April 16, 1945, the Berlin Strategic offensive Soviet troops, 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 operated on the Eastern Front and 107 opposed Anglo-American forces. The offensive operations of the Soviet troops at the beginning of 1945 created favorable conditions for the final strike 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 across the Rhine. Pursuing them, American, British and French troops reached the Rhine, crossed the river on the night of March 24, and already at the beginning of 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 approaches to Berlin, it became even more desperate. The Germans had 2.5 months to prepare Berlin for defense, during which the front was on the Oder, 70 km from the city. This preparation was by no means in the nature of improvisation. The Germans developed a whole system of transforming their own and foreign cities into "festungs" - fortresses. To the east of the capital of Germany, on the Oder and Neisse rivers, a fortified line was created, stretching to the city outskirts. The Nazis turned Berlin itself into a fortress: the streets were blocked off by barricades, most of the houses were turned into firing points, at each intersection there was a strongly fortified center of resistance. The barricades in Germany were built on an industrial level and had nothing to do with the heaps of rubbish that block the streets during the period of revolutionary unrest. Berliners, as a rule, were 2-2.5 meters high and 2-2.2 meters thick. They were built of wood, stone, sometimes rail and shaped iron. Such a barricade could easily withstand 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, on military service youth and old people were called. They formed assault battalions, tank destroyer detachments and Hitler Youth units. Thus, Berlin was defended by a powerful group of German troops, which included about 80 divisions and about 300 battalions of the Volkssturm. One of the "finds" of the Germans in the defense of their capital was the tank company "Berlin", assembled from tanks incapable of independent movement. They were dug in at street crossings and used as fixed firing points in the west and east of the city. In total, the Berlin company consisted of 10 Panther tanks and 12 Pz tanks. IV. In addition to special defensive structures in the city, there were air defense facilities suitable for ground battles. It is first of all, about the so-called flakturms - massive concrete towers about 40 m high, on the roof of which anti-aircraft guns were equipped with up to 128-mm caliber. 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 Humbolthain in the north.

For the Berlin operation, the Stavka involved 3 fronts: 1st Belorussian under the command of G.K. Zhukov, 2nd Belorussian under the command of K.K. Rokossovsky and the 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 of Rear Admiral V.V. Grigoriev and parts military aviation... Soviet troops significantly outnumbered the enemy, in the direction of the main attacks, the advantage was overwhelming. The troops that stormed Berlin numbered, as of April 26, 1945, 464,000 people and about 1,500 tanks. The Soviet command set the following tasks for the troops concentrated in the Berlin direction: the 1st Belorussian Front, inflicting the main blow from the Küstrinsky bridgehead, was to defeat the enemy on the approaches to Berlin and, on the fifteenth day after the start of the operation, having captured the city, to reach the Elbe. The 2nd Belorussian Front was supposed to cross the Oder, defeat the enemy and, no later than the fifteenth day from the beginning of the operation, capture the Anklam - Demin - Malkhin - Wittenberg line. With this, the front troops supported the actions of the 1st Belorussian Front from the north. The 1st Ukrainian Front was tasked with crushing German troops in the Cottbus area and south of Berlin. On the tenth or twelfth day after the start of the offensive, the front forces were to capture Wittenberg and the line along the Elbe to Dresden.

The Berlin operation began on April 16, 1945 with an offensive by 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. The 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 soon the Germans came to their senses and began to offer fierce resistance. It was especially difficult at the Seelow Heights, which had been turned into a solid defense center. It was possible to take this fortified area 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's 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, closing Berlin in a ring of encirclement. And on April 25, the forward units of the Soviet army met with American patrols on the Elbe River. The union of the allied armies took place.

The assault on Berlin began on April 26. The battles in the city were fought by assault groups, by the directive of G.K. Zhukov was recommended to include 8-12 guns with caliber from 45 to 203 mm, 4-6 mortars 82-120 mm in the assault detachments. 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 - faust cartridges. It should be said that shortly before the Berlin operation, the troops carried out experiments on the shielding of tanks. However, they did not give a positive result: even when the faustpatron grenade was detonated on the screen, the tank's armor was breaking through. Anyway mass use faust cartridges made it difficult to use tanks, and if the Soviet troops relied only on armored vehicles, the battles for the city would become much bloodier. It should be noted that the faust cartridges were used by the Germans not only against tanks, but also against infantry. The infantrymen, forced to go ahead of the armored vehicles, fell under a hail of shots from the "Faustniks". Therefore, barreled and rocket artillery provided invaluable assistance in the assault. The specifics of urban battles forced to put divisional and attached artillery on direct fire. Paradoxical as it sounds, direct fire guns sometimes turned out to be more effective than tanks. The report of the 44th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade on the Berlin operation stated: “The use of the Panzerfaust by the enemy led to a sharp increase in tank losses - limited visibility makes them easily vulnerable. Direct-fire guns do not suffer from this drawback, 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 which was hit by the enemy with a faustpatron. In the end, even Katyushas were put on direct fire. Frames of large-caliber rockets M-31 were installed in houses on windowsills and fired at 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.

Heavy artillery became another "building destroyer". In total, during the assault on the German capital, 38 high-power guns were put on direct fire, that is, 203-mm B-4 howitzers of the 1931 model. These powerful tracked guns are often featured in newsreels about 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 Liden Strasse and Ritter Strasse, 100-150 meters from the enemy. Six shells fired were enough to destroy the house prepared for defense. Turning the gun down, the battery commander destroyed three more stone buildings. In Berlin, there was only one structure that withstood a B-4 strike - it was the Flakturm am Zoo anti-aircraft defense tower, also known as Flakturm I. Units of the 8th Guards and 1st Guards Tank Armies entered the area of ​​the Berlin Zoo. The tower turned out to be a tough nut to crack for them. The shelling of her with 152-mm artillery was completely ineffectual. Then 105 concrete-piercing shells of 203-mm caliber were fired at the flakturm with direct fire. As a result, the corner of the tower was destroyed, but it continued to live until the surrender of the garrison.

Despite the desperate resistance of the enemy, Soviet troops captured for the most part cities and began to storm the central sector. The Tiergarten park, the building of the Gestapo, 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 were hoisted over the building of the German parliament, one of which Sergeant M. Yegorov and Junior Sergeant M. Kantaria were reinforced 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 by appointing Admiral Dennitz 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 from 8 to 9 May 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed on the Karlshorst suburb of Berlin. On the Soviet side, the act was signed by Marshal Zhukov, on the German side - by Field Marshal Keitel. On May 10-11, the German group 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 a medal "For the capture of Berlin", which was awarded to more than 1 million soldiers. 187 units and formations, the most distinguished 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 Tsobehia

Oleg Kozlov

Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Literature:

1. Military history "Voyenizdat" M .: 2006.
2. Wars and battles "AST" M .: 2013.
3. Battles in the history of Russia "Dom Slavic books"M .: 2009.
4. G.K. Zhukov Memories and Reflections. In 2 volumes, Moscow: 2002.
5. I.S. Konev Forty-fifth "Military Publishing" Moscow: 1970.
6. TsAMO USSR f.67, op.23686, d.27, l.28

The Berlin offensive is last operation forces of the Red Army against the forces of the Third Reich. The operation did not stop from April 16 to May 8, 1945 - 23 days. As a result, it led to the unconditional surrender of Germany in World War II.

