Berlin operation meaning of the battle. Battle of Berlin

During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet troops carried out the Berlin strategic offensive operation, the purpose of which was to defeat the main forces of the German army groups Vistula and Center, capture Berlin, reach the Elbe River and unite with the Allied forces.

The Red Army troops, having defeated large groups of Nazi troops in East Prussia, Poland and Eastern Pomerania during January - March 1945, reached the end of March on a wide front to the Oder and Neisse rivers. After the liberation of Hungary and the occupation of Vienna by Soviet troops in mid-April, Nazi Germany was under attack from the Red Army from the east and south. At the same time, from the west, without encountering any organized German resistance, Allied troops advanced in the Hamburg, Leipzig and Prague directions.

The main forces of the Nazi troops acted against the Red Army. By April 16, there were 214 divisions (of which 34 tank and 15 motorized) and 14 brigades were on the Soviet-German front, and against the American-British troops the German command held only 60 poorly equipped divisions, of which five were tank. The Berlin direction was defended by 48 infantry, six tank and nine motorized divisions and many other units and formations (a total of one million people, 10.4 thousand guns and mortars, 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns). From the air, ground troops covered 3.3 thousand combat aircraft.

The defense of the fascist German troops in the Berlin direction included the Oder-Neissen line 20-40 kilometers deep, which had three defensive lines, and the Berlin defensive area, which consisted of three ring contours - external, internal and urban. In total, the depth of defense with Berlin reached 100 kilometers; it was intersected by numerous canals and rivers, which served as serious obstacles for tank forces.

During the Berlin offensive operation, the Soviet Supreme High Command envisaged breaking through the enemy's defenses along the Oder and Neisse and, developing an offensive in depth, encircling the main group of fascist German troops, dismembering it and subsequently destroying it piece by piece, and then reaching the Elbe. For this, troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, troops of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal Georgy Zhukov and troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Ivan Konev were brought in. The operation was attended by the Dnieper military flotilla, part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet, and the 1st and 2nd armies of the Polish Army. In total, the Red Army troops advancing on Berlin numbered over two million people, about 42 thousand guns and mortars, 6,250 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, and 7.5 thousand combat aircraft.

According to the plan of the operation, the 1st Belorussian Front was supposed to capture Berlin and reach the Elbe no later than 12-15 days later. The 1st Ukrainian Front had the task of defeating the enemy in the Cottbus area and south of Berlin and on the 10-12th day of the operation to capture the line of Belitz, Wittenberg and further the Elbe River to Dresden. The 2nd Belorussian Front had to cross the Oder River, defeat the enemy's Stettin group and cut off the main forces of the German 3rd Tank Army from Berlin.

On April 16, 1945, after powerful aviation and artillery preparation, a decisive attack by troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts of the Oder-Neissen defensive line began. In the area of the main attack of the 1st Belorussian Front, where the offensive was launched before dawn, infantry and tanks, in order to demoralize the enemy, launched an attack in a zone illuminated by 140 powerful searchlights. The troops of the front's strike group had to successively break through several lines of deeply echeloned defense. By the end of April 17, they managed to break through the enemy’s defenses in the main areas near the Seelow Heights. The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front completed the breakthrough of the third line of the Oder defense line by the end of April 19. On the right wing of the front's shock group, the 47th Army and the 3rd Shock Army successfully advanced to cover Berlin from the north and northwest. On the left wing, conditions were created to bypass the enemy's Frankfurt-Guben group from the north and cut it off from the Berlin area.

The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the Neisse River, broke through the enemy’s main defense line on the first day, and wedged 1-1.5 kilometers into the second. By the end of April 18, front troops completed the breakthrough of the Niessen defense line, crossed the Spree River and provided conditions for encircling Berlin from the south. In the Dresden direction, formations of the 52nd Army repelled an enemy counterattack from the area north of Görlitz.

The advanced units of the 2nd Belorussian Front crossed the Ost-Oder on April 18-19, crossed the interfluve of the Ost-Oder and West Oder, and then began crossing the West Oder.

On April 20, artillery fire from the 1st Belorussian Front on Berlin marked the beginning of its assault. On April 21, tanks of the 1st Ukrainian Front broke into the southern outskirts of Berlin. On April 24, troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts united in the Bonsdorf area (southeast of Berlin), completing the encirclement of the enemy's Frankfurt-Guben group. On April 25, tank formations of the fronts, having reached the Potsdam area, completed the encirclement of the entire Berlin group (500 thousand people). On the same day, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the Elbe River and linked up with American troops in the Torgau area.

