Donbass Strategic Offensive (July 1943) Donbass Strategic Offensive (July 1943) The Donbass Strategic Offensive was a military campaign fought in the Donets Basin from 17 July 1943 and 2 August 1943 between the German and Soviet armed forces on the Eastern Front of World War II. The Germans contained the Soviet offensive in its northern portion after initial gains and pushed the southern portion back to its starting point. In July 1943, while the Battle of Kursk was raging to the north, two German armies of Army Group South in the Donets Basin confronted two Soviet army groups on a 660-kilometer front. Stavka launched two
German tanks in World War II — High Command. In actual tank-on-tank encounters the German armor performed poorly, but as a coherent unit, the combined arms tactic of the Blitzkrieg shocked the Allies. The German Panzer forces at the start of World War II were not especially impressive. Only 4% of the defense budget was spent on armored fighting vehicle (AFV) production. Guderian had planned for two main tanks: the Panzer III, which was in production; and the Panzer IV with a 75 mm gun, which did not have one. The design work for the Panzer IV had begun in 1935 and trials of prototypes were