Objectives and essence of the operation

Germany

The Nazis tried to tighten fighting as long as possible, while they wanted to achieve peace with the United States and Britain - that is, a split in the anti-Hitler coalition. This would make it possible to keep the Eastern Front against the SRSR with the aim of a further counteroffensive with the subsequent defeat of the Soviet Union.

CPSR

The Soviet army was supposed to destroy the Reich forces in the Berlin direction, capture Berlin and unite with the forces of the allies on the Elbe River - this would destroy all Germany's plans to drag out the war.

Forces of the parties

The SRSR had at its disposal in this direction 1.9 million people, in addition to this, the Polish troops numbered 156 thousand people. In total, the army consisted of 6,250 tanks and about 42 thousand guns, as well as mortars and more than 7,500 military aircraft.

Germany had one million people, 10,400 guns and mortars, 1,500 tanks and 3,300 combat aircraft.
Thus, one can notice a clear superiority in numbers towards the Red Army, which had 2 times a large number soldiers, 4 times the number of mortar guns, as well as more than 2 times the number of aircraft and 4 times large quantity tanks.

Now it would be wise to analyze in detail the entire course of the Berlin offensive.

Operation progress

The first hours of the operation were more than successful for the soldiers of the Red Army, since for a short time she easily broke through the first line of defense. However, in the future, it met with very fierce resistance from the Nazis.

The Red Army received the greatest resistance on the Zelovsky Heights. As it turned out, the infantry could not break through the defenses, since the German fortifications were well prepared and they gave this position special meaning... Then Zhukov decides to use tank armies.

On April 17, a decisive assault on the heights began. Fierce battles were fought all night and day, as a result of which, on the morning of April 18, they still managed to take defensive positions.

By the end of April 19, the Red Army repelled the fierce counter-attacks of the Germans and was already able to develop an offensive on Berlin. Hitler ordered that the defense be held at all costs.

On April 20, the first air strikes were carried out on the city of Berlin. On April 21, paramilitary units of the Red Army invaded the outskirts of Berlin. Already on April 23 and 24, the actions took on a particularly fierce character, since the Germans fought resolutely to death. On April 24, the pace of the offensive practically stopped, but the Germans did not manage to stop it completely. The 5th Army, leading fierce, bloody battles, broke through to the center of Berlin.

The offensive in this direction developed more successfully than that of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front.

The Red Army successfully crossed the Neisse River and ferried troops for further advance.

Already on April 18, an order was given to send the 3rd and 4th Panzer Army to the aid of the Belorussian Front, which met with decisive resistance.

On April 20, the forces of the Red Army divided the forces of the Vistula and Center armies. Already on April 21, a battle for the external defensive positions of Berlin began. And on April 22, the defensive positions were broken, but then the Red Army met resolute resistance, and the attack was stopped.

On April 22, the ring around Berlin was practically closed. On this day, Hitler makes the last decision that could have an impact on the course of military operations. He considered the last hope of Berlin to be the 12th Army of V. Wenck, which was obliged to transfer from the Western Front and break through the ring.

On April 24, the Red Army was able to capture the defensive positions of the southern bank of the Teltow Canal, where the Germans were decisively fortified and only the most powerful artillery salvos made it possible for the crossing.

Also on April 24, Wenck's army launched an offensive with the forces of tank armies, but the Red Army managed to restrain them.

On April 25, Soviet soldiers met with the Americans on the Elbe.

(April 20 - May 8) 2nd Belorussian Front

On April 20, the crossing of the Oder began, which proceeded with varying success. As a result, the forces of the Red Army froze the actions of the 3rd Panzer Army, which could help Berlin.

On April 24, the power of the 1st Ukrainian and 2nd Belorussian fronts surrounded Busse's army and cut it off from Berlin. More than 200 thousand German soldiers were surrounded in this way. However, the Germans not only organized a powerful defense, but also tried to carry out counterattacks right up to May 2 in order to unite with Berlin. They even managed to break through the ring, but only a small part of the army was able to reach Berlin.

On April 25, the ring finally closed around the capital of Nazism - Berlin. The defense of the capital was carefully prepared and consisted of a garrison of at least 200 thousand people. The closer the Red Army moved to the center of the city, the tighter the defense became. The streets became barricades - massive fortifications with thick walls behind which the Germans fought to the death. Numerous tanks of the Soviet Union in urban conditions suffered from the faust cartridges of the Germans. Before starting the next offensive, the Soviet army conducted heavy artillery shelling of the enemy's combat positions.

The fighting went on continuously, both day and night. Already on April 28, the soldiers of the Red Army went to the Reichstag area. And already on April 30, the path to it was completely open.

On April 30, his decisive assault began. Soon, almost the entire building was captured. However, the Germans stood on the defensive so stubbornly that they had to wage fierce battles for rooms, corridors, etc. On May 1, the flag was raised over the Reichstag, but battles for it continued right up to May 2, only at night the garrison surrendered.

As of May 1, only the state quarter and the Tiergarten remained in the clutches of German soldiers. Hitler's headquarters was also located here. Zhukov received a proposal to surrender, since Hitler committed suicide in himself in a bunker. However, Stalin refused and the offensive continued.

On May 2, the last commander of the Berlin defense surrendered and signed a pact of surrender. However, not all units decided to surrender and continued to fight to the death.

Losses

Both warring camps suffered colossal losses in human strength. According to the data, the Red Army lost over 350 thousand people wounded and killed, more than 2 thousand tanks, about 1 thousand aircraft and 2 thousand guns. However, these data should not be blindly believed, since the SRCP kept silent about the real numbers and gave false data. The same applies to the assessment of German losses by Soviet analysts.
Germany lost (for Soviet data, which may have greatly exceeded the real losses) 400 thousand soldiers killed and wounded. 380 thousand people were taken prisoner.

Results of the Berlin operation

- The Red Army defeated the largest grouping of German troops, and also captured the top leadership (military and political) of Germany.
- The capture of Berlin, which finally broke the spirit of the German troops and influenced their decision to end resistance.
- Hundreds of thousands of people were freed from German captivity.
The battle for Berlin went down in history as the largest battle in history, in which more than 3.5 million people took part.