During the offensive, troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front crossed the Oder and, having broken through the enemy’s defenses, advanced to a depth of 20 kilometers by April 25; they pinned down the German 3rd Panzer Army, preventing it from launching a counterattack from the north against the Soviet forces encircling Berlin.

The Frankfurt-Guben group was destroyed by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian Fronts in the period from April 26 to May 1. The destruction of the Berlin group directly in the city continued until May 2. By 15:00 on May 2, enemy resistance in the city had ceased. The fighting with individual groups breaking through from the outskirts of Berlin to the west ended on May 5.

Simultaneously with the defeat of the encircled groups, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front reached the Elbe River on a wide front on May 7.

At the same time, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front, successfully advancing in Western Pomerania and Mecklenburg, on April 26 captured the main strongholds of the enemy’s defense on the western bank of the Oder River - Poelitz, Stettin, Gatow and Schwedt and, launching a rapid pursuit of the remnants of the defeated 3rd tank army, on May 3 they reached the coast of the Baltic Sea, and on May 4 they advanced to the line of Wismar, Schwerin, and the Elde River, where they came into contact with British troops. On May 4-5, front troops cleared the islands of Wollin, Usedom and Rügen of the enemy, and on May 9 they landed on the Danish island of Bornholm.

The resistance of the Nazi troops was finally broken. On the night of May 9, the Act of Surrender of the Armed Forces of Nazi Germany was signed in the Karlshorst district of Berlin.

The Berlin operation lasted 23 days, the width of the combat front reached 300 kilometers. The depth of front-line operations was 100-220 kilometers, the average daily rate of attack was 5-10 kilometers. As part of the Berlin operation, the Stettin-Rostok, Seelow-Berlin, Cottbus-Potsdam, Stremberg-Torgau and Brandenburg-Ratenow front-line offensive operations were carried out.

During the Berlin operation, Soviet troops surrounded and eliminated the largest group of enemy troops in the history of wars.

They defeated 70 enemy infantry, 23 tank and mechanized divisions and captured 480 thousand people.

The Berlin operation cost the Soviet troops dearly. Their irretrievable losses amounted to 78,291 people, and sanitary losses - 274,184 people.

More than 600 participants in the Berlin operation were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 13 people were awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

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This article briefly describes the Battle of Berlin - the decisive and final operation of the Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War. It consisted of the final destruction of the fascist army and the capture of the capital of Germany. The successful completion of the operation marked the victory of the Soviet Union and the whole world over fascism.

Plans of the parties before the operation
By April 1945, as a result of a successful offensive, Soviet troops were in close proximity to the German capital. The Battle of Berlin was important not only militarily, but also ideologically. The Soviet Union sought, ahead of its allies, to capture the capital of Germany in a short time. Soviet troops had to valiantly complete the bloody war by hoisting their banner over the Reichstag. The desired end date for the war was April 22 (Lenin's birthday).
Hitler, realizing that the war was lost in any case, wanted to resist to the end. It is unknown what mental state Hitler was in at the end of the war, but his actions and statements seem crazy. Berlin, he said, is becoming the last bastion, the citadel of the German nation. It must be protected by every German capable of bearing arms. The Battle of Berlin should be a triumph of fascism, and this would stop the advance of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, the Fuhrer argued that the best Germans died in previous battles, and the German people never fulfilled their world mission. One way or another, fascist propaganda bore fruit until the very end of the war. The Germans showed exceptional tenacity and courage in the final battles. An important role was played by the fear of the expected revenge of Soviet soldiers for the atrocities of the Nazis. Even realizing that victory was no longer possible, the Germans resisted, hoping for surrender to Western troops.

