Tank battle July 12, 1943. Battle of Kursk: who won at Prokhorovka? Fighting near the village of Storozhevoye

On July 18, 1943, the troops of the right wing of the Central Front completely eliminated the enemy wedge in the Kursk direction. The troops of the Steppe Front, which was based in the rear of the Central and Voronezh fronts, were brought into the battle of Kursk. The forces of 3 fronts began

July 19, 1943 Our troops advancing north of Orel occupied another 70 settlements. To the east of Orel, 40 settlements have been liberated. To the south - 20. On the Oryol sector of the front, 143 German tanks were knocked out and destroyed. 117 were shot down in air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire

July 21, 1943 In the Oryol direction, Soviet troops advanced from 6 to 15 kilometers and liberated over 90 settlements. The enemy tried to delay the advance of our advancing units with repeated counterattacks of infantry and tanks.* * *On Bryansk

On July 22, 1943, the Mginsk offensive operation of the troops of the Leningrad Front began (until August 22), the goal of which was to defeat the 18th German Army, which was blockading Leningrad, and to prevent the transfer of enemy troops to the Kursk area. Soviet troops only

On July 23, 1943, troops of the Bryansk Front defeated an enemy group in the Mtsensk area and reached the Oka and Optukha rivers. Here was the last rear line of the Germans, covering Oryol. The positions were occupied by German units, including those brought up from the rear or

July 24, 1943 On all fronts, our troops on this day knocked out and destroyed 64 German tanks, according to the Sovinformburo report. In air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire, 56 enemy aircraft were shot down.* * *In Stalin’s order to generals Rokossovsky, Vatutin and Popov

July 25, 1943 On all fronts, our troops on this day knocked out and destroyed 52 German tanks. In air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire, 57 enemy aircraft were shot down. In the Oryol direction, overcoming enemy resistance and counterattacks, our troops continued

July 26, 1943 In the Oryol direction, troops of the Bryansk Front liberated over 70 settlements.* * *Fulfilling the order of the commander of the Western Front (V.D. Sokolovsky), formations of the 8th Guards Rifle Corps resumed their attack on Bolkhov in the morning and began

July 27, 1943 In the Oryol direction, our troops continued the offensive, advanced from 4 to 6 kilometers and occupied over 50 settlements. * * *In the Khotynets direction, the 31st Guards Rifle Division (Western Front) decisively attacked the enemy.

July 28, 1943 In the Oryol direction, our troops continued the offensive and moved forward from 4 to 6 kilometers, occupied over 30 settlements, including the Stanovoy Kolodez railway station (18 kilometers southeast of Orel).* * *Parts of the 61st Army (P.A. Belov)

July 29, 1943 On this day, on all fronts, our troops knocked out and destroyed 21 German tanks. In air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire, 37 enemy aircraft were shot down. * * *In the Oryol direction, Soviet troops continued their offensive and, having advanced on separate

On July 30, 1943, on the Oryol bridgehead, troops of the Central Front advanced in separate sections from 4 to 8 kilometers and occupied over twenty settlements. The troops of the right wing of the front continued to develop an offensive to the northwest in the direction of Krom and by July 30

July 31, 1943 On all fronts on this day, our troops knocked out and destroyed 70 German tanks, of which 50 tanks were in the Donbass region. In air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire, 97 enemy aircraft were shot down. * * *As noted in the Sovinformburo report, our troops on Orlovsky

July 3, 1943? The 20th anniversary was celebrated by Soviet pilot, war veteran Georgy Andreevich Kuznetsov (1923–2008), deputy squadron commander of the 8th Guards Attack Aviation Regiment (Baltic Fleet Air Force), who had flown 101 combat missions by October 1944. He destroyed 15

Chapter 12. TRANSFER TO UKRAINE AND THE FIRST COMBAT OPERATIONS IN THE AREA NORTH OF Krivoy Rog (10/17/1943–11/14/1943) All the doubts that had previously arisen regarding the sending to the front of a division not fully equipped with armored vehicles seemed to have lost their meaning in the light of those

The large-scale tank battle near Prokhorovka was the defensive phase of the Battle of Kursk. This confrontation with the use of armored vehicles of the two strongest armies at that time - Soviet and German - is still considered one of the largest in military history. The command of the Soviet tank formations was carried out by Lieutenant General Pavel Alekseevich Rotmistrov, and the German ones by Paul Hausser.

On the eve of the battle

At the beginning of July 1943, the Soviet leadership learned that the main German attack would be on Oboyan, and a secondary one would be directed at Korocha. In the first case, the offensive was carried out by the Second Panzer Corps, which included the SS divisions “Adolf Hitler”, “Totenkopf” and “Reich”. They managed to literally break through two lines of Soviet defense in just a few days and approach the third, located ten kilometers southwest of the Prokhorovka railway station. At that time it was located on the territory of the Oktyabrsky state farm in the Belgorod region.

