Using the Russian Ministry of Defense’s archives and Western sources, the author has produced a companion work to his masterful study of II SS Panzer Corps’ offensive and the culminating clash at Prokhorovka. He lays out the German and Soviet plans for the battle; the forces arrayed for it and the extensive Soviet defenses; and then goes through a meticulous examination of the course of the fighting, as III Panzer Corps suffered initial setbacks in its attempt to link up with the right flank of II SS Panzer Corps (then extemporized on the battlefield to get the offensive going and to complete the linkup), while the Soviet side fought valiantly to prevent this (according to the plan of the Voronezh Front Commander-in-Chief, N.F. Vatutin).

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Photographs
• List of Maps
• List of Tables
• Introduction
• 1 “We didn’t anticipate even a quarter of what the Russians had prepared here”
• 2 In the shadow of the main attack – Army Detachment Kempf’s role in Operation Citadel
• 3 5 July 1943 – The beginning of the end of a tragicomedy
• 4 The 7th Guards Army’s main defensive belt crumbles
• 5 Breith’s III Panzer Corps reaches the line of the 69th Army, 7-8 July 1943
• 6 The fall of the Belgorod bastion, 9-10 July 1943
• 7 “The beast is badly wounded, but still very dangerous.” Breith’s III Panzer Corps’ dashing foray into the 69th Army’s rear
• 8 The pinning counterattack: 7th Guards Army and the events of 12 July
• 9 “The operation’s failure turned into a tragedy”
• Plate section