Manstein now tried to turn the tables on the Soviet First Tank Army that was pushing southwards into the Eighth Army's exposed left flank. He pulled together a scratch force of three "divisions", under army panzer General Hermann Breith, and launched them east into the flank of the Russian force. Heavy mud delayed the deployment of the Leibstandarte Division into position to lead Breith's III Panzer Corps. Backed by the Wehrmacht's only artillery division, the Waffen-SS troops sliced into the flank of the Soviet spearhead. Thick mud made the going heavy, but with its Tigers in the lead the division swept all before it. By 28 January it had closed the ring around several Russian divisions. The Germans claimed 8000 Russians dead, 701 tanks destroyed and 5436 prisoners.

This success was occurring at the same time as another Soviet advance was moving to trap the German Eighth Army on 24 January. Two armoured pincers sliced into the thinly held flanks of the army and met up on 28 January to close the noose around 56,000 men of the German XI and XLII Corps, forming what has since become known as either the Korsun or Cherkassy Pocket. The only German armoured unit in the pocket was the Wiking Division.

The Cherkassy Pocket

Just as at Stalingrad, Hitler ordered the troops in the pocket to stand firm and wait for a rescue force to restore the front behind them. In the meantime, an air bridge would keep them supplied with food, fuel and ammunition. It was a fantasy. Soviet fighters started to take a huge toll on the Luftwaffe supply aircraft. On the ground, more than 500 Soviet tanks were ringing the pocket, and Manstein could only muster four worn-out panzer divisions to mount a rescue mission. Hitler would give him no fresh troops from Western Europe because of the Anglo-American threat to France. Breith, meanwhile, was ordered to complete his operation against the encircled Russian force to the west and then batter his way through to the Eighth Army.

Attempts to relieve the pocket

The army's 16th and 17th Panzer Divisions spearheaded the break-in operation, with the composite "Bake" Heavy Panzer Regiment in the lead. This unit was at this time the most powerful German tank unit on the Eastern Front, boasting 47 Panther and 34 Tiger I tanks, supported by armoured infantry and self-propelled units. Attacking northwards on 4 February in an attempt to turn the tables on the Soviet tank force and trap it in a pocket, the rescue force at first made good progress. A sudden thaw then turned the battlefield into a quagmire. III Panzer Corps' advance literally got bogged down. Wheeled fuel tankers and ammunition trucks just could not move. Even tracked vehicles had difficulties. At times fuel for the tanks had to be carried forward to the front in buckets or cans. The Leibstandarte Division battled on for 32km (20 miles). Its Tiger company destroyed 26 Soviet tanks as it established a bridgehead over the River Gniloy Tikich on 8 February 1944.

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