Battle of Kursk losses. The Battle of Kursk is a fundamental turning point in the Great Patriotic and World War II

Dates of the Battle of Kursk 07/05/1943 - 08/23/1943. Great Patriotic War has 3 significant events:

• Liberation of Stalingrad;
• Battle of Kursk
• Capture of Berlin.

Here we will talk about the greatest tank battle in modern history.

Battle for Kursk. Situation before the battle

Before the Battle of Kursk, Germany celebrated little success, having managed to recapture the cities of Belgorod and Kharkov. Hitler, seeing a short-term success, decided to develop it. The offensive was planned for the Kursk Bulge. The salient, cut into the depths of German territory, could be surrounded and captured. The operation, approved on May 10-11, was called "Citadel".

Side forces

The advantage was on the side of the Red Army. The number of Soviet troops was 1,200,000 people (versus 900,000 for the enemy), the number of tanks - 3,500 (2,700 for the Germans) units, guns - 20,000 (10,000), aircraft 2,800 (2,500).

The German army was replenished with heavy (medium) tanks "Tiger" ("Panther"), self-propelled guns (self-propelled guns) "Ferdinand", aircraft "Foke-Wulf 190". An innovation from the Soviet side was the "St.

Side Plans

The Germans decided to deliver a lightning strike, quickly capture the Kursk salient, and then continue a large-scale offensive. The Soviet side decided at first to defend itself, inflicting counterattacks, and when the enemy was exhausted and exhausted, to go on the offensive.

Defense

It was possible to find out that Battle of Kursk will begin on 05/06/1943. Therefore, at 02:30 and 04:30, the Central Front carried out two half-hour artillery counterattacks. At 5:00, the enemy's guns responded, and then the enemy went on the offensive, exerting strong pressure (2.5 hours) on the right flank in the direction of the village of Olkhovatka.

When the attack was repulsed, the Germans intensified the onslaught on the left flank. They even managed to partially encircle two (15, 81) Soviet divisions, but failed to break through the front (advance 6-8 km). Then the Germans made an attempt to capture the Ponyri station in order to control the Orel-Kursk railway.

170 tanks and self-propelled guns "Ferdinand" broke through the first line of defense on July 6, but the second survived. On July 7, the enemy came close to the station. The 200 mm frontal armor became impenetrable for Soviet guns. Ponyri station was held by anti-tank mines and powerful Soviet air raids.

The tank battle near the village of Prokhorovka (Voronezh Front) lasted 6 days (10-16). Almost 800 Soviet tanks opposed 450 enemy tanks and self-propelled guns. The overall victory was for the Red Army, but more than 300 tanks were lost against 80 of the opponent. Medium tanks The T-34s could hardly withstand the heavy Tigers, and the light T-70 was generally unsuitable in open areas. This is where the losses come from.

Offensive

While the troops of the Voronezh and Central Fronts were repulsing enemy attacks, units of the Western and Bryansk Fronts (July 12) went over to the attack. Within three days (12-14), waging heavy fighting, the Soviet army was able to advance up to 25 kilometers.

The situation and forces 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. At the bend of the arc, the troops of the Soviet Central and Voronezh fronts and the German army groups "Center" and "South" were located.

Individual representatives of the highest German command circles suggested that the Wehrmacht go on the defensive, exhausting the Soviet troops, restoring own forces and engaged in strengthening the occupied territories. However, Hitler was categorically against it: he believed that the German army was still strong enough to inflict a major defeat on the Soviet Union and again seize the elusive strategic initiative. An objective analysis of the situation showed that the German army was no longer capable of attacking on all fronts at once. Therefore, it was decided to limit offensive operations to only one segment of the front. Quite logically, the German command chose the Kursk salient for striking. According to plan, German troops were supposed 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, which received the code name "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 no big deal. The Kursk salient, extending many kilometers deep into 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 the Nazi troops, wear down the enemy, and then go on the counteroffensive and defeat the enemy. After that, it was supposed to launch a general offensive in the western and southwestern directions.

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

The defense on the Kursk Bulge was built solid. In total, 8 defensive lines were created with a total depth of about 300 kilometers. Great attention was paid to the mining of 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 front. anti-tank artillery was not distributed evenly along the front, but was collected in the so-called "anti-tank areas" - localized accumulations of anti-tank guns, covering several directions at once and partially overlapping each other's sectors of fire. 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 totaled about 1.2 million people, about 3.5 thousand tanks, 20,000 guns and mortars, and 2,800 aircraft. The Steppe Front, numbering about 580,000 people, 1.5 thousand tanks, 7.4 thousand guns and mortars, and about 700 aircraft, acted as a reserve.

