Kammala jumla mai zuwa: A ranar 5 ga Yuli, 1943, Model ya jagoranci hari na arewa a Kursk a lokacin
Operation Citadel, wani shiri wanda ya haifar da babbar muhawara a cikin babban kwamandan Jamus. Günther von Kluge da Erich von Manstein, masu jagorancin Rundunar Sojoji ta Tsakiya da Kudu, sun bukaci cewa za a kai hari a watan Mayu, kafin Soviets su shirya kare su. Sauran, ciki har da Heinz Guderian, sun ji cewa kai hari ba shi da mahimmanci, tun da zai haifar da asarar tankuna masu yawa kuma ta haka ya rushe shirye-shiryen ƙara ƙarfin makamai na Jamus. Model kuma yana da shakku game da damar shirin, yana mai nuna cewa Konstantin Rokossovsky na Tsakiyar Tsakiya ya kasance mai karfi sosai kuma ya fi shi sau biyu a cikin maza, tankuna da bindigogi. Maimakon yanke shawarar cewa za a dakatar da hare-haren, duk da haka, ya ce ya kamata a jinkirta har sai ya sami ƙarin ƙarfafawa, musamman sababbin tankuna Panther da Ferdinand tank destroyers.