The Soviet situation as of the 27th from west to cast was as follows: The Sixtieth Army continued its siege of Tarnopol and pushed west against the remains of the German XLVIII Panzer Corps. The First Tank Army (140 tanks) had crossed the Dnestr River at Gorodenka and moved towards Chernovsrvy, Kolomyya and Stanislau. The Fourth Tank Army with 140 tanks (some sources say only 60 tanks) had taken Kamenets with its 10th Guards Tank Corps. The 6th Mechanized Corps was further to the south and a few infantry brigades were at Skala and Husiatyn. The Third Guards Tank Army and First Guards Army (11 divisions) were near Proskurov. The ThirtyEighth and Fortieth Armies with some 18 divisions between them were moving west, to the north and south of the Dnestr River. South of the Fortieth Army, a small portion of the Sixth Tank Army was moving along the south flank of First Panzer Army, driving along the Lipkany road to Khotin. Much further south, the Twenty-Seventh Army, Second Tank and the remainder of the Sixth Tank Army also crossed the Dnestr River in hot pursuit of the German Eighth Army. Also from west to east, the German forces were deployed as follows: The 17th Panzer Division was north of Kamenets and the 371st Infantry Division stood 10 kilometers northeast of the city. The LIX Corps was in the Proskurov area. Its 6th, 11th and 19th Panzer Divisions were stretched along the railroad to Kamenents, while 1st Panzer Division stood in the Yarmolintsy-Gusystin area. XXIV Panzer Corps was to the right of LIX Corps in the northeast corner of the pocket. Between XXIV Panzer Corps and XLVI Panzer Corps to the south existed a 25- mile gap only partially held by some units of III Panzer Corps and being heavily pressed by the Soviet Thirty-Eighth Army. The XLVI Panzer Corps itself was just north of the Dnestr River facing the Soviet Fortieth Army. South of the river, Group Gollnick with the 75th Infantry Division along with the 18th Artillery Division strove to delay the Soviet Sixth Tank Army. On the 27th, the 17th Panzer Division crossed the Zmotricz River towards the west and seized an undestroyed bridge, while Group "GollnicV' was given the order at noon to withdraw across the Dnestr at Khotin. Along the eastern front of the pocket the Soviet Thirty-Eighth and Fortieth Armies attacked towards Khotin and Dunajwesy. Along the northern flank minor attacks occurred. In the west, the First Guards Army broke through along with the Third Guards Tank Army between the Uszyca and Zbrucz Rivers despite the stalwart defense of CG Chevallerie. The Soviet First Tank Army with three infantry corps moved west towards the Hungarian VII Corps. The Germans were not idle; they rammed across the Zbruch River capturing three bridges. Once these bridgeheads were consolidated, the armored spearheads would strike towards the Seret River. On the 28th, the Germans cut the supply road to Chortkov. CG Chevallerie pushed through the Soviets also reaching the Zbruch River at Skala on the 29th and north of it. In the south, the 163rd, 240th, and 4th Guards Divisions of the Soviet Fortieth Army had blocked off Khotin. STAVKA assigned the 18th Guards Corps of Sixtieth Army to cover a 75-mile front from Zalozhitsky to along the Dnestr River to Mariampol, while First Tank Army was responsible between Stanislau to Storozita. In the Tarnopol area, two Soviet tank corps and five divisions positioned themselves along the south flank of the German Fourth Panzer Army. CG Breith had encircled the Soviet corps at Kamenets while another part of the formation struck for the Zbruch River, reaching it on the 30th. By the 30th, the Germans in part had reached the Seret River and crossed it. During the last few days of March much of the weather was comprised mainly of heavy snowstorms which halted many air supply flights and severely hampered movement. For example, the airlift from the 26th to 28th only netted some 40-50 tons of supplies. Hube estimated the army would require some 150 tons of ammo and 200 tons of fuel to break out. On the 30th a maximum effort was made and around 78 tons were flown in and 300 wounded soldiers were evacuated. Kesselschlacht March-April 1944 Introduction and Background Terrain and Weather The Deception The Battle Begins Breakout Aftermath The Face of Battle All Daily Situation Maps (monstrously slow: 1.646Mb!) Back to Table of Contents -- Against the Odds vol. 1 no. 3 Back to Against the Odds List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by LPS. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com * Buy this back issue or subscribe to Against the Odds direct from LPS.