Red Comrades

As Manstein delivered the “back-hand blow” to Soviet forces at Kharkov, the Red Army was beginning to develop tactics on par with their German counterparts. With the huge victory at Stalingrad to build upon, propaganda switched from politics to defense of the Motherland. So, too, would the morale …

1943-03-20

AP046

As Manstein delivered the “back-hand blow” to Soviet forces at Kharkov, the Red Army was beginning to develop tactics on par with their German counterparts. With the huge victory at Stalingrad to build upon, propaganda switched from politics to defense of the Motherland. So, too, would the morale of Soviet forces improve. This was never more apparent than at the defense of the train station at Taranovka. A platoon of 25 soldiers from the 78th Guards Infantry Regiment banded together to hold off numerous assaults by panzers and supporting infantry.

Taranovka, Russia

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 (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 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, though this was largely due to Manstein's strategy of controlled retreat towards the Dnieper. 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.

German

Russian

Scenario Type = Standard