From 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 approximately 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, consequently, the German command was able to effectively concentrate forces and achieve the desired concentration of troops in the breakthrough areas. In addition, in 1943, the German army received a fairly large number of new heavy tanks "Tiger" and medium "Panther", as well as heavy self-propelled units "Ferdinand", of which there were only 89 in the troops (out of 90 built) and which, however, , in themselves posed a considerable threat, provided they were competently used 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 attacks were to be expected in the period from 3 to 6 July. The day before the battle Soviet intelligence officers managed to capture the "language", which reported that on July 5 the Germans would begin the 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 beginning of the German offensive, at 2:30 am the front commander gave the order to conduct a half-hour artillery counter-training. Then, at 4:30, the artillery strike was repeated. The effectiveness of this measure has been rather controversial. According to the reports of Soviet gunners, the Germans suffered significant damage. However, apparently, this is still not true. 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 sudden offensive would not work - the Red Army was ready for defense.

At 5:00 a.m., German artillery preparation began. It had not yet ended when the first echelons of the Nazi troops went on the offensive after the barrage of fire. German infantry with the support of tanks, attacked along the entire defense zone of the 13th Soviet army. Main blow came to the village of Olkhovatka. The most powerful onslaught 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 repelled. After that, the Germans moved the pressure on 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 found themselves in a partial environment. However, the Nazis have not yet succeeded in breaking through the front. In total, on 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 self-propelled guns. The impact front was 34 kilometers. At first, the Red Army managed to push the Germans back 1-2 kilometers, but then the 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. The front was "pushed back" by only 1-2 kilometers.

After the failure of the attack on Olkhovatka, the Germans shifted their efforts in the direction of the Ponyri station. This station was of great strategic importance, covering railway Eagle - Kursk. Ponyri were well protected by minefields, artillery and tanks dug into the ground.

On July 6, Ponyri was attacked by about 170 German tanks and self-propelled guns, including 40 "Tigers" of 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 before the end of the day were repulsed by the second line. The next day, after stubborn attacks, the German troops managed to get even closer to the station. By 15 o'clock on July 7, the enemy captured the May 1 state farm and came close to the station. The day of July 7, 1943 became a crisis 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 incapable of penetrating the 200 mm frontal armor of these vehicles. Therefore, the Ferdinanda suffered the greatest losses from mines and air raids. last day when the Germans stormed the Ponyri station, it was July 12th.

From July 5 to July 12, heavy fighting took place in the zone of action of the 70th Army. Here the Nazis attacked with tanks and infantry under German air supremacy. 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 strikes of dive bombers caused quite significant damage to the German units. On July 15, after the Germans had already been finally driven back, on the field between the villages of Samodurovka, Kutyrki and Tyoploye, war correspondents were filming lined German equipment. After the war, this chronicle was erroneously called "footage from near Prokhorovka", although there were not a single "Ferdinand" near Prokhorovka, and the Germans failed to evacuate two lined self-propelled guns of this type from under Teply.

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

On July 5, the main phase of the battle began. On the southern face of the Kursk salient, the fighting was much more intense and was 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 section 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 blow to the side locality Butovo. In the battles near Cherkassky, 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, incurring losses, to advance another 6-8 kilometers, but then the offensive on Oboyan stopped. The enemy was looking for a weak point in the Soviet defense and seemed to have found it. This place was a direction to the still unknown Prokhorovka station.

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 Panzer 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 Battle of Prokhorovka.

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 approximate loss figures. The Germans irretrievably 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 Orel, began. offensive. On July 15, the troops of the Central Front joined it.

On the part of the Germans, a grouping of troops was involved in the battles, numbering 37 divisions. By modern estimates, the number of German tanks and self-propelled guns that took part in the battles near Orel was about 560 vehicles. The Soviet troops had a serious numerical advantage over the enemy: in the main directions of the Red Army, the German troops 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 on well-fortified terrain, equipped with barbed wire, minefields, machine-gun nests and armored caps. Along the banks of the rivers, enemy sappers built anti-tank obstacles. It should be noted, however, that work on the German defensive lines had not yet been completed by the time the counteroffensive 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, waging heavy battles, advanced to a distance of 7.5 to 15 kilometers, breaking through the main defensive line of German formations in three places. Offensive battles continued until 14 July. 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 withdrawing troops from the Orlovsky 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 moved into the final phase. On August 12, fighting began for the city of Karachev, which lasted until August 15 and ended with the defeat of the group of German troops that defended this settlement. By August 17-18, Soviet troops reached the Hagen defensive line built by the Germans east of Bryansk.

August 3 is considered the official date for the start of the offensive on the southern face of the Kursk salient. However, the Germans began a gradual withdrawal of troops from their positions as early as July 16, and from July 17, units of the Red Army began to pursue the enemy, which by July 22 turned into a general offensive, which stopped at approximately the same positions that the Soviet troops occupied at the time the Battle of Kursk began. . 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, and 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 had cut the Kharkov-Poltava railroad. About 10 kilometers remained to the outskirts of Kharkov. On August 11, the Germans launched a strike in the Bogodukhov area, which significantly weakened the pace of the advance 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 had no success. Fighting on the outskirts of the city continued until 17 July. Both sides suffered heavy losses. Both in the Soviet and in German units companies numbering 40-50 people, or even less, were not uncommon.

The Germans delivered the last counterattack 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 very 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 German resistance were suppressed.

After the Battle of Stalingrad, which ended in disaster for Germany, the Wehrmacht attempted revenge the very next year, 1943. This attempt went down in history as the Battle of Kursk and became the final turning point in the Great Patriotic War and World War II.

