1 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,320 Summer 1943. After two years of war, Hitler is no closer to victory in the East, 2 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,480 And has suffered a devastating defeat at Stalingrad. 3 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,080 Now the Germans have gathered their strength For one last massive offensive 4 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,600 Which will decide the outcome of the war. 5 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,840 At first, the Soviets called it the elephant because of a drawing on its turret. 6 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,560 But soon they learned its real name Tiger . 7 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:14,920 They d captured one near Leningrad, 8 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,160 and brought it to a tank testing facility for trials. 9 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:24,600 The results were alarming. The Tiger s front armour was impervious 10 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,920 to a Soviet T-34, even at a range of just 200 metres. 11 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,720 Only heavy howitzers could destroy this beast. 12 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:38,120 But that was on a firing range. 13 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,600 At a gloomy meeting of the Stavka high command, 14 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,480 Marshall of Artillery Nikolai Voronov told Stalin, 15 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,560 We have no guns able to successfully fight against these tanks 16 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:59,080 It was April 1943. Along the entire front, 17 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,440 the Red Army prepared to meet what they called "the summer Germans". 18 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,840 In both the previous summers, 19 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,320 the Wehrmacht s blitzkkrieg had proved almost unstoppable. 20 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,480 Now these new German tanks caused fresh concern. 21 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,640 Would the Red Army once more be swept aside by the German summer offensive? 22 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,640 Soviet engineers worked frantically on new tank and antitank guns designs. 23 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:28,680 Few would be ready in time. 24 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,800 Meanwhile, the Stavka made plans to meet the inevitable German offensive. 25 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:43,600 All eyes were drawn to the city of Kursk. 26 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,320 Here the Red Army s Central Front occupied a large bulge, or salient, in the frontline. 27 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:52,160 It was an obvious place to attack. 28 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,200 The Soviet General Staff expected the Germans to attack simultaneously 29 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:00,960 from north and south, to cut off the troops inside the salient. 30 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:08,040 To meet this threat, the Red Army began to construct several defensive lines 31 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,920 within the salient. The Stavka planned to let the Germans wear themselves out 32 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,880 attacking these defences, before launching their own counter-offensive. 33 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,680 Soviet intelligence was soon able to confirm the Stavka s intuition. 34 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:30,680 On 12th April 1943, Stalin was handed secret German plans for "Operation Citadel". 35 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,960 It was the codename for the Wehrmacht s summer offensive in the east. 36 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,800 The information came from an agent codenamed Werther . 37 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,600 His real identity remains a mystery, but it s assumed he was an officer within OKW, 38 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,680 the German Armed Forces High Command. 39 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,280 His reports were sent to Moscow via Rudold Roessler, 40 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:53,600 who headed the Lucy Spy Ring based in Switzerland. 41 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,320 The plans for Operation Citadel exactly confirmed 42 00:03:58,320 --> 00:03:59,360 what the Stavka had already guessed. 43 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,360 The Germans planned to "pinch out" the Kursk salient 44 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,160 with two simultaneous attacks. 45 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,600 They would be made by von Kluge s Army Group Centre from the north, 46 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:13,760 and by Manstein s Army Group South in the south. 47 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,400 At the beginning of May, the Stavka was able to warn its commanders that: 48 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,520 According to our intelligence, the enemy plans to attack along the Orel-Kursk line, 49 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:29,280 the Belgorod-Oboyan line, or along both lines simultaneously. 50 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,960 In May, Hitler held a planning meeting to discuss 51 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:44,000 the early phases of Operation Citadel. However, many generals voiced concern. 52 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,840 Field Marshal von Kluge, commanding Army Group Centre, openly opposed the Fuehrer. 53 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,680 General Model, meanwhile, presented air reconnaissance photos. 54 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,080 It was his Ninth Army that was to assault the Kursk salient from the north. 55 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,720 Model pointed to the signs of heavy Soviet defences being prepared in this sector. 56 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,640 Walter Model would earn the nickname, "the Fuehrer s fireman", 57 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,680 because later in the war, he was frequently sent by Hitler 58 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:18,160 to try and salvage desperate situations. Model was a fervent Nazi, 59 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,360 renowned for his loyalty to the Fuehrer. In 1945, 60 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:25,920 when his army group was encircled by the Americans, 61 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:27,840 he shot himself rather than face surrender. 62 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:32,760 Model was one of a very small number of generals 63 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:34,280 whose opinion the Fuehrer respected. 64 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:37,720 Model was known as a genius of defence. 65 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,160 But he and his 9th Army had less experience of large-scale offensive actions. 