World War 2 In Review

Collapse in the East: War on the Russian Front (1943-1944)

A panzergrenadier remains concealed in a field as a Soviet tank approaches.

by Robert C. Smith

The Soviet 1943 Summer Counteroffensive and the Soviet Fall/Winter 1943-1944 Offensive had caused disastrous German losses south of the Pripet Marshes, yet north of this area, the offensives had been relatively limited. In fact, the only serious alteration in positions was the Soviet offensive that drove German and Axis troops away from the city of Leningrad.

For the troops of German Army Group Center, the war seemed to be some faraway event. Most of their time was spent in the development of densely fortified positions around strategic towns and cities, and guarding key river crossings. The troops were handicapped by the persistent combing of their ranks to find combat-ready troops to send in as replacements in the south. Everyone assumed that, given enough time, they could make up in strength and tenacity of their fortified positions what they were losing in manpower and equipment, especially mobile units.

The Soviet successes during the preceding summer had imposed yet another constraint on the troops, namely that as the troops on the southern flank of the Army Group were forced to withdraw, the troops from Army Group Center were forced to extend themselves and guard the exposed flank. Fortunately for the Germans, the terrain favored their defense efforts, since they could easily use the Pripet River and its tributaries as terrain reinforcements for their positions. Even so, the 400,000 men of Army Group Center were stretched out thinly, covering a front that extended in a sweeping curve from near Polotosk south around Bobruisk and then along the Pripet River. This amounted to almost 600 kilometers of front for the troops to defend, as well as innumerable salients, strong points, and, above all, the rear areas.

The terrain tended to favor the defense. Virtually all the major rivers in the area ran north-south; only the Pripet ran east-west. Many areas were heavily forested, a factor that favored the defense; but other areas were marsh, a factor that hindered the movement of friend and foe alike and made the cohesive operation of large forces difficult. The Germans had carefully taken advantage of terrain in their development of fortifications. Most fortified localities included a variety of trenches, earth-reinforced pillboxes, dense minefields, and special fighting positions where the turrets of spare or severely damaged tanks were used as the artillery for the area. The problem facing the Germans was not so much the power of the individual fortifications, but the fact that the whole front could not be covered in anything like the desired troop density. The command of Army Group Center hoped that the available panzer and panzergrenadier units would be able to cover the thinly held gaps along the front.

Strategically, the task of Army Group Center was to prevent the advance of Soviet units along the easy campaigning terrain of westernmost Russia and eastern Poland. After taking a leaf from the Soviet book on the defense, it was hoped that the defenses would allow the Germans to hold out indefinitely against the Soviet Summer Offensive, while mobile units were rushed into position to deliver the coup. This decision had been made at the highest political level—by Hitler himself.

Hitler made a careful examination of the front, trying to guess where the Soviets, now with the initiative firmly in their grasp, would strike in their inevitable Summer Offensive. Given the weak hold that the Germans maintained along the Pripet River to the south of Army Group Center, and the fact that any other attack would have to cross numerous defended river lines, it was logical to assume that the Soviets would take the easy way out, the one that offered the greatest advantage for the least cost. It was assumed that the Soviets would attempt to force the Pripet River line, then roll up the southern flank of Army Group Center.

Unfortunately for the troops in Army Group Center, the assumptions were wrong. The Soviets planned to make a head-on assault against Army Group Center and its fortified localities. Although there was considerable evidence that the Soviets were planning a truly massive attack against the face of Army Group Center, a combination of Soviet diversionary operations (that would later develop into offensives in their own right) and careful control of radio traffic preserved both tactical and strategic surprise.

With a fine sense of history and irony, the Soviets launched their attack on 22 June 1944, the third anniversary of the German invasion of the USSR. In manpower alone, the Soviets outnumbered the Germans six-to-one, and they dominated all other categories in the same manner. Massive attacks by Soviet artillery divisions tore huge holes in the weakened German lines, while infantry assaults, backed up by armored units, ripped the gaps wider. Tank and mechanized corps poured through the gaps, plunging deep into the German rear, severing communications everywhere. While portions of the Soviet attackers rolled onward, others curved in behind the Germans in their fortified localities and trapped them.

The huge manpower losses inflicted on Army Group Center, as well as the materiel losses, had so weakened the horse cavalry units, while the river obstacles were bridged by wooden submerged bridges and crossed underwater by sealed tanks. Each of the fortified localities was completely surrounded by the end of the first week, and most had been captured, the troops inside them either killed or captured. The brutal combination of very heavy artillery bombardment and skillful use of combat teams of armor, infantry, engineers, and anti-tank guns made a mockery of the German defenses. With the front collapsing around them, just one thought filled the minds of the German defenders—Escape!

During the first week of the offensive, over twenty German divisions were eliminated totally. Over one hundred thousand German soldiers died, and another forty thousand were captured—at one blow, over a third of the forces of Army Group Center had ceased to exist.

The pursuit that followed was as skillful as it was merciless. Frantic to stop the Soviet hordes, the Germans threw in everything they could scrape together in a series of uncoordinated counterattacks. The Soviets stood firm and allowed the attacks to batter themselves against their hasty defenses, then they counterattacked in turn, destroying the men who tried to block their path. During the third week of the offensive, the Soviet pursuit formed yet another pocket.

German troops, driven back and funneled into the city of Minsk, were surrounded after a fierce series of tank battles that enclosed them in a monstrous pocket—over one hundred thousand German troops were trapped. Within a few days, the soldiers in the pocket had joined their comrades in death or captivity.

The huge manpower losses inflicted on Army Group Center, as well as the material losses, had so weakened the German Army that to resist was suicidal, yet still had to be done, no matter what the cost. The tables of three years before had been turned, and now it was the turn of the German Army to stand and die to protect its homeland. Reinforcements from the west, originally earmarked for the defense of Normandy, were hastily thrown in front of the Soviet offense. Finally, after just more than a month of fighting, the Soviets took a well-deserved rest.

In thirty-two days of heavy fighting, the Soviets had killed more than four hundred thousand German troops (i.e., the original strength of Army Group Center), captured another 150,000 men, and inflicted an immense number of casualties, destroying forever the trained offensive power of nearly thirty German divisions. From now on, the half-trained man- and boy-power of the Reich would suffer needless losses while the enemy still advanced without any serious opposition. Besides the heavy manpower losses, the materiel loss was enormous: huge supply dumps, railroad locomotives and rolling stock, more than 630 aircraft, sixteen thousand pieces of artillery, sixty thousand vehicles of all sorts, and, most important, 2,500 tanks and assault guns—the equipment for five panzer divisions.

