At the end of the first week of November, Manstein ordered his counterattack force to assemble around the town of Fastov, which at that time was located on the left flank of the Soviet incursion into the German lines. The only forces available, the advance elements of the 25th Panzer Division and the Das Reich Division, were hastily thrown into action. They suffered heavy losses when their armour was delayed and the lorry-borne panzergrenadiers found themselves locked in battle with hundreds of T-34s. Their holding action bought Balck time to gather his divisions, though, and they were sent rolling forward on 15 November. The Russians had not been in position long enough to dig in their pak-fronts, so to the Leibstandarte's panzer crews the advance resembled the "good old days" around Kharkov the previous spring. SS-Sturmbannführer Joachim Peiper was now leading the division's panzer regiment. He was soon to be in the centre of the action.

Two powerful kampfgruppen were formed for the Waffen-SS advance, built around each of the Leibstandarte's panzergrenadier regiments. Each one had a panzer battalion and assault guns attached to spearhead their advance. With Tigers and Sturmgeschütz (StuG) IIIs leading the way, the kampfgruppen easily punched holes in the thinly held Soviet front and headed north.

The SS pincers close

Heavy Soviet counterattacks were thrown at the Leibstandarte's pincers, but the Waffen-SS men pressed on. Speed was their best ally. As the German panzer units closed in on Brusilov, the Soviet defence became more desperate. Several Soviet brigades were thrown into action to stop the Leibstandarte's wide pincer move. Tigers, Panthers and StuG IIIs saw off these attacks, knocking out scores of T-34s in the process.

A final push was made on 22 November to close the ring, with Tiger tanks leading the advance of the southern pincer. They blasted their way through a pak-front holding open the Russians' escape route, knocking out 24 tanks and 2 assault guns. Peiper, with a kampfgruppe of Panzer IVs and panzergrenadiers riding in armoured halftracks, led the advance northwards during the following afternoon, to link up with the advance guard of the army's 1st Panzer Division which was probing the northern suburbs of Brusilov. The impetuous Peiper raced forward, but he was held up by huge swamps north of the town. His kampfgruppe then destroyed nine T-34s and 24 anti-tank guns during this sweep, and saw off another Russian attempt to break through to the forces now trapped in Brusilov, destroying six more tanks in the process. Trapped in the pocket were elements of seven major Soviet units. German Army divisions were used to comb the pocket - they cleared out several thousand prisoners and 3000 Russian dead littered the battlefield. The Germans claimed 153 tanks and more than 320 artillery pieces destroyed. Thousands more Russian troops escaped through the swamps to freedom.

Target Radomyschl

The Leibstandarte Division was now regrouped for a further push northwards, to the heavily defended town of Radomyschl. On 29 November Peiper's panzer regiment and the reconnaissance battalion led the way. His Tigers punched a hole through a thick pak-front south of Radomyschl, but as resistance stiffened the attack was called off.

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