The fighting continued until 23 March, when the German forces were forced by the muddy conditions during the spring thaw to halt their pursuit. This allowed the Das Reich to advance to the city's main railway station, which would be the farthest this division would advance into the city. [56] 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. [55] The 1st and 4th Panzer Armies were also ordered to attack the overextended Soviet 6th Army and 1st Guards Army. 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 start of 1943, the German Wehrmacht faced a crisis[4] as Soviet forces encircled and reduced the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad and expanded their Winter Campaign towards the Don River. By the night of March 13/14, German troops controlled two-thirds of Kharkov. The day was spent with the LSSAH clearing the remnants of Soviet resistance, pushing east along a broad front. The SS Panzer Corps was deployed along the northern edge of the bulge, on the northern front of Army Group South. [16] Instead of attacking east of Kharkov, however, Manstein decided to orient the attack towards the west of Kharkov and then encircle it from the north. [57] By 6 March, the 1st SS Panzer Division made a bridgehead over the Mosh River, opening the road to Kharkov. 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: Glantz (1995), p. 296; this figure includes personnel losses between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/third-battle-of-kharkov-2361480. By this time Stavka believed it could decide the war in Southern Russia, expecting total victory. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. English: February – March 1943 battle. 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. [21] These forces were repositioned between the junction of German Army Groups Center and South. Attacking again the next, they secured the remainder of the city. [60] Between 24–27 February, the 3rd Tank Army and 69th Army continued to attack this portion of the German line, but without much success. Despite orders to encircle Kharkov from the north the SS Panzer Corps instead decided to directly engage Kharkov on 11 March. He has appeared on The History Channel as a featured expert. At the time of the counterattack, Manstein could count on the Fourth Panzer Army, composed of XLVIII Panzer Corps, the SS Panzer Corps[33] and the First Panzer Army, with the XL and LVII Panzer Corps. 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 advent of the Soviet spring thaw (Rasputitsa) and Army Group Center's reluctance to participate. This is a 20-turn-version of Third Battle of Kharkov, which takes place on WWII Eastern Front in 1943. [9] At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht was equipped with around 3,300 tanks;[10] by 23 January only 495 tanks, mostly of older types, remained operational along the entire length of the Soviet–German front. As the fighting progressed, the southern flank was halted by the Germans while the northern flank began to overextend itself. 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. The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov (Kharkiv), between 19 February and 15 March 1943. The SS Panzer Corps was commanded by General Paul Hausser, who also had the 3rd SS Panzer (Totenkopf) Division under his command. The Battle Begins. [5][6] Total German losses at the Battle of Stalingrad, excluding prisoners, were between 120,000[7] and 150,000. Download Third Battle of Kharkov (free) PC for free at BrowserCam. 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. See more ideas about ww2, battle, wwii. [28] 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). [77], Early morning 11 March, the LSSAH launched a two-prong attack into northern Kharkov. [83], The next day, the LSSAH struck southwards towards the Kharkov River from Peiper's bridgehead, clearing Soviet resistance block by block. On 25 February, Marshal Rokossovsky's Central Front also joined the battle. [73] 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. 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. [35] However, 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. This led to four days of house-to-house fighting before Kharkov was recaptured by the 1st SS Panzer Division on 15 March. 15. [1], Like their German counterparts, Soviet divisions were also seriously understrength. [27] However, unexpected German resistance began to slow the operation considerably,[26] offering Rokossovsky only limited gains on the left flank of his attack and in the center. The first stage encompassed the destruction of the Soviet spearheads, which had over-extended themselves through their offensive. In comparison, the Germans could account for 2,200,000 personnel on the Eastern Front, with another 100,000 deployed in Norway. General Hoth launched a two-prong attack into northern Kharkov. Army an estimated 45,200 were killed went. 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