Manstein's plan

With I SS Panzer Corps safely out of Kharkov, Manstein was able to complete the reorganization of his panzer divisions for their counterstroke. An unannounced visit by Hitler, furious at the loss of Kharkov, to Manstein's headquarters at Zaporozhye on 17 February interrupted the field marshal's preparations. Hitler had intended to dismiss Manstein for the loss of the city and order an immediate northwards attack by I SS Panzer Corps to retake Kharkov. Fortunately for the field marshal, the sound of Russian artillery near his command post brought the Führer to his senses and he left in a hurry, to allow Manstein to get on with sorting out the Soviets. Manstein was also helped by the fact that the Totenkopf Division got stuck in mud after a sudden thaw during the day, making it unavailable for Hitler's proposed attack.

Manstein's plan called for two Waffen-SS divisions to strike southwest from Krasnograd into the western flank of the Soviet Sixth Army, while the Fourth Panzer Army drove northwards to push the remaining elements of the western Soviet attack force onto the guns of the Waffen-SS panzers. Farther east, the First Panzer Army would take the offensive against Popov's Front Mobile Group and complete the destruction of the Soviet forces west of the River Donets.

An over-extended Red Army

The Russians proved easy meat for the panzers. After two months of continuous fighting, Popov's group was down to 50 worn-out tanks and 13,000 men fit for battle. Lieutenant-General F.M. Khatritonov's Sixth Army was in an equally parlous state, with many of its 150 tanks stranded through lack of fuel. Of most help to Manstein, however, were orders from Vatutin (who was still convinced the Germans were retreating) for the Soviet troops to keep advancing.

As this battle was developing, Hausser set about reorganizing his corps for offensive action. The Leibstandarte was to be the anvil of the offensive based around Krasnograd, while Das Reich and the newly arrived Totenkopf Division swung south and then northwards, forcing the Russians back on to the guns of the Leibstandarte. The arrival of the Totenkopf at Krasnograd on the morning of 19 February, with its 81 Panzer IIIs, 22 Panzer IVs and 9 Tiger Is, completed I SS Panzer Corps' order of battle for perhaps its most famous victory. In the afternoon Manstein ordered the attack to proceed.

SS fist of steel

A 96km (60-mile) road march brought Das Reich and Totenkopf to their jump-off positions at Novomoskovsk on 20 February. Pushing westwards, they sliced through the immobilized XXV Tank Corps and IV Guards and XV Guards Rifle Corps near Pavlograd. These units were in bad shape after Luftwaffe anti-tank aircraft caught the Russian armour by surprise earlier in the morning. XXXXVIII Panzer Corps was already attacking from the south, so the Waffen-SS attack sliced into the side of the already stalled Russian columns. Totenkopf was assigned the northern axis of the attack, and Das Reich pushed farther south and then turned eastwards to Pavlograd, before swinging northwards. The Waffen-SS men raced forward at such a breakneck speed that Soviet and German troops often became intermingled. A panzer kampfgruppe of Das Reich spearheading the division's advance seized a key bridge outside Pavlograd on 22 February. Two Das Reich Panzer IIIs and a Tiger held the bridge for several hours, destroying three T-34s that tried to take the bridge back.

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