hi,
I'd be grateful for info on the Red Army counterattacks
after ZITADELLE(Kursk)
specifically
around IZYUM , AUGUST 1943,
including opposing units
unfortunately I have no way to get hold of any books
like the ones recommended to me in the
'tankbuster' thread - thanks anyway!
...peter
info on Red Army counterattacks 1943
Manstein had 29 infantry and 13 armoured divisions defendig an area from northwest of Belgorod to the Sea of Azov a distance of about 650 miles. The Soviets used three fronts, Voronezh, Steppe, and South-western commanded by Vatutin, Koniev, and Malinovski. The Soviet offensive opened on the 5th of August (I think this liberated Izyum)and Kharkov was cleared of Germans on the 23rd of August. The three fronts mentioned plus Central and Southern had at the beginning of August 2,633,000 men 51,200 gun and motars, 2,400 tanks and assault guns (probably low after Kursk). German forces on this south western axis(as the Soviets called it) where the main Soviet blow was to fall were estimated at one million.