Operation Kutuzov

Although Soviet counterblows after CITADEL were both swift and potent, they had not come as much of a surprise to the Germans. Feldmarschall Walter Model had kept all of Panzer-Armee 2 in reserve to help protect the operation’s northern pincer. On July 12, nearly a million men and …

1943-07-19

AP095

Although Soviet counterblows after CITADEL were both swift and potent, they had not come as much of a surprise to the Germans. Feldmarschall Walter Model had kept all of Panzer-Armee 2 in reserve to help protect the operation’s northern pincer. On July 12, nearly a million men and 2,500 tanks from the Central, Western, and Bryansk Fronts struck the Germans in Operation KUTUZOV as the pendulum of battle swung back against Heeresgruppe Mitte with pronounced energy. Although initial attacks against the Orel bulge met with success, Model’s reputation as a defensive master was well-earned. Flexible German lines simply bent as Rokossovsky’s tanks were drawn into killing zones and then counterattacked by mobile Panzer reserves supported by Tigers and Ferdinands.

Otrada, Russia

Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German Wehrmacht. The operation was named after General Mikhail Kutuzov, the Russian general credited with saving Russia from Napoleon during the French invasion of Russia in 1812. Operation Kutuzov was one of two large-scale Soviet operations launched as counteroffensives against Operation Citadel. The Operation began on 12 July and ended on 18 August 1943 with the capture of Orel and collapse of the Orel bulge.

Russian

German

Scenario Type = Standard