Tatsinskaya Raid
Encyclopedia
The Tatsinskaya Raid was a Soviet armoured raid deep into the German rear conducted by 24th Tank Corps under the command of Major General
Vasily Mikhaylovich Badanov in late December 1942, during the last phases of the Battle of Stalingrad
(Operation Little Saturn). It was designed to force the Germans to divert forces attempting to relieve the 6th Army
trapped in Stalingrad. The Soviet force captured its objective, the Luftwaffe
airfield at Tatsinskaya, destroying over 72 aircraft on the ground, but was left cut off and without supplies. Despite the loss of most of the tank corps during the ensuing breakout, the raid was a great operational victory.
had encircled the Wehrmacht
's 6th Army in Stalingrad with Operation Uranus
, begun on 19 November 1942. By the middle of December, the German relief effort, Operation Winter Storm
, reached within 48 km of the encirclement ring, and the airlift trying to supply the encircled army was in full swing. In this situation, STAVKA
decided to launch Operation Little Saturn, to encircle all of German Army Group A
, by penetrating to the south and the coast of the Sea of Azov
. The danger this operation created was so serious that the German command had to give up any hope of relieving the 6th Army, and instead turned its attention to fighting the advancing Red Army
formations, while simultaneously trying to move as many formations as possible to the west. As a consequence of the threat, the most potent of the German divisions involved in the relief effort, 6th Panzer Division, was turned west, and ordered to first clear the raiding force from Tatsinskaya, and later to establish a new frontline towards the north of the airfield. With that decision, any hope of breaking through to 6th Army had vanished.
belonged to 3rd Guards Army
, which was commanded by General D.D. Lelyushenko, which was a part of the Southwestern Front
under the command of N.F. Vatutin
. The corps was designated as the army's exploitation force, in line with the doctrine of Deep Battle
. It was therefore not to be committed during the initial breaching of the tactical defenses of Axis forces in the sector, but would be committed once a breach in these defenses had been opened.
The assault by 3rd Guards Army commenced during the morning of 16 December 1942. In order to accelerate the breaching of the Axis tactical defense by his rifle formations, Lelyushenko committed the other two tank corps available to him (17th and 25th Tank Corps) during the initial phase of the battle.
24th Tank Corps was ordered to commence its operation at 1130 hours on 17 December. At this stage, 17th and 25th Tank Corps had already reached the operational depth and were in the process of encircling Italian 8th Army
and battling the forces of Army Detachment Hollidt. 25th Tank Corps later conducted a deep raid towards Morozovskaya to the east of Tatsinskaya. The purpose of the two deep raids was to cut off the German formations conducting Operation Winterstorm
, the relief attempt for the German 6th Army.
The raid was aimed at the German Luftwaffe's airfield at Tatsinskaya, from which a major part of the Stalingrad relief airlift was conducted. On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1942, they captured the airfield with an attack from three sides. The airfield may not have received a warning, since flight operations were still going on. An eyewitness account by a Soviet officer describes the scene:
24th Tank Corps claimed the destruction of over 300 planes on the airfield but only 72 were actually destroyed or almost 10% of the transport capacity of the Luftwaffe. The airfield defenses were quickly over-run, and while over 100 transport planes managed to escape, German losses were heavy. As the tanks were low on ammunition, almost all of the planes destroyed were rammed by the tanks. A number of planes were destroyed while still on railway cars on which they had arrived. Once the airfield was seized however, 24th Tank Corps was cut off, and found itself without supplies deep inside the German lines.
under Fieldmarshal von Manstein
had meanwhile ordered German XLVIII Panzer Corps
Panzerkorps
to move towards the deep penetrations the Red Army had achieved with the 11th Panzer Division and 6th Panzer Division. From 26 December, the two divisions had cut off completely the connection between 24th Tank Corps and 1st Guards Army. Towards the north, a mixed Kampfgruppe
blocked the road against other Red Army formations that might come to the assistance of 24th Tank Corps. The German command also brought up the 579th Infantry Regiment of the 306th Infantry Division and three armoured train
s: PZ 10a, 10b and 28. Together, these forces launched an attack with the aim of destroying 24th Tank Corps.
