Manstein Traded Kharkov for a Trap and Sprang It in Days
Mil Undecided
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Manstein Traded Kharkov for a Trap and Sprang It in Days
In the middle of February nineteen forty-three, German soldiers marched west out of Kharkov and handed the city to the Red Army. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein had ordered them to go. Hitler had ordered the city held to the last man and the last bullet. The soldiers gave it up anyway.
The matchup, laid bare:
February 1943: Manstein hands Kharkov to the Red Army against Hitler's hold-to-the-last-man order, using the lost city as bait.
Two Soviet drives, Star and Gallop, race more than 300 miles past Stalingrad to within 60 miles of the Dnieper crossings.
The real weapon is fuel: Popov's spearhead falls from about 212 tanks to a handful, the rest dry and abandoned along the road.
On 19 February Manstein swings roughly 120,000 men and 350 fueled tanks into the strung-out Soviet flank that cannot turn to face them.
By 14 March the same divisions retake Kharkov, four Soviet armies are shattered, then the spring mud freezes the front until Kursk.
The call sheet on Third Battle of Kharkov is pinned up top.
Subscribe for more armor history, and call the next matchup in the comments.
#WW2 #EasternFront #Kharkov #Manstein #PanzerWarfare #WWIIhistory #TankWarfare #Backhand
20 Comments
WE WERE OUT GUNNED
BUT WE WERE NEVER OUT MANNED"
ERICH VON MANSTEIN "LOST VICTORIES"
He was seen as virtuous, having been sacked by the amateur painter.
He was a smart and innovative commander whose tactics were imitated in NATO wargames.
Dates: 19 February to 15 March 1943. (battle record)
The decider: about 350 running German tanks vs about 60 working Soviet tanks. (battle analysis)
German strike force: roughly 120,000 men and 350 tanks. (Manstein's counterattack)
Spearhead: 2nd SS Panzer Corps: Leibstandarte, Das Reich, Totenkopf, first as one corps. (Hausser's corps)
Popov's collapse: about 212 tanks at the start, one corps down to 2 T-34 and 2 T-70 by 24 Feb. (Operation Gallop record)
Soviet losses: 85,000-plus casualties, 615 tanks, about 1,000 guns. (Soviet loss figures)
German losses: roughly 11,500 men. (German casualty records)
Kharkov retaken: 14 March 1943, four Soviet armies shattered. (battle record)
Manstein Traded Kharkov for a Trap and Sprang It in Days
Mil Undecided
52,997 views
Manstein Traded Kharkov for a Trap and Sprang It in Days
In the middle of February nineteen forty-three, German soldiers marched west out of Kharkov and handed the city to the Red Army. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein had ordered them to go. Hitler had ordered the city held to the last man and the last bullet. The soldiers gave it up anyway.
The matchup, laid bare:
February 1943: Manstein hands Kharkov to the Red Army against Hitler's hold-to-the-last-man order, using the lost city as bait.
Two Soviet drives, Star and Gallop, race more than 300 miles past Stalingrad to within 60 miles of the Dnieper crossings.
The real weapon is fuel: Popov's spearhead falls from about 212 tanks to a handful, the rest dry and abandoned along the road.
On 19 February Manstein swings roughly 120,000 men and 350 fueled tanks into the strung-out Soviet flank that cannot turn to face them.
By 14 March the same divisions retake Kharkov, four Soviet armies are shattered, then the spring mud freezes the front until Kursk.
The call sheet on Third Battle of Kharkov is pinned up top.
Subscribe for more armor history, and call the next matchup in the comments.
#WW2 #EasternFront #Kharkov #Manstein #PanzerWarfare #WWIIhistory #TankWarfare #Backhand