	Berlin, Germany
	The Red Army defeated the Berlin grouping of German troops and occupied the capital of Germany, Berlin. The victory of the anti-Hitler coalition in Europe.
Opponents
	Germany
Commanders
I. V. Stalin	A. Hitler †
G.K. Zhukov	G. Heinrici
I. S. Konev
K. K. Rokossovsky	G. Weidling
Forces 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
Soviet troops: 78 291 killed, 274 184 wounded, 215.9 thousand units. small arms, 1997 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2108 guns and mortars, 917 aircraft. Polish troops: 2,825 killed, 6,067 wounded	The whole grouping. Soviet data: OK. 400 thousand killed, approx. 380 thousand captured. The losses of folksturm, the police, the Todt organization, the Hitler Youth, the Imperial Railways Service, the Labor Service (total of 500-1,000 people) are unknown.

One of the last strategic operations of Soviet troops in the European theater of military operations, during which the Red Army occupied the capital of Germany, 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 Soviet troops advanced westward at a distance of 100 to 220 km. The width of the front of hostilities is 300 km. As part of the operation, the Stettin-Rostock, Zelow-Berlin, Cottbus-Potsdam, Shtremberg-Torgau and Brandenburg-Rathen front 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. The shortest distance from the Küstrin bridgehead to Berlin remained 60 km. 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 regions led to a decline in industrial production in Germany. Difficulties with replenishing the casualties incurred in the winter of 1944/45 increased. Nevertheless military establishment Germany still represented an impressive force. According to the intelligence department of the General Staff of the Red Army, by mid-April, there were 223 divisions and brigades in their composition.

According to the agreements reached by the heads of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain in the fall 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 to get ahead of the Red Army and capture Berlin.

Objectives of the parties

Germany

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

the 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 in the shortest possible time. Successful execution This strategic task made it possible to thwart the plans of the Hitlerite leadership to drag out the war.

To carry out the operation were involved strength of three fronts: 1st Belorussian, 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian, as well as the 18th Air Force of Long-Range Aviation, the Dnieper Naval Flotilla and part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet.

1st Belorussian Front

• Capture the German capital city of Berlin
• After 12-15 days of the operation, go to the Elbe River

1st Ukrainian Front

• Deliver a cleaving strike 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
• Destroy the enemy grouping south of Berlin and operational reserves in the Cottbus area
• In 10-12 days, no later, go to the Belitz - Wittenberg line and further along the Elbe River to Dresden

2nd Belorussian Front

• Deliver a cleaving strike north of Berlin, securing the right flank of the 1st Belorussian Front from possible enemy counterattacks from the north
• Push to the sea and destroy the German troops north of Berlin

Dnieper military flotilla

• Two brigades of river ships to assist the troops of the 5th shock and 8th guards armies in the crossing of the Oder and breaking through the enemy defense of the Nakustrin bridgehead
• Third Brigade to assist the troops of the 33rd Army in the Fürstenberg area
• Provide mine defense of water transport routes.

Red Banner Baltic Fleet

• Support the coastal flank of the 2nd Belorussian Front, continuing the blockade of the Kurlandia army group in Latvia, which is pressed to the sea (Kurland cauldron)

Operation plan

The operation plan 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 large regrouping of its forces, was supposed to launch an offensive on April 20, that is, 4 days later.

The 1st Belorussian Front was to deliver the main blow with the forces of five combined arms (47th, 3rd shock, 5th shock, 8th Guards and 3rd armies) and two tank armies from the Küstrin bridgehead in the direction of Berlin. It was planned to enter tank armies into battle after the combined-arms armies broke through the second line of defense on the Seelow Heights. In the area of ​​the main attack, an artillery density of up to 270 guns (with a caliber of 76 mm and above) was created per one kilometer of the breakthrough front. In addition, the front commander, GK Zhukov, decided to deliver two auxiliary strikes: on the right, with the forces of the 61st Soviet and 1st Army of the Polish Army, bypassing Berlin from the north in the direction of Eberswalde, Sandau; and on the left - the forces of the 69th and 33rd armies to Bonsdorf with the main task of preventing the enemy's 9th army from retreating to Berlin.

The 1st Ukrainian Front was to deliver the main blow with the forces of five armies: three combined-arms (13th, 5th Guards and 3rd Guards) and two tank armies from the area of ​​the city of Trimbel in the direction of Spremberg. An auxiliary blow was to be delivered in the general direction of Dresden by the forces of the 2nd Army of the Polish Army and part of the forces of the 52nd Army.

The dividing line between the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts ended 50 km southeast of Berlin near the city of Lubben, which allowed, if necessary, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front to strike at Berlin from the south.

The commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front K. K. Rokossovsky decided to deliver the main blow with the forces of 65, 70 and 49 armies in the direction of Nyustrelitz. Separate tank, mechanized and cavalry corps of front-line subordination were supposed to develop success after breaking through the German defense.

Preparing for surgery

the USSR

Intelligence support

Reconnaissance aircraft 6 times made aerial photography of Berlin, all approaches to it and defensive zones. In total, about 15 thousand aerial photographs were received. Based on the results of filming, trophy documents and interviews with prisoners, detailed diagrams, plans, maps were drawn up, with which all command and staff instances were supplied. The military topographic service of the 1st Belorussian Front produced an exact model of the city with the suburbs, which was used in studying issues related to the organization of the offensive, the general assault on Berlin and the battles in the city center.

Two days before the start of the operation, reconnaissance in force was carried out in the entire zone of the 1st Belorussian Front. 32 reconnaissance detachments up to a reinforced rifle battalion each, for two days on April 14 and 15, in action, refined the placement of enemy fire weapons, the deployment of his groupings, and determined the strong and most vulnerable spots of the defensive zone.

Engineering support

During the preparation for the offensive, the engineering troops of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Lieutenant General Antipenko performed a large amount of engineering work. By the beginning of the operation, often under enemy fire, 25 road bridges with a total length of 15,017 running meters and prepared 40 ferry crossings. In order to organize a continuous and full supply of the advancing units with ammunition and fuel, the railway track in the occupied territory was changed to the Russian track almost to the Oder itself. In addition, the military engineers of the front made heroic efforts to strengthen railway bridges across the Vistula, which were under the threat of being demolished by the spring ice drift.

On the 1st Ukrainian Front, 2,440 sapper wooden boats, 750 linear meters of assault bridges and over 1,000 linear meters of wooden bridges for loads of 16 and 60 tons were prepared for the crossing of the Neisse River.

At the beginning of the offensive, the 2nd Belorussian Front was to cross the Oder, the width of which in some places reached six kilometers, therefore, the engineering preparation of the operation was also given Special attention... Engineering troops of the front under the leadership of Lieutenant General Blagoslavov in shortest time dozens of pontoons and hundreds of boats were pulled up and safely sheltered in the coastal zone, timber was brought up for the construction of berths and bridges, rafts were made, and slopes were laid through the swampy parts of the coast.

