This shows that time and power are two opposing factors. This attack, which had concentrated a large number of troops, was comparatively less in weight because it was too late, and in terms of the outcome of the campaign, it was not as good as a timely attack, because it would have the effect of a surprise attack.

Therefore, if the Germans had focused only on the Vukursk salient and launched a quick, limited-purpose offensive in early May, it would still have a good chance of achieving favorable results.

In fact, by mid-April, Marshal Limer and many other senior commanders had already seen that Britain and the United States were likely to take advantage of the time when the German and Soviet armies were in a stalemate to suddenly send troops to attack Germany, but the German army now had to fight the Battle of Kursk, otherwise the main forces of the German army would all fall into the vast territory of the Soviet Union, and the only thing everyone could hope for was that Limer, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy on the Eastern Front, could quickly win a complete victory in the Battle of Kursk as before. As a result, the Germans set a date for the attack on May 4.

By the end of April, the German High Command had realized that this was a battle that could not be lost, because they had committed their last reserves to such a desperate adventure.

After three months of military preparations, the Germans already had a stronger military force. In the south, Limer's attacking forces, Hort's 4th and 5th Panzer Armies, were under the command of: Ott's 52nd Army, deployed on the left flank, with 6 infantry divisions; Knobelsdorff's 48th Panzer Corps was deployed in the center with an infantry division, two panzer divisions, and the Greater German Panzer Escort Division; Hausser's SS 2nd Panzer Corps. There was an infantry division and three SS Panzer Guards divisions.

The Greater German Panzer Guards Division had a special formation, with more tanks than Panzer Divisions. South of Belgorod, that is, to the right of the 4th Panzer Army, was the Kempf cluster, with three corps, namely: Bright's 3rd Panzer Corps, with one infantry division and three panzer divisions; Rouse had a corps with two infantry divisions; The 42nd Army of Mattenklot, with three infantry divisions. The 24th Panzer Corps in Nelin, the reserve of Army Group with the 15th Panzer Division and the SS Norman Panzer Escort Division.

In total, Army Group South had thirty-two divisions. Twelve of them were armored divisions. Five were armored convoy divisions, and all of the remaining fourteen infantry divisions took part in the operation. The Southern Assault Group had more than 1,500 tanks and 1,500 artillery pieces suitable for combat.

In the north, the 9th and 10th Armies of Moder deployed in the Orel salient were organized into the 23rd Army on the left flank and the 41st, 45th, and 46th Panzer Corps and the 20th Army on the right flank. Ezelbek cluster. There is one armored convoy division and two armored divisions. Organized as a reserve of the army group. Moder had a total of thirty-one divisions. Of these, 12 were armored divisions and one was armored escort divisions, with a total of more than 1,900 tanks. The rest of his fourteen infantry divisions all took part in this campaign.

Air support for the offensive of the "Bastion" was provided by the 6th Air Force in the north and the 8th Air Army in the south (a total of 3500 aircraft). German 2nd Army. It had seven infantry divisions under its command and occupied the area west of the Kursk salient. The rear of Moder, north of Orel, was covered by the infantry division of the 2nd Panzer Army. Historically, it was unprecedented for the German army to gather such a strong assault force in one area.

At this time, the Soviet army also made careful defensive preparations for the entire Kursk salient, and they used a total of five fronts: the Western Front, the Bryansk Front, the Central Front, the Voronezh Front, the Steppe Front, and the Southwestern Front.

Among them, the Central Front, which defended the northern part of the Kursk salient, the Voronezh Front, which defended the southern part of the salient, and the Steppe Front, which served as a reserve, were directly engaged in the defense of Kursk, and the rest of the Soviet troops were to be engaged in the Soviet counteroffensive after the German offensive was frustrated.

The Steppe Front under Konev's command consisted of five armies (including one tank army), one tank army, one mechanized army, and three cavalry armies. The Central Front consisted of six army groups (one of which was a tank army) and two separate tank armies. Four armies of the Voronezh Front were deployed at the front, one infantry army and one tank army remained as reserves, in addition to two tank armies and one infantry corps.

The Soviet army has a total of more than 7,000 tanks, more than 30,000 artillery pieces, more than 2,000 aircraft, and more than 3.8 million troops, which is almost all the elite forces of the Soviet army, although the total strength of the Soviet Union at this time is 10.2 million, but this battle has exhausted all these elite forces, and Stalin is a rabbit's tail can not grow.

Malenkov, a member of the State Defense Council, as well as Vasilevsky and Zhukov, who were both Marshals of the Soviet Union at that time, were sent to the various armies as representatives of the Supreme High Command. The adjacent Bryansk Front and the Western Front surrounded the German 9th Army stationed on the Orel salient in parts of the area. The two fronts were ordered to prepare for an offensive on Moder's rear. The rear of Moder was covered by infantry units in the 2nd Panzer Army.

The defense of the Soviet troops in the Kursk salient was based on a number of parallel trenches and consisted of civil fortifications characteristic of the Soviet army. This is reminiscent of the fortifications used on the Western Front during the First World War. The main defensive zone ahead was three miles deep, with five trenches, and in some places more than five. All trenches were connected by communication trenches, and there were foxholes and shelter fortifications. These trenches were constructed with the help of migrant workers.

The Second Defensive Strip is located approximately seven miles from the First Defensive Strip and is constructed similarly to the First Defensive Strip. The third defensive zone is twenty miles from the second defensive zone. Front reserves were deployed in the rear, about forty miles from the defensive front, and miles of linear trenches were constructed. As a result, the trenches stretched for hundreds of miles, cutting through farmland, villages, and the gentle slopes of the steppe hills.

There were a large number of anti-tank means in each defensive zone, a large number of mines were laid throughout the area, and many anti-tank support points were constructed. The Central Front alone is said to have laid about half a million mines, a density of 2,400 anti-tank mines and 2,700 anti-infantry mines per mile of frontage. The supporting artillery assigned to the Central Front and the Voronezh Front was mostly the reserve artillery of the Supreme Command.

The 13th Army alone was supported by 700 artillery pieces and mortars of the 4th Breakthrough Artillery Corps. The two main fronts, the Central Front and the Voronezh Front, had about 13,000 guns, 6,000 anti-tank guns, and 1,000 rocket artillery, far more than the artillery of those three fronts in the attack on the Don and Volga, and more than the Germans used to support the intrusion troops.

…… (To be continued......)

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