Prehistory of the Battle of Kursk

During the counter-offensive from November 1942 to February 1943, the Red Army managed to defeat a large group of Germans, encircle and force the surrender of the 6th Wehrmacht Army near Stalingrad, and also liberate very vast territories. So, in January-February, Soviet troops managed to capture Kursk and Kharkov and thereby cut through the German defenses. The gap reached about 200 kilometers wide and 100-150 deep.

Realizing that a further Soviet offensive could lead to the collapse of the entire Eastern Front, the Nazi command in early March 1943 took a number of vigorous actions in the Kharkov region. A strike group was created very quickly, which by March 15 again captured Kharkov and made an attempt to cut off the ledge in the Kursk region. However, here the German advance was stopped.

As of April 1943, the line of the Soviet-German front was practically even throughout its entire length, and only in the Kursk region did it bend, forming a large ledge that jutted into the German side. The configuration of the front made it clear where the main battles would unfold in the summer campaign of 1943.

Plans and forces of the parties before the Battle of Kursk

In the spring, heated debate broke out in the German leadership regarding the fate of the summer 1943 campaign. Part of the German generals (for example, G. Guderian) generally proposed to refrain from the offensive in order to accumulate forces for a large-scale offensive campaign in 1944. However, most of the German military leaders were strongly in favor of the offensive as early as 1943. This offensive was supposed to be a kind of revenge for the humiliating defeat at Stalingrad, as well as the final turning point of the war in favor of Germany and its allies.

Thus, for the summer of 1943, the Nazi command again planned an offensive campaign. However, it is worth noting that from 1941 to 1943 the scale of these campaigns steadily decreased. So, if in 1941 the Wehrmacht launched an offensive along the entire front, then in 1943 it was only a small section of the Soviet-German front.

The meaning of the operation, called the "Citadel", was the offensive of large Wehrmacht forces at the base of the Kursk Bulge and their strike at general direction to Kursk. The Soviet troops in the ledge were bound to be surrounded and destroyed. After that, it was planned to launch an offensive into the formed gap in the Soviet defense and go to Moscow from the southwest. This plan, if it had been successfully implemented, would have been a real disaster for the Red Army, because there were a very large number of troops in the Kursk salient.

The Soviet leadership adopted important lessons springs of 1942 and 1943. So, by March 1943, the Red Army was thoroughly exhausted by offensive battles, which led to the defeat near Kharkov. After that, it was decided not to start the summer campaign with an offensive, since it was obvious that the Germans were also planning to attack. Also, the Soviet leadership had no doubts that the Wehrmacht would advance precisely on the Kursk Bulge, where the configuration of the front line contributed to this as much as possible.

That is why, after weighing all the circumstances, the Soviet command decided to wear down the German troops, inflict serious losses on them and then go on the offensive, finally securing the turning point in the war in favor of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

For the attack on Kursk, the German leadership concentrated very large group, which consisted of 50 divisions. Of these 50 divisions, 18 were armored and motorized. From the sky, the German group was covered by aviation of the 4th and 6th air fleets Luftwaffe. Thus, the total number of German troops at the beginning of the battle of Kursk was approximately 900 thousand people, about 2,700 tanks and 2,000 aircraft. Due to the fact that the northern and southern groups of the Wehrmacht on the Kursk Bulge were part of different army groups ("Center" and "South"), the leadership was carried out by the commanders of these army groups - Field Marshals Kluge and Manstein.

The Soviet grouping on the Kursk Bulge was represented by three fronts. The northern front of the ledge was defended by the troops of the Central Front under the command of General of the Army Rokossovsky, the southern - by the troops of the Voronezh Front under the command of General of the Army Vatutin. Also in the Kursk ledge were the troops of the Steppe Front, commanded by Colonel General Konev. The general command of the troops in the Kursk Salient was carried out by Marshals Vasilevsky and Zhukov. The number of Soviet troops was approximately 1 million 350 thousand people, 5000 tanks and about 2900 aircraft.

The beginning of the Battle of Kursk (5 - 12 July 1943)

On the morning of July 5, 1943, German troops launched an offensive against Kursk. However, the Soviet leadership knew about the exact time of the start of this offensive, thanks to which it was able to take a number of countermeasures. One of the most significant measures was the organization of artillery counter-training, which allowed in the first minutes and hours of the battle to inflict serious losses and significantly reduce the offensive capabilities of the German troops.

Nevertheless, the German offensive began, and in the early days he managed to achieve some success. The first line of Soviet defense was broken through, but the Germans failed to achieve serious successes. On the northern face of the Kursk Bulge, the Wehrmacht attacked in the direction of Olkhovatka, but, failing to break through the Soviet defenses, they turned towards the settlement of Ponyri. However, here, too, the Soviet defense managed to withstand the onslaught of the German troops. As a result of the battles on July 5-10, 1943, the German 9th Army suffered monstrous losses in tanks: about two-thirds of the vehicles were out of order. On July 10, units of the army went on the defensive.

