August 1943

Eastern Front

Sevsk falls to the 65th Army, but the early commitment of the 2nd Tank Army goes disastrously wrong as the armor becomes bogged down in costly fighting with dug-in German anti-tank units.

Kotelva falls to the 27th Army as the Voronezh Front pushes west from Kharkov. Near the Mius River the 51st and 5th Shock Armies break through the positions of the IV and XVII Corps.

Hitler flies east to his command center at Vinnitsa where he meets with Manstein and his commanders. Manstein calls for a policy of flexible defense, leading to the abandonment of territory east of the Dniepr but Hitler will not hear of this, maintaining there where the German soldier stands he remains.