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Why doesn't this series use the
Nazi swastika symbol?
James explains: http://bit.ly/1Pzy1k5
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Richard "the
Challenger"
Cutland, ex
British tankie and military specialist at Wargaming, stops by to talk about the types of tanks involved in the
Battle of Kursk!
Early in
Operation Barbarossa, the
Germans didn't expect much from their opponents. They did not know about the
T-34 and
KV-1 tanks, which turned out to be superior designs.
The Germans deployed a special commission to study
Soviet tank designs and soon introduced the
Tiger,
Panther, and
Ferdinand tanks which
Hitler believed were key to victory.
The Panther in particular was now outclassing
Soviet tanks, but it had giant mechanical issues and broke down frequently.
The Soviets had produced a new
T-43 model tank, but it was designed to tackle the old
German Panzer IV and didn't measure up well to the new
German tanks. So they preferred to focus on the trusty T-34 tanks, which made up in speed and numbers what they lacked in range and firepower. The
Kursk region also played to the
Soviets' advantage in
Russia: the dust storms and mudfields hindered air support from the
Luftwaffe and the advance of the Wermacht.
Erich von Manstein, the German commander, decided not to advance.
Instead he yielded ground to the Soviets in an attempt to lure them into overextending. He successfully caught them out at the
First Battle of Kharkov, but even though the Soviets suffered heavy casualties there, it wasn't enough to make a dent in their huge army.
Manstein needed to do something more drastic. Both he and the Soviets recognized that the Soviet line had a weakness where it bulged out to defend the city of Kursk, making it an obvious target for the next stage of operations.
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"
Reading '
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- published: 29 Feb 2016
- views: 8824