Situation and strengths of the parties

In the early spring of 1943, after the end of the winter-spring battles, a huge ledge was formed on the line of the Soviet-German front between the cities of Orel and Belgorod, directed to the west. This bend was informally called the Kursk Bulge. Troops of the Soviet Central and Voronezh fronts and the German Army Groups Center and South were located at the bend of the arc.

Certain representatives of the highest command circles of Germany suggested that the Wehrmacht switch to defensive actions, exhausting the Soviet troops, rebuilding their own strength and strengthening the occupied territories. However, Hitler was adamantly opposed: he believed that the German army was still strong enough to inflict a major defeat on the Soviet Union and again intercept the elusive strategic initiative. An objective analysis of the situation showed that the German army was no longer capable of advancing on all fronts at once. Therefore, it was decided to limit offensive actions to only one segment of the front. Quite logically, the German command chose the Kursk Bulge to strike. According to the plan, German troops were to strike in converging directions from Orel and Belgorod in the direction of Kursk. With a successful outcome, this ensured the encirclement and defeat of the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts of the Red Army. The final plans for the operation, code-named Citadel, were approved on May 10-11, 1943.

Unravel the plans of the German command regarding exactly where the Wehrmacht will advance in summer period 1943, was not a big deal. The Kursk salient, stretching many kilometers into the depths of the territory controlled by the Nazis, was a tempting and obvious target. Already on April 12, 1943, at a meeting at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the USSR, it was decided to switch to a deliberate, planned and powerful defense in the Kursk region. The troops of the Red Army were supposed to hold back the onslaught of Hitler's troops, wear down the enemy, and then launch a counteroffensive and defeat the enemy. After that, it was supposed to start a general offensive in the western and southwestern directions.

In case the Germans decided not to advance in the Kursk Bulge area, a plan of offensive actions was also created by forces concentrated in this sector of the front. However, the defensive plan remained a priority, and it was to its implementation that the Red Army began in April 1943.

Defense on Kursk Bulge a solid one was under construction. In total, 8 defensive lines were created with a total depth of about 300 kilometers. Great attention was paid to mining the approaches to the defense line: according to various sources, the density of minefields was up to 1500-1700 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines per kilometer of the front. Anti-tank artillery was not evenly distributed along the front, but was assembled in the so-called "anti-tank areas" - localized accumulations of anti-tank guns, covering several directions at once and partially overlapping each other's shelling sectors. Thus, the maximum concentration of fire was achieved and the shelling of one advancing enemy unit from several sides at once was ensured.

Before the start of the operation, the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts numbered a total of about 1.2 million people, about 3.5 thousand tanks, 20,000 guns and mortars, as well as 2,800 aircraft. The Steppe Front, numbering about 580,000 people, 1,500 tanks, 7,400 guns and mortars, and about 700 aircraft acted as a reserve.

On the German side, 50 divisions took part in the battle, numbering, according to various sources, from 780 to 900 thousand people, about 2,700 tanks and self-propelled guns, about 10,000 guns and about 2,5 thousand aircraft.

Thus, by the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army had a numerical advantage. However, one should not forget that these troops were located on the defensive, and therefore, the German command had the opportunity to effectively concentrate forces and achieve the necessary concentration of troops in the areas of the breakthrough. In addition, in 1943, the German army received sufficient a large number new heavy tanks "Tiger" and medium "Panther", as well as heavy self-propelled guns "Ferdinand", of which there were only 89 (out of 90 built) in the right place.

The first stage of the battle. Defense

Both commands - the Voronezh and Central fronts - predicted the date of the transition of the German troops to the offensive quite accurately: according to their data, the attack should have been expected in the period from 3 to 6 July. The day before the start of the battle, Soviet intelligence officers managed to capture the "tongue", which announced that on July 5 the Germans would begin an assault.

The northern face of the Kursk Bulge was held by the Central Front of General of the Army K. Rokossovsky. Knowing the time of the start of the German offensive, at 2:30 am the front commander gave the order to conduct a half-hour artillery counter-preparation. Then, at 4:30 am, the artillery strike was repeated. The effectiveness of this measure has been quite controversial. According to the reports of the Soviet artillerymen, the Germans suffered significant losses. However, to all appearances, this still did not correspond to reality. It is precisely known about small losses in manpower and equipment, as well as about the violation of the enemy's wire communication lines. In addition, now the Germans knew for sure that a surprise offensive would not work - the Red Army was ready for defense.

At 5:00 in the morning, German artillery preparation began. It was not yet over when the first echelons of Hitler's troops went on the offensive following the barrage of fire. German infantry, supported by tanks, launched an offensive along the entire defense zone of the 13th Soviet Army. The main blow fell on the village of Olkhovatka. The most powerful attack was experienced by the right flank of the army near the village of Maloarkhangelskoye.

The battle lasted approximately two and a half hours, the attack was repulsed. After that, the Germans shifted their pressure to the left flank of the army. How strong their onslaught was, is evidenced by the fact that by the end of July 5, the troops of the 15th and 81st Soviet divisions were in partial encirclement. However, the Nazis have not yet succeeded in breaking through the front. In just the first day of the battle, German troops advanced 6-8 kilometers.

