The Battle of Kursk was a catastrophic defeat for Germany; the Wehrmacht suffered around 200,000 casualties and lost nearly 700 tanks and 1,000 aircraft. These losses were irreplaceable.

He wished me well and parted with an old (and I mean very old; it first appeared in literature in 1386 in "Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales") proverb: “He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon.” ...