Two books in one: Bloody Kharkov I Bloody Kharkov II As the tide of war in Russia begins to turn, Leutnant Hausser returns with his depleted and demoralised squad...in the bitter snow, cold and ice that is becoming their home. The battle for survival continues...to Kharkov. With the final collapse of Stalingrad on the Volga River...the strained railheads along the southern Russian coast and to the immediate north fill with any available grim faced soldiers and equipment that can be spared. Hundreds of thousands of prisoners trudge into captivity, their starving and lice ridden bodies forced...

Less than two months after the devastating fall of Stalingrad, the German Wehrmacht is once again attacking, the prize of retaking Kharkov and Belgorod beyond enticing the forward units in their advance. With virtually catastrophic losses in the fall of the city that holds Stalin's name, the new Tiger tanks and Panzer IVs begin to near their goals, hope beginning to once again to rise in their crews' chests. Catching the Russian armies completely by surprise, the counter offensive is led by fresh SS units in the north supported by the Gross Deutschland division on the flanks, weakened...

With the onset of the Russian Spring Rasputitsa or 'muddy season', the German assault to the north of Army Group South grinds to a halt having completed the objectives of recapturing Kharkov and Belgorod. The thaw of snow adds to logistical problems, wheeled and tracked vehicles virtually unable to move on all but tarmacked roads. The front line across Russia now virtually mirrors that of the previous year before the drive on Stalingrad, Von Manstein having stunned the Red Army with a dazzling counterstroke or 'back hand' offensive, destroying several Russian Armies and perhaps resetting the...