The situation unfolded more dramatically in the south. Here, the German army managed to penetrate the Soviet defenses in the first days, but did not break through it. The offensive was carried out in the direction of the settlement of Oboyan, which was held by the Soviet troops, who also inflicted significant damage on the Wehrmacht.

After several days of fighting, the German leadership decided to shift the direction of the lava strike to Prokhorovka. The implementation of this decision would have made it possible to cover a larger area than planned. However, units of the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army stood in the way of the German tank wedges.

On July 12, one of the largest tank battles in history took place in the Prokhorovka area. From the German side, about 700 tanks participated in it, while from the Soviet side - about 800. The Soviet troops launched a counterattack on Wehrmacht units in order to eliminate the enemy's penetration into the Soviet defenses. However, this counterattack did not achieve significant results. The Red Army only managed to stop the advance of the Wehrmacht in the south of the Kursk salient, but it was possible to restore the position at the beginning of the German offensive only two weeks later.

By July 15, having suffered huge losses as a result of continuous violent attacks, the Wehrmacht had practically exhausted its offensive capabilities and was forced to go on the defensive along the entire length of the front. By July 17, the withdrawal of German troops to their original lines began. Given the current situation, as well as pursuing the goal of inflicting a serious defeat on the enemy, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command already on July 18, 1943 authorized the transition of Soviet troops on the Kursk Bulge to a counteroffensive.

Now the German troops were forced to defend themselves in order to avoid a military catastrophe. However, parts of the Wehrmacht, seriously exhausted in offensive battles, could not offer serious resistance. The Soviet troops, reinforced with reserves, were full of power and readiness to crush the enemy.

To defeat the German troops covering the Kursk Bulge, two operations were developed and carried out: "Kutuzov" (to defeat the Oryol group of the Wehrmacht) and "Rumyantsev" (to defeat the Belgorod-Kharkov group).

As a result Soviet offensive Oryol and Belgorod groupings of German troops were defeated. On August 5, 1943, Oryol and Belgorod were liberated by Soviet troops, and the Kursk Bulge practically ceased to exist. On the same day, Moscow for the first time saluted the Soviet troops, who liberated the cities from the enemy.

The last battle of the Battle of Kursk was the liberation of the city of Kharkov by the Soviet troops. The battles for this city took on a very fierce character, however, thanks to the decisive onslaught of the Red Army, the city was liberated by the end of August 23. It is the capture of Kharkov that is considered the logical conclusion of the Battle of Kursk.

Side losses

Estimates of the losses of the Red Army, as well as the Wehrmacht troops, have different estimates. Even more ambiguous are the large differences between the estimates of the losses of the parties in different sources.

Thus, Soviet sources indicate that during the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army lost about 250 thousand people killed and about 600 thousand wounded. At the same time, some Wehrmacht data indicate 300 thousand killed and 700 thousand wounded. Losses of armored vehicles range from 1,000 to 6,000 tanks and self-propelled guns. The losses of Soviet aviation are estimated at 1600 aircraft.

However, regarding the estimate of the losses of the Wehrmacht, the data differ even more. According to German data, the losses of German troops ranged from 83 to 135 thousand people killed. But at the same time, Soviet data indicate the number of dead Wehrmacht soldiers at about 420 thousand. Losses of German armored vehicles range from 1,000 tanks (according to German data) to 3,000. Aviation losses amount to approximately 1,700 aircraft.

The results and significance of the Battle of Kursk

Immediately after the Battle of Kursk and directly during it, the Red Army began a series of large-scale operations to liberate Soviet lands from German occupation. Among these operations: "Suvorov" (operation to liberate Smolensk, Donbass and Chernigov-Poltava.

Thus, the victory at Kursk opened up vast operational scope for the Soviet troops to operate. The German troops, bled dry and defeated as a result of summer battles, ceased to be a serious threat until December 1943. However, this absolutely does not mean that the Wehrmacht at that time was not strong. On the contrary, fiercely snarling, the German troops sought to hold at least the line of the Dnieper.

For the command of the allies, who landed troops on the island of Sicily in July 1943, the battle of Kursk became a kind of "help", since the Wehrmacht was now unable to transfer reserves to the island - the Eastern Front was more priority. Even after the defeat near Kursk, the command of the Wehrmacht was forced to transfer fresh forces from Italy to the east, and in their place to send units battered in battles with the Red Army.

For the German command, the Battle of Kursk became the moment when plans to defeat the Red Army and defeat the USSR finally became an illusion. It became clear that for a sufficiently long time the Wehrmacht would be forced to refrain from conducting active operations.

The Battle of Kursk was the completion of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic and World War II. After this battle, the strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Red Army, thanks to which, by the end of 1943, vast territories were liberated. Soviet Union, including those big cities like Kyiv and Smolensk.

In international terms, the victory in the Battle of Kursk was the moment when the peoples of Europe, enslaved by the Nazis, perked up. The people's liberation movement in the countries of Europe began to grow even faster. It culminated in 1944, when the decline of the Third Reich became very clear.

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The Battle of Kursk (summer 1943) radically changed the course of World War II.

