GREATEST Tank Battle Ever: Battle Of Kursk WW2 - Forgotten History

by Panzer
foreign
This video is sponsored by World of Tanks
In the summer of 1943 a month-long battle at Kursk took place and it was the largest combined clash
of tanks men and aircraft in history involving almost 6,000 vehicles of all types two million
men and 5,000 aircraft. Both the German and Soviet forces threw their best air and ground
units into this epic struggle but one location would stand out, which was one part of the
great battle and clash of armor involving 1,500 tanks. What was the Battle of Kursk
Why was Prokhorovka so critical?
How did Soviet and German tanks match up? What was the end result?
Hello I'm Colin Heaton a veteran of the United States Army and Marine Corps former
history professor book author and welcome to this episode of Forgotten History foreign
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Back to our program. The Battle of Kursk was planned by Hitler from April to May 1943 Operation
Citadel focusing upon the city of Kursk which had a 150 mile wide Soviet pocket that had pushed 100
miles into German lines. Hitler delayed until he had enough of his new armored vehicles such as the
Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger 1 and Panzerkampfwagen V 5 Panther and Ferdinand tank destroyers.
Marshal Georgi Zhukov used this delay by Hitler to prepare a series of seven defensive belts of deep
and wide ditches and tank traps and anti-tank guns complete with minefields covered by artillery.
How to deal with the Kursk salient resulted in heated discussions. Field Marshal Erich von
Manstein wanted to establish a mobile defense with German forces retreating and allowing the
Soviet units to advance and then counter-attack on the Soviet flanks weakening them so their
forces could advance. But Adolf Hitler wanted to push and destroy Soviet forces on the wider
front. One critical location was a small village and railroad junction at Prokhorovka. This was a
rail head that allowed the Soviets to resupply men and material by train unless it was taken.