Robert Forczyk — книжные серии

By December 1942, the Soviets had surrounded the German 6th Army in Stalingrad, cutting off all lines of supply except through the air. Seeking to sever this last German lifeline, Soviet Command decided to launch a raid with the entire 24th Tank Corps to seize the airfield at Tatsinskaya, the primary operating base for the German airlift efforts. On 17 December, the 24th Tank Corps advanced toward Tatsinskaya, seizing the airfield on Christmas Eve. The Soviet tankers succeeded in destroying many Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground, but afterwards found themselves isolated and out of fuel behind the German lines. Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein rapidly organized a counterattack with elements of two panzer divisions, crushing most of the raiding force between 26 and 28 December. Just before the raiding force was annihilated, it received permission to abandon its heavy equipment and escape back to Soviet lines on foot. Thus, the raiders accomplished their mission of severely disrupting the airlift to Stalingrad, but at the cost of an entire tank corps.

The successful rescue of imprisoned Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from atop the Gran Sasso plateau was one of the most dramatic special forces operations in military history. Arrested by his own officers in July 1943, Mussolini had been whisked away to an isolated and heavily guarded mountaintop resort, the Hotel Campo Imperatore which could only be reached by a heavily guarded cable car station. The Germans, led by SS Haupsturmführer Otto Skorzeny, launched a daring Glider-borne assault, which surprised the Italian guards and secured Mussolini without a shot being fired. However, when the original escape plan had to be scrapped, the Germans organize a desperate, last minute airborne extraction to escape before the Italians could launch a counter attack.

Zhukov was the dominant figure in the Red Army during World War II even though his actual job title varied from day to day. Serving as a senior General Staff representative from the Stavka, Zhukov moved from one critical sector to the next, serving as advisor, coordinator and de facto front commander as required. There is no doubt that Zhukov played a critical role in salvaging the critical situation in the autumn of 1941 and leading the Red Army to an amazing reversal of fortunes in 1942-43 and eventual victory in 1944-45. However, Zhukov's methods were brutal and contributed to massive Soviet casualties, while he continued to keep his hand in political affairs as well. As the most recognized Soviet soldier of World War II, Zhukov's post-war fall from grace was precipitous and it was not until the fall of the Soviet Union that his reputation was restored. This book presents a analysis of Zhukov's military career, highlighting the strategies and tactics that made him such as successful military leader.

This volume details the military career and accomplishments of Walther Model, the youngest Generalfeldmarschall in the Wehrmacht in World War II and Hitler's favourite commander. Model was a tough and tenacious commander, particularly when on the defensive, and his career rise was virtually unprecedented in German military history. Model really made his mark late in the war, when time was already running out for the Third Reich, but time and again he was rushed from one crumbling front to the next and succeeded in temporarily restoring the situation. Above all, Model deserves recognition as one of the great defensive commanders of modern military history.

Erich von Manstein was one of the most successful German commanders of World War II. His military mind proved outstanding in many a conflict but perhaps his greatest triumph was his ingenious operational plan that led to the rapid defeat of France in May 1940. Manstein also showed great skill under adversity by commanding a furious rebuff to the Soviet armies in 1943, whilst Germany were retreating. However, his skill could not reverse Germany's declining fortunes and Manstein's frequent disagreement's with Hitler over military strategy led to his dismissal. Robert Forczyk tells the story of one of Germany's most valuable military talents, from his early years to his postwar conviction and his later career.

A detailed exploration of a critical month-long battle, which set the stage for German strategic-level defeats on both the Eastern and Western fronts.

In February 1944, 1st Panzer Army (under Generaloberst Hube) played a major role in the relief operation that saved part of the German forces trapped in the Korsun Pocket. However, the losses suffered in that effort left Hube's forces materially weakened, exhausted and with vulnerable flanks. Unexpectedly, Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front and Konev's 2nd Ukrainian Front attacked on 4 March, conducting a huge pincer operation against 1st Panzer Army. Within three weeks, Hube's 200,000-strong army was isolated, with its back to the Dniester River. The destruction of Hube's army would doubtless precipitate a rapid German collapse on the Eastern Front – two months before the Allied invasion of France.

In this work, Eastern Front expert Robert Forczyk presents a superbly illustrated examination of the initial Soviet encirclement operation, Hube's full-scale breakout operation to save his army, and the relief operation by 2nd SS-Panzer Corps (redeployed from the West) in April 1944. Although Hube's army managed to escape Zhukov's trap, it lost most of its equipment and was no longer fully combat capable. The German Army in the East had been seriously weakened, and the amount of German armour deployed in the West to counter any Allied landings in France had simultaneously been reduced.