On July 6, Soviet troops attempted a counterattack with the forces of two tank, three rifle divisions and a rifle corps, supported by two regiments of guards mortars and two regiments of self-propelled guns. The front of the strike was 34 kilometers. At first, the Red Army managed to push the Germans back by 1-2 kilometers, but then Soviet tanks came under heavy fire from German tanks and self-propelled guns and, after 40 vehicles were lost, were forced to stop. By the end of the day, the corps went on the defensive. An attempt at a counterattack, undertaken on July 6, had no serious success. It was possible to "push back" the front by only 1-2 kilometers.

After the failure of the strike on Olkhovatka, the Germans shifted their efforts in the direction of the Ponyri station. This station was of serious strategic importance, covering railroad Oryol - Kursk. The dongs were well protected minefields, artillery and tanks buried in the ground.

On July 6, the Ponyri attacked about 170 German tanks and self-propelled guns, including 40 Tigers from the 505th Heavy Tank Battalion. The Germans managed to break through the first line of defense and advance to the second. Three attacks that followed until the end of the day were repulsed by the second line. The next day, after stubborn attacks, German troops managed to get even closer to the station. By 15 o'clock on July 7, the enemy captured the state farm "May 1" and came close to the station. July 7, 1943 became a crisis day for the defense of Ponyri, although the Nazis still could not capture the station.

At the Ponyri station, German troops used the Ferdinand self-propelled guns, which turned out to be a serious problem for the Soviet troops. Soviet guns were practically unable to penetrate the 200-mm frontal armor of these vehicles. Therefore, the greatest losses "Ferdinand" suffered from mines and air raids. The last day when the Germans stormed the Ponyri station was 12 July.

From 5 to 12 July, heavy fighting took place in the zone of action of the 70th Army. Here the Nazis attacked with tanks and infantry with air supremacy German aviation... On July 8, German troops managed to break through the defense, occupying several settlements. It was possible to localize the breakthrough only by introducing reserves. By July 11, Soviet troops received reinforcements, as well as air support. The attacks of dive bombers inflicted quite significant damage on the German units. On July 15, after the Germans had already been finally driven back, war correspondents were filming destroyed German equipment on the field between the villages of Samodurovka, Kutyrki and Teploe. After the war, this chronicle was mistakenly called "personnel from under Prokhorovka," although there was not a single "Ferdinand" near Prokhorovka, and from Teply the Germans were unable to evacuate two damaged SPGs of this type.

In the zone of action of the Voronezh Front (commander - General of the Army Vatutin) fighting began in the afternoon of July 4 with attacks by German units on the positions of the front's combat outposts and lasted until late at night.

On July 5, the main phase of the battle began. On the southern face of the Kursk Bulge, the battles were significantly more intense and were accompanied by more serious losses of Soviet troops than on the northern one. The reason for this was the terrain more suitable for the use of tanks, and a number of organizational miscalculations at the level of the Soviet front command.

The main blow of the German troops was delivered along the Belgorod-Oboyan highway. This sector of the front was held by the 6th Guards Army. The first attack took place at 6 am on July 5 in the direction of the village of Cherkasskoye. Two attacks followed, supported by tanks and aircraft. Both were repulsed, after which the Germans shifted the direction of the attack towards the village of Butovo. In the battles near Cherkassy, ​​the enemy practically managed to make a breakthrough, but at the cost of heavy losses, the Soviet troops prevented it, often losing up to 50-70% personnel parts.

During July 7-8, the Germans managed, suffering losses, to advance another 6-8 kilometers, but then the offensive on Oboyan stopped. The enemy was looking weakness Soviet defense and seemed to have found him. This place was the direction to the still unknown station Prokhorovka.

The Battle of Prokhorovka, considered one of the largest tank battles in history, began on July 11, 1943. On the German side, the 2nd SS Panzer Corps and the 3rd Wehrmacht Tank Corps took part in it - a total of about 450 tanks and self-propelled guns. The 5th Guards Tank Army of Lieutenant General P. Rotmistrov and the 5th Guards Army of Lieutenant General A. Zhadov fought against them. There were about 800 Soviet tanks in the Prokhorov battle.

The battle at Prokhorovka can be called the most discussed and controversial episode of the Battle of Kursk. The scope of this article does not make it possible to analyze it in detail, so we will limit ourselves only to reporting the approximate figures of losses. The Germans irrevocably lost about 80 tanks and self-propelled guns, the Soviet troops lost about 270 vehicles.

Second phase. Offensive

On July 12, 1943, on the northern face of the Kursk Bulge, with the participation of the troops of the Western and Bryansk fronts, Operation Kutuzov, also known as the Oryol offensive operation, began. On July 15, the troops of the Central Front joined it.

On the part of the Germans, a group of troops, numbering 37 divisions, was involved in the battles. By current estimates, the number of German tanks and self-propelled guns that took part in the battles at Orel was about 560 vehicles. The Soviet troops had a serious numerical advantage over the enemy: on the main axes, the Red Army outnumbered the German troops six times in the number of infantry, five times in the number of artillery and 2.5-3 times in tanks.

German infantry divisions defended themselves in well-fortified terrain, equipped with barbed wire, minefields, machine-gun nests, and armored cannons. Anti-tank obstacles were built along the river banks by enemy sappers. It should be noted, however, that work on the German defensive lines had not yet been completed by the time the counter-offensive began.

