Orel '43

For the Germans the Battle of Kursk was to be the premier summer operation in 1943, slowing the building Russian momentum. The battle was an Axis failure, and the Germans considered the operation finished by the middle of July. For the Soviets, the early July battles were but the defensive phase of the Battle of Kursk, designed to wear out their German opponent. The Russian offensives that followed, first, Operation Kutuzov in the north, lasting from 12 July to 18 August, and Operation Rumyantsev from 3 August to 23 August were the culmination of the Soviet summer strategy. Facing the Soviet Union's forces to defend Orel were the post Kursk, depleted Second Panzerarmee and the Ninth Armee. Crisis both to the north at Smolensk during Operation Suvorov and on the Mius River to the south on the Azov Sea, saw the Axis forces at their weakest as the Soviets had just captured Kharkov in the fourth and final battle for the largest city in Eastern Ukraine. In Orel '43, as the commander of the