Stalingrad Front K.K. Rokossovsky, who was transferred from command of Bryansk Front; Gordov was removed to the "STAVKA" reserves. Southeastern Front was disbanded, and Yeryomenko was put in command of the reorganized Stalingrad Front, with the 62nd, 64th, 57th, 51st and 28th Armies under command. This command structure would remain for the duration of the battle. As of Nov. 19, Stalingrad Front commanded five field armies, plus the 8th Air Army. On January 1, 1943, Stalingrad Front was renamed as the new Southern Front. Stalingrad Front The Stalingrad Front was a front, a military unit encompassing several armies, of the Soviet Union's
Battle of Stalingrad Soviet Union. The initial objectives in the region around Stalingrad were the destruction of the industrial capacity of the city and the deployment of forces to block the Volga River. The river was a key route from the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea to central Russia. Its capture would disrupt commercial river traffic. The Germans cut the pipeline from the oilfields when they captured Rostov on 23 July. The capture of Stalingrad would make the delivery of Lend Lease supplies via the Persian Corridor much more difficult. On 23 July 1942, Hitler personally rewrote the operational objectives for the 1942