On July 12, at 5:10 am, Soviet troops began artillery preparation and launched an air strike on the enemy. Half an hour later, the assault began. By the evening of the first day, the Red Army, fighting heavy battles, advanced from 7.5 to 15 kilometers, breaking through the main defensive zone of German formations in three places. Offensive battles continued until July 14. During this time, the advance of the Soviet troops was up to 25 kilometers. However, by July 14, the Germans managed to regroup the troops, as a result of which the offensive of the Red Army was stopped for some time. The offensive of the Central Front, which began on July 15, developed slowly from the very beginning.

Despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, by July 25, the Red Army managed to force the Germans to begin the withdrawal of troops from the Oryol bridgehead. In early August, battles began for the city of Oryol. By August 6, the city was completely liberated from the Nazis. After that, the Oryol operation entered its final phase. On August 12, battles began for the city of Karachev, which lasted until August 15 and ended with the defeat of the group of German troops defending this settlement. By August 17-18, Soviet troops reached the Hagen defensive line, built by the Germans east of Bryansk.

The official date for the start of the offensive on the southern face of the Kursk Bulge is August 3. However, the Germans began a gradual withdrawal of troops from their positions as early as July 16, and from July 17, Red Army units began to pursue the enemy, by July 22, went over to a general offensive, which stopped approximately at the same positions that the Soviet troops occupied at the time of the beginning of the Battle of Kursk. ... The command demanded the immediate continuation of hostilities, however, due to exhaustion and fatigue of the units, the date was postponed by 8 days.

By August 3, the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts had 50 rifle divisions, about 2,400 tanks and self-propelled guns, more than 12,000 guns. At 8 o'clock in the morning, after artillery preparation, the Soviet troops launched an offensive. On the first day of the operation, the advance of units of the Voronezh Front ranged from 12 to 26 km. The troops of the Steppe Front advanced only 7-8 kilometers in a day.

On August 4-5, battles were fought to eliminate the Belgorod enemy grouping and liberate the city from German troops. By evening, Belgorod was taken by units of the 69th Army and the 1st Mechanized Corps.

By August 10, Soviet troops cut the Kharkov-Poltava railway. About 10 kilometers remained to the outskirts of Kharkov. On August 11, the Germans struck in the Bogodukhov area, which significantly weakened the pace of the offensive of both fronts of the Red Army. Fierce fighting continued until 14 August.

The steppe front reached the near approaches to Kharkov on August 11. On the first day, the advancing units were unsuccessful. The fighting on the outskirts of the city went on until July 17. Both sides suffered heavy losses. In both Soviet and German units, it was not uncommon for companies to number 40-50 people, or even less.

The last counterattack was struck by the Germans at Akhtyrka. Here they even managed to make a local breakthrough, but this did not change the situation globally. On August 23, a massive assault on Kharkov began; this day is considered the date of the liberation of the city and the end of the Battle of Kursk. In fact, the fighting in the city completely stopped only by August 30, when the remnants of the German resistance were suppressed.

The Battle of Kursk is a turning point in the course of the entire Second World War, when the Soviet troops inflicted such damage on Germany and its satellites, from which they could no longer recover and lost their strategic initiative until the end of the war. Although many sleepless nights and thousands of kilometers of battles remained before the defeat of the enemy, after this battle in the hearts of every Soviet citizen, private and general, confidence in victory over the enemy appeared. In addition, the battle on the Oryol-Kursk ledge became an example of the courage of ordinary soldiers and the brilliant genius of Russian commanders.

A fundamental turning point during the Great Patriotic War began with the victory of Soviet troops at Stalingrad, when a large enemy grouping was eliminated during Operation Uranus. The battle on the Kursk ledge became the final stage radical fracture. After the defeat at Kursk and Orel, the strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Soviet command. After the failure, the German troops until the end of the war were already mainly on the defensive, and ours mainly conducted offensive operations, liberating Europe from the Nazis.

On June 5, 1943, German troops launched an offensive in two directions: on the northern and southern faces of the Kursk salient. Thus began Operation Citadel and the Battle of Kursk itself. After the offensive onslaught of the Germans subsided, and its divisions were significantly drained of blood, the command of the USSR launched a counteroffensive against the troops of Army Groups "Center" and "South". On August 23, 1943, Kharkov was liberated, which marked the end of one of the largest battles of the Second World War.

Prehistory of the battle

After the victory at Stalingrad in the successful Operation Uranus, the Soviet troops succeeded in carrying out a good offensive along the entire front and pushing the enemy back many miles to the West. But after the counter-offensive of German troops in the region of Kursk and Orel, a ledge appeared, which was directed towards the West up to 200 kilometers wide and up to 150 kilometers deep, formed by the Soviet group.

From April to June, a relative calm reigned on the fronts. It became clear that after the defeat at Stalingrad, Germany would try to take revenge. It was the Kursk ledge that was considered the most suitable place, striking which in the direction of Orel and Kursk from the North and South, respectively, it was possible to create a boiler on a scale larger than near Kiev, Kharkov at the beginning of the war.

On April 8, 1943, Marshal G.K. sent his report on the spring-summer military campaign, where he set out his thoughts on the actions of Germany on the Eastern Front, where it was assumed that the Kursk Bulge would become the site of the main attack of the enemy. At the same time, Zhukov expressed his plan of countermeasures, which included exhausting the enemy in defensive battles, and then delivering a counterattack and completely destroying it. On April 12, Stalin listened to General Antonov A.I., Marshal Zhukov G.K. and Marshal Vasilevsky A.M. on this occasion.

Representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief unanimously spoke in favor of the impossibility and futility of delivering a preemptive strike in the spring and summer. Indeed, based on the experience of past years, an offensive against large enemy groupings preparing to strike does not bring significant results, but only contributes to losses in the ranks of its troops. Also, the formation of forces for delivering the main attack was supposed to weaken the groupings of Soviet troops in the directions of the main attack of the Germans, which would also inevitably lead to defeat. Therefore, it was decided to conduct a defensive operation in the region of the Kursk salient, where the main attack of the Wehrmacht forces was expected. Thus, the Headquarters hoped to wear down the enemy in defensive battles, knock out his tanks and deliver a decisive blow to the enemy. This was facilitated by the creation of a powerful defensive system in this area, in contrast to the first two years of the war.

In the spring of 1943, the word "Citadel" appeared more and more frequently in intercepted radio data. On April 12, intelligence put a plan on Stalin's table, code-named "Citadel", which had been developed by the General Staff of the Wehrmacht, but had not yet been signed by Hitler. This plan confirmed that Germany was preparing the main attack, where the Soviet command awaited it. Three days later, Hitler signed a plan for the operation.

In order to destroy the plans of the Wehrmacht, it was decided to create a defense in depth in the direction of the projected strike and create a powerful grouping capable of withstanding the pressure of German units and carrying out counter-attacks at the climax of the battle.

The composition of the armies, commanders

To strike at the Soviet troops in the area of ​​the Kursk-Oryol ledge, it was planned to attract forces Army Group Center commanded by Field Marshal Kluge and Army Group South commanded by Field Marshal Manstein.

The German forces consisted of 50 divisions, including 16 motorized and tank divisions, 8 assault gun divisions, 2 tank brigades, and 3 separate tank battalions. In addition, the considered elite SS Panzer Divisions "Das Reich", "Dead Head" and "Adolf Hitler" were pulled up to strike in the direction of Kursk.

Thus, the grouping consisted of 900 thousand personnel, 10 thousand guns, 2,700 tanks and assault guns, and more than 2 thousand aircraft that were part of the two Luftwaffe air fleets.

One of the key trump cards in the hands of Germany was to be the use of heavy tanks "Tiger" and "Panther", assault guns "Ferdinand". Precisely because the new tanks did not have time to get to the front, they were in the process of being finalized, the beginning of the operation was constantly postponed. The Wehrmacht was also armed with obsolete Pz.Kpfw. I, Pz.Kpfw. I I, Pz.Kpfw. I I I, which have undergone some modification.

The main blow was to be inflicted by the 2nd and 9th armies, the 9th Panzer Army of Army Group Center under the command of Field Marshal Model, as well as Operational Group Kempf, tank 4th Army and 24th Corps of the group armies "South", which were entrusted to command General Goth.

In defensive battles, the USSR used three fronts Voronezh, Stepnoy, Central.

The commander of the Central Front was General of the Army KK Rokossovsky. The task of the front was to defend the northern face of the ledge. The Voronezh Front, the command of which was entrusted to General of the Army N.F. Vatutin, was to defend the southern face. Colonel-General Konev I.S. was appointed commander of the Steppe Front, a reserve of the USSR during the battle. In total, about 1.3 million people, 3444 tanks and self-propelled guns, almost 20,000 guns and 2,100 aircraft were involved in the region of the Kursk salient. Data may differ from some sources.

Armament (tanks)

During the preparation of the Citadel plan, the German command did not look for new ways to achieve success. The main offensive power of the Wehrmacht troops during the operation on the Kursk Bulge was to be performed by tanks: light, heavy and medium. To reinforce the strike forces, several hundred of the newest Panther and Tiger tanks were delivered to the front before the operation began.

Medium tank "Panther" was developed by MAN for Germany in 1941-1942. According to the German classification, it was considered heavy. For the first time he took part in the battles at the Kursk Bulge. After the battles in the summer of 1943 on the Eastern Front, the Wehrmacht began to actively use it in other directions. It is considered the best tank in Germany in World War II, despite a number of flaws.

"Tiger I"- heavy tanks of the German armed forces during the Second World War. At long-range combat it was hardly vulnerable to fire weapons of Soviet tanks. It is considered the most expensive tank of its time, because the German treasury spent 1 million Reichsmarks to create one combat unit.

Panzerkampfwagen III until 1943 was the main medium tank of the Wehrmacht. The captured combat units were used by the Soviet troops, on their basis self-propelled guns were created.

Panzerkampfwagen II produced from 1934 to 1943. Since 1938, it was used in armed conflicts, but it turned out to be weaker than similar models of equipment from the enemy, not only in armor, but even in armament. In 1942, he was completely withdrawn from the tank divisions of the Wehrmacht, however, remained in service and was used by assault groups.

Light tank Panzerkampfwagen I - the brainchild of "Krupp" and "Daimler Benz", discontinued in 1937, was produced in the amount of 1574 units.

In the Soviet army, the most massive tank of the Second World War was supposed to resist the bulk of the German armored armada. Medium tank T-34 had many modifications, one of which is the T-34-85 is in service with some countries to this day.

