text: operation winter storm operation winter storm ( german : unternehmen wintergewitter ) was a german offensive in world war ii in which the german 4th panzer army unsuccessfully attempted to break the soviet encirclement of the german 6th army during the battle of stalingrad . in late november 1942 , the red army 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 under army group don , under the command of generalfeldmarschall erich von manstein . meanwhile , the red army continued to allocate as many resources as possible to the eventual launch of the planned operation saturn , which aimed 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 proved incapable of carrying out its mission and it became obvious that a successful breakout could occur 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 german 6th army fell to the 4th panzer army . 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 were able to defeat counterattacks by soviet troops . by 13 december , soviet resistance slowed the german advance considerably . although german forces took the area surrounding verkhne - kumskiy , the red army launched operation little saturn on 16 december . operation little saturn defeated the italian 8th army on army group don 's left flank , threatening the survival of manstein 's entire group of forces . as resistance and casualties increased , manstein appealed to hitler and to the commander of the german 6th army , general friedrich paulus , to allow the 6th army to break out of stalingrad ; both refused . the 4th panzer army continued its attempt to open a corridor to the 6th army on 18 – 19 december , but was unable to do so without the aid of forces inside the stalingrad pocket . manstein was forced to call 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 breakout and the attempt to break the soviet encirclement , the red army was able to continue the destruction of german forces in stalingrad . background on 23 november 1942 , the red army closed its encirclement of axis forces in stalingrad . nearly 300 , 000 german and romanian soldiers , as well as russian volunteers for the wehrmacht , were trapped in and around the city of stalingrad by roughly 1 . 1 million soviet personnel . amidst the impending disaster , german chancellor adolf hitler appointed generalfeldmarschall ( field marshal ) erich von manstein as commander of the newly created army group don . composed of the german 4th panzer and 6th armies , as well as the third and fourth romanian armies , manstein 's new army group was situated between german army groups a and b. instead of attempting an immediate breakout , german high command decided that the trapped forces would remain in stalingrad in a bid to hold out . the encircled german forces were to be resupplied by air , requiring roughly 680 t ( 750 short tons ) of supplies per day . however , the assembled fleet of 500 transport aircraft were insufficient for the task . 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 . the german 6th army , for example , was getting less than 20 % of its daily needs . furthermore , the germans were still threatened by soviet forces which still held portions of the volga river 's west bank in stalingrad . given the unexpected size of german forces closed off in stalingrad , on 23 november stavka ( soviet armed forces high command ) decided to strengthen the outer encirclement preparing to destroy axis forces in and around the city . on 24 november , several soviet formations began to entrench themselves to defend against possible german incursions originating from the west . the soviets also reinforced the encircling forces in order to prevent a successful breakout operation by the german 6th army and other axis units . however , this tied down over ½ of the red army 's strength in the area . planning for operation saturn began on 25 november , aiming for the destruction of the italian 8th army and the severing of communications between german forces west of the don river and those operating in the caucasus . meanwhile , planning also began for operation ( ring ) , which aimed at reducing german forces in the stalingrad pocket . as operation uranus concluded , german forces inside the encirclement were too weak to attempt a breakout on their own . half of their remaining armor , for example , 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 resupply . feldmarschall von manstein proposed a counterstrike to break the soviet encirclement of stalingrad , codenamed operation winter storm ( german : wintergewitter ) . manstein believed that — due to the inability of the luftwaffe to supply the stalingrad pocket — it was becoming more important to relieve them " at the earliest possible date " . on 28 november , manstein sent hitler a detailed report on army group don 's situation , including the strength of the german 6th army and an assessment on the available ammunition for german artillery inside the city . the dire strategic situation made manstein doubtful on whether or not the relief operation could afford to wait to receive all units earmarked for the offensive . 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 in an attempt to hold the area . in response , the 5th tank army was reinforced by the newly created 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 artillery guns . the soviet offensive succeeded in tying down the 48th panzer corps , originally chosen to lead one of the main attacks on the soviet encirclement . the soviets were forewarned of the impending german assault when they discovered the german 6th panzer division unloading at the town of , and as a result , held back several armies from the attack on the lower chir river to prepare for a possible breakout attempt by german forces inside stalingrad . comparison of forces participating german forces the relief operation was originally scheduled to include the lvii panzer corps of the 4th panzer army , under the command of general friedrich kirchner , including the 6th and 23rd panzer divisions , and army detachment hollidt , consisting of three infantry divisions and two armored divisions ( 11th and 22nd panzer divisions ) . in total , it was expected that four panzer divisions , four infantry divisions and three luftwaffe field divisions were to take part in operation winter storm . they would be tasked with temporarily opening a passage to the 6th army . the luftwaffe field divisions — formed of non - combat soldiers , headquarters staffs and unit - less luftwaffe and heer personnel — were poorly trained and lacked seasoned officers and enlisted soldiers , as well as sufficient anti - tank and artillery guns . many of the personnel promised for the relief effort never arrived , partly due to the poor transportation service to the front , while some units originally chosen to be transferred under the command of army group don were retained by their original commands . other units in army group don were in no shape to conduct offensive operations , due to losses sustained in the past month of combat , while many new formations which had been promised did not arrive on time . on the other hand , the 11th panzer division was one of the most complete german armored divisions on the eastern front since it had just been transferred out of the german army 's reserve . the 6th panzer division was also complete because it had been transferred to manstein 's control from western europe . however , the usefulness of the 11th panzer division was compromised when the soviets launched their offensive against forces in the lower chir river area , as this tied army detachment hollidt down on the defensive . because of this , and because manstein believed that a thrust originating from the position of army detachment hollidt would be too obvious , the german field marshal decided to use the 4th panzer army and the xlviii panzer corps as the main components of the relief operation . however , despite attempts by the germans to build strength for the offensive , their position along the lower chir river became tenuous ; the soviet breakthrough was only blunted by the arrival of the 11th panzer division , which was able to destroy the bulk of two soviet tank brigades . consequently , the xlviii panzer corps became embroiled in the defensive battles for the chir river , as the soviets pushed in an attempt to overrun the airfield at ( being used to resupply german forces in stalingrad by air ) . although the lvii panzer corps was reluctantly released to army group don , by army group a , the 17th panzer division was ordered back to its original area of concentration , and did not prepare to go back to army group don until 10 days after it had been asked for . in light of the troubles in building up sufficient forces , and seeing that the soviets were concentrating more mechanization on the chir river , manstein decided to launch operation winter storm using the 4th panzer army . manstein hoped that the 6th army would launch an offensive of its own , from the opposite side , upon the receipt of the code signal thunderclap . manstein was gambling on hitler accepting that the only plausible method to avoid the demise of the 6th army was allowing it to break out , and assumed that general paulus would agree to order his forces to escape the stalingrad pocket . on 10 december , manstein communicated to paulus that the relief operation would commence in 24 hours . participating soviet forces for the purpose of operation uranus , soviet marshal georgy zhukov deployed eleven soviet armies . in an effort to bolster the offensive capabilities of the stalingrad front , over 420 tanks , 111 , 000 soldiers and 556 artillery guns were shipped over the volga river in a period of three weeks . the red army and red air force were able to amass over one million soldiers , 13 , 500 artillery guns , 890 tanks and 1 , 100 combat aircraft , organized into 66 rifle divisions , five tank corps , 14 tank brigades , a single mechanized brigade , a cavalry corps , and 127 artillery and mortar regiments . as the encirclement closed and the soviets continued with secondary operations , the 51st army was positioned on the edge of the outer encirclement with 34 , 000 men and 77 tanks . south of them was the 28th army , with 44 , 000 soldiers , 40 tanks and 707 artillery guns and mortars . concurrently , the red army began building its strength for operation saturn , in which it would aim to isolate and destroy german army group a in the caucasus . german offensive on 12 december 1942 , hoth 's fourth panzer army 's lvii panzer corps began its north - eastward drive toward german forces trapped in the stalingrad pocket . the 6th and 23rd panzer divisions made large gains , surprising the red army and threatening the rear of the soviet 51st army . the german drive was due to be spearheaded by the 503rd heavy tank battalion ( germany ) of tiger i heavy tanks , but the unit did not reach the don front until 21 december . initial progress of the offensive was rapid . some units were able to travel up to 50 km ( 31 mi ) in the first day . the germans were aided by the element of surprise , as stavka had not expected the german offensive to begin so soon , while general vasilevsky was unable to detach the 2nd guards army to use it as a blocking force against manstein 's spearheads . the initial advance had been so quick that the 6th panzer division was able to capture soviet artillery equipment intact . soviet resistance decreased noticeably after the 6th and 23rd panzer divisions had overrun the main body of russian infantry . in fact , the 302nd rifle division of the 51st army was overrun by the end of 12 december . 