What was even more significant for the future was not the fact that the Soviets had effectively emasculated the German Army, but that they had proven, without qualification, that they could conduct a blitzkrieg attack against heavily reinforced positions—and win. To demonstrate the depth of the offensive, along a 400-kilometer front, the Soviets had managed to drive up to 500 kilometers deep into the German rear in thirty-two days, and the Soviets didn’t make the same mistakes the Germans committed in BARBAROSSA.

Besides developing effective tactics that integrated tanks, infantry, engineers, and anti-tank artillery into comprehensive assault groups reminiscent of the units formed for the assaults on the Mannerheim Line in the Winter War, the Soviets had developed adequate air-ground support tactics and massive employment of artillery that shattered even the stoutest defenses. Once the defenses broke, the Soviets plunged deep into the German rear, and when counterattacks struck at their lightly guarded flanks, the Soviets smashed them with ease. The pursuit was conducted over marginally suitable terrain for a large portion of the time, yet was most effective, destroying the German Army everywhere it tried to stand fast.

But most significant of all for the future was the fact that the Soviets demonstrated that they had learned the lessons of the blitzkrieg better than their tutors. When the advance reached the limits of its supply lines, the Soviets stopped, rather than advance in a series of aimless, pointless, strategically insignificant attacks that would only wear out their trained manpower. Contrast this to the German dithering and aimless pursuit of tactical victories in the first few months of the Eastern Campaign.

Before the collapse of Army Group Center, the Soviets had demonstrated their ability as fighters; now they demonstrated their abilities as soldiers, and quite capable soldiers at that.

The Author

Robert C. Smith is a graduate geologist living in Pennsauken, New Jersey, and has written numerous articles on military history, military science, civil defense, and nuclear warfare for a variety of defense-oriented publications.

Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation (3-23 August 1943) (aka Fourth Battle of Kharkov)

Churchill Mk IV tank at the fourth battle of Kharkov in 1943.

The Belgorod-Kharkov Strategic Offensive Operation, or simply Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation, was a Soviet strategic summer offensive that aimed to recapture Belgorod and Kharkov (now Kharkiv) [Kharkov is the Russian language name of the city (Kharkiv in Ukrainian); both Russian and Ukrainian were official languages in the Soviet Union], and destroy the German forces of the 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf. The operation was codenamed Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev after the 18th-century Field Marshal Peter Rumyantsev and was conducted by the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts in the southern sector of the Kursk Bulge. The battle was referred to as the Fourth Battle of Kharkov by the Germans.

The operation began in the early hours of 3 August 1943, with the objective of following up the successful Soviet defensive effort against the German Operation Citadel. The offensive was directed against the German Army Group South’s northern flank. By 23 August, the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts had successfully seized Kharkov from German forces. It was the last time that Kharkov changed hands during the Soviet-German War. The operation led to the retreat of the German forces in Ukraine behind the Dnieper River and set the stage for the Battle of Kiev in autumn 1943.

Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev had been planned by Stavka to be the major Soviet summer offensive in 1943. However, due to heavy losses sustained during the Battle of Kursk in July, time was needed for the Soviet formations to recover and regroup. Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev commenced on 3 August, with the aim of the defeating the 4th Panzer Army, Army Group Kempf, and the southern wing of Army Group South. It was also hoped that the German 1st Panzer Army and the newly reformed 6th Army would be trapped by an advance of the Red Army forces to the Azov Sea.

The Soviet forces included the Voronezh Front and the Steppe Front, which deployed about 1,144,000 men with 2,418 tanks and 13,633 guns and rocket launchers for the attack. Against this the German army could field 200 000 men and 237 tanks and assault guns.

German Army Group South commander General Erich von Manstein had anticipated that the Soviets would launch an attack across the Dnieper and Mius Rivers in an attempt to reach the Black Sea, cutting off the German forces extended in the southern portion of Army Group South in a repeat of the Stalingrad disaster. When the Soviet Southern Front and the Southwestern Front launched just such an attack on 17 July the Germans responded by moving the II SS Panzer Corps, XXIV Corps and XLVIII Panzer Corps southward to blunt the Soviet offensive. In fact these Soviet operations were intended to draw off German forces from the main thrust of the Soviet offensive, to dissipate the German reserve in anticipation for their main drive.

The Soviet plan called for the 5th and 6th Guards Armies, and the 53rd Army, to attack on a 30-kilometer wide sector, supported by a heavy artillery concentration, and break through the five successive German defensive lines between Kursk and Kharkov. The former two armies had borne the brunt of the German attack in Operation Citadel. Supported by two additional mobile corps, the 1st Tank Army and the 5th Guards Tank Army, both mostly reequipped after the end of Operation Citadel, would act as the front’s mobile groups and develop the breakthrough by encircling Kharkov from the north and west. Mikhail Katukov’s 1st Tank Army was to form the westward-facing outer encirclement line, while Pavel Rotmistrov’s 5th Guards Tank Army would form the inner line, facing the city. A secondary attack to the west of the main breakthrough was to be conducted by the 27th and 40th Armies with the support of four separate tank corps. Meanwhile, to the east and southeast, the 69th and 7th Guards Armies, followed later by the Southwestern Front’s 57th Army, were to join the attack.

On 3 August the offensive was begun with a heavy artillery barrage directed against the German defensive positions. Though the German defenders fought tenaciously, the two tank armies committed to the battle could not be held back. By 5 August the Soviets had broken through the German defensive lines, moving into the rear areas and capturing Belgorod while advancing some 60 km. Delivering powerful sledgehammer blows from the north and east, the attackers overwhelmed the German defenders.

German reserves were shifted from the Orel sector and north from the Donbas regions in an attempt to stem the tide and slow down the Soviet attacks. Success was limited to the “Grossdeutschland” division delaying the 40th Army by a day. Seven panzer and motorized divisions making up the III Panzer Corps, along with four infantry divisions were assembled to counterattack into the flank of the advancing Soviet forces but were checked. After nine days the 2nd SS “Das Reich” and 3rd SS “Totenkopf” divisions arrived and initiated a counterattack against the two Soviet Armies near Bogodukhov, 30 km northwest of Kharkov. In the following armored battles of firepower and maneuver the SS divisions destroyed a great many Soviet tanks. To assist the 6th Guards Army and the 1st Tank Army, the 5th Guards Tank Army joined the battles. All three Soviet armies suffered heavily, and the tank armies lost more than 800 of their initial 1,112 tanks. These Soviet reinforcements stopped the German counterattack, but their further offensive plans were blunted.

