The explosive clash on the first day devolved into a quagmire of localized fighting. Two million men supported by 6,000 tanks, 35,000 guns, and 5,000 aircraft convened in Kursk in the days leading up to battle. Well-informed about Germany’s plans through their network of spies, the Soviets spent months preparing.
Code named “Operation Citadel,” the German offensive would unite Nazi forces from the north and south, cutting through the bulge in the eastern front that had been created following Germany’s retreat at the battle of Stalingrad. On July 5, 1943, the greatest land battle in history began when Nazi and Red Army forces clashed near the town of Kursk, on the western border of the Soviet Union, a region that had acquired vital strategic importance for Hitler’s war in the east.
0 kommentar(er)
