August 1943

Eastern Front

Sokolovsky's West Front opens an offensive aimed at capturing Smolensk. The 5th, 10th Guards and 33rd Armis attack the 4th Army between Dorogobush and Kirov. These armies push slowly forward east of Spas Demensk while the 10th Army attacks north of Kirov. The new 68th Army is held in operational reserve for the offensive. Kalinin Front will join the offensive later, attacking the 4th Army and 3rd Panzer Army north of Smilensk. The Soviets commit the 428,000 men of the Kalinin Front and 824,000 men of the West Front.

The 6th and 5th Guards Armies force the remnants of the LII Corps out of Borisovka. With the 27th Army blocking the line of retreat, the Germans launch a fierce counterattack and tear a hole in the line of the 1st Tank Army. However, during the fighting the Germans suffer massive losses, the Borisovka pocket costing the Germans 5,000 killed and 2,000 captured.

Bogodukhov falls to 1st Tank Army. Elements of the army encounter the Grossdeutschland Panzer-Grenadier Division east of Akhtyrka. Other units of the 1st Tank run into the 2nd SS Das Reich Division of the III Panzer Corps east of Bogodukhov, sparking a furious tank battle. The heavy fighting at Zolochev between other elements of the III Panzer Corps and 5th Guards Tank Army continues.