With the Soviet advance around Bogodukhov stopped, the Germans now began to attempt to close the gap between Akhtyrka and Krasnokutsk. The counterattack started on 18 August, and on 20 August “Totenkopf” and “Großdeutschland” met behind the Soviet units. Parts of two Soviet armies and two tank corps were trapped, but the trapped units heavily outnumbered the German units. Many Soviet units were able to break out, while suffering heavy casualties. After this setback the Soviet troops focused on Kharkov and captured it after heavy fighting on 23 August.

The battle is usually referred to as the Fourth Battle of Kharkov by the Germans and the Belgorod–Kharkov Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviets. The Soviet operation was executed in two primary axis, one in the Belgorod-Kharkov axis and another in the Belgorod-Bogodukhov axis.

On the first day, the units of the Voronezh Front quickly penetrated the German front-line defenses on the boundary of the 4th Panzer Army and Army Group “Kempf”, between Tomarovka and Belgorod and gained 100 kilometers in a sector along the Akhtyrka-Bogodukhov-Olshany-Zolochev line along the banks of the Merla river. They were finally halted on 12 August by armored units of the III Panzer Corps. On 5 August 1943 XI Corps evacuated the city of Belgorod.

Following its withdrawal from Belgorod on the night of 5/6 August 1943 the XI Army Corps under the command of (Raus) now held defensive positions south of the city between the Donets and Lopan Rivers north of Kharkov. The XI Army Corps consisted of a Kampfgruppe from the 167th Infantry Division, the 168th, 106th, 198th, 320th Infantry Divisions, and the 6th Panzer Division which acted as was the corps reserve. This constituted a deep salient east into Soviet lines and was subject to outflanking attempts on the corps left flank, indeed Soviet armored units had already appeared 20 miles behind the corps front line. XI Army Corps now made a series of phased withdrawals toward Kharkov to prevent encirclement.

Only reaching the final defenses north of the city on 12 August 1943, following breakthroughs by the 57th and 69th Armies in several sectors of the front-line, the disintegration of the 168th Infantry Division and after an intervention by the corps reserve. When its attempts to force a breakthrough in the Bogodukhov-Olshany-Zolochev met with frustration along the Merla River, the Steppe Front directed its assaults towards Korotich, a sector held by 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich to cut the Poltava-Kharkov rail link. Fierce fighting ensued, in which Korotich was captured by the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps and subsequently recaptured by grenadiers from 2nd SS then to remain under German control, but the 5th Guards Tank Army (Pavel Rotmistrov) did cut the rail link finally on 22 August 1943.

The loss of this vital line of communication; while not fatal in itself, was a serious blow to the ability of Army Group Kempf, to defend the city from the constant Red Army attacks. This meant critical delays of supplies and reinforcements, and the unit’s position was becoming increasingly untenable. The way to Poltava now remained open, but Vatutin hesitated to push through while the Germans flanking the gap held firm. Instead, he turned his left flank armies; the 5th Guards Tank Army and the 5th Guards Army, against the western front of Army Group Kempf where the 2nd and 3rd SS Panzer Divisions fought to keep the front angled south westward away from Kharkov.

On the weaker east front of Army Group Kempf, the Soviet 57th Army cleared the right bank of the Donets between Chuguyev and Zmiyev, but the army command somehow could not quite bring itself to try for a full scale breakthrough.

These threats had led to a request by General Werner Kempf to abandon the city on 12 August 1943. Erich von Manstein did not object, but Adolf Hitler countered with an order that the city had to be held “under all circumstances”. After a prediction that the order to hold Kharkov would produce “another Stalingrad”, on 14 August 1943 Manstein relieved Kempf and appointed General Otto Wöhler in his place. A few days later, Army Group Kempf was renamed the 8th Army. Kharkov now constituted a deep German salient to the east, which prevented the red army from making use of this vital traffic and supply centre. Following boastful reports made by Soviet radio that Soviet troops had entered the city, when in fact it was still held by XI Army Corps, Joseph Stalin personally ordered its immediate capture. General Raus the officer commanding the city takes up the story:

It was clear that the Russians would not make a frontal assault on the projecting Kharkov salient but would attempt to break through the narrowest part of XI Armeekorps defensive arc west of the city in order to encircle the town. We deployed all available anti-tank guns on the northern edge of the bottleneck, which rose like a bastion, and emplaced numerous 88mm flak guns in depth on the high ground. This antitank defense alone would not have been sufficient to repulse the expected Soviet mass tank attack, but at the last moment reinforcements in the form of the “Das Reich” Panzer Regiment arrived with a strong Panzer component; I immediately dispatched it to the most endangered sector. The ninety-six Panther tanks, thirty-five Tiger tanks, and twenty-five Sturmgeschütz III self-propelled assault guns had hardly taken their positions on 20 August 1943 when the first large scale attack got underway. However the Russian tanks had been recognized while they were still assembling in the villages and flood plains of a brook valley. Within a few minutes heavily laden Stukas came on in wedge formation and unloaded their cargoes of destruction in well-timed dives on the enemy tanks caught in this congested area. Dark fountains of earth erupted skyward and were followed by heavy thunderclaps and shocks that resembled an earthquake. These were the heaviest, two-ton bombs, designed for use against battleships, which were all that Luftflotte 4 had left to counter the Russian attack. Soon all the villages occupied by Soviet tanks lay in flames. A sea of dust and smoke clouds illuminated by the setting sun hung over the brook valley, while dark mushrooms of smoke from burning tanks stood out in stark contrast. This gruesome picture bore witness to an undertaking that left death & destruction in its wake, hitting the Russians so hard that they could no longer launch their projected attack that day, regardless of Joseph Stalin’s order. Such a severe blow inflicted on the Soviets had purchased badly needed time for XI Armeekorps to reorganize.”

The supply situation in Kharkov was now catastrophic; artillerymen after firing their last rounds, were abandoning their guns to fight as infantrymen. The army’s supply depot had five trainloads of spare tank tracks left over from “Zitadelle” but very little else. The high consumption of ammunition in the last month and a half had cut into supplies put aside for the last two weeks of August and the first two weeks of September; until the turn of the month the army would have to get along with fifty percent of its daily average requirements in artillery & tank ammunition. XI Army Corps now had a combat strength of only 4,000 infantrymen, one man for every ten yards of front. General Erhard Raus explains the intensity of the constant Russian attacks:

On 20 August the Russians avoided mass groupings of tanks, crossed the brook valley simultaneously in a number of places, and disappeared into the broad cornfields that were located ahead of our lines, ending at the east-west rollbahn several hundred meters in front of our main battle line. Throughout the morning Soviet tanks worked their way forward in the hollows up to the southern edges of the cornfields, then made a mass dash across the road in full sight. “Das Reich‘s" Panthers caught the leading waves of T-34’s with fierce defensive fire before they could reach our main battle line. Yet wave after wave followed, until Russian tanks flowed across in the protecting hollows and pushed forward into our battle positions. Here a net of anti-tank and flak guns, Hornet 88mm tank destroyers, and Wasp self-propelled 105mm field howitzers trapped the T-34’s, split them into small groups, and put large numbers out of action. The final waves were still attempting to force a breakthrough in concentrated masses when the Tigers and StuG III self-propelled assault guns, which represented our mobile reserve s behind the front, attacked the Russian armor and repulsed it with heavy losses. The price paid by the 5th Guards Tank Army for this mass assault amounted to 184 knocked out T-34’s.

Wöhler, recognizing the hopelessness of the situation, did not prove anymore resolute, in view of the harsh realities facing the defenders of Kharkov, he knew that the depleted Infantry regiments could not hold their positions without copious artillery support. Two days after taking command of 8th Army, Wöhler also asked Manstein for permission to abandon the city. Regardless of Hitler’s demand that the city be held, Wöhler and Manstein agreed that the city could not be defended for long, given the diminishing German strength and the overwhelming size of Soviet reserves.

On 21 August 1943, Manstein gave his consent to withdraw from Kharkov. The largely destroyed Soviet city, which changed hands several times during the war, was about to be recaptured by the Soviets for the last time. During the day of 22 August 1943, the Germans began their exodus from the city under great pressure from the Soviets. The 57th & 69th Armies pushed in from three sides with the coming of daylight. The Soviets sensed that the Germans were evacuating Kharkov, due to the lessening of artillery fire and diminishing resistance in the front lines. Later in the day, thunderous explosions were heard as ammo dumps were blown. Large German columns were then observed leaving the city and the Soviet troops pushed into the town itself. Moving out of Kharkov to the south, the Germans desperately fought to hold open a corridor through which a withdrawal could be made.

All along the corridor through which the 8th Army evacuated Kharkov, Soviet artillery and mortars pounded the withdrawal. Their planes gathered for the kill and attacked the German columns leaving the city, strafing and bombing the men and vehicles. After dark, the 89th Guards and 107th Rifle Divisions broke into the interior of the city, driving the last German rearguard detachments before them. Enormous fires were set by the Germans in hope of delaying the Soviet advance. The city became a hellish place of fire and smoke, artillery fire & desperate combat, punctuated by the explosions of supply dumps.

By 0200 on 23 August 1943, elements of the 183rd Rifle Division pushed into the city center, reached the huge Dzerzhinsky Square and met men from the 89th Rifle Division. The Soviet troops hoisted a red banner over the city once again. By 1100, Kharkov and its outskirts had been taken completely. The fourth and final battle for the city was over.

By re-establishing a continuous front on Army Group South’s left flank, the 4th Panzer Army and the 8th Army had for the moment, blunted a deadly thrust, but to the north and southeast fresh blows had already been dealt or were in the making. Employing the peculiar rippling effect that marked their offensives, the Red Army, thwarted in one place, had shifted to others. For the first time in the war they had the full strategic initiative, and they used it well. The failure of Operation Citadel meant the Germans permanently lost the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front without any hope of regaining it, although Hitler refused to acknowledge it. The large manpower losses of the Wehrmacht in July and August 1943 severely restricted both Army Groups South & Centre to react to future thrusts during the winter and 1944. Operations Polkovodets Rumyantsev, along with the concurrent Operation Kutuzov marked the first time in the war that the Germans were not able to defeat a major Soviet offensive during the summer and regain their lost ground and the strategic initiative.

Losses for the operation are difficult to establish due to large numbers of transfers and missing in action. Soviet casualties in the Belgorod–Kharkov sector during this operation are estimated to be 71,611 killed and 183,955 wounded; 1,864 tanks, 423 artillery guns, and 153 aircraft were lost. German losses were at least 10,000 killed and missing and 20,000 wounded. German tank losses are estimated as several factors lower than Soviet tank losses.

Further Reading

Frieser, Karl-Heinz; Schmider, Klaus; Schönherr, Klaus; Schreiber, Gerhard; Ungváry, Kristián; Wegner, Bernd (2007). Die Ostfront 1943/44 – Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten [The Eastern Front 1943–1944: The War in the East and on the Neighboring Fronts]. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg [Germany and the Second World War] (in German). VIII. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.

Glantz, David (2001). The military strategy of the Soviet Union: A History. London: Frank Cass.

Glantz, David Colossus reborn : the Red Army at war : 1941-1943. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press 2005.

Glantz, David Soviet military deception in the Second World War. London, England: Routledge (1989).

Glantz, David; House, Jonathan (1995). When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press.

Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathan M. (2015). When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.

Keitel, Wilhelm and Walter Görlitz. The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Keitel. New York, NY: Stein and Day 1965.

Krivosheev, Grigoriy (1997). Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century. London: Greenhill Books.

Lisitskiy, P.I. and S.A. Bogdanov. Military Thought: Upgrading military art during the second period of the Great Patriotic War Jan-March, East View Publications, Gale Group, 2005.

Manstein, Erich von Lost Victories. St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 1982.

Decision in the Ukraine Summer 1943 II SS and III Panzerkorps, George M Nipe Jr, JJ Fedorowicz Publishing Inc. 1996

Panzer Operations The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus 1941-1945 by Steven H Newton Da Capo Press edition 2003

Stalingrad to Berlin - The German Defeat in the East by Earl F Ziemke Dorset Press 1968

The Road to Berlin by John Erickson Westview Press 1983

Decision in the Ukraine Summer 1943 II SS & III Panzerkorps, George M Nipe Jr, JJ Fedorowicz Publishing Inc. 1996

Panzer Operations The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus 1941-1945 by Steven H Newton Da Capo Press edition 2003

Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev.

5 cm PaK 38 gun in action, Kharkiv, Ukraine, mid-Aug 1943.

Advancing on a Soviet position in a thrust in the Orel-Belgorod sector.

Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein (right) and his chief of staff Hans Speidel.

Tiger I heavy tanks climbing a hill on the front lines near Belgorod, Russia, 13 August 1943.

