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Berlin offensive. Berlin strategic offensive operation

Berlin offensive. Berlin strategic offensive operation

18.10.2019

Side forces Soviet troops:
1.9 million people
6,250 tanks
over 7,500 aircraft
Polish troops: 155,900 people
1 million people
1,500 tanks
over 3,300 aircraft Losses Soviet troops:
78,291 killed
274,184 wounded
215.9 thousand units small arms
1,997 tanks and self-propelled guns
2,108 guns and mortars
917 aircraft
Polish troops:
2,825 killed
6,067 wounded Soviet data:
OK. 400 thousand killed
OK. 380 thousand captured

The Great Patriotic War
Invasion of the USSR Karelia arctic Leningrad Rostov Moscow Sevastopol Barvenkovo-Lozovaya Kharkiv Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad Rzhev Stalingrad Caucasus Velikiye Luki Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh Voronezh-Kastornoye Kursk Smolensk Donbass Dnieper Right-Bank Ukraine Leningrad-Novgorod Crimea (1944) Belarus Lviv-Sandomierz Iasi-Chisinau Eastern Carpathians the Baltics Courland Romania Bulgaria Debrecen Belgrade Budapest Poland (1944) Western Carpathians East Prussia Lower Silesia Eastern Pomerania Upper Silesia Vein Berlin Prague

Berlin strategic offensive operation- one of the last strategic operations of the Soviet troops in the European theater of operations, during which the Red Army occupied the capital of Germany and victoriously ended the Great Patriotic War and World War II in Europe. The operation lasted 23 days - from April 16 to May 8, 1945, during which the Soviet troops advanced westward at a distance of 100 to 220 km. The width of the combat front is 300 km. As part of the operation, the Stettin-Rostock, Zelow-Berlin, Cottbus-Potsdam, Stremberg-Torgau and Brandenburg-Rathen front-line offensive operations were carried out.

The military-political situation in Europe in the spring of 1945

In January-March 1945, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts during the Vistula-Oder, East Pomeranian, Upper Silesian and Lower Silesian operations reached the line of the Oder and Neisse rivers. According to the shortest distance from the Kustrinsky bridgehead to Berlin, 60 km remained. Anglo-American troops completed the liquidation of the Ruhr grouping of German troops and by mid-April advanced units reached the Elbe. The loss of the most important raw material areas led to a decline in industrial production in Germany. Difficulties in replenishing the casualties suffered during the winter of 1944/45 increased. Nevertheless, the German armed forces were still an impressive force. According to the intelligence department of the General Staff of the Red Army, by mid-April they numbered 223 divisions and brigades.

According to the agreements reached by the heads of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain in the autumn of 1944, the border of the Soviet zone of occupation was to be 150 km west of Berlin. Despite this, Churchill put forward the idea of getting ahead of the Red Army and capturing Berlin, and then commissioned the development of a plan for a full-scale war against the USSR.

Objectives of the parties

Germany

The Nazi leadership tried to drag out the war in order to achieve a separate peace with England and the United States and split the anti-Hitler coalition. At the same time, holding the front against the Soviet Union acquired decisive importance.

USSR

The military-political situation that had developed by April 1945 required the Soviet command to prepare and carry out an operation to defeat the group of German troops in the Berlin direction, capture Berlin and reach the Elbe River to join the Allied forces as soon as possible. The successful fulfillment of this strategic task made it possible to thwart the plans of the Nazi leadership to prolong the war.

Capture the capital of Germany, the city of Berlin
After 12-15 days of operation, reach the Elbe River

Deliver a cutting blow south of Berlin, isolate the main forces of Army Group Center from the Berlin grouping and thereby ensure the main attack of the 1st Belorussian Front from the south
Defeat the enemy grouping south of Berlin and operational reserves in the Cottbus area
In 10-12 days, no later, reach the Belitz-Wittenberg line and further along the Elbe River to Dresden

Deliver a cutting blow north of Berlin, securing the right flank of the 1st Belorussian Front from possible enemy counterattacks from the north
Press to the sea and destroy the German troops north of Berlin

Assist the troops of the 5th Shock and 8th Guards Armies with two brigades of river ships in crossing the Oder and breaking through the enemy defenses at the Kustra bridgehead
The third brigade to assist the troops of the 33rd Army in the Furstenberg area
Provide anti-mine defense of water transport routes.

Support the coastal flank of the 2nd Belorussian Front, continuing the blockade of the Kurland Army Group pressed to the sea in Latvia (Kurland Cauldron)

Operation plan

The plan of the operation provided for the simultaneous transition to the offensive of the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts on the morning of April 16, 1945. The 2nd Belorussian Front, in connection with the upcoming major regrouping of its forces, was to launch an offensive on April 20, that is, 4 days later.

