Operation Citadel

And of course, this was the Battle of Kursk in July 1943.

Operation Citadel was envisioned as a a medium term uh a seasonal an operation to sort of give germany a breathing space for the uh for the upcoming for the remainder of the summer and then the the winter season to try to pinch off uh the soviet salient at kursk um destroying elements of several Soviet fronts and essentially restoring some form of equilibrium and breathing room for Germany on the Eastern Front.

That offensive, of course, failed.

The Soviets for many months had been aware of German intentions.

Not rewarding, but accepting that occasionally mistakes on the battlefield or lapses in judgment will occur.

But retaining, nevertheless, senior command personnel in their positions to learn and fight again.

Um, and, and so just a more effective red army, one that knows the best way to defeat Germans on the battlefield is to construct these defenses in depth, in depth, exhaust them, deny them freedom to maneuver, uh, blunts this, this German offensive operation Citadel at Kursk and subsequently, uh, launches a series of, um, concurrent offensives across the southern front line of the Soviet Union.

August 1943 recaptures Belgorod and Kharkov and begins chasing Army Group South's forces, um, uh, towards the Dnieper river, which more or less flows through central Ukraine from, uh, from Russia flow South down, uh, and empties into the black sea.