отражение атаки танков КВ

The KV’s swan song – German XXXV Armeekorps’ antitank defense slaughters KV-led attack on the Orel salient,
July 13, 1943
After the culmination of the German Heeresgruppe Mitte’s offensive against the northern side of the Kursk salient in
July 1943, the Stavka ordered three Soviet fronts to launch concentric attacks against the Orel salient. Since the
German infantry divisions defending the salient had over a year to prepare their defenses, the Red Army expected to
conduct powerful breakthrough attacks to punch through the German defensive lines in several places, then roll them
up. The Bryansk Front massed six rifle divisions and about 300 tanks against the German XXXV Armeekorps defending
the eastern side of the salient, near Novosil. Three separate regiments of KV-1 tanks would spearhead the assault,
concentrating against the boundary between the 56. and 262.Infanterie-Divisionen. Awaiting them, the 262.Infanterie-
Division had 61 antitank guns, including four PaK 36(r), three PaK 41 and one PaK 40.
On the morning of July 12, the 3rd Army fired a heavy artillery preparation and then attacked with its infantry, who
managed to claw their way into the German first line of defense. Encouraged by this success, the Soviets committed
200 tanks, hoping to crush the last German resistance and create a decisive breakthrough. Initially, the Soviet heavy
tanks were able to eliminate five 5cm PaK and then overrun some artillery units, but the Germans quickly redeployed
Panzerjäger-Kompanie 521 with nine Hornisse 8.8cm self-propelled guns to Arkhangel’skoye. When the 114th Separate
Tank Regiment renewed its attack across the open terrain east of the town on the morning of July 13, the KV-1 tanks
came under intense and accurate PaK fire from several sides. A German 7.5cm PaK 41 deployed in the woods south of
the town proceeded methodically to pick off the slow-moving KV-1 tanks, piercing their hulls with high-velocity 7.5cm
PzGr 41 Hartkern (hard-core) rounds. Nevertheless, the brave KV tankers pressed on through the kill zone and
managed to close in on German 5cm PaK positions on the edge of town. However, the Germans had learned about KV
overrun tactics and surrounded their PaK guns with barbed-wire obstacles and Teller mines; when two KV-1 tanks
attempted to crush PaK guns, they had their tracks blown off. The Soviet heavy tank regiment was massacred by the
heavy German PaK guns and the attack in this sector was defeated.