Smolensk 1943 focuses on a major offensive that is virtually unknown
in the West. With the German defeat at Kursk, the Soviet Stavka (high
command) ordered the Western and Kalinin Fronts to launch Operation
Suvorov in order to liberate the important city of Smolensk. The
Germans had held this city for two years and Heeresgruppe Mitte's (Army
Group Centre) 4. Armee had heavily fortified the region. The Soviet
offensive began in August 1943 and quickly realized that the German
defenses were exceedingly tough and that the Western Front had not
prepared adequately for an extended offensive. Consequently, the Soviets
were forced to pause their offensive after only two weeks, replenish
their combat forces, and then begin again.
The German 4. Armee was commanded by Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici,
one of the Wehrmacht's top defensive experts. Although badly
outnumbered, Heinrici's army gamely held off two Soviet fronts for seven
weeks. Eventually, the 4. Armee's front was finally broken and
Smolensk was liberated on 25 September 1943. However, the Western Front
was too exhausted to pursue Heinrici's defeated army, which retreated to
the fortified cities of Vitebsk, Orsha, and Mogilev; the 4. Armee
would hold these cities until the destruction of Army Group Centre in
June 1944.