Soviet T-34/76 medium tanks roll through Moscow Avenue in liberated Kharkov during the Belgorod-Kharkov offensive in August 1943.

Third Battle of Kharkov (19 February-15 March 1943)

Waffen-SS men near a burning house, Kharkov, February 1943.

The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by Army Group South of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Red Army, around the city of Kharkov (today Kharkiv) between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Known to the German side as the Donets Campaign, and in the Soviet Union as the Donbas and Kharkov operations, the German counterstrike led to the recapture of the cities of Kharkov and Belgorod.

As the German 6th Army was encircled in the Battle of Stalingrad, the Red Army undertook a series of wider attacks against the rest of Army Group South. These culminated on 2 January 1943 when the Red Army launched Operation Star and Operation Gallop, which between January and early February broke German defenses and led to the Soviet recapture of Kharkov, Belgorod, Kursk, as well as Voroshilovgrad and Izium. The Soviet victories caused participating Soviet units to over-extend themselves. Freed on 2 February by the surrender of the German 6th Army, the Red Army's Central Front turned its attention west and on 25 February expanded its offensive against both Army Group South and Army Group Center. Months of continuous operations had taken a heavy toll on the Soviet forces and some divisions were reduced to 1,000–2,000 combat effective soldiers. On 19 February, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein launched his Kharkov counterstrike, using the fresh II SS Panzer Corps and two panzer armies. Manstein benefited greatly from the massive air support of Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen's Luftflotte 4, whose 1,214 aircraft flew over 1,000 sorties per day from 20 February to 15 March to support the German Army, a level of airpower equal to that during the Case Blue strategic offensive a year earlier.

The Wehrmacht flanked, encircled, and defeated the Red Army's armored spearheads south of Kharkov. This enabled Manstein to renew his offensive against the city of Kharkov proper on 7 March. Despite orders to encircle Kharkov from the north, the SS Panzer Corps instead decided to directly engage Kharkov on 11 March. This led to four days of house-to-house fighting before Kharkov was recaptured by the SS Division Leibstandarte on 15 March. The German forces recaptured Belgorod two days later, creating the salient which in July 1943 would lead to the Battle of Kursk. The German offensive cost the Red Army an estimated 90,000 casualties. The house-to-house fighting in Kharkov was also particularly bloody for the German SS Panzer Corps, which had suffered approximately 4,300 men killed and wounded by the time operations ended in mid-March.

At the start of 1943, the German Wehrmacht faced a crisis as Soviet forces encircled and reduced the German 6th Army in the Battle of Stalingrad and expanded their Winter Campaign towards the Don River. On 2 February 1943 the 6th Army's commanding officers surrendered, and an estimated 90,000 men were taken prisoner by the Red Army. Total German losses at the Battle of Stalingrad, excluding prisoners, were between 120,000 and 150,000. Throughout 1942 German casualties totaled around 1.9 million personnel, and by the start of 1943 the Wehrmacht was around 470,000 men below full strength on the Eastern Front. At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht was equipped with around 3,300 tanks; by 23 January only 495 tanks, mostly of older types, remained operational along the entire length of the Soviet–German front. As the forces of the Don Front were destroying the German forces in Stalingrad, the Red Army's command (Stavka) ordered the Soviet forces to conduct a new offensive, which encompassed the entire southern wing of the Soviet–German front from Voronezh to Rostov.

On 2 February, the Red Army launched Operation Star, threatening the cities of Belgorod, Kharkiv and Kursk. A Soviet drive, spearheaded by four tank corps organized under Lieutenant-General Markian Popov, pierced the German front by crossing the Donets River and pressing into the German rear. On 15 February, two fresh Soviet tank corps threatened the city of Zaporizhia on the Dnieper River, which controlled the last major road to Rostov and housed the headquarters of Army Group South and Luftflotte 4 (Air Fleet Four). Despite Adolf 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. Hitler immediately flew to Manstein's headquarters at Zaporizhia. Manstein informed him that an immediate counterattack on Kharkov would be fruitless, but that he could successfully attack the overextended Soviet flank with his five Panzer corps, and recapture the city later. On 19 February Soviet armored units broke through the German lines and approached the city. In view of the worsening situation, Hitler gave Manstein operational freedom. When Hitler departed, the Soviet forces were only some 30 kilometers (19 mi) away from the airfield.

In conjunction with Operation Star the Red Army also launched Operation Gallop south of Star, pushing the Wehrmacht away from the Donets, taking Voroshilovgrad and Izium, worsening the German situation further. By this time Stavka believed it could decide the war in the southwest Russian SFSR and eastern Ukrainian SSR, expecting total victory.

The surrender of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad freed six Soviet armies, under the command of Konstantin Rokossovsky, which were refitted and reinforced by the 2nd Tank Army and the 70th Army. These forces were repositioned between the junction of German Army Groups Center and South. Known to the Soviet forces as the Kharkov and Donbas operations, the offensive sought to surround and destroy German forces in the Orel salient, cross the Desna River and surround and destroy German Army Group Center. Originally planned to begin between 12 and 15 February, deployment problems forced Stavka to push the start date back to 25 February. Meanwhile, the Soviet 60th Army pushed the German Second Army's 4th Panzer Division away from Kursk, while the Soviet 13th Army forced the Second Panzer Army to turn on its flank. This opened a 60 kilometers (37 mi) breach between these two German forces, shortly to be exploited by Rokossovsky's offensive. While the Soviet 14th and 48th Armies attacked the Second Panzer Army's right flank, making minor gains, 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. Unexpected German resistance began to slow the operation considerably, offering Rokossovsky only limited gains on the left flank of his attack and in the center. Elsewhere, the Soviet 2nd Tank Army had successfully penetrated 160 kilometers (99 mi) of the German rear, along the left flank of the Soviet offensive, increasing the length of the army's flank by an estimated 100 kilometers (62 mi).

While the Soviet offensive continued, Field Marshal von Manstein was able to put the SS Panzer Corps – now reinforced by the 3rd SS Panzer Division – under the command of the 4th Panzer Army, while Hitler agreed to release seven understrength panzer and motorized divisions for the impending counteroffensive. The 4th Air Fleet, under the command of Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, was able to regroup and increase the number of daily sorties from an average of 350 in January to 1,000 in February, providing German forces strategic air superiority. On 20 February, the Red Army was perilously close to Zaporizhia, signaling the beginning of the German counterattack, known to the German forces as the Donets Campaign.

