BATTLE OF KURSK, the largest tank battle in the history on the Eastern Front of World War II #ww2

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]Following the disastrous battle of Stalenrad which ended on February 2nd, 1943, Adolf Hitler and the German general staff were desperate to regain the initiative on the Eastern Front. On May 3rd, Hitler met with Germany's major generals in Munich to decide battle strategy. A plan conceived by General Eric von Mannstein called for luring Russian forces to attack a 75m bulge in the German lines. A German retreat toward the Neper River would cause attacking Russian forces to overextend their lines. A reinforced German army would counterattack on the flanks, causing severe damage to Russian forces.

[00:00:38]Hitler, however, preferred a more aggressive plan in which Germany would strike first instead of waiting for a Russian attack. This plan was proposed by his chief of the army general staff, Curt Sitesler. It called for an attack by elite German divisions on a Russian 150 m wide bulge that stretched from the city of Kursk to north of the industrial city of Karkov.

[00:01:06]A large and heavily mechanized force would attack Russian forces from three sides surrounding them as German tanks reinforced by new panther and Tiger tanks would launch blitzkrieg attacks on Russian forces from the north and south.

[00:01:19]Zitesler's plan named Operation Citadel received Hitler's support after two days of debate. The attack was planned for May so that the tank slowing mud of the Russian Spring 4, which would be dry by May, would not present a problem. Delays in production of Tiger tanks and tank killing Ferdinand and self-propelled guns caused Hitler to delay the start of Operation Citadel until July 4th.

[00:01:42]land transport infantry.

[00:01:47]>> Meanwhile, Russia's spy network code named Lucy was able to obtain many details about the operation. The Russian commander, Marshall Georgie Zukov, ordered deep minefields consisting of hundreds of thousands of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines to be set along the salient at Kursk.

[00:02:06]Anti-tank trenches were dug and thousands of camouflaged anti-tank guns were moved into position. A force of 3,100 planes, 3,600 tanks, and 1.3 million Russian soldiers was in place to blunt the attack by an expected 900,000 German troops outfitted into 50 divisions, 17 of which were armored. German forces were supported by about 2700 tanks and 1,800 aircraft. German forces attacked in two major groups, north and south, with thin lines in the middle. The battle commenced with preliminary attacks on July 4th as General Walter Mod's fourth Panza division attempted to take Soviet outposts in the south. The Luftwaf bombed Soviet front positions in the north. By evening, both sides attempted to weaken each other by concerted artillery bombardment.

[00:03:36]The major clash came on July 5th as the Russian air force attempted to obliterate Luftwave bases.

[00:03:44]What is likely the largest air battle ever fought in a single day followed during the next few hours.

[00:03:50]>> The air battle proved to be a draw.

[00:03:52]Neither side gained air superiority.

[00:04:02]>> However, the new Soviet Illinois 2 formidable ground attack plane, the Yak 9 Soviet fighter plane, and the skill of Soviet pilots proved to be a match for the formidable German Luftwave.

[00:04:13]going to up the Soviet troops.

[00:04:32]Following the air battle, Army Group North launched a major frontal attack.

[00:04:37]In spite of the incredible depth of Russian defenses, Army Group North was able to penetrate nearly six miles into Russian defenses during the opening days of the battle. The penetration though resulted in the German tanks being open to close-range anti-tank fire from their more lightly armored sides. The commander of Russian central forces, General Constantine Roasovski, responded by sending into the breach anti-tank and artillery brigades supported by 350 fighter planes.

[00:05:14]By July 7th, the northern attack ground to a halt as the Germans lost 25,000 soldiers and 200 tanks. Southern German forces under General Herman Hoth, which consisted of 600 tanks and 300,000 soldiers, pressed on the attack by swinging south of Russia's defense line.

[00:05:32]The southern forces wound up 50 mi southeast of Kursk near the small village of Procarovka.

[00:05:38]Their movements, however, were closely followed by the Russians. On July 12th, the largest tank battle in human history took place at Proarovka as 1500 tanks maneuvered to destroy each other at relatively close range in the middle of blinding dust. The situation nullified the advantage new German tanks had in armament and firepower over the Soviet T34 tank, the staple of the Russian army, which had not undergone significant improvement since the start of the war.

