Getting Started: Recon in Force - PzC 07 Kursk '43

Vorohnezh Front on the south face of the Kursk Bulge, July 4th 1943: The first shots fired in the battle in the Kursk offensive were actually fired on the day prior to the big attack. Here, along the southern face of the bulge a reconnaissance-in-force was launched at an area where the main German and Russian line was separated by a wider zone of outposts and strong points, many up to Battalion size. The task for elements of the 48th Panzer Corps was to advance and sweep away these strong points at Gertsovka and Butovo and determine the location of the main Russian line so the full weight of the offensive could fall upon it. Fierce fighting raged in the waning hours before the main battle and Soviet Guards fought hand-to-hand in a contest they could not win, but perished in unequal combat rather than abandon their positions. [Size, small]