66 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:48,040 Some thought that Model was trying to get the entire operation cancelled, 67 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,160 allowing him to fight a defensive battle against the Red Army. 68 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,680 Guderian was another who expressed doubts about Operation Citadel. 69 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,440 As Inspector-General of Armoured Troops, 70 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,520 he knew that the panzer divisions were not ready for such a massive operation. 71 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,160 For him, the whole thing was too much of a risk. 72 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,360 The war had already taken a massive toll on the Wehrmacht. If Citadel was a success, 73 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,800 it would allow them to retain the initiative on the Eastern front. 74 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:26,240 But if it failed, it would be disastrous. 75 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,640 The Fuehrer agreed to postpone the operation by one month, declaring: 76 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,480 There can be no failure . 77 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:41,920 The delay would allow the Germans to deploy more of their latest armoured vehicles. 78 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:48,080 These included the heavy Tiger tanks, the new Panzer V Panthers, 79 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:51,680 and the massive Ferdinand tank destroyers. 80 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:55,200 The Luftwaffe was also receiving new ground attack aircraft, 81 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,920 such as a fighter-bomber variant of the Focke-Wulf 190. 82 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:09,040 New variants of the Junkers 87 dive bomber were armed with two 37 millimetre cannon. 83 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,440 They fired tungsten-core ammunition against the thin top armour of Soviet tanks, 84 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:15,600 and proved to be highly effective. 85 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,880 Squadrons of new Henschel ground attack aircraft 86 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:22,240 were also arriving in the Kursk area. 87 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:27,120 The HS-129 was also a specialised tank-destroyer. 88 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:38,800 But the delay also gave the Red Army more time to strengthen their defences. 89 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,840 Three heavily fortified lines were constructed, with minefields, 90 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:43,080 trenches, and gun emplacements. 91 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,320 But the lack of effective antitank guns was a still a serious concern. 92 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,920 The Red Army hoped that new defensive tactics would overcome this shortcoming. 93 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:02,440 Previously anti-tank guns had been distributed evenly along the front. 94 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,200 But combat experience proved they were more effective grouped together. 95 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:13,000 Antitank strongpoints became the foundation for the defence of the Kursk salient. 96 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:19,160 Each strongpoint contained up to 20 antitank guns and dozens of antitank rifles. 97 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,000 The guns were well entrenched and covered all directions. 98 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,480 The distance between neighbouring strongpoints was 600 to 800 metres. 99 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,760 If German tanks tried to pass between two strong points, 100 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,560 they would expose their weaker side armour to the Soviet anti-tank guns. 101 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:44,960 It took many week of backbreaking labour 102 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,080 to build the strongpoints and anti-tank ditches. 103 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,440 Mikhail Badigin, an antitank gunner, recalled, 104 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,080 We had to dig out about 30 cubic metres of earth 105 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,000 to bed in a 45 millimetre antitank gun. 106 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,720 We did more digging than most people will do in their entire lives. 107 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,520 The Red Army dug 4,200 km of trenches along the Voronezh Front alone. 108 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,600 If they d been dug in a straight line, they have stretched from Moscow to Madrid. 109 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,200 The Central Front had dug another five thousand km of trenches. 110 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,400 2,000 km of roads were built, 686 bridges, 111 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,400 and 300,000 wagon-loads of supplies and equipment 112 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:36,880 were delivered to the Kursk salient. 113 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,080 The Kursk salient was now the most heavily fortified position 114 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:46,360 in the history of warfare. 115 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,280 Launched against it from the south would be the 445,000 men 116 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,080 and 1,500 tanks of Army Group South. 117 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,760 They faced the Voronezh Front commanded by General Vatutin, 118 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:08,000 with 626,000 men and 1,700 tanks. 119 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,760 In the north the attack would be conducted by von Kluge s Army Group Centre, 120 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,120 with 332,000 men and 1,000 tanks. 121 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,880 Facing them, the Soviet Central Front commanded by General Rokossovsky, 122 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,840 with 712,000 men and 1,800 tanks. 123 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,640 In addition, more Soviet troops were gathered into a strategic reserve 124 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,600 named the Steppe Front, under General Ivan Konev. 125 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:41,000 Rokossovsky s situation in the north was relatively strong. 126 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,080 He knew the German tank assault would have to come from somewhere 127 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:45,800 along a 90 kilometre gap in the forests. 128 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:50,720 Vatutin s troops, however, were on the wide open steppe. 129 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,760 There was nothing to restrict the enemy s movement. They might attack anywhere. 