On 19 November at 0530, in the sector of the Third Romanian Army, a violent artillery barrage battered the entire front line. The weather conditions were harsh: blizzards, snow, -20 degrees Celsius, which made close air support impossible. The Soviets assaulted the positions of the 14th Infantry Division with the 5th Tank Army and the junction between the 13th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division with the 21st Army, with a total of 338,631 men against three weak divisions. The 37mm and 47mm AT guns were useless against Soviet T-34 tanks, so the Romanian troops had to use grenades, anti-tank mines and Molotov cocktails. In the first hours, they managed to delay the advance and destroy some tanks, but later they had to retreat or face encirclement. The Soviets also attacked west of Sarisa Valley and at Raspopinskaya, but were repulsed. In response to the situation that developed south of Kletskaya, the German 48th Panzer Corps was ordered to move towards the Soviet main thrust and shortly afterwards, the 22nd Panzer Division was redirected to the northwest towards Bolsoy and, reaching Petshany, it engaged Soviet armor. By evening, the 1st Romanian Armored Division reached Sirkovsky, making preparations to attack Bolsoy the next day.