Tank Battle Analysis (Kursk) - Kill Claims, Armour Losses, and Tactical Supremacy

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Max Payload
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Re: Tank Battle Analysis (Kursk) - Kill Claims, Armour Losses, and Tactical Supremacy

#61

Post by Max Payload » 27 Dec 2015, 11:03

Chepicoro wrote:
Pips wrote:It's a wonder that the Russians managed to win the battle at all. If the Germans so comprehensively defeated Russian armour, what arm in the end caused the defeat of the German offensive?
The German infantry was not in good shape compared with the German infantry divisions of 1940-1941....
... and faced a Red Army that was a transformed entity from the Red Army of 1941.

And the fact that the Germans were outnumbered on the Kursk axis by an enemy that knew pretty much exactly what OKH was planning to do, and had months to prepare to deal with it. The Soviets had the reserves to mitigate their heavy frontline losses in men and equipment, the reserves that they had available in Steppe Front alone dwarfing any reserves OKH could bring to bear.

The whole point of the operation, and the reason for the prolonged delay in its commencement, was to achieve the rapid encirclement and destruction of the two Soviet Fronts in the salient. When, within the first few days, it became apparent that this was not going to happen, Hitler's enthusiasm for the operation evaporated. It was never his intention to have some 20 German mechanised divisions involved in a battle of attrition for Oboyan and Ponyri.

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