User:Grafikm fr/Korsun

Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket
Part of World War II
Soviet-German front on December 1, 1943.
Date January 24, 1944 – February 16, 1944 Location Korsun, USSR Result Soviet Victory, partial German escape
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Erich von Manstein	Nikolai Vatutin (1st Ukrainian Front), Ivan Konev (2nd Ukrainian Front),
Strength
	336,700 men
Casualties and losses
	24,286 KIA, 55,902 WIA

Context of the offensive

By the end of November 1943, the Battle of the Dnieper was definitely lost by the Wehrmacht. The Dnieper, a potential barrier of protection for the German troops, was force-crossed and the Panther-Wotan line overrun in several places. During the autumn, Soviet offensive created two large bridgeheads on the right (western) shore of the river: one centered around Kiev in the northern course of the Dnieper, and another centered on Dnepropetrovsk in the south.

By that time, the Wehrmacht had at its disposition 2,468,500 men (and 706,000 satellite troops) in the East, including 26 panzer divisions, 151 other divisions, 2,304 tanks and self-propelled guns, 8,037 guns and mortars, and 3,000 aircraft.

The Red Army boasted 6,394,500 men, including 35 tank and mechanized corps, more than 480 other division-sized formations, 5,800 tanks, 101,400 artillery pieces and mortars, and 13,400 aircraft of all types.8 These Soviet forces were grouped into 60 combined-arms armies, 5 shock armies, and 5 (soon to be 6) tank armies.