introduction
Berlin, a city steeped in history and culture, was once
German Third Reich
The location of the heart. In that turbulent and turbulent era, Berlin experienced the baptism and destruction of war, and also saw too many vicissitudes and vicissitudes, and witnessed the rise and glory of the Third Reich, as well as its rapid decline and decline...
Today's Brandenburg Gate
I never thought that a criminal war that had begun in Berlin would eventually return to the city with all the evil and destruction, and that there would be a beginning and an end, and good and evil would eventually be rewarded?
The Brandenburg Gate after the Battle of Berlin
In May 1945, the ranks of the Soviet Red Army passed through that iconic one
The Brandenburg Gate
He officially invaded Berlin, the home of Nazi Germany, conquered Hitler's bunker, and climbed the roof of the Reichstag Building (regarded as a symbol of Nazi Germany).
thereupon
A brightly colored Soviet flag was raised over the Reichstag.
Four years ago, Germany planned
"Operation Barbarossa"
Launching an offensive against the Soviet Union, four years later, the Soviets finally raised their eyebrows and stepped on the ruins of the Third Reich, proclaiming the victory and glory of the Soviets, and at the same time announcing to the world the demise of Nazi Germany.
Looking down on the entire city of Berlin from the top of the Reichstag, there are ruins and broken bricks and tiles everywhere, and who can remember its former prosperity? The smoke left over from the battlefield has not yet completely dissipated, because this ancient city has just experienced a war.
The Battle of Berlin
。
The Battle of Berlin was not only a break in the enmity between the Soviet Union and Germany, but also the last strategic offensive war carried out by the Soviet Army, and the last major battle in the European battlefield of World War II
It was the largest urban battle in the history of World War II
。 The whole process of the Battle of Berlin was actually the process of the collapse of the German Third Reich.
But in this great battle, the Soviets clearly occupied all the superiority in strength and firepower, but in the process of attacking the city of Berlin, the Soviet Union still paid a huge casualty price, and the Soviets won
Behind the victory at the Battle of Berlin,
It was the bloodshed and sacrifice of those 300,000 Soviet soldiers.
The Soviets occupied Berlin
The goal of the Soviets
"Whoever controls Berlin controls Germany."
The Soviets had always been very clear about their goals and determined, and they were determined to take Berlin. A Soviet war correspondent once asked a Soviet commander:
"What are your goals?"
The commander replied:
"It's the center of Berlin, the Spree Bridge, the North and the Steding train station"..... Immediately followed was an order: "Advance to the capital of fascist Germany and fire at it." ”
But in fact as early as June 1944, that is
Normandy landings
Two weeks later, the Soviet Union was already planning an attack on Germany, because whether or not they could take the lead in capturing Berlin was directly related to the division of Soviet interests after the war, so they were particularly enthusiastic and active in the capture of Germany.
For example, when the Allied troops were still preparing to cross the Rhine, look at the Soviets at this time, they had already built a bridgehead on the Oder River, the Neisse River, and at this time they were only 60 kilometers away from Berlin.
And where are the Allies? I'm afraid it's still 600 kilometres from Berlin.
U.S. forces in World War II
Moreover, Britain and the United States and other countries did not seem to have much interest in the complete conquest of Berlin, and put on a show
"I don't care, Berlin let you fight"
the posture.
In Eisenhower's view, an attack on Berlin,
It is expected that the American army will suffer about 100,000 casualties, and they do not have to go to great lengths to suffer losses for the goals that the Soviets will occupy after the war, which is completely more than worth the loss.
Moreover, when Nazi Germany was defeated and World War II ended, and when the wartime alliance between the Soviet Union and the United States broke down, it was impossible for two countries with completely different ideologies to stand on the united front.
Eisenhower
Advancing Soviets
Well, since you and the United States don't want to meddle, then we, the Soviets, can plan with peace of mind my great plan for the attack on Berlin. To this end, the Soviet Union dispatched the 1st Belorussian Front (11 armies plus 4 corps), the 2nd Belorussian Front (4 armies plus 5 corps), and the 1st Ukrainian Front (8 armies plus 5 corps).
2.5 million people
Huge troops.
The Soviets built bridgeheads
And decided to divide the army into three ways and march on Berlin: among them,
Marshal Zhukov
He led the 1st Belorussian front to assemble east of Berlin, while the 2nd Belorussian Front was present
Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky
Led by a group in the north of Berlin, while
Marshal Ivan Konev
The 1st Ukrainian Front, under its command, was deployed south of Berlin.
In terms of weapons, aircraft, tanks, artillery can not be less,
Equipped with 6,250 tanks, 42,000 artillery pieces, and 7,500 combat aircraft, the Soviets were ready to fight with the Germans in Berlin.
