September 1943

Eastern Front

The Germans had been thrown irrevocably onto the defensive following Kursk. Retreating toward the Dniepr, the Ostheer expected to find a system of prepared fortifications. However, Hitler had forbidden the construction of defenses to the rear ans so the retreat to the Dniepr line turned into a race against annihilation. For the Red Army the race to the Dniepr begans a pursuit of the enemy that would last until the fall of Berlin in 1945.