Reinforcements were on the way in the form of a regiment of the S.S. Leibstandarte which advanced unopposed over open ground from Werchopenje. Rudolf von Ribbentrop, the son of the German minister commanded this regiment and he later said that he had reached about 800 meters in the woods north of the village when a powerful Russian counter-attack was launched.
"Russian tanks of all sizes were coming out of the forest and fanning out in line to intercept us," he said. Visibility was poor due to the wheat fields but there was a good fight and we destroyed two of their big mobile guns before the Luftwaffe came to our aid. »
As one of the German pilots recounted:“During the first attack, four tanks exploded under the hammer blows of my gun; in the evening, after four other outings, the total of my victories rises to twelve; bad luck is out, and with the Stuka we have an a that can be quickly used in all 1s and is capable of successfully dealing with formidable quantities of Soviet tanks
However, nothing could really stop the massive amounts of Soviet cl. On each portion of the battlefield, those destroyed or mobilized were replaced with a rapidity that seemed magical. The supplies were continuous and “seemed to come out of nowhere,” like Manstein 1( to Hitler during a lecture to Major Führer on July 12.
At that time the head of the fc viaaire line was still functioning but there was no longer any continuous supply from c lemagne. The huge force with laqi Manstein and Kluge had started to size to close the Ko salient had been reduced by more than half.
There was continual activity in the repair shops in an attempt to fit the Panth and Tigers that had been recovered from the battlefield into combat condition. ammunition, trains c desperately stretched each mand tank immobilized on the ground.
It was now very clear that I had risked more armor in this battle than he could afford to lose. Although none was yet in sight at Kursk, the cor ture in Europe demanded the conclusion of the offensive and the transfer of the Is to the Western theatre. Indeed on July 12, the Allies had landed in Sicily.
The most dramatic moment of the Battle of Kursk took place between July 12 and 14. For nine days the two adversaries had fought like heavyweight boxers dealing huge blows without managing to knock the other down. Early in the morning of July 12, Hoth summoned his corps commanders and prepared a breakthrough before the Soviets could reinforce their defenses between Kruglik and Nowosselowka and muster their forces.
He had received intelligence reports that the southern end of the fortified line of Army Group South along the Donets and Mius rivers between Taganrog and Stalino was under threat of attack. "We're going to be needed there," he told Hausser, the SS corps commander. »
These were the words of a brave man. He now had 600 tanks in working order:this would be the spearhead of the attack.
Every man in the 4th Army was exhausted and ammunition very limited. On the other hand, Vatutin had received new equipment, including the new 85 mm SU85 self-propelled gun and fresh troops.
He also had the entire 5th Armored Army in reserve and ready for action. It was not hard to tell who had the advantage.
This last German attempt was to be called the "Death Ride of the 4th Panzer Army".
"It's a fine day for a walk," said Sepp Dietrich laconically to the pilot of his command tank. It's not going to rain. »
It didn't rain. It was a day of intense dry heat. Inside the tanks reigned an oven heat despite the aeration and ventilation systems. The high-speed movement of heavy vehicles on sandy roads raised clouds of dust which made it difficult for the Luftwaffe to choose its targets. Once, according to Dietrich, a T34 and a Panther collided head-on while rolling through the dust.