Balance of power
Soviet troops, having approached Berlin to a distance of about 50 km, constituted an impressive offensive force. The total number was about 2.5 million people. The operation involved: 1st Belorussian (Zhukov), 2nd Belorussian (Rokossovsky) and 1st Ukrainian (Konev) fronts. A 3-4 times superiority in military equipment was concentrated against the defenders of Berlin. The Soviet army accumulated extensive experience in conducting military operations, including storming fortified cities. There was great motivation among the soldiers to end the war victoriously
German troops (Army Groups Vistula and Center) numbered about 1 million people. Berlin was surrounded by three well-fortified defense rings. The most protected area was in the Seelow Heights area. The Berlin garrison itself (commander - General Weidling) consisted of 50 thousand people. The city was divided into eight defense sectors (around the circumference), plus a central fortified sector. After the encirclement of Berlin by Soviet troops, the number of defenders, according to various estimates, ranged from 100 to 300 thousand people. Among them, the most combat-ready were the remnants of the defeated troops defending the suburbs of Berlin, as well as the bloodless garrison of the city. The remaining defenders were hastily recruited from the residents of Berlin, forming units of the people's militia (Volkssturm), mainly old people and children over 14 years old, who simply did not have time to undergo any military training. The situation was complicated by the fact that there was an acute shortage of weapons and ammunition. Information is provided that by the beginning of the immediate battle for Berlin, there was one rifle for every three defenders. Only faust cartridges were sufficiently sufficient, which really became a serious problem for Soviet tanks.
Construction of the city's defenses began late and was not fully completed. However, storming a large city always presents great difficulties, since it does not allow full use of heavy equipment. Houses turned into a kind of fortress, many bridges, an extensive metro network - these are the factors that helped hold back the onslaught of Soviet troops.

Stage I (start of operation)
The main role in the operation was assigned to the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal Zhukov, whose task was to storm the most fortified Seelow Heights and enter the German capital. The Battle of Berlin began on April 16 with a powerful artillery bombardment. The Soviet command was the first to use powerful searchlights to blind and disorganize the enemy. This, however, did not bring the desired results and had only a certain psychological factor. German troops offered stubborn resistance, and the pace of the offensive was lower than expected. The opposing sides suffered huge losses. However, the superiority of the Soviet forces began to show, and by April 19, in the main attack direction, the troops broke the resistance of the third ring of defense. Conditions had developed for the encirclement of Berlin from the north.
The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front operated in the southern direction. The offensive also began on April 16 and immediately made it possible to advance far into the depths of the German defense. On April 18, tank armies crossed the river. Spree and launched an attack on Berlin from the south.
The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front were supposed to cross the river. Oder and through his actions provide support for Marshal Zhukov to cover Berlin from the north. On April 18-19, the front launched an offensive and achieved significant success.
By April 19, the combined efforts of three fronts had broken the main enemy resistance, and the opportunity arose for the complete encirclement of Berlin and the defeat of the remaining groups.

Stage II (encirclement of Berlin)
Since April 19, the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts have been developing an offensive. Already on April 20, artillery launched its first strikes on Berlin. The next day, troops enter the northern and southeastern areas of the city. On April 25, the tank armies of two fronts united, thereby encircling Berlin. On the same day there is a meeting between Soviet troops and allies on the river. Elbe. This meeting was of great importance as a symbol of the joint struggle against the fascist threat. The garrison of the capital is completely cut off from the rest of the German groups. The remnants of the Army Groups "Center" and "Vistula", which formed the outer lines of defense, find themselves in cauldrons and are partially destroyed, surrender, or attempt to break through to the west.
The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front pin down the 3rd Tank Army and thereby deprive it of the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

Stage III (completion of the operation)
The Soviet troops were faced with the task of encircling and destroying the remaining German forces. The victory over the largest - the Frankfurt-Guben grouping - was decisive. The operation took place from April 26 to May 1 and ended in the almost complete destruction of the group.
About 460 thousand Soviet soldiers took part directly in the battle for Berlin. By April 30, the defending forces were cut into four parts. The defense of the Reichstag was fierce, battles were fought for literally every room. Finally, on the morning of May 2, the garrison commander, General Weidling, signed an act of unconditional surrender. This was announced through loudspeakers throughout the city.
Soviet troops on a wide front reached the river. Elbe, as well as to the coast of the Baltic Sea. A regrouping of forces began for the final liberation of Czechoslovakia.
On the night of May 9, 1945, representatives of Germany, the USSR and the allies signed an act of complete and unconditional surrender of Germany. Humanity celebrated the victory over the greatest threat to the whole world - fascism.

Evaluation and significance of the Battle of Berlin
The capture of Berlin is assessed ambiguously in historical science. Soviet historians spoke about the genius of the Berlin operation and its careful development. In the post-perestroika period, they pointed out unjustified losses, the pointlessness of the assault, and the fact that there were practically no defenders left. The truth is contained in both statements. The last defenders of Berlin were significantly inferior in strength to the attackers, but do not forget about the power of Hitler's propaganda, forcing people to give their lives for the Fuhrer. This explains the exceptional tenacity in defense. The Soviet troops indeed suffered heavy losses, but the battle for Berlin and the hoisting of the flag at the Reichstag were needed by the people as a logical result of their incredible suffering during the war years.
The Berlin operation was the final stage of the struggle of the leading world powers against the fascist regime of Germany. The main culprit for unleashing the bloody war was defeated. The main ideologist - Hitler committed suicide, the top leaders of the Nazi state were captured or killed. Victory in World War II was just around the corner. For some time (before the start of the Cold War), humanity felt its unity and the possibility of joint action in the face of serious danger.