130 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:02,040 General Nikolai Vatutin was considered one of the Red Army s most talented commanders. 131 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,800 His peasant origins and Communist fervour made him a favourite of Joseph Stalin. 132 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:10,680 He was a theoretician, and highly respected by his adversaries. 133 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,440 German generals nicknamed him the grand master . 134 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:18,520 Vatutin would not survive the war. 135 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:22,360 He was killed in an ambush by Ukrainian nationalists in February 1944. 136 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,600 General Vatutin s Voronezh Front 137 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,160 was about to face one of the most powerful military assaults in history. 138 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:36,760 Vatutin, by nature an attacker, would be called on to conduct 139 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,080 the greatest defensive battle of all time. 140 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:54,160 As the Red Army prepared for battle, the engineers got to work. 141 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,520 A dense minefield was laid around each strongpoint. 142 00:11:57,920 --> 00:11:59,840 The second and third lines weren t mined so heavily. 143 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:06,080 Instead, they were assigned mobile engineer units in trucks and horse-drawn wagons. 144 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,840 Their task was to lay minefields on the fly 145 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,240 in the very path of advancing enemy tanks. 146 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,760 A German General wrote, 147 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,160 The speed at which they could lay a minefield was astonishing. 148 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:29,520 The Russians planted more than 30,000 mine in just two or three days. 149 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,800 Meanwhile Red Army recruits were being trained to overcome their fear of tanks. 150 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,520 They were sent into trenches and run over by their own tanks. 151 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:43,240 They called it "ironing". 152 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,680 They were also trained to throw antitank grenades and Molotov cocktails. 153 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,400 And in the evening they read pamphlets on how to destroy German tanks. 154 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,360 The Red Army scoured its artillery units for the most accurate gun-layers. 155 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,000 The best became anti-tank gunners, with improved pay and rations. 156 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,840 They trained hard, until they could pick out the weak points of a tank, 157 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,280 and score a bull s eye on the gun. 158 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,960 Batteries of powerful 85mm anti-aircraft guns were assigned to key sectors, 159 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,360 with orders only to engage enemy tanks. 160 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,080 Four regiments were armed with German antitank guns captured at Stalingrad. 161 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:50,080 The Red Army Air Force also received new anti-tank weapons. 162 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,280 They had been attacking with one big 50 kilogram bomb. 163 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,400 But it was difficult to score a direct hit on a moving target from the air. 164 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,720 The new bomblets weighed only 1.5 kg, 165 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,920 but could penetrate up to 100 millimetres of armour. 166 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,800 Since tanks have much thinner armour on top, 167 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,440 this was easily enough to knock out any German panzer. 168 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,800 48 bomblets were packed into one container. 169 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,560 A Sturmovik ground attack aircraft could carry four such containers. 170 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:30,240 It was enough to devastate an entire tank column along a path of 200 metres. 171 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,440 As the wait for the German assault to begin dragged on, 172 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,600 some Soviet commanders became increasingly uneasy. 173 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,800 Vatutin repeatedly urged the Stavka to attack first. 174 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,920 We must seize the moment. he said, The enemy is not attacking. 175 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:58,800 Autumn is coming and all our planning will have been in vain. 176 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,640 Let us stop digging and launch our attack first. 177 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:06,960 But the response was always the same. Wait. 178 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:14,160 Meanwhile, a German map was recovered which accurately plotted all Soviet positions 179 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,880 as spotted by their air reconnaissance. Many Soviet units were forced to move. 180 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:22,800 This time they paid more attention to camouflage from the air. 181 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,960 For the third time, the Stavka issued a warning to the troops 182 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:30,040 that the German attack was imminent. 183 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:36,000 But by now false alarms were beginning to play on the nerves of frontline troops. 184 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,760 Lev Malikin, a scout with the 222nd Guards Rifle Regiment, wrote: 185 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:46,400 It was clearly believed that the Germans would attack soon. 186 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:50,240 All units in our division were on high alert. 187 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:55,680 We were ordered by division intelligence 188 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,920 to take a German prisoner for interrogation, at any cost. 189 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:10,200 That night they captured a German engineer who d been clearing mines in No Man s Land. 190 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,400 Under interrogation he began to speak freely: 191 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:25,040 German troops have been put on full alert, he told them. 192 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:31,680 They will begin to attack in the direction of Kursk on 5th July at 2 a.m. 193 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:35,120 European time. There will be an additional assault from Belgorod. 