What was the true extent of German losses at Prokhorovka?
Upvote:2
When talking about losses of only four tanks on the german side, I guess Töppel is talking about the narrower picture of the actual attack at the anti-tank ditch at Prokhorovka against the II./Pz.Rgt. Leibstandarte. This attack was carried out across open terrain, not through any woods. The Soviet tanks were racing at top speed, with limited vision, until they stumbled upon that old anti-tank ditch. It must have been a turkey shoot.
A broader definition of the Battle includes the actions of neighbouring units (esp. Großdeutschland/1. Tank Army) or the preceding days, putting german losses at approx. 40-100, tanks. Sometimes, people even conflate Prokhorovka with the broader picture of the Battle of Kursk. Understandably, since the Soviet propaganda version of Prokhorovka became "common knowledge", and yet there's not much substance to it.
Note that the term "loss" is not well defined, either. It may mean anything between "total loss" and "out of action for a day". In the article that Jan linked in the comments, Töppel discusses this in detail.
For further sources: Here's an interesting read from the Österreichische Militärische Zeitschrift (in German)
Upvote:4
Losses
Wikipedia has a whole section dedicated to Casualties and losses which is quite reasonable (43–80 German tanks vs 300–400 Soviet tanks).
One needs to pay attention to Wehrmacht's methodology for counting and reporting equipment losses (and lack of reliable information about Soviet losses).
Also, the equipment losses of an advancing side is usually less than those of the retreating side because they have more opportunity to recover and repair damaged equipment (and Tigers were extraordinarily hard to repair due to their weight and complexity). One might imagine that the claim of "only 4 Tigers lost" means "4 Tigers completely destroyed and 70 more damaged and never recovered and repaired".
Defeat or Victory?
This is defined in terms of operational results rather than losses.
The result of the Battle of Prokhorovka was (together with Allied invasion of Sicily and Operation Kutuzov) termination of Operation Citadel which was definitely a victory for the Soviets.
Cf. Battle of Jutland which was a clear German victory if one merely counts losses, but a definite British victory if one considers the strategic implications, i.e., the preservation of the Blockade of Germany.
Propaganda
Consider the Battle of Chemulpo Bay which was a clear defeat - which is still celebrated in Russia for the heroism of the sailors.
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