Operation Büffel

1943 Operation Büffel ("Buffalo") was a series of local retreats conducted by the German Army Group Centre on the Eastern Front during the period 1–22 March 1943.

[1] The withdrawals were accompanied by a ruthless security campaign, resulting in widespread destruction, deportation of the able-bodied population for slave labour, and killings of civilians.

Large-scale security sweeps, under the doctrine of Bandenbekämpfung ("bandit fighting"), were carried out in the weeks before the operation, in which an estimated 3,000 Russians were killed, the great majority of whom were unarmed, as shown by the inventory of the seized weapons: 277 rifles, 41 pistols, 61 machine guns, 17 mortars, 9 antitank rifles and 16 small artillery pieces.

The withdrawal itself took two weeks, with minimal casualties or disruption in a move of an Army group numbering approximately 300,000 men, 100 tanks and 400 artillery pieces.

30043 on the preparation of an offensive on the central section of the Soviet-German front to encircle and destroy the main forces of Army Group Center.

Reports said that some groups of the enemy were moving towards the West, some of the artillery was pulled closer to the roads, and some dugouts, bridges, buildings and railway line were being prepared for demolition.