Author(s): Steven J. Zaloga; Felipe Rodriguez (Illustrator)

Military

Operation Bagration, the 1944 summer campaign on the Eastern Front, was the biggest defeat of German armed forces in World War II. Forced to make hard decisions with the invasion of France expected, German tank forces in the central Belarus sector were weak compared to the heavy concentration in northern Ukraine. The Soviets exploited this vulnerability, annihilating Army Group Center, and in five weeks the Red Army was at the gates of Warsaw. After the Kursk battles of 1943, the Red Army had embarked on a major tank modernization, and as a result, Operation Bagration saw the first widespread use of T-34-85 and IS-2 tanks as well as self-propelled guns. Germany's Panther tank finally reached technical maturity, but small numbers limited its impact, while other innovations such as the Tiger II failed to leave their mark. Using previously unpublished photos and superb new color illustrations, this book describes how the tanks and AFVs on both sides contributed to the complete destruction of 17 Wehrmacht divisions that summer, and the shattering of over 50 more.