German tanks appeared near Prokhorovka on July 11, overcoming the resistance of one of the Soviet rifle divisions and the second tank corps. Seeing this situation, the Soviet command sent additional forces to this area, which were finally able to stop the enemy.

It was decided that it was necessary to launch a powerful counterattack aimed at completely destroying the SS armored corps wedged into the defense. It was assumed that three guards and two tank armies would take part in this operation. But the rapidly changing situation has made adjustments to these plans. It turned out that only the 5th Guards Army under the command of A.S. Zhadov, as well as the 5th Tank Army led by P.A. Rotmistrov, would participate in the counterattack from the Soviet side.

Full-scale offensive

In order to at least slightly delay the forces of the Red Army concentrated in the Prokhorovsky direction, the Germans prepared a strike in the area where the 69th Army was located, moving out from Rzhavets and heading north. Here one of the fascist tank corps began to advance, trying to break through from the southern side to the desired station.

Thus began the full-scale battle of Prokhorovka. Its start date was the morning of July 12, 1943, when the headquarters of the 5th Tank Army of P. A. Rotmistrov received a message about the breakthrough of a significant group of German armored vehicles. It turned out that about 70 units of enemy equipment, having entered from the southwest, immediately captured the villages of Vypolzovka and Rzhavets and were rapidly moving on.

Start

In order to stop the enemy, a pair of combined detachments were hastily formed, which were assigned to the command of General N.I. Trufanov. The Soviet side was able to field up to hundreds of tanks. The newly created units had to rush into battle almost immediately. The bloody battle continued all day in the area of ​​Ryndinka and Rzhavets.

Then almost everyone understood that the battle of Prokhorovka decided not only the outcome of this battle, but also the fate of all units of the 69th Army, whose troops found themselves in a semi-ring of enemy encirclement. Therefore, it was not surprising that Soviet soldiers showed truly massive heroism. Take, for example, the feat of the anti-tank platoon of Art. Lieutenant K. T. Pozdeev.

During the next attack, a group of fascist tanks with machine gunners on board, numbering 23 vehicles, rushed towards his position. An unequal and bloody battle ensued. The guardsmen managed to destroy 11 tanks, thereby preventing the rest from penetrating into the depths of their own battle formation. Needless to say, almost all the soldiers of this platoon died.

Unfortunately, it is impossible in one article to list the names of all the heroes who were killed in that tank battle near Prokhorovka. I would like to briefly mention at least a few of them: Private Petrov, Sergeant Cheremyanin, Lieutenants Panarin and Novak, Military Paramedic Kostrikova, Captain Pavlov, Major Falyuta, Lieutenant Colonel Goldberg.

By the end of the next day, the combined detachment managed to knock out the Nazis and take control of the settlements of Ryndinka and Rzhavets. As a result of the advance of part of the Soviet troops, it was possible to completely localize the success that one of the German tank corps had achieved a little earlier. Thus, by its actions, Trufanov’s detachment thwarted a major Nazi offensive and prevented the threat of the enemy entering the rear of Rotmistrov’s 5th Tank Army.

Fire support

It cannot be said that the battles on the field near Prokhorovka took place exclusively with the participation of tanks and self-propelled guns. Artillery and aviation also played an important role here. When the enemy strike force launched an offensive early in the morning of July 12, Soviet attack aircraft attacked tanks that were part of the SS Adolf Hitler division. In addition, before Rotmistrov's 5th Tank Army began to launch a counterattack to the enemy forces, artillery preparation was carried out, which lasted about 15 minutes.

During heavy fighting in the bend of the river. The Psel 95th Soviet Rifle Division confronted the SS Totenkopf tank group. Here our military was supported by its strikes by the 2nd Air Army under the command of Marshal S.A. Krasovsky. In addition, long-range aviation also operated in this area.

Soviet attack aircraft and bombers managed to drop several thousand anti-tank bombs on the heads of the enemies. Soviet pilots did everything to support the ground units as much as possible. To do this, they delivered crushing blows to large concentrations of enemy tanks and other armored vehicles in the area of ​​villages such as Pokrovka, Gryaznoye, Yakovlevo, Malye Mayachki, etc. At the time when the battle of Prokhorovka took place, dozens of attack aircraft, fighters and bombers were in the sky . This time, Soviet aviation had undoubted superiority in the air.

Advantages and disadvantages of combat vehicles

The Kursk Bulge near Prokhorovka began to gradually transform from a general battle into individual tank duels. Here the opponents could show each other not only their skills, but also their knowledge of tactics, as well as demonstrate the capabilities of their tanks. German units were mainly equipped with T-IV medium tanks of two modifications - H and G, which had an armored hull thickness of 80 mm and a turret thickness of 50 mm. In addition, there were heavy T-VI Tiger tanks. They were equipped with 100mm armored hulls and their turrets were 110mm thick. Both tanks were equipped with fairly powerful long-barreled guns of 75 and 88 mm caliber, respectively. They could penetrate a Soviet tank almost anywhere. The only exceptions were heavy IS-2 armored vehicles, and then at a distance of more than five hundred meters.