Between 13 January and 3 April 1943, an estimated 210,000 Red Army soldiers took part in what was known as the Voronezh–Kharkov Offensive. In all, an estimated 6,100,000 Soviet soldiers were committed to the entire Eastern Front, with another 659,000 out of action with wounds. In comparison, the Germans could account for 2,988,000 personnel on the Eastern Front. As a result, the Red Army deployed around twice as many personnel as the Wehrmacht in early February. As a result of Soviet over-extension and the casualties they had taken during their offensive, at the beginning of Manstein's counterattack the Germans could achieve a tactical superiority in numbers, including the number of tanks present – for example, Manstein's 350 tanks outnumbered Soviet armor almost seven to one at the point of contact, and were far better supplied with fuel.

At the time of the counterattack, Manstein could count on the 4th Panzer Army, composed of XLVIII Panzer Corps, the SS Panzer Corps and the First Panzer Army, with the XL and LVII Panzer Corps. The XLVIII Panzer Corps was composed of the 6th, 11th and 17th Panzer Divisions, while the SS Panzer Corps was organized with the 1st SS, 2nd SS and 3rd SS Panzer Division. In early February, the combined strength of the SS Panzer Corps was an estimated 20,000 soldiers. The 4th Panzer Army and the First Panzer Army were situated south of the Red Army's bulge into German lines, with the First Panzer Army to the east of the 4th Panzer Army. The SS Panzer Corps was deployed along the northern edge of the bulge, on the northern front of Army Group South.

The Germans were able to amass around 160,000 men against the 210,000 Red Army soldiers. 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". The effects of this recruitment were not seen until around May 1943, when the German armed forces were at their highest strength since the beginning of the war, with 9.5 million personnel.

By the start of 1943 Germany's armored forces had sustained heavy casualties. It was unusual for a Panzer division to field more than 100 tanks, and most averaged only 70–80 serviceable tanks at any given time. After the fighting around Kharkov, Heinz Guderian embarked on a program to bring Germany's mechanized forces up to strength. 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. Only by June did a panzer division begin to field between 100 and 130 tanks each. SS divisions were normally better equipped, 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 – and these had an authorized strength of an estimated 19,000 personnel. At this time, the bulk of Germany's armor was still composed of Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs, although the SS Division Das Reich had been outfitted with a number of Tiger I tanks.

The 4th Panzer Army was commanded by General Hermann Hoth, while the First Panzer Army fell under the leadership of General Eberhard von Mackensen. The 6th, 11th and 17th Panzer Divisions were commanded by Generals Walther von Hünersdorff, Hermann Balck and Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin, respectively. The SS Panzer Corps was commanded by General Paul Hausser, who also had SS Division Totenkopf under his command.

Since the beginning of the Red Army's exploitation of Germany's Army Group South's defenses in late January and early February, the fronts involved included the Bryansk, Voronezh and Southwestern Fronts. These were under the command of Generals M. A. Reiter, Filipp Golikov and Nikolai Vatutin, respectively. On 25 February, Marshal Rokossovsky's Central Front also joined the battle. 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. Central Front was deployed between the Briansk and Voronezh Fronts, to exploit the success of both of these Soviet units, which had created a gap in the defenses of the German Second Panzer Army. This involved an estimated 500,000 soldiers, while around 346,000 personnel were involved in the defense of Kharkov after the beginning of the German counterstroke.

Like their German counterparts, Soviet divisions were also seriously understrength. For example, divisions in the 40th Army averaged 3,500–4,000 men each, while the 69th Army fielded some divisions which could only count on 1,000–1,500 soldiers. Some divisions had as little as 20–50 mortars to provide fire support. This shortage in manpower and equipment led Vatutin's Southwestern Front to request over 19,000 soldiers and 300 tanks, while it was noted that the Voronezh Front had only received 1,600 replacements since the beginning of operations in 1943. By the time Manstein launched his counteroffensive, the Voronezh Front had lost so much manpower and had overextended itself to the point where it could no longer offer assistance to the Southwestern Front, south of it. The 1st Czechoslovak Independent Field Battalion, commanded by Ludvík Svoboda, was also attached to the Soviet forces and subsequently participated in fighting alongside Soviet forces at Sokolov.

What was known to the Germans as the Donets Campaign took place between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Originally, Manstein foresaw a three-stage offensive. The first stage encompassed the destruction of the Soviet spearheads, which had over-extended themselves through their offensive. The second stage included the recapture of Kharkov, while the third stage was designed to attack the Soviet forces at Kursk, in conjunction with Army Group Center – this final stage was ultimately called off due to the advent of the Soviet spring thaw (Rasputitsa) and Army Group Center's reluctance to participate.

On 19 February, Hausser's SS Panzer Corps was ordered to strike southwards, to provide a screen for the 4th Panzer Army's attack. Simultaneously, Army Detachment Hollidt was ordered to contain the continuing Soviet efforts to break through German lines. The 1st Panzer Army was ordered to drive north in an attempt to cut off and destroy Popov's Mobile Group, using accurate intelligence on Soviet strength which allowed the Wehrmacht to pick and choose their engagements and bring about tactical numerical superiority. The 1st and 4th Panzer Armies were also ordered to attack the overextended Soviet 6th Army and 1st Guards Army. Between 20 and 23 February, the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (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. The SS Division Das Reich advanced in a northeastern direction, while the SS Division Totenkopf was put into action on 22 February, advancing parallel to Das Reich. These two divisions successfully cut the supply lines to the Soviet spearheads. First Panzer Army was able to surround and pocket Popov's Mobile Group by 24 February, although a sizable contingent of Soviet troops managed to escape north. On 22 February, alarmed by the success of the German counterattack, the Soviet Stavka ordered the Voronezh Front to shift the 3rd Tank Army and 69th Army south, in an effort to alleviate pressure on the Southwestern Front and destroy German forces in the Krasnograd area.

The Red Army's 3rd Tank Army began to engage German units south of Kharkov, performing a holding action while Manstein's offensive continued. By 24 February, the Wehrmacht had pulled the Großdeutschland Division off the line, leaving the 167th and 320th infantry divisions, a regiment from the Totenkopf division and elements from the Leibstandarte division to defend the Western edge of the bulge created by the Soviet offensive. Between 24 and 27 February, the 3rd Tank Army and 69th Army continued to attack this portion of the German line, but without much success. With supporting Soviet units stretched thin, the attack began to falter. On 25 February, Rokossovky's Central Front launched their offensive between the German Second and 2nd Panzer Armies, with encouraging results along the German flanks, but struggling to keep the same pace in the center of the attack. As the offensive progressed, the attack on the German right flank also began to stagnate in the face of increased resistance, while the attack on the left began to over-extend itself.

