Operation Winter Storm (German: Unternehmen Wintergewitter), a German offensive in December 1942 during World War II, involved the German 4th Panzer Army failing to break the Soviet encirclement of the German 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad.

Quick Facts Date, Location ...

Operation Winter Storm
Part of the Battle of Stalingrad during the Eastern Front of World War II
A German Tiger tank and knocked-out Soviet T-34 tank during the fighting in the southern Soviet Union.
Date 12–23 December 1942 Location Southwest of Stalingrad Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Germany  Romania  Italy
Commanders and leaders
Andrey Yeryomenko Rodion Malinovsky Aleksandr Vasilevsky	Erich von Manstein Hermann Hoth Karl-Adolf Hollidt Petre Dumitrescu Italo Gariboldi
Strength
115,000 personnel 329 tanks 1,133 artillery guns 220 aircraft[1]	124,000 personnel 211 tanks 852 artillery guns 500 aircraft[1]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	15,751 casualties[lower-alpha 1] 3,700 killed 10,874 wounded 1,086 missing

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In late November 1942 the Red Army had completed Operation Uranus, encircling some 300,000 Axis personnel in and around the city of Stalingrad. German forces within the Stalingrad pocket and directly outside were reorganized (22 November 1942) into Army Group Don and placed under the command of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein. The Red Army continued to allocate as many resources as possible to the planned Operation Saturn to isolate Army Group A from the rest of the German Army. To remedy the situation, the Luftwaffe attempted to supply German forces in Stalingrad through an air bridge. When the Luftwaffe failed and it became obvious that a breakout could succeed only if launched as early as possible, Manstein decided on a relief effort.

Originally, Manstein was promised four panzer divisions. Due to German reluctance to weaken certain sectors by redeploying German units, the task of opening a corridor to the encircled German 6th Army fell to the depleted 4th Panzer Army, under the command of Hermann Hoth. The German force was pitted against several Soviet armies tasked with the destruction of the encircled German forces and their offensive around the lower Chir River.

The German offensive caught the Red Army by surprise and made large gains on the first day. The spearhead forces enjoyed air support and defeated counterattacks by Soviet troops. By 13 December, Soviet resistance had slowed the German advance considerably. Although German forces took the area surrounding the town of Verkhne-Kumskiy [ru] and crossed the river Myshkova. However, on 16 December the Red Army launched Operation Little Saturn and crushed the Italian 8th Army on Army Group Don's left flank, threatening the rear of Manstein's force. Faced with mounting casualties and stiff Soviet opposition, the 4th Panzer Army continued its attempt to open a corridor to the 6th Army on 18–19 December, but was unsuccessful.

Manstein called off the assault on 23 December and by Christmas Eve the 4th Panzer Army began to withdraw to its starting position. Due to the failure of the 6th Army to break out from the Soviet encirclement, the Red Army could continue the "strangulation" of German forces in Stalingrad.

On 23 November 1942, the Red Army closed its encirclement of Axis forces in Stalingrad.^[3] Nearly 300,000 German and Romanian soldiers were trapped in the city and vicinity of Stalingrad^[4] by roughly 1.1 million Soviet personnel.^[5] Adolf Hitler appointed Field Marshal Erich von Manstein as commander of a new Army Group Don.^[6] Composed of the German 4th Panzer and 6th Armies, as well as the Third and Fourth Romanian Armies, Manstein's new army group was between German Army Groups A and B.^[7] Instead of attempting an immediate breakout, German high command decided that the trapped forces would remain in Stalingrad and hold out.^[8] The encircled German forces were to be supplied by air, requiring roughly 680 t (750 short tons) of supplies per day.^[9] The fleet of 500 Luftwaffe transport aircraft was insufficient for the task.^[10] Many of the aircraft were hardly serviceable in the rough Soviet winter; in early December, more German cargo planes were destroyed in accidents than by Soviet fighter aircraft.^[11] The 6th Army received less than 20 percent of its daily needs.^[12] Furthermore, the Germans were still threatened by Soviet forces which still held portions of the Volga River's west bank in Stalingrad.^[13]

