#02 Second Battle of Kharkov - PzC 03 Kharkov '42

Kharkov, May 12th, 1942: In 1941, the first year of war in Russia, the German Army plowed their way across much of the Soviet Union and was stopped at the very approaches of Moscow by the Soviet winter offensive. Much has been written of this Moscow counteroffensive, but a lessor known, but rather successful Russian Winter Offense also occurred near Kharkov and resulted in the formation of the Iyzum Bulge. Both of these successes led Stalin to feel that the momentum was his. It turns out he was wrong in both cases. Nevertheless, by the spring of 1942 he was planning a bold move to encircle Kharkov and surround the German Army in the Ukraine with a two-pronged attack. His attack was also to preempt the German summer offensive that was expected to happen in the Moscow region. This Soviet Summer Offense was known as the Second Battle of Kharkov. [84,500 sq Km - 140 Turns]