 The German 6th Army was only a few dozen kilometres from Stalingrad.The 4th Panzer Army, ordered south on 13 July to block the Soviet retreat "weakened by the 17th Army and the 1st Panzer Army", had turned northwards to help take the city from the south.To the south, Army Group A was pushing far into the Caucasus, but their advance slowed as supply lines grew overextended.