STAVKA reacted by ordering the Front command to assist Badanov's force. The available units were 25th Tank Corps, which had been reduced to 25 tanks by heavy combat, and 1st Guards Mechanized Corps
, which had incurred losses too. They were reinforced with infantry, but did not manage to break through to Tatsinskaya. This led to the need for Badanov and his surviving men to break out to escape destruction, and permission to do so was given on 28 December. Most of the matériel and many men were lost during the break-out, but the damage to the Germans had been done. German forces engaged in the relief of Stalingrad
had to be withdrawn to deal with the raiders, and many invaluable transport planes of the Luftwaffe
had been destroyed, with their crews and ground personnel mostly killed. 24th Tank Corps claimed the destruction of 84 tanks, 106 guns, the killing of 12,000 Axis soldiers and the capture of almost 5,000 more in this operation.
Despite this, the raid for the first time in the war had pushed a strong formation deep into the rear of mobile German formations, forcing the German command to adapt its own operational plans. Previous raids had been by much weaker cavalry
or airborne forces
operating with partisans
, and these had not been able to inflict as much damage.
Much was learned by the Soviet command from the raid, and it probably gave further impetus to create the new tank armies as independent formations capable of conducting sustained operations deep in the enemy rear. The almost complete loss of the equipment and that of many of the personnel of 24th Tank Corps also brought home the truth that operating so deep behind enemy lines carried exceptional risks.
for this operation, and quickly went on to command 4th Tank Army
later in the war, which he led in Operation Kutuzov
in July 1943. From 1944 onwards, he commanded the Red Army Armoured School, and he rose to the rank of lieutenant-general.
During the raid, 24th Tank Corps was renamed 2nd Guards Tank Corps and given the honorific title 'Tatsinskaya' to honour of its achievement. It later played a key role in the Battle of Prokhorovka
, as well as many other important operations during the remainder of the war.
Captain Nechaev, commander of the last tanks of the tank corps was made a posthumous Hero of the Soviet Union
for his actions.
Reinforcements attached to the corps for the raid:
Air support was provided by 3rd Composite Air Corps of 17th Air Army, through an aerial liaison officer travelling with the HQ of the 24th Tank Corps.
, the last two Soviet missions are at Tatsinskaya in which in a tank you attack the station, move onto the airfield then finally assault the last Germans at the Control tower. In a nod to the true story of the raid, the player's character is a tank commander named Nikolai Badanov.
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Vasily Mikhaylovich Badanov in late December 1942, during the last phases of the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
(Operation Little Saturn). It was designed to force the Germans to divert forces attempting to relieve the 6th Army
German Sixth Army
The 6th Army was a designation for German field armies which saw action in World War I and World War II. The 6th Army is best known for fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad, during which it became the first entire German field army to be completely destroyed...
trapped in Stalingrad. The Soviet force captured its objective, the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
airfield at Tatsinskaya, destroying over 72 aircraft on the ground, but was left cut off and without supplies. Despite the loss of most of the tank corps during the ensuing breakout, the raid was a great operational victory.
Background
The Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
had encircled the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
's 6th Army in Stalingrad with Operation Uranus
Operation Uranus
Operation Uranus was the codename of the Soviet strategic operation in World War II which led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the German Fourth Panzer Army. The operation formed part of the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad, and was...
, begun on 19 November 1942. By the middle of December, the German relief effort, Operation Winter Storm
Operation Wintergewitter
Operation Winter Storm was a German offensive in World War II, undertaken between 12–23 December 1942, in which the German 4th Panzer-Armee failed to break the encirclement of Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad....
, reached within 48 km of the encirclement ring, and the airlift trying to supply the encircled army was in full swing. In this situation, STAVKA
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
decided to launch Operation Little Saturn, to encircle all of German Army Group A
Army Group A
Army Group A was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.-Western Front, 1940:During the German invasion of the Low Countries and France Army Group A was under the command of General Gerd von Rundstedt, and was responsible for the break-out through the Ardennes...
, by penetrating to the south and the coast of the Sea of Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
. The danger this operation created was so serious that the German command had to give up any hope of relieving the 6th Army, and instead turned its attention to fighting the advancing Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
formations, while simultaneously trying to move as many formations as possible to the west. As a consequence of the threat, the most potent of the German divisions involved in the relief effort, 6th Panzer Division, was turned west, and ordered to first clear the raiding force from Tatsinskaya, and later to establish a new frontline towards the north of the airfield. With that decision, any hope of breaking through to 6th Army had vanished.
