January 1943

Eastern Front

Operation KOLTSO opens at 0650 hours with a colossal arty bombardment. The barrage is followed by infantry and armored attacks. Elements of the 24th Army crashes into the 113th and 76th Infantry Divisions, while the 65th Army strikes the 384th, 44th and 376th Divisions as it advances toward Karpovka. The 21st and 57th Armies cut throught the Marinovka nose, battering the 3rd and 29th Divisions mercilessly. Under continual attack by the Don Front and harassed by the 16th Air Army, the 6th Army begins to disintegrate. Only the 297th and 113th Infantry Divisions survive the attacks, the remainder being wiped out almost to a man. Scattered bands of hunted men retreat across the steppe to the Rossoshka River and Stalingrad, many falling as the Soviets begin a close pursuit.

In the Caucasus, the Soviets begin to attack across the Kuma. The XL Panzer Corps has pulled most of its forces back, only rearguards holding a skeletal line. To the west the XLIX Mountain Corps pulls back toward Maikop.