 By the third week of August, the 6th Army and "Fliegerkorps VIII" were receiving sufficient supplies to undertake without undue difficulties their primary mission of capturing Stalingrad.During the Battle of Kalach, "Fliegerkorps VIII" provided the German XIV and XXIV Panzer Corps' with decisive air support as the Soviet 62nd Army was encircled and destroyed west of Kalach from 8–11 August through the application of superior German firepower from all sides and especially from above.50,000 prisoners were taken by the Germans, 1,100 Soviet tanks were destroyed or captured and the road to Stalingrad was laid bare.