库尔斯克战役
——二战规模最大的坦克战，东线德军最后的重要进攻1943年冬春两季，经历了斯大林格勒惨败的德军已经明显在数量上居于劣势，同时还失去
战略主动权。同年夏天，ＸＴＬ和德军高层开始
计划下一阶段的行动。
恶劣的形势并不仅仅存在于前线。当俄国坦克产量达到了不可思议的高水平之时，
德国人却
无法摆脱他们对虎式、豹式之类先进却技术不成熟的装备的“新式
武器情节”。这种情况大大降低了德国的坦克产量。德军最好的装甲战专家和指挥官古德里安将军说：“这些设计很有趣，但实际上却把我们唯一有效的坦克——四号坦克的产量降到了极低的水平。”
在库尔斯克战役前夕，古德里安又补充说，豹式坦克及其车组“显然还没有准备好作战。”1943年初，德国人改变了他们原先的坦克生产比例：四号坦克停产，取而代之的只不过是每月生产25辆虎式坦克。因此ＸＴＬ把坦克生产工作的控制权交给了古德里安，后者很快终止了这种生产方式。
德军的计划在1943年夏天该何去何从这个问题上，德军高层形成了两种相左的意见：一种切合实际，另一种则比较乐观。切合实际的那种选择得到了德军最好的野战指挥官古德里安、曼施泰因以及其他人的支持，他们主张充分发挥德军官兵在
战术、指挥和作战上的优势，通过战略上的机动防御在一系列局部战役中消耗苏军实力，从而弥补苏军对德军的巨大数量优势。在难以实现决定性胜利的情况下，这一做法旨在阻止并推迟苏军的推进。
乐观意见则是由德军总参谋长蔡茨勒将军提出的。他主张集中几乎所有德军坦克和其他
部队对苏军装甲部队主力进行一场决战，从而将其摧毁并有望恢复战略主动权。在蔡茨勒看来，最适合进行这样一场决战的地点是库尔斯克突出部，即库尔斯克市周围的宽广地区，位于从莫斯科到黑海一线的中点。德军对此地的苏军形成了三面包围的局面。显然，苏军会在这一地区部署大批坦克部队，而蔡茨勒的计划就是动用德军装甲部队发起一次经典的闪电战式的钳形攻势，从南北两翼进攻，将这里的苏军包围并消灭。这一计划被命名为城堡行动。
当ＸＴＬ在5月4日——确切说来是德军进攻前两个月——与他的将军们讨论这两种方案时，情况已经很明显了：两种方案都有各自的问题。
蔡茨勒的进攻库尔斯克突出部的方案的主要问题如下：德军空中侦察的照片清晰的显示，苏军已经针对德军的进攻在该地建筑了密集的大纵深防御工事，而且众多苏军坦克也已经部署到了战线后方。这样一来，德军的进攻将不再是一场对不设防开阔地的闪电战，而是一次对密集反坦克工事的强攻。冯。梅林津将军警告说，这样的攻击对于德军装甲部队而言将是一场一次死亡之旅。作为对古德里安的忧虑的回应，ＸＴＬ自己也不情愿地承认，一想到这样的进攻他就失去了勇气。
就
战争中的一次重要转折而言，与蔡茨勒的方案相比，古德里安方案的主要问题则是缺乏吸引力、热情与充满乐观的希望。于是，狂热的ＸＴＬ采纳了蔡茨勒的方案，为了让自己放心，他还推迟进攻时间以求在战役中投入更多的新式坦克和坦克歼击车。进攻日期被定为1943年7月4日。
命令一下达，德国人就开始尽力备战。整个战区都被侦察机拍照，德军指挥官们亲临前线观察自己的进攻路线。德国人将集中的所有可用部队分为两部分，分别部署在库尔斯克突出部的南北两翼。而在漫长的东线其余地域，他们只留下了最低限度的部队沿线布防。
德军用于进攻的兵力总计50个师，其中有17个装甲师和机械化师。这些部队包括了那些战斗力最强、装备最好的德国师，例如大日耳曼师和武装党卫军的警卫旗队师、骷髅师以及帝国师。
德国人集中了他们所有的新式装甲车辆：虎式和豹式坦克以及威力巨大的象式坦克歼击车。这些武器的正面装甲比一艘战列舰的装甲还要厚。他们还集中了所有可参战的空军部队和炮兵，却丝毫不在意那些令人生畏的机动装甲部队所面临的巨大潜在危险。
苏军的准备得益于经由瑞士从德国高层获得情报的“露西”间谍网的工作，俄国人不仅预料到了德军的进攻，而且对此了解地极为详细。他们收到了德军作战计划的全部细节，而苏军在前线的情报员也通过对大部分细节的查证而确定了这一消息属实，并非空穴来风。
苏军依次布置了8条防线，并在库尔斯克突出部的东部部署了他们全部的战略机动预备队，以防德军突破所有防线——这种情况后来确实出现了。
苏军的作战计划很简单。首先，他们将让德军按照原计划进攻一连串的苏军防线；一旦德国人的装甲部队消耗殆尽，苏军就将从库尔斯克突出部的南北两翼发起战略反攻，并在宽大正面上迫使德军西撤。