Disguise and disinformation

In preparing the operation, special attention was paid to the issues of camouflage and the achievement of operational and tactical surprise. Front headquarters have developed detailed plans measures to misinform and mislead the enemy, according to which the preparation for the offensive by the troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts was imitated 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 well visible by the enemy. It was explained to all army personnel that the main task was stubborn defense. In addition, documents describing 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 camouflaged. Military echelons with artillery, mortar, tank units on the territory of Poland were disguised as trains carrying timber and hay on platforms.

During reconnaissance, tank commanders, from battalion commander to 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 informed persons was extremely limited. In addition to the army commanders, only the chiefs of staff of the armies, the chiefs of operational departments of the headquarters of the armies and the commanders of artillery were allowed to familiarize themselves with the directive of the Headquarters. The regimental commanders received their missions orally three days before the offensive. Junior commanders and Red Army men were allowed to announce the offensive mission two hours before the attack.

Regrouping troops

In preparation for the Berlin operation, the 2nd Belorussian Front, which had just completed the East Pomeranian operation, in the period from 4 to 15 April 1945 had to transfer 4 combined arms armies to a distance of up to 350 km from the area of ​​the cities of Danzig and Gdynia to the border of the Oder River and to replace the armies of the 1st Belorussian Front there. Bad condition railways and an acute shortage of rolling stock did not allow full use of the possibilities of railway transport, therefore, the main burden of transportation fell on road transport. 1900 vehicles were allocated to the front. The troops had to cover part of the way on foot.

Germany

The German command foresaw the Soviet offensive 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, and strong reserves were created in the operational depth. In and near Berlin, great amount Volkssturm battalions.

Defense nature

The basis of the defense was the Oder-Neissen defensive line and the Berlin defensive area. The Oder-Neissen line consisted of three defensive zones, and its total depth reached 20-40 km. The main defensive zone had up to five continuous lines of trenches, and its leading edge ran along the left bank of the Oder and Neisse rivers. A second line of defense was created 10-20 km from it. The most equipped in engineering terms, it was at the Seelow Heights - in front of the Küstrinsky bridgehead. The third strip was located at a distance of 20-40 km from the forward 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 a perimeter defense. During the construction of the Oder-Neissen line, special attention was paid to the organization of anti-tank defense.

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

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

Composition and strengths of the parties

the USSR

1st Belorussian Front (commanded by Marshal G.K. Zhukov, chief of staff Colonel-General M.S.Malinin) consisting of:

1st Ukrainian Front (commander Marshal I.S.Konev, Chief of Staff General of the Army I.E.Petrov) consisting of:

• 3rd Guards Army (Colonel General Gordov V.N.)
• 5th Guards Army (Colonel General Zhadov A.S.)
• 13th Army (Colonel General Pukhov N.P.)
• 28th Army (Lieutenant General Luchinsky A.A.)
• 52nd Army (Colonel General Koroteev K.A.)
• 3rd Guards Tank Army (Colonel General Rybalko P.S.)
• 4th Guards Tank Army (Colonel General Lelyushenko D. D.)
• 2nd Air Army (Aviation Colonel-General Krasovsky S.A.)
• 2nd Army of the Polish Army (Lieutenant General Sverchevsky K.K.)
• 25th Panzer Corps (Major General tank troops Fominykh E.I.)
• 4th Guards Tank Corps (Lieutenant General of Tank Forces Poluboyarov P.P.)
• 7th Guards Mechanized Corps (Lieutenant General of Tank Forces Korchagin I.P.)
• 1st Guards Cavalry Corps (Lieutenant General Baranov V.K.)

2nd Belorussian Front (commander Marshal K. K. Rokossovsky, chief of staff Colonel-General A. N. Bogolyubov) consisting of:

• 2nd Shock Army (Colonel General Fedyuninsky I.I.)
• 65th Army (Colonel General Batov P.I.)
• 70th Army (Colonel-General Popov V.S.)
• 49th Army (Colonel General Grishin I.T.)
• 4th Air Army (Aviation Colonel General Vershinin K.A.)
• 1st Guards Tank Corps (Lieutenant General of Tank Forces M.F. Panov)
• 8th Guards Tank Corps (Lieutenant General of Tank Forces A.F. Popov)
• 3rd Guards Tank Corps (Lieutenant General of Tank Forces A.P. Panfilov)
• 8th Mechanized Corps (Major General of Tank Forces A.N. Firsovich)
• 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps (Lieutenant General Oslikovsky N.S.)

18th Air Army (Air Chief Marshal A.E. Golovanov)

Dnieper military flotilla (Rear Admiral V.V. Grigoriev)

Red Banner Baltic Fleet (Admiral Tributs V.F.)

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

In addition, as part of the 1st Belorussian Front, there were German formations consisting of former prisoners of war of Wehrmacht soldiers and officers who agreed to take part in the fight against the Nazi regime (Seydlitz's troops)

Germany

Army Group "Vistula" under the command of Colonel-General G. Heinrici, from April 28, General K. Student, consisting of:

• 3rd Panzer Army (General of Panzer Forces H. Manteuffel)
• 32nd Army Corps (General of the Infantry F. Shaq)
• army corps "Oder"
• 3rd SS Panzer Corps (SS Brigadeführer J. Ziegler)
• 46th Panzer Corps (infantry general M. Garais)
• 101st Army Corps (General of Artillery V. Berlin, from April 18, 1945 Lieutenant General F. Zikst)
• 9th Army (Infantry General T. Busse)
• 56th Panzer Corps (General of Artillery G. Weidling)
• 11th SS Corps (SS Obergruppenfuehrer M. Kleinheisterkamp)
• 5th SS Mountain Corps (SS Obergruppenführer F. Eckeln)
• 5th Army Corps (General of Artillery K. Weger)

Army Group Center under the command of Field Marshal F. Scherner, consisting of:

• 4th Panzer Army (General of Panzer Forces F. Greser)
• Panzer Corps "Great Germany" (General of Panzer Forces G. Jauer)
• 57th Panzer Corps (General of Panzer Forces F. Kirchner)
• Part of the forces of the 17th armies (General of the infantry V. Hasse)

Air support for the ground forces was carried out by: 4th air fleet, 6th Air Fleet, Reich Air Fleet.

In total: 48 infantry, 6 tank and 9 motorized divisions; 37 separate infantry regiments, 98 separate infantry battalions, and a large number of individual artillery and special units and formations (1 million people, 10,400 guns and mortars, 1,500 tanks and assault guns, and 3,300 combat aircraft).

On April 24, the 12th Army entered the battle under the command of General of the Infantry V. Wenk, which had previously occupied the defenses on the Western Front.

