On the Eastern Front, the Axis defeated Soviet attacks during summer and began its own main offensive to southern Russia along Don and Volga Rivers in June 1942, trying to take over oil fields in Caucasus, critical to the Axis for fueling their war effort, and a great steppe. Stalingrad was in the path of the Axis army, and the Soviets decided to defend the city. By November the Germans had nearly taken Stalingrad, however, the Soviets were able to surround the Germans during winter After heavy losses, the German army was forced to surrender the city in February 1943. Even though the front was pushed back further than it was before the summer attacks, the German army still had become dangerous to an area around Kursk. Hitler devoted almost two-thirds of his armies to The Battle of Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad was the largest and deadliest battle in this world's time.