tedrick@ernie.berkeley.edu (Tom Tedrick) (03/11/86)
From "Encyclopedia Brittanica" (1960) (by the way Lidell-Hart was the author) Refering to the German armies at Stalingrad: (23 page 791Y) "They were thus becoming ripe for the counterstroke which the Russian command was preparing. It was launched on Nov. 19 and was well timed. ... A pair of pincers, each composed of several prongs, was inserted in the flanks of the Stalingrad attack, so as to isolate the 6th army and the 4th panzer army. The pincers were driven in at places where the flank cover was largely provided by Rumanian troops. The plan was devised by a brilliant triumvirate of the Russian general staff, Zhukov, ... Vasilevsky and ... Voronov. By Nov. 23 the encirclement was completed. It was welded more firmly in the days that followed, enclosing more than 200,000 Germans." [comment: Zhukov, etal. would not have looked so brilliant without information about location of Axis forces, Axis plans, etc., which were leaked thru Enigma. This information, (which I of course still have to prove to you was lost via insecure cryptosystems) was fundamental and indispensible in formulating the Soviet plan.] "Meanwhile, another powerful Russian force had burst out of the Serafimovichi bridgehead and spread out over the country west of the Don bend. This outer-circle movement was of vital importance, for it dropped an iron curtain across the more direct routes by which the relieving forces might have come to the aid of Paulus. Thus the German reply, in mid-December, was delivered from the southwest ... But this ... was checked ... and gradually forced back by Russian pressure on its own flank. With the frustration of this attempt any hope of relieving Paulus passed ... ] [I claim that information about location and strength of German forces, and German operational plans, was of fundamental importance in blocking the relief attempt. When you know enemy plans and available forces it is much easier to interfere with them.] [Later I intend to give more evidence that Soviet plans were based on information lost thru use of Enigma. Here I want to set the stage for future postings.]