Not Another WWII FPS: 10 Neglected Eastern Front Battles To Consider
6. Battle Of Kursk
Do you like tanks? Of course you do: they are steel behemoths, nigh invincible and capable of limitless carnage. Now imagine youre in a tank. Awesome? Now imagine literally hundreds of tanks shooting each other into scrap metal whilst infantry brutalise each other in trenches and hundreds of planes scream through the air and plummet to the ground in the third and final decisive confrontation of the war. And all of this is happening at the same time. Welcome to Kursk in 1943. I am ashamed to admit that, before I saw it covered competently and interestingly in a nifty documentary a few years ago, I was almost totally unaware of Kursk and furthermore its huge importance. I suspect I am not the only one. But it was truly massive (occurring in a hugely threatening salient in German lines that you could conceivably fit, say, Belgium into) and to my knowledge has not made an appearance in any Western FPS dealing with the era. After Germany lost the entire 6th Army at Stalingrad and fled headlong out of the Caucasus, the Red Army punched a series of holes in the front, briefly retaking the industrial city of Kharkov (which was swiftly retaken by the Germans again) and forming a large salient around Kursk. As the German high command started to panic, the predictable Rasputitsa came back and everyone ceased operations. As the rain and mud blighted the landscape, Hitler and his generals got into a series of raucous arguments about whether to adopt a defensive stance or attempt a new offensive. Both had valid reasoning: the Soviets had poured considerable amounts of troops and equipment into the Kursk area itself a useful rail hub and surrounding it would both straighten the frontline and reap major rewards. On the other hand, Germany was fatally haemorrhaging men and materiel after 1942 and mounting a defence would allow them to ruin a prospective new Soviet strike and mop up with relative ease. Though the offensive option won out, a series of delays imposed by Hitler whilst waiting for newer tanks, guns and men pushed back the offensive from May to July, defeating the entire point of striking before the Soviets had time to dig in: they used the ample eight weeks to construct the deepest and most intricate defensive lines in history. Despite authorising it, even Hitler was apprehensive possibly his last sane thought. Thus, rather than their usual brilliant blitz, the Germans ran into a nightmarish quagmire of barbed wire, landmines, trenches, anti-tank guns and bunkers. The attack lasted 11 protracted days before the Allied invasion of Sicily forced Hitler to finish the futile fighting. Sensing a decisive shift, the Red Army lunged after the remnants and was thereafter permanently on the offensive whilst the Germans could do nothing but endlessly retreat. In the grand scheme of things, two massive German pincers attacked from north and south; it was the latter element that had the most success throwing itself against the Soviets, its achievements culminating in the infamous tank clash at Prokhorovka, where in an eight-hour duel some 494 German panzers took on 593 Soviet counterparts. It has often been rightfully described as the single largest tank battle in history. By the time the Germans began their long retreat, tens of thousands of tanks, guns and planes had been ruined and well over 1,000,000 people killed on both sides. As usual, the Germans got off lightly, but they could no longer afford such losses. By comparison, the Red Army sustained itself by grabbing peasants from its Central Asian holdings and kept on inexorably marching, now planning bigger and broader offensives and setting its sights on Berlin. For Prokhorovka alone, this battle deserves substantial coverage in any potential future FPS. Like Sevastopol, it can be divided by sector (north and south in this case) as we cover the Red Army holding out against the formerly superhuman Wehrmacht. Also, tank porn.