1943年初,苏军在斯大林格勒保卫战中取得胜利,并决定乘胜追击,收复大量失地。然而,溃败的德军并未就此认输,以曼施坦因元帅为首的德军甚至已经打起了反扑苏军的算盘。他们主动放弃了一些重要据点,诱使苏军节节深入。2月份仅过去了半个月,苏军的沃罗涅日方面军便相继攻占了库尔斯克、哈尔科夫和别尔哥罗德。但因为战线拉得过长,沃罗涅日方面军很快便失去了进攻能力,转入休整状态。相反,德军却早已偷偷集结了部队,发起反攻。 At the beginning of 1943, the Soviet army won the Battle of Stalingrad and decided to go on a victorious pursuit and recover a great deal of lost ground. However, the defeat of the Germans did not give up on this, the German military led by Marshal Stein had even fired the Soviet rebuttal abacus. They voluntarily gave up some important strongholds and lured the Soviets deeper. Only two weeks passed in February, the Soviet Voronezh army captured Kursk, Kharkov and Belgorod one after another. However, because the frontline had been stretched too long, the Voronezh army soon lost its offensive capability and moved to a state of rest. On the contrary, the Germans had already secretly assembled troops and launched counterattacks.