The course of the battle

There was a lull on the fronts. Stalin had doubts about the correctness of the calculations of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Also, the thought of competent disinformation did not leave him until the last moment. Nevertheless, at 23.20 on July 4 and 02.20 on July 5, the artillery of the two Soviet fronts struck a massive blow at the alleged enemy positions. In addition, bombers and attack aircraft of the two air armies carried out an air raid on enemy positions in the region of Kharkov and Belgorod. but special result it didn't. According to the reports of the Germans, only communication lines were damaged. Losses in manpower and equipment were not serious.

Exactly at 06.00 on July 5, after a powerful artillery barrage, significant forces of the Wehrmacht went on the offensive. However, they unexpectedly received a powerful rebuff. This was facilitated by the presence of numerous tank obstacles, minefields with a high frequency of mining. Due to significant damage to coherent communications, the Germans did not manage to achieve clear interaction between the units, which led to disagreements in actions: the infantry was often left without the support of tanks. On the northern face, the blow was directed at Olkhovatka. After little success and serious losses, the Germans directed an attack on Ponyri. But there, too, it was not possible to break into the Soviet defense. Thus, on July 10, less than a third of all German tanks remained in service.

* After the Germans launched the attack, Rokossovsky called Stalin and happily announced in his voice that the offensive had begun. Perplexed, Stalin asked Rokossovsky about the reason for his joy. The general replied that now the victory in the Battle of Kursk would not go anywhere.

The 4th Panzer Corps, the 2nd SS Panzer Corps and the Kempf Army Group, which were part of the 4th Army, were tasked with inflicting defeat on the Russians in the South. Here events unfolded more successfully than in the North, although the planned result was not achieved. The 48th Panzer Corps, in its attack on Cherkasskoye, suffered heavy losses without making significant progress.

The defense of Cherkassky is one of the brightest pages of the Battle of Kursk, which for some reason is practically not remembered. The 2nd SS Panzer Corps was more successful. He was tasked with reaching the Prokhorovka area, where, on an advantageous location in a tactical battle, to fight the Soviet reserve. Thanks to the presence of companies consisting of heavy "Tigers", divisions "Leibstandarte" and "Das Reich" managed to quickly break through the defenses of the Voronezh front. The command of the Voronezh Front decided to strengthen the defensive lines and sent the 5th Stalingrad Tank Corps to carry out this task. In fact, the Soviet tankers received an order to occupy the line already captured by the Germans, but threats of tribunal and execution forced them to go on the offensive. Having struck Das Reich in the forehead, the 5th Stk failed and was thrown back. Tanks "Das Reich" went on the attack, trying to surround the forces of the corps. In part, they succeeded, but thanks to the commanders of the units who found themselves outside the ring, communications were not cut. Nevertheless, during these battles, Soviet troops lost 119 tanks, which is undeniably the largest losses of Soviet troops in one day. Thus, on July 6, the Germans reached the third line of defense of the Voronezh Front, which made the situation difficult.

On July 12, in the Prokhorovka area, after mutual artillery barrage and massive air strikes, 850 tanks of the 5th Guards Army under the command of General Rotmistrov and 700 tanks from the 2nd SS Panzer Corps collided in an oncoming battle. The fight lasted all day. The initiative passed from hand to hand. The opponents suffered colossal losses. The entire battlefield was covered with thick smoke from fires. However, the victory remained with us, the enemy was forced to retreat.

On this day, on the Northern face, the Western and Bryansk fronts went on the offensive. The very next day, the Germans' defense was broken through, and by August 5, Soviet troops managed to liberate Oryol. The Oryol operation, during which the Germans lost 90 thousand soldiers killed, was called "Kutuzov" in the General Staff's plans.

Operation "Rumyantsev" was supposed to defeat the German forces in the region of Kharkov and Belgorod. On August 3, the forces of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts launched an offensive. By August 5, Belgorod was liberated. On August 23, Kharkov was liberated by Soviet troops on the third attempt, which marked the end of Operation Rumyantsev and, along with it, the Battle of Kursk.

* On August 5, the first salute in the entire War was given in Moscow in honor of the liberation of Orel and Belgorod from the Nazi invaders.

Losses of the parties

Until now, the losses of Germany and the USSR during the Battle of Kursk are not known exactly. To date, the data diverge dramatically. In 1943, the Germans lost more than 500 thousand people in killed and wounded in the battle on the Kursk salient. 1000-1500 enemy tanks were destroyed by Soviet soldiers. And the Soviet aces and air defense forces destroyed 1,696 aircraft.

As for the USSR, the irrecoverable losses amounted to more than a quarter of a million people. 6024 tanks and self-propelled guns were burned, out of order for technical reasons. 1,626 aircraft were shot down in the skies over Kursk and Orel.

Results, meaning

Guderian and Manstein in their memoirs say that the Battle of Kursk was a turning point in the War on the Eastern Front. Soviet troops inflicted heavy losses on the Germans, who lost their strategic advantage forever. In addition, the armored power of the Nazis could no longer be restored to its previous scale. Days Hitlerite Germany were numbered. The victory at the Kursk Bulge became an excellent help for raising the morale of soldiers on all fronts, the population in the rear of the country and in the occupied territories.

