August 23 is a landmark event in Russian history and a turning point in World War II. It is on August 23 that the Day of Military Glory of Russia is celebrated, the day when Soviet troops defeated the Wehrmacht forces at the Kursk Bulge. We are used to celebrating May 9, but sometimes we forget about other significant events of our people that influenced our peaceful life.
The history of the Battle of Kursk, or as it is also called the Battle of the Kursk Bulge, has been known to us since the school days, so we will not go into details, but consider interesting facts that we were not told about at school.
Fact number 1
The battle was originally planned as a Soviet offensive operation. The correct choice of strategy was a decisive factor in the outcome of the battle. An exhausting tactic was chosen, which later grew into a counter-offensive operation. The decision was made at the end of May 1943 and our great generals Zhukov and Vasilevsky adhered to it, the rest of the future marshals were against such actions.
Fact number 2
The Battle of the Kursk Bulge is considered the largest in the Second World War. It can only be correlated with the Battle of Stalingrad. For comparison, during the Battle of Kursk, more than four million people were involved, when in the Battle of Stalingrad this figure did not exceed two million.
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Fact number 3
Competent actions of reconnaissance groups behind enemy lines. It was the scouts who revealed the plans of the Germans in time, timely passing the information to the Soviet leadership. The main ones were the resident of the GRU in Switzerland, Sandor Rado, and Major General Sklyarov, who was preparing a report on the offensive for Churchill.
Fact number 4
The Battle of Kursk became a baptism of fire for the Smersh counterintelligence agencies. "Death to Spies!" - such a short and understandable name has grown into one of the most terrifying terms of the Second World War - "Smersh". The body was created a few months before the start of the battle and conducted operations to obtain information, conduct counterintelligence, and also recruit German agents.
Fact number 5
The Soviet victory came as a surprise to Hitler. It was in this battle that the leader of the German troops lost his best formations and trained troops. Hitler's emotions prevailed and, under his pressure, the Germans moved to the Soviet positions of tough defense on the principle "by all means," wrote the German historian from the Bundeswehr Manfred Rau.
Fact number 6
The first salute was given to mark the victory at the Kursk Bulge. Perhaps this is one of the first positive facts in the history of World War II. In honor of Belgorod and Orel, who were liberated from the German troops, Stalin ordered to use up the entire supply of blank shells for the first fireworks in the history of the war, which took place in the capital. The guns were deployed at various points in the city and fired volleys of all 124 guns every 30 seconds.