General course of hostilities

1st Belorussian Front (April 16-25)

At 5 a.m. Moscow time (2 hours before dawn) on April 16, artillery preparation began in the zone of the 1st Belorussian Front. 9000 guns and mortars, as well as more than 1500 units of the RS BM-13 and BM-31, for 25 minutes grind the first line of the German defense on the 27-kilometer section of the breakthrough. With the beginning of the attack, the artillery fire was moved deep into the defense, and 143 anti-aircraft searchlights were turned on in the breakthrough areas. Their blinding light stunned the enemy and at the same time illuminated the way for the advancing units. (The German Infrarot-Scheinwerfer night vision systems detected targets at a distance of up to one kilometer and posed a serious threat during the assault on the Seelow Heights, and the searchlights disabled them with powerful illumination.) The first one and a half to two hours, the Soviet offensive developed successfully, individual formations reached the second line of defense. However, soon the Nazis, relying on a strong and well-prepared second line of defense, began to offer fierce resistance. Intense fighting broke out along the entire front. Although in some sectors of the front the troops succeeded in capturing individual strong points, they did not succeed in achieving decisive success. A powerful center of resistance, equipped at the Zelovsky Heights, turned out to be insurmountable for the rifle formations. This jeopardized the success of the entire operation. In such a situation, the front commander, Marshal Zhukov, decided to send the 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies into battle. This was not provided for by the offensive plan, however, the stubborn resistance of the German troops required to strengthen the penetrating ability of the attackers by bringing tank armies into battle. The course of the battle on the first day showed that the German command attached decisive importance to the retention of the Seelow Heights. To strengthen the defense in this sector, by the end of April 16, the operational reserves of Army Group Vistula were abandoned. All day and all night on April 17, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front fought fierce battles with the enemy. By the morning of April 18, tank and rifle formations, with the support of aviation from the 16th and 18th air armies, took the Zelovsky heights. Overcoming the stubborn defense of the German troops and repelling fierce counterattacks, by the end of April 19, the front troops broke through the third defensive zone and were able to develop an offensive on Berlin.

Real threat encirclement, forced the commander of the 9th German army T. Busse to come up with a proposal to withdraw the army to the suburbs of Berlin and take a strong defense there. This plan was supported by the commander of Army Group Vistula, Colonel General Heinrici, but Hitler rejected this proposal and ordered to hold the occupied lines at any cost.

April 20 was marked by an artillery strike on Berlin by the long-range artillery of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army. It was a kind of birthday present for Hitler. On April 21, units of the 3rd Shock, 2nd Guards Tank, 47th and 5th Shock Armies, having overcome the third line of defense, broke into the outskirts of Berlin and started fighting there. The first to break into Berlin from the east were the troops that were part of the 26th Guards Corps of General P.A.Firsov and the 32nd Corps of General D.S. Zherebin of the 5th Shock Army. On the same day, Corporal A. I. Muravyov set up the first Soviet banner in Berlin. On the evening of April 21, the advance units of the 3rd Guards Tank Army of PS Rybalko approached the city from the south. On April 23 and 24, hostilities in all directions took on a particularly fierce character. On April 23, the 9th Rifle Corps under the command of Major General I.P. Rosly achieved the greatest success in the storming of Berlin. The soldiers of this corps took a decisive assault on Karlshorst, part of Kopenik and, reaching the Spree, crossed it on the move. Great help in crossing the Spree was provided by the ships of the Dnieper military flotilla, transferring rifle units under enemy fire to the opposite bank. Although by April 24 the rate of advance of the Soviet troops had slowed down, the Nazis failed to stop them. On April 24, the 5th Shock Army, waging fierce battles, continued to successfully advance towards the center of Berlin.

Operating in the auxiliary direction, the 61st Army and the 1st Army of the Polish Army, having launched an offensive on April 17, overcame the German defenses with stubborn battles, bypassed Berlin from the north and moved towards the Elbe.

1st Ukrainian Front (April 16-25)

The offensive of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front developed more successfully. On April 16, early in the morning, a smoke screen was set up along the entire 390-kilometer front, which blinded the enemy's forward observation posts. At 0655 hours, after a 40-minute artillery strike on the front edge of the German defense, reinforced battalions of the first echelon divisions began to force the Neisse. Quickly seizing bridgeheads on the left bank of the river, they provided the conditions for building bridges and crossing the main forces. During the first hours of the operation, the front's engineering forces equipped 133 crossings in the main direction of the strike. With each passing hour, the number of forces and assets transported to the bridgehead increased. In the middle of the day, the attackers reached the second line of the German defense. Sensing the threat of a major breakthrough, the German command, on the very first day of the operation, threw into battle not only its tactical, but also operational reserves, setting them the task of dropping the advancing Soviet troops into the river. Nevertheless, by the end of the day, the troops of the front broke through the main defense zone on the front 26 km and advanced to a depth of 13 km.

By the morning of April 17 through Neisse in full complement the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies crossed. All day, the front troops, overcoming stubborn enemy resistance, continued to widen and deepen the gap in the German defense. Air support for the advancing troops was provided by the pilots of the 2nd Air Army. fire weapons and enemy manpower at the forefront. Bomber aircraft smashed suitable reserves. By mid-April 17, the following situation had developed in the zone of the 1st Ukrainian Front: Rybalko and Lelyushenko's tank armies marched westward along a narrow corridor pierced by the troops of the 13th, 3rd and 5th Guards armies. By the end of the day, they approached the Spree and began to cross it. Meanwhile, in the secondary, Dresden, direction of the troops of the 52nd Army of General K.A. Koroteev and the 2nd Army The troops of the Polish General K. K. Sverchevsky broke through the tactical defenses of the enemy and in two days of hostilities advanced to a depth of 20 km.

Considering the slow advance of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, as well as the success achieved in the zone of the 1st Ukrainian Front, on the night of April 18, the Stavka decided to turn the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front to Berlin. In his order to the commanders Rybalko and Lelyushenko on the offensive, the front commander wrote:

Carrying out 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 groupings 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 had 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 swift 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, Rybalko's tankers reached the outer Berlin defensive bypass 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 loop of Berlin and reached the southern bank of the Teltovkanal at the end of the day. There, having met strong and well-organized enemy resistance, they were stopped.

In the afternoon of April 22, a meeting of the highest military leadership was held at Hitler's headquarters, at which a decision was made to withdraw V. Wenck's 12th army from the western front and send it to join the half-encircled 9th army of T. Busse. To organize the offensive of the 12th Army, Field Marshal Keitel was sent to its headquarters. This was the last serious attempt to influence the course of the battle, since by the end of the day on April 22, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts had formed and almost closed two encirclement rings. One - around the 9th enemy army east and southeast of Berlin; the other - west of Berlin, around the units directly defended in the city.