Our army stopped the advance of the fascists and irrevocably took the strategic initiative in the further course of the war into its own hands.

Wehrmacht plans

Despite huge losses, by the summer of 1943 the fascist army was still very strong, and Hitler intended to take revenge for his defeat in. To restore its former prestige, a major victory was needed at any cost.

For this, Germany carried out a total mobilization, strengthened military industry, mainly due to the capabilities of the occupied territories Western Europe. This, of course, gave the expected results. And since there was already no second front in the West, the German government directed all its military resources to the Eastern Front.

He managed not only to restore his army, but also to replenish it. the latest samples military equipment. The largest offensive operation "Citadel" was carefully planned, which was given great strategic importance. To implement the plan, the fascist command chose the Kursk direction.

The task was as follows: to break through the defenses of the Kursk ledge, reach Kursk, surround it and destroy the Soviet troops that defended this territory. All forces were directed to this idea of ​​a lightning-fast defeat of our troops. It was planned to smash a million-strong group of Soviet troops on the Kursk ledge, encircle and take Kursk in just four days.

This plan is detailed in Order No. 6 of April 15, 1943, with a poetic conclusion: "The victory at Kursk should be a torch for the whole world."

On the basis of our intelligence data, the Headquarters became aware of the enemy's plans regarding the direction of his main attacks and the timing of the offensive. Headquarters carefully analyzed the situation, and as a result, it was decided that it would be more profitable for us to start the campaign with a strategic defensive operation.

Knowing that Hitler would attack in only one direction and concentrate his main strike force, our command came to the conclusion that it was defensive battles that would bleed German army, destroy its tanks. After that, it will already be advisable to crush the enemy by breaking his main grouping.

Marshal reported this to Headquarters on 04/08/43: "wear down" the enemy on the defensive, knock out his tanks, and then bring in fresh reserves and go on the general offensive, finishing off the main forces of the Nazis. Thus, the Headquarters deliberately planned to make the beginning of the Battle of Kursk defensive.

Preparing for battle

From mid-April 1943, work began on the creation of powerful defensive positions on the Kursk salient. They dug trenches, trenches and shell magazines, built bunkers, prepared firing positions, observation posts. Having finished work in one place, they moved on and again began to dig, build, repeating the work in the previous position.

At the same time, they prepared for the upcoming battles and fighters, conducting training sessions close to real combat. B. N. Malinovsky, a participant in these events, wrote about this in his memoirs in the book “They didn’t choose their fate.” During these preparatory works, he writes, they received combat reinforcements: people, equipment. By the beginning of the battle, our troops here amounted to 1.3 million people.

steppe front

The strategic reserves, which consisted of formations that had already participated in the battles for Stalingrad, Leningrad and other battles of the Soviet-German front, were first united into the Reserve Front, which on 04/15/43. was called the Steppe Military District (commander I.S. Konev), and later - already during the Battle of Kursk - 07/10/43, it became known as the Steppe Front.

It included the troops of the Voronezh and Central Fronts. The command of the front was entrusted to Colonel General I. S. Konev, who after the Battle of Kursk became an army general, and in February 1944 - Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Battle of Kursk

The battle began on July 5, 1943. Our troops were ready for it. The Nazis carried out fire raids from an armored train, fired on bombers from the air, the enemies dropped leaflets in which they tried to intimidate Soviet soldiers forthcoming terrible offensive, arguing that no one will be saved in it.

Our fighters immediately entered the battle, earned "Katyushas", went to meet the enemy with his new "Tigers" and "Ferdinands", our tanks and self-propelled guns. Artillery and infantry destroyed their vehicles in prepared minefields, with anti-tank grenades and simply bottles of combustible mixture.

Already in the evening of the first day of the battle, the Soviet Information Bureau reported that on July 5, 586 fascist tanks and 203 aircraft were destroyed in the battle. Until the end of the day, the number of downed enemy aircraft increased to 260. Until July 9, there were fierce battles.

The enemy undermined his forces and was forced to order a temporary cessation of the offensive in order to make some changes in the original plan. But then the fighting resumed. Our troops still managed to stop the German offensive, however, in some places the enemy broke through our defenses 30-35 km deep.

tank battle

A large-scale tank battle. About 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns were involved in it from both sides.

General valor was shown in this battle by the general of the 5th Guards. tank army P. A. Rotmistrov, general of the 5th Guards Army A. S. Zhdanov and heroic fortitude - all personnel.

Thanks to the organization and courage of our commanders and fighters, the offensive plans of the Nazis were finally buried in this fierce battle. The enemy's forces were exhausted, he had already brought his reserves into battle, had not yet entered the stage of defense, and the offensive had already stopped.

This was a very convenient moment for the transition of our troops from defense to counteroffensive. By July 12, the enemy was drained of blood, and the crisis of his offensive was ripe. This was crucial moment in the Battle of Kursk.

counteroffensive

On July 12, the Western and Bryansk fronts went on the offensive, on July 15 - the Central Front. And on July 16, the Germans had already begun to withdraw their troops. Then the Voronezh Front joined the offensive, and on July 18, the Steppe Front. The retreating enemy was pursued, and by July 23, our troops restored the situation that existed before the defensive battles, i.e. back to the starting point.

