During the last phases of a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad which general lead a raid that was designed to force the Germans to divert forces?
Tatsinskaya Raid The Tatsinskaya Raid was a Soviet armoured raid deep into the German rear conducted by 24th Tank Corps under the command of Major General Vasily Mikhaylovich Badanov in late December 1942, during the last phases of the Battle of Stalingrad (Operation Little Saturn). It was designed to force the Germans to divert forces attempting to relieve the 6th Army trapped in Stalingrad. The Soviet force captured its objective, the Luftwaffe's airfield at Tatsinskaya, destroying over 72 aircraft on the ground, but was left cut off and without supplies. Despite the loss of most of the tank corps during the ensuing breakout, the raid was a great operational victory.
Šiauliai Offensive The Šiauliai Offensive (Russian: Шяуляйская наступательная ) was an operation of the Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front, commanded by General Hovhannes Bagramyan, conducted from July 5 to August 29, 1944, during the Second World War. It was part of the third phase of the Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation (also known as Operation Bagration), and drove German troops from much of Lithuania, with the main tactical objective of the city of Šiauliai (Russian: Шяуля́й , German: "Schaulen" ).