. . . One of these events, the attempt of the Red Army to cut off and destroy the panzer formations far advanced before Moscow, is little known. In January 1942, when the 3rd, 4th and 22nd Soviet Shock armies set out from the Army Group North area to the south and attacked Kholm, Toropets, Demidov, Vitebsk and Belikie Luki, in order to roll over the rear area services approximately 160 kilometers behind the front and the strong point-like positions and cut off the main body of Army Group Center from its supply of weapons and soldiers, the Eastern Campaign appeared to be lost. The renewed major offensive of the Red Army, which began in November 1942, found these troops - hopelessly opposing massed enemy formations - in a battle to the bitter end. This is especially shown in Velikie Luki, where the defensive strength of 7,500 German soldiers fought to the end paid for with their own lives. Only a handful of soldiers escaped from this inferno. Never before has such detail on this aspect of the Russian front campaign been available in English. Reknowned author Franz Kurowski uses first-person accounts, and never before published documentation to present this, the turning point of the war in Russia.
