Ka kammala wannan magana: A yammacin ranar 12 ga watan Yuli, Hitler ya kira Kluge da Manstein zuwa hedkwatarsa a Rastenburg a Gabashin Prussia. Kwanaki biyu da suka gabata, Al'ummar Yammacin Turai sun
sun mamaye Sicily. Barazanar ci gaba da saukowa a Italiya ko kuma kudancin Faransa ya sa Hitler ya yi imanin cewa yana da muhimmanci a motsa sojojin daga Kursk zuwa Italiya da kuma dakatar da hare-haren. Kluge ya yi maraba da labarai, kamar yadda ya san cewa Soviets suna fara kai hari kan bangarensa, amma Manstein bai yi maraba ba. Sojojin Manstein sun shafe mako guda suna fada ta hanyar labyrinth na ayyukan karewa kuma ya yi imanin cewa suna gab da shiga cikin fili, wanda zai ba shi damar shiga da kuma lalata kayan ajiyar kayan Soviet a cikin yakin basasa. Manstein ya ce, "Babu wani dalili da ya sa ya kamata mu bar abokan gaba har sai an ci gaba da yin amfani da makamai masu linzami". Hitler ya yarda ya ba da izinin ci gaba da kai hare-haren a kudancin yankin, amma washegari ya umarci ajiyar Manstein <unk> XXIV Panzer Corps <unk> don matsawa kudu don tallafawa rundunar Panzer Army ta 1. Wannan ya cire ƙarfin da Manstein ya yi imanin ya zama dole don cin nasara.