[00:06:13]Also working against Germany were the continual malfunctions of its new Panther tanks.

[00:06:19]The Panthers design problems would not be corrected until the winter of 1943.

[00:06:25]Instead of an organized conflict, the Battle of Kursk was a series of encounters in which necessity dictated tactics. German technical advantages were more than offset by Russian numerical advantages.

[00:06:37]By the end of the day on July 12th, German forces had lost 350 tanks and 10,000 soldiers. A Russian counteroffensive led remaining forces under General Hoff to stage a tactical retreat.

[00:06:53]By July 23rd, Hoffer's forces were driven back to where the ill- fated Operation Citadel had begun. Meanwhile, continued attacks on the southern front led to the liberation of the city of Karkov on August 23rd.

[00:07:06]On July 12th, in the north, Zukov had launched a counteroffensive against surviving German forces. Within 3 weeks, Zuko would retake the city of Oral. The battle of Kursk officially ended on July 12th, and so did Germany's capacity to launch major offensives on the Eastern Front.

[00:07:33]These areas I hint the subject.

[00:08:14]The date also marks the official beginning of the Russian juggernaut which pushed German forces out of Russia and much of Eastern Europe back to the very gates of Berlin.

[00:08:26]Also on July 12th, Anglo-American forces were in their second day of marching through Sicily unopposed by the Italian army preparing to land on the Italian mainland. For Hitler, this meant withdrawing key units from Russia to meet his newest crisis.

[00:08:44]Angered at the general staff which came up with the idea of the failed operation Citadel, Hitler withdrew into increasing isolation.

[00:08:51]No longer trusting his generals, Hitler micromanaged most future troop movements.

[00:09:08]The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which Allied forces invaded the Italian island of Sicily in July 1943. These events led to the ousting of Italian leader Bonito Mussolini and the fall of his regime, which was replaced by a new government.

[00:09:34]Italy's collapse necessitated German troops replacing Italian forces in the country and resulting in 1/5if of the entire German army being diverted from the kursk of the eastern front.

[00:09:49]>> A proportion that would remain until near the end of the war. In mid August, the Germans had activated Army Group B with responsibility for German troops in Italy as far south as Pisa. Army Command South under Albert Kessler continued to be responsible for southern Italy and the German high command formed a new army headquarters to be Army Command South's main field formation.

[00:10:14]The new German 10th Army headquarters commanded by Hinrich vonvitinghof was activated on the 22nd of August. The German 10th Army had two subordinate corps with a total of six divisions transferred from the eastern front to Italy were positioned to cover possible landing sites.

[00:10:36]>> Under Herman Bour's 14th Panza Corps was the Herman Goring Airborne Panza Division, 15th Panza Grenadier Division and 16th Panza Division. And under Trohair's 76th Panza Corps was 26th Panza Division, 29th Panza Grenadier Division, and First Parachute Division.

[00:10:52]Vonving Hawk specifically positioned the 16th Panza Division in the hills above the Saleno plane.

[00:11:01]Although one of the shortest battles of World War II, the Battle of Kursk was the largest tank battle in the history of warfare and is considered a major turning point in the war. Although the Soviet Union lost nearly 200,000 troops to Germany's 50,000, the battle was a Soviet victory.

[00:11:23]The German army lost its capacity to launch any further offensives on the Eastern Front, and it began a long tactical retreat while a reinvigorated Soviet army began an advance that led to the gates of Berlin.

[00:11:36]It was clear that the fall of the Third Reich was not a matter of if, but of when. The battle of Kursk also stands as testimony to the Red Army's coming of age. Defensive tactics perfected by the Russians were able to stop German blitz greet tactics.

[00:11:52]Russian counteroffensive tactics led to the retreat of German forces, providing the opportunity to plan strategic offensive maneuvers.

[00:12:18]As the battle of Stalenrad slowly ground to its conclusion, the Red Army moved to a general offensive in the south in Operation Little Saturn.

[00:12:27]By January 1943, a 160 to 300 km wide gap had opened between German Army Group B and Army Group Dawn.

