Inside the pocket, two assault groups were formed to batter past the Soviet defences. The Leibstandarte, then part of Kampfgruppe Mauss, fell back from its positions on the western flank of the pocket and deployed as part of the flank guard. The Corps Group von Chevallerei's élite Waffen-SS division helped hold open the escape corridor for almost 12 days against repeated attacks by the Soviet Third Guards Tank Army. The Das Reich Division stayed as the rearguard on the eastern edge of the pocket.

II SS Panzer Corps

Central to Manstein's breakout plan was the deployment of II SS Panzer Corps to punch a corridor through from the west and take the pressure off Hube's hard-pressed troops in the pocket. On paper, II SS Panzer Corps was a formidable force, but its leaders and soldiers were largely untried in combat. Their commander, SS-Obergruppenführer Willi Bittrich, was one of the most professional officers in the Waffen-SS, but many of his divisional and regimental commanders were very raw. Bittrich's corps boasted an impressive array of weaponry, with Hohenstaufen fielding 21 Panthers, 38 Panzer IVs, 44 StuG IIIs and 12 Marder self-propelled anti-tank guns, while Frundsberg could put 44 Panzer IVs and 49 StuG IIIs into action.

The new SS panzer divisions attack

By 3 April, Bittrich's men had finished unloading their tanks from trains in Lvov, and the following day they moved forward into action. The weather was terrible, with thaws one day followed by heavy snow the next. For the first day of the operation, the Army 506th Heavy Panzer Battalion took the lead with its Tiger Is battering away through a large pak-front of anti-tank guns. Now the Frundsberg Division took over the advance for the final 32km (20 miles) to Hube's men. It then immediately ran into a concealed pak-front, and so the division's reconnaissance unit was sent forward to pinpoint the enemy gun pit and bunker positions. Panzers were then brought up to blast the enemy anti-tank guns one by one. Soon the tanks were rolling eastwards again, with the divisional commander, SS-Gruppenführer Karl von Treuenfeld, leading the advance with the first panzer company. He decided that the link-up could be achieved sooner if a direct route across country was taken. The Waffen-SS general managed to get through to Hube's 6th Panzer Division with five tanks, but he was soon cut off from his division by a massive Soviet infantry attack. The Waffen-SS tank crews had to fight dismounted from their immobile panzers to deal with Soviet tank-hunting squads that lurked in the woods and forests along the column's route. Bittrich came forward to sort out the mess.

Manstein is sacked

By 6 April Bittrich had cleared the Soviet infantry brigades in the woods around the town of Buchach, which was the objective of Hube's columns. A supply column with 610 tonnes (600 tons) of fuel then moved down the corridor to refuel Hube's tanks and trucks, which were almost running on vapour. Over the next three days all the trapped German divisions were able to pass safely into the area held by II SS Panzer Corps. The rescue operation was a major success for Manstein, but the Führer saw it entirely differently. The "saviour of the Eastern Front" was relieved and replaced by Field Marshal Walther Model, who had a reputation for issuing "fight to the last man and bullet" orders. He was more to Hitler's liking.

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