The german counter offensive of February 1943 threw back the Soviet forces that had been advancing toward the Dneper River on the Izyum sector of the front on the Donets River,and by mid-March the Germans had retaken Kharkov and Belgorod and reestablished a front on the Donets River.Hitler also authorised the German forces to fall back, in March from their advanced positions facing Moscow to a straighter line infront of Smolensk and Orel  

Due 2nd Quarter 2007