The Unknown War is an American 20-part series that documents the World War II conflict between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
Today, SouthFront shares the 7th part of the series titled “The World’s Greatest Tank Battle”. In July 1943, the largest tank battle in history took place in Kursk. 1000 Soviet and German tanks clashed during the battle.
The Wehrmacht began to concentrate its forces for the battle, including its latest Panthers and Tigers tanks, early in the year. The Russians observed and counted the concentration of Nazi troops: 900,000 soldiers, 2,700 tanks, 10,000 guns, 2,000 airplanes.
Stalin appointed Marshals Zhukov and Vasilevsky to lead the offensive on the Nazi group in Kursk. The Russians concentrated one million 300,000 soldiers, nearly 20,000 guns and mortars, and over 3,600 tanks.
On the eve of battle, Hitler announced, “Soldiers of the Reich, you must take part in an offensive of great importance, the entire future of the war may depend on its outcome. More than anything, your Victory will show the world that resistance to the might of the German Army is hopeless.”
German tank column, June 1943.
On July 5, the Germans launched their first offensive with a force of about 1,000 tanks. Many Nazi tanks found their deaths in the first half mile of minefields. Russian batteries shot them down in minutes. It was a bloodbath.
Soviet infantry. Battle of Kursk, 1943
Retreating under the relentless Soviet onslaught, the Germans destroyed everything they left behind.
For 50 days the Soviet Army brought the Wehrmacht losses of half a million men, 1,500 tanks, 3,000 guns, more than 3,700 airplanes. At Kursk, the Red Army put an end to the vanity of Hitler and Germany itself. It did not just destroy equipment and troops, it cut short the Nazi dream of a thousand-year Reich.
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