So you're saying that intelligence is often nonexistent or faulty.
Yes, the quality of information is usually low. The best source, in my opinion, is pows. Other ways usually provide to general information. For example, Germans found out that in Taranovka was troops of 25th guard division only in a couple of days from the beginning of battle for that village, when they got first pows. Before they could not tell what troops they were fighting with.
On the other hand, in July's Mius operation Soviet 5th Army command set 2 AT brigades and one AT division to counter possible German counter offencive of 2 tank divisions from the North, 22nd and 23rd. The only thing 5th Army HQ did not know was that 22nd was disbanded in April