they know, however, that although the Germans occupied 80% of Stalingrad, the Sixth Army was completely destroyed with the start of the Soviet Operation Uranus. Paulus became a surrendered German marshal and 91,000 men were captured. In the end, only 5,000 people returned to Germany alive.
History can only reflect, of course, we cannot really turn back time, so Xuan Hua releases these 1:30 metal soldiers to take you back to the era laden with smoke and blood.
Xuan Hua's choice of non-combat status soldiers on the march, with the intention is that each embodies a living person. The figures reflect confusion, fatigue and anxiety, and an eagerness and desperateness to hold on to their gains. Each figure in that battle, hopefully represents a life to remember no matter what. This group of soldiers represents the German preparations, still full of confidence, but yet irony.
Unlike World War I's Verdun meat grinder and other battles with hundreds of thousands of casualties, gullies and machine guns are no longer enough to describe the Battle of Stalingrad. The close quarter hand-to-hand combat in the living rooms and kitchens, is also considered to be a "rat war." In this situation, the role of the MG-34 and 98K is more or less reduced, and sometimes, even the engineer shovel is the most advantageous weapon in hand to hand combat.
The cold winter of Russia had killed Napoleon many years before. Even though the Germans were equipped with winter coats, the harsh cold was still the greatest enemy of these pretentious Germans.
Xuan Hua releases for Stalingrad
Panzer III Type J, the main gun is 60 caliber long body 50 mm gun. A total of 2,616 were produced during the war. You can see its winter livery during the Battle of Stalingrad. However, due to street fighting, tanks played a very limited role in the campaign.
A German army that deploys military maps. Paulus, a staff officer, did not even serve as a regimental commander, so he was good at "talking on paper" and was a major cause of the German defeat later. (paper general)
Original Chinese text as published by Xuan Hua on Weixin follows:
《鍹华》血与火的转折点—斯大林格勒战役
鍹华模型
2024年09月06日 00:052
1942年初冬的时候，那些身处斯大林格勒的汉斯们总体还是认为自己将赢得胜利。
一切来自领袖兼国防军最高司令的第41号密令。
“在俄国的冬季会战即将结束。由于东线官兵表现得特别顽强和富于牺牲精神，德军已取得防御战的巨大胜利。敌人在人员和物资方损失极为严重。在这个冬季，敌人在扩大所谓初期战果的努力中，已使其准备用于以后作战的预备队主力受到很大消耗。一但天气和地形条件具备，德军指挥官和部队的优势必将再次赢得行动的主动权，迫使敌人就范。目标是，最终歼灭苏联红军残存的有生力量，尽可能多地夺取它的最重要的战争经济资源。为此，应投入德国国防军和盟军的一切可供使用的力量。但同时，无论如何应保障欧洲西部和北部占领区海岸的安全。”
当41号指令开始执行时，保卢斯的第6集团军有着14个师总数27万人，其中还有2个装甲军的500辆坦克，火炮数量达到了3000门，更别说还有第4航空队的支持——这代表有1200架作战飞机为他们遮蔽天空。
这些数字不是汉斯们自信的来源，对于苏联这个庞然大物，德国像是在面对《圣经》里那个传说中的巨人，那个非利士人的战争英雄歌利亚。而和历史故事不同的是，这个歌利亚显然是臃肿而低效的，它甚至在几年前除掉了有“红色拿破仑”之称的图哈切夫斯基，等同于剁去了一条有力的臂膊。
而德国，更像是那个大卫，只不过这次是装备精良充满信念的大卫。这群年轻人并没有对1918年11月福熙的那节火车车厢里的仪式有什么直观感受，那时候他们只是婴儿甚至尚未出生。他们只知道某位身材矮小的人物，那神一样的人带着国家走出绝望和萧条，在英法面前重新昂起头颅，甚至他们征服了法国，全身戎装走过那只雄鸡的骄傲，凯旋门。至于英国这头狮子，虽然没有像预期中那么很快降服，他们也只能依靠海峡来苟延残喘。 当每一个事实都佐证了信念，那信念就必然无坚不摧。在苏联的一年多时间里，这个信念也在不断被加强。虽然莫斯科战役没有达成目标，但哈尔科夫又一次证明这个大卫有着屠龙的能力。T-34和KV坦克的残骸熊熊燃烧，旁边是行军中的III号坦克，伴随着士气旺盛的德军士兵们。
这次，元首希望给格鲁吉亚熊一个羞辱。
斯大林格勒，这是以一个被神话化的领袖命名的城市。攻占这座城市，与南方的油田相比，这似乎更像是一次精神上的打击。当然，斯大林格勒是苏联中央地区通往南方重要经济区域的交通咽喉，战略位置同样是非常重要。攻占了斯大林格勒，等同于控制了高加索地区，北上可攻击莫斯科，南下可出波斯湾。同时，斯大林格勒以西、以南是苏联战争资源聚集区——总之，不管是这场战役是战略思考也好，或者是棋盘边两个棋手的一次怄气也好，但棋盘上几十万枚棋子的命运就此改写。
这场战役被认为是二战协约国和同盟国较量的一次转折点。几个月前，美国海军通过中途岛战役在太平洋战区打造了一个转折点，而这次在东线的转折点，代价要血腥和昂贵得多。
德国人志在必得！然而他们并不曾想到，尽管德国占领了80%的斯大林格勒市区，但随着苏军“天王星行动“的开始，最终第六军团完全覆灭。
保卢斯成为投降的德军元帅，91000人被俘。
最终活着回到德国的，不过区区5000人……
历史是用来回顾和重温的，我们当然不可能真的可以回溯时间，因此鍹華用30比例金属兵人来带你回到那个充满硝烟和鲜血的时代。
鍹華选择了非战斗状态，用意在于：它体现的是一个个活生生的人；有彷徨困惑、有疲惫焦虑、也有跃跃欲试。在那场战斗中的每一个成员，都不是一个冰冷的数字，无论哪一方都是值得铭记的生命。这组兵人采用了德军整备时的画面，彼时还满怀信心的状态，如今看来颇有讽刺意味。
和一战的凡尔登绞肉机之类的数十万人伤亡战役不同，沟壑和机枪火炮已经不足以形容斯大林格勒战役的立体更全面，甚至到了客厅和厨房各自占领的零距离短兵相接白刃战，因此也被认为是“老鼠战争”。在这种局面下，MG-34和98k的作用都被多多少少降低了，有时候工兵铲才是最有利的武器。
俄罗斯的寒冬，多年前已经让拿破仑折戟沉沙。德军派发了冬装但严寒依然是这群自命不凡的日耳曼人最大的敌人。
III号坦克J型，主炮为60倍口径长炮身50毫米火炮，战争中一共生产了2616辆。可以看到在斯大林格勒战役中它采用的冬季涂装。但由于巷战缘故，坦克在战役中发挥的作用非常有限。
对军用地图进行作战部署的德军。参谋出身的保卢斯甚至没有担任过团长，因此擅长“纸上谈兵”的他也是之后德军溃败的一大原因。
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