Soviet Defensive Tactics At Kursk, July 1943 by Colonel David M Glantz

Author:Colonel David M Glantz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2015-10-13T04:00:00+00:00

By 1200, 6 July, the 13th Panzer Division’s 27th Panzer Regiment had fought its way to Generalovka, where the 2d Battalion, 223d Rifle Regiment, halted its progress. Meanwhile, remnants of the 228th Rifle Regiment abandoned Dalni Peski, left one battalion in new defensive positions, and using woods and ravines to cover their movement, swung two battalions into new positions north of Generalovka facing south, and tied into 81st Guards Rifle Division’s left flank opposing the 19th Panzer’s 7% Panzer Grenadier Regiment (see map 11).{39} The German advance destroyed most of the remaining Soviet force in Razumnoye and forced the remnants of the 223d and 225th Rifle Regiments into encirclement at Krutoy Log. As the 6th and

7th Panzer Divisions swept on toward the 73d Guards Rifle Division’s positions northwest of Krutoy Log, the two encircled Soviet regiments received orders to break out during darkness before German infantry arrived to seal off their escape. Late on the night of 6-7 July, the regiment’s remnants finally reached new defensive lines formed by the 72d Guards Rifle Division near Gremyachiy.

On the afternoon of 6 July, after having dealt with the 78th Guards Rifle Division’s defenses, the 6th and 7th Panzer Divisions engaged in heavy combat with the 73d Guards Rifle Division northwest of Krutoy Log (see map 12).{40} The 7th Panzer Division dented, but did not break the Soviet defenses and lost heavily in the contest. {41} At 1400, on the 7th Panzer’s left flank, the 6th Panzer Division, with 100 tanks, assaulted and overran the 209th Guards Rifle Regiment’s positions on the 73d Guards Rifle Division’s right flank and advanced into the depth of the Soviet defenses (see map 13). The 7th Panzer Division soon ended its attacks on the 73d Guards Rifle Division’s defenses and moved the bulk of its forces in the wake of the 6th Panzer Division’s advance northward.

By the evening of 7 July, the 78th Guards Rifle Division had fulfilled its role in the battle of Kursk—the necessary but unpleasant role of shock absorber for the German assault. The division absorbed the full force of two attacking German panzer divisions and shattered under the blow, but only after two days of heavy combat that exacted a toll, in time and lives, from the two German units and provided the 7th Guards Army with the time necessary to bring new units to bear on the German advance. In a narrow sense, the defense failed, although the Soviets claimed the division disabled about fifty German tanks. In a larger sense, operating as an integral part of the 25th Guards Rifle Corps’ defensive plan, the 78th Guards Rifle Division’s defense was a greater success. The combined efforts of the more successful 81st Guards Rifle Division and the 73d Guards Rifle Division accounted for roughly a quarter of the German tank strength (100 of 400)) slowed the German advance, and ultimately created conditions which prevented the timely linkup of the III Panzer Corps with the II SS Panzer Corps in the Prokhorovka area.

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