Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1943-1945: Red Steamroller

by Robert Forczyk

Overview

The author of Case White offers an extensive history of German and Soviet armored warfare toward the end of World War II.

By 1943, after the catastrophic German defeat at Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht’s panzer armies gradually lost the initiative on the Eastern Front. The tide of the war had turned. Their combined arms technique, which had swept Soviet forces before it during 1941 and 1942, had lost its edge. Thereafter the war on the Eastern Front was dominated by tank-led offensives and, as Robert Forczyk shows, the Red Army’s mechanized forces gained the upper hand, delivering a sequence of powerful blows that shattered one German defensive line after another. His incisive study offers fresh insight into how the two most powerful mechanized armies of the Second World War developed their tank tactics and weaponry during this period of growing Soviet dominance. He uses German, Russian, and English sources to provide the first comprehensive overview and analysis of armored warfare from the German and Soviet perspectives. This major study of the greatest tank war in history is compelling reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781473880924
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	01/31/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Robert Forczyk is a leading expert on the history of armored warfare, and he has made a particular study of the Second World War on the Eastern Front. His many books include Georgy Zhukov, Demyansk 1942-43, Red Christmas: The Tatsinskaya Airfield Raid 1942, Rescuing Mussolini: Gran Sasso 1943, Sevastopol 1942: Von Manstein's Triumph, Leningrad 1941-44, Model, Erich Von Manstein and Panther Vs T-34: Ukraine 1943.

Table of Contents

List of Plates vii

List of Maps ix

Glossary x

Preface xii

Chapter 1 The Opposing Armoured Forces in 1943 1

Efficiency Hypothesis 1

German Armoured Units on the Eastern Front 2

Guderian to the Rescue? 6

Armour Deployed to the Western Front 7

North Africa: Reinforcing Failure 9

Diversion of Armour to the Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe 10

German Tactical and Doctrinal Changes 11

German Tank Training 14

Impact of Fuel and Spare Parts Shortages 17

German Tank Production 19

The Red Army's Tank Forces 24

Soviet Tactical and Doctrinal Changes 28

Soviet Tank Training 31

Soviet Tank Production and Lend-Lease 32

Chapter 2 Armoured Operations in 1943 37

Retreat from the Caucasus, 1 January-2 February 1943 37

The End at Stalingrad, 1 January-2 February 1943 43

Hoth's Stand on the Manych River, 1-31 January 1943 47

The Crisis of Hecresgruppe Don: Gruppe Hollidt, 1 January-14 February 1943 54

Destruction of the 2nd Hungarian Army, 12-29 January 1943 58

Heeresgruppe Mitte's trials at Rzhev and Velikiye Luki, 1 January-1 March 1943 64

Relief of Leningrad: Operation Spark (Iskra), 12 January-19 March 1943 67

Operation Gallop (Skachok), 29 January-18 February 1943 72

Operation Star (Zvezda), 1-16 February 1943 77

The Backhand Blow, 19 February-16 March 1943 85

Rokossov sky's Offensive, 25 February-28 March 1943 93

The Soviet Offensive in the Kuban, 4 April-7 June 1943 96

Building up for the Showdown, April-June 1943 99

Operation Zitadelle: The Northern Front 5-10 July 1943 108

Operation ZitadelSe: The Southern Front, 5-16 July 1943 117

The Meaning of the Battle of Kursk 138

Operation Kutusov, 12 July-18 August 1943 143

The Mius River Battles, 17 July-2 August 1943 149

Operation Rumyantsev, 3-23 August 1943 156

Operation Suvorov: the Smolensk Offensive, 7 August-2 October 1943 168

Advance to the Dnepr, 24 August-6 November 1943 173

German Counter-attacks Near Kiev, 7 November-24 December 1943 189

Chapter 3 Armoured Operations in 1944 196

Heeresgruppe Nord retreats from Leningrad, 14 January-1 April 1944 196

The Evisceration of Heeresgruppe Süd, January-March 1944 202

Defence of the Dniester Line, 5 April-15 May 1944 217

Operation Bagration and its Aftermath, 22 June-31 August 1944 223

Epilogue, September 1944-May 1945 233

Conclusions 237

Appendix I Rank Table 240

Appendix II Armour Order of Battle, 1 July 1943 241

Appendix III Tanks on the Eastern Front, 1943-44 248

Appendix IV Tank Production, 1943 250

Appendix V Armour Order of Battle, 21 June 1944 254

Appendix VI Tank Production, 1944 259

Notes 263

Bibliography 271

Index 273