Mirgorod direction offensive
The Mirgorod direction offensive (3 August 1943 – 23 August 1943) was an operation conducted as part of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev between the Red Army and Wehrmacht forces. It was one of the operations that followed the Battle of Kursk. In the offensive, the Red Army pushed through the Wehrmacht lines after the Wehrmacht retreated after the Battle of Kursk. It represented a turning point on the Eastern Front. Prelude During the Battle of Kursk, German armored units south of the Kursk salient failed to penetrate the defences between the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts in the Belgorod sector on 8 July. The Red Army's Belgorod-Kharkov Strategic Counter-Offensive followed Operation Citadel and included as its objectives the immediate liberation of Belgorod and Kharkiv, assigned to the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts. On 23 July 1943, German forces of the XLVIII Panzercorps and LII Armeecorps returned to their old, well fortified positions, stretching to some 60 kilometres west of Tomarovka. Their combat strength had been reduced by as much as 50% following the Battle. The Battle Early on 3 August 1943, after a heavy Artillery barrage which lasted hours and overwhelming Soviet air support, the Forces of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts from the Kursk-Belgorod highway began advancing on a wide front between Sumy and Vovchansk (175 km), crossed the Vorskla river and quickly penetrated the defences of the 332nd Infantry Division (north of Tomarovka) and 167th Infantry Division to a depth of 100 km between Tomarovka and Belgorod on the northern flank, and as far as Okhtyrka. West of Belgorod 6th Panzer Division deployed hurriedly and counter-attacked the penetration in the 167th Infantry Division area but was unable to halt the Soviet flood. Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502 and 19th Panzer Division were also swept aside by the strength of the attack. These divisions were good quality units and not badly understrength for this period of the war on the Eastern Front, but the enormous weight of Soviet firepower, mass of infantry and hundreds of tanks simply overran them. In Tomarovka German units threatened with encirclement retreated along a narrow corridor to Grayvoron. The shattered formations of LII Armeecorps began a harrowing fight through the Russians toward the southwest and their own lines, desperately searching for a gap in the quickly closing noose. All the while Soviet aircraft were descending upon the retreating columns, wreaking confusion and destruction. To counter the breakthrough at the boundary of his armies Manstein gathered his armour from all other areas. By 5 August 1943 the 4 divisions of the III Panzercorps were deploying north and west of Kharkiv to counterattack the eastern flank of the Russian armoured spearheads driving towards Bohodukhiv. At the same time 4th Panzerarmee's XXIV Panzercorps prepared to attack the western flank with Großdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division. Manstein planned to use his panzer divisions to slice through the communication lines of the lead Soviet mobile units and destroy their momentum. The Russian armoured forces advanced so quickly to the south, that their rifle divisions were left