![]() German forces near Kursk numbered over 900,000 soldiers, 10,000 guns, 2,700 tanks and 2,000 aircraft. In the early hours of July 5, the attack began. On the 4th of July, on the eve of the attack, the confidence of the Germans is huge, and it is due to the new Panthers and the superiority of the Tiger tanks. The objective was to encircle and destroy the Soviet troops. ![]() ![]() Although Western historiography traditionally marks the beginning of the German downfall to the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the crushing defeat of Kursk makes a more likely turning point for the war.Operation “Citadel,” also known as the Battle of Kursk, was scheduled for the first part of May, with the Russians not having the opportunity to rebuild their troops.Īlthough advised to start the operation, Hitler decided to postpone it several times, hoping to improve the ground forces by equipping the new Panther tanks, which were in production and which were to replace the Tiger tanks, tanks for which the construction costs were enormous. From its victory in the Battle of Kursk, the Soviet Red Army went on to liberate most of Ukraine in the autumn of 1943, marching into Kiev on November 6. It had lost 30 of its 50 divisions and up to 500,000 men killed, wounded or missing in action. On August 4, the city of Orel was liberated and by the 18th the German army took up defensive positions east of Bryansk. Both were successfully repulsed, and by July 12, the Soviet forces had gone over to the offensive. The German offensive, code named “Citadel,” involved two simultaneous thrusts against the Soviet-held northern and southern salients. Konev, numbered 1.3 million troops, 3,600 tanks, and 2,800 aircraft. Vatutin’s Voronezh Army, and the reserve army of the Steppe Front under General I. ![]() Rokossovskii’s Army of the Center, General N. The Soviet forces, consisting of General K. It was initiated by the Germans who, in retreat after their spectacular defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad, concentrated 50 divisions, two tank brigades, three tank battalions, and eight artillery assault divisions comprising 2,700 Tiger and Panther tanks, some two thousand aircraft, and 900,000 men in all. The Battle of Kursk, which involved the largest tank battle of the Second World War, was fought on the steppe of Kursk oblast between July 5 and August 23, 1943. ![]()
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