January 1943

Eastern Front

The Soviets begin Operation Iskra around Leningrad. At 0930 hours the 67th Army, fielding 130,000 men, attack from the southern perimeter of Leningrad. The Soviet aim is to cross the Neva and link up with the Volkhov Front. Heavy fighting erupts with the 18th Army, the Germans inflicting heavy casualties upon the Soviet units. Aided by arty and aerial support, the 67th manages to force a crossing of the Neva.

The revitalized 2nd Shock Army, now under Romanovsky and with 114,000 men, begin attacking from the Volkhov in order to linke up with the 67th. Fighting here is also intense against well-entrenched German units.

Fighting at Demyansk dies down, having cost the Soviets 10,000 killed and more that 420 tanks lost. The German 16th Army loses 17,000 killed and wounded.

A new disaster is about to overtak Army Group B. After careful preparation the Soviets launch their offensive against the German 2nd and Hungarian 2nd Armies. Golikov's Voronezh and Reiter's Bryansk Fronts, supported by the Southwest Front, plans to break open the German line on a 300-mile sector between Livny and Kantemirovka. The main attack is undertaken by Moskalenko's 40th Army against the right flank of the Hungarian 2nd Army while Rybalko's 3rd Tank Army (including the XII and XV Tank Corps) is to break through on the left flank. The intention is for the 2 armies to meet at Alexievka, encircling the bulk of the Hungarian 2nd Army. From here they are to turn both north and south, rolling up the German 2nd Army and the remnants of the Italian 8th Army. The second phase of the Soviet offensive will draw in the 38th and 60th Armies of the Voronezh Front, the 13th Army of the Bryansk Front and the 6th Army of the Southwest Front. The Voronezh Front commits 347,000 men to the attack. Against these forces the German 2nd Army has 125,000 men in 12 divisions while the Hungarian 2nd has 100,000 men.

Soviet reconnaissane attacks begin with the 40th Army testing the Hungarian lines. These probes unexpectedly force the 3rd Hungarian Corps back 3 miles, prompting Golikov to immediately order the main offensive to begin the next day.

At Stalingrad there is bitter fighting as the Don Front tries to crack open the German positions. The fighting between January 10 and 12 has cost Rokossovsky 26,000 casualties and 135 tanks, but Paulus has lost 60,000 men and vast amounts of weapons and ammo.

Kleist pulls back in the Caucasus as the simultaneous divesionary attacks by 46th and 18th Armies at Maikop make slow progress in the face of stiff German resistance.