On July 17, 1942–February 2, 1943 the Soviet forces were holding off the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe forces. In the battle of Stalingrad the Soviet Union introduced the new T-34 medium class battle tank which was a armored machine capable of impressing speeds outrunning almost every single German tank. T-34s were used against the German Howitzer tanks and Heavy tanks by shooting down their tracks and then going in circles around the tank slowly shooting it down. Another main reason why the Battle of Stalingrad was so important is the sudden turn of tide in the war as the Soviets succeeded in defending and pushing back the Wehrmacht forces from the city.
