Perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to say that the tank battles of World War II are one of its main images. How are the trenches an image of the First World War or nuclear missiles of the post-war confrontation between the socialist and capitalist camps. Actually, this is not surprising, since the tank battles of World War II largely determined its nature and course.
Not the last merit in this belongs to one of the main ideologists and theorists of motorized warfare, German General Heinz Guderian. He largely owns the initiatives of the most powerful blows with a single fist of the troops, thanks to which the Nazi forces achieved such dizzying successes on the European and African continents for more than two years. The tank battles of the Second World War especially gave brilliant results at its first stage, defeating outdated morally Polish equipment in record time. It was Guderian's divisions that ensured the breakthrough of the German armies near Sedan and the successful occupation of French and Belgian territories. Only the so-called "Dunkers miracle" saved the remnants of the armies of the French and British from total defeat,allowing them to reorganize in the future and protect England in the sky at first and prevent the Nazis from concentrating absolutely all their military power in the east. Let's take a closer look at the three biggest tank battles of this entire massacre.
Prokhorovka, tank battle
In the mass consciousness of our compatriots, the idea has taken root that this particular battle was the largest tank battle of the war. Indeed, a lot of forces were involved here! About 1,500 tanks on both sides, in roughly equal proportions. This battle won in July 1943 became one of the greatest pages of our victory and an important component of the offensive on the Kursk salient. At the same time, despite the military glory and wide popularity, not the largest battle took place on the Prokhorovsky field. Larger scale battles took place on the Eastern Front two years earlier, during the most difficult period of the war, when the Red Army was retreating on all fronts. And, unfortunately, these battles were devastatingly lost, which is why our official history was forgotten. And there was no need to overshadow the joy of the victorious people, and so survived many difficult days. After the end of the war, this fact was of serious importance only for specialized historians, which is why Prokhorovka remained the largest collision site for military vehicles. However, we will also highlight the tragic moments of our national history.
World War II Tank Battles: Battle of Senno
This episode took place at the very beginning of the Germaninvasion of the territory of the USSR and became an integral part of the Vitebsk battle. After the capture of Minsk, the German units advanced to the confluence of the Dnieper and Dvina, intending to launch an offensive against Moscow from there. On the part of the Soviet state, two tank divisions, numbering more than 900 combat vehicles, participated in the battle. The Wehrmacht had at its disposal three divisions and about a thousand serviceable tanks, backed up by aircraft. As a result of the battle on July 6-10, 1941, the Soviet forces lost more than eight hundred of their combat units, which opened up the enemy the opportunity to continue their advance without changing plans and launch an offensive towards Moscow.
The biggest tank battle in history
In fact, the biggest battle took place even earlier! Already in the first days of the Nazi invasion (June 23-30, 1941) between the cities of Brody - Lutsk - Dubno, in Western Ukraine, there was a clash involving more than 3200 tanks. In addition, the number of combat vehicles here was three times greater than near Prokhorovka, and the battle lasted not one day, but a whole week! As a result of the battle, the Soviet corps were literally crushed, the armies of the Southwestern Front suffered a quick and crushing defeat, which opened the way for the enemy to Kyiv, Kharkov and further occupation of Ukraine.
