Following their disastrous defeat at Stalingrad, the German high command launched to regain the initiative on the Eastern Front.
A massive pincer movement aimed at cutting off the 150-mile-wide Soviet "bulge" (salient) near the city of Kursk.
This delay allowed the Red Army, warned by Allied intelligence, to build seven defensive belts filled with minefields, anti-tank guns, and deep trenches. "Forgotten" Brutality & Key Engagements