Isolation of German forces and suicide orders
Cut off from their rear by the encirclement maneuver carried out by the Soviets, the German forces could only count on themselves. Shortly after, the loss of the Tatzinskaya and Morozovskaya airfields further aggravated the situation. The German air force was indeed unable to organize an effective airlift and therefore to provide food, ammunition and men. This, combined with the pressure exerted by the Red Army, made the situation untenable.
The armored divisions, commanded by Von Manstein, which the Wehrmacht command had sent to break the encirclement of Paulus were stopped and pushed back by the Red Army, especially as Paulus refused to obey orders and attempt a sortie. . This failure sealed the fate of the besieged troops. Hitler, however, granted Paulus the title of Field Marshal, to induce his men to defend him beyond their courage, no recipient of this high honor having been captured before. Hitler justified this sacrifice by explaining that these troops made it possible to fix seven Russian armies which left him the field free to attack a sector other than that of Stalingrad. The soldiers of the Sixth Army absolutely had to die in combat, especially since the conditions of captivity which awaited the survivors were atrocious, because the Soviets had a deep hatred for the Nazi occupiers, who had been guilty of massacres of the population. ruthless as it progresses.
85,000 of the 91,000 prisoners succumbed, less to mistreatment than to the general weakening of their bodies, due to their prolonged exposure to the cold and the privations suffered during this last desperate fight.
The troops of the RKKA (Robotche Krestianskaïa Krasnaïa Armïa - the Red Army of workers and peasants) then proceeded to break up the enemy units by cutting off the southern sector of Stalingrad from the northern sector. The discovery by the Soviets of Paulus and his staff, hidden in a cellar, accelerated the capitulation of the German forces which took place on January 31, 1943 for the southern sector and on February 2, 1943 for the northern sector. Paulus personally ordered his troops to surrender.