[00:12:38]And the advancing Soviet armies threatened to cut off all German forces south of the Dawn River, including Army Group A operating in the Cauasus.

[00:12:55]Army Group Center came under significant pressure as well. Cors was retaken by the Soviets on February 8th, 1943 and Rosto on February 14th. The Soviet Biance, Western and newly created central fronts prepared for an offensive which envisioned the encirclement of army group center between Brians and Minsk.

[00:13:17]By February 1943, the southern sector of the German front was in strategic crisis.

[00:13:23]Since December 1942, Field Marshal Eric von Mannstein had been strongly requesting unrestricted operational freedom to allow him to use his forces in a fluid manner.

[00:13:51]On February 6th, 1943, Mannstein met with Hitler at his headquarters in Gorit's now Geras, Poland, to discuss the proposals he had previously sent.

[00:14:06]He received an approval from Hitler for a counteroffensive against the Soviet forces advancing in the Donbass region.

[00:14:12]On February 12th, 1943, the remaining German forces were reorganized.

[00:14:21]To the south, Army Group Dawn was renamed Army Group South and placed under Manstein's command.

[00:14:34]Directly to the north, Army Group B was dissolved with its forces and areas of responsibility divided between Army Group South and Army Group Center.

[00:14:44]>> Mannstein inherited responsibility for the massive breach in the German lines.

[00:14:53]On February 18th, Hitler arrived at Army Group South headquarters at Zaparizia just hours before the Soviets liberated Karkov and had to be hastily evacuated on the 19th.

[00:15:19]Once given freedom of action, Mannstein intended to utilize his forces to make a series of counterstrokes into the flanks of the Soviet armored formations.

[00:15:31]The second SS Panzer Corps had arrived from France in January 1943, refitted and up to near full strength. Armored units from the first Panzer Army of Army Group A had pulled out of the Caucases and further strengthened Mannstein's forces. Exhaustion of both the wear and the red army coupled with the loss of mobility due to the onset of the spring rasputs resulted in the sessation of operations for both sides by mid-March.

[00:16:02]The counteroffensive left a Soviet salient extending 250 km from north to south and 160 km from east to west into the German area of control centered on the city of Kursk. The heavy losses sustained by Germany since the opening of Operation Barbar Roa had resulted in a shortage in infantry and artillery.

[00:16:24]Units were in total 470,000 men under strength. For the Weremach to undertake an offensive in 1943, the burden of the offensive in both attacking the Soviet defenses and holding ground on the flanks of the advance would have to be carried primarily by the Panzer divisions.

[00:17:11]Nice On March 10th, Mannstein presented a plan whereby the German forces would pinch off the Kursk salient with a rapid offensive commencing as soon as the spring Rasputa had subsided.

[00:17:43]On March 13th, Hitler signed operational order number five, which authorized several offensives, including one against the Kursk salon. As the last Soviet resistance in Karkov petered out, Mannstein attempted to persuade Gunther von Kluga, commander of army group center, to immediately attack the central front, which was defending the northern face of the salient.

[00:18:07]Krueger refused, believing that his forces were too weak to launch such an attack.

[00:18:20]>> Further axis advances were blocked by Soviet forces that have been shifted down from the central front to the area north of Belgar.

[00:18:30]By midappril, amid poor weather and with the German forces exhausted and in need of refitting, the offensives of operational order number five were postponed.

[00:18:50]On April 15th, Hitler issued operational order number six, which called for the Kursk offensive operation, cenamed Citadel, to begin on May 3rd or shortly thereafter.

[00:19:01]The directive was drafted by Kurt Zitler, the OKH chief of staff. For the offensive to succeed, it was deemed essential to attack before the Soviets had a chance to prepare extensive defenses or to launch an offensive of their own.

[00:19:20]Operation Citadel called for a double envelopment directed at Kursk to surround the Soviet defenders of five armies and seal off the salient.

[00:19:29]>> Army Group Center would provide General Walter Model's ninth army to form the northern pinser.

[00:19:49]It would cut through the northern face of the salon.

[00:20:18]Driving south to the hills east of Kursk, securing the rail line from Soviet attack.