The tank battle near Prokhorovka showed that Soviet tanks were in many ways inferior to German ones. This concerned not only the thickness of the armor, but also the power of the guns. But the T-34 tanks, which were in service with the Red Army at that time, surpassed the enemy ones both in speed and maneuverability, and in maneuverability. They tried to wedge themselves into enemy battle formations and shoot the enemy’s side armor at close range.

Soon the battle formations of the warring parties were mixed. Too dense a concentration of vehicles and too short distances deprived the German tanks of all the advantages of their powerful guns. The cramped conditions caused by the large concentration of equipment prevented both of them from performing the necessary maneuvers. As a result, armored vehicles collided with each other, and often their ammunition began to explode. At the same time, their torn towers soared several meters in height. Smoke and soot from burning and exploding tanks obscured the sky, making visibility on the battlefield very poor.

But the equipment burned not only on the ground, but also in the air. The damaged planes dived and exploded right in the thick of the battle. Tank crews of both warring sides left their burning vehicles and boldly entered into hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, wielding machine guns, knives and even grenades. It was a real terrible mess of human bodies, fire and metal. According to the recollections of one of the eyewitnesses, everything around was burning, there was an unimaginable noise that made the ears hurt, apparently, this is exactly what hell should look like.

Further course of the battle

By the middle of the day on July 12, intense and bloody battles were taking place in the area of ​​​​height 226.6, as well as near the railway. The soldiers of the 95th Infantry Division fought there, who tried with all their might to prevent all attempts by the “Dead Head” to break through in a northern direction. Our second tank corps managed to oust the Germans to the west of the railway and began a rapid advance towards the villages of Teterevino and Kalinin.

And at this time, the advanced units of the German division “Reich” moved forward, while occupying the Storozhevoy farm and the Belenikhino station. At the end of the day, the first of the SS divisions received powerful reinforcements in the form of artillery and air fire support. That is why the “Dead Head” managed to break through the defenses of two Soviet rifle divisions and reach the villages of Polezhaev and Vesely.

Enemy tanks attempted to reach the Prokhorovka-Kartashovka road, but they were still stopped by the 95th Infantry Division. Only one heroic platoon, commanded by Lieutenant P.I. Shpetnoy, destroyed seven Nazi tanks. In the battle he was seriously wounded, but despite this, he took a bunch of grenades and rushed under the tank. For his feat, Lieutenant Shpetnoy was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the USSR.

The tank battle of Prokhorovka, which took place on July 12, resulted in significant losses in both the SS Totenkopf and Adolf Hitler divisions, thereby causing great damage to their combat capabilities. But, despite this, no one was going to leave the battle or retreat - the enemy furiously resisted. The Germans also had their own tank aces. Once, somewhere in Europe, one of them managed to single-handedly defeat an entire convoy consisting of sixty vehicles and armored vehicles, but he died on the Eastern Front. This proves that Hitler sent selected soldiers here to fight, from whom the SS divisions “Reich”, “Adolf Hitler” and “Totenkopf” were formed.

Retreat

By evening, the situation in all sectors became difficult and the Germans had to bring all available reserves into battle. During the battle, a crisis arose. In contrast to the enemy, the Soviet side also brought into battle its last reserve - a hundred heavy armored vehicles. These were KV tanks (Klim Voroshilov). That evening, the Nazis still had to retreat and later go on the defensive.

It is believed that it was on July 12 that the turning point of the famous Battle of Kursk, which the whole country had been waiting for, came. This day was marked by the offensive of the Red Army units that were part of the Bryansk and Western fronts.

Unfulfilled plans

Despite the fact that the Germans lost the tank battle near Prokhorovka on July 12, the fascist command still intended to continue the further offensive. It planned to encircle several Soviet divisions belonging to the 69th Army, which were defending in a small area located between the Lipov and Seversky Donets rivers. On July 14, the Germans sent part of their forces, consisting of two tank and one infantry divisions, to capture the previously lost villages of Ryndinki, Shchelokovo and Vypolzovki. Further plans included advancing in the direction of Shakhovo.

The Soviet command unraveled the enemy's plans, so P. A. Rotmistrov gave the order to the combined detachment of N. I. Trufanov to stop the breakthrough of German tanks and prevent them from reaching the desired line. Another battle ensued. Over the next two days, the enemy continued to attack, but all attempts to break through were unsuccessful, as Trufanov’s group switched to a solid defense. On July 17, the Germans decided to withdraw their troops, and the heroic combined detachment was transferred to the reserve of the army commander. Thus ended the greatest tank battle near Prokhorovka.

Losses

It should be noted that none of the warring parties completed the tasks that were assigned to them on July 12, since Soviet troops were unable to encircle the German group, and the Nazis were unable to take possession of Prokhorovka and break through the enemy’s defenses.

