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With Washington and Tokyo trying to bend the other to its will, President Roosevelt seeks to strangle Japan’s aggression in China with a trade blockade while Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto begins to plan his attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. War seems imminent, but both sides still hope for peace through negotiations, on their own terms.
Manstein overcame Hitler’s objections and then two Soviet Fronts. By early March 1943, Kursk was exposed and open to attack.
Having tasted defeat and now victory, Stalin wants more operations in southern Russia. And what he gets will change the course of the war on the Eastern Front.
The Axis retreat from the Don River was haphazard. Armies were lost as was much equipment. Army Group South would regroup and form another line, but it was much reduced and the Soviets were only getting stronger.