In preparing the operation, special attention was paid to issues of camouflage and achieving operational and tactical surprise. The headquarters of the fronts developed detailed action plans for disinformation and misleading the enemy, according to which the preparations for the offensive by the troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts were simulated in the area of the cities of Stettin and Guben. At the same time, intensified defensive work continued on the central sector of the 1st Belorussian Front, where in reality the main attack was planned. They were carried out especially intensively in sectors that were clearly visible to the enemy. It was explained to all the personnel of the armies that the main task was stubborn defense. In addition, documents characterizing the activities of troops in various sectors of the front were thrown into the enemy’s location.

The arrival of reserves and reinforcements was carefully camouflaged. Military echelons with artillery, mortar, tank units on the territory of Poland were disguised as trains carrying timber and hay on platforms.

When carrying out reconnaissance, tank commanders from the battalion commander to the army commander changed into infantry uniforms and, under the guise of signalmen, examined crossings and areas where their units would be concentrated.

The circle of knowledgeable persons was extremely limited. In addition to the army commanders, only the chiefs of staff of the armies, the chiefs of the operational departments of the headquarters of the armies and the commanders of artillery were allowed to familiarize themselves with the directive of the Stavka. Regimental commanders received tasks orally three days before the offensive. Junior commanders and Red Army soldiers were allowed to announce the offensive task two hours before the attack.

Troop regrouping

In preparation for the Berlin operation, the 2nd Belorussian Front, which had just completed the East Pomeranian operation, in the period from April 4 to April 15, 1945, was to transfer 4 combined arms armies at a distance of up to 350 km from the area of the cities of Danzig and Gdynia to the line of the Oder River and change the armies of the 1st Belorussian Front there. The poor condition of the railways and the acute shortage of rolling stock did not allow the full use of the possibilities of railway transport, so the main burden of transportation fell on motor vehicles. The front was allocated 1,900 vehicles. Part of the way the troops had to overcome on foot.

Germany

The German command foresaw the offensive of the Soviet troops and carefully prepared to repel it. A defense in depth was built from the Oder to Berlin, and the city itself was turned into a powerful defensive citadel. The divisions of the first line were replenished with personnel and equipment, strong reserves were created in the operational depth. In Berlin and near it, a huge number of Volkssturm battalions were formed.

The nature of the defense

The basis of the defense was the Oder-Neissen defensive line and the Berlin defensive area. The Oder-Neissen line consisted of three defensive lines, and its total depth reached 20-40 km. The main defensive line had up to five continuous lines of trenches, and its front line ran along the left bank of the Oder and Neisse rivers. A second line of defense was created 10-20 km from it. It was the most equipped in engineering terms at the Zelov Heights - in front of the Kyustrinsky bridgehead. The third strip was located at a distance of 20-40 km from the front line. When organizing and equipping the defense, the German command skillfully used natural obstacles: lakes, rivers, canals, ravines. All settlements were turned into strong strongholds and were adapted for all-round defense. During the construction of the Oder-Neissen line, special attention was paid to the organization of anti-tank defense.

The saturation of defensive positions with enemy troops was uneven. The highest density of troops was observed in front of the 1st Belorussian Front in a strip 175 km wide, where the defense was occupied by 23 divisions, a significant number of separate brigades, regiments and battalions, with 14 divisions defending against the Kustrinsky bridgehead. In the offensive zone of the 2nd Belorussian Front, 120 km wide, 7 infantry divisions and 13 separate regiments defended. In the strip of the 1st Ukrainian Front, 390 km wide, there were 25 enemy divisions.

In an effort to increase the stamina of their troops on the defensive, the Nazi leadership tightened repressive measures. So, on April 15, in his address to the soldiers of the eastern front, A. Hitler demanded that everyone who gave the order to withdraw or would withdraw without an order be shot on the spot.

The composition and strength of the parties

USSR

Total: Soviet troops - 1.9 million people, Polish troops - 155,900 people, 6,250 tanks, 41,600 guns and mortars, more than 7,500 aircraft

Germany

Fulfilling the order of the commander, on April 18 and 19, the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front marched irresistibly towards Berlin. The pace of their offensive reached 35-50 km per day. At the same time, the combined-arms armies were preparing to liquidate large enemy groupings in the area of Cottbus and Spremberg.

By the end of the day on April 20, the main strike force of the 1st Ukrainian Front had penetrated deeply into the enemy’s location, and completely cut off the German Army Group Vistula from the Army Group Center. Feeling the threat caused by the rapid actions of the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front, the German command took a number of measures to strengthen the approaches to Berlin. To strengthen the defense in the area of the cities of Zossen, Luckenwalde, Jutterbog, infantry and tank units were urgently sent. Overcoming their stubborn resistance, on the night of April 21, Rybalko's tankers reached the outer Berlin defensive bypass. By the morning of April 22, Sukhov's 9th Mechanized Corps and Mitrofanov's 6th Guards Tank Corps of the 3rd Guards Tank Army crossed the Notte Canal, broke through the outer defensive bypass of Berlin, and by the end of the day reached the southern bank of the Teltow Canal. There, having met strong and well-organized enemy resistance, they were stopped.