Strengths of the parties Soviet troops:
1.9 million people
6,250 tanks
more than 7,500 aircraft
Polish troops: 155,900 people
1 million people
1,500 tanks
more than 3,300 aircraft Losses Soviet troops:
78,291 killed
274,184 injured
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 injured Soviet data:
OK. 400 thousand killed
OK. 380 thousand captured

The Great Patriotic War
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Berlin strategic offensive operation- one of the last strategic operations of 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 the Second World War in Europe. The operation lasted 23 days - from April 16 to May 8, 1945, during which Soviet troops advanced westward to a distance of 100 to 220 km. The width of the combat front is 300 km. As part of the operation, the following frontal offensive operations were carried out: Stettin-Rostok, Seelow-Berlin, Cottbus-Potsdam, Stremberg-Torgau and Brandenburg-Ratenow.

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

In January-March 1945, 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. The shortest distance from the Küstrin bridgehead to Berlin was 60 km. Anglo-American troops completed the liquidation of the Ruhr group of German troops and by mid-April advanced units reached the Elbe. The loss of the most important raw material areas caused a decline in industrial production in Germany. Difficulties in replacing the casualties suffered in the winter of 1944/45 increased. Nevertheless, the German armed forces still represented an impressive force. According to the intelligence department of the General Staff of the Red Army, by mid-April they included 223 divisions and brigades.

According to the agreements reached by the heads of the USSR, USA and Great Britain in the fall of 1944, the border of the Soviet occupation zone was supposed to pass 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.

Goals of the parties

Germany

The Nazi leadership tried to prolong 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 became crucial.

USSR

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

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

Deliver a cutting blow south of Berlin, isolate the main forces of Army Group Center from the Berlin group and thereby ensure the main attack of the 1st Belorussian Front from the south
Defeat the enemy group 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, protecting the right flank of the 1st Belorussian Front from possible enemy counterattacks from the north
Press to the sea and destroy German troops north of Berlin

Two brigades of river ships will assist the troops of the 5th Shock and 8th Guards Armies in crossing the Oder and breaking through enemy defenses on the Küstrin bridgehead
The third brigade will assist the troops of the 33rd Army in the Furstenberg area
Ensure mine defense of water transport routes.

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

Operation plan

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

When preparing the operation, special attention was paid to the issues of camouflage and achieving operational and tactical surprise. The front headquarters developed detailed action plans for disinformation and misleading the enemy, according to which preparations for an 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 in the central sector of the 1st Belorussian Front, where the main attack was actually planned. They were carried out especially intensively in areas clearly visible to the enemy. It was explained to all army personnel that the main task was stubborn defense. In addition, documents characterizing the activities of troops in various sectors of the front were planted at the enemy’s location.

The arrival of reserves and reinforcement units was carefully disguised. Military echelons with artillery, mortar, and tank units on Polish territory were disguised as trains transporting timber and hay on platforms.

When conducting reconnaissance, tank commanders from the battalion commander to the army commander dressed in 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 army commanders, only the chiefs of army staffs, heads of operational departments of army headquarters and artillery commanders were allowed to familiarize themselves with the Headquarters directive. Regimental commanders received tasks verbally three days before the offensive. Junior commanders and Red Army soldiers were allowed to announce the offensive mission two hours before the attack.

Regrouping of troops

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, had to transfer 4 combined arms armies over 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 replace the armies of the 1st Belorussian Front there. The poor condition of the railways and the acute shortage of rolling stock did not allow full use of the capabilities of railway transport, so the main burden of transportation fell on road transport. The front was allocated 1,900 vehicles. The troops had to cover part of the route on foot.

