Oneohtrix Point Never

Communication difficulties, however, meant that Stalin did not receive a full and accurate report of the situation until the evening that same day, at which point he renewed his demand for immediate action.

Yet that very night, Lopatin requested permission to withdraw his forces to the city's middle defensive line.

Stalin, in an initial response, not only approved this withdrawal but went further still, secretly ordering both the 62nd and 64th Armies to fall back to the final defensive line, with rearguard units left behind under explicit orders to fight to the death.

Almost immediately afterwards, however, Stalin received Eremenko's own counterattack plans and reconsidered.

Following the failure of the Soviet counter-attack against the Venetsi bridgehead, the German 71st Infantry Division crossed the Don the evening of the 24th.

With the bulk of the Soviet 62nd Army diverted northward to deal with the bridgehead and the isolated 14th Corps, the town of Kalik itself was left only weakly defended and fell rather quickly, forcing a 5-kilometer Soviet withdrawal in its wake.

Lopatin again requested permission to retreat and was again refused by Ermenko.

Despite Stavka twice raising the question of whether the 62nd and 64th armies ought to be pulled back, Ermenko remained stubbornly unwilling to surrender any further ground, placing his faith instead in the eventual success of his own counter-offensives.