苏军防御工事的密度可谓前所未有。在库尔斯克突出部及周边地区，俄国人总共集中了130000名士兵以及3600辆坦克、20000门火炮（包括了6000门76毫米反坦克炮）和2400架飞机。
这些部队大约占到了苏军五分之一的人数、三分之一以上的坦克以及四分之一以上的飞机。在前线，平均每公里布下了3400颗地雷——其中一半是反坦克地雷。30万以上的平民挖掘了数千公里长的反坦克壕和其他防御工事。苏军防线中满是反坦克炮，每10门炮编为一组，每一组火炮由一个军官指挥向同一个目标射击。俄国人的伪装极为出色，德国人说他们直到被击中了才会发现苏军雷区或者火炮的位置。为了避免让德军对原计划进行修改，
苏联空军直到德军坦克落入圈套才开始空袭。俄国人已经尽可能做好了准备。
库尔斯克之战德国人的进攻终于在1943年7月4日下午按照原计划开始了。德军先头装甲部队在装甲最厚、威力最强的虎式和象式的引导下，穿过麦田向苏军防线推进。随后是双方接连不断的反坦克空袭。德军的斯图卡们攻击战壕中的苏联坦克，苏军的“黑死神”伊尔2则对德国坦克换以颜色。两军的战斗机也加入了战场上空的空战，双方的重炮也开火了。在苏军密集的反坦克炮火反击下，进攻中的德军装甲部队的损失迅速增加。德国重型坦克一旦突破了苏军防线就会被从侧面击毁——坦克侧面装甲厚度不如正面。在近距离的作战中，德军坦克同时还失去了其主炮在远程火力上的优势。
在北翼，德军在两天内仅仅推进了10公里就被挡住了，付出的代价是损失了大约25000名士兵和200辆坦克。但战斗仍然在继续。在德军实力更强的南翼，德国人不顾损失，将所有预备队调上了前线。
7月12日，经过一星期的激战，双方都已经损失惨重。南翼德军指挥官霍特将军决心集中剩余的大约600辆坦克连同所有现存部队继续进攻。他们突破了苏军最后一条防线，并且深入到了普罗霍罗夫卡村附近一个比较适合进行坦克战的地区。
此时此刻，霍特不知道的是苏军指挥高层早就预见到了这一情况。当德军在北翼被挡住以后，苏军就能够放心地把自己的装甲预备队调到南翼。俄国人把至今尚未参战的整个近卫第5坦克集团军以最大速度从库尔斯克以东调到普罗霍罗夫卡附近迎战德军。
次日上午，由于厚厚的烟尘影响了能见度，苏德两军的坦克一直到了近距离才发现对方，于是大约1500辆双方坦克混杂在一起展开了一场大混战。在这种情况下，德军坦克无法充分利用其在远距离上的火力优势。在这场持续了8个小时的战斗中，德国人失去了大约一半的坦克，苏军的损失则更为惨重。战局已定，第二天，ＸＴＬ下令终止城堡行动，而苏军则在库尔斯克北翼开始了反攻。
战后库尔斯克战场遍布着数以百计烧焦的坦克和飞机的残骸，以及无数的尸体。双方的区别在于：苏军在遭受了巨大损失的情况下仍然能按照计划开出防线发起全面反攻，而东线德军则失去了仅有的骨干力量。
1941年夏天，德军进攻苏联，直到莫斯科近郊才被挡住。
1942年夏天，德军向苏联南部发起进攻，一度兵临斯大林格勒城下，饮马伏尔加河。但却在实力逐渐恢复的苏军面前失去了战略主动权。
1943年夏天，在库尔斯克战役中，实力大为衰弱的德军在苏军已有充分准备的情况下试图通过最后一次大举进攻重夺战略主动权，结果反而削弱了自己用以进攻的拳头力量，失去了仅存的精锐部队。
库尔斯克战役结束后，东线的战局演变成了苏军的长途进攻，俄国人收复了所有失地，征服了整个东欧，一路攻入德国，占领了柏林，并赢得了战争。德军再也不能反击或阻止苏军的推进，只能被迫开始了长途撤退。
原文如下：
Quote:
The Battle Of Kursk
The greatest tank battle of World War 2
The last major German offensive in the East
In the winter and spring of 1943, after their terrible defeat in Stalingrad, clearly outnumbered and losing the initiative in the eastern front, Hitler and the German High Command were asking themselves what to do next, in the summer of 1943.
