Soviet Forces

Preparing for Kursk - Soviet slit trench.

?Government of the Russian Federation.

Soviet troops shelter in an anti-tank slit trench. The caption I found for this says that it is an action photo of Soviet troops at Kursk. This is clearly wrong - the tank passing over the trench is a T-34 Soviet tank, indicating that this is a training exercise. The Soviets had very good intelligence in advance of the German Kursk offensive, not least from spy networks ranging as far as Japan. This was supplemented by prisoner interrogation. Apart from that - the potential for a German attack on the Kursk salient was patently obvious. In response, the Soviets constructed a complex system of defence, involving dense minefields and anti-tank units protected by slit-trenches. The result, when the Germans attacked, was in no way blitzkrieg. It more closely resembled a WW1-style slogging match, in which attrition was a major factor. Whether the outcome of the battle of Prokhorovka opened the way to German victory - we will never know. The end-result was a tactical draw - but a strategic defeat for the Germans. Soviet tactics in defending the salient played a major part in securing this outcome; Germany never afterwards managed to launch a true offensive on the Eastern Front. Best regards, JR.