Operation Blut

**Operation Blut** is a scenario in *Panzer Corps 2*.

## Briefings

In direct violation of our orders, and against my better judgement, we are here, Leutnant. Would you like to explain to General %playername% why we are still hiding in Stalingrad?

I'm sorry, Herr Oberst, but I thought it was the only way.

The only way for what?

To save the Sixth Army!

*Oberst Wagner begins to snarl...*

*But then remains silent, intent to listen to Leutnant Gerhardt.*

I've done the calculations... supply requirements for the army, distance from supply lines, strength of the Soviet forces...

Hundreds of thousands will be lost!

We have our orders, and if it is for the greater good for...

With respect, I do not agree, which is why I asked for you to stay.

But if the whole Sixth Army is doomed by staying, what purpose is there in us joining them!?

Sixth Army will stay in Stalingrad, but on paper only. Herr Oberst, I do not think you understand how rapidly the situation has deteriorated. Every day Field Marshal Paulus loses more and more ability to coordinate with the men he has left, and soon they will be starving and unfit to travel, let alone fighting.

What have you arranged?

**Primary Objective: Move 6 Evac Transports inside the Western Extraction Zone.**

**Primary Objective: Keep at least 6 Evac Transports Alive**

I have organized orders for those who are too wounded to travel to keep up the appearance that Sixth Army is still in Stalingrad.

But any men fit for travel have been made ready to evacuate the city, and they will breakout with your forces to escort them.

You have done this, on your own initiative?

Well no, not entirely.

And what of Field Marshal Paulus?

I'm afraid for the deception to work, he will have to remain ignorant of the plan... And also remain in Stalingrad. As will I.

*Oberst Wagner stares at Leutnant Gerhardt.*

Germany will never forget your sacrifice, my friend. Godspeed. Mein General, we have an army to save!

### Debriefing

Word just came in, Stalingrad is lost.

Once the Soviets realized only a skeletal force remained within Stalingrad, they attacked.

Field Marshal Paulus died when an artillery strike hit his department store headquarters.

None of his command staff survived either...

We may have lost Stalingrad, but we have saved the vast majority of Sixth Army's soldiers. The survivors are in no shape to fight and will need to rotate back to Germany to rest, but I believe we have spared them from a far darker fate.

As for our orders, Field Marshal Manstein has been named Commander of Army Group Don, and we're being attached to them. I suspect they're going to have fresh assignments for us next year.

Our campaign is at an end for now, but I can tell that our war with the Soviet Union is far from over...

But for now we have a moment to rest, and I've gotten another letter from Ana Sofia to share, if you'd like to read it.

My dearest Stefan,

I know that things are not going well for you, so I am writing this letter in the hopes that it will lift your spirits and bring you warm feelings and comfort through these winter months. The German Press has stopped printing stories about what is happening in Stalingrad, and I know enough to see this as an ill omen.

But maybe I can distract you from all of that, if for just a moment. It occurs to me that I haven't yet told you something important, so I will tell you now. There were two days this year that may have been the happiest day of my life. It might have been the night we were wed, but I think it is that day in February... when I had thought I lost you forever, only for you to suddenly arrive home with Adolf Galland in tow. I hope I did not embarrass you in front of him too much with how much I cried, but I had never been so overwhelmed by emotion as I had that day. Yes, that was definitely the happiest day of my life.

Since then, things have been going very well. Your daughter Johanna is almost one year old, and she has already begun to speak a few words! I can already tell she will be brilliant, and that she is taking after you, because I am told when I was young, I did not start speaking until I was two.

Life in your family home is pleasant. I help around the estate and with errands as much as possible, to the point your mother has asked that I do less, because she is bored from not having enough to do. I think it is the least I can do though, for all the help and love your family as shown me.

I sometimes get strange looks from some Germans when I go to town, because of my Spanish roots no doubt, but it is nothing serious. And whenever I tell anyone I am an officer's wife, their demeanor immediately warms up, which is nice.

But I must confess something to you now. There is a baker that I regularly purchase from, a gracious older gentleman named Rutger who is a friend of your mother's. He invited us for dinner one night, and I believe his teenage son now has a crush on me. Ironically enough his name is Stephan, which I found especially amusing.

I fear I will have to let him down easy, as I only have enough love for one Stefan in my life, but I was flattered for such a handsome young German to be interested in me. I wouldn't worry about him though, as I understand it he is off to Youth camp next year, and I am certain they will make him forget about me in no time. And if not, we will have to find a nice young German girl for him to pursue instead.

I hope that these stories from home have brightened your day. I know the war is not going well, and there are whispers that the Germany might move to a full wartime economy as the battles continue... but these are concerns for another day.

We hope you will home come to us soon, and until then I will continue to await your next letter.

Your Capitana,
Ana Sofia Wagner

**In this alternate history, the Soviet encirclement and recapture of Stalingrad still occurs. The exhaustion of the German forces from months of fighting, and strength of the Soviet counteroffensives proved to be insurmountable obstacles.**

**And while Field Marshal Paulus was killed in combat, the vast majority of his Sixth Army lives to fight another day.**

## Walkthrough

*This article is a stub. You can help Panzer Corps Wiki by expanding it.*

## Locations

* Volga River

* Rail Station

* Stalingrad

* Kalach

* Vertyachiy

* Don River

* Chir River

* Stalingrad Airfield

* Chir Rail Station

* Verkhne-Kumskiy

* Western

* Evacuation

* Zone

* Volga River

* Rail Station

* Stalingrad

* Kalach

* Vertyachiy

* Don River

* Chir River

* Stalingrad Airfield

* Chir Rail Station

* Verkhne-Kumskiy

* Western

* Evacuation

* Zone

## Messages

* Transport successfully reached Evacuation Zone!

Total evacuated transports is now %d.

* Transport successfully reached Evacuation Zone!

Total evacuated transports is now %d.

## Notes

* Completing this mission will award 1 Strength point worth of Captured SMG Inf, which will trigger an event in Zaporizhia if imported as part of a core force into *Axis Operations 1943*.