ASLComp '43 Kharkov EVERYMAN Edition

As the debacle at Stalingrad winded down, the Red Army continued the pressure that threatened to burst open the eastern front in the form of Operation Star. One of the goals of the operation was concluded successfully with the capture of Kharkov on 16 February 1943. The loss of this vital urban center resulted in an immediate and forceful response by Adolf Hitler: the German Führer flew east for a meeting with his best commander in the theater, the commander of Army Group South, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein. The result was control over operations by the legendary general and a planned counter-stroke against over-extended Soviet, with the aim of recapturing Kharkov and Kursk.