Army, which launched Operation Rumyantsev a couple of weeks later. The result was a battle of attrition Manstein's forces were ill-prepared for and which they had little chance of winning. During Operation Citadel, the Luftwaffe flew 27,221 sorties in support with 193 combat losses (a 0.709 per cent loss rate per sortie). Soviet units from 5 to 8 July conducted 11,235 sorties with combat losses of 556 aircraft (4.95 per cent per sortie). Germans were destroying Soviet armour and aircraft at a ratio of 1:6. Despite German unit performance, the Wehrmacht was now lacking strategic reserves. In the fall of 1943 just 25 per cent of Luftwaffe day fighters were on the Eastern Front, due to British and US air attacks on Italy and Germany. Soviet Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation During the defensive preparations in the months leading up to Citadel, the Soviets also planned and prepared counteroffensive operations that would be launched after the German offensive had halted. In the north: Operation Kutuzov Soviet offensive operations for the summer of 1943 were planned to begin after the strength of the German forces had been dissipated by their Kursk offensive. As the German momentum in the north slowed, the Soviets launched Operation Kutuzov on 12 July against Army Group Centre in the Orel salient, directly north of the Kursk salient. The Bryansk Front, under the command of Markian Popov, attacked the eastern face of the Orel salient while the Western Front, commanded by Vasily Sokolovsky, attacked from the north. The Western Front's assault was led by the 11th Guards Army, under Lieutenant General Hovhannes Bagramyan, and was supported by the 1st and 5th Tank Corps. The Soviet spearheads sustained heavy casualties, but pushed through and in some areas achieved significant penetrations. These thrusts endangered German supply routes and threatened the 9th Army with encirclement. With this threat, 9th Army was compelled to go over fully to the defensive. The thinly stretched 2nd Panzer Army stood in the way of this Soviet force. The German commanders had been wary of such an attack and forces were quickly withdrawn from the Kursk offensive to meet the Soviet offensive. Operation Kutuzov reduced the Orel salient and inflicted substantial losses on the German military, paving the way for the liberation of Smolensk. Soviet losses were heavy, but were replaced. The offensive allowed the Soviets to seize the strategic initiative, which they retained for the