During the war of 41-45 years of the 20th century, many different significant battles took place. Among them, the most significant are two tank battles of the Great Patriotic War - near Senno and Prokhorovka. There is a significant difference between the two battles. The Red Army won the battle at the Kursk Bulge, and the Wehrmacht forces celebrated victory in the battle of Senno.
Battle of Senno
The Battle of Senno is comparable in importance to the tank battle that took place on the Kursk Bulge. It took place from 6 to 10 July 1941.
The setting before the battle
The first weeks of the outbreak of war put the Soviet army in a critical situation. In particular, Hitler's troops took the capital of the BSSR and inflicted huge losses on Soviet units on the Western Front. In order to partially correct the current situation, the Soviet command decided to launch a counterattack on the enemy troops, which was launched in the direction of Lipel.
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Forces of the opposing sides
The Soviet forces were represented by the 20th Army under the command of General Kurochkin. The army consisted of two mechanized tank corps and one rifle corps (about 130 thousand soldiers and 1400 tanks).
German troops consisted of 3 armored divisions under the command of Generals von Funk, von Weber and Harpe. The ground forces were supported by General von Richthofen's air corps.
The course of the battle
Soviet troops undertook active actions with the forces of the 7th corps in the direction of Senno and the 5th corps in the direction of Lipel. During the battles that took place, Soviet troops managed to capture Senno on July 6. However, two days later, under the pressure of superior enemy forces in technical power, the Soviet units, having lost a significant part of human strength and equipment, were forced to leave Senno.
The defeat in the Battle of Senno opened the direct road to the direction of Smolensk for the Hitlerite army. Soviet formations, with heavy losses, were forced to retreat inland. The lost battle had one important plus for the Soviet army - the pace of the enemy's offensive was significantly reduced and damage was done to the living forces of the enemy troops.
Losses of the parties
During the greatest battle between tank units, which was lost by the Soviet troops, the Red Army suffered significant losses. In particular, German units destroyed about 830 tanks and 650 soldiers and officers of the Red Army. On the German side, the losses were not so significant.