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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'')〔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:(Language Policy in the Soviet Union by L.A. Grenoble ) & (Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States ) by Routledge)〕 between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Known to the Germans as the Donets Campaign, and to the Soviets as the Donbas and Kharkov operations, the German counterstrike led to the destruction of approximately 52 Soviet divisions and the recapture of the cities of Kharkov and Belgorod. As the German Sixth 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 Soviets 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. Freed on 2 February by the surrender of the German Sixth 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, however, had taken a heavy toll on the Soviets 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 SS Panzer Corps and two panzer armies. The ''Wehrmacht'', while understrength, managed to flank, encircle, and defeat the Red Army's armored spearheads south of Kharkov. This enabled von Manstein to renew his offensive against the city of Kharkov proper on 7 March. Despite orders to encircle Kharkov from the north the SS Panzer Corps instead decided to directly engage Kharkov on 11 March. This led to four days of house-to-house fighting before Kharkov was recaptured by the 1st SS Panzer Division on 15 March. The Germans recaptured Belgorod two days later, creating the salient which in July 1943 would lead to the Battle of Kursk. The German offensive cost the Red Army an estimated 90,000 casualties. The house-to-house fighting in Kharkov was also particularly bloody for the German SS Panzer Corps, which had approximately 4,300 men killed and wounded by the time operations ended in mid March. ==Background== At the start of 1943, the German ''Wehrmacht'' faced a crisis〔Cooper (1978), p. 451〕 as Soviet forces encircled and reduced the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad and expanded their Winter Campaign towards the Don River.〔Glantz (1995), p. 141〕 On 2 February 1943 the Sixth Army's commanding officers surrendered, and an estimated 90,000 men were captured by the Red Army.〔〔McCarthy & Syron (2002), pp. 177–178〕 Total German losses at the Battle of Stalingrad, excluding prisoners, were between 120,000〔McCarthy & Syron (2002), p. 177〕 and 150,000.〔 Throughout 1942 German casualties totaled around 1.9 million personnel,〔Megargee (2000), p. 193〕 and by the start of 1943 the ''Wehrmacht'' was around 470,000 men below full strength on the Eastern Front.〔Cooper (1978), pp. 451–452〕 At the beginning of Operation ''Barbarossa'', the ''Wehrmacht'' was equipped with around 3,300 tanks;〔Cooper (1978), p. 270〕 by 23 January only 495 tanks, mostly of older types, remained operational along the entire length of the Soviet–German front.〔Cooper (1978), p. 452〕 As the forces of the Don Front were destroying the German forces in Stalingrad, the Red Army's command (''Stavka'') ordered the Soviet forces to conduct a new offensive, which encompassed the entire southern wing of the Soviet–German front from Voronezh to Rostov.〔Glantz (2009), p. 110〕 On 2 February, the Red Army launched Operation ''Star'', threatening to recapture the cities of Belgorod, Kharkov and Kursk.〔Glantz (1999), p. 10〕 A Soviet drive, spearheaded by four tank corps organized under Lieutenant-General Markian Popov, pierced the German front by crossing the Donets River and pressing into the German rear.〔Glantz (1995), pp. 143–144〕 On 15 February, two fresh Soviet tank corps threatened the city of Zaporizhia on the Dnieper River, which controlled the last major road to Rostov and housed the headquarters of Army Group South and ''Luftflotte 4'' (Air Fleet Four).〔Glantz (1995), p. 144〕 Despite Hitler's orders to hold the city, Kharkov was abandoned by German forces and the city was recaptured by the Red Army on 16 February.〔McCarthy & Syron (2002), pp. 178–179〕 Hitler immediately flew to von Manstein's headquarters at Zaporizhia. Von Manstein informed him that an immediate counterattack on Kharkov would be fruitless, but that he could successfully attack the overextended Soviet flank with his five Panzer Corps, and recapture the city later.〔McCarthy & Syron (2002), p. 179〕 On 19 February Soviet armored units broke through the German lines and approached the city. In view of the worsening situation, Hitler gave Manstein operational freedom. When Hitler departed, the Soviets were only some away from the airfield.〔Krause & Phillips 2005, pp. 162–163〕 In conjunction with Operation ''Star'' the Soviets also launched Operation Gallop south of ''Star'', pushing the Germans away from the Donets, taking Voroshilovgrad and Izium, worsening the German situation further. By this time Stavka believed it could decide the war in the southwest Russian SFSR and eastern Ukrainian SSR , expecting total victory.〔Glantz (1995), pp. 143–147.〕〔Nipe (2000), pp. 54–64, 67ff, 100.〕 The surrender of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad freed six Soviet armies, under the command of Konstantin Rokossovsky, which were refitted and reinforced by the 2nd Tank Army and the 70th Army.〔Glantz (1996), p. 125〕 These forces were repositioned between the junction of German Army Groups Center and South.〔Glantz (1999), p. 11〕 Known to the Soviets as the Kharkov〔 and Donbas operations,〔Glantz (1996), p. 124〕 the offensive sought to surround and destroy German forces in the Orel salient, cross the Desna River and surround and destroy German Army Group Center.〔 Originally planned to begin between 12–15 February, deployment problems forced Stavka to push the start date back to 25 February.〔Glantz (1995), p. 145〕 Meanwhile, the Soviet 60th Army pushed the German Second Army's 4th Panzer Division away from Kursk, while the Soviet 13th Army forced the Second Panzer Army to turn on its flank. This opened a breach between these two German forces, shortly to be exploited by Rokossovsky's offensive.〔Glantz (1996), p. 128〕 While the Soviet 14th and 48th Armies attacked the Second Panzer Army's right flank, making minor gains,〔Glantz (1995), p. 146〕 Rokossovsky launched his offensive on 25 February, breaking through German lines and threatening to surround and cut off the German Second Panzer Army and the Second Army, to the south.〔Glantz (1995), pp. 145–146〕 However, unexpected German resistance began to slow the operation considerably,〔 offering Rokossovsky only limited gains on the left flank of his attack and in the center.〔Glantz (1996), p. 132〕 Elsewhere, the Soviet 2nd Tank Army had successfully penetrated of the German rear, along the left flank of the Soviet offensive, increasing the length of the army's flank by an estimated .〔Glantz (1996), p. 133〕 While the Soviet offensive continued, Field Marshal von Manstein was able to put the SS Panzer Corps—now reinforced by the 3rd SS Panzer Division—under the command of the Fourth Panzer Army, while Hitler agreed to release seven understrength panzer and motorized divisions for the impending counteroffensive. The Fourth Air Fleet, under the command of Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, was able to regroup and increase the amount of daily sorties from an average of 250 in January to 1,000 in February, providing German forces strategic air superiority.〔 On 20 February, the Red Army was perilously close to Zaporizhia, signaling the beginning of the German counterattack,〔McCarthy & Syron (2002), pp. 179–180〕 known to the Germans as the Donets Campaign.〔Glantz (1995), p. 147〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Third Battle of Kharkov」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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