I'm Indy Neidell
I'm Pär from Sabaton, and this is Sabaton History.
One of the largest tank battles in history, in 1943 in World War Two, resulted in the
Soviet Union gaining the initiative on the Eastern Front, which it would hold until the
end of the war.
And Panzerkampf, our song about that, unexpectedly became one of our most popular songs.
The panzerkampf was fought between the Wehrmacht and the Red army
and here's the story behind it
The Russian counter-offensives that had begun in November 1942 had pushed the Germans not
only mostly out of the Caucasus, but also crossed into eastern Ukraine and southern
Belarus.
By March 1943 they had created a large salient deep into the German front lines between the
cities of Orel and Kharkov. This was the Kursk salient and was an obvious target for German
high command. By cutting off the salient, they would not only shorten the frontline,
but also trap a large amount of Russian soldiers and material. Such a success would give the
Germans time to rebuild after the recent losses at Stalingrad.
Both the forces of Army Group South led by General-Field Marshal Erich von Manstein,
and those of Army Group North under Generaloberst Walter Model were to perform a massive pincer
movement that would smash through on both sides of the salient and encircle the troops
inside, but many German Generals expressed doubts.
See, the Russian army of 1943 was not the same army they so easily outmaneuvered in
1941. By now the Soviets were much more competent in using their deep-battle doctrine, and they
were already preparing a summer offensive to use the salient to their own advantage,
since they also knew of the German plans. The British had cracked the German cyphers
and given intel to the Soviets, so Stavka- Russian High Command- had convinced Stalin
to delay the Soviet offensive until after the Germans had exhausted their own against
the Russian defenses. Then the Soviet counter- offensive would easily punch through the German
lines and collapse the whole Army Group Centre.
So... tens of thousands of Russian workers began building an enormous defense in depth
system, digging trenches and tank-traps on 5000km of frontline. The defense was centered
mostly on strongpoints manned by rifle-battalions. Each also had four 4,5 cm anti-tank guns.
Russian pioneers lay up to a million mines all around the salient, both anti-personnel
and anti-tank mines, mostly in front of their forward line. Red Army General Konstantin
Rokossovsky also had a strong mobile defense force that would engage the Germans if they
managed to penetrate the front lines. All in all, the Soviet forces enjoyed at least
a 2:1 advantage in men, tanks, artillery, and aircraft.
Von Manstein disregarded those numbers, since he still believed in the inferior quality
of the Soviet troops. Model was less optimistic and very much against the whole operation,
but despite his doubts, Hitler and High Command urged him to concentrate all his forces and
attack from the north. Model, however, prepared for a possible Russian counterattack and held
the 2nd Panzerarmee around the city of Orel in reserve. He also prepared the Hagen-Stellung,
a defensive line the Germans could fall back on if everything went to hell.
On July 5th, 1943, the German offensive began.
Okay, it actually began with a Soviet artillery barrage that rained down on the German frontlines.
See, the day before, captured German soldiers had revealed the exact hour the offensive
would begin, so tactical surprise was lost.
Still, the German forces were soon moving towards the Russian lines under their own
opening barrage of heavy artillery, mortars and Nebelwerfer-rockets. As usual, the advance
was spearheaded by the German tank divisions and mobile Sturmdivisions, but the minefields
and Soviet resistance slowed them down. However, the Germans had sent new weapon systems into
the battle. Ferdinand tank destroyers could outrange their Russian counterparts, and German
pioneers led radio-controlled demolition tanks into the minefields to clear the path. Well-positioned
Tiger tanks could destroy whole groups of Russian tanks that were sent out in premature
counter attacks. In the air, the superior German FW-190As were able to suppress the
Russian fighters and bomber attacks, despite their disadvantage in numbers.
So as the days dragged on, the German advance took out several major strongpoints, and they
even penetrated the first line of Rokossovsky's defenses, but the large defensive system slowly
but steadily whittled away the German forces. Tanks were damaged by the mines, and the relentless
Russian artillery caused heavy casualties among the German infantry.
German tank losses weren't actually as high as Russian sources may suggest. Only around
10% of Model's tanks were lost, for example, the others took light damage, mostly to their
tracks, which could usually be repaired in the field. Nonetheless, the Soviets achieved
what they hoped for; they blunted the German spear. All while the Russian tank armies were
building up for their own killing blow.
On the 11th of August, Model finally called off the fruitless offensive. Only the elite
SS-Panzerdivisions Totenkopf, Das Reich, and Leibstandarte in the south were still making
progress, as they reached the fields near a small village called Prokhorovka. The Stavka
wanted to attack now, before Model could redeploy his Panzers. The long awaited counter attack-
Operation Kutuzov- would set loose the Russian tank armies.
Early in the morning of the 12th, Operation Kutuzov began.
In the south, those SS-Panzer divisions were surprised by a wave of armor that was heading
their way- some 500 tanks that attacked the unprepared Germans. The backbone of the Russian
tank force was the upgraded T34/76 model, which made out around 70% of the tanks, but
most of the rest was made out of light tanks. Only a few heavy KV-tanks were there. The
Germans had far fewer tanks, not even 300, but those SS-divisions were the first to receive
the Tiger and Panther models that outclassed the T-34 in range and whose armor could not
be penetrated by the lighter tanks, and yet, in larger groups, the T-34 was still extremely
dangerous.
The tanks clashed on the fields of Prokhorovka. The German tanks desperately fought off the
Soviet tanks at point blank range. German Panzergrenadiers even resorted to ramming
them with their halftracks. Despite heavy losses, though, the Soviets forced the Germans
to retreat.
In the north, the counter offensive began
with a massive artillery strike, obliterating much of the German forward positions of the
2nd Panzer army.
The Soviet counter-attack here would be even more deadly than in the south. Model's foresight
had paid off and the 2nd Panzerarmee was able to fend off the first wave of Russian tanks,
attacking towards Orel, but this was just the initial engagement. The overwhelming Russian
artillery and armor soon broke into the German positions all over the front, and Model was
forced to pull back just to prevent encirclement, without even waiting for authorization from
Hitler. However, the Soviets failed to exploit their advantage nor realize how close the
German defenses were to collapsing. So the Germans managed a fighting retreat.
As the Red Army captured the major prize of Orel on August 5th, the German army retreated
into their Hagen position, and it was that which ultimately saved them. German High Command
was now forced to face the fact that the German army was not able to fight high intensity
battles on such a large scale any longer. The offensive had been a disaster, for not
only did it not bring victory, it cost the German army the strategic initiative on the
Eastern Front, and they would never regain it. The offensive had cost the Russians dearly,
yes, and losses were perhaps four times higher than those of the Germans, but the Russian
could replace their losses, which the Germans by this time could not. The Russians were on the offensive for good.
Then stuff we shot
with Pär and call to action- Joakim will have to do that I guess.
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