[00:20:29]Army Group South would commit the fourth panzer army under Herman Hoth and Army Detachment Kemp under Werna Kemp to pierce the southern face of the salient.

[00:20:44]This force would drive north to meet the ninth army east of Kurus.

[00:20:49]>> Manstein's main attack was to be delivered by Hop's fourth Panzer Army.

[00:20:56]spearheaded by the two SS Panzer Corps under Paul Houseer.

[00:21:07]>> The 48th Panzer Corps commanded by Ottovon Noblesf would advance on the left while Army Detachment Camp would advance on the right.

[00:21:27]The second army under the command of Walter Weiss would contain the western portion of the salient.

[00:21:48]the Red Army constructing very strong positions at the shoulders of the salient and having withdrawn their mobile forces from the area west of Kursk.

[00:21:56]>> Anti-tank trenches were dug and thousands of camouflaged anti-tank guns were moved into position. A force of 3,100 planes, 3600 tanks, and 1.3 million Russian soldiers was in place to blunt the attack by an expected 900,000 German troops outfitted into 50 divisions, 17 of which were armored.

[00:22:36]The battle commenced with preliminary attacks on July 4th as General Walter Mod's fourth Panza division attempted to take Soviet outposts in the south. The Luftwav bombed Soviet front positions in the north.

[00:22:55]By evening, both sides attempted to weaken each other by concerted artillery bombardment.

[00:23:01]The major clash came on July 5th as the Russian air force attempted to obliterate Luftwaf bases. Following the air battle, Army Group North launched a major frontal attack.

[00:23:23]Heat.

[00:23:40]Heat.

[00:23:55]In spite of the incredible depth of Russian defenses, Army Group North was able to penetrate nearly 6 mi into Russian defenses during the opening days of the battle.

[00:24:05]The penetration though resulted in the German tanks being open to close-range anti-tank fire from their more lightly armored sides.

[00:24:16]The commander of Russian central forces, General Constantine Roasovski, responded by sending into the breach anti-tank and artillery brigade supported by 350 fighter planes.

[00:24:27]By July 7th, the northern attack ground to a halt as the Germans lost 25,000 soldiers and 200 tanks.

[00:24:48]Southern German forces under General Herman Hoff, which consisted of 600 tanks and 300,000 soldiers, pressed on the attack by swinging south of Russia's defense line.

[00:25:04]The southern forces wound up 50 mi southeast of Kursk near the small village of Proarovka.

[00:25:17]Their movements however were closely followed by the Russians.

[00:25:25]Heat. Heat.

[00:26:11]On July 12th, the largest tank battle in human history took place at Proarovka as 1,500 100 tanks maneuvered to destroy each other at relatively close range in the middle of blinding dust.

[00:26:29]The situation nullified the advantage new German tanks had in armament and firepower over the Soviet T34 tank, the staple of the Russian army, which had not undergone significant improvement since the start of the war.

[00:26:48]Instead of an organized conflict, the battle of Kursk was a series of encounters in which necessity dictated tactics. German technical advantages were more than offset by Russian numerical advantages.

[00:27:03]>> By the end of the day on July 12th, German forces had lost 350 tanks and 10,000 soldiers.

[00:27:20]German historian Carl Hines Freezer reviewed the German archive record calculated that during Citadel 54,182 casualties were suffered.

[00:27:33]Of these 9,036 were killed, 1,960 were reported missing, and 43,159 were wounded.

[00:27:45]252 to 323 tanks and assault guns were destroyed. Russian historian Boris Soalov places the losses of the Soviet army much higher, giving the figures of 450,000 killed, 50,000 missing, and 1.2 million wounded throughout the course of the battle.

[00:28:07]Soviet equipment losses during the German offensive came to 1,614 tanks and self-propelled guns destroyed or damaged of the 3,925 vehicles committed to the battle. Soviet losses were roughly three times those of the Germans. On the evening of July 12th, Hitler summoned Kluga and Mannstein to his headquarters in East Prussia. The Western Allies had invaded Sicily.

[00:28:46]The threat of further Allied landings in Italy or along southern France made Hitler believe it was essential to stop the offensive and move forces from course to Italy.