The Telt Canal was a rather serious obstacle: a moat filled with water with high concrete banks, forty to fifty meters wide. In addition, its northern coast was very well prepared for defense: trenches, reinforced concrete pillboxes, tanks dug into the ground and self-propelled guns. Above the canal there is an almost solid wall of houses bristling with fire, with walls a meter or more thick. After assessing the situation, the Soviet command decided to conduct thorough preparations for the crossing of the Telt Canal. All day on April 23rd, the 3rd Guards Tank Army was preparing for the assault. By the morning of April 24, a powerful artillery group was concentrated on the southern bank of the Teltov Canal, with a density of up to 650 barrels per kilometer of front, designed to destroy the German fortifications on the opposite bank. Having suppressed the enemy defenses with a powerful artillery strike, the troops of Major General Mitrofanov's 6th Guards Tank Corps successfully crossed the Telt Canal and captured a bridgehead on its northern coast. On the afternoon of April 24, Wenck's 12th Army launched the first tank attacks on the positions of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps of General Ermakov (4th Guards Tank Army) and units of the 13th Army. All attacks were successfully repulsed with the support of the 1st Assault Aviation Corps, Lieutenant General Ryazanov.

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, something else happened. significant event... An hour and a half later, on the Elbe, General Baklanov's 34th Guards Corps 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 since the beginning of the operation, the command of Army Group Center tried to thwart 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 the troops of the 52nd Army and the 2nd Army of the Polish Army. On April 23, a powerful new 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 (20 April-8 May)

From 17 to 19 April, the troops of the 65th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, under the command of Colonel-General PI Batov, conducted reconnaissance in force and advanced detachments captured the Oder interfluve, thereby facilitating the subsequent crossing of the river. On the morning of April 20, the main forces of the 2nd Belorussian Front, the 65th, 70th and 49th armies, went on the offensive. 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 army's engineering troops. Having established two 16-ton pontoon crossings by 13 o'clock, the troops of this army by the evening of April 20 captured a bridgehead 6 kilometers wide and 1.5 kilometers deep.

A 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 unsuccessful. All day and all night on April 21, front troops, repelling numerous attacks of German troops, stubbornly expanded bridgeheads to west bank Oder. In the current situation, the front commander K. K. Rokossovsky decided to send the 49th army across the crossings of the 70th army's right neighbor, and then return to his own offensive zone. By April 25, as a result of fierce fighting, the 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 transferred to the western bank of the Oder. At the first stage of the operation, the 2nd Belorussian Front with its actions fettered the main forces of the 3rd German Panzer Army, depriving it of the opportunity to help those fighting near Berlin. On April 26, the formations of the 65th Army seized Stettin by storm. Subsequently, the armies of the 2nd Belorussian Front, breaking enemy resistance and crushing suitable reserves, stubbornly advanced westward. On May 3, Panfilov's 3rd Guards Tank Corps southwest of Wismar established contact with the advance units of the British 2nd Army.

Liquidation of the Frankfurt-Guben group

By the end of April 24, the formations of the 28th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front entered into contact with units of the 8th Guards Army of the 1st Belorussian Front, thereby encircling General Busse's 9th Army southeast of Berlin and cutting it off from the city. The encircled grouping of German troops became known as Frankfurt-Guben. Now the Soviet command was faced with the task of eliminating the 200,000-strong enemy grouping and preventing its breakthrough into Berlin or the west. To fulfill the last task, the 3rd Guards Army and part of the forces of the 28th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took up active defenses on 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 put up stubborn resistance, but also made repeated attempts to break out of the encirclement. Skillfully maneuvering and skillfully creating superiority in forces in narrow sectors 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 the 12th army of General Wenck. Only a few small groups managed to penetrate through the forests and go west.

Storming Berlin (April 25 - May 2)

At 12 noon on April 25, a ring was closed around Berlin, when the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army crossed the Havel River and joined forces with the 328th Division of General Perkhorovich's 47th Army. By that time, according to the estimates of the Soviet command, the Berlin garrison numbered at least 200 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and 250 tanks. The city's defenses were well thought out and well prepared. It was based on a system of strong fire, strongholds and nodes of resistance. The closer to the city center, the denser the defense became. Massive stone buildings with thick walls gave it special strength. Windows and doors of many buildings were sealed up 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 faust cartridges, which, in the context 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 strikes.

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 storming of Berlin. 1st Ukrainian Front (28th, 3rd and 4th guards tank). Given the experience of taking major cities, for battles in the city, assault detachments were created 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 two fronts deeply advancing 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 "gnawed" at the enemy's 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. J. Samsonov was captured by the Moltke Bridge. At dawn on April 30, the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, adjacent to the parliament building, was taken by storm at the cost of considerable losses. The way to the Reichstag was open.

On April 30, 1945 at 21.30, units of the 150th Rifle Division under the command of Major General V.M. Shatilov and the 171st Rifle Division under the command of Colonel A.I. The remaining Nazi units offered stubborn resistance. I had to fight 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, the Reichstag garrison surrendered.

On May 1, only the Tiergarten and the government quarter remained in the hands of the Germans. The imperial chancellery was located here, in the courtyard of which was the bunker of Hitler's headquarters. On the night of May 1, by prior arrangement, the chief arrived at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army. general staff German ground forces General Krebs. He informed the commander of the army, General V. I. Chuikov, about Hitler's suicide and about the proposal of the new German government to conclude an armistice. The message was immediately forwarded to G.K. Zhukov, who called Moscow himself. Stalin confirmed his categorical demand for unconditional surrender. At 18:00 on May 1, the new German government rejected the demand for unconditional surrender, and the Soviet troops resumed the assault with renewed vigor.

In the first hour of the night on May 2, the radio stations of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian: “We ask you to cease fire. We are sending parliamentarians to the Potsdam Bridge. " A German officer who arrived at the appointed place, on behalf of the commander of the Berlin defense, General Weidling, announced the readiness of the Berlin garrison to end resistance. At 6 a.m. on May 2, General of Artillery Weidling, accompanied by three German generals, crossed the front line and surrendered. An hour later, while at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army, he wrote an order for surrender, which was multiplied and, with the help of loud-speaking installations and radio, communicated to the enemy units defending in the center of Berlin. As this order was brought to the attention of the defenders, resistance in the city ceased. By the end of the day, the troops of the 8th Guards Army cleared the central part of the city from the enemy. Individual units that did not want to surrender tried to break through to the west, but were destroyed or scattered.

Losses of the parties

the USSR

From April 16 to May 8, Soviet troops lost 352,475 people, of which, irrevocably - 78,291 people. The losses of the Polish troops during the same period amounted to 8,892 people, of which 2,825 were irretrievably. The losses of military equipment amounted to 1997 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2108 guns and mortars, 917 combat aircraft, 215.9 thousand small arms.

Germany

According to the combat reports of the Soviet fronts:

• Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front from April 16 to May 13

killed 232 726 people, captured 250 675

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

killed 114 349 people, captured 55 080 people

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

killed 49 770 people, took 84 234 prisoners

Thus, according to the reports of the Soviet command, the losses of the German troops were about 400 thousand killed, about 380 thousand captured. Part of the German troops were pushed back to the Elbe and surrendered to the allied forces.

