Flames of War Firestorm: Kursk - EN

It is July 5th, 1943 and the Heer is bloodied and tired but successes by Field Marshall Manstein and General Hoth during the winter have put the Soviets on the back foot and reduced the front line to a Soviet salient or bulge 250 kilometres (160 mi) long from north to south and 160 kilometres (99 mi) from east to west centred on the city of Kursk.

The Germans have spent months massing troops in the area for a decisive blow against the Soviets with the plan of trapping five known armies in a pocket and destroying them. The plan envisioned an envelopment by a pair of pincers breaking through the northern and southern flanks of the salient.

The Germans have spent months massing troops in the area for a decisive blow against the Soviets with the plan of trapping five known armies in a pocket and destroying them. The plan envisioned an envelopment by a pair of pincers breaking through the northern and southern flanks of the salient.

The Soviets were not idle during this time, having learned bloody lessons over the last few years of fighting. They decided to meet the enemy attack by preparing defensive positions to wear out the German groupings before launching their own offensive. Preparation of defences and fortifications began by the end of April, and continued until the German attack in early July. The two-month delay between the German decision to attack the Kursk salient and its implementation allowed the Red Army ample time to thoroughly prepare.

Firestorm: Kursk
The Soviets created the largest fortifications of the war, digging almost 10,000 km of trenches in six massive defensive belts on either side of the salient. Fortifying each belt was an interconnected web of almost a million mines, barbed-wire fences, anti-tank ditches, deep entrenchments for infantry, anti-tank obstacles, dug-in armoured vehicles, and machine-gun bunkers. Without including the deeper reserves organized under the Steppe Front, the Soviets massed about 1,300,000 men, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,792 aircraft to defend the salient.
Now, Battlefront has brought to you the ability to fight this climatic battle for the future of the Eastern Front. Will the Soviets be able to smash the German offensive? Will the Germans be able to crush the Soviet stronghold?