The first assignment was the Army's attack as part of Operation Uranus, the encirclement operation against Paulus’s 6th Army at Stalingrad. By 23 November this was complete, Lelyushenko advancing 55 km to the west. During this period he was officially reprimanded for his habitual absence from his rear area command post, due to his insistence on attending the front in person. The following offensive codenamed Operation Little Saturn began on 16 December 1942 and Lelyushenko's Army, now designated 3rd Guards Army, again drove forward with 1st Guards Mechanised Corps making 100 km of ground into the enemy rear areas.