194 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:39,200 The hour was not far off. 195 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,320 The Red Army planned a nasty surprise for the Germans. 196 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:49,760 Just as they massed for the attack, 197 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,400 the Soviets would hit them with a massive artillery bombardment. 198 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,480 The night sky was lit up with the blast from hundreds of guns. 199 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:11,520 Not all of the German assembly areas were guessed correctly. 200 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:14,240 But the deluge of shells and rockets found many targets. 201 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,720 Other German units found it impossible to advance into this wall of fire. 202 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:32,840 Lieutenant Roshchenko, navigator of an Ilyushin 4 bomber, recalled: 203 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,200 From a long way off we could see that something unimaginable 204 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:40,240 had begun along the frontline. Both sides were firing intensely. 205 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,320 As soon as the Soviet guns fell silent, 206 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:50,120 the air was filled with the scream of German shells. 207 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,400 This barrage was intended to soften up Red Army defences ahead of the assault. 208 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,920 The Scout Lev Malikin remembered, 209 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,720 The sound of explosions made us leap from our plank beds in our dugouts, 210 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,400 grab our submachine-guns and race into our trenches. 211 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,640 Fire, smoke and falling earth were everywhere. 212 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:14,720 The enemy bombardment lasted more than an hour. 213 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,280 At last it ended, and the Hitlerites began their attack 214 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,240 under the cover of smoke shells. 215 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,160 Tank divisions, air fleets, infantry units 216 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:32,120 all the military might that had been assembled around Kursk 217 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:34,800 over the course of several months, was now set in motion. 218 00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:38,480 The largest tank engagement of all time, 219 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,840 and one of the greatest battles in history, had begun. 220 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:53,800 July 1943. The long-awaited German offensive at Kursk had begun. 221 00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:58,680 Radio-controlled tankettes led the way, 222 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:00,640 sent ahead to clear paths through the Soviet minefields. 223 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,280 Their heavy toothed metal rollers detonated all the mines in their path. 224 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,240 Others laid powerful explosive charges 225 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,960 that could clear a large area with a single blast. 226 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:19,440 These machines cleared the way for the Ferdinand tank-destroyers. 227 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,080 But it wasn t always easy to spot the safe lane across a field 228 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,480 churned up by countless explosions. 229 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,880 Many Ferdinands lost their way, and were disabled by anti-tank mines. 230 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,920 By the end of the first day, half of the mighty Ferdinands were out of action. 231 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,960 Most had been immobilised by damage to their tracks and wheels. 232 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:56,440 In the south, heavy Soviet shelling hampered German attempts to clear the minefields. 233 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,520 Many Tigers and Panthers soon had their wheels 234 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,760 and tracks shattered by anti-tank mines. 235 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:08,520 The Germans also ran into 500 kilometres of antitank ditches. 236 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,640 The ditches had to be collapsed by accurate dive bomber attacks 237 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:15,200 before the tanks could pass. 238 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,560 The famous German blitzkrieg had been reduced to a crawl. 239 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,000 German units became caught in a labyrinth of Soviet defences. 240 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,960 As soon as they suppressed one strongpoint, they came under fire from its neighbour. 241 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:49,040 General Friedrich von Mellenthin wrote: The Russians were excellent at camouflage. 242 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:53,880 No minefield or antitank strongpoint was detected 243 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,520 before the first tank was blown up by a mine, 244 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,000 or the first Russian antitank gun opened fire. 245 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:08,920 However, German experience and firepower soon began to tell. 246 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,360 They began to concentrate all their effort against a few narrow sectors of the front. 247 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,440 German panzer units attacked in a V-formation. 248 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:21,080 Its tip was formed by the heavy Tiger tanks, 249 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,600 which took out Soviet anti-tank guns at long range. 250 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:27,360 Medium and light tanks followed. 251 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:32,080 When the Germans had succeeded in smashing a hole through the defences, 252 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:33,680 they rushed to exploit it. 253 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:41,360 Army Group South was supported by almost 400 aircraft on the first day of the battle. 254 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:44,760 They rained bombs onto the Soviet strongpoints. 255 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,840 They also bombed minefields to clear lanes for the advancing panzers. 256 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,320 It took 17 hours for the elite 2nd SS panzer corps 257 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:11,480 to breach the first line of Soviet defences. 258 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,280 General Vatutin responded by sending in Katukov s 1st Tank Army. 259 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,320 Katukov recalled a report from one of his brigade commanders: 260 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:41,320 Burda began his report. The enemy was attacking his position incessantly, 261 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:45,400 from fifty to a hundred tanks at a time. Tigers and Panthers came first. 262 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,040 Dealing with them is difficult, sir, he said. 263 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:53,960 You shoot at them, but the shells only ricochet. So what s the outcome? 264 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,480 Losses Terrible losses, sir. About 60 percent of the brigade. 265 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,440 A Soviet -34 tank had to get within 500 metres of a Tiger, 266 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,080 and then fire at its thin side armour. 267 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,240 The German Tigers and Panthers, meanwhile, 268 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,040 could penetrate the -34 s front armour from a range of 2 kilometres. 269 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,600 The huge losses sustained by the 1st Tank Army 270 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,040 forced Katukov to share his concerns with General Vatutin. 271 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:33,400 But there was no change of orders. 272 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,080 As he prepared for another suicidal assault, the phone rang at his headquarters. 273 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,800 It was Stalin. He asked Katukov to speak his mind about possible courses of action. 274 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,840 Katukov proposed digging in the tanks, 275 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,520 and letting the enemy come into close range before opening fire. 276 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,120 Stalin was silent for a while All right , he said at last. 277 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:01,760 You will stop the counterattack. 278 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:09,200 Katukov s tanks took up defensive positions alongside the artillery and infantry. 279 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:16,560 But when General Kravchenko s 5th Stalingrad Guards Tank Corps 280 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,480 was threatened with encirclement, Colonel Nikoforov arrived at his headquarters 281 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,280 with special orders from the army commander. 282 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,680 He would shoot Kravchenko if he did not order an immediate counterattack. 283 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:36,160 Kravchenko s counterattack ran straight into the heavy tanks of two SS Panzer divisions. 284 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:49,760 With half his vehicles destroyed, he was barely able to fight his way out 285 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:51,640 of an encirclement with the remnants of his corps. 286 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:55,680 Meanwhile in the northern sector, 287 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,520 General Rokossovsky also ordered an armoured counterattack. 288 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:03,880 On the second morning of the battle, near the village of Olkhovatka, 289 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,800 General Rodin s 2nd Tank Army was ordered to attack. 290 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,280 The counterattack failed to dislodge Model s panzer divisions. 291 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,560 Later in the day, they attacked one more through heavy thunderstorms. 292 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,960 Advancing against powerful and accurate German gunnery, 293 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,120 the Soviet tank divisions took horrific losses in men and machines. 294 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:34,880 But they did manage to blunt Model s advance. 295 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:38,480 The 2nd Tank Army went on the defensive. 296 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:45,720 When a fresh German panzer division renewed the attack, 297 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,280 it ran straight into the camouflaged Soviet tanks. 298 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,440 The ruined train station at Ponyri became the focus of heavy fighting. 299 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:59,000 The Germans gathered their surviving Ferdinand and Brummär 300 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,880 self-propelled guns into a task force, and attempted to storm it. 301 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,840 German units managed to get behind the Soviet troops holding the station. 302 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:14,840 But now they found themselves in one of the Red Army s pre-prepared fire pockets . 303 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,000 It was here that Sergeant Mikhail Fomin, 304 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,280 a gun-layer of the 159th Guards Artillery Regiment, 305 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:28,360 was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, for destroying 7 tanks. 306 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,080 He continued firing even when wounded. 307 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:38,320 The fire pocket was a tactic used by Soviet anti-tank guns 308 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,960 working together to lure German tanks into an ambush. 309 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,920 Some guns would act as bait, opening fire at long range 310 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:47,440 and drawing the enemy tanks towards them. 311 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:52,600 Once in range, camouflaged anti-tank batteries on their flanks would open fire. 312 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:59,120 At a range of just 200 to 300 metres, there was a good chance of a kill. 313 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,840 Model s Ninth Army had failed to achieve a breakthrough at either Olkhovatka or Ponyri. 314 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,880 By the fifth day of the battle, 315 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:13,840 the northern offensive was running out of steam. 316 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:22,120 Rokossovsky had accomplished his task of exhausting the enemy. 317 00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:23,880 Now it was time to think of attack. 318 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:29,880 On the telephone to Stalin and Zhukov, he was given the date 12th July. 319 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,240 While the enemy had been held in the north, 320 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:37,400 in the south the battle was entering its most critical phase. 321 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,440 Here the Germans had more room for manoeuvre across the open steppe. 