Operation Winter Storm

Situation

The German 6th Army and elements of the 4th Panzer Army had been encircled in Stalingrad after the Russians had smashed the German front around Stalingrad when they unleashed operation Uranus in November 1942. The pocket within the city had fought on, resupplied from the air by the Luftwaffe, but were gradually running out of ammunition, food and fighting strength.
Hitler had forbidden the elements in the pocket freedom of movement to breakout, insisting that they fight on until relieved. That relief was to be provided by elements of Army Group Don, commanded by Field Marshall Von Manstein. However, preparations for the relief operation had not gone well and the start of the operation was continually postponed as units earmarked to bolster the relief force were redirected or delayed. The 48th Panzer Corps, which was to have taken part in the operation, was pinned on the lower Chir River by elements of the 5th Tank Army.
Therefore the main blow would be left to the 57th Panzer Corps, consisting of the 6th and 23rd Panzer Divisions. It would be supported on its left flank by the Romanian 6th Corps, consisting of the 2nd and 18th Infantry Divisions and on the right flank by the Romanian 7th Corps, consisting of the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions and the Cavalry Group Popescu. The jumping off point for 57th Panzer Corps drive towards Stalingrad was the town of Kotelnikovo, which lay on the southern arm of the Aksai River. The force would have to move northwards towards the city, crossing the two tributaries of the Don, the Aksai and the Mishkova, which barred their path.
Facing them were elements of the Russian 51st Army, including the 4th Cavalry Corps, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, 61st and 81st Cavalry Divisions, the 13th Tank Corps and the 91st, 96th, 126th and 302nd Rifle Divisions.

The 6th Panzer Division Secures Kotelnikovo

The main component of the 57th Panzer Corps, the 6th Panzer Division, began to arrive in Kotelnikovo on the 27th of November and was immediately thrown into battle against Russian forces around the town, which shelled the railway station as the leading elements of the Division began to detrain.
By the 4th of December, the majority of the Division had arrived in the assembly area around Kotelnikovo and established a defensive perimeter some 20km in depth, consisting of a series of local strong points. Russian forces of the 1st Cavalry Division, initiated an attack against the perimeter on the 5th of December. A mixed force of dismounted cavalry, supported by tanks, attacked the Divisions motorcycle Company at Topolev, forcing it to retreat back to Kudino. The Russian force continued its advance as far as Pokhlebin, where it was halted by elements of the Divisions 4th Panzergrenadier Regiment. The Russian tank force, consisting of elements of the 117th Tank Brigade, navigated around the town and continued its advance towards Sakharov, where again it found no success and so continued its advance towards Kotelnikovo. At this point it was met by a counter attack from the Divisions 11th Panzer Regiment, which steadily forced it back until nightfall when the fighting subsided.
On the following day the Russians committed the 2nd, 61st and 81st Cavalry Divisions and elements of the 302nd Rifle Division in the area of Pokhlebin. They were attacked by the 11th Panzer Regiment, which forced them into a pocket around the town. The pocket was gradually reduced and by the end of the day all resistance had ceased.
During the following few days, the remainder of the Division arrived and the remnants of the 23rd Panzer Division continued regrouping behind the Sal River.

Winter Storm Begins

The advance towards Stalingrad proper began on the 12th of December. In conjunction with the 23rd Panzer Division, the 6th Panzer Division was to break out of its bridgehead at Kotelnikovo and advance northwards towards Saliyevskiy, where it would attempt to cross the northern arm of the Aksai River. The remnants of the 23rd Panzer Division would protect its open right flank, but the 6th Panzer would have to cover its own left flank against the remnants of the 4th Cavalry Corps, which were positioned in Verkhniy Yablochniy and Verkhniy Kurmoyarskiy. To achieve this, the Division would attempt to advance as far as Chilikov, in conjunction with the 23rd Panzer Division and then sweep sideways, also destroying the remnants of the Cavalry Corps on its flank.
The attack began at dawn and was preceded by a concentrated artillery barrage against the positions of the 302nd Rifle Division to its north. The attack moved forward rapidly and had achieved most of its objectives by midday. It was then that the Divisions 11th Panzer Regiment swung to the west in order to clear its flank.
The move to clear the flank was preceded by a feint attack against Verkhniy Yablochny by elements of the 4th Panzergrenadier Regiment in order to distract the enemy. The village was resolutely defended by elements of the 81st Cavalry Division, which failed to observe the German armored force moving slowly into its rear. It was evening by the time the elements of the 11th Panzer Regiment managed to form up to the north of the village. Their attack achieved complete surprise and the Russian positions in the village were rapidly destroyed, with only a small force managing to fight their way out to the west.
By the end of the day, the 6th and 23rd Panzer Divisions had managed to advance up to 70km and destroy considerable enemy forces, without sustaining heavy losses themselves. However the Russians still maintained a considerable numerical superiority and there was a long way to go before success could be achieved.
During the night of the 12th of December, the 6th Panzer Division took the initiative and continued its advance, reaching the northern arm of the Aksai River at Saliyevskiy by first light on the 13th, crossing the river and forming a bridgehead in the town.

