A Difficult Affair (RV version) - Red Victory

BUTOVO, RUSSIA, 4 July 1943 On the afternoon of 4 July, as part of preparations for the German Kursk offensive, units of the 4th Panzerarmee conducted several reconnaissance-in-force missions. The objective of the attacks was to eliminate Russian forward outposts & clear the way for the main advance. PzD Grossdeutschland's Fusilier Regiment was assigned the task of clearing out the western end of a low, treeless ridge, west of Butovo. At 1500 hours, after a brief artillery barrage, the Fusiliers moved forward.\\The western end of the ridge was defended by a reinforced platoon of the 3rd Battalion, 199th Guards Rifle Regiment. In addition to dealing with mines and other fortifications, the Germans were hit with mortar fire. In a bloody assault that lasted until dusk, the fusiliers finally captured the ridge, but had sustained heavy casualties. It was a harbinger of things to come.