kursk delayed

lets say a similar incident to what happened in france in 1940 occurs... a detailed copy of the 1943 german offensive plans is lost the to the soviets and the germans know that plan is comprimised

lets say hitler delays the offensive 15 days to work out a new plan of attack
huskey happens in the meantime
does he still send the panzers on the death ride?
 
Last edited:
lets say a similar incident to what happened in france in 1940 occurs... a detailed copy of the 1943 german offensive plans is lost the to the soviets and the germans know that plan is comprimised

lets say hitler delays the offensive 15 days to work out a new plan of attack
huskey happens in the meantime
does he still send the panzers on the death ride?
AFAIR Soviets were going to wait until July 15 and then launch several smaller operations of their own. Leningrad Front was bound to get more attention (and much-needed troops), something was planned around Orel and something farther South.
 
Maybe Stalin attacks first in this case

The Germans do a whole lot better on defensive, and even send some modest reinforcements to Italy - these are tiny in the scheme of things in the East, but big enough to stop the Allies in their tracks before they have conquered all of Sicily.

Stalin goes ape shit that he is facing the might of the German army, but a couple of divisions of German panzers are enough to stop the Allies.

Mussolini is teetering on the brink of being over-thrown and would push Hitler for an armistice or ceasefire in the East (remember there are hundreds of thousands of Italians in Russia who could return home).

Earlier in 43, Hitler himself has said he'd consider a ceasefire in the East after a major victory. Alt-Kursk is portrayed as one.

So maybe the Russians and Euro-Axis reach an accommodation,

With Germans freeing up forces from the East, Sicily is now untenable in the long-term by UK/US, and an invasion of NW Europe in 43 or 44 is no longer on the cards.

Will the US wait till 45 or 46 until it has a 200 division army to invade Europe, use the a-bomb on Germany in mid-45, or will forces in the US urging the US to end the war in Europe so as to concentrate on "our war" in the Pacific, prevail?
 
Mussolini is teetering on the brink of being over-thrown and would push Hitler for an armistice or ceasefire in the East (remember there are hundreds of thousands of Italians in Russia who could return home).

Earlier in 43, Hitler himself has said he'd consider a ceasefire in the East after a major victory. Alt-Kursk is portrayed as one.

So maybe the Russians and Euro-Axis reach an accommodation,
I don't see separate peace as particularly likely in 1943, but it just begs the question: Would allies continue to fight Germany after USSR bails out or would they offer a truce?
 
theyd make a truce because the brits in particular fear a return to the casualties of the first world war... see how nervous churchill was over 13000 casualties at el alemain... without the russian army they will see the writing on the wall and let the germans be
 
Top