Fritz Erich von Manstein1939
Chief of Staff to the Army Group South under General Gerd von Rundstedt
Germany · Warfare / World War, 2nd. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
Chief of Staff to the Army Group South under General Gerd von Rundstedt
1st day of Operation Barbarossa, commands the Army Group South consisting of 52 Divs
As part of the second phase of the operation, on 9 July, Army Group South was split into Army Group A and B with Wilhelm List appointed as commander of Army Group A in place of von Bock
Hitler and von Bock, commander of Army Group South, argued over the next steps in the operation. The heated debate, and continuing Soviet counterattacks, which tied down 4th Panzer Army until 13 July, caused Hitler to lose his temper and dismiss von Bock
The splitting of Army Group South enabled the launching of Operation Edelweiss and Operation Fischreiher, the two main thrusts of the Army Groups. Both groups had to achieve their objectives simultaneously.
The success of the initial advance was such that Hitler ordered the 4th Panzer Army south to assist the First Panzer Army to cross the lower Don river.
This assistance was not needed and Kleist later complained that 4th Panzer Army clogged the roads and that if they had carried on toward Stalingrad, they could have taken it in July.
When it turned north again two weeks later, the Soviets had gathered enough forces together at Stalingrad to check its advance
Believing that the main Soviet threat had been eliminated, short of oil and needing to meet all the of Case Blue, Hitler makes changes to the Fuhrer Directive No. 45: reorganized Army Group South into two.
smaller Army Groups, A and B; directed Army Group A to advance to the Caucasus and capture the oil fields (Operation Edelweis); directed Army Group B to attack towards the Volga and Stalingrad (Operation Fischreiher).
Appointed Commander of the Army Group South Ukraine
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