Wintergewitter

Time was running out for the Germans surrounded in Stalingrad. On December 12, the LVII Armored Corps launched Operation Wintergewitter (“Winter Tempest”), the offensive to relieve VI Army. Spearheading the drive was the veteran 6th Panzer Division, equipped with an entirely new allocation of AFVs. Driving north …

1942-12-13

A070

Time was running out for the Germans surrounded in Stalingrad. On December 12, the LVII Armored Corps launched Operation Wintergewitter (“Winter Tempest”), the offensive to relieve VI Army. Spearheading the drive was the veteran 6th Panzer Division, equipped with an entirely new allocation of AFVs. Driving north from Koteinkovo, the Germans easily cut through the Soviet 51st Army. On the morning of the second day of Wintergewitter, 6th Panzer reached and crossed the Askay River after capturing a bridge at Zalivsky. Driving forward with all speed, the lead elements of the division entered the village of Verkhne-Kurnsky in the late afternoon, held by the powerful Fifth Shock Army.

Verkhne-Kumsky, Russia

Operation Winter Storm 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. 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 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.

German

Russian

Scenario Type = Standard