In the face of German success against the Southwestern Front, including attempts by the Soviet 6th Army breaking out of the encirclement, Stavka ordered the Voronezh Front to relinquish control of the 3rd Tank Army to the Southwestern Front. To ease the transition, the 3rd Tank Army gave two rifle divisions to the 69th Army, and attacked south in a bid to destroy the SS Panzer Corps. Low on fuel and ammunition after the march south, the 3rd Tank Army's offensive was postponed until 3 March. The 3rd Tank Army was harassed and severely damaged by continuous German aerial attacks with Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers. Launching its offensive on 3 March, the 3rd Tank Army's 15th Tank Corps struck into advancing units of the 3rd SS Panzer Division and immediately went on the defensive. Ultimately, the 3rd SS was able to pierce the 15th Tank Corps' lines and link up with other units of the same division advancing north, successfully encircling the Soviet tank corps. The 3rd Tank Army's 12th Tank Corps was also forced on the defensive immediately, after SS divisions Leibstandarte and Das Reich threatened to cut off the 3rd Tank Army's supply route. By 5 March, the attacking 3rd Tank Army had been badly mauled, with only a small number of men able to escape northwards, and was forced to erect a new defensive line.

The destruction of Popov's Mobile Group and the Soviet 6th Army during the early stages of the German counterattack created a large gap between Soviet lines. Taking advantage of uncoordinated and piecemeal Soviet attempts to plug this gap, Manstein ordered a continuation of the offensive towards Kharkov. Between 1–5 March the 4th Panzer Army, including the SS Panzer Corps, covered 80 kilometers (50 mi) and positioned itself only about 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) south of Kharkov. By 6 March, the SS Division Leibstandarte made a bridgehead over the Mosh River, opening the road to Kharkov. The success of Manstein's counterattack forced Stavka to stop Rokossovsky's offensive.

Richthofen's Luftflotte 4 played a decisive role in the success of the German counteroffensive. While simultaneously carrying out airlift operations in the Kuban bridgehead, it increased its daily sortie average from 350 in January to 1,000 in February, providing the army with excellent close air support and air interdiction. It relentlessly attacked Soviet troop columns, tanks, fortified positions, as well as supply depots and columns. On 22 February, Richthofen noted with satisfaction that the number of sorties flown that day was 1,500. On 23 February the number was 1,200. Richthofen personally directed the major air attacks in consultation with the army generals and his subordinate air corps commanders. In order to avoid dissipating his strength, he concentrated all available forces in a single Schwerpunkt, including the concentration of multiple air commands on the same target at the same time. A British government analysis in 1948 praised Richthofen's skill during the Third Battle of Kharkov, singling out his constant use of the principles of "extreme flexibility, coordination and concentration".

While Rokossovsky's Central Front continued its offensive against the German Second Army, which had by now been substantially reinforced with fresh divisions, the renewed German offensive towards Kharkov took it by surprise. On 7 March, Manstein made the decision to press on towards Kharkov, despite the coming of the spring thaw. Instead of attacking east of Kharkov, Manstein decided to orient the attack towards the west of Kharkov and then encircle it from the north. The Großdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division had also returned to the front, and threw its weight into the attack, threatening to split the 69th Army and the remnants of the 3rd Tank Army. Between 8–9 March, the SS Panzer Corps completed its drive north, splitting the 69th and 40th Soviet Armies, and on 9 March it turned east to complete its encirclement. Despite attempts by the Stavka to curtail the German advance by throwing in the freshly released 19th Rifle Division and 186th Tank Brigade, the German drive continued.

On 9 March, the Soviet 40th Army counterattacked against the Großdeutschland Division in a final attempt to restore communications with the 3rd Tank Army. This counterattack was caught by the expansion of the German offensive towards Kharkov on 10 March. That same day, the 4th Panzer Army issued orders to the SS Panzer Corps to take Kharkov as soon as possible, prompting Hausser to order an immediate attack on the city by the three SS Panzer divisions. Das Reich would come from the West, LSSAH would attack from north, and Totenkopf would provide a protective screen along the north and northwestern flanks. Despite attempts by General Hoth to order Hausser to stick to the original plan, the SS Panzer Corps commander decided to continue with his own plan of attack on the city, although Soviet defenses forced him to postpone the attack until the next day. Manstein issued an order to continue outflanking the city, although leaving room for a potential attack on Kharkov if there was little Soviet resistance, but Hausser decided to disregard the order and continue with his own assault.

Early morning 11 March, the LSSAH launched a two-prong attack into northern Kharkov. The 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment, advancing from the Northwest, split up into two columns advancing towards northern Kharkov on either side of the Belgorod-Kharkov railroad. The 2nd Battalion, on the right side of the railroad, attacked the city's Severnyi Post district, meeting heavy resistance and advancing only to the Severenyi railway yard by the end of the day. On the opposite side of the railroad, the 1st Battalion struck at the district of Alexeyevka, meeting a T-34-led Soviet counterattack which drove part of the 1st Battalion back out of the city. Only with aerial and artillery support provided by Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers and StuG assault guns were the German infantry able to battle their way into the city. A flanking attack from the rear finally allowed the German forces to achieve a foothold in that area of the city. Simultaneously, the 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, with armor attached from a separate unit, attacked down the main road from Belgorod, fighting an immediate counterattack produced over the Kharkov's airport, coming on their left flank. Fighting their way past Soviet T-34s, this German contingent was able to lodge itself into Kharkov's northern suburbs. From the northeast, another contingent of German infantry, armor and self-propelled guns attempted to take control of the road exits to the cities of Rogan and Chuhuiv. This attack penetrated deeper into Kharkov, but low on fuel the armor was forced to entrench itself and turn to the defensive.

Das Reich division attacked on the same day, along the west side of Kharkov. After penetrating into the city's Zalyutino district, the advance was stopped by a deep anti-tank ditch, lined with Soviet defenders, including anti-tank guns. A Soviet counterattack was repulsed after a bloody firefight. A detachment of the division fought its way to the southern approaches of the city, cutting off the road to Merefa. At around 15:00, Hoth ordered Hausser to immediately disengage with SS Das Reich, and instead redeploy to cut off escaping Soviet troops. Instead, Hausser sent a detachment from SS Totenkopf division for this task and informed Hoth that the risk of disengaging with SS Das Reich was far too great. On the night of 11–12 March, a breakthrough element crossed the anti-tank ditch, taking the Soviet defenders by surprise, and opening a path for tanks to cross. This allowed Das Reich to advance to the city's main railway station, which would be the farthest this division would advance into the city. Hoth repeated his order at 00:15, on 12 March, and Hausser replied as he had replied on 11 March. A third attempt by Hoth was obeyed, and Das Reich disengaged, using a corridor opened by LSSAH to cross northern Kharkov and redeploy east of the city.

