Gen. A.I. Yeryomenko, the Army commander, began ordering counterstrokes on August 27 against German forces of Second Panzer Group that had recently captured Starodub. Over the following weeks the rifle divisions of 13th Army launched numerous attacks with limited armor support against the German flank in what was clearly an uneven contest to try to disrupt the enemy armored drive south to encircle the Red Army forces defending Kiev. In these actions the 45th Rifle Corps made little progress while suffering significant losses, and on September 7 Yeryomenko wrote: