Hitler’s initiative, which in fact stemmed from Colonel-General KurtZeitzler, Chief-of-Staff at O. K.H., nevertheless elicited varying reactions amongst the generals. Kluge gave determined support to Operation "Zitadelle”, but many others raised objection to it, some categorically, others only provisionally.
On May 2, Hitler had summoned the top commanders concerned in the enterprise, plus Colonel-General Guderian, to Munich. In his capacity as Inspector-General of Armoured Troops, Guderian put forward a whole series of impressive arguments against the projected offensive, which he sums up as follows in his memoirs:
"I asked permission to express my views and declared that the attack was pointless; we had only just completed the reorganisation and re-equipment of our Eastern Front; if we attacked according to the plan of the Chief of the General Staff we were certain to suffer heavy tank casualties, which we would not be in a position to replace in 1943; on the contrary, we ought to be devoting our new tank production to the Western Front so as to have mobile reserves available for use against the Allied landing which could be expected with certainty to take place in 1944. Furthermore, I pointed out that the Panthers, on whose performance the Chief of the Army General Staff was relying so heavily, were still suffering from many teething troubles inherent in all new equipment and it seemed unlikely that these could be put right in time for the launching of the attack.”
World History
