After months of fighting, the Nazi Luftwaffe had air superiority and the Soviets death toll continued to rise. Stalin ordered every man, woman, and child able to wield a weapon or dig trenches. Stalin then ordered the infamous “Order 227.” which forbade the retreat of any soldier. The outlined punishments included a military trial and subsequent execution. Stalin’s situation did not get any better when other allied powers, most notably the United States, refused to provide reinforcements in an attempt to keep Soviet power in check. As the Soviet troops dwindled to the tens of thousands and left with dismal amount of tanks, Joseph Stalin knew he had to rely on his Generals Georgy Zhukov and Aleksandr Vasilevskiy. Luckily, both Zhukov and Vasilevskiy formulated Operation Uranus. The operation relied on forces coming in from the Northern Steppes and south of the city itself. Finally, after weeks of planning, on November 19, 1942, the Red Army, consisting of 18 different infantry divisions, took its first offensive strike against the 6th German Army and overtook the Romanian divisions protecting the North. Such an offensive caught an ill-equipped Wehrmacht of guard and the harsh winter conditions disabled all Nazi air support from the Luftwaffe. The next day another offensive from the south was taken and the two divisions major divisions encircled the entirety of the 265,000 Axis troops by the 23rd. Hitler, in an attempt to keep General Friedrich Paulus from surrendering, promoted him to field marshall to persuade him to take his own life and show honor to Nazi Germany. However, Friedrich Paulus had decided to put the lives of his soldiers ahead of the ego of Hitler and surrendered. The total number of soldiers who surrendered totalled 105,000 and 60,000 died during Operation Uranus. The battle resulted in a triumphant Soviet victory against the most powerful military on Earth at the time when the odds were stacked against them. This battle forced Nazi Germany to begin a defensive war against a determined and invigorated Red Army marching straight towards Berlin, subsequently ending the war in Europe. However, the tragic loss of life during this battle alone almost overshadowed the world-changing triumph occuring at the same time. The casualties soared to almost 2,000,000 total wounded and killed. 1.2 million killed on the side of the Soviet and 800,000 killed on the side of Nazi >