Day of Military Glory of Russia

Day of the defeat of the Nazi troops by Soviet troops in the Battle of Kursk in accordance with Federal Law dated March 13, 1995 is celebrated annually. This is a day of remembrance for all those who, in 1943, in July-August, during the defensive operation of the Soviet troops, as well as the offensive operations "Kutuzov" and "Rumyantsev" on the Kursk ledge, managed to break the back of a powerful enemy, predetermining the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. In 2013, large-scale celebrations are expected to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory at the Arc of Fire.

Video about the Kursk Bulge, key points battles, we definitely recommend watching:

The Battle of Kursk (the Battle of the Kursk Bulge), which lasted from July 5 to August 23, 1943, is one of the key battles of the Great Patriotic War. In Soviet and Russian historiography, it is customary to divide the battle into three parts: the Kursk defensive operation (July 5-23); Oryol (July 12 - August 18) and Belgorod-Kharkov (August 3-23) offensive.

During the winter offensive of the Red Army and the ensuing counter-offensive of the Wehrmacht in Eastern Ukraine, a ledge up to 150 kilometers deep and up to 200 kilometers wide was formed in the center of the Soviet-German front, facing the west (the so-called "Kursk Bulge"). The German command decided to conduct a strategic operation on the Kursk salient. For this, a military operation codenamed "Citadel" was developed and approved in April 1943. Having information about the preparation of the German-fascist troops for the offensive, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to temporarily go over to the defensive on the Kursk Bulge and, during a defensive battle, bleed the enemy's shock groups and thereby create favorable conditions for the transition of Soviet troops to a counteroffensive, and then to a general strategic offensive. ...

To carry out Operation Citadel, the German command concentrated 50 divisions in the sector, including 18 tank and motorized divisions. The enemy grouping numbered, according to Soviet sources, about 900 thousand people, up to 10 thousand guns and mortars, about 2.7 thousand tanks and more than 2 thousand aircraft. Air support for the German forces was provided by the forces of the 4th and 6th air fleets.

By the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the Supreme Command headquarters created a grouping (Central and Voronezh fronts), which had more than 1.3 million people, up to 20 thousand guns and mortars, more than 3300 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2650 aircraft. The troops of the Central Front (commanded by General of the Army Konstantin Rokossovsky) defended the northern face of the Kursk salient, and the troops of the Voronezh Front (commanded by General of the Army Nikolai Vatutin) defended the southern face. The troops that occupied the ledge relied on the Steppe Front as part of a rifle, 3 tank, 3 motorized and 3 cavalry corps (commanded by Colonel General Ivan Konev). The coordination of the actions of the fronts was carried out by representatives of the Headquarters of the Marshals Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Vasilevsky.

On July 5, 1943, according to the plan of Operation Citadel, German strike groups launched an offensive against Kursk from the regions of Orel and Belgorod. From the direction of Orel, a grouping under the command of Field Marshal Gunter Hans von Kluge (Army Group Center) was advancing, from the side of Belgorod - a grouping under the command of General Field Marshal Erich von Manstein (Task Force Kempf of Army Group South).

The task of repelling the offensive from the direction of Orel was assigned to the troops of the Central Front, from the side of Belgorod - the Voronezh Front.

On July 12, in the vicinity of the Prokhorovka railway station, 56 kilometers north of Belgorod, the largest oncoming tank battle of the Second World War took place - a battle between the advancing enemy tank group (Operational Group Kempf) and the Soviet forces counterstriking. Up to 1200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part in the battle on both sides. The fierce battle lasted all day, by evening the tank crews, along with the infantry, fought hand-to-hand. In one day, the enemy lost about 10 thousand people and 400 tanks and was forced to go over to the defensive.

On the same day, the troops of the Bryansk, Central and Left Wing of the Western Fronts launched Operation Kutuzov, which had the goal of crushing the enemy's Oryol grouping. On July 13, the troops of the Western and Bryansk fronts broke through the enemy's defenses on the Bolkhov, Khotynets and Oryol axes and advanced to a depth of 8 to 25 km. On July 16, the troops of the Bryansk Front reached the line of the Oleshnya River, after which the German command began to withdraw its main forces to their original positions. By July 18, the troops of the right wing of the Central Front had completely eliminated the enemy wedge in the Kursk direction. On the same day, the troops of the Steppe Front were brought into battle, which began to pursue the retreating enemy.

Developing the offensive, the Soviet ground forces, supported from the air by strikes from the forces of the 2nd and 17th air armies, as well as by long-range aviation, by August 23, 1943, threw the enemy back to the west by 140-150 km, liberated Oryol, Belgorod and Kharkov. According to Soviet sources, the Wehrmacht lost 30 elite divisions in the Battle of Kursk, including 7 tank divisions, over 500 thousand soldiers and officers, 1.5 thousand tanks, more than 3.7 thousand aircraft, 3 thousand guns. The losses of the Soviet troops surpassed the German ones; they amounted to 863 thousand people. At Kursk, the Red Army lost about 6 thousand tanks.

The Battle of Kursk, which lasted from 07/05/1943 to 08/23/1943, is a turning point in the central event of the Great Patriotic War and a gigantic historical tank battle. The Battle of the Kursk Bulge lasted 49 days.