Germany

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

Nature of defense

The basis of the defense was the Oder-Neissen defensive line and the Berlin defensive region. The Oder-Neisen 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 edge ran along the left bank of the Oder and Neisse rivers. A second defense line was created 10-20 km from it. It was the most equipped in engineering terms at the Seelow Heights - in front of the Kyustrin bridgehead. The third stripe was located 20-40 km from the front edge. 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 greatest density of troops was observed in front of the 1st Belorussian Front in a 175 km wide zone, where the defense was occupied by 23 divisions, a significant number of individual brigades, regiments and battalions, with 14 divisions defending against the Kyustrin bridgehead. In the 120 km wide offensive zone of the 2nd Belorussian Front, 7 infantry divisions and 13 separate regiments defended. There were 25 enemy divisions in the 390 km wide zone of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

In an effort to increase the resilience of their troops in defense, 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.

Composition and strengths 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

Following the orders of the commander, on April 18 and 19 the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front marched uncontrollably towards Berlin. The rate of their advance reached 35-50 km per day. At the same time, the combined arms armies were preparing to eliminate large enemy groups in the area of Cottbus and Spremberg.

By the end of the day on April 20, the main strike group of the 1st Ukrainian Front was deeply wedged into the enemy’s position and completely cut off the German Army Group Vistula from Army Group Center. Sensing 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, infantry and tank units were urgently sent to the area of the cities of Zossen, Luckenwalde, and Jutterbog. Overcoming their stubborn resistance, Rybalko’s tankers reached the outer Berlin defensive perimeter on the night of April 21. 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 perimeter of Berlin, and by the end of the day reached the southern bank of the Teltow Canal. There, encountering 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 occurred. An hour and a half later, General Baklanov's 34th Guards Corps of the 5th Guards Army met with American troops on the Elbe.

From April 25 to May 2, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front fought fierce battles in three directions: units of the 28th Army, 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies took part in the assault on Berlin; part of the forces of the 4th Guards Tank Army, together with the 13th Army, repelled 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 Army Group Center sought to disrupt the offensive of the Soviet troops. On April 20, German troops launched 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 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 19, troops of the 65th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, under the command of Colonel General P.I. Batov, conducted reconnaissance in force and advanced detachments captured the Oder interfluve, thereby facilitating subsequent crossings 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, which was largely due to the engineering troops of the army. Having established two 16-ton pontoon crossings by 1 p.m., the troops of this army captured a bridgehead 6 kilometers wide and 1.5 kilometers deep by the evening of April 20.

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

More modest success was achieved on the central sector of the front in the 70th Army zone. The left-flank 49th Army met stubborn resistance and was unsuccessful. All day and all night on April 21, front troops, repelling numerous attacks by German troops, persistently expanded bridgeheads on the western bank of the Oder. In the current situation, 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, front troops 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 transported to the western bank of the Oder. At the first stage of the operation, the 2nd Belorussian Front, through its actions, shackled the main forces of the 3rd German Tank Army, depriving it of the opportunity to help those fighting near Berlin. On April 26, formations of the 65th Army took Stettin by storm. Subsequently, the armies of the 2nd Belorussian Front, breaking enemy resistance and destroying suitable reserves, stubbornly advanced 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 surrounded group of German troops began to be called the Frankfurt-Gubensky group. Now the Soviet command was faced with the task of eliminating the 200,000-strong enemy group and preventing its breakthrough to Berlin or to the West. To accomplish the last 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 of 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 put up stubborn resistance, but also repeatedly made attempts to break out of the encirclement. By skillfully maneuvering and skillfully creating superiority in forces on narrow sections of the front, 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 the 12th Army of General Wenck. Only a few small groups managed to penetrate through the forests and go west.

Assault on Berlin (April 25 - May 2)

A salvo of Soviet Katyusha rocket launchers hits Berlin

At 12 noon on April 25, the ring closed around Berlin when the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army crossed the Havel River and linked up 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 city's defense was carefully thought out and well prepared. It was based on a system of strong fire, strongholds and resistance units. The closer to the city center, the denser the defense became. Massive stone buildings with thick walls gave it particular strength. The windows and doors of many buildings were sealed and turned into embrasures 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 context of street battles 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 to maneuver troops, as well as to shelter 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, consisting of rifle battalions or companies, reinforced with tanks, artillery and sappers. The actions of assault troops, 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 two fronts that had deeply advanced to 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 deeper into enemy defenses. So, by the evening of April 28, units of the 3rd Shock Army reached 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 Internal Affairs, adjacent to the parliament building, was stormed at the cost of considerable losses. The path to the Reichstag was open.

On 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 for literally 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 April 15 to 29

killed 114,349 people, captured 55,080 people

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

killed 49,770 people, captured 84,234 people

Thus, according to reports from the Soviet command, the losses of German troops were about 400 thousand people killed and 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.

