Just In Time

The Soviet Voronezh Front had three armies poised to attack towards Kharkov in early February as part of Operation Star. Their forces had taken the city of Belgorod as this progressed and they were continuing to push southward to achieve …

1943-02-10

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The Soviet Voronezh Front had three armies poised to attack towards Kharkov in early February as part of Operation Star. Their forces had taken the city of Belgorod as this progressed and they were continuing to push southward to achieve their goal. Delaying actions to slow the advance was all the Germans were capable of at this point in rime. The Soviet 40'’’ Army was now northeast of Kharkov and was trying to find a seam between SS Reich units and the Grossdeutschland Division defending outside ofVeseloye. They were looking for easy openings in the German line that could be taken advantage of and thus move down the Belgorod-Kharkov highway and into Kharkov itself. Grossdeutschland's reinforced Fusilier Regiment was in the direct line of this advance. They had a very serious situation arise on its flank on 10 February 1942 when the adjacent SS units withdrew without informing them. As a result the regiment’s flank was ripped open outside ofVeseloye and the Soviets began pouring through. At the last moment the only remaining German reserves were called upon to plug the hole. This group consisted of about 50 artillery men, a few pioniers, 2 antitank guns and several light machine guns. This was all that was left to stop the enemy from reaching the heights in front of Veseloye and continuing through the village and past the center of the German line. Can the Soviets be stopped before disaster hits?

Veseloye, Ukraine

Operation Star was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II begun on 2 February 1943. The attack was the responsibility of the Voronezh Front under the command of Filipp Golikov and a part of the larger Voronezh-Kharkov Strategic Offensive Operation. Its main objectives were the cities of Kharkov and Kursk. While initially successful in capturing both cities, the Soviets overextended themselves, allowing German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein to launch a counteroffensive and inflict a defeat on the Soviets in the Third Battle of Kharkov.

Wikipedia: Operation Star

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