On this major offensive battle called "Citadel", Hitler had high hopes, he needed a victory to raise the morale of the army after a series of failures. August 1943 was fatal for Hitler, since the countdown began in the war, the Soviet army was confidently moving towards victory.

Intelligence service

Intelligence played an important role in the outcome of the battle. In the winter of 1943, the intercepted encrypted information constantly referred to the Citadel. Anastas Mikoyan (member of the Politburo of the CPSU) claims that Stalin received information about the Citadel project on April 12.

Back in 1942, British intelligence managed to crack the Lorenz code, which encrypted the messages of the 3rd Reich. As a result, the summer offensive project was intercepted, and information about general plan"Citadel", location and structure of forces. This information was immediately transferred to the leadership of the USSR.

Thanks to the work of the Dora reconnaissance group, the Soviet command learned about the deployment of German troops on the Eastern Front, and the work of other intelligence agencies provided information on other areas of the fronts.

Confrontation

The Soviet command knew about the exact time of the beginning of the German operation. Therefore, the necessary counter-training was carried out. The Nazis began the assault on the Kursk Bulge on July 5 - this is the date of the beginning of the battle. The main offensive attack of the Germans was in the direction of Olkhovatka, Maloarkhangelsk and Gnilets.

The command of the German troops tried to get to Kursk by the shortest route. However, the Russian commanders: N. Vatutin - Voronezh direction, K. Rokossovsky - Central direction, I. Konev - Steppe direction of the front, adequately responded to the German offensive.

The Kursk Bulge was supervised from the enemy's side by talented generals - these are General Erich von Manstein and Field Marshal von Kluge. Having been rebuffed at Olkhovatka, the Nazis tried to break through at the Ponyri, with the help of the Ferdinand self-propelled guns. But here they also did not manage to break through the defensive power of the Red Army.

From July 11, a fierce battle was fought at Prokhorovka. The Germans suffered significant losses of equipment and people. It was near Prokhorovka that crucial moment in the war, and July 12 was a turning point in this battle for the 3rd Reich. The Germans struck immediately from the southern and western fronts.

One of the global tank battles took place. The Hitlerite army put forward into the battle from the south - 300 tanks, from the west - 4 tank and 1 infantry divisions. According to other sources, the tank battle consisted of about 1200 tanks on both sides. The defeat of the Germans overtook by the end of the day, the movement of the SS corps was suspended, and their tactics became defensive.

During the Battle of Prokhorovka, according to Soviet data, on July 11-12, the German army lost more than 3,500 men and 400 tanks. The Germans themselves estimated the losses of the Soviet army at 244 tanks. Operation Citadel lasted only 6 days, in which the Germans tried to attack.

Used technique

Soviet medium tanks T-34 (about 70%), heavy - KV-1S, KV-1, light - T-70, self-propelled artillery units, nicknamed "St. John's wort" from soldiers - SU-152, as well as SU-76 and SU-122, met in confrontation with German tanks Panther, Tiger, Pz.I, Pz.II, Pz.III, Pz.IV, which were supported by self-propelled guns "Elephant" (we have "Ferdinand").

Soviet guns were practically unable to penetrate the 200 mm frontal armor of the Ferdinands; they were destroyed with mines and aircraft.

Also, the assault guns of the Germans were the StuG III and JagdPz IV tank destroyers. Hitler relied heavily on new equipment in the battle, so the Germans postponed the offensive for 2 months in order to release 240 Panthers to the Citadel.

During the battle, Soviet troops received captured German "Panthers" and "Tigers", abandoned by the crew or broken. After the elimination of breakdowns, the tanks fought on the side of the Soviet army.

List of forces of the USSR Army (according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation):

• 3444 tanks;
• 2,172 aircraft;
• 1.3 million people;
• 19,100 mortars and guns.

The Steppe Front, numbering 1.5 thousand tanks, 580 thousand people, 700 aircraft, 7.4 thousand mortars and guns, was located as a reserve force.

List of enemy forces:

• 2,733 tanks;
• 2500 aircraft;
• 900 thousand people;
• 10,000 mortars and guns.

The Red Army had a numerical superiority at the beginning of the Battle of Kursk. However, the military potential was on the side of the Nazis, not in terms of quantity, but in terms of the technical level of military equipment.

Offensive

On July 13, the German army went on the defensive. The Red Army attacked, pushing the Germans farther and farther, and by July 14 the front line had moved up to 25 km. Having battered the German defensive capabilities, on July 18, the Soviet army launched a counterattack, with the aim of defeating the Kharkov-Belgorod group of Germans. The Soviet front of offensive operations exceeded 600 km. On July 23, they reached the line of the German positions that they had occupied before the offensive.

By August 3, the Soviet army consisted of 50 rifle divisions, 2.4 thousand tanks, more than 12 thousand guns. On August 5 at 6 pm Belgorod was liberated from the Germans. From the beginning of August, the battle for the city of Orel was fought, on August 6 it was liberated. On August 10, soldiers of the Soviet army cut the Kharkov-Poltava railway during the offensive Belgorod-Kharkov operation. On August 11, the Germans attacked in the vicinity of Bogodukhov, slowing down the pace of battles on both fronts.

Heavy fighting lasted until 14 August. On August 17, Soviet troops approached Kharkov, starting a battle on its outskirts. The final offensive was carried out by German troops in Akhtyrka, but this breakthrough did not affect the outcome of the battle. On August 23, an intensive assault on Kharkov began.