322 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,360 And despite heavy tank losses, 323 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:48,720 they had broken through the first two Soviet defensive lines. 324 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,240 The Red Army rushed reinforcements to the area of the enemy breakthrough. 325 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,120 The Germans had 200 Panthers at the start of the battle. 326 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,600 After five days of fighting, they were down to just 16. 327 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,560 The new Soviet antitank aerial bombs were an unpleasant surprise for the Germans. 328 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:22,880 Just one hit could destroy a tank. 329 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:36,040 But the Waffen SS panzer divisions leading the charge were experienced, 330 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:37,760 determined, and tactically skillfull. 331 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,440 Strongpoint by strongpoint, they fought their way into the heart of the Soviet defences. 332 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:49,480 The breakthrough into open country appeared imminent. 333 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,120 One Soviet operations report stated: 334 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:57,520 The circumstances that allowed the enemy s tanks to advance were these: 335 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:04,440 as our tanks and trucks retreated, they were pursued so closely by the enemy, 336 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,600 that it was impossible to lay anti-tank mines on the roads to hold them up. 337 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:16,800 One Communist Youth member, 338 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,640 serving with the 287th Guards Rifle Regiment, wrote later: 339 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,560 On the night of 11th July we reached the Oktiabrsky collective farm. 340 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:31,440 We were told: There will be a battle tomorrow. Dig trenches. 341 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:35,360 They will be either your fortress, or your grave. 342 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,840 To prevent a German breakthrough, 343 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,240 the Stavka used its strategic reserve to reinforce the Voronezh Front. 344 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,520 More than 400 tanks, hundreds of other vehicles 345 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,720 and thousands of infantry were on the move through the arid heat of the Russian steppe. 346 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,640 Boris Nazarov, the loader in a self-propelled gun, recalled: 347 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:08,080 We were on the move all night and all the next day. 348 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:13,040 We had all our hatch covers open, but it was still unbearably hot inside. 349 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,160 The commander forbad us to lean out of the hatches, 350 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,760 so inside we were practically naked. 351 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:26,880 Vatutin planned to use these reserves to deliver his long-awaited counter-attack. 352 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,920 General Rotmistrov s 5th Guards Tank Army 353 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,520 was due to take up positions near the village of Prokhorovka. 354 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:36,240 This was to be the base for its assault. 355 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,520 But the German 2nd SS Panzer Corps had already reached Prokhorovka. 356 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,440 Here they were poised to break through the last Soviet defences. 357 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:55,520 They had only been held here by a miracle. As tanks of the SS Panzer Division 358 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,600 Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler had rushed forward, 359 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:02,320 they d been hit by enfilading Soviet artillery fire 360 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:03,880 from the far bank of the Psel River. 361 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:09,600 Concern about their exposed flanks would delay the Germans just long enough. 362 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,840 The Leibstandarte division took up defensive positions, 363 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,200 waiting for the SS Division Totenkopf to cross the Psel and secure the flank. 364 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:41,960 Meanwhile Rotmistrov s 5th Guards Tank Army was approaching Prokhorovka. 365 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,000 The Soviet tanks maintained strict radio silence. 366 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,000 Their approach remained unknown to the Germans. 367 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,520 But when the sun rose, German air reconnaissance 368 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:00,440 soon spotted the multitude of vehicles, 369 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:02,840 and alerted their own troops by shooting violet flares. 370 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:10,880 The 5th Guards Tank Army was due to attack on a narrow front 371 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:12,800 between the Psel River and the railway. 372 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,040 The front was further restricted by an impassable ravine. 373 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,520 The Soviet tank brigades would need to form up in columns 374 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:24,360 to attack through this narrow gap. 375 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,720 Soviet tanks usually attacked on masse across a wide front. 376 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,440 When an enemy gun fired, several tanks immediately answered back. 377 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:40,440 Attacking on such a small frontage would be a severe handicap for the Soviets. 378 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:44,280 But there was no hope of the orders being changed. 379 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,720 Shortly after dawn, the 5th Guards Tank Army launched its assault. 380 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,640 Hellmuth Becker, commanding a regiment of the SS Division Totenkopf, wrote: 381 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:03,600 I saw clouds of dust on the horizon. 382 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,400 Soon, out of these clouds Russian tanks began to appear. 383 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,680 The Russians have sent in their reserve , I said to our chief of staff, 384 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,680 and realized that we had lost the battle of Kursk. 