The tank counter strike near Prokhorovka was planned by the Soviet military command for the morning of July 12. The day before, the German troops took their starting positions to attack an important railway station by breaking through the Red Army defensive line in the southern area of the Kursk Bulge. Commander of the Voronezh Front Vatutin appointed the 5th Guards Tank Army of Lieutenant General Rotmistrov and the 5th Guards Army of Lieutenant General Zhadov as the main forces of this counteroffensive operation.
Both military formations were already overpowering the enemy on the battlefield. Pavel Alexeyevich Rotmistrov, a native of the Tver Governorate, served in the Red Army from the age of 18. In 1941, he participated in defensive battles and the counteroffensive near Moscow as the head of the mechanized corps staff and the brigade commander. In January of 1943, Rotmistrov’s tank corps participated in defeating Manstein’s army after an attempt to break the Paulus group out of their encircled position near Stalingrad, and in the liberation of Rostov-on-Don.
The enemy surpassed the Soviet tanks by weapon power on the eve of the largest tank battle of the Second World War. The shooting range of the 88mm Tiger guns, as well as the shooting range of the self-propelled artillery weapons under the name Ferdinand reached up to two kilometers. The weapons of the indigenous T-34 battle machines were only able to get through the enemy’s armor from 800 meters at most. The support of anti-tank artillery in close cooperation with the units of the 5th Guards Army was necessary to succeed in such a situation.
A military correspondent shot a personal meeting between two military commanders before the battle. This meeting was important for the total victory over the enemy forces. These generals had similar biographies. Both were born in the first year of the 20th century, and both served in the Red Army from the age of 18. Alexey Semyonovich Zhadov participated in the Battle of Smolensk, the Battle for Moscow, and the Battle of Stalingrad during the first years of war. The Battle of Prokhorovka, where about 1,200 tanks from both sides clashed with one another, and where the Red Army lost up to 60% of its battle machines while the Wehrmacht lost up to 75% of theirs, was the moment that turned the tide of the Battle of Kursk.
The tank battle of Prokhorovka was one of the culminations in the biographies of both military commanders as well. Pavel Alexeyevich Rotmistrov wrote in his memoirs that the night before the battle was full of Komsomol and Communist Party gatherings, and many fighters wrote their applications for enrolling into the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Both army commanders met the Victory Day in their lines and were honored with the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
Both military formations were already overpowering the enemy on the battlefield. Pavel Alexeyevich Rotmistrov, a native of the Tver Governorate, served in the Red Army from the age of 18. In 1941, he participated in defensive battles and the counteroffensive near Moscow as the head of the mechanized corps staff and the brigade commander. In January of 1943, Rotmistrov’s tank corps participated in defeating Manstein’s army after an attempt to break the Paulus group out of their encircled position near Stalingrad, and in the liberation of Rostov-on-Don.
The enemy surpassed the Soviet tanks by weapon power on the eve of the largest tank battle of the Second World War. The shooting range of the 88mm Tiger guns, as well as the shooting range of the self-propelled artillery weapons under the name Ferdinand reached up to two kilometers. The weapons of the indigenous T-34 battle machines were only able to get through the enemy’s armor from 800 meters at most. The support of anti-tank artillery in close cooperation with the units of the 5th Guards Army was necessary to succeed in such a situation.
A military correspondent shot a personal meeting between two military commanders before the battle. This meeting was important for the total victory over the enemy forces. These generals had similar biographies. Both were born in the first year of the 20th century, and both served in the Red Army from the age of 18. Alexey Semyonovich Zhadov participated in the Battle of Smolensk, the Battle for Moscow, and the Battle of Stalingrad during the first years of war. The Battle of Prokhorovka, where about 1,200 tanks from both sides clashed with one another, and where the Red Army lost up to 60% of its battle machines while the Wehrmacht lost up to 75% of theirs, was the moment that turned the tide of the Battle of Kursk.
The tank battle of Prokhorovka was one of the culminations in the biographies of both military commanders as well. Pavel Alexeyevich Rotmistrov wrote in his memoirs that the night before the battle was full of Komsomol and Communist Party gatherings, and many fighters wrote their applications for enrolling into the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Both army commanders met the Victory Day in their lines and were honored with the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
