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There were those within the German Army High Command (OKH) that wanted to start Citadel later than May 1943 (when it started IOTL), arguing that the new heavy tanks Tiger I and Panther could be used in greater numbers while others argued that the offensive should go ahead as planned to maintain the element of surprise. As we all know, Hitler went with the former option.

Now, the Soviets knew of the offensive through British intelligence and were planning their defence, building a defence in depth that in a few months would have been several times as deep as the Maginot Line and IMHO would have blunted the German offensive, inflicting severe losses.

However, on May 4th at the start of the offensive they were far from complete and the Germans scored their last victory on the eastern front.

So what would have happened if Citadel had been postponed to, say, late June or early July? Would the Germans still have been able to stop the Sicily landings in their tracks or not? If not, what consequences would that have had?
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