Field Marshal von Manstein's Counteroffensive of Army Group South, February-March 1943

The Last Operational Level Victory of the Panzer Forces on the Eastern Front, a thesis by David A. Shunk, Major, USAF. This thesis is a historical examination of the Eastern Front battles in southern Russia during February-March 1943. Field Marshal von Manstein, Commander of the German Army Group South, defeated a Soviet two Front offensive with an exceptional counteroffensive. Von Manstein's counteroffensive concentrated all the available panzer (armor) and mechanized infantry divisions into two attack groups. Von Manstein then attacked the Soviets, after they had exhausted their offensive, with a double envelopment counteroffensive which destroyed two Soviet armies and regained the initiative for German forces in southern Russia.