Brody-Dubno — the great tank battle

In Ukraine, General Mikhail Kirponos commands the South-Western Front, the most powerful Soviet armoured force. On paper, he enjoys an overwhelming superiority in tanks — thousands of armoured vehicles, including the formidable modern T-34s and KV-1s, against von Kleist's Panzers. It is the Red Army's chief asset in the first days of Barbarossa.

But the reality is crushing: the Soviet mechanized corps are dispersed, short of fuel, ammunition and spare parts, without air support (the Luftwaffe dominates the sky) or reliable communications. Moscow, through Directive No. 3, demands immediate counter-offensives to throw the invader back beyond the frontier. The crews, barely trained on new tanks, often have no idea of the enemy's exact position, and orders change from hour to hour.

Kirponos must decide how to employ his armour: launch immediately a vast concentrated counter-offensive as Moscow orders, despite the logistical chaos; on the contrary regroup it to the rear to fight a coordinated defensive battle; or husband it in withdrawal to preserve its potential. One of the greatest tank battles in history is about to be fought in the Dubno-Lutsk-Brody triangle.