After the successful "South Wind" operation, the "Spring Awakening" operation also entered the final preparation stage. From the south bank of the Danube to the north bank of Lake Balaton, the German army deployed a huge force from north to south. At the northernmost end of the front are the German-Hungarian mixed forces, which belong to the German 6th Army and the Hungarian 3rd Army, respectively, with 5 divisions, including the German 6th Armored Division; further south is the severely damaged SS 4th Armored Army, including the "Skull" Division, the "Viking" Division and the Hungarian 2nd Armored Division. In future operations, the army will not participate in the attack and only undertake defensive tasks; then the German 3rd Armored Army, which is under its jurisdiction of the 1st and 3rd Armored Divisions and the 356th Infantry Divisions; to the south of the 3rd Armored Army, the main force of this attack, The 6th SS Panzer Army, on the northern wing of the front of the army, is the 2nd SS Panzer Army. The army places the 44th Infantry Division and the 23rd Panzer Division on the front line to complete the breakthrough, and then conducts a deep assault by the "Imperial" Division and the "Hothenstaufen" Division on the second line. The 1st SS Panzer Army is on the southern wing, and the "Guard Flag Team" Division and the "Hitler Youth" Division will start a sprint toward the Danube in the southeast; on the far right are the 2 cavalry divisions of the 1st Cavalry Army. As the last large-scale offensive operation of the German army in World War II , the German Command concentrated the powerful troops as possible. Together with other support troops, there were a total of 31 German divisions, including 11 armored divisions, with a total force of about 430,000, and equipped with more than 800 tanks, and assault guns, , of which 500 belonged to the 6th Armored Army of the SS, to achieve major breakthroughs. In addition, there are 100,000 Hungarian troops to assist in the war.
■In the Hungarian battlefield in the spring of 1945, Hitler took out the armored forces of the German army, including the "Guard Flag Team" division, to try his last attempt.
It is worth mentioning that in this attack, three SS armored troops were concentrated, including the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 9th and 12th Panzer Divisions of the SS, which can be regarded as the largest assembly of the armed SS troops in World War II, but its strength has not reached the peak of Kharkov and Kursk in 1943. Taking the "Guard Flag Team" division as an example, as the top main division of the SS, it has not reached the full volume since Ardennes Battle. Before the "Spring Awakening" operation, the division had already suffered some losses in the "South Wind" operation. Although it was partially supplemented, by the time the attack was launched, there were only 12,461 people in the division. The armored combat vehicles that could operate included 14 No. 4 tanks, 26 Black Panther tanks, 15 No. 4 tank destroyers and No. 3 assault gun . There are only 4 " Tiger King " that are strengthened to the division. Although the actual tank possession of the "Guard Flag Team" division is even greater, frequent mechanical failures make a large number of vehicles unavailable under the complex terrain and harsh road conditions in Hungary.
The continuous decline in the quality of the troops has seriously affected the combat effectiveness. The troops are filled with supplementary personnel from the Navy and Air Force. They know very little about infantry and armored combat and can only perform some rear services at most. In addition to insufficient equipment and poor quality of the troops, the "Guard Flag Team" division also faces some other difficulties, and the most headache is the mud in Hungary. Although veterans who fought on the Russian battlefield are no strangers to this problem, the mud in Hungary still daunts them. When spring comes, the snow melts, and the fields become knee-deep mud. The spring of 1945 arrives as early as in 1944. The temperature is unexpectedly warm at the end of February. Coupled with the soaking of several winter rains, the battlefield suddenly becomes a sea of mud. A seemingly flat area is actually a ball of paste below, and German heavy vehicles will trap in it and become a living target for Soviet anti-tank guns. In the deepest part of the silt, the entire tank body will even be flooded! "The Hungarian offensive was not carried out in the snow, but in the water." In addition, the supply of ammunition to the German offensive forces was also tight and there was no air support at all.
■ grenade and tiger king tank of the 6th Armored Army of the SS marching in the mud in Hungary. At this time, many German soldiers understood that they had no hope of winning in this war.
The Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts were about 1 million troops against the German army, and there were about 200,000 troops from Luo, Bao, Nan and other countries, with 1,100 tanks and self-propelled artillery . However, in the final stage of the war, eliminating the living forces of the German army was no longer the only purpose of the Soviet army's operations. What was more important was to compete with the allies advancing eastwards. Therefore, the Soviet army decided to retain the armored force for the advance to Czech and Austria, rather than consume it in a collision with the elite German troops. Faced with the German attack, the Soviet army used its old tricks in Kursk: first use large-depth infantry defense positions to consume the German army, and then use armored troops to counterattack.
After four years of war training, the Soviet army's infantry defense tactics have been perfect. The clever anti-tank guns, dense minefields, multi-level trench system and powerful reserve teams have made the Soviet army's infantry positions extremely solid. Taking the 233rd Infantry Division of the Soviet Army facing the "Hitler Youth" Division as an example, 27 kilometers of trenches were dug on the 5-kilometer-wide defensive front of the division, more than 200 bunkers of various types, and more than 9,000 mines were buried. The average number of artillery per kilometer is 22, and even 67 in key areas! What kind of defense are the German generals facing! Moreover, with the victory approaching, the Soviet army's fighting will was also very tenacious. In the past, the German armored troops broke through a little, and the entire defense line collapsed completely. In addition, the Soviet army also enjoyed full air superiority.
■The Soviet army in the spring of 1945 was full of confidence and had seen the dawn of victory in the war. They would face the Germans' last edge on the Hungarian battlefield.
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