Cutting through the darkness of the night, a dazzling searchlight beam shot vertically above the Kyustrin bridgehead. This was the signal for the start of the Berlin operation. The task facing the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front was not easy. The Third Reich was already obviously losing the war, but the Germans still had combat-ready units. In addition, from February to April 1945, the Nazis turned the 70-kilometer space from the Soviet bridgeheads on the Oder to Berlin into one continuous fortified area. In addition to fanaticism, units of the German 9th Army were driven by purely pragmatic considerations. Army commander Busset cynically remarked: “We will consider our task completed if American tanks hit us in the back.”

All this together required the highest professionalism from the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, G.K. Zhukov. His first trick was a reconnaissance in force with a pause carried out on April 15, which disoriented the Germans. The second trick was to shift the start of the offensive to the dark, which lengthened the first and most important day of the operation. A short but powerful artillery barrage began at 5:00 am Moscow time (3:00 am local time) on April 16, 1945. Then the anti-aircraft searchlights turned on, illuminating the path for the infantry. Subsequently, the solution with searchlights was sometimes criticized, but their illumination of the battlefield in the war was used more than once, including by the Germans. Zhukov did not invent anything fundamentally new, but only chose a technique appropriate to the situation. The searchlights played their role, highlighting the attack of the German forward positions.

The slowdown in the advance of the 1st Belorussian Front occurred when all the searchlights had already been turned off, around noon. The fact is that the terrain in the direction of the main attack of G.K. Zhukov’s troops was, frankly speaking, not a gift. The Oder Valley was completely cut up by irrigation canals, which in the spring turned into full-fledged anti-tank ditches. Overcoming these obstacles took time. The Seelow Heights, with which the Battle of Berlin is usually associated, blocked the path only for the left flank of the 69th and 8th Guards Armies; for the rest, the main obstacles were rivers and canals. Two armies of the 1st Belorussian reached the Seelow Heights in the afternoon - they were low, but steep, which forced them to advance along the roads. Also, bad weather on the first day of the battle limited the use of the “air hammer” of the 3 thousand front aircraft.

The delay in the Soviet offensive from schedule was temporary. Already on April 18, a gap was made in the German defense, through which the Seelow Heights began to be bypassed along their northern edge by the forces of the 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies under the command of M.E. Katukov and S.I. Bogdanov. The German command tried to plug the breakthrough with a reserve, the 3rd SS Panzer Corps, but the SS men were flanked and bypassed. This graceful maneuver opened the road to Berlin for the Red Army. Already on April 22, tank units of the 1st Belorussian Front broke into the streets of the German capital.

The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of I. S. Konev were also involved in the attack directly on Berlin. On the one hand, he was in an advantageous position: the Germans were not expecting his strike, and the regroupings carried out at the last moment were not revealed. On the other hand, the breakthrough site of the 1st Ukrainian Front was much further from Berlin. The troops of I. S. Konev successfully crossed the Neisse River, broke through the German defenses and soon, on the orders of I. V. Stalin, part of their forces turned to Berlin. Here they were detained in the forests on the Barut-Zossen line south of the city and were somewhat late for the outbreak of battles for the German capital.

However, at the same time, the adjacent flanks of the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front to the southeast of Berlin closed an encirclement ring, which included about 200 thousand soldiers and officers of the German 9th Army. The main forces of the German “Oder Front” suffered a crushing defeat.

Thus, the preconditions were created for a quick assault by the Red Army on Berlin itself.

A. V. Isaev, Ph.D. n.

The advanced units of the 2nd Belorussian Front crossed the Ost-Oder on April 18-19, crossed the interfluve of the Ost-Oder and West Oder, and then began crossing the West Oder.

Simultaneously with the defeat of the encircled groups, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front reached the Elbe River on a wide front on May 7.

The resistance of the Nazi troops was finally broken. On the night of May 9, the Act of Surrender of the Armed Forces of Nazi Germany was signed in the Karlshorst district of Berlin.

During the Berlin operation, Soviet troops surrounded and eliminated the largest group of enemy troops in the history of wars.

They defeated 70 enemy infantry, 23 tank and mechanized divisions and captured 480 thousand people.

The Berlin operation cost the Soviet troops dearly. Their irretrievable losses amounted to 78,291 people, and sanitary losses - 274,184 people.

More than 600 participants in the Berlin operation were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 13 people were awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

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