For final victory in the Battle of Kursk, a massive introduction of strategic reserves was necessary, and on the most important direction. The Steppe Front proposed such a tactic. But the Headquarters, unfortunately, did not accept the decision of the Steppe Front and decided to introduce strategic reserves in parts and not simultaneously.

This led to the fact that the end of the Battle of Kursk dragged on in time. From July 23 to August 3 there was a pause. The Germans retreated to pre-prepared defensive lines. And our command took time to study the enemy defenses and streamline the troops after the battles.

The commanders understood that the enemy would not leave their prepared positions, and would fight to the last, if only to stop the advance of the Soviet troops. And then our advance continued. There were also many bloody battles with huge losses on both sides. The Battle of Kursk lasted 50 days and ended on August 23, 1943. The plans of the Wehrmacht completely failed.

The meaning of the Battle of Kursk

History has shown that the Battle of Kursk was a turning point in the course of World War II, the starting point for the transition of the strategic initiative to the Soviet army. lost half a million people and a huge amount of military equipment in the Battle of Kursk.

This defeat of Hitler also affected the situation on an international scale, because it gave the prerequisites for Germany to lose allied cooperation with. And in the end, the struggle on the fronts where the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition fought was greatly facilitated.

Despite the artistic exaggerations associated with Prokhorovka, the Battle of Kursk was indeed the last attempt by the Germans to win back the situation. Taking advantage of the negligence of the Soviet command and inflicting a major defeat on the Red Army near Kharkov in the early spring of 1943, the Germans got another "chance" to play the card of the summer offensive on the models of 1941 and 1942.

But by 1943, the Red Army was already different, just like the Wehrmacht, it was worse than itself two years ago. Two years of bloody meat grinder were not in vain for him, plus the delay with the start of the offensive on Kursk, made the very fact of the offensive obvious to the Soviet command, which quite reasonably decided not to repeat the mistakes of the spring-summer 1942 of the year and voluntarily ceded to the Germans the right to launch offensive operations in order to exhaust them on the defensive, and then smash the weakened strike groups.

In general, the implementation of this plan once again showed how much the level of strategic planning Soviet leadership since the start of the war. And at the same time, the inglorious end of the "Citadel" once again showed the subsidence of this level among the Germans, who tried to reverse the difficult strategic situation with obviously insufficient means.

In fact, even Manstein, the most intelligent German strategist, had no particular illusions about this decisive battle for Germany, arguing in his memoirs that if everything had turned out differently, then one could somehow jump off the USSR to a draw, that is, in fact admitted that after Stalingrad there was no talk of victory for Germany at all.

In theory, the Germans, of course, could push through our defenses and reach Kursk, surrounding a couple of dozen divisions, but even in this wonderful scenario for the Germans, their success did not lead them to solving the problem of the Eastern Front, but only led to a delay before the inevitable end, because military production By 1943, Germany was already clearly inferior to the Soviet one, and the need to close up the "Italian hole" did not make it possible to gather any large forces to conduct further offensive operations on the Eastern Front.

But our army did not allow the Germans to amuse themselves with the illusion of even such a victory. The shock groupings were bled dry during a week of heavy defensive battles, and then the rink of our offensive began to roll, which, starting from the summer of 1943, was practically unstoppable, no matter how much the Germans would resist in the future.

In this regard, the Battle of Kursk is indeed one of the iconic battles of World War II, and not only due to the scale of the battle and the millions of soldiers and tens of thousands of military equipment involved. In it, it was finally demonstrated to the whole world, and above all to the Soviet people, that Germany was doomed.

Remember today all those who died in this epoch-making battle and those who survived it, reaching from Kursk to Berlin.

Below is a selection of photographs of the Battle of Kursk.

Commander of the Central Front, General of the Army K.K. Rokossovsky and a member of the Military Council of the front, Major General K.F. Telegin at the forefront before the Battle of Kursk. 1943

Soviet sappers laying TM-42 anti-tank mines in front of the front line of defense. Central Front, Kursk Bulge, July 1943

The transfer of "Tigers" for the operation "Citadel".

Manstein and his generals "at work".

German regulator. Behind the tracked tractor RSO.

Construction of fortifications on the Kursk Bulge. June 1943.

On a halt.

On the eve of the Battle of Kursk. Running in infantry tanks. Red Army soldiers in the trenches and the T-34 tank, which overcomes the trench, passing over them. 1943

German machine gunner with MG-42.

Panthers are preparing for Operation Citadel.

Self-propelled howitzers "Vespe" ("Wespe") of the 2nd battalion artillery regiment"Grossdeutschland" on the march. Operation Citadel, July 1943.

German tanks Pz.Kpfw.III before the start of Operation Citadel in a Soviet village.

The crew of the Soviet tank T-34-76 "Marshal Choibalsan" (from the tank column "Revolutionary Mongolia") and attached troops on vacation. Kursk Bulge, 1943.

A smoke break in the German trenches.

