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After a night of fierce fighting, the Germans had captured the heights north of Gremich and repelled the defending Soviet tanks nearby. After dark, the fighting stopped. The German attacking forces were already exhausted, and the pace of advance of the attacking units slowed down as the Soviet defensive fire and counter-attacks were still fierce

On 9 May, the 48th Panzer Corps was only sixteen miles from Oboyan, but still fifty-five miles from Kursk and ninety miles further from Moder's 9th Army. Although the Germans on the southern front made considerable progress, it was clear that this advance could not reach the speed initially anticipated. This was all the result of the usual resistance of the Soviet troops, and Stalin ordered all Soviet troops in Kursk not to take a step back, to insist on fighting to the last breath, and no one could surrender, saying under the slogan of the Soviets: "All for Stalin, all for the Soviets".

On May 10, the Germans received strong support from the air force, and the progress was very smooth, and the 2nd SS Panzer Corps also occupied some important heights, but bad news kept coming: the offensive of Moder's troops on the northern front was not very smooth, their attack was met with unprecedented fierce resistance, countless Soviet troops and positions coexisted and died, and the whole regiment and division of Soviet troops died on the positions, which undoubtedly gave Moder a headache.

So Li Mo pinned his hopes on the success of his southern front troops in advancing northward, because the southern army group was the troops under Li Mo's personal command, and Li Mo knew the real situation of this heavy army group best. Even more tragic, the coup d'état in Italy on May 10 brought Mussolini to death by the King of Italy and a number of pro-British and American officers, which immediately collapsed Mussolini's rule and shaken Hitler's resolve.

On 11 May, the commander of the German Army Group South, Limer, drew up a new battle plan. At this point, the Battle of Kursk entered a crucial second stage.

After several days of severe attrition. The German offensive had weakened somewhat, and about 10 percent of its personnel, especially technical weapons, had been lost, mainly due to the exhaustion of the troops. But the situation of the Soviet Voronezh Front, which they were in front of, was already even worse. Vadudin was no longer able to carry out a counterattack with Katukov's 1st Tank Army, which had already dug trenches and could not withdraw. For this reason, the Soviet High Command was extremely reluctant to transfer the 5th Guards Tank Army of the Steppe Front and Zadov's 5th Guards Army to support the Voronezh Front.

On May 12, the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army under the command of Rotmistrov. After a forced march of more than two hundred miles, they reached the area of Palokhorovka. At this time, the 2nd SS Panzer Corps was attacking eastward from the area in order to re-locate the maneuver space. So a large-scale tank battle broke out in this area, about which the tank battle has become a legend due to the unrealistic propaganda of both sides of the war, and it seems that the Soviet and German armies used 1,300 tanks, assault guns and self-propelled guns to fight a fierce battle.

On the German side, the 2nd SS Tank Corps under General Hauscher had a firepower of 253 tanks and more than three hundred assault guns - including eight T-34 tanks as trophies. The Soviet troops directly participated in the battle of the 18th and 29th Tank Corps of the 5th Guards Tank Army, which is presumed to have more than 800 tanks and more than 700 assault guns at most.

In terms of numbers, the Soviet army had an advantage of about 2:1, and the Soviet tanks originally had a great advantage in numbers, but due to the relevant personnel of the Soviet Union. In particular, the level of training of mechanics and drivers was relatively low, and until the end of 1940, their training was only 5 to 10 hours, while at that time the required time to skillfully drive a tank was at least 25 hours, and the situation did not fundamentally improve by 1941. Therefore, although the German tanks were numerically inferior, they could still rely on excellent tactics and a high level of maneuvering personnel to achieve a huge advantage over the Soviet army.

This is the case, the Soviet soldiers have just put on their uniforms, and all the cultures have gone to the technical branches, and the tank crews are one of them, and they have not yet become proficient in driving tanks. Just rushed to the battlefield, 5 to 10 hours of practice? Can such a tank crew fight? All right! Fanatical soldiers can fight, and the losses are just as great.

May 12 at 6:30 a.m. After the preparation of heavy aviation fire, the Soviets and Germans engaged in a fierce battle on a narrow strip of land between the Purshore River and the railway embankment. Due to the superiority of the German army in the quality of tanks and the high level of command art of its commanders, the Soviets suffered heavy losses at the beginning of the battle, and one Soviet tank after another was turned into a burning bonfire.

But the Soviet tanks still relied on their numerical superiority to launch wave after wave of attacks. At this time, the 88mm guns of the Leopard tanks were once again extremely powerful, and many Soviet T-34/56 and T-50 tanks were devastating before they could get close to the German tanks. The fighting was brutal, with many officers and men who had lost their tanks even firing with small arms......

The battle continued for several days, and the 5th Guards Tank Army claimed that about 300 German tanks had been destroyed. This is simply a fantasy, because the Germans simply did not have 300 tanks. According to a secret German document from the National Archives in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 1943, the SS-2 Panzer Corps still had 163 tanks ready to fight after the battle. Only 48 vehicles were lost. According to a 1984 World War II history of the Soviet 5th Tank Army, the army lost as many as 400 tanks after the battle on the 12th (this figure may include tanks that did not participate in the Battle of Porokhorovka).

Although the number of tanks lost by the Soviets is not recorded in the book, this figure is enough to prove that the Soviets paid a huge price in this battle. Despite the huge tactical superiority of the German army, the German army once again delayed the offensive due to the still strong Soviet resistance and the shortage of German tanks, ammunition and fuel.

Almost simultaneously, Knobelsdorff's 48th Panzer Army, far to the left, continued to engage Chistyakov's 6th Guards Army and Katukov's 1st Tank Army. Despite the heavy losses of Soviet tanks, the number of losses of the Germans' own tanks was overwhelming, and even more troublesome was the fact that the Soviet assault power did not weaken but seemed to be growing. These Soviet troops, under Stalin's strict orders, launched counter-assaults in waves, their corpses were scattered all over the battlefield, and the wreckage of countless tanks and artillery could be seen everywhere on the battlefield.

By the evening of May 14, the situation was clear, and the Soviet counterattack was completely bankrupt. Due to the violent counterattack carried out by the Soviet army using a large number of troops and weapons, the German army's ammunition consumption was very serious, and of course there were some losses. The German casualties were not too great, and the losses of technical weapons, especially tanks, were staggering.

The Tiger tank was a big disappointment, it broke down easily, and it was not easy to repair, and the crew training was not good. Of the 80 tanks that had participated in the war at that time, there were very few left by May 14, and these Tigers were not all destroyed, but broke down, and it took a lot of effort to transfer them to the rear.

…… (To be continued) R466