This day itself is considered the day of the liberation of Kharkov and the end of the Battle of Kursk. Despite the actual fights with the remnants of the German resistance, which lasted until 30 August.

Losses

According to different historical reports, losses in the Battle of Kursk vary. Academician Samsonov A.M. states that the losses in the Battle of Kursk: more than 500 thousand wounded, killed and captured, 3.7 thousand aircraft and 1.5 thousand tanks.

Losses in the difficult battle on the Kursk Bulge, according to information from the research of G.F. Krivosheev, in the Red Army were:

• Killed, gone, taken prisoner - 254 470 people,
• 608,833 people were wounded.

Those. in total, human losses amounted to 863303 people, with average daily losses - 32,843 people.

Losses of military equipment:

• Tanks - 6064 pcs.;
• Aircraft - 1626 pcs.,
• Mortars and guns - 5244 pcs.

The German historian Overmans Rüdiger claims that the losses of the German army were killed - 130,429 people. Losses of military equipment were: tanks - 1500 units; aircraft - 1696 pcs. According to Soviet information, from July 5 to September 5, 1943, more than 420 thousand Germans were killed, as well as 38.6 thousand prisoners.

Outcome

An angry Hitler blamed the failure in the Battle of Kursk on the generals and field marshals, whom he demoted, replacing them with more capable ones. However, later the major offensives "Watch on the Rhine" in 1944 and the operation at Balaton in 1945 also failed. After the defeat in the battle at the Kursk Bulge, the Nazis did not achieve a single victory in the war.

Kursk Bulge in brief about the battle

• The offensive of the German army
• The offensive of the Red Army
• General summary
• The battle of Kursk is even shorter
• Video about the Kursk battle

How did the Battle of Kursk begin?

• Hitler decided that it was at the location of the Kursk Bulge that a turning point in the seizure of territory should take place. The operation was called "Citadel" and was supposed to involve the fronts of Voronezh and Central.
• But, in one thing, Hitler was right, Zhukov and Vasilevsky agreed with him, the Kursk Bulge was to become one of the main battles and, undoubtedly, most importantly, of those to come.
• This is exactly how Zhukov and Vasilevsky reported to Stalin. Zhukov was able to roughly estimate the possible forces of the invaders.

• German armament has been updated and increased in volume. Thus, a tremendous mobilization was carried out. The Soviet army, namely those fronts on which the Germans were counting, were approximately on a par in terms of their equipment.
• In some respects, the Russians were winning.
• In addition to the Central and Voronezh fronts (under the command of Rokossovsky and Vatutin, respectively), there was also a secret front - Stepnoy, under the command of Konev, about which the enemy knew nothing.
• The Steppe Front became insurance for two main directions.
• The Germans have been preparing for this offensive since spring. But when they launched an attack in the summer, this did not come as an unexpected blow for the Red Army.
• The Soviet army also did not sit idle. Eight defensive lines were erected at the proposed site of the battle.

Combat tactics on the Kursk Bulge

• It was thanks to the developed qualities of a military leader, and the work of intelligence, that the command of the Soviet army was able to understand the plans of the enemy and the defense-offensive plan came up perfectly.
• The defensive lines were built with the help of the population living near the battlefield.
  The German side built the plan in such a way that the Kursk Bulge should help to make the front line more even.
• If this succeeded, then the next stage would be to develop an offensive into the center of the state.

The offensive of the German army

The offensive of the Red Army

General summary

Reconnaissance as an important part of the Battle of Kursk

The battle of Kursk is even shorter
Kursk Bulge became one of the largest battlefields during the Great Patriotic War. Briefly about the battle is outlined below.

All the hostilities that took place during the Battle of Kursk took place from July 5 to August 23, 1943. During this battle, the German command hoped to destroy all Soviet troops representing the Central and Voronezh fronts. At that time, they were actively defending Kursk. If the Germans succeeded in this battle, the initiative in the war would return to the Germans. In order to implement their plans, the German command allocated more than 900 thousand soldiers, 10 thousand guns of various calibers, and 2.7 thousand tanks and 2,050 aircraft were allocated in support. New Tiger and Panther class tanks, as well as new Focke-Wulf 190 A fighters and Heinkel 129 assault aircraft, took part in this battle.

The command of the Soviet Union hoped to bleed the enemy during his offensive, and then conduct a large-scale counterattack. Thus, the Germans did exactly what the Soviet army expected. The scale of the battle was truly grandiose, the Germans sent almost the entire army and all available tanks into the attack. However, the Soviet troops stood to their death, and the defensive lines were not surrendered. On the Central Front, the enemy advanced 10-12 kilometers, on Voronezh, the enemy's penetration depth was 35 kilometers, but the Germans could not go further.

The outcome of the battle on the Kursk Bulge was determined by the battle of tanks near the village of Prokhorovka, which took place on July 12. This was the largest battle of tank forces in history; more than 1.2 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts were thrown into the battle. On this day, German troops lost more than 400 tanks, and the invaders were driven back. After that, the Soviet troops launched an active offensive, and on August 23, the Battle of the Kursk Bulge was over with the liberation of Kharkov, and with this event the further defeat of Germany became inevitable.