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 against the german offensive . despite early gains , the lvii panzer corps was unable to achieve decisive results . there were also reports of heavy pressure building against the 23rd panzer division , despite headway made on the first day of the german offensive . on 13 december , the 6th panzer division made contact with the soviet 5th tank army , which was engaged in the reduction of german defenses around the chir river . german forces were able to engage and defeat soviet armor , as the former forced the crossing of the alksay river . at this point , a major armored battle began around the village of verkhne - kumskiy . although they sustained heavy losses , the soviet forces were able to push german forces back to the banks of the alksay river by the end of the day , while failing to retake the town . however , 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 thereafter . fighting for verkhne - kumskiy continued for three days , as the red army launched a series of counterattacks against the german bridgeheads across the alksay river and german defenders in the town . german defenders were able to pin soviet tanks in verkhne - kumskiy and destroy them using well emplaced anti - tank artillery guns . with heavy support from the luftwaffe , the germans were able to achieve a local success and began to push toward the myshkova river . the 6th panzer division took 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 brought back to serviceable conditions . soviet response : 13 – 18 december the fourth panzer army 's offensive forced stavka to recalculate its intentions for operation saturn , and on 13 december stalin and stavka authorized the redeployment of the 2nd guards army from the don front to the stalingrad front , where it would be ready to be used against german forces on 15 december . this army had a strength of roughly 90 , 000 soldiers , organized into three guards rifle corps ( the 1st , 13th and 2nd ) . operation saturn was redesigned into operation little saturn , which limited the scope of the attack to breaking through the italian 8th army and then engaging army group don in the rear . the offensive was also changed from a southward push to a drive in a southeastern direction , and the start date was pushed back to 16 december . in the meantime , the 4th mechanized and 13th tank corps continued to counterattack against german forces in the vicinity of the alksay river , trying to delay their advance in anticipation of the arrival of the 2nd guards army . the soviet 1st and 3rd guard armies , in conjunction with the soviet 6th army , launched operation little saturn on 16 december . despite early troubles due to stubborn resistance from italian troops , the red army was able to partially overrun the italian 8th army by 18 december . the breakthrough if small and quickly proved a possible threat to army group don 's left flank , while the city of rostov was threatened by the 3rd guards army . this , and mainly heavy losses sustained by the german armor divisions forcing their way to the myshkova river , forced manstein to reconsider continuing the offensive . the german field marshal decided that he could not defend his left flank while also sustaining the attempt to relieve the 6th army . although the 6th panzer division was able to cross the myshkova river by the night of 19 december , the lvii panzer corps had still not made major advances against increased soviet opposition , despite the arrival of the 17th panzer division ; in fact , it seemed as if the corps would have to go on the defensive . furthermore , the soviet raid on managed to destroy the airfield and several dozen aircraft being used by the luftwaffe to resupply forces inside the stalingrad pocket , forcing manstein to order the xlviii panzer corps on the defensive , instead of reserving it to bolster his forces directed toward the breakthrough to stalingrad . to make matters worse for the germans , on 18 december hitler refused to allow the german 6th army to begin a breakout operation towards the rest of army group don , despite pleas from manstein . collapse : 19 – 23 december on 19 december , manstein sent his chief intelligence officer — major — into stalingrad to give general paulus an accurate image of the strategic situation which had befallen army group don . paulus was not impressed , although he agreed that the best option continued to be an attempted breakout as early as possible . the 6th army 's chief of staff — major general arthur schmidt — argued that a breakout was unfeasible and instead suggested that army group don take steps to better supply entrapped axis forces by air . despite agreeing with earlier , paulus then decided that a breakout was out of the question given the 6th army 's incapability to conduct it and hitler 's express orders against it . although that day the lvii panzer corps managed to breakthrough the alksay river and drive within 48 km ( 30 mi ) of the southern edge of the 6th army 's front , the entrapped german forces made no attempt to link up with the relieving forces . adam makes the point the 6th army tanks only had fuel to go 30 km , after which they would need fuel and ammunition flown in to go any further . thereafter , the 6th army simply did not have the strength to attempt a breakout , operating less than 70 serviceable tanks , with limited supplies , while its infantry were in no condition to attempt an attack in the blizzard which had developed over the past few days . manstein ordered the 6th panzer division to end its offensive and redeploy to the southern chir river , to bolster german defenses there against the continuing soviet offensive , on 23 december . by 24 december , the fourth panzer army was in full retreat , returning to its starting position . the inability to breakthrough to the 6th army , and the latter formation 's refusal to attempt a breakout , caused operation winter storm to collapse on 24 december , as army group don returned to the defensive . aftermath 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 . the red army was able to bring to bear almost 150 , 000 personnel and 630 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 and aksai rivers . 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 . all the while , the xlviii panzer corps — led mainly by the 11th panzer division — strove to maintain its position along the chir river . 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 . 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 . german forces in stalingrad soon began to run out of supplies , some soldiers were forced to live on horse meat . 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 . hitler 's insistence in holding stalingrad to the last risked the existence of the 6th army . 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 . 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 .