At 12 noon on April 25, west of Berlin, the advanced units of the 4th Guards Tank Army met with units of the 47th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front. On the same day, another significant event took place. An hour and a half later, on the Elbe, the 34th Guards Corps of General Baklanov of the 5th Guards Army met with American troops.

From April 25 to May 2, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front fought fierce battles in three directions: units of the 28th Army, 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies participated in the storming of Berlin; part of the forces of the 4th Guards Tank Army, together with the 13th Army, repulsed the counterattack of the 12th German Army; The 3rd Guards Army and part of the forces of the 28th Army blocked and destroyed the encircled 9th Army.

All the time from the beginning of the operation, the command of the Army Group "Center" sought to disrupt the offensive of the Soviet troops. On April 20, German troops delivered the first counterattack on the left flank of the 1st Ukrainian Front and pushed back the troops of the 52nd Army and the 2nd Army of the Polish Army. On April 23, a new powerful counterattack followed, as a result of which the defense at the junction of the 52nd Army and the 2nd Army of the Polish Army was broken through and the German troops advanced 20 km in the general direction of Spremberg, threatening to reach the rear of the front.

2nd Belorussian Front (April 20-May 8)

From April 17 to April 19, the troops of the 65th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, under the command of Colonel-General Batov P.I., conducted reconnaissance in battle and advanced detachments captured the Oder interfluve, thereby facilitating the subsequent forcing of the river. On the morning of April 20, the main forces of the 2nd Belorussian Front went on the offensive: the 65th, 70th and 49th armies. The crossing of the Oder took place under the cover of artillery fire and smoke screens. The offensive developed most successfully in the sector of the 65th Army, in which the engineering troops of the army had a considerable merit. Having built two 16-ton pontoon crossings by 13 o'clock, by the evening of April 20, the troops of this army captured a bridgehead 6 kilometers wide and 1.5 kilometers deep.

We had a chance to observe the work of sappers. Working up to their necks in icy water among explosions of shells and mines, they made a crossing. Every second they were threatened with death, but people understood their soldier's duty and thought of one thing - to help their comrades on the west bank and thereby bring victory closer.

More modest success was achieved in the central sector of the front in the zone of the 70th Army. The left-flank 49th Army met stubborn resistance and was not successful. All day and all night on April 21, the troops of the front, repulsing numerous attacks by German troops, stubbornly expanded their bridgeheads on the western bank of the Oder. In the current situation, the front commander K.K. Rokossovsky decided to send the 49th Army along the crossings of the right neighbor of the 70th Army, and then return it to its offensive zone. By April 25, as a result of fierce battles, the troops of the front expanded the captured bridgehead to 35 km along the front and up to 15 km in depth. To build up striking power, the 2nd shock army, as well as the 1st and 3rd guards tank corps, were transferred to the western bank of the Oder. At the first stage of the operation, the 2nd Belorussian Front, by its actions, fettered the main forces of the 3rd German tank army, depriving it of the opportunity to help those fighting near Berlin. On April 26, units of the 65th Army stormed Stettin. In the future, the armies of the 2nd Belorussian Front, breaking the resistance of the enemy and destroying the suitable reserves, stubbornly moved to the west. On May 3, Panfilov's 3rd Guards Tank Corps, southwest of Wismar, established contact with the advanced units of the 2nd British Army.

Liquidation of the Frankfurt-Guben group

By the end of April 24, formations of the 28th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front came into contact with units of the 8th Guards Army of the 1st Belorussian Front, thereby encircling the 9th Army of General Busse southeast of Berlin and cutting it off from the city. The encircled grouping of German troops became known as the Frankfurt-Gubenskaya. Now the Soviet command was faced with the task of eliminating the 200,000th enemy grouping and preventing its breakthrough to Berlin or to the west. To accomplish the latter task, the 3rd Guards Army and part of the forces of the 28th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took up active defense in the path of a possible breakthrough by German troops. On April 26, the 3rd, 69th, and 33rd armies of the 1st Belorussian Front began the final liquidation of the encircled units. However, the enemy not only offered stubborn resistance, but also made repeated attempts to break out of the encirclement. Skillfully maneuvering and skillfully creating superiority in forces in narrow sections of the front, the German troops twice managed to break through the encirclement. However, each time the Soviet command took decisive measures to eliminate the breakthrough. Until May 2, the encircled units of the 9th German Army made desperate attempts to break through the battle formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front to the west, to join General Wenck's 12th Army. Only separate small groups managed to seep through the forests and go west.