In this difficult battle, both sides suffered not only significant casualties, but also a large loss of equipment. On the Soviet side, about five hundred tanks out of eight that took part in the battle were disabled. The Germans lost 75% of their armored vehicles, that is, three out of four hundred vehicles.

After the defeat, the commander of the German tank corps, Paul Hausser, was immediately removed from his post and blamed for all the failures that befell Hitler’s troops in the Kursk direction. In these battles, the enemy lost, according to some sources, 4,178 people, which amounted to 16% of the total combat strength. 30 divisions were also almost completely destroyed. The largest tank battle near Prokhorovka broke the warlike spirit of the Germans. After this battle and until the end of the war, the Nazis no longer attacked, but fought only defensive battles.

According to some reports, there is a report by the Chief of the General Staff A.M. Vasilevsky, which he provided to Stalin, which contained figures characterizing the outcome of the tank battle near Prokhorovka. It said that in two days of fighting (meaning July 11 and 12, 1943), the greatest losses suffered by the 5th Guards Army, as well as the 9th and 95th divisions. According to this report, losses amounted to 5,859 people, including 1,387 killed and 1,015 missing.

It is worth noting that all the above figures are highly controversial, but we can say with confidence: this was one of the hardest battles of the Second World War.

It was opened in 2010 just 35 km from Belgorod and is dedicated to all the heroes who died and survived in that largest and most terrible tank battle, which went down in world history forever. The museum was named “The Third Military Field of Russia” (the first was Kulikovo, the second was Borodino). In 1995, the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was erected on this legendary site. The soldiers who died at Prokhorovka are immortalized here - seven thousand names are carved on marble slabs covering the walls of the church.

The symbol of Prokhorovka is a belfry with an alarm bell suspended from it, which weighs about three and a half tons. It is visible from everywhere, because it is located on a hill, on the outskirts of the village of Prokhorovka. The center of the memorial is considered to be a truly grandiose sculptural composition consisting of six tanks. Its authors were monumentalist F. Sogoyan and Belgorod sculptor T. Kostenko.

July, 12 -a memorable date in the military history of the Fatherland. On this day in 1943, the largest tank battle in World War II between the Soviet and German armies took place near Prokhorovka.

Direct command of the tank formations during the battle was exercised by Lieutenant General Pavel Rotmistrov on the Soviet side and SS Gruppenführer Paul Hausser on the German side. Neither side managed to achieve the goals set for July 12: the Germans failed to capture Prokhorovka, break through the defenses of Soviet troops and gain operational space, and Soviet troops failed to encircle the enemy group.

“Of course, we won at Prokhorovka, not allowing the enemy to break into operational space, forced him to abandon his far-reaching plans and forced him to retreat to his original position. Our troops survived a four-day fierce battle, and the enemy lost its offensive capabilities. But the Voronezh Front had exhausted its strength, which did not allow it to immediately launch a counteroffensive. A stalemate situation has developed, figuratively speaking, when the command of both sides still wants to, but the troops can’t!”

PROGRESS OF THE BATTLE

If in the zone of the Soviet Central Front, after the start of their offensive on July 5, 1943, the Germans were unable to penetrate deeply into the defense of our troops, then a critical situation developed on the southern front of the Kursk Bulge. Here, on the first day, the enemy brought into the battle up to 700 tanks and assault guns, supported by aviation. Having met resistance in the Oboyan direction, the enemy shifted his main efforts to the Prokhorovsk direction, trying to capture Kursk with a blow from the southeast. The Soviet command decided to launch a counterattack against the wedged enemy group. The Voronezh front was reinforced by the reserves of the Headquarters (5th Guards Tank and 45th Guards armies and two tank corps). On July 12, in the Prokhorovka area, the largest tank battle of World War 2 took place, in which up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part on both sides. Soviet tank units sought to conduct close combat (“armor to armor”), since the range of destruction of the 76 mm T-34 gun was no more than 800 m, and the rest of the tanks were even less, while the 88 mm guns of the Tigers and Ferdinands hit our armored vehicles from a distance of 2000 m. When approaching, our tankers suffered heavy losses.

Both sides suffered huge losses at Prokhorovka. In this battle, Soviet troops lost 500 tanks out of 800 (60%). The Germans lost 300 tanks out of 400 (75%). For them it was a disaster. Now the most powerful German strike group was drained of blood. General G. Guderian, at that time the inspector general of the Wehrmacht tank forces, wrote: “The armored forces, replenished with such great difficulty, due to large losses in people and equipment, were out of action for a long time ... and even more so in the Eastern there were no quiet days at the front.” On this day, a turning point occurred in the development of the defensive battle on the southern front of the Kursk ledge. The main enemy forces went on the defensive. On July 13-15, German troops continued attacks only against units of the 5th Guards Tank and 69th armies south of Prokhorovka. The maximum advance of German troops on the southern front reached 35 km. On July 16, they began to retreat to their original positions.