The situation was bad not only in the war front. While Russian tank production increased to unbelievable levels, the German obsession for complex new super weapons, like the advanced but then immature Panther and Tiger tanks, largely reduced German tank production. General Guderian, the best German armor expert and commander, said "As interesting as these designs were, the practical result was just a reduced production of the Panzer 4, our only efficient tank then, to a very modest level.". Shortly before the battle of Kursk Guderian added, about the Panther and its crews, "They are simply not ready yet for the front". In early 1943 the Germans were about to destroy their own tank production rates by terminating Panzer 4 production in return for a production of just 25 new Tigers per month, but at a moment of reason Hitler gave control of tank production to Guderian who stopped this idea.
The German plan
The debate in the German High Command about what to do in the summer of 1943 was between two options, the realistic option and the enthusiast-optimist option:
The realistic option, supported by Guderian and Manstein, the best German field commanders, and by others, suggested to compensate for the large Russian numerical advantage by fully utilizing the superiority of the German commanders and soldiers in tactics, command, and fighting, by a strategy of dynamic mobile defense that would cause great losses to the Russians in a series of local clashes. The realistic goal was to stop and delay the Russians, as decisive victory was no longer achievable.
The enthusiast-optimistic option, proposed by General Zeitzler, chief of staff of the German army, suggested to concentrate almost all German tanks, and other forces, to a major decisive battle against a large portion of the Russian armor, in order to destroy them and by doing so hopefully regain the initiative. The most suitable place for such a battle, as Zeitzler proposed, was the Kursk salient, a wide region around the city of Kursk, about half way between Moscow and the black sea, where the Germans surrounded the Russians from three sides. It was obvious that the Russians will keep a large tank force there, and the plan was to encircle them in a classic Blitzkrieg style pincer movement of German tanks from North and South and destroy them. Zeitzler's plan was code named Operation Citadel.
When Hitler discussed the two options with his Generals on May 4th, exactly two months before the German attack began, it became clear that each of the two options had a major problem.
The major problem with Zeitzler's plan to attack the Kursk salient, was that aerial photos clearly revealed that the Russians were building dense and deep fortifications there in order to counter such an attack, and that many Russian tanks were moved deeper behind the front line. Instead of an open battlefield Blitzkrieg, it was going to be a direct charge on dense anti-tank defenses. General von Mellenthin warned that such a direct attack will be a ride to death, for the German tanks. In response to Guderian's worries, Hitler himself admitted that whenever he think of this planned attack, his guts turn.
The major problem with Guderian's option was that it lacked the charm, enthusiasm, and optimistic hope for a major change in the war that Zeitzler's plan had. So the enthusiast Hitler decided in favor of Zeitzler's plan, and calmed his worries of it by ordering to delay the attack for a while in order to incorporate more of the brand new advanced German tanks and tank destroyers in it. The date was set to July 4, 1943.
Once the order was given, the Germans prepared as best as they could. The entire region was photographed from above, the German commanders visited the front line to observe their intended routes, and the Germans concentrated all available forces in two armies, North and South of the Kursk salient, leaving minimal forces along the rest of the long Russian front.
The German force included a total of 50 divisions, including 17 armor and mechanized divisions. These included the most powerful and best equipped German divisions, such as the Gross Deutschland (Great Germany) division and the Waffen-SS tank divisions Leibstandarte (Hitler's bodyguards), Totenkopf (Death skull), and Das Reich (The Reich). The Germans concentrated all their new armor, the Tiger and Panther tanks, and the mighty new Elefant tank destroyers, which had a front armor thicker than a battleship's armor. They also concentrated all available air units and artillery, and despite the problems of the German plan it was a formidable concentrated mobile armor force with great offensive potential.
The Russian preparations
Thanks to their "Lucy" spy network, which operated high ranking sources in Germany via Switzerland, the Russians didn't just expect the German attack, they knew all about it. They received the full details of the German plan, and the Russian military intelligence was able to verify most details in the front to ensure that the information was real, not disinformation.
