Soviet strength at the beginning of Operation
Uranus.
South-west front and Donfront :
At 7.30 hrs November 19, 1942, Voronov's guns and mortars, 3500 of them,
laid down
an eighty minute barrage against Rumanian IInd Army.
The barrage lifted and through the mist there came down on the dazed
Rumanians
the Soviet infantry, wave upon wave, and with them the menacing shapes
of the T-34,
over two hundred of them. The Rumanians broke and their divisions fell
to pieces,
streaming in panic towards the rear.
Behind them the stolid Soviet Infantry plodded on, rounding up the
pathetic
groups of fleeing Rumanians, while the mobile forces gathered themselves
for their
next missions, towards the Don and Kalach.
Stalingrad front :
At 10.00 hrs on November 20 1942, 1000 Katyusha salvoes signalled the
beginning
of the artillery bombardement. Yeremenko's attack was itself a two-pronged
one.
On his right parts of 64th and 57th Armies with a force of six infantry
divisions
would strike up towards the rear of the German 6th Army, and when they
made a
the 13th Mechanised Corps would advance towards the Chervlenaya river
to pen
in the Stalingrad force, while on his left 51st Army would make a hole
through
which the 4th Mechanised Corps and the 4th Cavalry Corps would be launched
towards Sovetsky and on to Kalach, thus to forge the ring of encirclement
around
the bulk of the German Army Group B.
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