![]() ![]() ![]() The attacks were to penetrate through Soviet defenses at the ‘elbows’ of the salient – Army Group Center from the north and Army Group South from the south – before converging at a point east of the town of Kursk near the geographic center of the bulge. The German plan – Operation Zitadelle – envisioned the double envelopment of at least six Soviet armies and the breaking of the Soviet operational initiative for the rest of the year. What ensued was the largest ground force clash in history – the Battle of Kursk – with over three million men, ten thousand tanks, and fifty thousand artillery and mortar pieces.įollowing the Stalingrad debacle and the breakout of Soviet forces during Operation Uranus in the winter of 1942-1943, the commander of Army Group South, Erich von Manstein, conducted a desperate maneuver defense near Kharkiv that temporarily halted the Soviet advance. The Battle of Prokhorovka was part of a much larger engagement known as the Battle of Kursk - the largest tank battle in history - during which the Nazis attempted to cut off and destroy the Red Army troops deployed in the Kursk salient, only to be thwarted by Soviet defenders.It was near Prokhorovka where formations of the 2nd SS Tank Corps that were trying to cut through Soviet defenses south of Kursk met with a counterattack launched by units of the Red Army’s 5th Guards Tank Brigade.Savage fighting ensued, with Soviet forces suffering heavy losses but refusing to give ground, ultimately denying the Nazis their objective.Up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns were involved in the Battle of Prokhorovka from both sides.Unable to achieve a breakthrough, Nazi forces had to pull back, losing the Battle of Prokhorovka, which in turn played an important role in the Nazis’ defeat in the Battle of Kursk – the decisive moment in the history of World War II that helped seal the fate of Nazi Germany.In the morning of 05 July 1943, Oberkommando des Herres (OKH) ordered Army Group Center and Army Group South to begin their attack on a 250km wide and 150km deep Soviet ‘bulge’ along the Eastern Front. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |