The German 2nd Army Corps was one of the German Army's main infantry army groups. Although the 8th Armored Army Corps and 9th Armored Army Corps had become the two most powerful army groups in the German Army, the other infantry army groups had likewise completed motorization. Its eleven divisions essentially included one Armored Division, two Mechanized Infantry Divisions, and eight motorized infantry divisions, and they too possessed large armored forces.
This gave those main German infantry army groups formidable offensive power in the war. This time, in order to cut off the Southern Front Army's retreat, General Brauchitsch directly ordered his 2nd Army Corps to undertake the mission. It would not be an easy task. Once the Russian forces discovered that their rear route had been severed, they would certainly throw everything into a counterattack in an attempt to reopen it. At the same time, they might also be caught in a pincer attack by Russian reinforcements.
As the Commander of Army Group, General Brauchitsch naturally assigned this heavy responsibility to his own 2nd Army Corps. Though it was somewhat dangerous, he believed the 2nd Army Corps would certainly be able to accomplish the mission. When the time came, it would also earn the greatest military merit.
On September 20, the German D Army Group launched its general offensive against the Russian Southern Front Army. The German 2nd Army Corps struck first. The 2nd Armored Division, 21st Mechanized Infantry Division, and 22nd Mechanized Infantry Division took the lead, attacking from the right flank of the Russian Southern Front Army. More than five hundred tanks split into three columns and savagely assaulted the Russian 9th Army Corps' defensive lines.
The Russian 9th Army Corps possessed formidable strength, with the 14th Corps, 35th Army, 48th Corps, 2nd Cavalry Corps, 2nd Mechanized