On October 22, 1942, Batov was moved to command of the 4th Tank Army on the approaches to Stalingrad, replacing Mjr. Gen. V.D. Kryuchenkin. This army, soon renamed the 65th Army, formed part of Rokossovski's Don Front. Batov remained in command of 65th Army for the duration. He helped to plan the Soviet counteroffensive, Operation Uranus, providing key intelligence to Gen. Zhukov regarding the boundaries between German and Romanian forces. His army formed a key strike force in this offensive, and the subsequent Operation Ring, which reduced and defeated the encircled Axis forces. Rokossovski later wrote: