Paulus, of course, also had some concerns about this flanking position, and made some arrangements in advance. As mentioned earlier, when he led the main force to the east in early August, he also ordered the 17th Army and the Italians to join forces and drove the remnants of the Soviet 38th Army north of the Don River on August 1-10. But this operation was not complete. The Soviets were still holding a small position on the south bank of Raspopinskaya (south of Serafimovich).
Yeliamenko also attached particular importance to this front. On the night of 10 August, the Soviet 21st Army, which was resting and replenishing east of Sherafimović, arrived at the front and took over the remnants of the 38th Army and its positions (now 75 km wide) on 12 August. The 21st Army nominally had 7 infantry divisions, 1 motorized brigade, 5 howitzer regiments, 5 anti-tank artillery regiments, and 3 engineer battalions. However, these forces are only half the strength of their strength.
The commander of the Soviet 21st Army, Major General Danilov, sent only a special mixed detachment to defend the bridgehead on the south bank, while the main force was defending the north bank. Yeliamenko did not send the 21st Army just to hold the Don. As he boasted to Stalin, Yeliamenko liked to attack. On 18 August, the day before Paulus ordered the attack on Stalingrad, Yeliamenko gave orders to the 21st and 63rd Armies to return to the south bank of the Don River. At dawn on 20 August, four Soviet infantry divisions (without tank support) attacked Serafimović and the area west of him. The general situation is:
Two divisions on the left flank of the Soviet 63rd Army (197th Infantry Division, 14th Guards Rifle Division), facing the Italian 2nd Infantry Division (part of the Italian 35th Army), two divisions on the right flank of the Soviet 21st Army (304th and 96th Infantry Divisions), facing the German 79th Infantry Division (under the German 17th Army). Among them, the Soviet 304th Division faced the German 79th Reconnaissance Battalion, and the Soviet 96th Division faced the main force of the German 79th Division.