Southern Exposure

As the mist cleared in the early morning Of 12 July, the 600 tanks and assault guns of the II SS Panzer Corps jumped off into what would become the largest tank battle of the war. The three SS Divisions …

1943-07-12

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As the mist cleared in the early morning Of 12 July, the 600 tanks and assault guns of the II SS Panzer Corps jumped off into what would become the largest tank battle of the war. The three SS Divisions were formed line abreast with the 1st SS Panzergrenadier Division Leibstandarte SS Adolph Hitler flanked to the north by the 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf and by the 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Division Das Reich to the south. As Soviet artillery barrages hammered the battlefield the Germans raced into action. Their objective was the agricultural center of Prokhorovka. Poised to blunt the German spear point were the nearly 900 tanks Of the Soviets 5th Guards Tank Army. Expecting to find the Soviets packed into their defensive layers, German General Kruger was surprised when Rotmistovs tank and mechanized corps launched a massive counterattack The qualitative advantage of the German armor, especially their effective long-range fire capabilities, could wreak havoc on the Soviets. Closing to point blank range was the Soviet's best option. Tanks and equipment littered the battlefield. General Hoth recognized the inevitable by 13 July, but the Germans continued to press the attack for the next two days. Prokhorovka never left Soviet hands.

Kursk, Russia

The Battle of Kursk was a Second World War engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk in the Soviet Union, during July and August 1943. The battle began with the launch of the German offensive Operation Citadel, on 5 July, which had the objective of pinching off the Kursk salient with attacks on the base of the salient from north and south simultaneously. After the German offensive stalled on the northern side of the salient, on 12 July the Soviets commenced their Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Kutuzov against the rear of the German forces in the northern side. On the southern side, the Soviets also launched powerful counterattacks the same day, one of which led to a large armoured clash, the Battle of Prokhorovka. On 3 August, the Soviets began the second phase of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev against the German forces in the southern side of the Kursk salient.

Wikipedia: Battle of Kursk

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