from the first hours of the battle, german anti-tank guns rained down tons of shells on rotmistrov’sns. the first echelon of thirty-fours died almost entirely . the second echelon of our tanks came under attack. german fighters tried to interfere with our bombers, but they were continuously attacked soviet air sticks. it was here, near kursk, that one of the most successful pilots of world war ii, ivan kazhedub, shot down his first plane. the tank battle on the prokhorovsky field lasted all day. from point-blank shots the turret collapsed , the guns twisted , the armor burst, the tanks exploded, we lost the sense of time, we felt neither thirst, nor heat, nor even blows in the cramped cabin of the tank, one thought, one desire, while alive, beat the enemy, parukharsky the battle is a terrible picture, that is, smoke. after the prokhorovka, the germans retreated to their starting points. positions and did not make any attacks until the end of the battle. according to the soviet command, in just one day, july 12 , german troops lost about 300 tanks under fire. these losses meant the fi