[00:28:57]Luga welcomed the news as he was aware that the Soviets were initiating a massive counteroffensive against his sector. But Mannstein was less welcoming.

[00:29:09]Mannstein's forces had just spent a week fighting through a maze of defensive works, and he believed they were on the verge of breaking through to more open terrain, which would allow him to engage and destroy the Soviet armored reserves in a mobile battle.

[00:29:31]Mannstein stated, "On no account should we let go of the enemy until the mobile reserves he has committed are completely beaten."

[00:29:42]>> Hitler agreed temporarily to allow the continuation of the offensive in the southern part of the salient, but the following day he ordered Mannstein's reserve, the 24th Panzer Corps, to move south.

[00:30:06]The offensive continued in the southern part with the launch of Operation Roland on July 14th.

[00:30:12]The orders for Operation Roland were issued in the closing hours of July 13th, 1943.

[00:30:35]However, after Hitler's meeting with Mannstein, Hitler countermanded the first SS Panzer Division livest standard SS Adolf Hitler deployment to the Kursk saline, sending it on July 14th to Italy.

[00:30:58]The assault began at 4:00 on July 14th.

[00:31:04]Following a brief artillery barrage, fourth SS Panza Grenadier Regiment Durer of Dosich struck out for the high ground southwest of Praver.

[00:31:25]evicting the remnants of the Second Guard's tank corps from the village of Bellanino following violent house-to-house and hand-to-hand fighting.

[00:31:43]Das Reich's second SS Panza regiment fought off a series of counterattacks and forced the Red Army units to withdraw eastward to a new line.

[00:31:54]>> Jukov ordered the 10th Guard's mechanized brigade of the fifth guard's mechanized corps to reinforce the line.

[00:32:01]The seventh panzer division of the third panzer corps made contact with Dossich, but Trufenov, commanding the Soviet forces in the gap, was aware of the threat and conducted a fighting withdrawal.

[00:32:19]The linkup failed to trap the Soviet forces.

[00:32:41]Though they abandoned a substantial number of their anti-tank guns, Operation Roland failed to produce a decisive result for the German side and Toddenov began withdrawing from its positions north of the cell following orders issued late on July 5th. 15th as the second SS Panzer Corps assumed a defensive stance along its entire front.

[00:33:21]On July 17th, the Soviet southwestern and southern fronts launched a major offensive across the Mules and Daets rivers against the southern wing of Army Group South, pressing upon the Sixth Army and First Panzer Army.

[00:33:39]>> In the early afternoon of July 17th, Operation Roland was terminated with an order for the second SS Panzer Corps to begin withdrawing from the Procarovka sector back to Belgar.

[00:34:12]The German forces of the third Panzer Corps and the second SS Panzer Grenadier Division DOS Reich of the second SS Panzer Corps attempted to envelop and destroy Soviet forces of the Borones front. German commanders decided to first link up the third Panzer Corps, which had been lagging behind due to heavy Soviet resistance.

[00:34:58]the second SS Panzer Corps in order to consolidate the German positions into a continuous front line without inward bulges and enable the two Panzer Corps to overrun Soviet forces defending Procarovka together. The linking up of the two German pincers was planned to effectuate the envelopment of the Soviet 69th Army and other supporting units.

[00:35:19]>> By the end of July 15th, the two German pincers had linked up, >> but they failed to trap the majority of the Soviet forces.

[00:35:41]Doss Reich and Toddenov were dispatched south to meet the new Soviet offensives.

[00:35:56]During Operation Citadel, the Luwaffa flew 27,221 sorties in support with 193 combat losses.

[00:36:05]>> Soviet units from 5 to July 8th conducted 11,235 sorties with combat losses of 556 aircraft.

[00:36:25]Germans were destroying Soviet aircraft at a ratio of 1 minute and 2.88 seconds.

[00:36:37]>> Despite German unit performance, the Werem was now lacking strategic reserves.

[00:36:45]Heat. Heat.

[00:37:28]In late 1943, just 25% of Luwaffa day fighters were on the Eastern Front due to British and US air attacks on Italy and Germany.

