Model warned Hitler that the Wehrmacht faced another Stalingrad if the withdrawal was not allowed. Faced with the collapse of its forces in Orel, General Model asked Hitler’s permission to withdraw to the Hagen Line. The Russian Air Force ensured that the Luftwaffe was incapable of giving the army the support it needed. By July 19th, the Russians had pushed forward 45 miles. Unable to call in reinforcements from their men fighting in the south, the Germans were unable to hold off the Russian offensive. They outnumbered the Germans two to one in all areas. On July 12th, the Russians launched another counter-offensive in the north of the salient in an effort to relieve Orel. The Germans were literally on the back foot. The initiative now lay with the Russians who had a forward momentum to their advantage. By July 23rd, the Germans had been pushed back to where they had stated their attack. The strength of the Germans in the south of the Kursk salient had been broken and the Russians launched a major counter-offensive. They had lost another 350 tanks and 10,000 men. By nightfall, the Germans had not achieved the desired breakthrough. In total, 1,500 tanks were involved at Prokhorovka, some 50 miles to the south-east of Kursk. The greatest tank battle of World War Two place on July 12th. Russian tank commanders also quickly learned that if they attacked a Tiger side-on, its armour was thinner and more vulnerable. Even the mighty Tiger tanks were falling victim to the Russians anti-tank guns.
By July 10th, the German IX Army had lost 2/3rds of its tanks. Ferocious German attacks were met with ferocious Russian defence. A similar pattern occurred over the next few days. 25,000 men had been killed or wounded, 200 tanks and self-propelled guns had been lost and 200 aircraft. They gained 6 miles of land in the first 24 hours of fighting but at a cost. The Germans tried to break through on four occasions. The main thrust contained 500 tanks heavy tanks at the front, supported by medium ones behind with infantry behind these. A tank and infantry attack started at 05.30 once air cover had arrived. Germany started her attack at 04.30 with an artillery barrage. After the bombardment had finished, it took nearly two hours for the Germans to reorganise themselves. This had an impact on the morale of the Germans as it was clear that their plan had been compromised. To pre-empt the attack, the Russians launched a massive artillery bombardment at 02.00 on July 5th. German prisoners captured by Russian shock troops before the battle actually started, told the Russians that the attack was to be on July 5th. They repaired 1,800 miles of road and dug thousands of miles of trenches. By June 1943, 300,000 civilians were helping the Russians build defences around the Kursk salient. The depth of defences included the laying of 400,000 mines, which equated to 2,400 anti-tank and 2,700 anti-personnel mines every mile – more than at the Battle of Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad. Trenches and other anti-tank traps were dug. The Russians had guessed where the Germans would try to use their tanks in depth – and placed a large number of their anti-tank artillery guns there. 1.3 million soldiers were based there, 20,000 artillery pieces, 3,600 tanks and 2,400 planes.
The Russians had also placed vast numbers of men and equipment in the Kursk bulge. By the summer of 1943, two-thirds of the German Army was based in Russia. As there was no second front in the west – and the Germans predicted that there would not be in 1943 – men based in the west were moved to the Russian Front. The new equipment was matched by an increase in manpower. The Luftwaffe received the Focke-Wolfe 190A fighter and the Henschel 129. The Tiger, King Tiger and Panther tanks were introduced as was the new Ferdinand self-propelled gun. The production of planes had doubled between the two years ammunition production had increased three-fold by 1943.īy the summer of 1943, the Wehrmacht was also being equipped with new weaponry. In 1942, Germany produced 5,700 medium and heavy tanks. The German industrial sector headed by Albert Speer, was expanding at a massive rate despite the bombing of Germany by the Allies. This could only be to the advantage of the Germans.īy the summer of 1943, the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe were increasingly well armed. A defeat of Russia in the east might result in the collapse of any form of relationship between the Russians and the Allies in the west. It was known that the Russians were becoming increasingly tired at the seeming unwillingness of Britain and America to open up a second front in the west. However, they also hoped to force through a political one. A successful German offensive had obvious military consequences for the Germans.
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