Soviet planning
24th Tank CorpsTank Corps (Soviet)
-Pre-War Development of Soviet Mechanised Forces:In Soviet Russia, the so called armored forces preceded the Tank Corps. They consisted of the motorised armored units made of armored vehicles and armored trains...
belonged to 3rd Guards Army
Soviet Third Guards Army
The 3rd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II, notably in 1945.It was created in December 1942, as part of the Southwestern Front , according to the order of the Supreme High Command on formation of the 3rd Guards Army...
, which was commanded by General D.D. Lelyushenko, which was a part of the Southwestern Front
Soviet Southwestern Front
The Southwestern Front was a name given to a Front by the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War, by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic during the Russian Civil War, and by the Red Army during the Second World War.The Southwestern Front in this article describes several...
under the command of N.F. Vatutin
Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin
Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin was a Soviet military commander during World War II.-Before World War II:Vatutin was born in Chepuhino village near Valuiky in Voronezh Governorate , into a Russian peasant family. Commissioned in 1920 to the Red Army, he fought against the Ukrainian peasant partisans...
. The corps was designated as the army's exploitation force, in line with the doctrine of Deep Battle
Deep operations
Deep battle was a military theory developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by a number of influential military writers, such as Vladimir Triandafillov and Mikhail Tukhachevsky who endeavoured to create a military strategy with its own...
. It was therefore not to be committed during the initial breaching of the tactical defenses of Axis forces in the sector, but would be committed once a breach in these defenses had been opened.
The assault by 3rd Guards Army commenced during the morning of 16 December 1942. In order to accelerate the breaching of the Axis tactical defense by his rifle formations, Lelyushenko committed the other two tank corps available to him (17th and 25th Tank Corps) during the initial phase of the battle.
24th Tank Corps was ordered to commence its operation at 1130 hours on 17 December. At this stage, 17th and 25th Tank Corps had already reached the operational depth and were in the process of encircling Italian 8th Army
Italian war in Soviet Union, 1941-1943
The Italian participation in the Eastern Front during World War II began after the launch of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941. Barbarossa was the German war against the Soviet Union...
and battling the forces of Army Detachment Hollidt. 25th Tank Corps later conducted a deep raid towards Morozovskaya to the east of Tatsinskaya. The purpose of the two deep raids was to cut off the German formations conducting Operation Winterstorm
Operation Wintergewitter
Operation Winter Storm was a German offensive in World War II, undertaken between 12–23 December 1942, in which the German 4th Panzer-Armee failed to break the encirclement of Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad....
, the relief attempt for the German 6th Army.
The raid
Our tank detachments unexpectedly broke into Tatsinski military airport. First to penetrate enemy's territory was captain Nechaev's battalion. A tough fight between tanks and enemy artillery began. Germans were shooting grenades at the Russian tanks and managed to blow up several of them. However the Soviet tank crews broke the Nazi defense. After they destroyed patrol forces, Russian soldiers started shooting German pilots that rushed to their planes desperately hoping to save their lives.
24th Tank Corps claimed the destruction of over 300 planes on the airfield but only 72 were actually destroyed or almost 10% of the transport capacity of the Luftwaffe. The airfield defenses were quickly over-run, and while over 100 transport planes managed to escape, German losses were heavy. As the tanks were low on ammunition, almost all of the planes destroyed were rammed by the tanks. A number of planes were destroyed while still on railway cars on which they had arrived. Once the airfield was seized however, 24th Tank Corps was cut off, and found itself without supplies deep inside the German lines.
German reaction
Already while the battle for the airfield and the town were going on, it became clear to Badanov that he had been cut off, when march columns of his 24th Motorized Brigade were followed from the north by German forces. On 26 December, the last elements of 24th Motorized Brigade managed to break through the encirclement to join the main body of the corps. German Army Group DonArmy Group Don
Army Group Don was a short-lived German army group during World War II.Army Group Don was created from the headquarters of the Eleventh Army in the southern sector of the Eastern Front on 22 November 1942. The army group only lasted until February 1943 when it was combined with Army Group B and...
under Fieldmarshal von Manstein
Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...
had meanwhile ordered German XLVIII Panzer Corps
German XLVIII Panzer Corps
The XLVIII Panzer Corps , originally called the XLVIII Motorized Corps, was a corps level formation of the German Heer which saw extensive action on both the eastern and western fronts during World War II.-History:The corps was originally formed on 15 December 1940 in Germany as the XLVIII Motorized...
