A Knife in the Back at Sowchos 79 - Advance of the Reich

Boardgame Conversion Project

The Drive to relieve Stalingrad was on! The Chir River would anchor the left flank of the assault. However, the Russians were not content to allow the Germans to advance unhindered.

The 1st Tank Corps attacked across the Chir and thrust aside elements of the 336th Infantry Division that tried to stop them as the Russian armor seized Sowchos 79, a large collective farm deep in the German's rear. It was now imperative that the Russians be thrown back across the Chir if the attempt to relieve the surrounded 6th Army was to succeed.

Tasked with this job was General Balck's 11th "Ghost" Panzer Division, newly arrived from the Rostov area. Balck maneuvered his troops into the Russian's rear and then attacked from multiple directions. The panzers overran a column of Russian reinforcements and then struck the Russian tanks, which had finally turned to face the threat in their rear.

By the end of the day, Sowchos 79 was back in German hands, more than 50 Russian tanks were burning hulks and the Russians were in retreat back across the Chir, but the Ghost Division had been lost during a vital day in the drive to Stalingrad and the assault would eventually bog down, only a stone's throw from their beleaguered comrades.