#Tank battles of wwii series

This led him to chose the second plan of attack. Hitler thought both plans were flawed and he decided that if the attack were delayed, more new Tiger and Panther tanks would be able to join in.

#Tank battles of wwii series

The two German plans were either to do a more mobile, hit and run series of attacks or to march straight into the Soviet frontlines even with Soviet forces building up defenses and fortifications exactly where the attack would come. More Info: Battle of Kursk order of battle This was a decisive, yet costly battle for the Soviet Union and it was the mortal blow to German forces in the Eastern Front. In total about 500,000 German troops were killed or wounded and about 250,000 Soviet Troops were killed, while there were over 600,000 wounded. The battle started with the German offensive and it was ended with a Soviet counteroffensive. The goal of this attack by German forces was to reinitiate the push into the Soviet Union after it had been halted during and after the Battle of Stalingrad.Īlthough German forces had held against a Soviet counterattack in Kharkov, this was not enough for the German high command, thus they initiated an offensive of their own.

The German codename for this battle was Operation Citadel and along with this battle being one of the biggest tank battles, the Battle of Kursk was also very costly to aerial forces as well. The battle began on Jand it ended on August 23, 1943. The two main forces were the Soviet Union and Germany. The Battle of Kursk was the largest tank battle to take place in World War II.