Breakout from Stalingrad: German radio exchanges during Operation Winter Storm (Narrated by TIK)

Winter Storm and Thunder Strike: transcript of exchanges between top commanders at Army Group Don and 6th Army.
The 6th German Army of General Paulus had been fighting in Stalingrad since
September 1942. Then in November, it was encircled as a result of the Soviet
counteroffensive, and the besiegers became the besieged. 300,000 men were trapped
between the Don and Volga Rivers. Everyone was now expecting the relief operation
supervised by Field Marshal von Manstein, then considered the most capable German
commander, which would break through the Soviet ring and free them up. Launched on 12
December, Operation Winter Storm (Wintergewitter in German) reached its decisive stage on
18 December. Hoth's 4th Panzer Army has finally broken through Soviet defenses on the Aksai
River and at Verkhne-Kumsky, where it had been stuck for almost 5 days, and its vanguards
have reached the Myshkova River, the last defense line before reaching 6th Army.
There had been much arguing about whether Paulus should have, or could have broken out
of encirclement when it became clear that the relief army could not get any closer to his own.
In these critical days, transcripts of radio exchanges between Paulus, Manstein and other key
leaders were recorded and stored in archives.
Let's review these extremely interesting documents, along with situation maps, and see if
they can shed light on the respective responsibilities of these leaders.
Let's see how they assessed their situation, what was possible to do, what was suggested, and what was eventually decided.

Sources: NARA Archives
NARA T-312 R-1508 F-0082
NARA T-312 R-1507 F-1265
NARA T-311 R-271 F-0370, 0371
NARA T-311 R-271 F-1126
NARA T-312 R-1507 F-0299

Видео Breakout from Stalingrad: German radio exchanges during Operation Winter Storm (Narrated by TIK) канала Stalingrad Battle Data