The Soviet plan envisioned the encirclement of the German 6th Army with two mighty arms, cutting them off from the remainder of Army Group South. The Soviet 5th Tank Army, the 21st Army of the Southwest Front under Vatutin, and the 6th Army of the Don Front under Rokossovsky would drive down from the north and swing to the east, while the 64th Army, the 57th Army, and the 51st Army of the Stalingrad Front under Yeremenko would launch west and then north to join up near Kalach. The 66th Army and the 62nd Army would continue to hold the city of Stalingrad itself.
The northern wing attacked on 19 November, 1942. The morning mist prevented air support and slowed the advance in the initial stages. The 5th Tank Army and the 21st Army broke through the German defenses northwest of Stalingrad. The 4th Tank Corps of the 21st Army advanced thirty to thirty-four kilometers to capture Mandino.
The southern wing jumped off on 20 November. The 57th Army attacked between Lake Sarpa and Lake Tsatsa. The 51st Army drove between Lake Tsatsa and Lake Barmantsak heading for Sovetsky to the northwest. By that afternoon the 13th Mechanized and the 4th Cavalry Corps were introduced into the gaps.
That same day, on the German side, Field Marshall von Manstein was placed in charge of rebuilding a defensive line. Army Group Don set up a new line along the Chir River between Army Groups A and B. This included Operational Group Hollidt, III Rumanian Army, IV Panzer Army, and IV Rumanian Army. Divisions were brought in from the Caucasus, Voronezh, Orel, France, Germany and Poland.
By 1600 hours, 23 November, the two arms of the Soviet attack joined hands at the Sovetsky Farmstead near Kalach surrounding 22 German divisions, defeating III and IV Rumanian Armies and forming a wall of encirclement. The outside wall measured 452 kilometers, though only 258 kilometers were occupied by troops along the most important axes. The inner and outer wall were separated by 14 to 19 kilometers.
The German defensive gap measured 290 kilometers wide between Bokovskaya and Lake Sarpa. German forces in the Don River bend were isolated.
Von Paulus reported he wished to fall back to the Chir River and set up a hedgehog perimeter. He requested freedom of action with a view to forcing a breakout. Hitler refused to authorize a breakout, ordering von Paulus to fall back to Gumrak airfield. He issued a fuhrerbefehl to hold out at all costs. He promised von Paulus the 6th Army would be supplied by air. Von Paulus advised Hitler he would need 500 tons of supplies per day. If those were provided he thought he could breakout by Easter.
Again Hitler prohibited a breakout.
Hitler did not confer with the Luftwaffe about supplying 6th Army until the next day. General von Richthofen advised Goering that the Luftwaffe could not support 250,000 men by air. The best he could do was 130 tons the first two days. After that he could only supply 84.4 tons per day.
Sources: Red Army Resurgent, John Shaw and the Editors of Time-Life Books, Time-Life Books, Inc., Chicago, IL, 1979
‘Stalingrad: The Relief,” Colonel Alexander M. Samsonov, History of the Second World War Magazine, 1970s
Jack Kruse, Author 