IV Ausf. The Soviet offensives were reaching what the great philosopher of war Karl von Clausewitz called a “culmination point,” at which energy flags, friction rises, and the machine stops. With the Germans exerting heavy pressure on Colonel General Nikolai F. Vatutin's Southwestern Front, Stavka transferred 3th Tank Army to his command. [36] SS divisions were normally in better shape, with an estimated 150 tanks, a battalion of self-propelled assault guns and enough half-tracks to motorize most of its infantry and reconnaissance soldiers[36]—and these had an authorized strength of an estimated 19,000 personnel. A detachment of the division fought its way to the southern approaches of the city, cutting off the road to Merefa. The subject is one of my favorite, along with the third battle of Kharkov (feb-march 1943), since both are showing the German forces' recovery and emerging victorious after Soviet victories. [25] While the Soviet 14th and 48th Armies attacked the Second Panzer Army's right flank, making minor gains,[26] Rokossovsky launched his offensive on 25 February, breaking through German lines and threatening to surround and cut off the German Second Panzer Army and the Second Army, to the south. [92] After the fall of Kharkov the Soviet defense of the Donets had collapsed,[93] allowing Manstein's forces to drive to Belgorod on 17 March,[94] and take it by the next day. Originally, Manstein foresaw a three-stage offensive. 86. Pressing into northern Kharkov, the Leibstandarte SS Panzer Division met heavy resistance and only gained a foothold in the city with the aid of air support. Glantz, D. From the Don to the Dnepr: Soviet Offensive Operations December 1942 to August 1943, Frank Cass, London, 1991. This scenario represents the typical house to house fighting that went on. A flanking attack from the rear finally allowed the Germans to achieve a foothold in that area of the city. Fighting their way past Soviet T-34s, this German contingent was able to lodge itself into Kharkov's northern suburbs. Taking advantage of uncoordinated and piecemeal Soviet attempts to plug this gap, Manstein ordered a continuation of the offensive towards Kharkov. [54] Between 20–23 February, the 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH cut through the 6th Army's flank, eliminating the Soviet threat to the Dnieper River and successfully surrounding and destroying a number of Red Army units south of the Samara River. U.S. Army War College. Erich Von Manstein & The Third Battle Of Kharkov — February 19th – March 15th, 1943 – “The Genius Of A Man” War, the poet Virgil once wrote, is a tale of “arms and the man.” The outcome of battle hinges on numbers, technology, training, and other impersonal factors, not … The German Force at the Battle of Kharkov in the early spring of 1943 The Eastern Front during the winter of 1942/1943 As the year became 1943, a series of actions centered around Stalingrad in southern Russia led to some of the heaviest fighting on the Eastern Front during World War II. [2] The German Wehrmacht was understrength, especially after continuous operations between June 1942 and February 1943, to the point where Hitler appointed a committee made up of Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Martin Bormann and Hans Lammers, to recruit 800,000 new able-bodied men—half of whom would come from "nonessential industries". [91] The Soviet 40th and 69th armies had been engaged since 13 March with the Grossdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division, and had been split by the German drive. Despite his efforts, a German panzer division could only count on an estimated 10,000–11,000 personnel, out of an authorized strength of 13,000–17,000. As the German Sixth Army was encircled in Stalingrad, the Red Army undertook a series of wider attacks against the rest of Army Group South. [36], By the start of 1943 Germany's armored forces had sustained heavy casualties. [77], One historian wrote that the Third Battle of Kharkov[3] was "the last great victory of German arms in the eastern front." [citation needed] As a result, the Soviets deployed around twice as many personnel as the Wehrmacht in early February. The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov (or Kharkiv) between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Third battle of Kharkov. Total German losses at the Battle of Stalingrad, excluding prisoners, were between 120,000 and 150,000. Typically, Hitler chose the "forehand method", which led to the Battle of Kursk.[98]. Rather than advance to the east of the city, he ordered his men to move to the west then north to encircle it. [15] Despite Hitler's orders to hold the city, Kharkov was abandoned by German forces and the city was recaptured by the Red Army on 16 February. The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov (or Kharkiv)Kharkov is the Russian language name of the city (Kharkiv the Ukrainian one); both Russian and Ukrainian were official languages in the Soviet Union (Source: & by Routledge) between 19 February and 15 March … [25] These were positioned in such a way that Reiter's Briansk Front was on the northern flank of Army Group South, while Voronezh was directly opposite of Kursk, and the Southwestern Front was located opposite their opponents. Unwilling to launch a direct assault against the Soviets, the German commander planned a counterstroke against the Soviet flank once they became overextended. Attacking the Germans on March 3, this force took heavy losses from enemy air attacks. [38] After the fighting around Kharkov, Heinz Guderian embarked on a program to bring Germany's mechanized forces up to strength. On 14–15 March these forces were given permission to withdraw to the northern Donets River. Known to the Germans as the Donets Campaign, and to the Soviets as the Donbas and Kharkov operations, the German counterstrike led to the destruction of approximately 52 Soviet divisions and the recapture of the cities of Kharkov and Belgorod. Later known as Third Battle of Kharkov, it commenced on 21 February, as 4th Panzer Army under General Hoth launched a counter-attack. [90] Overall German casualties are more difficult to come by but clues are provided by examining the casualties of the SS Panzer Corps, taking into consideration that the elite Waffen-SS divisions were frequently deployed where the fighting was expected to be the harshest. [85] Despite the declaration that the city had fallen, fighting continued on 15 and 16 March, as German units cleared the remnants of resistance in the tractor works factory complex, in the southern outskirts of the city. The second stage included the recapture of Kharkov, while the third stage was designed to attack the Soviets at Kursk, in conjunction with Army Group Center—this final stage was ultimately called off due to the ad…