At 4:30 am on March 6, 1945, the German army launched a sudden shelling on the whole line. Due to the lack of ammunition, the firepower preparation before the attack only lasted 30 minutes. The soft land greatly weakened the explosion power of the shells, making the shelling very poor effect, that is, it did not completely destroy the frontier minefields of the Soviet army, nor did it cause much damage to the Soviet defensive positions, which at most encourages the morale of the German offensive troops. At 5 o'clock, the 6th Armored Army of the SS and the 3rd Armored Army began to attack. The tank of the "Guard Flag Team" division, accompanied by the grenadier , passed through the undissipated smoke and approached the Soviet defense line.
Pipe formed only 40 tanks into two companies and drove forward under the guidance of " Tiger King ", but before he could go far, he encountered the minefield. The first few tanks were paralyzed, and the explosion also exposed the location of the German army. After a while, the Soviet artillery shells began to explode around, and the entire attack was not sudden at all! The engineers braved artillery fire to open several passages in the minefield, allowing the tanks to approach the main defense line of the Soviet army. However, those well-hidden Soviet fire points and anti-tank guns weave a dense fire net to cover the Germans' heads. Anti-tank shells hit the heavy armor of the "Tiger King" like raindrops, and the mud also trapped these armored beasts. Many tanks could not advance and retreat in the mud, so they had to use them as fixed firepower points in place and use precise shooting to eliminate the Soviet bunkers that spit flames until they were beaten into scrap iron by a shell. The "Spring Awakening" operation fell into a bitter battle from the beginning.
■ The German "Black Panther" tank destroyed by the Soviet army during the "Spring Awakening" operation, the Hungarian battlefield exhausted the Germans' last armored soldiers and elites.
htmlThe attack on December 6 was quite a failure for the German army, and no offensive force broke through the Soviet army's first defensive position. The 3rd Armored Army only advanced 2 to 3 kilometers, while the front-line troops of the SS 2nd Armored Army made almost no progress, while the "Imperial" Division and the "Hohenstaufen" Division on the second line did not even enter the offensive position before sunset on the 6th. The biggest progress on that day was on the 1st Panzer Army of the SS. The "Guard Flag Team" Division and the "Hitler Youth" Division opened a breakthrough at the junction of the 68th and 233rd Infantry Divisions of the Soviet Army and advanced 4 kilometers. However, due to the unfavorable progress of friendly and neighboring troops, both wings of the army were exposed. Although the war was not good, it did not seem to affect the mood of the officers of the "Guard Flag Team". The 1st Armored Regiment headquarters held a cocktail party that night, and the division commander Koum also attended. Paipu was extremely enthusiastic and raised his glasses frequently. Finally, he drank all the division commanders under the table. He could only use a "Black Panther" to send Kum back to the division headquarters.
htmlOn December 7, the German army continued to attack, but still struggled. Although it snowed lightly, the temperature still could not freeze the ground. The 3rd Panzer Army had not yet obtained any land on that day, and the 2nd Panzer Army of the SS could only be achieved by meters. The "Imperial" division, known as the SS's strongest ace, could not break through the defense line of the 155th Infantry Division in front of him. The one who made the greatest progress was the 1st Panzer Army of the SS, which almost penetrated the defense area of the 233rd Infantry Division.
■The German army went through the Soviet anti-tank gun positions that fought until the last moment during the "Spring Awakening" operation. The "Guard Flag Team" division achieved extremely limited results in this battle, which was of no help to the development of the overall situation.
htmlOn March 8, the "Guard Flag Team" division finally destroyed the defense of the Soviet army in front of them, broke through the first line of defense, and the advance speed was significantly accelerated. The 236th Infantry Division of the Soviet Army, which occupied the second line of defense, could not withstand the fierce impact of German tanks. The defense line was broken through on March 9. On that day, the "Guard Flag Team" division ran nearly 20 kilometers and penetrated deeply into the depths of the Soviet army. On the same day, the German 1st Armored Division also broke through the Soviet army's first line of defense after hard battles. However, this is already the peak of the "Spring Awakening" action. After four days of fighting, the German offensive power has been greatly weakened, and the Soviet reserve team has established a third line of defense behind the German breakthrough area, and the counterattack troops have also reached the designated position.
htmlOn December 10, the SS 1st Panzer Army launched an attack in the midst of rain and snow. The visibility was very poor. Paip had to poke out half of his body from the tank turret to observe the battlefield, and he was still ridiculously holding an umbrella! However, his sense of humor did not help the Germans win. Despite being strengthened by the 23rd Armored Division, all the attacks of the "Guard Flag Team" Division that day were blocked by the 33rd Infantry Army of the Soviet Army. On the 11th, the "Guard Flag Team" division still failed to make progress. Although the 1st and 3rd Armored Divisions on the left wing broke through the Soviet army's second line of defense, they broke their heads and were bleeding from the front of the third line of defense. From the 12th to the 15th, although the German army insisted on attacking, its momentum was no longer as good as before, and only advanced a few thousand meters in four days.
■Pip, the armored regiment commander of the "Guard Flag Team" division during the Hungarian operation, had a very eye-catching double sword ornament on the neckline. That was the reward he received in Ardennes Battle .
On the 12th, the 1st Guard Mechanized Army of the Soviet Army dispatched an tank regiment, , to launch a counterattack against the 1st Armored Army of the SS. This was the first time the German army had fought with the Soviet tank troops since the beginning of the battle. Before that, the German army had been fighting with the Soviet infantry defending the trenches. In the Battle of Lake Balaton, although the German "Tiger King" and "Black Panther" tanks had a technical advantage over Soviet tanks, the Soviet army's newly equipped SU-100 self-propelled artillery posed a great threat to German heavy tanks. During the battle, a self-propelled artillery regiment equipped with 4 SU-100s destroyed three "Tiger Kings" in one fell swoop. At the same time, actual combat shows that without the close cooperation of artillery, engineers, infantry and aviation, it is very difficult for the German army to forcibly break through the tightly fortified Soviet defensive positions under harsh terrain conditions without close cooperation between artillery, engineers, infantry and aviation. It is very difficult for the German army to forcibly break through the strictly fortified Soviet defensive positions simply by relying on armored forces under harsh terrain conditions, and every step of progress requires a significant price. By March 16, the German army had lost 350 to 400 tanks and assault guns , and the "Guard Flag Team" division, which was the farthest, was still 50 kilometers away from Danube .
■The Soviet army only invested a few armored troops around Lake Balaton , mainly relying on a large number of anti-tank weapons and dense defensive positions to kill the German heavy armored cluster.
While the German army was exhausting its offensive power, the Soviet army entered a counterattack on March 16 and launched a fierce attack on the German-Hungarian defense line on the north side of the front. The German army did not expect this attack and the Soviet army reached a sudden battle. Despite this, the German army still resisted tenaciously with its strong positions, especially in the positions of the "Skull" and "Viking" divisions. The Soviet army suffered significant losses, but overall, the German defense line could not be supported for long. Ditrich was not surprised by the Soviet counterattack. What surprised him was that when he asked to suspend the "Spring Awakening" operation and dispatched the SS 1st Panzer Army to north for reinforcements, the reply was to continue the attack!
It was not until the 18th that the "Guard Flag Team" division received the order to retreat. The division's units quickly escaped from the battle and rushed to the front of the SS 1st Armored Regiment to become a defender, covering the retreat of the entire division. However, it was too late when they arrived at the northern section of the front on the 20th, and the German defense line had collapsed. The only thing Dietrich can do now is to try to delay the Soviet advancement and to withdraw as many troops as possible from Hungary to Austria. The "Spring Awakening" operation could only end in failure. Although the "Guard Flag Team" division and other SS units did their best, they still had no way to turn things around, and the "SS myth" was inevitably shattered.
■After the "Spring Awakening" operation, the Soviet army was checking the destroyed German Tiger King Tank wreckage.
When the "Guard Flag Team" got rid of the quagmire of Hungary, there were only 25 tanks left for the entire division to operate. When they set foot on the highway from Budapest to Vienna , there were desolate scenes of defeat like mountains of fallen everywhere, and straggling soldiers spread all the big and small roads leading to Austria.General Barke, who has always had prejudice against the armed SS, reported upward that SS units, including the "Guard Flag Team" division, have become deserters, and even the troops trusted by the head of state most, can they count on Defense Forces for? Hitler, who was annoyed by the failure of the "Spring Awakening" operation, was furious after receiving this unconfirmed report and finally ordered the deprivation of the four SS divisions under the 6th Armored Army. He also specifically pointed out that the "Guard Flag Team" division "is not worthy of wearing his name"! He also asked Himmler to go to Hungary in person to rectify military discipline.
This order for Dietrich and the SS veterans, its blow far exceeded the enemy's fiercest offensive. They felt that the leader who had fought for many years abandoned them, and the spiritual pillar that supported them to fight to the end collapsed instantly. Dietrich summoned the commanders of the four divisions to the command center, threw Hitler's orders in front of them, and said with a pale face: "This is the reward you have received for five years of fighting!" He then sent a tough-worded telegram to the Supreme Command, retorting: "Do you also take down the armbands of the SS members who died on the front line of Lake Balaton?" Dietrich also claimed that if this order was sent to the army, he would commit suicide and return all the medals he received! In the end, the order was not executed or further issued, but the news had spread and the morale of the SS troops plummeted.
■Ditrich (the shortest in the front row) took a photo with some of the core personnel of the early "Guard Flag Team" division. The first on the left is Westhagen .
A story circulated after the war. After hearing this order, the veterans of the "Guard Flag Team" angrily tore off the armband, stuffed it into a chamber pot together with the medal he received, and sent it to Hitler himself with a broken arm wearing the armband. This did not happen, but this rumor reflects the painful mood of the members of the "Guard Flag Team". Another example shows the disillusionment of war and belief among members of the "Guard Flag Team": Westhagen, the battalion commander of the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion, committed suicide by drinking and shooting himself on March 19 due to despair.