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

German losses according to data from German sources

According to German data, 45 thousand German servicemen took part in the defense of Berlin directly, of which 22 thousand people died. The losses of Germany killed in the entire Berlin operation amounted to about one hundred thousand servicemen. It should be noted that the data on losses in 1945 in OKW were determined by calculation. Due to the violation of systematic documentary accounting and reporting, violation of command and control, the reliability of this information is very low. In addition, according to the rules adopted in the Wehrmacht, losses of personnel only took into account the losses of servicemen and did not take into account the losses of troops of the allied states and foreign formations that fought as part of the Wehrmacht, as well as paramilitary formations serving the troops.

Overstating German losses

According to combat reports from the fronts:

• The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front in the period from April 16 to May 13: destroyed - 1184, captured - 629 tanks and self-propelled guns.
• The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the period from 15 to 29 April destroyed - 1067, captured - 432 tanks and self-propelled guns;
• The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front in the period from April 5 to May 8 destroyed - 195, captured - 85 tanks and self-propelled guns.

In total, according to the data of 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.

In April 1946, a military scientific conference was held on the Berlin offensive. In one of his speeches, Lieutenant General K.F. Telegin cited data according to which the total number of tanks allegedly destroyed during the operation by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front is more than 2 times higher than the number of tanks that the Germans had against the 1st Belorussian Front. front before the start of the operation. Also, in the speech, it was said about some overestimation (by about 15%) of the human losses suffered by the German troops.

These data allow us to speak about the overestimation of German losses in equipment on the part of the Soviet command. On the other hand, it must be taken into account that the 1st Ukrainian Front, during the operation, had to fight the troops of the 12th German army, which before the start of the battle took up defensive positions against the American troops and whose tanks were not taken into account in the initial calculation. Partly, the excess of the number of destroyed German tanks over the number available at the beginning of the battle is also explained by the high "return" of German tanks to service after being hit, which was due to the efficient work of the services for the evacuation of equipment from the battlefield, the presence a large number well-equipped repair units and good maintainability of German tanks.

Operation results

• Destruction of the largest grouping of German troops, the capture of the capital of Germany, the capture of the highest military and political leadership of Germany.
• The fall of Berlin and the loss of the German leadership's ability to manage led to an almost complete cessation of organized resistance from the German armed forces.
• The Berlin operation demonstrated to the Allies the high combat capability of the Red Army and was one of the reasons for canceling Operation Unthinkable, a plan for the Allies' war against the Soviet Union. However, this decision in the future did not affect the development of the arms race and the beginning of the Cold War.
• Hundreds of thousands of people were freed from German captivity, including at least 200 thousand foreign citizens. Only in the zone of the 2nd Belorussian Front in the period from April 5 to May 8, 197,523 people were released from captivity, of which 68,467 were citizens of the allied states.

Opponent recall

The last commander of the defense of Berlin, General of Artillery G. Weidling, while in Soviet captivity, gave the following description of the actions of the Red Army in the Berlin operation:

I believe that the main features of this Russian operation, as in other operations, are the following: Skillful choice of directions of the main blow. Concentration and deployment of large forces, and primarily tank and artillery masses, in the sectors where the greatest success has been outlined, swift and energetic actions to expand the created gaps in the German front. Application of various tactics, the achievement of moments of surprise, even in cases when our command has information about the upcoming Russian offensive and expects this offensive. The exceptionally maneuverable leadership of the troops, the operation of the Russian troops is characterized by clarity of intentions, purposefulness and perseverance in the implementation of these plans.

Historical facts

• The Berlin operation is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most major battle in history. On both sides, about 3.5 million people took part in the battle, 52 thousand guns and mortars, 7750 tanks and 11 thousand aircraft.
• Initially, the command of the 1st Belorussian Front planned to carry out an operation to capture Berlin in February 1945.
• Among the prisoners of the concentration camp near Babelsberg liberated by the guardsmen of the 63rd Chelyabinsk Tank Brigade M.G. Fomichev was the former Prime Minister of France Edouard Herriot.
• On April 23, Hitler, on the basis of a false denunciation, ordered the execution of the commander of the 56th Panzer Corps, General of Artillery G. Weidling. Upon learning of this, Weidling arrived at headquarters and achieved an audience with Hitler, after which the order to shoot the general was canceled, and he himself was appointed commander of the defense of Berlin. In the German feature film Bunker, General Weidling, receiving an order from the office for this appointment, says: "I would prefer to be shot."
• On April 22, tankmen of the 5th Guards Tank Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army freed the commander of the Norwegian army, General Otto Ruge, from captivity.
• On the 1st Belorussian Front, in the direction of the main attack, 358 tons of ammunition fell on one kilometer of the front, and the weight of one front-line ammunition exceeded 43 thousand tons.
• During the offensive, the soldiers of the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps under the command of Lieutenant General V.K.Baranov managed to find and capture the largest breeding stud farm, which the Germans hijacked from the North Caucasus in 1942.
• The food rations given out to the inhabitants of Berlin at the end of hostilities, in addition to basic food products, included natural coffee delivered by a special train from the USSR.
• The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front freed from captivity almost the entire top military leadership of Belgium, including the chief of the general staff of the Belgian army.
• The Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces established a medal "For the capture of Berlin", which was awarded to more than 1 million soldiers. 187 units and formations, the most distinguished during the storming of the enemy capital, were given the honorary title of "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 of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
• Episodes 4 and 5 of the epic "Liberation" are dedicated to the Berlin operation.
• The Soviet army involved 464,000 people and 1,500 tanks and self-propelled guns in the assault on the city itself.

Many books and films have been written about the capture of Berlin in the spring of 1945 by the Red Army. Unfortunately, in many of them ideological clichés 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: The Last Frontier

Marshal Konev's "maneuver" nearly killed 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, brilliantly carrying out the Vistula-Oder operation, immediately seized a bridgehead on the Oder in the Kustrin region.

February false start

On February 10, Zhukov even sent a report to Stalin on the plan for the upcoming Berlin offensive. Zhukov assumed “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. The rear fell 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 the German groupings aimed at the flanks of the 1st Belorussian Front, and destroyed the German "festungs" remaining in the rear - the 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 right here, the Germans began to build defensive structures on this sector of the front. The main point of resistance was to be the Seelow Heights.

