Perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to say that tank battles of the Second World War are one of its most important images. How are the trenches the image of World War I or the nuclear missiles of the post-war confrontation between the socialist and capitalist camps. Actually, this is not surprising, since the tank battles of World War II largely determined its character and course.
Not the last merit in this belongs to one of the main ideologists and theorists of the motorized war, the German general Heinz Guderian. To a large extent, he owns the initiatives of powerful blows with a single fist of the troops, thanks to which the Nazi forces achieved such dizzying successes on the European and African continents for more than two years. The tank battles of World War II especially gave a brilliant result at its first stage, defeating outdated morally Polish equipment in record time. It was Guderian’s divisions that ensured the breakthrough of the German armies near Sedan and the successful occupation of French and Belgian territories. Only the so-called “Dunker miracle” saved the remnants of the armies of the French and British from total defeat, allowing them to reorganize in the future and protect England at first in the sky and prevent the Nazis from concentrating absolutely all their military power in the east. Let’s take a look in more detail at the three largest tank battles of this entire massacre.
Prokhorovka, tank battle
In the mass consciousness of our compatriots, the notion that this particular battle became the largest tank battle of the war was rooted. Indeed, a lot of forces were involved here a lot! About 1,500 tanks on both sides, in approximately equal proportions. This battle won in July 1943 became one of the greatest pages of our victory and an important component of the offensive on the Kursk Bulge. However, despite the military glory and widespread fame, not the largest battle took place on the Prokhorovsky field. More extensive battles took place on the Eastern Front two years earlier, during the most difficult period of the war, when the Red Army retreated on all fronts. And, unfortunately, these battles were devastatingly lost, which is why they were forgotten in our official history. And there was no need to overshadow the joy of the victorious people, and so having survived many difficult days. After the end of the war, this fact was of serious importance only to specialized historians, which is why Prokhorovka remained the largest site of a clash of military vehicles. However, we will also cover the tragic moments of Russian history.
Tank battles of World War II: the battle of Senno
This episode occurred at the very beginning of the German invasion of the USSR and became an integral part of the battle of Vitebsk. After the capture of Minsk, the German units advanced towards the confluence of the Dnieper and the Dvina, intending to launch an attack on Moscow from there. On the part of the Soviet state, two tank divisions, numbering more than 900 combat vehicles, participated in the battle. The Wehrmacht had three divisions and about a thousand serviceable tanks, backed by aircraft. As a result of the battle, on July 6-10, 1941, Soviet forces lost more than eight hundred of their combat units, which opened up the enemy the opportunity to continue their advance without changing plans and launch an offensive towards Moscow.
The largest tank battle in history
In fact, the biggest battle took place even earlier! Already in the first days of the Nazi invasion (June 23-30, 1941) between the cities of Brody - Lutsk - Dubno, in Western Ukraine, there was a collision involving more than 3200 tanks. In addition, the number of combat vehicles here was three times that of Prokhorovka, and the duration of the battle was not one day, but a whole week! As a result of the battle, the Soviet corps were literally crushed, the armies of the Southwestern Front suffered a quick and crushing defeat, which opened the way for the enemy to Kiev, Kharkov and the further occupation of Ukraine.