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. Human casualties were enormous as well: the Germans lost almost 55,000 men, and the Red Army buried almost 180,000.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. A total of 6,000 tanks and assault guns were damaged or destroyed. In the end, the Germans lost about 760 tanks, and the Russians lost about 3,800. The fighting around Kursk continued for another six weeks, but the outcome was clear. Both sides suffered enormous losses, but on July 10 the Allied troops landed in Sicily, and Hitler moved his Panzer divisions to Italy. There were another 500,000 men and 1,500 tanks held in reserve. They had deployed almost three times as many troops, more than 20,000 guns and mortars, 3,600 tanks, and 2,650 aircraft. By July the Soviet side was ready to fight back. And while they prepared, so did the Red Army. The Nazi army planned Operation Citadel to encircle and cut off the Red Army located within the salient and then renew their offensive.īut the Nazi armies took several months to prepare, massing a half million men, 10,000 guns and mortars, 2,700 tanks and assault guns and 2,500 aircraft. This bulge or salient was 250 kilometers long from north to south and 160 kilometers wide. Over the course of the war, the Soviet lines had bulged into German-held territory near Kursk. On July 5, 1943, the largest tank battle in history began near the southern city of Kursk.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |