Stalingrad: When should Germany have started the retreat?

Any faster German advance would help capture more POWS, I think alot of the 62 Army's fighting strength was transferred from the east bank into the city once the fighting started (elite Guards division and naval infantry brigades). Other 62 Army units (civilian militia brigades were never sent to the open steppe to begin with).

But those were sent later, after the battle has already started. 62nd was pretty mauled in the open as it was, preventing it from retreating into the city would leave at least northern and central parts more exposed.
 
But those were sent later, after the battle has already started. 62nd was pretty mauled in the open as it was, preventing it from retreating into the city would leave at least northern and central parts more exposed.
And probably also deprived the militia brigades being formed of any experienced cadre officers and NCOs.
 
A damning indictment of Paulus, who'd never commanded anything higher than a company prior to taking the Sixth Army (he'd been a staff officer for most of his career).

Paulus showed that he was not a true combat leader in alot of ways. To my knowledge, he never inspected front line positions during the Stalingrad battle. Likewise, he expressed surprise as to why aircraft could not land at various landing strips at night. Evidently, he had never even been to the airstrips and never realized that not all of them were equipped with landing lights. Instead, Paulus spent alot of time at his headquarters indulging in a personal hobby- redrawing maps of Napoleon's Russian campaign.

As a side note, I watched a Russian documentary on Vlasov. He and Paulus had an awful lot in common:
- Both were competent, but hardly inspirational to their soldiers. Though Vlasov was identified by Zhukov as being talented, Vlasov rarely inspected front line positions and even communicated to his immediate staff via messages written from a closed office and then delivered by an aid.
- Both kept their headquarters relatively well stocked with creature comforts while their men starved (Vlasov even brought a "field wife" to his encircled army).
- Both saw their armies needlessly destroyed and later broke with their respective tyrants.
 
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I've heard something along those lines.

It really happened and that is almost a literal transcription. Seen it in multiple sources. Un*freakin*believable that a head of state could think that way.

With this attitude, I do not think there really is any plausible way of averting Fall Blau, other than conveniently snuffing Hitler prior to June/July 1942.
 
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