Panzerkorps
Panzerkorps
A panzer corps was a military formation type in the German Wehrmacht during World War II. The name was introduced in 1942, when the motorised corps were renamed to panzer corps. Panzer corps were created throughout the war, and existed in all service arms of the Wehrmacht except the Navy...
to move towards the deep penetrations the Red Army had achieved with the 11th Panzer Division and 6th Panzer Division. From 26 December, the two divisions had cut off completely the connection between 24th Tank Corps and 1st Guards Army. Towards the north, a mixed Kampfgruppe
Kampfgruppe
In military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
blocked the road against other Red Army formations that might come to the assistance of 24th Tank Corps. The German command also brought up the 579th Infantry Regiment of the 306th Infantry Division and three armoured train
Armoured train
An armoured train is a train protected with armour. They are usually equipped with railroad cars armed with artillery and machine guns. They were mostly used during the late 19th and early 20th century, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower...
s: PZ 10a, 10b and 28. Together, these forces launched an attack with the aim of destroying 24th Tank Corps.
STAVKA reacted by ordering the Front command to assist Badanov's force. The available units were 25th Tank Corps, which had been reduced to 25 tanks by heavy combat, and 1st Guards Mechanized Corps
Soviet 1st Guards Mechanized Corps
The 1st Guards Mechanized Corps was a Red Army armoured formation that saw service during World War II on the Eastern Front. After the war it continued to serve with Soviet occupation forces in Central Europe. It was originally the 1st Guards Rifle Division...
, which had incurred losses too. They were reinforced with infantry, but did not manage to break through to Tatsinskaya. This led to the need for Badanov and his surviving men to break out to escape destruction, and permission to do so was given on 28 December. Most of the matériel and many men were lost during the break-out, but the damage to the Germans had been done. German forces engaged in the relief of Stalingrad
Operation Wintergewitter
Operation Winter Storm was a German offensive in World War II, undertaken between 12–23 December 1942, in which the German 4th Panzer-Armee failed to break the encirclement of Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad....
had to be withdrawn to deal with the raiders, and many invaluable transport planes of the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
had been destroyed, with their crews and ground personnel mostly killed. 24th Tank Corps claimed the destruction of 84 tanks, 106 guns, the killing of 12,000 Axis soldiers and the capture of almost 5,000 more in this operation.
Analysis
Despite the loss of most of the tank corps, the raid was a great operational success. 24th Tank Corps operated up to 150 miles (240 km) from its supply base, and had to rely on captured supplies to keep operational. The follow-on rifle troops were not mobile enough to keep up, allowing the Germans to cut off the connection between the raiding force and its base, and ultimately defeat the operational intent of cutting off a large part of the German forces in the region.Despite this, the raid for the first time in the war had pushed a strong formation deep into the rear of mobile German formations, forcing the German command to adapt its own operational plans. Previous raids had been by much weaker cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
or airborne forces
Airborne forces
Airborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and 'dropped' into battle. Thus they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have an ability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning...
operating with partisans
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
, and these had not been able to inflict as much damage.
Much was learned by the Soviet command from the raid, and it probably gave further impetus to create the new tank armies as independent formations capable of conducting sustained operations deep in the enemy rear. The almost complete loss of the equipment and that of many of the personnel of 24th Tank Corps also brought home the truth that operating so deep behind enemy lines carried exceptional risks.
Recognition
STAVKA was quick in recognising the exceptional achievement of 24th Tank Corps. Major General Badanov became the first recipient of the newly created Order of SuvorovOrder of Suvorov
The Order of Suvorov is a Soviet award, named after Aleksandr Suvorov , that was established on July 29, 1942 by a decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR. This decoration was created to award senior army personnel for exceptional leadership in combat operations...
for this operation, and quickly went on to command 4th Tank Army
4th Tank Army (Soviet Union)
The 20th Guards Army, , is a field army, since 1991, part of the Russian Ground Forces.-1st Formation :It was first formed within the Stalingrad Front from July 1942 and...
later in the war, which he led in Operation Kutuzov
Operation Kutuzov
Operation Kutuzov was a military operation by the Red Army in its fight against the German Wehrmacht during World War II. It was named after Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, the Tsarist General credited with saving Russia from defeat during the invasion by Napoleon in 1812.The Operation began on 12...
in July 1943. From 1944 onwards, he commanded the Red Army Armoured School, and he rose to the rank of lieutenant-general.