Reich capital castle

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 Army of the Wehrmacht, commanded by General Busse. In addition, the 4th Panzer Army of General Greser could have inflicted a counterstrike on the advancing Soviet troops.
Zhukov, planning the Berlin operation, decided to strike from the Kyustrinsky 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, the Zhukovs planned “Simultaneous dissection 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 (ie the main forces of the 9th German army) could not take part in the struggle for the city, as it would be surrounded and isolated in the forests southeast of Berlin. "
At 5 a.m. on April 16, 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front began the Berlin operation. It began in an unusual way - after the artillery barrage, which involved 9000 guns and mortars, as well as more than 1500 rocket launchers. Within 25 minutes, they destroyed the first line of the German defense. With the beginning of the attack, the artillery moved the 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 way for the advancing units.
But the Seelow Heights turned out to be a tough nut to crack. Breaking into the German defenses, despite the fact that 1,236,000 shells, or 17,000 tons of metal, were dropped on the enemy's head, was not easy. In addition, front aviation dropped 1,514 tons of bombs on the German defense center, completing 6,550 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, breaking through 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 will go north ..."

The military are ambitious people. Each of them dreams of a victory that will immortalize his name. Marshal Konev, commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, was precisely such an ambitious military leader.
Initially, his front was not given the task of capturing Berlin. It was assumed that the troops of the front, having struck a blow south of Berlin, were supposed to cover the advancing troops of Zhukov. Even a dividing line was marked between the two fronts. 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 there were only Volkssturmists and scattered units in need of reorganization, 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, eager to join the remnants of Busse's 9th army, struck the flank of the 4th Guards Tank Army, and the 1st Ukrainian Front's offensive on Berlin slowed down.

The myth of the "Fausticians"

One of the most widespread myths about street fighting in Berlin is the myth of the terrible losses of Soviet tank forces from the German "Faustists". But the numbers tell a different story. The “faustics” account for about 10% of all losses of armored vehicles. Most of our tanks were knocked out by artillery.
By that time, the Red Army had already worked out 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, the troops of the two fronts closed the encirclement around Berlin. The storming of the city began directly. The fighting did not stop day or night. Block after block, Soviet troops "gnawed" at the enemy's defenses. I had to tinker with the so-called "anti-aircraft towers" - square structures with sides of 70.5 meters and a height of 39 meters, the walls and roofs of which were made of fortified reinforced concrete. The walls were 2.5 meters thick. These towers were armed with heavy anti-aircraft guns, which pierced the armor of all types of Soviet tanks. Each such fortress had to be taken by storm.
On April 28, Konev made a 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 north-west along south coast 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 reached 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 surrendered.
By the end of the day, the troops of the 8th Guards Army had cleared the entire center of Berlin from the enemy. Individual units that did not want to surrender tried to break through to the west, but were destroyed or scattered.

Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation (Berlin Operation, Capture of Berlin)- offensive operation of the Soviet troops during Great Patriotic War, ending with the capture of Berlin and victory in the war.

The military operation was conducted in Europe from April 16 to May 9, 1945, during which the territories captured by the Germans were liberated and Berlin was taken under control. Berlin operation became the last in The great Patriotic and World War II.

As part of Berlin operation the following smaller operations were carried out:

• Stettin-Rostock;
• Zelovsko-Berlin;
• Cottbus-Potsdam;
• Shtremberg-Torgauskaya;
• Brandenburg-Rathenovskaya.

The purpose of the operation was the capture of Berlin, which would allow the Soviet troops to open the way to unite with the Allies on the Elbe River and thus prevent Hitler from tightening The second World war for a longer period.

The course of the Berlin operation

In November 1944, the General Staff of Soviet troops began planning an offensive operation on the approaches to the German capital. During the operation, it was planned to defeat the German Army Group "A" and finally liberate the occupied territories of Poland.

At the end of the same month, the German army launched a counteroffensive in the Ardennes and was able to push back the Allied troops, thereby putting them on the brink of defeat. To continue the war, the allies needed the support of the USSR - for this, the leadership of the United States and Great Britain turned to The Soviet Union with a request to send troops and conduct offensive operations in order to distract Hitler and give the Allies the opportunity to recover.

The Soviet command agreed, and the USSR army launched an offensive, but the operation began almost a week earlier, due to which there was insufficient preparation and, as a result, heavy losses.

By mid-February, Soviet troops were able to cross the Oder, the last obstacle on the way to Berlin. The capital of Germany was just over seventy kilometers away. From that moment on, the battles took on a more protracted and fierce character - Germany did not want to surrender and tried with all her might to contain the Soviet offensive, but it was quite difficult to stop the Red Army.

At the same time, preparations began on the territory of East Prussia for the assault on the Konigsberg fortress, which was extremely well fortified and seemed almost impregnable. For the assault, the Soviet troops carried out a thorough artillery preparation, which as a result bore fruit - the fortress was taken unusually quickly.

April 1945 Soviet army began preparations for the long-awaited assault on Berlin. The leadership of the USSR was of the opinion that in order to achieve the success of the entire operation, it was necessary to urgently conduct an assault without delaying, since the protraction of the war itself could lead to the fact that the Germans could open another front in the West and conclude a separate peace. In addition, the leadership of the USSR did not want to give Berlin to the forces of the allies.

Berlin offensive operation prepared very carefully. Huge reserves of combat were transferred to the outskirts of the city. military equipment and ammunition, the forces of three fronts were pulled together. The operation was commanded by marshals G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky and I.S. Konev. In total, more than 3 million people took part in the battle on both sides.

Storming Berlin

Berlin operation characterized by the highest density of artillery shells in the history of all world wars. The defense of Berlin was thought out to the smallest detail, and it was not so easy to break through the system of fortifications and tricks, by the way, the loss of armored vehicles amounted to 1,800 units. That is why the command decided to bring up all the nearby artillery to suppress the city's defenses. The result was a truly infernal fire that literally swept the enemy's front line off the face of the earth.

The assault on the city began on April 16 at 3 am. By the light of searchlights, one and a half hundred tanks and infantry attacked the defensive positions of the Germans. The fierce battle was fought for four days, after which the forces of three Soviet fronts and troops Polish army managed to take the city into the ring. On the same day, Soviet troops met with the Allies on the Elbe. As a result of four days of fighting, several hundred thousand people were captured, dozens of armored vehicles were destroyed.

However, despite the offensive, Hitler was not going to surrender Berlin, he insisted that the city should be held at all costs. Hitler refused to surrender even after the Soviet troops came close to the city, he abandoned all available human resources, including children and the elderly, on the battlefield.

On April 21, the Soviet army was able to reach the outskirts of Berlin and start street battles there - German soldiers fought to the last, following Hitler's orders not to surrender.

On April 30, the Soviet flag was hoisted on the building - the war ended, Germany was defeated.

Results of the Berlin operation

Berlin operation put an end to the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War. As a result of the rapid offensive of the Soviet troops, Germany was forced to surrender, all chances of opening a second front and concluding peace with the allies were ruined. Hitler, having learned about the defeat of his army and the entire fascist regime, committed suicide. More awards were awarded for the storming of Berlin than for the rest of the military operations of the Second World War. 180 units were awarded honorary "Berlin" distinctions, which in terms of personnel - 1 million 100 thousand people.