Storming of Berlin (April 25 - May 2)

A volley of Soviet Katyusha rocket launchers in Berlin

At 12 noon on April 25, the ring around Berlin was closed, when the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army crossed the Havel River and connected with units of the 328th Division of the 47th Army of General Perkhorovich. By that time, according to the Soviet command, the Berlin garrison numbered at least 200 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and 250 tanks. The defense of the city was carefully thought out and well prepared. It was based on a system of strong fire, strongholds and centers of resistance. The closer to the city center, the tighter the defense became. Massive stone buildings with thick walls gave it special strength. The windows and doors of many buildings were closed up and turned into loopholes for firing. The streets were blocked by powerful barricades up to four meters thick. The defenders had a large number of faustpatrons, which in the conditions of street fighting turned out to be a formidable anti-tank weapon. Of no small importance in the enemy's defense system were underground structures, which were widely used by the enemy for maneuvering troops, as well as for sheltering them from artillery and bomb attacks.

By April 26, six armies of the 1st Belorussian Front (47th, 3rd and 5th shock, 8th guards, 1st and 2nd guards tank armies) and three armies of the 1st Belorussian Front took part in the assault on Berlin. th Ukrainian Front (28th, 3rd and 4th Guards Tank). Taking into account the experience of capturing large cities, assault detachments were created for battles in the city as part of rifle battalions or companies, reinforced with tanks, artillery and sappers. The actions of the assault detachments, as a rule, were preceded by a short but powerful artillery preparation.

By April 27, as a result of the actions of the armies of the two fronts that had deeply advanced towards the center of Berlin, the enemy grouping in Berlin stretched out in a narrow strip from east to west - sixteen kilometers long and two or three, in some places five kilometers wide. The fighting in the city did not stop day or night. Block after block, Soviet troops advanced deep into the enemy defenses. So, by the evening of April 28, units of the 3rd shock army went to the Reichstag area. On the night of April 29, the actions of the forward battalions under the command of Captain S. A. Neustroev and Senior Lieutenant K. Ya. Samsonov captured the Moltke bridge. At dawn on April 30, the building of the Ministry of the Interior, adjacent to the parliament building, was stormed at the cost of considerable losses. The way to the Reichstag was open.

April 30, 1945 at 14:25, units of the 150th Infantry Division under the command of Major General V. M. Shatilov and the 171st Infantry Division under the command of Colonel A. I. Negoda stormed the main part of the Reichstag building. The remaining Nazi units offered stubborn resistance. We had to fight literally for every room. In the early morning of May 1, the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division was raised over the Reichstag, but the battle for the Reichstag continued all day and only on the night of May 2 did the Reichstag garrison capitulate.

Helmut Weidling (left) and his staff officers surrender to Soviet troops. Berlin. May 2, 1945

Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the period from 15 to 29 April

destroyed 114,349 people, captured 55,080 people

Troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front in the period from April 5 to May 8:

destroyed 49,770 people, captured 84,234 people

Thus, according to the reports of the Soviet command, the loss of German troops was about 400 thousand people killed, about 380 thousand people captured. Part of the German troops was pushed back to the Elbe and capitulated to the allied forces.

Also, according to the assessment of the Soviet command, the total number of troops that emerged from the encirclement in the Berlin area does not exceed 17,000 people with 80-90 armored vehicles.

On April 16, 1945, the Berlin strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops began, which became the largest battle in the history of mankind. More than three million people, 11 thousand aircraft and about eight thousand tanks were involved in it on both sides.

By the beginning of 1945, Germany had 299 divisions, of which 192 divisions were operating on the Eastern Front and 107 opposed the Anglo-American troops. The offensive operations of the Soviet troops in early 1945 created favorable conditions for the final blow in the Berlin direction. At the same time, the Allies launched an offensive on the Western Front and in Italy. In March 1945, German troops were forced to withdraw beyond the Rhine. Pursuing them, American, British and French troops reached the Rhine, crossed the river on the night of March 24, and already in early April surrounded 20 German divisions. After that, the Western Front practically ceased to exist. In early May, the Allies reached the Elbe, occupied Erfurt, Nuremberg, and entered Czechoslovakia. And Western Austria.

Be that as it may, the Germans continued to resist. On the outskirts of Berlin, it became even more desperate. The Germans had 2.5 months to prepare Berlin for defense, during which the front stood on the Oder, 70 km from the city. This training was by no means improvisational in nature. The Germans developed a whole system of turning their own and foreign cities into "festungs" - fortresses. To the east of the capital of Germany, on the rivers Oder and Neisse, a fortified line was created, stretching to the city suburbs. Berlin itself was turned into a fortress by the Nazis: the streets were blocked by barricades, most of the houses were turned into firing points, and at each intersection there was a heavily fortified center of resistance. The barricades in Germany were built at an industrial level and had nothing to do with the piles of rubbish that block the streets during the period of revolutionary unrest. Berlin, as a rule, had 2-2.5 meters in height and 2-2.2 meters in thickness. They were built of wood, stone, sometimes rails and shaped iron. Such a barricade easily withstood the shots of tank guns and even divisional artillery with a caliber of 76-122 mm. When defending the city, the Germans intended to use the metro system and underground bunkers.

