This is when Joseph Stalin gave this fateful order. Order 227. The watch-words of Order 227 were "NOT ONE STEP BACK". The Russian soldiers were sent into battle with the zagradbat behind them. The zagradbat were blocking battallions that were ordered to shoot their own men if they retreated in any way, shape, or form. Not one step back.
The Russian soldiers fought until the last drop of blood was shed from the last man. With their backs to the Volga river the Russians outflanked the Nazi Army, and ultimately won the Battle of Stalingrad.
At what cost?
It is estimated there were 850,000 German and Axis casualities, and over 1.2 million Russian casualities. That is 2 million casualities in a single battle to take one city. Not to mention the civillian losses. 40,000 Russian civilians died in one weekend of bombing by a Nazi Panzer Division, and the notorious German Luftwaffe.
These numbers are hard to get a modern American mind around. We are disturbed when one death is suffered in a modern war. Don't get me wrong. It breaks my heart when I hear stories of young soldiers laying down their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the horrible truth is...Wars are not measured in bullets and tanks. They are measured in lives.
Luke 14:25-35
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. "Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."To win a battle...a war there is a price to pay. The Germans and Russians both paid a high price. Likewise, to follow Christ there is a price as well. Will you count the cost? Will you deny self? Will you love Him more than family and posessions? Luke 14:25-35 is Jesus' ORDER 227. Not One Step Back.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
The cross before me, the world behind me.
My cross I'll carry 'til I see Jesus.
Though none go with me, I still will follow.
No turning back.
No turning back.
aj
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