[00:37:44]The Red Army soon went on to the offensive.

[00:37:48]In his post-war memoirs lost victories, Mansstein was highly critical of Hitler's decision to call off the operation at the height of the tactical battle.

[00:38:05]For the first time, a major German offensive had been stopped before achieving a breakthrough.

[00:38:50]The maximum depth of the German advance was 8 to 12 km in the north and 35 km in the out.

[00:39:10]>> The Germans, despite using more technologically advanced armor than in previous years, >> were unable to break through the deep Soviet defenses and were caught off guard by the significant operational reserves of the Red Army.

[00:39:43]This result changed the pattern of operations on the Eastern Front with the Soviet Union gaining the operational initiative.

[00:39:51]The Soviet victory was costly with the Red Army losing considerably more men and material than the German army.

[00:40:05]The Soviet Union's larger industrial potential and pool of manpower allowed them to absorb and replace its losses.

[00:40:12]The initiative firmly passed to the Red Army. For the remainder of the war, the Germans were limited to reacting to Soviet advances and were never able to regain the initiative or launch a major offensive on the eastern.

[00:40:29]Throughout the 10th and the 11th of July, the second SS Panzer Corps continued its attack toward Procarovka, reaching within 3 km of the settlement by the night of July 11th.

[00:40:46]That same night, Houseer issued orders for the attack to continue the next day.

[00:40:53]>> The plan was for the third SS Panzer Division Totenov to drive northeast until it reached the Cardosuka Proarovka road.

[00:41:00]>> Once there, they were to strike southeast to attack the Soviet positions at Procarovka from the flanks and rear.

[00:41:07]The first SS Panzer Division Livestandard and second SS Panzer Division Doss Reich were to wait until Totenkov attack had destabilized the Soviet positions at Procarovka.

[00:41:38]And once underway, the first SS Livestandard was to attack the main Soviet defenses dug in on the slopes southwest of Procarovka.

[00:42:21]To the division's right, the second SS DOS Reich was to advance eastward.

[00:42:34]then turn southward away from Procarovka to roll up the Soviet lines opposing the third Panzer Corors advance and force a gap.

[00:42:48]During the night of July 11th, Ratmastrov moved his fifth guard's tank army to an assembly area just behind Procarovka in preparation for a massive attack. The following day at 5:45 Live Standard Headquarters started receiving reports of the sound of tank engines.

[00:43:06]As the Soviets moved into their assembly areas, Soviet artillery and Kadusha regiments were redeployed in preparation for the counterattack.

[00:43:17]At around 8:00, a Soviet artillery barrage began.

[00:43:23]At 8:30, Rott Mistrov radioed his tankers.

[00:43:29]Steel, steel, steel. The order to commence the attack down off the west slopes before Procarovka.

[00:43:45]came the massed armor of five tank brigades from the Soviet 18th and 29th tank corps of the fifth guard's tank army.

[00:43:52]>> The Soviet tanks advanced down the corridor carrying mounted infantrymen of the Ninth Guard's Airborne Division on the tanks.

[00:44:21]To the north and east, the third SS Panzer Division Toten Cop was engaged by the Soviet 33rd Guard's rifle core.

[00:44:29]Tasked with flanking the Soviet defenses around Procarovka.

[00:44:42]The unit first had to beat off a number of attacks before they could go over onto the offensive.

[00:44:56]Most of the division's tank losses occurred late in the afternoon as they advanced through mine fields against well-hidden Soviet anti-tank guns.

[00:45:08]Heat. Heat.

[00:45:41]Although Toddenov succeeded in reaching the Kartuka Procarovka road, their hold was tenuous and it cost the division half of its armor.

[00:45:56]The majority of German tank losses suffered at Procarovka occur here.

[00:46:03]To the south, the Soviet 18th and 29th tank corps had been thrown back by Livestander Division.

[00:46:12]Dos Reich also repelled attacks from the second tank corps and the second guard's tank corps.

[00:46:19]Bluafa local air superiority over the battlefield also contributed to the Soviet losses.

[00:46:36]By the end of the day, the Soviets had fallen back to their starting positions.

[00:46:42]Neither the fifth guard's tank army nor the second SS Panzer Corps accomplished their objectives.

