The year was 1941. Germany was currently undergoing its first onslaught of Operation Barbarossa against the USSR. Millions of tanks, infantry and aircraft penetrated into the heart of Russia. Soon the German army had neared the outskirts of Moscow and Leningrad. Currently, Hitler's main objectives were to capture the Caucasus Oil Fields. With the oil he could refuel his tanks and wipe out the integral transportation of it for the Russians. However he also considered to attack Stalingrad, a long urban strip along the western banks of the Volga. The city was a dense industrial area and a key communications centre. Hitler quickly ordered to split the effort between the city and the Caucasus oil fields.

On August 23, 1942, thousands of German aircraft of the Luftwaffe division began to drop incendiary bombs above Stalingrad. The metropolitan area was heavily struck. Before long, the German 6th Army commanded by General Friedrich...