The Russians prepared eight defense lines one behind the other, and also positioned their entire strategic mobile reserve East of the Kursk salient, in case the Germans will penetrate thru all these defense lines, which indeed happened.
The Russian plan was simple. First, they will let the Germans attack as planned right into their series of very dense defense lines, and after the German armor will be crushed there, the Russian army will start its strategic attack North and South of the Kursk salient and push the Germans West along a wide part of the front.
The Russian defense was unprecedented in its density. A total of 1,300,000 Russian soldiers with 3600 tanks, 20,000 guns, including 6000 76mm anti-tank guns, and 2400 aircraft were concentrated in and around the Kursk salient. It was about a fifth of the Russian military personnel, over a third of the tanks and over 1/4 of the aircraft. They laid 3400 mines per each kilometer of the front, half of them anti-tank mines, and over 300,000 civilians dug thousands of kilometers of anti-tank trenches and other fortifications. The Russian lines were filled with numerous anti-tank guns organized in groups of up to 10, each group commanded by one officer and firing at the same target. The Russian camouflage was superb, the Germans said that until they were hit by them, they could identify neither the Russian mine fields nor their anti-tank gun positions. To avoid forcing the Germans to divert from their known plan, Russian air attacks were delayed until the German tanks already moved into the trap. The Russians were as ready as they could be.
The battle of Kursk
The German attack finally began, in the afternoon of July 4, 1943, as planned. The German armor spearheads, led by the most armored and most powerful Tigers and Elefants, advanced forward in the wheat fields toward the Russian lines. Then came wave after wave of anti-tank aircraft attacks by both sides, German Stukas attacked dug in Russian tanks and Russian Sturmoviks attacked the German tanks. The fighters of both sides engages in air combats over the battlefield, and each side's massive heavy artillery also fired. The advancing German tanks suffered rapidly increasing losses from the dense Russian anti-tank defenses, but pressed forward. Once the German heavy tanks reached into the Russian defense lines, they could finally be hit and destroyed from their sides, where they were not so armored as from the front. At this short range they also lost their superiority in long range firing from their powerful guns.
In the North, the German attack advanced only 10km into the Russian lines in two days and was stopped, after losing about 25,000 soldiers and 200 tanks, but fighting continued. In the South, where they had stronger forces, the Germans sent all their reserves forward and pressed on despite the losses.
On July 12, after a week of heavy fighting with heavy casualties in both sides, General Hoth, the German commander in the South side of the Kursk salient, decided to concentrate all his remaining tanks, about 600, and press forward with all their concentrated force deeper, past the last remaining Russian defense line, and into an area more suitable for tank warfare near the small village Prokhorovka.
He didn't know that at this point in the battle, the Russian High Command already predicted this development, and since the German advance in the North was stopped, they could now safely send their armor reserve to meet the advancing German tanks in the South. The Russians ordered their entire 5th Guards tank army, which so far didn't participate in the battle, to hurry at maximum speed from its position East of Kursk to meet the German tanks advancing near Prokhorovka.
Due to very bad visibility, with thick smoke and dust, when the Russian tanks met the German tanks the next morning, they didn't stop advancing until they were all around and between them, so about 1500 German and Russian tanks fought in a fierce battle of very short firing distances in which the Germans could not exploit their technological superiority in longer range fighting. The Germans lost more than half of their remaining tanks in this great clash which lasted eight hours, and the Russians lost greater numbers. The battle was decided. The next day Hitler ordered to stop Operation Citadel, and the Russians started their counter attack North of Kursk.
After the battle
The battlefield in Kursk was filled with many hundreds of burnt tanks and crashed aircraft, and so many dead soldiers. The difference was that while the Russians suffered heavy losses but could continue as planned and shift from defense to a large counter attack in a wide front, the German army in the East just lost the core of its remaining force.
In the summer of 1941 the German army attacked Russia and was stopped only near Moscow.
In the summer of 1942 the German army attacked in South Russia and reached the Volga river at Stalingrad before it was stopped, and lost the strategic initiative to the recovering Russian army.
In the summer of 1943, in the battle of Kursk, the much weaker German army broke its fist and lost its best remaining units in its attempt to regain the initiative in one last major attack, for which the Russians were fully prepared.
After the battle of Kursk, the war in the eastern front was a long Russian advance, in which the Russian army returned to all the territory it lost to the Germans, conquered all of Eastern Europe, and reached all the way to Germany and to Berlin and won the war. The Germans could no longer attack or stop the Russian advance, and were just pushed back in a long retreat.
[ 此贴被hitlerjugend在2008-04-23 14:20重新编辑 ]
