World War 2 Operation Citadel

Operation Citadel: It was to be the most perfect operation ever mounted by the German Wehrmacht. They assembled their elite, battle hardened divisions and equipped them with the most advanced tanks and assault guns. Two-thirds of the entire Luftwaffe’s entire available airpower was enlisted in support. Hitler was so certain that “Operation Citadel” would succeed that his order for the operation ended with “Victory at Kursk will be a beacon for the whole world.”

Unfortunately for the Germans, Hitler had postponed the attack, waiting for deliveries of new tanks and guns for so long, the Russians got wind of it and were able to build strong defenses in depth. The German attack failed to nip off the bulge in Army Center’s front, but more important for the Russians, it allowed them to weaken thirty German divisions from which they were never to recover.