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The Shadow of Doom

At first, the inexorable weight of the German attack in both directions seemed to be succeeding. The tragedy was as they advanced their numbers were greatly diminished. Thus after covering a few miles an attacking group would have its strength cut by one-third or more, greatly reducing its effectiveness.

German tank commanders had standing orders that if their tanks were disabled, they were not to abandon them, but continue to fight. Such orders were suicide. One of the essential qualities of a tank is its mobility. Take it away and it becomes a large inviting target. The hundreds of antitank guns and Soviet assault crews made quick work of such steel invalids.

In the north, von Kluge’s forces penetrated nine miles of the deadly enemy defenses. It had taken five days to do it. By this time, however, the German juggernaut had come to a standstill. Manstein’s armies in the south did even better. Though getting off to a slow start, they gradually picked up momentum. Their high point came at the great tank battle of Prokhorovka.

Destroyed German tanks

This would be the culmination of a week of hard fighting on a scale hitherto unseen in history. When General Hermann Hoth, commander of the 4th Panzer Army, sensed that the offensive was becoming mired down in the fighting south of Oboyan, he changed his plans. He would use the 48th Panzer Corps to keep the Russian forces ahead of him quite busy. Then he would send his still powerful 2nd SS Panzer Corps to the northeast toward Prokhorovka.

The town was insignificant in terms of inherent value, but once taken, it would give the Panzers a golden opportunity to flank the Soviet defenses and head north to Kursk. Detachment Kempf would cover the right flank and reinforce if necessary the units of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps. The Russians quickly deduced what was taking place and made plans to counter the move. They would launch a series of counterattacks. The 48th Panzer Corps would be hit by the 6th Guards and 1st Tank Armies from the west and northwest. On the far western flank the 7th Guards Army was ordered to attack straight into Detachment Kempf, keep it from advancing any further. Finally, the 5th Guards and the mighty 5th Guards Tank Army would meet the three SS Panzer Divisions head on, attacking from the Prokhorovka area.

The successes of the Panzer divisions on the 11th put them within reach of Prokhorovka and also established a bridgehead across the Psel River. Only inclement weather kept the panzers out of the city that day. Realizing the danger, General Nikolai Vatutin, the commander of the Voronezh Front, consolidated all possible units under the command of the 5th Guards Tank Army. Numerous other Soviet units, including 1st Tank and 5th Guard Armies and the 2nd Guards Tank Corps, reinforced the 18th and 29th Tank and the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps.

The 2nd SS Panzer Corps consisted the Totenkopf, the Leibstandarte, the Das Reich, 11th Panzer divisions, with support from the 167th Infantry. Though at that time with less than 300 functioning pieces of tanks between them (many of which had been repaired from the week of fighting and put back into action), it was felt that the breakthrough could be achieved. Further, it was hoped that at least part of the three panzer divisions of Detachment Kempf would further solidify the advance and take Prokhorovka by the end of the day. It did not happen.

Thus it was that over 1,500 tanks of both sides entered into one of the most intense confrontations of armor ever seen. The Germans broke through, even though they had suffered horrendous casualties. They had, however, smashed or badly crippled no less than ten Soviet tank or mechanized Corps, or upward of 20 enemy divisions.

Up until this point neither side had achieved its objectives of the day. The German 2nd Panzer Corps had not broken the final defensive Soviet lines and move toward Kursk. Instead the advance had stalled and turned into a series of defensive actions as hundreds of Russian tanks were hurled at them. On the other hand, the 5th Guards Tank Army had failed to encircle and cut off the units of the Panzer Corps. As the success of the fight seemed to hang in the balance, Hitler made a startling announcement. Allied landings had taken place in Sicily. Fearing the weakness of his Italian allies, the Fuhrer made immediate plans to withdraw the very units needed to complete the task and send them to the west.

Von Kluge put up little protest. He already felt beaten and unable to continue in the north. In the south, however, General von Manstein cried “foul,” and earnestly pleaded to keep his units. Hitler finally agreed that the fighting could continue to finish off the Soviet forces already engaged. His removal of the very units needed to accomplish that brought the battle of Kursk to a close. In the days following the Germans would slowly withdraw to the positions held on July 5th.

Germany had given its best. Its casualties included 120,000 men and over 1,500 tanks, many of which could not be recovered for repair. These would prove to later be irreplaceable. Not that the Soviets had not suffered either. Their losses included over 200,000 casualties and over 1,500 tanks. Many of those, however, were recovered and repaired, thus minimizing the armor losses.

So the battle of Kursk became a doorway, a doorway of retreat, through which the German Army, once the almighty conqueror of the Russian Steppes, would begin a painful, shameful retreat for over 1,000 miles back to their shattered homeland. Like angry baying hounds, the Russian now had the taste of blood, and would pursue them relentlessly.

Kursk would mark the end of the great German offensives. It would also signal the beginning of the Russian recovery of its land and its dignity. And no one could tell a soldier of the Motherland that revenge is a dish served cold. The heat of their anger and resentment would fire their courage and enthusiasm to achieve a final smothering victory over the evil fascist invaders. Though it would go on for nearly two more years, the outcome of the war between Germany and Russia was decided at Kursk.

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