ROTMISTROV: AMAZING COURAGE

I would like to emphasize that in all sectors of the grandiose battle that unfolded on July 12, the soldiers of the 5th Guards Tank Army showed amazing courage, unshakable fortitude, high combat skill and mass heroism, even to the point of self-sacrifice.

A large group of fascist “tigers” attacked the 2nd battalion of the 181st brigade of the 18th tank corps. The battalion commander, Captain P. A. Skripkin, bravely accepted the enemy’s blow. He personally knocked out two enemy vehicles one after another. Having caught the third tank in the crosshairs, the officer pulled the trigger... But at the same instant his combat vehicle shook violently, the turret filled with smoke, and the tank caught fire. Driver-mechanic foreman A. Nikolaev and radio operator A. Zyryanov, saving a seriously wounded battalion commander, pulled him out of the tank and then saw that a “tiger” was moving right at them. Zyryanov hid the captain in a shell crater, and Nikolaev and loader Chernov jumped into their flaming tank and went to ram, immediately crashing into the steel fascist hulk. They died having fulfilled their duty to the end.

The tankmen of the 29th Tank Corps fought bravely. The battalion of the 25th brigade, led by the communist Major G.A. Myasnikov, destroyed 3 "tigers", 8 medium tanks, 6 self-propelled guns, 15 anti-tank guns and more than 300 fascist machine gunners.

The decisive actions of the battalion commander and company commanders, senior lieutenants A. E. Palchikov and N. A. Mishchenko, served as an example for the soldiers. In a heavy battle for the village of Storozhevoye, the car in which A.E. Palchikov was located was hit - a caterpillar was torn off by a shell explosion. The crew members jumped out of the car, trying to repair the damage, but were immediately fired upon by enemy machine gunners from the bushes. The soldiers took up defensive positions and repelled several attacks by the Nazis. In this unequal battle, Alexei Yegorovich Palchikov died the death of a hero, and his comrades were seriously injured. Only the mechanic-driver, candidate member of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, foreman I.E. Safronov, although he was also wounded, could still fire. Hiding under a tank, overcoming the pain, he fought off the advancing fascists until help arrived.

REPORT OF THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE Supreme High Command Headquarters MARSHAL A. VASILEVSKY TO THE SUPREME COMMANDER IN CHIEF ON COMBAT OPERATIONS IN THE PROKHOROVKA AREA, July 14, 1943.

According to your personal instructions, since the evening of July 9, 1943, I have been continuously in the troops of Rotmistrov and Zhadov in the Prokhorovsky and southern directions. Before today inclusive, the enemy continues on the front of Zhadov and Rotmistrov massive tank attacks and counterattacks against our advancing tank units... From observations of the progress of the ongoing battles and from the testimony of prisoners, I conclude that the enemy, despite huge losses, both in manpower and especially in tanks and aircraft, he still does not give up the idea of ​​​​breaking through to Oboyan and further to Kursk, achieving this at any cost. Yesterday I personally observed a tank battle of our 18th and 29th corps with more than two hundred enemy tanks in a counterattack southwest of Prokhorovka. At the same time, hundreds of guns and all the PCs we had took part in the battle. As a result, the entire battlefield was littered with burning German and our tanks within an hour.

Over the course of two days of fighting, Rotmistrov's 29th Tank Corps lost 60% of its tanks irretrievably and temporarily out of action, and the 18th Corps lost up to 30% of its tanks. Losses in the 5th Guards. mechanized corps are insignificant. The next day, the threat of enemy tanks breaking through from the south into the Shakhovo, Avdeevka, Aleksandrovka areas continues to remain real. During the night I am taking all measures to bring the entire 5th Guards here. mechanized corps, the 32nd motorized brigade and four iptap regiments... The possibility of an oncoming tank battle here and tomorrow cannot be ruled out. In total, at least eleven tank divisions continue to operate against the Voronezh Front, systematically replenished with tanks. The prisoners interviewed today showed that the 19th Panzer Division currently has about 70 tanks in service, the Reich Division has up to 100 tanks, although the latter has already been replenished twice since July 5, 1943. The report was delayed due to late arrival from the front.

Great Patriotic War. Military historical essays. Book 2. Fracture. M., 1998.

THE COLLAPSE OF THE CITADEL

On July 12, 1943, a new stage of the Battle of Kursk began. On this day, part of the forces of the Soviet Western Front and Bryansk Front went on the offensive, and on July 15, the troops of the right wing of the Central Front attacked the enemy. On August 5, troops of the Bryansk Front liberated Oryol. On the same day, troops of the Steppe Front liberated Belgorod. On the evening of August 5, an artillery salute was fired for the first time in Moscow in honor of the troops who liberated these cities. During fierce battles, troops of the Steppe Front, with the assistance of the Voronezh and Southwestern Fronts, liberated Kharkov on August 23.