On 12 March, the LSSAH made progress into the city's center, breaking through the staunch Soviet defenses in the northern suburbs and began a house to house fight towards the center. By the end of the day, the division had reached a position just two blocks north of Dzerzhinsky Square. The 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment's 2nd Battalion was able to surround the square, after taking heavy casualties from Soviet snipers and other defenders, by evening. When taken, the square was renamed "Platz der Leibstandarte". That night, 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment's 3rd Battalion, under the command of Joachim Peiper linked up with the 2nd Battalion in Dzerzhinsky Square and attacked southwards, crossing the Kharkiv River and creating a bridgehead, opening the road to Moscow Avenue. Meanwhile, the division's left wing reached the junction of the Volchansk and Chuhuiv exit roads and went on the defensive, fighting off a number of Soviet counterattacks.

The next day, the LSSAH struck southwards towards the Kharkov River from Peiper's bridgehead, clearing Soviet resistance block by block. In a bid to trap the city's defenders in the center, the 1st Battalion of the 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment re-entered the city using the Volchansk exit road. At the same time, Peiper's forces were able to breakout south, suffering from bitter fighting against a tenacious Soviet defense, and link up with the division's left wing at the Volchansk and Chuhuiv road junction. Although the majority of Das Reich had, by now, disengaged from the city, a single Panzergrenadier Regiment remained to clear the southwestern corner of the city, eliminating resistance by the end of the day. This effectively put two-thirds of the city under German control.

Fighting in the city began to wind down on 14 March. The day was spent with the LSSAH clearing the remnants of Soviet resistance, pushing east along a broad front. By the end of the day, the entire city was declared to be back in German hands. Despite the declaration that the city had fallen, fighting continued over the next two days, as German units cleared the remnants of resistance in the tractor works factory complex, in the southern outskirts of the city.

Army Group South's Donets Campaign had cost the Red Army over 80,000 personnel casualties. Of these troops lost, an estimated 45,200 were killed or went missing, while another 41,200 were wounded. Between April and July 1943, the Red Army took its time to rebuild its forces in the area and prepare for an eventual renewal of the German offensive, known as the Battle of Kursk. 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 Waffen-SS divisions were frequently deployed where the fighting was expected to be the harshest. By 17 March, it is estimated that the SS Panzer Corps had lost around 44% of its fighting strength, including around 160 officers and about 4,300 enlisted personnel.

As the SS Panzer Corps began to emerge from the city, they engaged Soviet units positioned directly southwest of the city, including the 17th NKVD Brigade, 19th Rifle Division and 25th Guards Rifle Division. Attempts by the Red Army to re-establish communication with the remnants of the 3rd Tank Army continued, although in vain. On 14–15 March, these forces were given permission to withdraw to the northern Donets River. 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. After the fall of Kharkov, the Soviet defense of the Donets had collapsed, allowing Manstein's forces to drive to Belgorod on 17 March, and take it by the next day. Muddy weather and exhaustion forced Manstein's counterstroke to end soon thereafter.

The military historian Bevin Alexander wrote that the Third Battle of Kharkov was "the last great victory of German arms in the eastern front", while the military historian Robert Citino referred to the operation as "not a victory at all". Borrowing from a chapter title of the book Manstein by Mungo Melvin, Citino described the battle as a "brief glimpse of victory". According to Citino, the Donets Campaign was a successful counteroffensive against an overextended and overconfident enemy and did not amount to a strategic victory.

Following the German success at Kharkov, Hitler was presented with two options. The first, known as the "backhand method" was to wait for the inevitable renewal of the Soviet offensive and conduct another operation similar to that of Kharkov – allowing the Red Army to take ground, extend itself and then counterattack and surround it. The second, or the "forehand method", encompassed a major German offensive by Army Groups South and Center against the protruding Kursk salient. Because of Hitler's obsession with preserving the front, he chose the "forehand method", which led to the Battle of Kursk.

Sources

Citino, Robert M. (2012). The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.

Clark, Alan (1965). Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict, 1941–1945. New York, NY: William Morrow.

Cooper, Matthew (1978). The German Army 1933–1945. Lanham, Maryland: Scarborough House.

Glantz, David M. (1991). From the Don to the Dnepr: Soviet Offensive Operations, December 1942 – August 1943. Routledge.

Glantz, David M. (January 1996). "Soviet Military Strategy During the Second Period of War (November 1942 – December 1943): A Reappraisal". The Journal of Military History. Society for Military History. 60 (1): 115–150. doi:10.2307/2944451.

Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathan (1999). The Battle of Kursk. Lawrence, Kansas: Kansas University Press.

Glantz, David M. (2009). After Stalingrad: The Red Army's Winter Offensive 1942–1943. Helion and Company.

Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathan (1995). When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. Lawrence, Kansas: Kansas University Press.

Hayward, J. (1998). Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East, 1942–1943. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.

Krause, Michael; Phillips, Cody (2005). Historical Perspectives of the Operational Art. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

Margry, Karel (2001). The Four Battles for Kharkov. London, England: Battle of Britain International Ltd.

McCarthy, Peter; Syron, Mike (2002). Panzerkieg: The Rise and Fall of Hitler's Tank Divisions. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf.

Megargee, Geoffrey P. (2000). Inside Hitler's High Command. Lawrence, Kansas: Kansas University Press.

Nipe, George M. Jr. (2000). Last Victory in Russia: The SS-Panzerkorps and Manstein's Kharkov Counteroffensive, February–March 1943. Atglen, PA: Schiffer.

Reynolds, Michael (1997). Steel Inferno: I SS Panzer Corps in Normandy. New York, NY: Sarpedon.

Sikes, James E. (29 April 1988). "Kharkov and Sinai". A Study in Operational Transition. School of Advanced Military Studies, US Command & General Staff College: 86.

Slaughterhouse: The Encyclopedia of the Eastern Front. The Military Book Club. 2002.

Thompson (Lt. Col.), Thomas A. (2000). "Field Marshal Erich von Manstein and the Operational Art at the Battle of Kharkov". Defense Technical Information Center. U.S. Army War College: 15.