To organize the defense of the capital, the German command hastily formed new units. In January - March 1945, young people and old people were called up for military service. They formed assault battalions, detachments of tank destroyers and units of the Hitler Youth. Thus, Berlin was defended by a powerful group of German troops, which included about 80 divisions and about 300 Volkssturm battalions. One of the "finds" of the Germans in the defense of their capital was the tank company "Berlin", assembled from tanks that were not capable of independent movement. They were dug in at street intersections and used as fixed firing points in the west and east of the city. In total, the Berlin company included 10 Panther tanks and 12 Pz. IV. In addition to special defensive structures in the city, there were air defense facilities suitable for ground battles. First of all, we are talking about the so-called flakturms - massive concrete towers about 40 m high, on the roof of which installations of anti-aircraft guns up to 128-mm caliber were equipped. Three such gigantic structures were built in Berlin. These are Flakturm I in the zoo area, Flakturm II in Friedrichshain in the east of the city and Flakturm III in Gumbolthein in the north.

For the Berlin operation, the Headquarters attracted 3 fronts: the 1st Belorussian under the command of G.K. Zhukov, 2nd Belorussian under the command of K.K. Rokossovsky and 1st Ukrainian under the command of I.S. Konev. To help the land fronts, it was proposed to use part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet, commander Admiral V.F. Tributs, Dnieper military flotilla, commander Rear Admiral V.V. Grigoriev and parts of military aviation. The Soviet troops significantly outnumbered the enemy, in the direction of the main blows the advantage was overwhelming. The troops that stormed Berlin numbered, according to April 26, 1945, 464,000 men and about 1,500 tanks. The Soviet command set the following tasks for the troops concentrated in the Berlin direction: the 1st Belorussian Front, delivering the main blow from the Kustrinsky bridgehead, was to defeat the enemy on the outskirts of Berlin and on the fifteenth day after the start of the operation, having captured the city, go to the Elbe. The 2nd Belorussian Front was to cross the Oder, defeat the enemy, and, no later than the fifteenth day from the start of the operation, capture the Anklam-Demin-Malkhin-Wittenberg line. With this, the troops of the front ensured the operations of the 1st Belorussian Front from the north. The 1st Ukrainian Front was tasked with defeating the German troops in the Cottbus area and south of Berlin. On the tenth - twelfth day after the start of the offensive, the troops of the front were to capture Wittenberg and the line along the Elbe to Dresden.

The Berlin operation began on April 16, 1945 with the offensive of the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts. In the offensive zone of the 1st Belorussian Front, a night attack was carried out using anti-aircraft searchlights. Searchlights blinded the Germans, preventing them from aiming. Thanks to this technique, the Soviet troops overcame the first line of enemy defense without heavy losses, but the Germans soon came to their senses and began to offer fierce resistance. It was especially difficult at the Seelow Heights, which had been turned into a continuous knot of defense. This fortified area was taken only by the evening of the third day of the offensive, after the German firing points were literally wiped off the face of the earth by the strikes of 800 Soviet bombers. By the end of April 18, units of the Soviet armed forces broke through the enemy defenses and began to cover Berlin. Suffering huge losses, especially in tanks, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts united in the Potsdam area, locking Berlin into an encirclement. And on April 25, the advanced units of the Soviet army met on the Elbe River with American patrols. Allied armies joined.

The assault on Berlin began on 26 April. The battles in the city were carried out by assault groups, the directive of G.K. Zhukov was recommended to include in the assault squads 8-12 guns with a caliber from 45 to 203 mm, 4-6 mortars 82-120 mm. The assault groups included sappers and "chemists" with smoke bombs and flamethrowers. Tanks also became permanent members of these groups. It is well known that their main enemy in urban battles in 1945 was hand-held anti-tank weapons - faustpatrons. It should be said that shortly before the Berlin operation, experiments were carried out in the troops on shielding tanks. However, they did not give a positive result: even when a bazooka grenade exploded on the screen, the tank's armor made its way. In any case, the massive use of faustpatrons made it difficult to use tanks, and if the Soviet troops relied only on armored vehicles, the battles for the city would have become much more bloody. It should be noted that faustpatrons were used by the Germans not only against tanks, but also against infantry. Forced to go ahead of the armored vehicles, the infantrymen fell under a hail of shots from the Faustniks. Therefore, cannon and rocket artillery provided invaluable assistance in the assault. The specifics of urban battles made it necessary to put divisional and attached artillery on direct fire. As paradoxical as it sounds, direct-fire guns were sometimes more effective than tanks. The report of the 44th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade on the Berlin operation stated: “The use of Panzerfausts by the enemy led to a sharp increase in losses in tanks - limited visibility makes them easily vulnerable. Direct fire guns do not suffer from this shortcoming, their losses, in comparison with tanks, are small. This was not an unfounded statement: the brigade lost only two guns in street battles, one of them was hit by the enemy with a faustpatron. In the end, even Katyushas began to be put on direct fire. Frames of M-31 large-caliber rockets were installed in houses on window sills and fired at the buildings opposite. The optimal distance was considered to be 100-150 m. The projectile had time to accelerate, broke through the wall and exploded already inside the building. This led to the collapse of partitions and ceilings and, as a result, the death of the garrison.

