Following the Uranus operation, German divisions posted in the sector of the 8th Italian Army had been shifted southwards in order to face the Soviet threat. The Celere Division, previously placed in the rear as army reserve, was forced to occupy the sector guarded by the German 294th Infantry Division. This gave the 6th and 3rd Bersaglieri Regiments a 40-kilometer front to defend. Even if one considers the Bersaglieri elite troops, the Celere did not possess the defensive capabilities of a normal infantry division as it owned much less artillery and fewer support weapons. To make matters worse, in the attempt to cope with the Soviet attacks against the II Corps the division was stripped of most of its reserve (the armored Bersaglieri battalion and the 47mm Semovente squadron). Army headquarters ordered the last remaining reserve, the XIX Battalion, to depart on the evening of the 16th. Colonello Carloni, commander of the 6th Regiment, managed to delay the departure until the following morning. He sensed an imminent attack in this sector, and that intuition bore fruit at dawn on the 17th as the enemy moved out under cover of a thick fog.

Massed columns of the Soviet 197th Rifle Division crossed the Don River in sequence. The Bersaglieri in this sector knew their line was much too thin to possibly hold them back. Their only hope lay in delaying the Soviet advance by adopting an aggressive, fluid defense. While the three companies of the 6th Battalion fought vigorously while slowly giving ground, the XIX Battalion counterattacked three times south of the Tichaia River. In this area, the Soviets gradually ground down the Italian defenders, overwhelmed the artillery, and advanced toward the town of Tichownskoj. Meanwhile north of the Tichaia River the Soviets made slower progress. Eventually a column made its way through Italian defenses and moved northward, threatening the rear of the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment. By 1400 the Italians completely vacated the sector south of the Tichaia. They concentrated their efforts to try blocking the road that run along the Tichaia toward the town of Meskow.

120th Artillery Regiment is part of the 3rd Celere Division, therefore not eligible for the 75/27 howitzer upgrade of special rule 16.