Armored Battle at Verkhniy Kumskiy

The Divisions 11th Panzer Regiment continued its advance northwards, reaching the village of Verkhniy Kumskiy in the early morning and finding it unoccupied.
As the Germans began to occupy the village, reconnaissance units spotted a large Russian tank concentration, elements of the 13th Mechanized Corps up to a Brigade in strength, to the east of the route of advance in the area of Hill 147. Elements of the Panzer Regiment wheeled to the east and engaged the tank force, inflicting considerable losses. The Regiment gradually worked around the flanks of the enemy tank Brigade, encircling and then destroying it.
As this engagement took place, Russian forces attacked the village, pinning the German defenders into the northern end. The elements of the 11th Panzer Regiment which had destroyed the Russian force in the area of Hill 147, now raced back towards the village to support the forces there. In conjunction with other elements of the Regiment, they attacked on both sides of the village and forced the remnants of the Russian armored Brigade to withdraw to the northeast.
A Russian mechanized Brigade, which had been dispatched to assist the armored Brigade that had just been defeated, now began to approach from the northeast. The German forces around the village, alerted by aerial reconnaissance, turned to face this new threat and attacked first its flank and then rear. In the resulting confusion, the remnants of the mechanized Brigade withdrew to the northeast.
Just as this action was drawing to a close, a second mechanized Brigade arrived from the northwest. It ran into a defensive line formed by the German armor, which had reoriented itself to face the new threat. A bitter tank battle took place between the two forces and the German position slowly became threatened as it was attacked from the rear by enemy infantry and anti tank guns. Meanwhile, the garrison in the village had also come under heavy artillery fire. Other elements of the Panzer Regiment moved up through the village and then swung to the northwest to attack the mechanized Brigades flank, forcing it to withdraw.
While this engagement continued, two Russian armored Brigades had begun to attack the village from the west. Several T-34's, supported by infantry, had broken into the village, but they were destroyed by infantry anti tank teams operating in the village using explosive charges. Russian forces were also trying to occupy the high ground to the southwest of the village and reach the Saliyevskiy-Verkhniy Kumsky road, cutting the Divisions supply line. The German armor to the north of the village, changed direction once more and wheeled to the south to meet the new threat. The two forces clashed in the high ground to the southwest of the village, as both sides attempted to force a decision to the day's battle. As waves of Russian tanks advanced towards the Germans, they introduced their last armored reserve, which attacked the Russians flank from the southeast. The Russians force was finally forced to withdraw to the west.
The conclusion of this final engagement left only the forces fighting in the village under threat. The German armored force broke back through to the village to extract the garrison. The entire German force then withdrew to the south and back into the bridgehead at Saliyevsky to regroup and resupply. Although no ground had been gained by the day's action, a large proportion of the Russian armored forces had been destroyed and the Russians will to pursue any type of offensive action had been broken.
As well as the armored struggle between Saliyevskiy and Verkhniy Kumskiy, elements of the 302nd Rifle Division continually attacked the southern half of the bridgehead at Saliyevskiy from the 13th to the 15th of December. Russian tanks penetrated the village on several occasions, but were destroyed by anti tank guns or infantry anti tank teams using explosive charges.

