ictory. He hoped that a victory at Kursk would demonstrate that even after the decisive defeat at Stalingrad the German armies were still the most powerful in the world. Hitler was so obsessed with winning at Kursk that for the battle he drew on reserves from as far away as France. When Soviet Intelligence confirmed the German plans for Kursk, General Zhukov began preparations for a huge defense. There were three defense lines, each of which had its own line of reserves. 400,000 land mines and many anti-tank guns protected these troops. By July 4, 1943 both sides had put over 2 million troops, 6,000 tanks, 5,000 planes, and 30,000 heavy guns into an area of less than 9,000 square miles. The defending Soviet forces had 1.3 million troops, 3,000 planes, 3,400 tanks, and 20,000 heavy guns, while the Germans only had 900,000 troops, 2,000 planes, 2,700 tanks, and 10,000 heavy guns. Fighting began on July 5, 1943. Since there were so many troops in such a small space the fighting was very intense, as Guy Sajer, a German soldier said: "Daylight turned to darkness and was interrupted by brilliant flashes of nearby explosions. The earth trembled and bushes and trees exploded into flame by spontaneous combustion from the intense heat. The German troops were frozen with fear, unable to move or even scream at times and at other times driven to howling like animals while desperately trying to bury themselves deeper to escape the terror, while clutching one another like children. Those who peered out were thrown back into the shelter in pieces." The new Tiger tank, as well as the assault guns, called Ferdinands, dominated the battle. The Tiger had an 88mm gun with a thousand-yard range. The Ferdinand guns were even more powerful and could out range any Soviet guns. The Germans planned to use the Tigers and the Ferdinands to weaken the Soviet defenses to allow infantry and light tanks to advance. Unfortunately, for the Germans this w...
