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As the carrier USS Enterprise is late for its return to Pearl Harbor, Adm. Bull Halsey sends on ahead Scouting and Bombing squadron 6. The 18 Douglas Dauntless SBDs are about to fly into the tragedy that is the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Also Lt. Gen. Walter Short, in overall command, realizes the unthinkable has happened. And Chaplin Lt. Howell M. Forgy of the USS New Orleans is about to utter his famous line, Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.
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.
