CanadianGoose
Banned
I think it is time to quote all-knowing Wikipedia (one source I'm extremely suspicious of, but if it sings praise to Russian or Soviet deeds, it is always telling the truth, that with legions of Russophobe, Antisoviet and Anticommunist editors working with smooth unison to deny USSR any questionnable claims achievements and only keeping those impossible to question):Why wouldn't it be easier for the Soviets to build defenses in time of peace, when they can do what they want and use what forces they desire than prior to Operation Citadel, when they are already at war and therefore most of the Red Army must stay on alert in that area on on the other fronts with Nazi Germany?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Citadel#Soviet_plans
This all had been built to defend "200 km (120mi) wide and 150 km (90mi) deep Soviet-held salient". Now, you can use a calculator to estimate number of troops and equipment needed to build and man something comparable from Klaipeda (Murmansk, really) to Odessa... And I hope I don't divulge Great Military Secret, but Wehrmacht did broke through Soviet defence in Kursk. But it was a Pyrrhic victory, followed by an immediate Soviet counter-blow.The German delay in launching their offensive gave the Red Army four months in which to prepare, and with every passing day, they turned the salient into one of the most heavily defended areas on Earth. Two Fronts, the Central and Voronezh, manned the defensive lines, and the Steppe Front was available as a reserve. The Red Army and thousands of civilians laid about one million land mines and dug about 5000 km (3000 mi) of trenches, to a depth of 175 km (95 mi). In addition, they massed a huge army of their own, including some 1,300,000 men, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,792 aircraft. This amounted to 26% of the total manpower of the Red Army, 26% of its mortars and artillery, 35% of its aircraft and 46% of its tanks
Nobody is saying fortifications are useless. But anyone declaring them useful for anything more than to delay infantry for a week is daydreaming. Purpose-built fortresses defending small extremely important pieces of real estate (Navy bases) are exceptions, but even Superpower America never possessed nearly enough resources to built something comparable to Sevastopol along Soviet border.