Another "destroyer of buildings" was heavy artillery. In total, during the assault on the German capital, 38 high-power guns, that is, 203-mm B-4 howitzers of the 1931 model, were put up for direct fire. These powerful tracked guns often appear in newsreel dedicated to the battles for the German capital. The B-4 crews acted boldly, even boldly. For example, one of the guns was installed at the intersection of Liedenstrasse and Ritterstrasse, 100-150 meters from the enemy. Six shells fired were enough to destroy the house prepared for defense. Turning the gun, the battery commander destroyed three more stone buildings. In Berlin, there was only one building that withstood the B-4 strike - it was the Flakturm am Zoo anti-aircraft defense tower, aka Flakturm I. Parts of the 8th Guards and 1st Guards Tank Armies entered the area of the Berlin Zoo. The tower proved to be a tough nut to crack for them. The shelling of her 152-mm artillery was completely ineffectual. Then, 105 concrete-piercing shells of 203-mm caliber were fired at direct fire on the flakturm. As a result, the corner of the tower was destroyed, but it continued to live until the capitulation of the garrison.

Despite the desperate resistance of the enemy, the Soviet troops captured most of the city and proceeded to storm the central sector. The Tiergarten park and the Gestapo building were taken with a fight. On the evening of April 30, the assault on the Reichstag began. The battle was still going on, and dozens of red banners soared over the building of the German parliament, one of which Sergeant M. Egorov and Junior Sergeant M. Kantaria strengthened over the central pediment. After two days of resistance, the 5,000-strong German group defending the Reichstag laid down its arms. On April 30, Hitler committed suicide, appointing Admiral Dennitsa as his successor. On May 2, the Berlin garrison capitulated. During the assault, the garrison lost 150 thousand soldiers and officers killed. 134,700 people surrendered, including 33,000 officers and 12,000 wounded.

At midnight on May 8-9, 1945, on the outskirts of Berlin, Karlshorst, an act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed. From the Soviet side, the act was signed by Marshal Zhukov, from the German side by Field Marshal Keitel. On May 10-11, the German grouping in Czechoslovakia surrendered, unsuccessfully trying to break through to the west in order to surrender to the Anglo-American troops. The war in Europe was over.

The Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces established the medal "For the Capture of Berlin", which was awarded to more than 1 million soldiers. 187 units and formations that distinguished themselves most during the storming of the enemy capital were given the honorary name "Berlin". More than 600 participants in the Berlin operation were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 13 people were awarded the 2nd Gold Star medal.

Gabriel Tsobechia

Oleg Kozlov

Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Literature:

Military history "Voenizdat" M.: 2006.
Wars and battles "AST" M.: 2013.
Battles in the history of Russia "House of the Slavonic Book" M.: 2009.
G.K. Zhukov Memoirs and reflections. In 2 vols. M.: 2002.
I.S. Konev Forty-fifth "Military Publishing House" M.: 1970.
TsAMO USSR f.67, op.23686, d.27, l.28

The Great Patriotic War
Invasion of the USSR Karelia arctic Leningrad Rostov Moscow Sevastopol Barvenkovo-Lozovaya Kharkiv Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad Rzhev Stalingrad Caucasus Velikiye Luki Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh Voronezh-Kastornoye Kursk Smolensk Donbass Dnieper Right-Bank Ukraine Leningrad-Novgorod Crimea (1944) Belarus Lviv-Sandomierz Iasi-Chisinau Eastern Carpathians the Baltics Courland Romania Bulgaria Debrecen Belgrade Budapest Poland (1944) Western Carpathians East Prussia Lower Silesia Eastern Pomerania Upper Silesia Vein Berlin Prague

The military-political situation in Europe in the spring of 1945

Objectives of the parties

Germany

USSR

Capture the capital of Germany, the city of Berlin
After 12-15 days of operation, reach the Elbe River

