With Stalingrad surrounded, the Soviet Army’s next move tightened the noose. Southwest Front’s 21st Army headed east and crossed the Don on 27 November. Don Front’s 65th Army headed east toward Vertyachiy and Peskovatka. Stalingrad Front’s 4th Tank Army struck northeast to Kalach to meet up with 26th Tank Corps encircling German forces across the Don.
Remnants of III Rumanian Army fell back to the Chir River forming a defensive line between the mouth of the Chir and Vershenskaya railway station in conjunction with the IV Rumanian Army and German troops. XVII Army Corps positioned themselves between the Chir and Krivaya Rivers near Dubovskoe.
XLVIII Panzer Corps occupied the gap between the III Rumanian Army and XVII Army Corps. Army Group Don set up a defensive position between Army Groups A and B. This included Operational Group Hollidt and IV Panzer Army.
Von Manstein intended to relieve von Paulus’ forces. The plan was called Operation Winter Storm. German forces on the Chir River near Nizhne-Chirskaya were only 65 kilometers from von Paulus’ forces. Colonel General Hoth, in Kotelnikovo, was only 120 kilometers away, but in a better position for penetration through the Soviet forces to link up with the surrounded VI Army. Von Manstein intended XLVIII Panzer Corps of Operational Group Hollidt as the spearhead.
By 29 November the area occupied by VI Army had been reduced by half.
On the Soviet side, a new offensive called Saturn was in the planning stage. Southwest Front, reinforced with 1st Guards Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Kuznetsov, and the left wing of the Voronezh Front, would attack the Italian VIII Army on the middle Don between Novaya Kalitva and Vershinskaya, and enemy forces on the Chir River and around Tormosin. The attack would then proceed south toward Millerovo and Rostov.
Meanwhile, 5th Tank Army worked to wear down German forces on the Chir River line.
Major General Hermann Balck, commander of IX Panzer Division raced north from Rostov to attack Soviet forces surrounding Stalingrad. On 7 December he encountered two Soviet tank brigades at State Farm 79. After nightfall, Balck left a blocking force, circled around the Soviet armored force and attacked them from the north destroying 53 tanks. He then received notification of a Soviet bridgehead across the Chir River. He eliminated that bridgehead, but the Soviets now had many of them across the Chir.
On 8 December STAVKA ordered 5th Shock Army, Lieutenant General M. M. Popov, to attack between 51st Army, Stalingrad Front, and 5th Tank Army, Southwest Front, in preparation for an attack on von Paulus’ forces.
Operation Winter Storm began on 12 December when Colonel General Hoth’s forces attacked out of Kotelnikovo. His 13 divisions were opposed by the Soviet 5th Shock and the 51st Army’s eight rifle divisions, permanent fortifications, two mechanized and two cavalry corps, four tank brigades, eight artillery and mortar regiments, and two regiments of rocket artillery.
There was hope that the Hoth Group could make contact with von Paulus’ VI Army by driving northeast toward Stalingrad along the railway. VI and XXIII Panzer Divisions with cavalry and infantry made a breakthrough trying to link up with VI Army southwest of Tundutovo Station. They were opposed by the 126th and 302nd Rifle Divisions of the 51st Army.
Exploiting the German’s superiority in tanks and aircraft, VI Panzer Division reached the southern bank of the Aksey River. XXIII Panzer Division penetrated north of Nebekovo.
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 