Heavy air strikes preceded the Waffen-SS advance, with Das Reich receiving priority support. The Soviet defences were weak and disorganized, so the German advance pushed all before it. Again, the Leibstandarte's reconnaissance battalion was teamed with a strong panzer detachment to spearhead the division's advance. Meyer had the use of Tiger I tanks for the first time. South of the town of Valki, Meyer's kampfgruppe was confronted by a "pak-front", or network, of 56 76.2mm anti-tank guns. With panzergrenadiers sheltering behind the turrets of the tanks, Meyer ordered his panzers to charge forward. Their speed meant Waffen-SS men overran the anti-tank guns easily, but two dozen T-34 tanks lay in wait ahead, hidden in a village. The Panzer IVs started to take casualties before a Tiger was called up. The lead Tiger got to within 100m (328ft) of the village when a T-34 opened fire. It hit the Tiger on the turret, but the Soviet 76mm shell barely scratched the German tank's paint. The Tiger blasted the T-34 with its 88mm gun, blowing off the turret and taking half of a nearby house with it. During the next hour the Tigers cleared out a dozen T-34s and the rest fled at high speed. The remainder of the kampfgruppe was, meanwhile, clearing out the last Soviet infantry and gun crews who had hidden in the village as the tank duel raged in its streets.

The following day Meyer's men were again confronted by a pak-front on the outskirts of Valki. A tank attack was ordered, but several panzers were lost to enemy fire before they overran the gun pits. German tanks literally crushed the anti-tank guns under their tracks when the Soviet gunners refused to flee.

Das Reich appraoches Kharkov

Das Reich's Der Führer Panzergrenadier Regiment led the division's attack, and it was soon within striking distance of the western outskirts of Kharkov. The Totenkopf Division was not making as good progress out on the left wing because of heavy resistance from VI Guards Cavalry Corps. The Totenkopf's reconnaissance battalion was also fighting alongside the Grossdeutschland Division's left-flank units and was unable to help out, after getting bogged down for several days in a battle with three Soviet infantry divisions.

At this point Nazi politics and pride entered the tactical equation, and threw a massive spanner in the works of Manstein's counteroffensive. Stung by his ungraceful departure from Kharkov three weeks earlier, Hausser was determined not to allow the army to share in the glory of recapturing his prize. In direct disobedience of orders to keep his tanks out of the city, Hausser planned to send the Das Reich Division into Kharkov from the west, while the Leibstandarte pushed in from the north. The Totenkopf was to continue its original mission to encircle the city.

House-to-house fighting

For five days the Waffen-SS men battled through fanatical resistance in the concrete high-rise housing blocks that dominated the approaches to the city centre. The remnants of the Soviet Third Tank Army, reinforced by armed citizens, fought for every street and building.

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