Deliver a cutting blow south of Berlin, isolate the main forces of Army Group Center from the Berlin grouping and thereby ensure the main attack of the 1st Belorussian Front from the south
Defeat the enemy grouping south of Berlin and operational reserves in the Cottbus area
In 10-12 days, no later, reach the Belitz-Wittenberg line and further along the Elbe River to Dresden

Deliver a cutting blow north of Berlin, securing the right flank of the 1st Belorussian Front from possible enemy counterattacks from the north
Press to the sea and destroy the German troops north of Berlin

Assist the troops of the 5th Shock and 8th Guards Armies with two brigades of river ships in crossing the Oder and breaking through the enemy defenses at the Kustra bridgehead
The third brigade to assist the troops of the 33rd Army in the Furstenberg area
Provide anti-mine defense of water transport routes.

Support the coastal flank of the 2nd Belorussian Front, continuing the blockade of the Kurland Army Group pressed to the sea in Latvia (Kurland Cauldron)

Operation plan

Troop regrouping

Germany

The nature of the defense

The composition and strength of the parties

USSR

Total: Soviet troops - 1.9 million people, Polish troops - 155,900 people, 6,250 tanks, 41,600 guns and mortars, more than 7,500 aircraft

Germany

2nd Belorussian Front (April 20-May 8)

We had a chance to observe the work of sappers. Working up to their necks in icy water among explosions of shells and mines, they made a crossing. Every second they were threatened with death, but people understood their soldier's duty and thought of one thing - to help their comrades on the west bank and thereby bring victory closer.

Liquidation of the Frankfurt-Guben group

Storming of Berlin (April 25 - May 2)

A volley of Soviet Katyusha rocket launchers in Berlin

Helmut Weidling (left) and his staff officers surrender to Soviet troops. Berlin. May 2, 1945

Troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the period from 15 to 29 April

destroyed 114,349 people, captured 55,080 people

Troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front in the period from April 5 to May 8:

destroyed 49,770 people, captured 84,234 people

Also, according to the assessment of the Soviet command, the total number of troops that emerged from the encirclement in the Berlin area does not exceed 17,000 people with 80-90 armored vehicles.

Inflated German casualties

According to combat reports of the fronts:

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front in the period from April 16 to May 13: destroyed - 1,184, captured - 629 tanks and self-propelled guns.
During the period from April 15 to April 29, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front destroyed - 1,067, captured - 432 tanks and self-propelled guns;
During the period from April 5 to May 8, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front destroyed - 195, captured - 85 tanks and self-propelled guns.

In total, according to the fronts, 3,592 tanks and self-propelled guns were destroyed and captured, which is more than 2 times the number of tanks available on the Soviet-German front before the start of the operation.

Many books have been written about the capture of Berlin in the spring of 1945 by the Red Army and many films have been made. Unfortunately, in many of them the ideological cliches of the Soviet and post-Soviet times prevail, and the least attention is paid to history.

Berlin offensive operation

Magazine: Great Victory (Mysteries of history, special issue 16/C)
Category: Last Frontier

The "maneuver" of Marshal Konev almost destroyed the Red Army!

At first, Marshal Zhukov, who commanded the 1st Belorussian Front, was going to take Berlin back in February 1945. Then the troops of the front, having brilliantly carried out the Vistula-Oder operation, immediately seized a bridgehead on the Oder in the Kustrin area.

February false start

On February 10, Zhukov even sent a report to Stalin on the plan for the upcoming Berlin offensive. Zhukov intended to “break through the defenses on the western bank of the river. Oder and capture the city of Berlin.
However, the front commander was still smart enough to abandon the idea of ending the war with one blow. Zhukov was informed that the troops were tired and suffered heavy losses. Rear left behind. In addition, on the flanks, the Germans were preparing counterattacks, as a result of which the troops rushing to Berlin could be surrounded.
While the troops of several Soviet fronts liquidated German groups aimed at the flanks of the 1st Belorussian Front, and destroyed the German "festungs" remaining in the rear - cities turned into fortresses, the Wehrmacht command made desperate attempts to eliminate the Kyustrinsky bridgehead. The Germans failed to do this. Realizing that the upcoming Soviet offensive would begin here, the Germans began to build defensive structures on this sector of the front. The Seelow Heights were to become the main node of resistance.