The Battle of Kursk was cruel and merciless. Victory in it came at great cost to the Soviet troops. In this battle they lost 863,303 people, including 254,470 permanently. Losses in equipment amounted to: 6064 tanks and self-propelled guns, 5244 guns and mortars, 1626 combat aircraft. As for Wehrmacht losses, information about them is fragmentary and incomplete. Soviet works presented calculated data according to which during the Battle of Kursk, German troops lost 500 thousand people, 1.5 thousand tanks, 3 thousand guns and mortars. Regarding losses in aircraft, there is information that during the defensive stage of the Battle of Kursk alone, the German side irretrievably lost about 400 combat vehicles, while the Soviet side lost about 1000. However, in fierce battles in the air, many experienced German aces, who had been fighting for many years in the East, were killed. front, among them 9 holders of the Knight's Cross.

It is undeniable that the collapse of the German Operation Citadel had far-reaching consequences and had a decisive influence on the entire further course of the war. After Kursk, the German armed forces were forced to switch to strategic defense not only on the Soviet-German front, but also in all theaters of military operations of the Second World War. Their attempt to regain the strategic initiative lost during the Battle of Stalingrad suffered a crushing failure.

EAGLE AFTER LIBERATION FROM THE GERMAN OCCUPATION

(from the book “Russia at War” by A. Werth), August 1943

(...) The liberation of the ancient Russian city of Oryol and the complete liquidation of the Oryol wedge, which threatened Moscow for two years, was a direct result of the defeat of the Nazi troops near Kursk.

In the second week of August I was able to travel by car from Moscow to Tula, and then to Orel...

In these thickets, through which the dusty road from Tula now ran, death awaits a person at every step. “Minen” (in German), “mines” (in Russian) - I read on old and new tablets stuck in the ground. In the distance, on a hill, under the blue summer sky, the ruins of churches, the remains of houses and lonely chimneys could be seen. These miles of weeds were no man's land for almost two years. The ruins on the hill were the ruins of Mtsensk. Two old women and four cats were all the living creatures that Soviet soldiers found there when the Germans withdrew on July 20. Before leaving, the Nazis blew up or burned everything - churches and buildings, peasant huts And all the rest. In the middle of the last century, Leskov and Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth” lived in this city... The “desert zone” created by the Germans now stretches from Rzhev and Vyazma to Orel.

How did Orel live during the almost two-year German occupation?

Of the 114 thousand population in the city, only 30 thousand now remain. The occupiers killed many residents. Many were hanged in the city square - the same one where the crew of the Soviet tank that was the first to break into Oryol is now buried, as well as General Gurtiev, the famous participant in the Battle of Stalingrad, killed on the morning when Soviet troops took the city in battle. They said that the Germans killed 12 thousand people and sent twice as many to Germany. Many thousands of Oryol residents went to the partisans in the Oryol and Bryansk forests, because here (especially in the Bryansk region) there was an area of ​​active partisan operations (...)

Wert A. Russia in the war of 1941-1945. M., 1967.

*Rotmistrov P.A. (1901-1982), Ch. Marshal of Armored Forces (1962). During the war, from February 1943 - commander of the 5th Guards. tank army. Since Aug. 1944 - Commander of the armored and mechanized forces of the Red Army.

**Zhadov A.S. (1901-1977). General of the Army (1955). From October 1942 to May 1945, commander of the 66th Army (from April 1943 - 5th Guards) Army.

75 years ago, a battle broke out that changed world history.

Back in the winter of 1943, Soviet troops surrounded and defeated the 6th German Army and captured an entire field marshal. Germany had never known defeats and shame on such a scale. No, the German army was still strong, and German science and industry produced advanced tanks and aircraft, and tested winged and ballistic missiles. They “ran ahead”: they created jet aircraft, guided torpedoes, and actively experimented with anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.

And Hitler hoped for revenge.

At the same time, the irretrievable losses of the Wehrmacht in just one year - from the summer of 1942 to the summer of 1943 - exceeded 1.3 million soldiers. In Germany they carried out mobilization, which exhausted the mobilization reserve. Simply put, they had nowhere else to take soldiers from: the country was fatally running out of men. Filling the cemeteries on our land.

The operation, with which they hoped to change the course of the war in their favor, was given the code designation Zitadelle ("Citadel"). Its goal: to encircle and destroy Soviet troops on the Kursk Bulge. The arc is a protrusion at the front up to 150 km deep and up to 200 km wide, facing west.

If they had succeeded, they would have gone to Moscow again. The German command sent 45% of its troops into battle on the Eastern Front. Up to 4 million soldiers, 13,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 12,000 aircraft took part in the battle on both sides. World history has never known such battles.

Before the Battle of Kursk, the Germans entered service with Focke-Wulf-190A fighters and Henschel-129 attack aircraft. Monster tanks “Panther” and “Tiger” were sent to the troops.

Each "Tiger" relieved the treasury by monstrous amounts of money: 250 thousand Reichsmarks. At the same time, it required experienced assembly workers, i.e. fatally drained the resources of the Third Reich. But the Germans did not take into account the costs. They put everything they had on the line.

