Richard W. Harrison - The Battle of Kursk: The Red Army’s Defensive Operations and Counter-Offensive, July-August 1943

The Battle of Kursk: The Red Armys Defensive Operations and Counter-Offensive, July-August 1943 offers a peculiarly Soviet view of one of the Second World Wars most critical events. While the German defeats at Moscow and Stalingrad showed that Hitler could not win the war in the East, the outcome of Kursk demonstrated beyond a doubt that he would lose it. This study was compiled by the Red Army General Staffs military-historical directorate, which was charged with collecting and analyzing the wars experience, and issued as an internal document in 1946-47. The study languished for more than a half-century, before being published in Russia in 2006, although heavily supplemented by commentary and other information not contained in the original. The present work omits these additions, while supplying its own commentary in places deemed necessary. The book is divided into two parts, dealing with the defensive and offensive phases of the battle, respectively. The first begins with a strategic overview of the situation along the Eastern Front by the spring and summer of 1943 and the Soviet decision to stand on the defensive. This is followed by a detailed examination of the Central Fronts efforts to counter the expected German attack out of the Orel salient, and the Voronezh Fronts attempts to do the same against the German concentrations in the BelgorodKharkov area. The rest of this section is devoted to an exceedingly detailed day-by-day, tactical-operational account of the struggle, particularly along the southern face of the salient, where the Germans came closest to succeeding. The second part will be more of a revelation to the Western reader, who is likely to be more familiar with the defensive phase of the battle. Here the authors once again, in great detail, lay out the Red Armys preparations for and conduct of a massive counteroffensive to clear the Orel salient, which soon degenerated to a grinding struggle, which while ultimately successful, cost the Soviets dearly. Likewise, the authors detail the Voronezh Fronts preparations to reduce the Belgorod salient and seize the industrial center of Kharkov. This offensive, in conjunction with a simultaneous offensive in the Donets industrial region, pushed the German lines to the breaking point and set the stage for the follow-on advance to the Dnepr River and the eventual liberation of Ukraine.

Richard W. Harrison earned his undergraduate and masters degrees from Georgetown University, where he specialized in Russian area studies. In 1994 he earned his doctorate in War Studies from Kings College London. He also was an exchange student in the former Soviet Union and spent several years living and working in post-communist Russia.

Dr. Harrison has worked for the US Department of Defense as an investigator in Russia, dealing with cases involving POWs and MIAs. He has also taught Russian history and military history at college and university level, most recently at the US Military Academy at West Point.

Harrison is the author of two books dealing with the Red Armys theoretical development during the interwar period: The Russian Way of War: Operational Art, 19041940 (2001), and Architect of Soviet Victory in World War II: The Life and Theories of G.S. Isserson (2010). He has also authored a number of articles on topics in Soviet military history. He is currently working on a history of the Red Armys high commands during World War II and afterwards.

Dr. Harrison currently lives with his family near Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

THE BATTLE OF KURSK

The Red Armys Defensive Operations and Counter-Offensive, July-August 1943

Soviet General Staff

Edited and translated by Richard W. Harrison

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Published by Helion & Company 2016, in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army

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Text and maps Association of the United States Army. English edition translated and edited by Richard W. Harrison. Maps drawn by David Rennie.

ISBN 978-1-910777-67-1

eISBN 978-1-912174-60-7

Mobi ISBN 978-1-912174-60-7

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The Situation by the Beginning of the Battle of Kursk, 5 July 1943.

The OrelKursk Axis, 5-15 July 1943.

The BelgorodKursk Axis, 5-23 July 1943.

The Plan of the Offensive Operation for Eliminating the Orel Salient.

The Soviet Commands Plan for Carrying out the BelgorodKharkov Operation

The Battle of Kursk. The Soviet Forces Counteroffensive, July-August 1943.

48th Armys Strength

13th Armys Strength

70th Armys Strength

65th Armys Strength

60th Armys Strength

The Central Fronts Artillery Strength

38th Armys Strength

40th Armys Strength

6th Guards Armys Strength

7th Guards Army Armys Strength

The Voronezh Fronts Artillery Strength

The Fronts Density of Defensive Measures

The Number of Defensive Structures in the Sixth Guards Armys Defensive Zones

The Fronts Density of Defensive Structures in the Second Defensive Zone

The Density of Defensive Structures in the Fronts Army Rear Zone

The Distribution of Forces in the Armies Echelons

The Central Fronts Artillery Strength

The Voronezh Fronts Artillery Strength

Density of Infantry Weapons in the Main Defensive Zone

Density of Infantry Weapons by Defensive Zone, 6th Guards Army

Density of Infantry Weapons by Defensive Zone, 13th Army

Artillery Distribution Along the Central Front

Artillery Distribution Along the Voronezh Front

The Central Fronts Distribution of Anti-Aircraft Weapons

The Voronezh Fronts Anti-Aircraft Units

The Central Fronts Anti-Aircraft Coverage

Reinforcing the Central Front

Reinforcing the Voronezh Front

Reinforcing the Fronts

Changes in Enemy Strength Opposite the Central and Voronezh Fronts

German Reinforcements Opposite the Central and Voronezh Fronts

Change to Density of Enemy Forces per Kilometer of Front

The Correlation of Forces Along the Central Front

Density of Enemy Forces per Kilometer of Front

Density of Enemy Forces per Kilometer of Front Along the Main Attack Sectors

The Correlation of Forces Along the Voronezh Front

The Correlation of Air Strength

The Correlation of Forces Along the Left Flank of the Western Front and the Bryansk Front

The Correlation of Forces Along the 11th Guards Armys Fronts