![]() ![]() Near Noviy Uchkhoz settlement, the geography favoured the Soviet defenders as the only road in the region passed the swamp, and the defenders commanded this choke point from their hidden position. German forces attacked Krasnogvardeysk from three directions. 864 was commanded by the leader of this small force, Lieutenant Kolobanov. The vanguard of the German 8th Panzer Division was approaching Krasnogvardeysk (Gatchina) near Leningrad (St Petersburg), and the only Soviet force available to stop it consisted of five well-hidden KV-1 tanks, dug in within a grove at the edge of a swamp. ![]() During the Soviet counteroffensive there was probably open-field tank battles, as the Soviets were pressing on stuck/retreating German units, but it wasn't really the epic clashing of armor that the name "Greatest Tank Battle in History" seems to evoke.Īt the Battle of Krasnogvardeysk on 19 August 1941 (part of the Battle of Leningrad), Kolobanov's unit ambushed a column of German armour. During the primary German assault, it was concealed anti-tank weapons and mortars that did most of the work (dug-in tanks did constitute some of this), but it wasn't a massive tank battlefield like you might find in World of Tanks, at least during the German offensive. The tank part of the Soviet operation came first in the North, outside the salient, striking at Kluge's left wing and threatening Oryol, and then in the south after the collapse of von Manstein's offensive. The Soviet position was built around concentric defenses and pre-sighted fields of fire. In fact I can't say I've ever heard it imagined as such by anyone who's studied the battle. It depends on your definition of "performance." It wasn't meant to be an even-pitched battle, tank vs tank. ![]()
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