At 7.30 hrs November 19, 1942, Voronov's guns and mortars, 3500 of them, laid down an eighty minute barrage against Rumanian IInd Army. The barrage lifted and through the mist there came down on the dazed Rumanians the Soviet infantry, wave upon wave, and with them the menacing shapes of the T-34, over two hundred of them. The Rumanians broke and their divisions fell to pieces, streaming in panic towards the rear. Behind them the stolid Soviet Infantry plodded on, rounding up the pathetic groups of fleeing Rumanians, while the mobile forces gathered themselves for their next missions, towards the Don and Kalach.

Stalingrad front:

At 10.00 hrs on November 20 1942, 1000 Katyusha salvoes signalled the beginning of the artillery bombardement. Yeremenko's attack was itself a two-pronged one. On his right parts of 64th and 57th Armies with a force of six infantry divisions would strike up towards the rear of the German 6th Army, and when they made a the 13th Mechanised Corps would advance towards the Chervlenaya river to pen in the Stalingrad force, while on his left 51st Army would make a hole through which the 4th Mechanised Corps and the 4th Cavalry Corps would be launched towards Sovetsky and on to Kalach, thus to forge the ring of encirclement around the bulk of the German Army Group B.