The tank battle near Prokhorovka was portrayed for a long period as the largest tank battle of World War II, as well as a brilliant victory for domestic weapons. Today, this very battle is actively rising to the shield with all sorts of accusers of the Soviet regime and the "bloody" marshals of the Great Patriotic War.
Battle history
Traditional historiography is known for this event, probably to every compatriot. Opposing armies concentrated their forces in the area of the village of the same name. In the evening of July 11, a tank battle began near Prokhorovka. The first attack was carried out by the Germans. The Soviet army restrained this offensive and launched a counterattack in the morning of July 12. The battle acquired colossal proportions; for several hours the field was covered by fire and smoke. About 13 hours, German forces made another attempt to break through the center of the Soviet forces, striking with two divisions. However, this attack was neutralized. By the evening of July 12, German tank divisions were pushed back 10-15 km. The battle was won, and the Nazi attack near Prokhorovka was their last strategic initiative in the Great Patriotic War.
Broken spears around Prokhorovka
For a long time in the
mass consciousness of compatriots it was considered, and, perhaps, even now it is believed that the great tank battle near Prokhorovka was the largest such episode of the entire war. However, this is clearly not the case. Even by bold estimates of Soviet historians, about 1,500 tank vehicles from both sides took part in the battle. However, in the same war on the Eastern Front, there were two other significant battles, which should be given attention in this regard. So, in the
battle of Senno on July 6-10, 1941, about a thousand tanks were used on both sides. The combined number of vehicles and four days of the battle make this battle more widespread than the tank battle near Prokhorovka. Unfortunately, this battle in the second week of the war was devastatingly lost, practically unable to at least detain enemy forces. Moreover, this defeat opened the way for the Nazis to Moscow and marked the most difficult period of the war for the Red Army. But even the battle of Senno was not the largest battle of tanks of the Great Patriotic War. Such, obviously, was the battle between the cities of western Ukraine Lutsk - Dubno-Brody. And this happened even earlier, even in the first days of Blitzkrieg - June 23 - June 30. About 3,200 tanks took part in this clash. More than three times more than under Prokhorovka. During the battle, the Red Army divisions were literally crushed, and the enemy received open space to attack Kiev and Kharkov. It is not surprising that I wanted to quickly forget these two routs and not remember even after May 1945!
Second myth
There is another large-scale exposure that actively accompanies
today a tank battle near Prokhorovka. Photos of tanks destroyed as a result of this battle, spread across the field, can still be found in photo archives today, impressed by its scale. But these machines are mostly domestic, not German. Where are the enemy vehicles if they were defeated in these fields? In fact, there were only a few Nazi tanks that were irrevocably disabled and abandoned. Most of them were not just evacuated, but also counteracted the Soviet offensive after only a couple of months. But many domestic tanks remained in this field forever. Today you can dig endlessly in numbers, proving incorrect data about the battle near Prokhorovka, however, in this regard, it should be remembered that the Soviet people in 1945, and even later, it was extremely important to know the history of successes in the war. It was absolutely unacceptable to overshadow the joy of victory, thereby completely breaking people, and thus having borne a heavy burden. In addition, this battle became part of the offensive on the
Kursk Bulge , which is most important for the domestic victory
. And the devastating reviews of the tank battle would hardly fit into the overall successful offensive of the Red Army. After the war ended, real numbers were significant only for a number of specialized historians, and the tank battle near Prokhorovka was overgrown with myths and remained in people's memory the largest battle of military vehicles.