Recapturing Verkhniy Kumskiy

On the 16th of December, the Division moved out of the Saliyevskiy bridgehead once more. Its task this time was to clear Russian infantry forces, which had reoccupied the line of hills to the southwest of Verkhniy Kumskiy. The armored force left the bridgehead and moved in an anti clockwise direction around the battlefield, attempting to clear through the enemy positions from east to west. However, this proved extremely difficult, as the well-camouflaged Russians were extremely difficult to locate and flush out. They allowed the German armour to roll over their positions and then engaged the German personnel carriers and infantry with anti tank rifle and small arms. Unable to clear the position effectively, the armored force withdrew back into the bridgehead at Saliyevskiy in the evening, having achieved very little and having suffered heavy losses.
The following day it was decided to mount the same operation, but this time using two infantry Battalions to clear the enemy positions on foot. The two Battalions would advance either side of the Saliyevskiy-Verkhniy Kumskiy road, the 6th Motorcycle Battalion on the left and the 1st Battalion of the 114th Infantry Regiment on the right. The two Battalions were supported by additional engineer troops, the Divisional artillery and an armored reserve, which would be held in the village of Klykov. Movement into the assembly areas was carried out during the night. At first light, elements of the Motorcycle Battalion began approaching their first objective, an enemy observation post on Hill 140.
Following a short but concentrated artillery bombardment, the observation post on Hill 140 was captured. Once identified, dive-bomber squadrons of the Luftwaffe began destroying the enemy artillery positions. By mid afternoon the two Battalions had cleared the defensive positions to the south of the village, on both sides of the road. The Division decided to halt its advance and wait until nightfall before it advanced across the open terrain towards the village. During the afternoon, enemy artillery and armor concentrations were shelled and attacked by Luftwaffe ground attack aircraft. The night attack achieved total surprise and the Russian forces in the village withdrew rapidly to the north.

Battle on the Mishkova River

Following the capture of Verkhniy Kumskiy, the Division was tasked with providing assistance to the remnants of the 23rd Panzer Division, which was being attacked by elements of the 7th Tank Corps and being pressed back across the Aksai River. The 6th Panzer Division moved east towards Abganerovo, forcing the elements of the 7th Tank Corps to withdraw rapidly to the east. This allowed the 23rd Panzer Division to move back across the Aksai River.
On the 17th of December, elements of the 17th Panzer Division, with only forty-four tanks, began to arrive near Verkhniy Kumskiy. The Division crossed the Aksai River at Generalovsky and continued the pursuit northwards, of the remnants of the 13th Mechanized Corps.
The 6th and 23rd Panzer Divisions also continued their advance northwards towards the Mishkova River, which they reached on the 19th of December. Elements of the 6th Panzer Division captured the village of Bolshaya Vasilevka and its bridge over the river. The Division managed to form a small bridgehead around the village, which the Russians shelled heavily. The Divisions motorcycle Battalion also forced a crossing further to the east, at Parishkaya Kommuna. The 23rd Panzer Division had also reached the southern bank of the Mishkova River near Kapkinsky.
The Russians were so worried about the situation developing on the Mishkova River that they employed elements of the 2nd Guards Tank Army to try and destroy the German bridgehead. The 2nd Guards Army consisted of the 1st and 13th Guards Rifle and the 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps. The Army had been further reinforced by the 7th Tank, 4th Mechanized and 4th Cavalry Corps.
Worse still, on the 18th of December, the situation elsewhere on the front began to deteriorate, as the Russians opened operation Little Saturn. The Russian 6th and 1st Guards Armies smashed through the defences of the Italian 8th Army on the Don, sending it reeling and opening a huge gap in the front. The whole position on the lower Chir River began to give way and ended any possibility of the 48th Panzer Corps playing a part in the relief of the forces trapped in Stalingrad.
Russian forces spent the 19th preparing for a counter attack against the 6th Panzers bridgehead at Verkhniy Kumskiy, assembling on the high ground to the north and in the valley to the east of the village. The attacks opened on the 20th, as wave after wave of infantry advanced against the village from the north. The initial attacks were repulsed, but later during the day an attack from the eastern force broke into the eastern end of the village, moving around its southern flank into the rear of the bridgehead. This breakthrough was only halted when the Germans counter attacked with the Divisions assault gun Company.
The Germans desperately held on to the small bridgehead until the 21st, when a local counter attack managed to finally recapture the entire village and re-establish the perimeter. On the 23rd the 6th Panzer Division was ordered to prepare for a final effort to break out of the bridgehead and continue its advance northwards on the 24th. However the situation had deteriorated so badly elsewhere, that the order was rescinded later in the day and any chance of linking up with elements of the encircled 6th Army in Stalingrad were lost. The Division was ordered to cross the Don River at Potemkinskaya and then move to Morosovskaya. From there it was to bolster the forces fighting on the lower Chir River. The Division immediately began to withdraw into defensive positions further back, as did the elements of the 17th and 23rd Panzer Divisions on its flanks.
On the 24th of December, elements of the 2nd Guards Tank, 5th Shock and 51st Armies counterattacked along the entire front of the 57th Panzer Corps and the Romanian 4th Army. On the right flank, the Romanian Cavalry Group 'Popescu' was almost totally destroyed on the 26th of December in the area of Sharnutovsky by the 6th Mechanized Corps. The Romanian 6th Corps was forced back to the south by the 7th Tank and 4th Cavalry Corps. On the 29th of December, the remnants of the 57th Panzer Corps were forced to abandon Kotelnikovo.