The Germans, on the other hand, did not seem to be afraid of the Red Army, which had a million troops outside Berlin.
Compared with the German army in the early days of the war, although the German army is now like the end of the crossbow, it is not the same, but the Soviets will not be easy to overcome the German defense.
To defend Berlin,
The Germans deployed 48 infantry divisions, 6 tank divisions, 9 motorized divisions, 37 infantry independent regiments, nearly 100 infantry independent battalions, and a large number of artillery units, responsible for the garrison of Berlin.
In addition, there are more than 200,000 guards in the city of Berlin, and the reserve of the German Army also has 8 divisions.
The Germans guarded the city of Berlin with up to 1 million men.
Germans
But a million German troops, still inferior to the 2.5 million men of the Red Army in terms of strength, the Germans are well aware of this, and they can't fight head-on, so I can't hide.
So the German army began to build an extremely complete and strict defense-in-depth system. The Germans began to build a three-tiered defensive network throughout the city:
Outer Sniper Zone, Outer City, and Inner City.
Among them, the outer defensive area, mainly the area on the banks of the Oder and The Nice rivers,
The depth of operation here is about 20 to 40 kilometers.
The internal defensive zone was also the key to the entire defense system of the German army. The Germans planned to fight a large-scale urban street battle with the Soviets, and decided to temporarily divide the city of Berlin into 8 defensive zones and 9 special defensive zones. Barriers were then set up in each layer of defense, and fortifications such as bunkers were built in large quantities.
Therefore, the street buildings in the streets and alleys of Berlin were reinforced and all shot holes were punched to facilitate the German army to shoot and sneak attacks on the Soviets during street battles.
In addition, the original subway station, basement, subway station, and underground waterway in Berlin were temporarily used as german fortifications against Soviet attacks.
In order to better carry out street battles,
The Germans even mobilized the German populace to organize 200 militia assault units
In addition, members of the Hitler Youth joined in, spontaneously organizing their anti-tank fighters to jointly defend against the Soviets. As the Soviets approached step by step, the Germans began to wait in a tight line, a big war, a trigger.
Clashes outside Berlin
In the early morning of April 15, 1945, the cannons of the Soviets, the "organ of Stalin", were daunting
Katyusha rockets
With a deafening howl, it roared wildly toward the German positions, heralding the arrival of the Soviets, breaking the quiet of the early morning, and also opening the prelude to the last great war between the Soviets and Germany.
Katyusha opened fire
The Soviet army set out from the Oder, the Ness river area, and began to launch a fierce attack on Berlin.
The Soviet army pressed the border and prepared to encircle Berlin, but the Soviet Plan to quickly break through the German lines did not succeed, and instead,
It took them four full days and most casualties to cross the Zelo Heights, about 70 kilometers east of Berlin.
Zelo Heights
It was the last pass for the Germans to guard Berlin, where not only were germans heavily guarded, but also had a large number of bunker fortifications. The Germans declared it to be
"Berlin Lock"
It is a fortress that is difficult to conquer.
The german army's tight defense in the Zelo Heights did make the Soviet army's attack frustrated, the Soviet army was in a hurry, if it continued to drag on, it was bound to affect the entire subsequent combat process. thereupon
Zhukov decided to put two tank armies into battle in advance, opening a breakthrough for the troops.
Soviet armored forces
Zhukov's decision proved correct, the arrival of the Tank Army was like divine help, and the combat strength of the 1st Belorussian Front was greatly enhanced.
On the morning of April 17, Zhukov concentrated all the artillery and tank armor of the 1st Belorussian Front and launched a fierce shelling on the Zelo Heights, more than 9,000 cannons and Katyusha rockets, which the Soviets were proud of, and for a time, the sound of the cannons was tremendous, the cannons were fired in unison, and a dense rain of bullets poured down on the German Zelo highlands. The shelling continued only
Half an hour later, the Soviets fired a frantic volley of 500,000 rounds.
Soviet artillery positions
I can't help but think back to the biggest battle on the Western Front in 1916 that took place during World War I:
Battle of the Somme
It also opened with a massive, ferocious artillery attack, but it took nearly five days to fire 1.7 million shells of the 1,438 guns fired.
In contrast, Zhukov's artillery attack, the intensity of its artillery fire has actually caught up with the Battle of the Somme, which is staggering.
As a result, under the intensive artillery attack of the Soviets and the impact of the steel torrent, the originally strong fortifications of the German army were gradually destroyed. At dawn on April 18, the Belarusian 1st side finally broke through the German defensive line and captured the Zelo Heights.
But it was two days later than they had planned.
Zhukov was at his command post
Zhukov led the 1st Belorussian Front as it began to advance further westward, planning to approach the city of Berlin from the east and northeast.
