After I grew up and gradually started looking at different storybooks to learn about real-life skills, one of the biggest lessons that i got when I was a student of class VI or maybe VII after I went through the depiction of the street fight in the Stalingrad between RED army and Nazi's from Vivekananda Mukhopadhyay's famous book
"Ditiyo Biswajuddher Itihaas"
that
It's neither the intelligence nor the strength that matters. What matters most is resilience.
Read here....
The Battle of Stalingrad and Its Impact on Hitler's Defeat
The Battle of Stalingrad is one of the most significant and brutal battles of World War II, marking a crucial turning point in the conflict. The defeat of Nazi Germany's forces at Stalingrad during the winter of 1942-1943 had far-reaching consequences for Hitler and the Third Reich.
Background
- Operation Barbarossa: In June 1941, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. By the summer of 1942, the German Army had advanced deep into Soviet territory, aiming to capture the industrial city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) on the Volga River.
- Strategic Importance: Stalingrad was a major industrial center and a key transportation hub. Its capture would secure the southern flank of the German advance and cut off vital supplies to the Soviet forces.
The Battle
- Initial Assault: The battle began in August 1942 with a massive aerial bombardment followed by a ground assault. The Germans initially made significant advances, but the Soviet defenders held on tenaciously, fighting for every street and building.
- Urban Warfare: The battle degenerated into brutal urban warfare, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The close-quarters combat and harsh winter conditions further compounded the difficulties faced by the soldiers.
- Soviet Counteroffensive: In November 1942, the Soviets launched Operation Uranus, a massive counteroffensive that encircled the German 6th Army and its allies. The encircled forces, commanded by General Friedrich Paulus, were cut off from supplies and reinforcements.
The Defeat
- Winter Conditions: The encircled German forces faced extreme winter conditions, with temperatures dropping below freezing, leading to severe shortages of food, ammunition, and medical supplies.
- Surrender: On February 2, 1943, after months of relentless Soviet attacks and worsening conditions, General Paulus surrendered the remaining German forces in Stalingrad. The defeat marked the first major capitulation of the German Army during the war.
Impact on Hitler and the War
- Psychological Blow: The defeat at Stalingrad was a significant psychological blow to Hitler and the Nazi leadership. It shattered the myth of the invincibility of the Wehrmacht and boosted the morale of the Allied forces.
- Strategic Consequences: The loss of an entire army weakened the German military position on the Eastern Front. It marked the beginning of a relentless Soviet advance westward, which would eventually lead to the fall of Berlin in 1945.
- Shift in Momentum: Stalingrad marked a turning point in the war. The Soviet Union gained the initiative and began a series of offensives that would push the German forces back across Eastern Europe.
Conclusion
The Battle of Stalingrad was a pivotal moment in World War II that had a profound impact on the course of the conflict. The harsh winter conditions, combined with the determined Soviet resistance and effective counteroffensive, led to a devastating defeat for Hitler and his forces, setting the stage for the eventual downfall of the Third Reich.
Now, let me help to energise the memory of my contemporary people.
I have learned mental toughness from many sources - one of which was Martina Navratilova -Steffy Graph and Ivan Lendle - Borris Becker matches.
Now listen to my personal experience - the feeling in such a situation from a horse's mouth.
In my small town, I and my partner used to participate in senior badminton tournaments even when we were just sub-juniors.
Our doubles team reached the semi-final in the first attempt after defeating many senior people.
The audiences were so enthralled, that they wanted to know who is a better player - me or my partner?
So, a match was organised between me and my partner - Adhir.
I started winning in great fashion. Just two or three points away from the win. My partner was far behind. I thought I had already won. Now he cannot beat me anyway.
And that was the time which I never expected. My partner suddenly seemed to become unbeatable. None of my tricks was working. Frustration built up.
And I was feeling like Oh my God... what has happened to me…
The score became almost equal. The fight seemed to be unbearable. It was just the nerve that was working. Nothing else.
The match had to be stopped because it was pretty late in the winter night. and we had to walk a long distance to reach home.
But the lesson was learned.
Never start your mental champagne party before the final point is won.
Another such test of your patience will be when you fly kites.
There are two ways by which you can do a kite fight
- one is by manoeuvring your kite and pulling your string very fast. This is a technique used by the real fighters - the aggressive ones who just want to kill the enemy with the first attempt. No wastage of time. Just move forward and kill.
- the other way - usually taken by the less skilled players - a passive way of Surki khela - just loosening the threads freely and letting God decide who wins.
I started as a second category but then learned the skill and moved to the first category of fighter after some years of practice and learning. It was not an easy task.
Most of the time the first category people always used to win. Because they never gave any time to the victim to think, maneuver or even hide. They just approached fast and killed.
Now even amongst them, there were different characteristics. There were two expert first-category fighters in our locality - one was Khokanda and the other was Ajit, my badminton partner's elder brother.
Khokanda had just sheer power. He never used to fly kites for a long time... Just maybe for 1 hour in the afternoon. His kite used to fly at a very high altitude, almost beyond anybody's imagination.
But when he used to come down, it was just like a hawk, fast, no time for the victim to even hide and before you think what is going on... you are gone - out. No way of protecting yourself... You have to surrender. Absolute powerplay.
Ajit was somewhat not that cruel. But he had the maneuver skill. And, I learned by observing him that the precision in the time when you start pulling the thread fast will decide the result. And it depends on a lot of things. If less air, more sagging. If more air, less sagging.
I remember, one day Ajit told me why it is not a good idea to use heavy threads for kite flight because it creates more problems to do precise calculations because of more sagging.
So the mental calculation of exactly when the force where the thread of your kite touches the enemy's thread, the calculation, and the necessary maneuver...
I swear it's a great skill to build attitude...
And when Ajit and Khokanda had a duel, people used to flock around Ajit (as Khokanda used to fly kites from the rooftop) to enjoy the duel between skill and power...
Oh my God... what a great show…
And now, in the case of the second category of kite-flyers, sometimes, it takes a very long time to get the result. The kites almost go beyond vision. And then the game of patience starts. Eventually, one participant cannot bear it anymore and most of the time he loses because he stops the surki thinking that ...
enough...
no more...
Let me stop it...
Life is a long-haul game... No shortcut to winning..
Patience matters...
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