385 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,320 But events at Prokhorovka were far from a foregone conclusion. 386 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,960 As the Soviet tanks rounded the wide ravine, they were funnelled into a narrow channel, 387 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,520 where they made easy targets for the German gunners. 388 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,640 Tank after tank was hit, bursting into flames 389 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:44,800 or being torn apart in massive explosions. 390 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,800 Tank commander Briukhov remembered: Tanks were ablaze everywhere. 391 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,760 Powerful explosions sent 5-tonne turrets flying 20 metres into the air. 392 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,720 Some explosions were so powerful 393 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,520 that an entire tank was blown into a pile of scrap metal. 394 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:23,080 As the tank battle raged around Prokhorovka, 395 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:26,080 the thick black smoke from countless burning vehicles turned day into night. 396 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:31,600 Soviet losses were terrifying more than 300 tanks in a single day. 397 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:36,480 In the pulverising engagement, neither side emerged as a clear victor. 398 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:42,800 But the implications for the Wehrmacht were obvious. 399 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:46,400 Paul Hausser, commander of the 2nd SS panzer corps, 400 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:48,000 immediately began to withdraw from Prokhorovka. 401 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:53,640 Operation Citadel had failed. There had been no breakthrough. 402 00:34:55,960 --> 00:35:00,160 That same day, two Soviet Fronts launched an offensive against the northern face 403 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:04,120 of the Kursk salient. The operation was codenamed Kutuzov. 404 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:11,160 The goal of the operation was to destroy German forces around Orel, 405 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,800 including Model s Ninth Army, leading the German offensive. 406 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:30,480 A powerful artillery bombardment signalled the start of the operation. 407 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:38,240 It was so effective that the initial Soviet advance was almost unopposed. 408 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,360 But as the advance continued, the Germans began to fight back. 409 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:53,360 Model realised the threat. Units engaged in the Kursk offensive 410 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:55,640 were hurriedly redeployed to reinforce his defences. 411 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:04,480 He directed the Luftwaffe to attack Soviet tank formations advancing from the north. 412 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:12,200 The famous Stuka ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel led the attack. He wrote: 413 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:18,280 My aircraft was armed with antitank guns, other Junkers armed with bombs followed me. 414 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:28,840 I destroyed four tanks in the first attack. By that evening, my score was up to 12. 415 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,080 To cover Model s retreat, German pilots flew several sorties a day. 416 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:42,200 Rudel s stuka was shot down near the town of Bolkhov. He made a forced landing, 417 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:44,680 but was back in the air in a fresh aircraft two hours later. 418 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:50,600 The Soviets began to repel our airborne 419 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:52,440 antitank attacks quite successfully. He wrote. 420 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:55,840 This was because they learnt to bring up their anti-aircraft guns 421 00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:58,360 alongside their lead tanks. 422 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:10,880 Soviet fighters were also in action. It was over Kursk that Ivan Kozhedub, 423 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,160 the Soviet Union s top-scoring fighter ace, brought down his first enemy aircraft. 424 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,280 Ivan Kozhedub was a triple Hero of the Soviet Union by the age of 25. 425 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,040 He wasn t shot down once in the entire war. 426 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:32,080 He flew 330 missions and brought down 64 enemy aircraft, including one Me-262 jet. 427 00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:37,240 It s rumoured that his victories included two American P-51 Mustangs, 428 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,160 which had attacked his unfamiliar aircraft in the belief it was German. 429 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:50,280 Meanwhile down below, Soviet tank reserves had arrived to bolster the offensive. 430 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:01,080 Tanker Nikolay Zhelesnov was in the thick of the fighting. He recalled: 431 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,120 The German defences on the outskirts of the village 432 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:07,320 consisted of antitank guns and dug-in tanks. 433 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:11,480 I destroyed 2 guns and one tank during this engagement. 434 00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:14,080 I shot at it twice, and it went dead. 435 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:18,360 It was due to our driver, not me, that we crushed the two guns. 436 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:22,800 I just told him over the tank radio: Misha, to the right! A gun! . 437 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:27,200 After we ran over its carriage, I noticed another one about 10 metres away: 438 00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:31,920 Crush the other one too, or it will turn round and hit our stern! 439 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,120 The Red Army failed to encircle the German troops around Orel. 440 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:41,920 But Model was forced into retreat. 441 00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:46,680 Eventually he was able to regroup and dig-in at the Rzhev line. 442 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:52,760 By 5th August, the Red Army had mopped up the last pockets 443 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:54,160 of German resistance in Orel. 444 00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:59,840 Vatutin s assault against Army Group South took much longer to materialise. 