#0707_04 Blizhniaia Igumenka - The Forest and the Flank - Kursk Southern Front

Blizhniaia Igumenka, east of Kharkov: July 7th, 1943. (Scenario Size: Division.) Generalleutenant Gustav Schmidt's 19th Panzer Division had been stymied by the dogged Soviet defence of Kreida since the afternoon of July 5th. The tall water tower at the Kreida railway station had been an observation point for numerous Soviet batteries and had called artillery onto any attempt to assault the town. Advances on July 6th had given the Panzer Division a chance to flank the Kreida position if it could capture both Hill 216.1 and Blizhniaia Igumenka. It was hoped that another attack at Kreida would pin the defenders and allow both the 74th Panzer Grenadier Regiment and 27th Panzer Regiment to penetrate the Russian lines. As the leftmost formation of III Panzer Korp it was critical that the Division succeed in pushing the Soviets back and re-establish contact with the SS units to the north.