"Tiger" behind the tree

Our team was preparing for the meeting. The warmest reception awaited the armored monsters.

The Tigers and Panthers were tough. On the contrary, Soviet designers developed a relatively simple and compact weapon - cumulative PTAB (anti-tank bombs) - weighing only 1.5 kg and the dimensions of a 2.5 kg bomb.

Penetrating the Tiger's 100mm frontal armor was not easy. Only powerful self-propelled guns, “St. John’s worts,” could do this. But in the battle of Prokhorovka, ours had little heavy equipment. 152 mm self-propelled gun - nothing at all. There were British Churchill tanks received under Lend-Lease. The Churchill's armor is not bad, but the gun is alas.

But everything ingenious is simple. The tiny PTAB burned through the German armor from above. With a good angle of contact, it penetrated 60-70 mm of armor. And the thickness of the Tiger's roof is 30 mm.

Our PTAB was created in just six months. The tests were completed in the spring of 1943, just when Hitler was determining the timing of the Citadel. There is evidence that the plan for this operation was already on Stalin’s table. Our intelligence was able to do the impossible.

Stalin personally ordered the People's Commissar of Ammunition, Boris Vannikov, to produce 800 thousand PTABs by May 15. The task was completed on time and in the specified volumes. But until July the bombs were classified and were not used in battles. So that the Wehrmacht does not have time to prepare.

The Il-2 attack aircraft carried up to 220 anti-tank bombs. And he created hell for the Nazis: after the attack of the stormtrooper regiment, dozens of burning cars and mountains of corpses remained on the ground. Photo: RIA Novosti www.ria.ru

On July 5, German divisions went on the offensive. And immediately we received a hail of fire from the sky: each Il-2 attack aircraft took on board from 192 to 220 PTAB! Captured German tank crews said that thousands of small bombs created hell on earth: burnt armor, exploding gas tanks and ammunition, and horror, horror, horror... After a couple of passes, a regiment of attack aircraft left dozens of burning tanks and mountains of corpses.

By the way, Western researchers write a lot and willingly about such an effect as “tank fear” of an infantryman. Why doesn’t anyone make blockbusters about the panicky “fear of IL-2” or “PTAB-phobia” of the Nazis?

The Wehrmacht hastily began to disperse its marching and combat formations. When stopped, the tanks and self-propelled guns were located under the treetops. Our aerial bombs lost effectiveness in such conditions: the fuses went off prematurely. And the Luftwaffe fighters were ordered to attack only the Il-2, ignoring all other targets. At any cost.

Of course, our attack air regiments suffered heavy losses. Well, how could it be otherwise? But the hero pilots coped with the task: during the battles on the Kursk Bulge they rained down half a million cumulative bombs on the enemy. They burned not only tanks, but also cars, artillery, fuel and ammunition depots.

After Prokhorovka and subsequent battles, German armored vehicles acquired a bizarre appearance: metal meshes were stretched over the tanks to reduce the cumulative effect of bombs. “PTAB-phobia” did not let go of them for a long time.

And they have no rest

But wars are not won with bombs alone. The soldiers fight to the death and win.

Ours were opposed by elite SS units, including “Reich” and “Totenkopf”. They were part of Army Group South, commanded by Erich von Manstein.

We need to talk specifically about Manstein. Born in Prussia, his surname at birth was Lewinski: the son of a German general, an ethnic Pole. He was adopted by the von Manstein family, 16 of whose ancestors were generals in the Prussian-German or Russian service. Erich fought in two world wars and was seriously wounded. Awarded iron crosses, including the Knight's Cross. He received a field marshal for the capture of Sevastopol.

In 1943 he was 55 years old. Manstein can be described in four words. The best mind of the German generals.

So, according to Manstein’s recollections, on July 1, Hitler called him to his headquarters and announced the start date of the “Citadel”, and also said that all units participating in the operation were fully staffed. And that Germany “for the first time surpasses the Russians in the number of tanks.”

Interesting note. Last years Among some historians, it has become fashionable to feel sorry for the Nazis in connection with the “Prokhorov meat grinder” (a Western description of a tank battle). In the sense that they had a lot of trouble with the “Tigers”, and they had no luck with the “Panthers”, they broke down on the way to the battlefield. In general, there was almost nothing to fight. Strange, isn't it? Well, there was no point in rushing into battle. It would be better if they pulled out right away...

Nevertheless, there are documents according to which a tank battle in the Prokhorovka area was part of Manstein’s plans. The Germans were quite confident in their abilities.

We consider this battle to be the largest in the Kursk operation, and in general of the entire war. Although historians argue very passionately: how many tanks actually fought in that battle? It has gotten to the point where almost every researcher now has his own numbers. How to make sense of this chaos?

The best choice: trust your own.

