Thread by @HGWDavie

@dupuyinstitute I had a look at this a few years ago via the 6 Pz Div War Diary and again recently following the Soviet side in Valeriy Zamulin book The forgotten battle of the Kursk salient. Firstly you have issues surrounding III Panzer Corps reporting of losses on a daily basis, they seem to

@dupuyinstitute Lumped several days losses into One report especially as the heavy fighting occurs on the 6th to 8th.
Secondly there seems little doubt that Kampfgruppe Unrien walked into a trap at Melikovo. Driving forward from Postnikov, being delayed by the anti tank ditch and then driving

@dupuyinstitute forward again over open country, all the time under artillery fire from both flanks, Baake obviously believed that he had broken through the Soviet First Belt and was now exploiting over open ground.

@dupuyinstitute What he did not know was that villages such as Melikovo and Dal. Igumenka had been fortified as part of the Second Belt as per usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl… and that these had been occupied shortly before by 95 GRD rushed forward from the reserve plus army level AT gun units.

@dupuyinstitute Its probable that KG Unrein thought they could take Melikovo on the run and move on, drove into the minefield outside the village and were then hit by the AT guns in ambush losing best part of a company in the opening minutes. KG pulls back and summons up 2 KG from 6 Pz Div plus

@dupuyinstitute Tiger company, 19 Pz Div KG from Dal. Igumenka and extra artillery. von Hundersdorf arrives to co-ordinate the attack but even so it takes until midnight to clear the 280 Gd Rifle Regt from the village. While this is beig done by the Panzer Grenadiers, the armour tries to explot

@dupuyinstitute forward again but runs into a minefield north of Melikovo and comes under artillery fire from the hills to the north. Soviets launch armoured counter attack by 96 Tank Brigade which passes behind the German armoured force and gets into the infantry and artillery around Melikhovo

@dupuyinstitute So it becomes obvious to v. Hundersdorf that advance has reached another defensive line and with the force effectively in a fire sack, taking artillery/rocket fire from three sides, there is no chance of exploitation and that clearing the flanks is the first task. Which is what

@dupuyinstitute happens over the next two days. Baake and 6 Pz Div Panzer Regiment seem to spend this time in a wood to SW of Melikhovo which might denote reorganisation after heavy losses, especially as all the other KG are busy clearing the flanks.
Jentz is a good english language source

@dupuyinstitute and Zamulin for the Soviet side. There is no doubt that the three Panzer Divisions and Tiger Bn of Army Detachment Kempf suffered steady and heavy attrition over the period 5-9th July although much of it is mine damage and the vehicles reappear some days later. Yet they fail to

@dupuyinstitute clear Belgorod and Razumnaia river valley on time which causes problems for the main effort in II SS Pz Corps sector as the 375 Rifle and 81 Gd Rifle Division have to be shielded which draws strength away from the main effort.

@dupuyinstitute With the excellent material at pamyat-naroda.ru you have stunning maps of the Soviet defences such as:
pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view…
pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view…
pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view…