The attack got under way on 24 February, with heavy tank attacks against the northern flank of the Leibstandarte Division. The frontline panzergrenadier units had to call up panzer support to drive off the Soviet 11th Cavalry Division, for the loss of five tanks and 500 dead. A panzer attack the following day surprised a Soviet artillery regiment and destroyed more than 50 howitzers. An attack force of 30 German tanks used a valley to advance behind the Russian artillery, and when they broke cover the Soviets fled. Soviet pressure on the Leibstandarte Division continued on 26 February, with an attack by T-34 medium and KV-1 heavy tanks. A total of 12 vehicles were destroyed by SS anti-tank teams.

The Soviets are lured west

The Soviets now pushed their last tank reserves southwards in a bid to drive a wedge between the Leibstandarte and its sister divisions, which were moving northwards after they had finished clearing up what was left of the Soviet Sixth Army. Hausser ordered the Leibstandarte to pull back on 28 February to entice the Russians to move farther south into a trap. Three days later, I SS Panzer Corps was advancing again. The Luftwaffe caught the Russian tanks in the open and broke up their attack formations.

The Leibstandarte's panzers then moved eastwards, destroying nine tanks and fifteen anti-tank guns. A link-up with the Der Führer Panzergrenadier Regiment, of the Das Reich Division, was made on 3 March. Meyer's reconnaissance battalion achieved another link-up with Totenkopf later in the day, to complete the ring around a huge pocket of Soviet troops. For two days infantry elements of I SS Panzer Corps cleared up the pocket, but there were not enough troops and so thousands of Russians escaped. In the Leibstandarte's section of the pocket, prisoners from four Russian infantry divisions and a tank brigade were picked up. VI Guards Cavalry Corps managed to escape the trap, but large parts of IV, XXII and XV Tank Corps were destroyed. A further 61 Soviet tanks, 225 guns, 60 motor vehicles and 9000 dead were left on the icy battlefield.

Manstein regroups

Rybalko's defeat left Kharkov wide open, and Manstein soon set his panzers rolling north again to capture the prize. He planned to push I SS Panzer Corps forward to bypass Kharkov from the west, and then swing east around the top of the city to the Donets and block the escape route of its defenders, as XXXXVIII Panzer Corps assaulted the city from the south. To complete the victory, the reinforced Grossdeutschland Division, which had recently received a new tank detachment of 42 Panzer IVs and 9 Tigers, would strike north to Belgorod to block any interference with the attack on Kharkov. It was to be supported by the Totenkopf's reconnaissance battalion during this phase of the operation. Only the imminent arrival of the spring thaw could save Kharkov from the Germans.

Hausser now pulled together his panzer corps into an attack formation, with the Totenkopf on the left, Leibstandarte in the centre and Das Reich on the right. Rocket launchers were positioned to support the attack, and Tiger I tanks moved forward to spearhead the assault operation.

Tigers versus T-34s

According to plan the first attack went in on 6 March, and four days later the Waffen-SS panzers had reached a line level with Kharkov. To the east, the army panzer divisions were held up for five days by a determined stand by the 25th and 62nd Guards Rifle Divisions.

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