445 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,400 It was a full three weeks before the Voronezh Front 446 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:09,280 had regathered sufficient strength. But on 3rd August, 447 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:13,120 Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev was finally launched towards Belgorod and Kharkov. 448 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:19,240 The SS panzer divisions had been redeployed to the Donets Basin. 449 00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:23,240 Therefore the German line was considerably weakened. 450 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:29,720 Achieving a rapid breakthrough, Katukov s 1st Tank Army 451 00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:32,800 and Rotmistrov s 5th Guards Tank Army advanced swiftly towards their objectives. 452 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,840 On the third day of the offensive, Red Army forces liberated the city of Belgorod. 453 00:39:40,720 --> 00:39:43,680 On 5th August, the roar of guns was heard in Moscow. 454 00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,840 The salutes, the first to be fired in Russia s Great Patriotic War, 455 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:52,640 honoured the liberators of Orel and Belgorod. 456 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:13,040 The Soviet troops now advanced on Kharkov. On the fourth day of the operation, 457 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:18,280 lead units of Katukov s 1st Tank Army broke into the town of Bogodukhov, 458 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:21,680 and crossed the Poltava-Kharkov railway branch. 459 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:26,120 It was there that they were hit by von Manstein s counterattack. 460 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:30,920 He had scrambled together all the reserves he could muster, 461 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:33,080 and thrown them into a desperate battle to hold Kharkov. 462 00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:37,440 The Soviet vanguard was forced to fall back to Bogodukhov. 463 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:42,200 Meanwhile Konev s Steppe Front was advancing directly on Kharkov. 464 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,640 The Germans had turned the city into a fortress. 465 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:47,960 A frontal attack would be disastrous. 466 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:52,480 And so 5th Guards Tank Army was ordered to make a flanking manoeuvre, 467 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:57,480 to threaten Kharkov s defenders with encriclement, and force them to retreat. 468 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:04,200 But now Rotmistrov s old friends , the SS Panzer Divisions Das Reich and Totenkopf, 469 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:08,720 returned from the south, and immediately attacked near Bogodukhov. 470 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:15,440 At one stage, General Rotmistrov received two contradictory orders 471 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:20,760 one from Vatutin, demanding, he defend Bogodukhov, 472 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,760 another from Konev, demanding his troops storm Kharkov. 473 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:28,480 It triggered a heated discussion at Rotmistrov s headquarters 474 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:32,960 involving the army commander, his chief of staff, 475 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:35,520 and the Military Council, led by Major General Grishin. 476 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:42,560 You have to come to some decision, sir , Grishin told Rotmistrov. 477 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:46,800 To which he replied, I ve decided to hold my positions until the situation is clear. 478 00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:52,440 But sir, we could be put on trial and shot for this delay , Grishin said anxiously. 479 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:56,280 If we leave our positions and the Germans capture Bogodukhov, 480 00:41:57,080 --> 00:41:58,400 we will certainly be shot. 481 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:04,480 It would expose the entire left flank of the Voronezh Front to enemy attack. 482 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:18,800 Fortunately for him, Rotmistrov s decision proved to be the correct one. 483 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:24,920 His army played a crucial part in repelling the German counterattack around Bogodukhov. 484 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,840 Soon Rotmistrov s 5th Guards Tank Army was also able to support Konev s troops 485 00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:38,480 by advancing on Kharkov from the west. 486 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,920 The German s only line of retreat was in imminent danger of being cut off. 487 00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:48,400 Hitler demanded that Manstein hold Kharkov at all costs. 488 00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:53,080 But this would mean the encirclement of the whole of Army Detachment Kempf. 489 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:57,360 Manstein was not prepared to risk another Stalingrad. 490 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:02,600 On the afternoon of 22nd August, 491 00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:05,160 Soviet air reconnaissance reported that the Germans were pulling out of Kharkov. 492 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:08,600 Konev launched an immediate assault. 493 00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,920 The city was liberated by noon the following day. 494 00:43:18,720 --> 00:43:22,600 It was a triumphant finale to the Red Army s great victory at Kursk. 495 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:31,520 General Guderian wrote in his diary: 496 00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:33,840 With the failure of the Citadel offensive we suffered a decisive defeat. 497 00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:37,840 Needless to say, the Russians exploited their victory to the full. 498 00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:41,240 There would be no respite on the Eastern Front. 499 00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:46,040 From now on, the enemy was in undisputed possession of the initiative. 500 00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:52,360 Operation Citadel was the last large-scale German offensive in the East. 501 00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:57,320 Now the Wehrmacht began a long retreat. 502 00:43:57,320 --> 00:43:59,840 In their wake, they left a devastated country. 503 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:05,120 Hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian villages were burnt to the ground. 504 00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:11,040 Crops were destroyed. Bridges and railway stations were blown up. 505 00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:18,400 Any villagers capable of work were shipped to Germany to be used as forced labour. 506 00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:22,960 The Soviet troops were marching to liberate Ukraine. 507 00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:30,400 Here, on the banks of the Dnieper River, the war of liberation would begin.