The Battle of Kursk

Time Line
August 1941 Germany attacked USSR December 1942 Germans took over Russia all the way from Saint Petersburg, to Moscow, to Stalingrad, todays Volgograd. February 1943 The Russians broke the German encirclement at Saint Petersburg, German 1st and 2nd army couldnt break Moscows defenses, and the Russians retook Stalingrad. July 1943 The Russians forced the Germans out of the center of Russia to the city of Orel and Kursk. The Germans counterattacked in the city of Orel. The Russian 21st and 22nd armies were gripped tight by the German 2nd and 3rd armies.

Where and What is Kursk? Kursk is a little village in the middle of western Russia. One of the greatest tank battles of World War II was fought there. No! It was the greatest tank battle ever fought in the whole history of mankind! The Soviet 21st and 22nd armies clashed with the German 2nd and 3rd armies! It was tank against tank, man against man. Do you want to know more? Then read my book!

The Armies: Soviet and German

Situation
The Germans were forced out of the center of the USSR all the way to the cities of Orel and Kursk. Then the Germans counterattacked at the city of Orel. Now the Russian 21st and 22nd armies were almost completely surrounded. The Soviets formed great defense positions to defend themselves from the Germans. It was called Operation Citadel

The Generals
The commander of the Russian defense was Marsh. Georgi Zhukov. Marsh. Zhukov was born in 1915 in Strelkovka, a village in southern Russia. In WW1 he got 2 medals, one as a hero of the Soviet Union (he got it after the Great Bolshevik Revolution), and 1 for faithful obedience as a soldier. He was also promoted from Sergeant to Admiral. At the beginning of the
Field Marsh. Georgi Zhukov

German attack at the USSR, he was promoted to Field Marsh. After that he got to stop the incoming Germans in front of Moscow.

After he succeeded at defending Moscow, he was pulling Germans out of Russia. But then he got another hard job. Defend the Village of Kursk. After WW2 he went into the USSRs politic, and he was the secretary of of the defense. The German commanders were Gnther von Kluge, and Erich von Manstein. Gnther von Kluge was born in 1882, in a military family in a Prussian city Posen (todays Polish Pozna!). In the WW1 he was a Commander at the GermanBritish and French side. After WW1 he was still working for military and in 1943 he got to encircle Gen. Gnther von Kluge the Russian 21st and 22nd army with Field Marsh. Erich von Manstein. He was the commander of the 2nd army, that was attacking from the northern side of the Kursk tip.

Erich von Manstein was also born in a military family but he was born in 1887. In WW1 he got a rank of Capt. and in the WW2, in the battle of France he was was promoted to General. He was commanding the 3rd army. In august 1942 he was promoted as a Field Marsh. Later in 1943, in the battle of the Kursk tip, he got a job to encircle the 21st and Field Marsh. Erich von Manstein 22nd Soviet army with Gen. Gnther von Kluge. He was considered as one of the best commanders of Wehrmacht (the nazis army). After WW2 he went into the western Germanys politic.

Open Fire!!! In July, 1943 the German got another chance to win the war: the Russian main armies were surrounded. The Germans needed only to break the defense of Kursk, and that would mean that they could attack the Russian 21st and 22nd army from anywhere, from the front, from the rear, and from the north and south. Than the Germans would have an open road to victory over the Russians. The Russians found out that the first attack of the Germans will be on July 5th, 3 oclock. It was necessary to damage the German armies because the Russians werent ready yet to defend their positions. At 2:00 AM. the Russians opened fire on the German positions. There was a highly destructive damage. The German armies were so damaged, that they couldnt attack at the given time. They needed to attack not at 3:00 but in 5:30. But on July 8th, 1943 the battle started.

Oppa Shooting Style! On July 8th, 1943 the German 2nd and 3rd armies took a heavy toll. They lost more than 350 tanks, 400 planes, and about 9,000 men. But on July 8th, the Germans started Operation Citadel. In the first attack, the Germans attacked with 100,000 man, 500 tanks, and 300 planes. The Germans took over about 10 kilometers of the defense in the north. But in the attack they lost, about 20,000 men, 300 tanks, and 200
German soldiers with Tiger in the attack

planes. Fortunately, the German forces didnt break the Russians defense. But the second attack from the south, was even bloodier.

The Final Victory

The first attack on the village of Kursk was on July 8th. They took over 10 kilometers of the defense. But after that the Germans attacked from the south. On July 12th, 1943 the Germans attacked from the south. The 2nd attack included 1/5 of the tanks of the whole German offensive: 150,000 man, and 600 planes. They marched all the way to Prokhorovka. But again, they had big losses. They lost 400 tanks, 15,000 man, and 300 planes. But the German forces didnt know that they clashed with the Russian 22nd army, on July 12th, 1943. The battle of Prokhorovka was the greatest tank battle in WW II. The Germans forced there over 1,500 tanks, 200,000 man, and the last of their planes that were in the southern side of the Kursk. Again tank against tank, men against men. The bombs were falling from the sky at the soldiers. All around was blood and dead bodies. But at the end of this bloody battle, the Russians won again.

The German losses were massive. In that battle they lost more than 350 tanks, around 35,000 men, and 200 planes. The Russians pushed the Germans to where they began their attack (the same happened on the northern side of the Kursk). After that in August 19, 1943 the Russian 36th army attacked from the north at the city of Orel. At that point there became the Russian offensive. After the massive attack of the 36th army, the 21st army made a destructive attack from the south at the city of Orel too, and they finally overtook Orel again. But the losses were massive. The Germans lost more than 500,000 men, those 500,000 men were killed, wounded or missing, then they lost more than 2400 tanks, and 1300 planes. After this battle the Germans couldnt make any other strong offensive against the Russian encounter attack.

The End