The two Waffen-SS divisions trapped the Soviet I Guards Tank Corps and two rifle divisions. The Waffen-SS Tigers and Panzer IVs knocked out the Russian tanks and anti-tank guns with ease at long range with their powerful 88mm and 75mm cannons, before panzergrenadiers closed in to mop up pockets of isolated Soviet infantry who offered resistance in the snow-bound villages. Elements of Soviet divisions were smashed in the attack, with most of the men just abandoning their tanks and vehicles and fleeing into the surrounding forests. For five days the two Waffen-SS divisions meandered through huge columns of abandoned and destroyed vehicles, machine-gunning small groups of Russian soldiers hiding amid the carnage. The Soviet Sixth Army had ceased to exist.

The death of Theodor Eicke

The Soviets exacted a heavy price from the Totenkopf Division for its victory, however. The division's commander, SS-Obergruppenführer Theodor Eicke, flew forward in his Fieseler Storch light aircraft to visit his spearhead units on 26 February. The infamous SS general ordered his pilot to land near a village that he believed was occupied by Totenkopf troops. In fact, the men on the ground were a group of cut-off Russian soldiers, and Eicke's aircraft was ripped apart in mid-air by anti-aircraft artillery fire as it approached the ground. The following day Waffen-SS troops cleared the village and recovered the mutilated body of the former concentration camp commander.

The Leibstandarte Division

From the north, the Leibstandarte Division was conducting an aggressive defence of its line in the snow, aimed at neutralizing the advance elements of the Soviet Third Tank Army. Leibstandarte kampfgruppen were launched forward on a daily basis to destroy large Soviet formations spotted by Luftwaffe aerial reconnaissance. The Waffen-SS men infiltrated at night through the thinly held Soviet front to ambush the enemy. Bursting from forests, the kampfgruppen usually took the Russians by surprise, and within minutes their panzers and armoured halftracks would be among the enemy positions, spreading destruction. Their job complete, the Germans would then pull back to regroup and rearm for the next foray.

On 17 February the Leibstandarte's reconnaissance battalion, reinforced with panzers, wiped out a Soviet infantry regiment in the first big raid. Three days later Peiper's armoured infantry battalion cleared out 750 Russians, three tanks and dozens of anti-tank guns from a heavily defended village during a night attack.

Kurt "Panzer" Meyer

SS-Obersturmbannführer Kurt "Panzer" Meyer was given command of a kampfgruppe of panzers and reconnaissance troops on 19 February, tasked with destroying a large enemy force advancing west. His panzer company destroyed a Russian battalion in the afternoon.

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