Castle of the capital of the Reich

The Germans themselves called the Seelow Heights, located 90 km east of Berlin, "the castle of the capital of the Reich." They were a real fortress, the defensive fortifications of which were built within two years. The garrison of the fortress consisted of the 9th Wehrmacht Army, commanded by General Busse. In addition, the 4th Panzer Army of General Greser could launch a counterattack against the advancing Soviet troops.
Zhukov, planning the Berlin operation, decided to strike from the Kustrinsky bridgehead. In order to cut off the troops concentrated in the area of the Seelow Heights from the enemy capital and prevent them from retreating to Berlin, Zhukov planned “Simultaneous cutting of the entire encircled Berlin grouping into two parts ... this facilitated the task of capturing Berlin, for the period of decisive battles directly for Berlin, a significant part of the forces the enemy (i.e. the main forces of the 9th German army) would not be able to take part in the struggle for the city, since it would be surrounded and isolated in the forests southeast of Berlin.
At 5 am on April 16, 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front began the Berlin operation. It began unusually - after artillery preparation, which involved 9,000 guns and mortars, as well as more than 1,500 rocket launchers. Within 25 minutes, they destroyed the first line of German defenses. With the beginning of the attack, the artillery shifted its fire deep into the defense, and 143 anti-aircraft searchlights were turned on in the breakthrough areas. Their light stunned the enemy and at the same time illuminated the path for the advancing units.
But the Seelow Heights proved to be a hard nut to crack. Breaking the German defenses, despite the fact that 1,236,000 shells, or 17,000 tons of metal, fell on the enemy’s head, was not easy. In addition, 1514 tons of bombs were dropped on the German defense center by front aviation, which carried out 6550 sorties.
To break through the German fortified area, two tank armies had to be brought into battle. The battle for the Seelow Heights lasted only two days. Considering that the Germans had been building fortifications for almost two years, the breakthrough of the defense could be considered a great success.

Do you know that…

The Berlin operation is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest battle in history.
On both sides, about 3.5 million people, 52,000 guns and mortars, 7,750 tanks and 11,000 aircraft took part in the battle.

"And we'll go north..."

Soldiers are ambitious people. Each of them dreams of a victory that will immortalize his name. The commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal Konev, was just such an ambitious commander.
Initially, his front was not assigned the task of taking Berlin. It was assumed that the troops of the front, having struck south of Berlin, were supposed to cover the advancing troops of Zhukov. Even the dividing line between the two fronts was marked. It passed 65 km southeast of Berlin. But Konev, having learned that Zhukov had a hitch with the Seelow Heights, tried to play all-in. Of course, this violated the plan of the operation approved by the Headquarters, but, as they say, the winner is not judged. Konev’s idea was simple: the 1st Belorussian Front was fighting on the Seelow Heights, and in Berlin itself only Volkssturmists and scattered units in need of reorganization remained, you can try to break through with a mobile detachment to the city and capture the Reich Chancellery and the Reichstag, raising the banner of the 1st Ukrainian front. And then, having taken up the defense, wait for the approach of the main forces of the two fronts. All the laurels of the winner, of course, in this case will go not to Zhukov, but to Konev.
The commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front did just that. At first, the advance of Konev's troops was relatively easy. But soon the 12th German Army of General Wenck, rushing to join the remnants of Busse's 9th Army, hit the flank of the 4th Guards Tank Army, and the advance of the 1st Ukrainian Front on Berlin slowed down.

The myth of "faustniks"

One of the most common myths about street fighting in Berlin is the myth of the terrible losses of Soviet tank troops from German "faustniks". But the numbers tell a different story. The Faustniks account for about 10% of all losses of armored vehicles. Basically, our tanks were knocked out by artillery.
By that time, the Red Army had already worked out the tactics of action in large settlements. The basis of this tactic is assault groups, where the infantry covers their armored vehicles, and that, in turn, paves the way for the infantry.
On April 25, troops from two fronts closed the encirclement around Berlin. The assault on the city began. The fighting did not stop day or night. Block by block, Soviet troops "gnawed through" the enemy's defenses. I had to tinker with the so-called "anti-aircraft towers" - square structures with side dimensions of 70.5 meters and a height of 39 meters, the walls and roofs of which were made of fortified reinforced concrete. The thickness of the walls was 2.5 meters. These towers were armed with heavy anti-aircraft guns that pierced the armor of Soviet tanks of all types. Each such fortress had to be taken by storm.
On April 28, Konev made his last attempt to break through to the Reichstag. He sent Zhukov a request to change the direction of the offensive: “According to the report of Comrade Rybalko, the armies of Comrade Chuikov and Comrade Katukov of the 1st Belorussian Front received the task of advancing to the northwest along the southern coast of the Landwehr Canal. Thus, they cut the battle formations of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front advancing to the north. I ask for orders to change the direction of the offensive of the armies of comrade Chuikov and comrade Katukov. But on the same evening, the troops of the 3rd shock army of the 1st Belorussian Front came to the Reichstag.
On April 30, Hitler committed suicide in his bunker. In the early morning of May 1, the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division was raised over the Reichstag, but the battle for the building itself continued all day. Only on May 2, 1945, the Berlin garrison capitulated.
By the end of the day, the troops of the 8th Guards Army cleared the entire center of Berlin from the enemy. Separate units that did not want to surrender tried to break through to the west, but were destroyed or dispersed.