A gripping, illustrated narrative of the longest and most brutal land battle of the 1904–05 Russo-Japanese War.

Growing rivalry between Imperial Russia and Imperial Japan over territorial control in China and Korea led to the outbreak of war in February 1904. Japan struck the first blow with a surprise naval attack against the anchored Russian Pacific Fleet at its base in Port Arthur. Once the fleet had been neutralized, the Japanese landed their Second Army on the Liaotung Peninsula in May 1904, in order to besiege Port Arthur. The fighting that followed has become legend in military history.

Respected military historian Robert Forczyk describes the Russian relief operation towards Port Arthur (the Battle of Telissu), and the lengthy siege of the Russian-held town and harbour. The initial Japanese attempts to capture the port by assault are documented in detail, together with the Japanese progress through the heavily fortified lines protecting Port Arthur.

Specially commissioned artworks bring to life in vivid detail the Battle of Nanshan Hill, the Japanese assault on the Wantai Heights, and the bombardments of the Russian forts. Maps and diagrams explore the strategic situation and tactical progress of the fighting in step-by-step detail, and over 60 period photographs reveal the appearance and weaponry of the opposing forces and the terrain around Port Arthur.

The final part in a three-book series on the Battle of Stalingrad, examining the Soviet encirclement, German relief efforts, and the final surrender of Paulus' 6.Armee.

Having fought hard just to reach the outskirts of Stalingrad, the Axis forces found themselves embroiled in a protracted urban battle amid the ruins of a devastated city on the Volga. The Soviet Red Army was able to hold onto the city then mount a surprise winter counter-offensive known as Operation Uranus, which succeeded in encircling the German 6.Armee at Stalingrad. Despite a desperate German relief operation, the Red Army eventually crushed the 6.Armee and hurled the remnants of the German southern front back in disorder.

This third and final volume in the Stalingrad trilogy begins just after the German 6.Armee has been isolated at Stalingrad, and covers the period from 24 November 1942 to 2 February 1943. The specially commissioned maps and 3D diagrams guide the reader in step-by-step, easily to follow detail through the German relief operation (Wintergewitter), the fighting on the Chir River, and the Soviet operations Koltso and Little Saturn, and are complimented by the battlescene artworks that vividly depict the harsh conditions experienced by the common soldiers fighting on both sides.

The second in a three-part series examining the Stalingrad campaign, one of the most decisive military operations in World War II, that set the stage for the ultimate defeat of the Third Reich.

By early September 1942, 6.Armee and 4.Panzer-Armee had reached the outskirts of Stalingrad, and Hitler believed it was about to fall. He ordered for the capture of the city as soon as possible, but this was easier said than done. On 13 September, a direct German assault was launched against the city on the Volga and a protracted urban battle followed amid the ruins, already devastated by massive Luftwaffe raids. Although hit hard by the initial German offensive, a ruthless and obstinate Red Army was able to hold onto the city through a costly battle of attrition that sacrificed huge amounts of men and materiel. This second volume in the Stalingrad trilogy, written by a leading expert on the military history of the Eastern Front, brings the fighting in the city to life in full visual detail, including the iconic battles at the Krasny Oktyabr Steel Plant, the Grain Elevator, the Barrikady and STZ factories, the ‘Tennis Racquet' and Rynok-Spartanovka. Drawing from sources on both sides, this book offers a truly comprehensive account of history's greatest urban battle.

After failing to defeat the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Adolf Hitler planned a new campaign for the summer of 1942 that was intended to achieve a decisive victory: Operation Blue (Case Blau). In this new campaign, Hitler directed that one army group (Heeresgruppe A) would advance to seize the Soviet oilfields in the Caucasus, while the other (Heeresgruppe B) pushed on to the Volga River.

The expectation was for a rapid victory - instead, German forces had to fight hard just to reach the outskirts of Stalingrad, and then found themselves embroiled in a protracted urban battle amid the ruins of a devastated city on the Volga. The Soviet Red Army was hit hard by the initial German offensive but held onto the city and then launched Operation Uranus, a winter counteroffensive that encircled the German 6. Armee at Stalingrad. Despite a desperate German relief operation, the Red Army eventually crushed the German forces and hurled the remnants of the German southern front back in disorder.

This first volume in the Stalingrad trilogy covers the period from 28 June to 11 September 1942, including operations around Voronezh. The fighting in the Don Bend, which lasted weeks, comprised some of the largest tank battles of World War II - involving more armour than the tanks employed at Prokhorovka in 1943.