The 1st Ukrainian Front, led by Marshal Ivan Konev to the south, crossed the River Nice, and after capturing Foster, marched to the open area south of Berlin and began to march from the north to the city of Berlin, which was already within easy reach of them.
Marshal Zhukov (center) and Marshal Konev (right)
The Last Battle (The Fall of Berlin)
April 20, 1945, the day of Hitler's 56th birthday, would have been celebrated if he had been there, but Hitler was no longer in the mood that day.
Because of the artillery fire of the 1st Belorussian And 1st Ukrainian Front, the shelling of the city of Berlin began, and all the Germans realized that the days left for Berlin might be running out, but Hitler did not look too depressed, and even still believed that the German army could resist the Soviet attack, and threatened:
"The Soviets will suffer the worst defeat under berlin."
German reinforcements shuttled across the front lines
At this time and another, today's Nazi Germany is in danger, and everyone can listen to Hitler's "bold words" at this time, and no one believes the words of the German Fuehrer anymore.
On the morning of 20 April, Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front, also after an hour of artillery fire,
Begin the strong crossing of the Oder River
。 The 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front, with 460,000 troops, continued their assault on the city of Berlin.
Soviet tank troops advanced
Compared with the 460,000 troops of the Soviet Union at this time, the German army responsible for guarding the city of Berlin, with the addition of dozens of national commandos and some police units, had a total strength of less than 200,000 people.
Despite the lack of superiority in troops, Berlin is after all its own battlefield, so the natural defense facilities of the city of Berlin and the strong fortress set up by the German army in advance also make it difficult for the Soviet army to easily take Berlin in a short period of time, so a city street battle began to be in full swing.
Soviet soldiers stormed the underground of Frankfurt Lane
At this time, berlin was full of smoke, and the sound of gunfire and artillery fire was continuous. Berlin's squares and streets are empty. Citizens and Germans hid in bunkers, basements, and buildings.
The German army is in the dark, the Soviet army is in the light, the Soviet army at this time is like a living target of the German army, and the remnants of the German forces use the remaining anti-tank rockets, incendiary bombs, etc. to launch a sneak attack on the Soviet army.
Soviet infantry fighting
Because the city is no better than the wild, the city streets are narrow, making it difficult for Soviet tanks to move, and it is difficult to exert their advantages to carry out the impact. But this problem encountered by the Soviet army was soon solved by Zhukov.
He simply reduced his troops to pieces, dispersed the Soviet troops into small units, and with the cooperation of infantry and artillery, broke through the German forts one by one
It has to be said that this move is really useful, and it also makes the slow-moving Soviet army greatly accelerate the speed of attack.
Artillery and armored vehicles drove into the city to fight
The Soviets and Germans chased after each other and attacked and defended, and this kind of urban street battle lasted until May 2, when the Battle of Berlin came to an end. After 16 days and nights of bloody fighting, the millions of German troops guarding Germany were finally defeated by the fierce offensive of the Soviets
479,298 people
Eventually he became a prisoner of the Soviet Union.
In addition, the Soviets also captured more than 1,500 German tanks and self-propelled guns, more than 10,000 artillery of various types, and more than 4,500 aircraft.
The Soviet artillery finally stopped firing on the ruins of Berlin, the artillery fire in Berlin finally stopped, and the gunfire that had been ringing over Europe for six years also stopped. The Soviets finally defeated the Germans and won the final victory in the European theater of World War II, which was a decisive victory and a very symbolic victory.
Soviet troops in the city of Berlin
brief summary
Soviet troops marched from the Oder River, to the Reichstag, to the German surrender on May 2, when Soviet soldiers proudly planted their flags on the ruins of the Reichstag in Berlin, a scene that was captured on camera and became one of the most iconic images of World War II.
On May 2, 1945, Soldiers of the Soviet Red Army raised the Soviet flag at the Reichstag in Berlin
But in this Battle of Berlin, the Soviets also paid a heavy price for it, and according to post-war statistics, the Soviet army suffered heavy casualties throughout the Battle of Berlin
304,000 people
，
It lost 2,156 tanks, 1,220 artillery pieces, and 527 warplanes.
With their great sacrifice, the Soviets won the war, completely destroyed Nazi Germany, ended the criminal fascist war, and rewrote the world pattern. The sacrifices of the Soviet Union were not in vain, and the blood of Soviet soldiers was not in vain, because after the war, the Soviet Union became one of the world's top superpowers, and only the United States could match it.
A victory that belongs to the Soviets
The war has stopped, but the game and contest between the major powers is still playing out, for example, the United States and the Soviet Union, a sworn enemy of equal strength, have begun their own Cold War confrontation.
Deep holes in Berlin's brick walls reminded of the end of World War II