Kursk - Psel River Crossing

Krasny Oktabyr-Kliuchi, Russia, 10 July 1943: As the battle of Kursk intensified in the southern pincer, the Waffen SS Totenkopf Division reached the last Russian barrier before Oboyan. Lightly defended fortifications, constructed over the previous weeks and months, lined the River Psel. Pressed by the German advance the 6th Guards Army hurried portions of the 52nd Guards Rifle Division into these fieldworks just ahead of the arrival of the SS tankers. Standartenführer Karl Ullrich was ordered to cross the river and seize the villages there, as well as the high ground overlooking them. At dusk, soldiers from his 3rd Battalion waded across the river braving enemy artillery, tanks, and machine-guns the Russians had emplaced in their path. Crossing quickly with only moderate casualties, the SS grenadiers and engineers captured the north bank villages of Vasilyevka, Koslovka, Kliuchi, and Krasny Oktabyr. The fighting only hinted at the bloodshed to come. Overseen by Ullrich, engineers quickly set to building pontoon bridges. There would be little time to reinforce the meager bridgehead with tanks, men, and guns—the means necessary to halt the inevitable Russian riposte. Worse, German officers did not realize that their bridgehead would so alarm the Russian High Command that STAVKA would promptly order no less than two Guards Armies forward ... to crush it.

Recreate the Battle of Kursk on a tactical level like never before. The ATS Kursk brings you to the bank of the River Psel, where a crossing by the 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division ‘Totenkopf’ drew an immediate—and massive—reaction from the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army. The result was a titanic clash along the Psel that saw Pzkw VIE ‘Tiger’ tanks crisscrossing the legendary steppe in mortal combat with hordes of T-34 tanks.

The Germans reached the dominating terrain of Hill 226.6, overlooking the Oboyan-Prokhorovka Highway, only to be attacked by wave after wave of Soviet tanks. The Germans were soon caught up in a savage battle to hold the perimeter around their pontoon bridge over the Psel. With the German spearhead attacked at its base, further advance in the Battle of Kursk came to an end for SSTK.