A peasant woman tells Soviet intelligence officers about the location of enemy units. North of the city of Orel, 1943.

Petty officer V. Sokolova, medical instructor of anti-tank artillery units of the Red Army. Oryol direction. Kursk Bulge, summer 1943.

German 105-mm self-propelled guns "Vespe" (Sd.Kfz.124 Wespe) from the 74th self-propelled artillery regiment of the 2nd tank division Wehrmacht, passes next to an abandoned Soviet 76-mm gun ZIS-3 near the city of Orel. German offensive operation "Citadel". Oryol Region, July 1943.

The Tigers are on the attack.

Photojournalist of the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda O. Knorring and cameraman I. Malov are filming the interrogation of the captive chief corporal A. Bauschoff, who voluntarily defected to the side of the Red Army. The interrogation is conducted by Captain S.A. Mironov (right) and translator Iones (center). Orel-Kursk direction, July 7, 1943.

German soldiers on the Kursk salient. Part of the hull of the B-IV radio-controlled tank is visible from above.

Destroyed Soviet artillery German B-IV robotic tanks and control tanks Pz.Kpfw. III (one of the tanks has the number F 23). Northern face of the Kursk Bulge (near the village of Glazunovka). July 5, 1943

Tank landing of sappers-bombers (sturmpionieren) from the SS division "Das Reich" on the armor of the StuG III Ausf F assault gun. Kursk Bulge, 1943.

Destroyed Soviet tank T-60.

Self-propelled gun "Ferdinand" is on fire. July 1943, the village of Ponyri.

Two wrecked "Ferdinand" from the headquarters company of the 654th battalion. Ponyri station area, July 15-16, 1943. On the left is the staff "Ferdinand" No. II-03. The car was burned with bottles of kerosene mixture after a shell damaged its undercarriage.

Heavy assault gun "Ferdinand", destroyed by a direct hit of an air bomb from a Soviet Pe-2 dive bomber. Tactical number unknown. The area of ​​the Ponyri station and the May 1 state farm.

Heavy assault gun "Ferdinand", tail number "723" from the 654th division (battalion), shot down near the state farm "May 1". The caterpillar was destroyed by shell hits and the gun was jammed. The vehicle was part of "Major Kal's strike group" as part of the 505th heavy tank battalion of the 654th division.

Tank column moves to the front.

Tigers" from the 503rd heavy tank battalion.

Katyushas are firing.

Tanks "Tiger" of the SS Panzer Division "Das Reich".

Company American tanks M3s "General Lee", supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease, is being advanced to leading edge Defense of the Soviet 6th Guards Army. Kursk Bulge, July 1943.

Soviet soldiers at the padded "Panther". July 1943.

Heavy assault gun "Ferdinand", tail number "731", chassis number 150090 from the 653rd division, blown up by a mine in the defense zone of the 70th army. Later this car was sent to the exhibition captured equipment to Moscow.

Self-propelled guns Su-152 Major Sankovsky. Its crew destroyed 10 enemy tanks in the first battle during the Battle of Kursk.

T-34-76 tanks support an infantry attack in the Kursk direction.

Soviet infantry in front of a wrecked "Tiger" tank.

Attack T-34-76 near Belgorod. July 1943.

Faulty "Panthers" of the 10th "Panterbrigade" abandoned near Prokhorovka tank regiment von Lauchert.

German observers are watching the battle.

Soviet infantrymen are hiding behind the body of the destroyed "Panther".

Soviet mortar crew changes firing position. Bryansk front, Oryol direction. July 1943.

An SS grenadier looks at a freshly knocked out T-34. It was probably destroyed by one of the first modifications of the Panzerfaust, which first received wide application on the Kursk Bulge.

Destroyed German tank Pz.Kpfw. V modification D2, shot down during the operation "Citadel" (Kursk Bulge). This photo is interesting because it has a signature - "Ilyin" and the date "26/7". This is probably the name of the gun commander who knocked out the tank.

The advanced units of the 285th Infantry Regiment of the 183rd Infantry Division are fighting the enemy in the captured German trenches. In the foreground is the body of a killed German soldier. Battle of Kursk, July 10, 1943.

Sappers of the SS division "Life Standard Adolf Hitler" near the destroyed T-34-76 tank. July 7, near the village of Pselets.

Soviet tanks at the line of attack.

Destroyed tanks Pz IV and Pz VI near Kursk.

Pilots of the squadron "Normandie-Niemen".

Reflection of a tank attack. Ponyri village area. July 1943.

Padded "Ferdinand". The corpses of his crew lay nearby.

Artillerymen are fighting.

Destroyed German vehicles during the fighting in the Kursk direction.

A German tanker inspects the trace of a hit in the frontal projection of the "Tiger". July, 1943

Red Army soldiers next to the downed Yu-87 dive bomber.

Wrecked Panther. In the form of a trophy, she reached Kursk.

Machine gunners on the Kursk Bulge. July 1943.

Self-propelled guns Marder III and panzergrenadiers at the starting line before the attack. July 1943.

