The info I can recall easily on the intelligence/spying comes from Carell. He talks about some of the russian spies, and how effective they were. According to his analysis, the russians had someone who was privy to most all of the german high command's decisions. Carell tells of nearly constant updates from the russian spys as to german plans and intentions. The most impressive part I have found is agreed on by most sources- the Russians had such good information, that they knew exactly the time the germans decided to attack. The russians actually opened the battle of Kursk with THEIR artillery barrage, which caught the german forces in their staging areas. Considering that Hitler finally decided the date of the attack only days before it occurred, it is incredible that the russians were able to get this info so quickly...

I'll see if I can find those T-34 numbers...

Stuck is perfect to describe the Northern thrust. Obviously, Model's forces were thoroughly outgunned and outnumbered. Not only did the 9th army make slow progress, but Model even used all his reserves by the second day of the battle. He was having so much trouble with the russian defenses, that he threw in additional forces right off the bat, and hence was left without any reserves. Especially when looking at Model's forces, the russian plan and advantages are clearly decisive. Perfect example of the russian plan for Kursk working effectively.

I've also been doing some more reading on the Panther's debut at Kursk. I'm tryiing to determine exactly what that major mechanical problem was. A huge fraction, maybe almost one third, of the Panthers were disabled by the same engine problem. I believe it was the exhaust set-up, but I'm still looking into that one.

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Seriously, all today is missing is free cotton candy and the annual Bay State Hooker Parade to make it any better.