December 1941

Eastern Front

Meretskov's Volkhov Front is officially activated. The new front consists of the 4th, 52nd, 59th and 2nd Shock Armies, the latter having only recently been raised around the core of the 26th Army. To the left of the Volkhov Front is Kurochkin's Northwest Front, deployed between Lake Ilmen and Ostashkov with the 11th Army, 34th Army, 3rd Shock Army and 4th Shock Army, the latter having been formed around the old 27th Army.

Manstein begins a new attack in the Crimea, aiming to destroy the Soviet forces isolated in Sevastopol. At 0800 hours an overwhelming artillery barrage, supported by air strikes, strike the Soviet positions. German infantry move closely behind the rolling artillery barrage, hitting the Soviet defenses hard. On the northern perimeter, the XXX Corps is pinned down in the Belbek Valley and suffers heavy casualties, while to the south the LIV Corps makes minor gains before also being halted by sustained machine-gun and artillery fire.