During the raid, 24th Tank Corps was renamed 2nd Guards Tank Corps and given the honorific title 'Tatsinskaya' to honour of its achievement. It later played a key role in the Battle of Prokhorovka
Battle of Prokhorovka
The Battle of Prokhorovka was fought on the Eastern Front during the Second World War as part of the Battle of Kursk in the Soviet Union . Principally, the German Wehrmachts Fourth Panzer Army clashed with the Soviet Red Army's 5th Guards Tank Army...
, as well as many other important operations during the remainder of the war.
Captain Nechaev, commander of the last tanks of the tank corps was made a posthumous Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
for his actions.
24th Tank Corps
The strength of the corps was 90% of tanks provided for in the TO&E for a total of 159 tanks, 50% of motor transport, and 70% of personnel. The Corps was supplied with two units of ammunition, two units of fuel and lubricants, and five days of rations.- 24th Tank Corps (Major General of Tank Troops V.M. Badanov)
- Corps Troops
- 13th Mining Engineer Company
- 158th Mobile Repair Base
- 4th Guards Tank Brigade (Colonel G.I. Kolypov)At this time, a tank brigade consisted of two tank battalions (usually with two medium companies of 10 T-34T-34The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
and one light company of 10 T-70T-70The T-70 was a light tank used by the Red Army during World War II, replacing both the T-60 scout tank for reconnaissance and the T-50 light infantry tank for infantry support. The T-80 light tank was a more advanced version of the T-70 with a two-man turret—it was only produced in very small...
each) and one motorized rifle battalion, as well as an anti-tank artillery battery, and a headquarters company. - 54th Tank Brigade (Colonel V.M. Polyakov)
- 130th Tank Brigade (Colonel S.K. Nesterov)
- 24th Motorized Rifle Brigade (Colonel V.S. Savchenko)Motorized rifle regiments consisted of three motorized rifle battalions, an artillery battalion, an anti-aircraft artillery battalion, a mortar battery, and a headquarters company.
- Corps Troops
Reinforcements attached to the corps for the raid:
- 658th Anti Aircraft Artillery Regiment
- 413th Guards Mortar (Rocket) Battalion
Air support was provided by 3rd Composite Air Corps of 17th Air Army, through an aerial liaison officer travelling with the HQ of the 24th Tank Corps.
Other forces
- 25th Tank Corps
- 1st Guards Mechanized CorpsSoviet 1st Guards Mechanized CorpsThe 1st Guards Mechanized Corps was a Red Army armoured formation that saw service during World War II on the Eastern Front. After the war it continued to serve with Soviet occupation forces in Central Europe. It was originally the 1st Guards Rifle Division...
German forces
- XLVIII Panzer CorpsGerman XLVIII Panzer CorpsThe XLVIII Panzer Corps , originally called the XLVIII Motorized Corps, was a corps level formation of the German Heer which saw extensive action on both the eastern and western fronts during World War II.-History:The corps was originally formed on 15 December 1940 in Germany as the XLVIII Motorized...
- 11th Panzer Division
- 6th Panzer Division
- 306th Infantry Division
Trivia
In the game Call of Duty: Finest HourCall of Duty: Finest Hour
Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a first-person shooter developed for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It was released on 16 November 2004. It was the first console installment of Call of Duty, developed by Spark Unlimited and published by Activision. It was followed up by a sequel, Call of Duty...
, the last two Soviet missions are at Tatsinskaya in which in a tank you attack the station, move onto the airfield then finally assault the last Germans at the Control tower. In a nod to the true story of the raid, the player's character is a tank commander named Nikolai Badanov.
See also
- Battle of StalingradBattle of StalingradThe Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
- Operation UranusOperation UranusOperation Uranus was the codename of the Soviet strategic operation in World War II which led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the German Fourth Panzer Army. The operation formed part of the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad, and was...
- Operation Little Saturn
- Operation Winter StormOperation WintergewitterOperation Winter Storm was a German offensive in World War II, undertaken between 12–23 December 1942, in which the German 4th Panzer-Armee failed to break the encirclement of Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad....