By Matija Šerić

When the German offensive began, a tremendous tension seized Moscow. The newspaper Red Star reported the news in an article filled with Russian nationalism: “Our fathers and grandfathers made every sacrifice to save their Russia, their homeland. Our people will never forget Minin, Pozharsky, Suvorov, Kutuzov, and the Russian partisans of 1812. We are proud to think that the blood of our glorious ancestors flows in our veins, and we must prove ourselves worthy of them…”

In the very heart of Russia, in Turgenev’s homeland, the Battle of Kulikovo (where Prince Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Tatars in 1380, a battle upon which so much depended) had also been fought.

Soviet media encourage the optimism of the Russian people

On the very first day of the battle, it became clear that Germany had thrown enormous forces into the fight and that they were suffering unprecedented losses without gaining much in return. The announcement on the first day of fighting stated:

“Since this morning, our units have been fiercely fighting against strong enemy infantry and tanks advancing in the sectors of Orel, Kursk, and Belgorod. Numerous aircraft are supporting the enemy forces. All attacks have been repelled with heavy losses inflicted on the enemy, and only a few small German units have managed to penetrate our defensive lines slightly in certain areas. Initial reports show that our units have disabled or destroyed 586 enemy tanks and shot down 203 enemy aircraft. The fighting continues.”

The country was thrilled by the figure of 586 tanks, as nothing like it had ever occurred in a single day before. A similar feeling arose in London during the Battle of Britain when it was announced that 280 German planes had been shot down in one day.

On July 6, another report mentioned slight Russian withdrawals. The number of destroyed tanks was 433, and 111 aircraft. On the 7th, the count was again 520 tanks and 111 aircraft. On the 8th, the Russians were already launching counterattacks, and German losses that day amounted to 303 tanks and 161 aircraft. On July 9, the anxiety that had lasted four days came to an end. After the report of 586 tanks, the tension was not as intense anymore. “Tigers in Flames” was the headline of a front-line report, and statements from bewildered Germans were published describing “a massacre among the German army such as they had never experienced before.”

The tank march

On July 6, Stalin personally called the commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army, General Pavel Rotmistrov, to order an advance toward Prokhorovka, initiating a grueling three-day march of over 370 km. It was Rotmistrov’s birthday, and a dinner had been planned. When his guests arrived, they found military maps on the table instead of food and drinks. Rotmistrov was preparing the details of the march. A toast to his health was made with champagne captured from a German unit, and at 1:30 a.m. on July 7, the 5th Guards Tank Army began its movement.

The journey was exhausting. The army had to move day and night despite the threat posed by German Ju-87 dive bombers equipped with special anti-tank weapons. Soviet aircraft flew above the convoy to drive away the German planes. Rotmistrov traveled with his staff in trucks that served as a temporary headquarters, controlling his troops by radio as they advanced toward the battlefield. The commander of the Reserve Front, General Konev, was in an aircraft at a safe distance to observe the reinforcements on the move.

This was the first time that an entire tank army advanced under its own power rather than by railway.

Harsh weather conditions

The conditions soon worsened. The heat was unbearable already at eight in the morning. An endless river of vehicles raised thick smoke that enveloped the soldiers, vehicles, and horses as if in some sooty film. But it was not a film; it was harsh reality. The soldiers were soon drenched in sweat and exhausted by thirst. It turned out to be an extraordinary test of endurance for the Soviet armor. Surprisingly, only a few of them were lost despite the rough terrain and dust. When the army was halted on July 9, about 90 kilometers from the front line, it was still an intact fighting force. That day, Rotmistrov ordered his troops to take up combat positions, and the remaining distance to the front had to be covered without stopping. On July 10, the exhausted troops arrived at the battlefield.

Preparation for a tank mega clash

Rotmistrov was ordered to prepare for a great tank battle, but he had no idea what it was about. Against the superior Tiger tanks and Ferdinand assault guns, he was ordered to use his T-34 tanks in “close quarters” combat. The greater maneuverability of the T-34s allowed them to attack German tanks from the sides and rear where significant damage could be inflicted. Two days were spent in preparation. German pressure was present to the west and east of Prokhorovka, and desperate efforts were made to hold the flanks and prevent a German breakthrough before the reserve army was ready to act. Zhukov ordered ten artillery regiments to position themselves around the center of the town so they could effectively target German armor. Stalin ordered Vasilevsky, the Chief of Staff of the Red Army, to personally take command of the battle. On the morning of July 12, two enormous tank forces faced each other: 850 Soviet tanks against more than 600 German tanks – the largest tank battle of the entire war.

The Battle of Prokhorovka

Rotmistrov drove to a dugout in an orchard above the battlefield. Below him stretched a vast wheat field, in shades of yellow with the sun on the horizon. In the distance lay dark forests where he knew German troops were hiding. Reconnaissance patrols had heard the noise of hundreds of engines during the night as the SS divisions took their positions. Now the whole scene was unusually quiet except for the chatter on the communication lines. Exactly at 6:30 a.m., the first German planes appeared. Half an hour later, numerous German bombers flew like insects. Their buzzing grew louder as they flew over Russian positions, dropping bombs on the forests and villages around Prokhorovka. Before they could finish their work, Soviet fighter planes attacked them in large numbers. Aircraft from both sides began falling from the sky, and the explosions of downed planes replaced the explosions of bombs.

Waves of Soviet bombers and fighters took their place, targeting the surrounding forests where the Germans were hiding with bombs and rocket fire. Soviet artillery began its barrage, showering the concealed SS troops with fire and bombs. Then, at 8:30 a.m., Rotmistrov gave the attack code: “steel, steel,” which in Russian is pronounced staljin. The word flashed through the army. The T-34 tanks moved from their concealed positions and headed into the wheat fields. At the exact same time, as if “steel” was also a signal for them, German tanks and guns began advancing from the edges of the forests. In an area slightly larger than 7 square kilometers, over a thousand tanks clashed. Neither side wanted a collision of such intensity, but it was inevitable.

The fierce clash was barely visible from the hill above where Rotmistrov observed, due to the smoke and dust. During the day, heavy rain, lightning, and thunder added a natural element to the entire spectacle. The tanks soon became so intermingled that both sides stopped using artillery and air support. The T-34 tanks, although weaker than the German ones, tried to get as close as possible to the Tigers and Panthers to inflict maximum damage. When they ran out of ammunition, they rammed into the German tanks. As their engines neared the end of their serviceability, they approached the German armor. Tanks with broken wheels and other parts continued to fire until they ran out of ammunition. When the tanks became completely unusable, Soviet soldiers went out into the open field, throwing petrol bombs and grenades.

There was little order in the battle. Both sides suffered terrible losses. By the end of the day, over 700 tanks lay wrecked, destroyed, or disabled in various forms, from shattered turrets to broken barrels. Around them were the bodies of thousands of dead and burned Wehrmacht and Red Army soldiers. After eight hours, both sides ceased fighting. Fires raged everywhere in the surrounding farms and villages, and meadows and orchards turned black from countless explosions. When Rotmistrov was able to leave the dugout in the evening, the rain had stopped. The air smelled of burning. After the deafening battle, he heard the sound of repairs. Small groups of scouts moved across the field searching for their wounded. The Germans blew up tanks that could not be repaired. A stream of ammunition, fuel, and other supplies was brought in by trucks. Engineers laid new mines. Rotmistrov fell asleep shortly before dawn, and was awakened a few hours later by the noise of falling bombs.

A documentary of the Kursk battle

An indecisive result

The battle was not decided on the first day, but its outcome became clearer. German losses were too high to allow further advances. The Soviet forces had held back the German attack but made little progress. Flanking maneuvers by German troops on the left and right were repelled. When attacks resumed the next morning, there was no close-quarters fighting. The Germans probed for possibilities to bypass the Soviet defense, but Vasilevsky and Vatutin quickly redeployed units to repel the attacks. Two more days of fighting showed that the Germans were unable to break through the Soviet defense.

On July 15, the battle finally ended with both armies more or less where they had started. The SS divisions were devastated. The “Dead Head” division, which bore the brunt of the battle at Prokhorovka, was withdrawn from the front. The Panzer Army lost more than half of its personnel and armor. Some divisions were so badly hit that they were left with only 17 operational tanks. Soviet losses were also high. The day after the tank clash, Rotmistrov was left with only half of his initial force, despite reinforcements arriving from other parts of the front.

The great tank battle left many Russian commanders deeply shaken. Marshal Zhukov arrived on July 13 to see the damage for himself. He was driven through the battlefield with Rotmistrov and Nikita Khrushchev, the party representative. They stopped the car several times to observe the tanks and metal piled upon metal. Rotmistrov noticed an uncharacteristic gloom among his guests. Zhukov, who moved entire armies on maps at his table, was “astonished” by the scene of the actual battle. When Vasilevsky observed the tank battle on July 12, it left an “indelible impression” on him, as he later recalled.

A “desert” of destroyed tanks

For weeks after the battle, the entire region, 48 km long and 48 km wide, remained, as one correspondent wrote, “a disgusting desert.” Several kilometers away, the air smelled of hundreds of unburied corpses rotting in the summer heat.