Given the unexpected size of German forces closed off in Stalingrad,^[14] on 23 November Stavka (Soviet Armed Forces High Command) decided to strengthen the outer encirclement preparing to destroy the trapped Axis forces.^[15] On 24 November, several Soviet formations began to dig in against possible German incursions from the west.^[16] The Soviets also reinforced the encircling forces in order to prevent a breakout by the 6th Army and other Axis units.^[17] This tied down over ½ of the Red Army's strength in the area.^[18] Planning for Operation Saturn began on 25 November to destroy the Italian 8th Army and cut communications between German forces west of the Don River and those operating in the Caucasus.^[19][20] Planning also began for Operation Koltso (Ring), which aimed at reducing German forces in the Stalingrad pocket.^[21]

As Operation Uranus concluded, German forces inside the encirclement were too weak to attempt a breakout on their own. Half of their remaining armor had been lost during the defensive fighting and there was a severe lack of fuel and ammunition for the surviving vehicles, given that the Luftwaffe was not able to provide adequate aerial supply.^[22] Manstein proposed a counterstrike to break the Soviet encirclement of Stalingrad, codenamed Operation Winter Storm (Unternehmen Wintergewitter).^[23] On 28 November, Manstein sent Hitler a detailed report on Army Group Don's situation, including the strength of the 6th Army and an assessment of the ammunition for German artillery inside the city.^[24]

Stavka postponed Operation Saturn until 16 December, as Soviet forces struggled to clear German defenders from the lower Chir River. The Red Army's offensive in the area commenced on 30 November, involving around 50,000 soldiers, which forced Manstein to use the 48th Panzer Corps to hold the area.^[25] The 5th Tank Army was reinforced by the new 5th Shock Army, drawn from existing formations of the South-Western and Stalingrad Fronts; the 5th Tank Army totaled nearly 71,000 men, 252 tanks and 814 guns.^[26] The Soviet offensive succeeded in tying down the 48th Panzer Corps, originally chosen to lead one of the main attacks on the Soviet encirclement.^[27] The Soviets were forewarned of the impending German assault when they discovered the 6th Panzer Division unloading at the town of Morozovsk and held back several armies from the attack on the lower Chir River to prepare for a possible breakout attempt by German forces inside Stalingrad.^[28]

On 12 December 1942, the LVII Panzer Corps of the Fourth Panzer Army began its north-eastward drive toward German forces trapped in the Stalingrad pocket.^[50] The 6th and 23rd Panzer Divisions made large gains, surprising the Red Army and threatening the rear of the 51st Army. The German drive was due to be spearheaded by the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion of Tiger I tanks but the unit did not embark on its transport to the Eastern Front until 21 December 1942 and did not see battle until early January 1943, along the Manytsch River. At first, Winterstorm made rapid progress. Some units were able to travel up to 60 km (37 mi) on the first day.^[51] The Germans were aided by surprise, as Stavka had not expected the German offensive to begin so soon, while General Aleksandr Vasilevsky was unable to detach the 2nd Guards Army and use it as a blocking force against Manstein's spearheads.^[52]

The 6th Panzer Division was able to capture Soviet artillery intact. Soviet resistance decreased noticeably after the 6th and 23rd Panzer Divisions had overrun the main body of Russian infantry.^[53] The 302nd Rifle Division of the 51st Army was overrun by the end of 12 December.^[54] Although Soviet infantry quickly reinforced villages in the path of the German drive, the Red Army's cavalry in the area was exhausted from weeks of combat and was incapable of putting up serious resistance.^[55] Despite early gains, the LVII Panzer Corps was unable to achieve decisive results.^[56] There were also reports of severe pressure building against the 23rd Panzer Division, despite headway made on the first day of the German offensive.^[57]