[00:46:48]Although the Soviet counterattack failed with heavy losses, throwing them back onto the defensive, they did enough to stop a German breakthrough.

[00:47:01]On the evening of July 12th, Hitler summoned Kuga and Mannstein to his headquarters at Goritz in East Prussia.

[00:47:33]The Western Allies had invaded Sicily.

[00:47:36]The threat of further Allied landings in Italy or along southern France made Hitler believe it was essential to stop the offensive and move forces from Kursk to Italy.

[00:47:48]>> Hitler ordered Mannstein's reserve, the 24th Panzer Corore to move south.

[00:48:01]After 3 days, on July 17th, the second SS Panzer Corps was ordered to end its offensive operations and begin to withdraw.

[00:48:17]Mannstein was highly critical of Hitler's decision to call off the operation at the height of the tactical battle.

[00:48:32]The thinly stretched German 9inth Army stood in the way of the Soviet Brians front.

[00:48:37]>> During the defensive preparations in the months leading up to Citadel, >> the Soviets also planned and prepared counteroffensive operations that would be launched after the German offensive had halted.

[00:48:52]The German commanders have been wary of such an attack and forces were quickly withdrawn from the Kursk offensive to meet the Soviet offensive.

[00:49:00]>> Operation Coutus reduced the oral salient and inflicted substantial losses on the German military paving the way for the liberation of Smolinsk.

[00:49:13]Soviet losses were heavy but were replaced.

[00:49:16]The offensive allowed the Soviets to seize the strategic initiative which they retained for the remainder of the war. After the heavy losses sustained by the Boresh front during Citadel, the Soviets needed time to regroup and refit, delaying the start of the offensive operation rooms until August 3rd.

[00:50:05]Diversionary attacks launched two weeks earlier across the Dets and Mules rivers into the Donbass drew the attention of German reserves and thin the defending forces that would face the main blow.

[00:50:16]>> The offensive was initiated by the Voresh front and step fronts against the northern wing of army group south.

[00:50:35]They drove through the German positions making broad and deep penetrations.

[00:50:40]>> By August 5th, the Soviets had liberated Belgar.

[00:50:45]By August 12th, the outskirts of Karkov had been reached. The Soviet advance was finally halted by a counterattack by the second SS Doss Reich and third SS Totenov divisions.

[00:50:57]In the ensuing tank battles, the Soviet armies suffered heavy losses in armor.

[00:51:12]After this setback, the Soviets focused on Karkov.

[00:51:26]>> After heavy fighting, the city was liberated on August 23rd.

[00:51:46]This battle is referred to by the Germans as the fourth battle of Karkov while the Soviets refer to it as the Belgar Karkov offensive operation.

[00:51:55]The campaign was a strategic Soviet success.

[00:51:58]For the first time, a major German offensive had been stopped before achieving a breakthrough. The Germans, despite using more technologically advanced armor than in previous years, were unable to break through the deep Soviet defenses and were caught off guard by the significant operational reserves of the Red Army.

[00:52:23]According to German medical records from the Battle of Kursk, German forces suffered up to 203,000 casualties and 2,952 tanks and armored vehicles destroyed or damaged.

[00:52:35]>> Half of these were recovered and repaired.

[00:52:46]The Soviets lost 863,33 men, 7,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 3,300 aircraft and 5,244 artillery pieces.

[00:53:07]The Soviet victory was costly with the Red Army losing considerably more men and material than the German army. The Soviet Union was able to compensate for these losses with its abundant human resources and industrial production capacity thanks to the massive material support from the Western Allies.

[00:53:25]German never recovered.

[00:53:27]Further, the Western Allied landings in Italy opened a new front.

[00:53:34]further diverting German resources and attention. The initiative firmly passed to the Red Army. For the remainder of the war, the Germans were limited to reacting to Soviet advances.

[00:54:20]and were never able to regain the initiative or launch a major offensive on the eastern front.

[00:54:25]The battle of Korsk is cited by some as being the true turning point of the European theater of World War II.

[00:54:31]Although this view has frequently been criticized Heat.

[00:55:11]Heat.