Broken Panther. The tower was blown off by an explosion of ammunition.

burning German self-propelled guns"Ferdinand" from the 656th regiment on the Orlovsky face of the Kursk Bulge, July 1943. The photo was taken through the hatch of the driver of the Pz.Kpfw control tank. III tanks-robots B-4.

Soviet soldiers at the padded "Panther". A huge hole from a 152-mm St. John's wort is visible in the tower.

Burnt tanks of the column "For Soviet Ukraine". On the tower torn off by the explosion, the inscription "For Radianska Ukraine" (For Soviet Ukraine) is visible.

Killed German tanker. In the background is a Soviet T-70 tank.

Soviet soldiers inspect a German heavy self-propelled artillery mount of the Ferdinand tank destroyer class, shot down during the Battle of Kursk. The photo is also interesting with a rare for 1943 steel helmet SSH-36 on a soldier on the left.

Soviet soldiers near the destroyed Stug III assault gun.

Destroyed on the Kursk Bulge German tank robot B-IV and a German motorcycle with a sidecar BMW R-75. 1943

Self-propelled guns "Ferdinand" after the detonation of ammunition.

Calculation anti-tank gun firing at enemy tanks. July 1943.

The picture shows a destroyed German medium tank PzKpfw IV (modifications H or G). July 1943.

The commander of the tank Pz.kpfw VI "Tiger" No. 323 of the 3rd company of the 503rd battalion of heavy tanks, non-commissioned officer Futermeister (Futermeister) shows a trace from Soviet projectile on the armor of his tank to staff sergeant major Heiden. Kursk Bulge, July 1943.

Statement of the combat mission. July 1943.

Pe-2 dive front-line bombers on a combat course. Oryol-Belgorod direction. July 1943.

Towing the faulty "Tiger". On the Kursk Bulge, the Germans suffered significant losses due to non-combat breakdowns of their equipment.

T-34 goes on the attack.

Captured by the "Der Fuhrer" regiment of the "Das Reich" division british tank"Churchiple" supplied under Lend-Lease.

Tank destroyer Marder III on the march. Operation Citadel, July 1943.

in the foreground on the right is a wrecked Soviet T-34 tank, further at the left edge is a photo of a German Pz.Kpfw. VI "Tiger", in the distance another T-34.

Soviet soldiers inspect the blown up German tank Pz IV ausf G.

The fighters of the division of senior lieutenant A. Burak, with the support of artillery, are advancing. July 1943.

A German prisoner of war on the Kursk Bulge with a broken 150-mm infantry gun sIG.33. On the right lies a dead German soldier. July 1943.

Oryol direction. Fighters under cover of tanks go on the attack. July 1943.

German units, which include captured Soviet T-34-76 tanks, are preparing for an attack during the Battle of Kursk. July 28, 1943.

Soldiers of the RONA (Russian Liberation People's Army) among the captured Red Army soldiers. Kursk Bulge, July-August 1943.

Soviet tank T-34-76 shot down in a village on the Kursk Bulge. August, 1943.

Under enemy fire, tankers are pulling out a wrecked T-34 from the battlefield.

Soviet soldiers rise to the attack.

Officer of the division "Grossdeutschland" in the trench. End of July-beginning of August.

Member of the battles on the Kursk Bulge, scout, guard senior sergeant A.G. Frolchenko (1905 - 1967), awarded the Order of the Red Star (according to another version, the photo shows Lieutenant Nikolai Alekseevich Simonov). Belgorod direction, August 1943.

A column of German prisoners captured in the Oryol direction. August 1943.

German soldiers from the SS troops in a trench with a MG-42 machine gun during Operation Citadel. Kursk Bulge, July-August 1943.

Left anti-aircraft self-propelled unit Sd.Kfz. 10/4 based on a half-track tractor with a 20-mm anti-aircraft cannon flak 30. Kursk Bulge, August 3, 1943.

priest blesses Soviet soldiers. Oryol direction, 1943.

A Soviet T-34-76 tank shot down near Belgorod and a tanker killed.

A column of captured Germans in the Kursk region.

Captured on the Kursk Bulge German anti-tank PaK guns 35/36. In the background is a Soviet ZiS-5 truck towing a 37 mm 61-k anti-aircraft gun. July 1943.

Soldiers of the 3rd SS division "Totenkopf" ("Dead Head") discuss the plan of defensive actions with the commander of the "Tiger" from the 503rd battalion heavy tanks. Kursk Bulge, July-August 1943.

Captured Germans in the Kursk region.

Tank commander, Lieutenant B.V. Smelov shows a hole in the turret of the German tank "Tiger", knocked out by Smelov's crew, Lieutenant Likhnyakevich (who knocked out in last fight 2 fascist tanks). This hole was made by an ordinary armor-piercing projectile from a 76 mm tank gun.

Senior Lieutenant Ivan Shevtsov next to the German tank"Tiger".

Trophies of the Battle of Kursk.

German heavy assault gun "Ferdinand" of the 653rd battalion (division), captured in good condition along with the crew by the soldiers of the Soviet 129th Oryol Rifle Division. August 1943.

Eagle taken.

The 89th Rifle Division enters the liberated Belgorod.