The Third Battle of Kharkov

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A. BACKGROUND.
At the start of 1943, the German Wehrmacht faced a crisis as Soviet forces encircled and reduced the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad and expanded their Winter Campaign towards the Don River. On 2 February 1943, the Sixth Army's commanding officers surrendered and the Red Army captured an estimated 90,000 men. 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.
On February 2 1943, the Red Army launched Operation Star, threatening to recapture the cities of Belgorod, Kharkov, and Kursk. On February 16, the Soviets recaptured Kharkov on the south of Kursk. The Soviet forces had begun their offensive with the aim of liberating the Ukraine and destroying to surround and destroy German forces in the Orel salient, cross the Desna River and surround and destroy German Army Group Center. The Soviets were confident as they already had the German Sixth Army trapped in the Stalingrad pocket. In conjunction with Operation Star, the Soviets also launched Operation Gallop south of Star, pushing the Germans away from the Donets, taking Voroshilovgrad and Izium, worsening the German situation further. By this time the Stavka believed it could decide the war in Southern Russia, expecting total victory.
Despite Hitler's orders to hold the city, German forces abandoned Kharkov and the Red Army recaptured the city on 16 February. Hitler immediately flew to von Manstein's headquarters at Zaporizhia. Von Manstein informed him that an immediate counterattack on Kharkov would be fruitless, but that he could success...

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Works Cited

Flames of War, The Eastern Front, The Third Battle of Kharkov http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=112&art_id=544&kb_cat_id=34 WWII Database, The Third Battle of Kharkov http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=39 Military Forum, For discussion of the armed forces, military history, weapons and related topics, The Third Battle of Kharkov. http://www.militar.org.ua/foro/manstein-y-la-3-batalla-de-jarkov-t14643.html Historynet.com, Kharkov 1943 http://www.historynet.com/backhand-blow-kharkov-1943.htm Taringa collective Intelligence, the Third Battle of Kharkov, WWII http://www.taringa.net/posts/info/3036662/Jarkov---Tercera-Batalla-2-G-M.html Eurasia 1945,WWII, the Battle of Kharkov 1943 http://www.eurasia1945.com/batallas/contienda/batalla-de-kharkov/ Wikipedia, The Third Battle Of Kharkov.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Kharkov

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