In further fighting in the northeast corner of the Great Bend in mid-August the remainder of the division was encircled, and only some 1,200 troops were able to escape across the river.

The division began forming in March 1942 at Rostov-on-Don in the North Caucasus Military District, based on the first formation of the 102nd Rifle Brigade.

[3] Col. Afanasii Stepanovich Zakharchenko was appointed to command on July 12, the day the division joined the active front as part of 62nd (former 7th Reserve) Army.

[5] Late on July 23, Kolpakchi reported that his right wing was fighting a "fierce defensive battle with enemy tanks (150-200) and infantry, supported by aircraft."

Kolpakchi radioed that his 192nd and 184th Divisions had withdrawn to the northeast under the impact of from up to 100 German tanks and were defending a large bridgehead south of the Don River east of Kletskaya.

In fact, by this time the XIV Panzer Corps and the supporting 113th Infantry had loosely encircled a third of 62nd Army on the high ground in the Mayorovsky region, including a portion of the 192nd.

VIII Corps' 113th and 100th Jäger Divisions, supported by most of 16th Panzer's tanks, had to simultaneously contain two Soviet bridgeheads south of the Don, defeat and destroy the encircled grouping, and fend off attempts to relieve the pocket.

Early on the first day, Kolpakchi organized a counterattack force consisting of the 196th Division and the 649th Tank Battalion to attack northward along the Liska River toward Skvorin, to cut off the panzers and help rescue Group Zhuravlev.

Burdened by more than 500 wounded and running out of both fuel and ammunition, on July 29 he ordered his tattered group to attack northeastward to try to link up with 22nd Tank Corps, which was supposedly advancing to the rescue.

This led to a two-day running battle before the Group finally reached the lines of 4th Tank Army near Oskinskii and Verkhne-Golubaya late on July 31.

After July 31, the 192nd, with the 184th and 22nd Tanks, continued daily attacks on the defenses of VIII Corps south of the Kremenskaya and Sirotinskaya bridgehead, but without much success.

The assault began with a diversionary attack by XI Army Corps against the right flank, held by the 205th, supported by the 321st and the recently-arrived 343rd Rifle Division.

With air support the XIV Panzers and VIII Corps demolished the defenses of the 192nd, 184th and 205th Divisions and pushed rapidly eastward.

The attack effectively split 4th Tank Army into two halves, forcing the 192nd to withdraw toward the Don north and south of Akimovskii along with the 18th and 184th.

On the night of August 18/19, the commander of Stalingrad Front, Col. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, issued an over-ambitious plan which, among other aspects, called on the 192nd, along with the 184th and 18th and the two Guards divisions, to defend in place along the left bank of the Don to prevent any German crossings.