On 13 December, the 6th Panzer Division made contact with the Soviet 5th Tank Army, which was reducing the German defenses around the Chir River.^[58][26] German forces were able to engage and defeat Soviet armor as the former forced the crossing of the Aksay River.^[59][60] A big armored battle began around the village of Verkhne-Kumskiy.^[61] The village was on the most convenient south–north road to Stalingrad, whereas the barren steppe around was riddled with ravines and gullies covered with deep snow, Verkhne-Kumskiy was unavoidable for large armored forces to move north towards the Myshkova River.^[62] On the Soviet side, Volsky's 4th Mechanized Corps was also driving at full speed towards the village. The corps had not yet had time to replenish personnel and material after the November offensive battles; it barely fielded 100 operable tanks and another 50 were in need of repair. Half of these were T-34 capable of opposing Panzer Mk IIIs and IVs, while the rest were light T-70s, only useful against infantry or armored cars.^[63] The road towards the encircled 6th Army was almost free and if the 4th Mechanized Corps had not intervened, Hoth would have had a greater chance to reach Paulus.^[62]

Although they suffered many losses, the Soviet forces were able to push German forces back to the banks of the Aksay River by the end of the day, while failing to retake the town. The losses sustained by the Red Army in the vicinity of Verkhne-Kumskiy allowed the 6th Panzer Division to enjoy a brief superiority in tank numbers.^[64] Fighting for Verkhne-Kumskiy continued for three days as the Red Army counterattacked the German bridgeheads across the Aksay River and German defenders in the town.^[52][65] The Germans were able to pin Soviet tanks in Verkhne-Kumskiy and destroy them using well emplaced anti-tank guns.^[66] With support from the Luftwaffe, the Germans were able to achieve a local success and began to push toward the Myshkova river.^[67] The 6th Panzer Division suffered heavy losses during its drive and took a brief respite after the battle to recondition. Minor damage to surviving tanks was repaired and the majority of the tanks incapacitated during the fighting at Verkhne-Kumskiy were repaired.^[68]

With the German relief effort defeated, Stavka was free to concentrate on the destruction of Axis forces in the Stalingrad pocket and the westward expansion of the Red Army's Winter offensive.^[89] The Red Army was able to bring to bear almost 150,000 personnel and 820 tanks against the retreating 4th Panzer Army and although Volsky's 4th Mechanized Corps (renamed 3rd Guard Mechanized Corps on 18 December 1942) was withdrawn to be refitted, the 51st Army, the 1st Guards Rifle and 7th Tank Corps struck at German units withdrawing between the Mushkova and Aksai Rivers.^[90] In three days, the attacking Soviet units broke through the Romanian positions guarding the LVII Panzer Corps' flank and threatened the 4th Panzer Army from the south, forcing the Germans to continue withdrawing to the southwest.^[91] All the while, the XLVIII Panzer Corps—led mainly by the 11th Panzer Division—strove to maintain its position along the Chir River.^[92] Despite success, the XLVIII Panzer Corps was rushed to the defense of Rostov as a Soviet breakthrough seemed imminent after the partial collapse of the Italian 8th Army.^[93] As the Red Army pursued the 4th Panzer Army toward the Aksai River and broke through the German defense on the banks of the Chir River, it also began to prepare for Operation Ring—the reduction of the forces in Stalingrad.^[94]

German forces in Stalingrad soon began to run out of supplies, with horse meat used to supplement diets.^[95] By the end of 1942, the distance between the German 6th Army and forces outside of the encirclement was over 65 km (40 mi), and most of the German formations in the area were extremely weak.^[96] Hitler's insistence in holding Stalingrad to the last risked the existence of the 6th Army.^[97] The end of the German offensive also allowed the Red Army to continue in its efforts to cut off German forces in the Caucasus, which would begin in the middle of January.^[98] On the other hand, the encirclement of the 6th Army and the operations to destroy it tied down a considerable number of Soviet troops, which affected Soviet operations on other sectors.^[99]