Panzer Campaigns: Kiev '43

After the debacle at Kursk in July of 1943, the Russians followed up their victory with a series of campaigns to drive the Germans out of Russia. The first of these was Operation Kutuzov, lasting from 14 July to 14 August, where the Axis forces tried to hold a line at Bryansk but failed. After this the Russians kicked off Operation Rumiantsev, from 3 - 24 August, where the Soviets captured Kharkov and liberated the eastern Ukraine. The next major objective on their list was to cross the Dnepr River line and liberate Kiev, the third largest city in the Soviet Union. Facing the Soviet Union's forces to defend Kiev were the depleted 4th Panzerarmee and the 8th Army forces. Hitler's vaunted "East Wall" relied very much upon the Dnepr River to hold back the advancing Russian armies. The failure to properly fortify this line meant that the German soldiers would be fighting in trenches rather than bunkers. Following a series of river crossings in locations north and south of Kiev, the Russians finally broke through the Germans lines north of Kiev and captured the Ukrainian capital by the 6th of November. What followed after this was a swift pursuit of the German forces only to be checked by the arrival of armored reserves. What followed was a classic pitched battle where the Wehrmacht and SS forces tried to smash the Russians and retake Kiev.