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Rotmistrov also managed to come up with some damn good excuses. All those Tigers and Panthers that IISS Panzer Corps actually didn't have. If they had the numbers of Tigers and Panthers that Rotmistrov claimed and judging by the losses 5 GTA actually had they would have not just been...

It is however a point agreed by modern historians that Kursk as a whole had already failed. Lawrence Schrank, Nipe, Zamulin. At best there was still a chance of some progress in the south but that was likely to be very limited. Operation Roland would seem to prove the point.

I know. However, for the moment AGS is actually more important to this TL at the moment, Operation Panther is an AGS operation being run as a preliminary to Kursk as will be made clear in forthcoming posts on plans, preparations and intelligence. Operations Orders 5 and 6 will be the key change...

Toeopel is on my purchase list but not a top priority. My next Kursk purchase will most likely be this. Lawrence however is a 1600 page tome covering the AGS paer of Kursk in as much detail as we are ever likely to get...

I will be covering intelligence, plans, forces in the next few posts Note however that ITTL Citadel, in the original form, might not happen if the Red Army initiates offensives in response to Panther, for example in the Orel Salient/ In that event Model will be too busy with defensive...

PS I can probably trump your Töppel with this. Lawrence by the way is President of the Dupuy Institute

It isn't summer 1943 yet though, It is April - Early May. Manstein can still plan his backhand blow. At this point though it is a contingency in case the Red Army actually do attack first or begin counter offensives in response to Operation Panther. At present. ITTL the plan is Panther in early...

Nobody is saying the Backhand blow would actually work/ Manstein however did want to try it and, depending on what happens he might get to do so in this scenario. As the title suggests :)if it did work Germany is still very likely to lose the war in the end. However the end might be a little...

Planning and Preparations April and Early May 1943 Both sides continued to plan and prepare for the upcoming operations. STAVKA intended to allow the Wehrmacht to strike first at the Kursk Salient any time after the Raspuita Mud Season concluded. To this end all resources were poured into the...

That is why Citadel is being postponed until mid July ITTL. Panther was viewed as a preliminary operation in German planning intended to pinch out a dangerous salient. There might be an opportunity to outflank the Kursk salient with a wide envelopment rather than OTL frontal attack. In regard to...

Gernan planning originally considered pinch off off the Izyum Salient before Citadel. ITTL that is the POD. Certainly the Soviets will be getting intelligence about the Habicht/Panther/Citadel Plan that will indicate that Habicht/Panther will come first, the Citadel two or three weeks later...

Early Spring 1943 By 1 April the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had fought each other to a temporary stalemate Stalingrad and the surrender of Paulus' 6th Army had beep a disaster and the Soviet Winter offensives had strained the Wehrmacht to breaking point. Manstein's Backhand Blow had however...

A view that gas been challenged or at least revise these days. See foe example Robert M Citino books for a more nuanced analysis

In the spring of 1943 the Wehrmacht considered a number of other possible offensive plans for the Russian Front. Two of these were Operations Habicht and Panther which were intended to clear the Izyum Salient . Habicht was a less ambitious plan that would only clear part of the salient but would...

The poster who suggested a B=L style peace was. I think a little too hopeful. In reality any peace deal reality would be far more of a compromise. Maybe the Germans get to keep some territory. Whether this happens depends on the situation at the end if hostilities. Have either Hitler or Stalin...

Agreed, It might well require a strategic rethink and a chanfe of mind set. Did the General Staff even recognise the situation they were sinking into by May 1941. A few may have done of course. The question however was even if the strategic rethink happens does it change the final outcome or...

Going after Middle east oil fields, The Nazis would have had collaborators, The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,. Egyptian nationalists, certain Iraqi army officers. Though the ultimate Nazi goal is still to fefeat the Soviet Union first control of the Middle East oil helps with that. A successful...

Not possible unless Napoleon wom decisively p 16 July on the southern sector and then won against the Army of the North. A very tall order indeed. Most likely the war continues with Napoleon still losing somewhere else or having to retreat from Germany with more of his allies deserting him in droves

Sealion. Funny guy Staying more on the defensive with local offensives such as Blau I/II and other actions elsewhere was the best offensive option. Other than that remaining on the defensive and pulling off more victories like 2nd Kharkov. It would have been a decision to fight for a draw, a...