It was designed as a "Sturm- und Stoß" division (English: storm and impulse division), whose soldiers had to run through a hard training and a long conscription to fight on the foremost part of the front. The soldiers were mostly veterans of the previous campaigns on the Western Front and the Invasion of Poland. From May 1942 onwards, it was employed in battles on the Eastern Front as a part of the 6th Army under the command of General der Panzertruppe Friedrich Paulus. After he had taken over the command in January 1942, the Red Army launched an offensive near the city of Kharkov. The German troops could repel the attack and conducted a successful counter-offensive, during which they encircled the Soviet formations. In this engagement, the Red Army sustained great casualties.