On the website of the Military Historical Society, the battle is described as follows: “On July 12, in the Prokhorovka area, the largest tank battle of the Second World War took place, in which up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part on both sides... Both sides suffered huge losses. Soviet troops lost 500 tanks out of 800 (60%). The Germans - 300 tanks out of 400 (75%). For them it was a disaster. Inspector General of the Wehrmacht tank forces Guderian wrote: “The armored forces were out of action for a long time due to large losses in people and equipment out of order... and there were no more calm days on the Eastern Front."

Numbers, of course, are also important. Let's say, it would be great if General Pavel Rotmistrov near Prokhorovka had fewer light T-70 tanks and more heavy ones. For example, the wonderful KV-1S. And instead of the T-34 with a 76-mm gun, there are tanks from the future (from 1944): “thirty-fours” with an 85-mm gun. The blood of our soldiers would have been shed less.

But history does not know the subjunctive mood.

Moreover, the battle is not only statistics. Here is a case that you cannot read about without emotion. In the battle near Prokhorovka, the tank of battalion commander Captain Skripkin destroyed two enemy tanks, but was hit and caught fire. Driver Nikolaev and radio operator Zyryanov carried out the wounded commander. And then the driver and loader returned to the burning car and went to ram. The fire and impact caused the ammunition to detonate and everyone died...

There are photographs that we cannot publish for moral and ethical reasons - how they take out what is left of the crew from a burnt tank. You can easily find them on the Internet, just be careful: impressionable people cannot eat or drink for a long time after such pictures.

Just getting out of a burning tank is a feat. But to return to the tank and continue the battle... Monuments to such tankers should not be erected from granite. Made from precious metals.

Forward, under the tanks

How to convey the essence of the feat of our ancestors to the broad masses? But there is a way. You have to feel it. The army has an exercise called “tank testing”. What happens is this: you lie down on the ground (a softer option is to jump into a trench). They give you a grenade. Hefty and heavy. And a tank is approaching you. Real. Scary. I was tested with the old T-55, but now there are no such ones. 36 tons, engine 580 horses. Modern ones are heavier and more powerful. But 36 tons is also nothing, it’s not childish. The earth is shaking. Trembling is transmitted to the body, to every cell. Anyone who says it's not scary is lying. Scary. But panicking is harmful to life. When you are already a few meters from the tracks, the driver does not see you. If you run, it will wrap around the caterpillar.

And then the sun fades: you are under the bottom. Rumble, clods of earth in the face and behind the collar, diesel fumes. As soon as the tank passes, throw this grenade at the rear...

Why am I writing this, and what does this have to do with Prokhorovka?

Just imagine: a tank is coming at you not to train your mental endurance. And to kill. Spin around, cover with earth, bury alive.

It's a completely different feeling.

By the way, the Tiger weighed 57 tons.

In German photo chronicles from the time of the "Citadel" you can see "Tigers", on the sides of which there is barbed wire, which served as protection against Soviet infantry. And there are many more German tanks covered with Zimmerit. This is a mixture of barium and zinc sulfate, sawdust, ocher, plus an adhesive base. Zimmerit made the armor of tanks non-magnetic, which saved them from hand-held mines. It took 100 kg of Zimmerit to coat a medium T-4, and as much as 200 kg for a heavy Tiger.

The mines were planted not by partisans, but by infantry soldiers. They ran to the attacking tanks, and... Those few who remained alive at the end of the rush were the ones who laid the mines.

Today there are “researchers” who, using the method of theoretical inferences, have come to the conclusion that Zimmerit is the stupidity of German engineers. Because in order to attach such a mine in battle, you had to not only run up to the tank under fire, but also stand up to your full height. Scary and very dangerous. Who dared to do this?..

I think the problem is not that several generations have grown up who do not know war. Peace is good, it is right. The problem is that a generation is growing up that can’t wrap their head around the fact that there were people capable of such feats.

And they were. Our great ancestors with grenades and mines rushed at tanks that were scary to even stand next to.

And as a result - the collapse of the Citadel. Already on August 5, the troops of the Bryansk Front liberated Oryol, and the troops of the Steppe Front liberated Belgorod. There were fireworks in Moscow. And on August 23, our people threw the Nazis out of Kharkov.

Infographics "RG": Leonid Kuleshov

And the Red Army drove the fascists. Yes, May 1945 was still a long way off. Millions will die. But the outcome of the war was clear. At the end of 1943, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt met in Tehran. They discussed not only the opening of a second front, but also the post-war structure of the world.

And about six months after the Battle of Kursk, the Fuhrer summoned Manstein and said that he no longer needed his services. On the grounds that the main mind of the German generals was a master of the offensive. And no attacks are expected yet.

It was true. Only - without "yet". Until the very end of World War II, the Wehrmacht was no longer able to conduct a single strategic offensive operation.

After the battle: the field near Prokhorovka. According to eyewitnesses, the dust, burning grass and armored vehicles turned day into night. There was an indescribable stench over the battlefield, the wounded were screaming and moaning, and dying tanks were exploding.

Infographics "RG": Leonid Kuleshov / Igor Elkov