Operation Citadel Katherine Davis One of the most influential battles of World War II was the engagement between German and Soviet Union forces near the Soviet town of Kursk on the eastern front. German code-name Operation Citadel was a plan envisioned by General Zeitzler to encircle the Russian forces and use the classic Blitzkrieg style pincer movement with German tanks from both the North and the South to penetrate the Kursk salient. Statistics from the battle state that there was “almost 3 million men, a full eight thousand tanks, and nearly five thousand warplanes” at this battle (Showalter ,2013). Many historians believe had the Germans been able penetrate and win a decisive victory; it was believed that Germany would have then possibly turned the tide of the war back in their favor. …show more content…
For one the Russian spy network “Lucy” had gathered a great deal of intelligence along with assistance from British intelligence about the attack allowing the Russians to concentrate their defenses in the areas that allow them the tactical advantage of defending the salient. The Russians defense was designed in depth to wear down the German mechanized advantage. Once the German tanks had penetrated the Russian defenses their long range firing advantage was lost due to the close proximity of the fighting. Prior to the operation on July 4, 1943 with the knowledge of where the impending attack would commence the Russians had laid more than a million anti-tank mines along with anti-personnel mines numbering 440,000 across every single mile of the front. The Russian forces along with the Kursk regions civilian population were able to dig over 3,000 miles of trenches to bolster the salient