Berlin Battle
Berlin Battle Also known as Berlin Battle (April 16 to May 9, 1945), the last strategic offensive campaign carried out by the Soviet army in the Soviet-German War in World War II.
Soviet army concentrated 270 divisions and cavalry divisions, 20 tank armies and mechanized armies, 14 Air Force Army , a total of 2.5 million troops, and 2450 aircraft, 14 artillery , 14 artillery , 1500 tanks and self-propelled artillery . The enemy in front of them was the German army group and the Central Army Group, with a total of 48 infantry divisions, 9 motorized divisions, and 6 armored divisions. There were 800,000 people, 10,400 artillery and mortars, , 1,500 tanks and attack artillery, and 3,300 combat aircraft. The battle was launched on April 16, 1945, breaking through the defense line of the Oder River and the Nice River. On the 25th, it formed an encirclement of Berlin. The Soviet army launched a multi-way attack on Berlin. After fierce street fighting, it broke into the central area of Berlin on April 27. On the 29th, the Soviet army began to attack the Capitol . On the 30th, Hitler committed suicide in the basement of the Prime Minister's Office. On May 2, General H. Wei Delin led his troops to surrender, and the Battle of Berlin ended.
On May 9, 1945, the German Command representative W. Keitel signed an unconditional surrender letter to the Soviet army and the allies Expeditionary Forces in Berlin. During the entire battle, the Soviet army captured 380,000 German troops, seized more than 1,500 tanks and self-propelled artillery and 4,500 aircraft. The victory of this battle shattered the German Supreme Command's plan to consume a large amount of Soviet forces near Berlin to delay the war, marking the demise of German fascism and the end of the European war.
On the eve of the Berlin Battle, the Soviet army had advanced to a place 60 kilometers away from Berlin. Many people thought that the war would end soon and urged the Soviet army to launch an attack immediately.
However, Stalin ordered the Soviet army to temporarily stop the attack, make rest and replenish strategic materials, and make full preparations for the last attack on the German army.
At the same time, Stalin also asked the Soviet army to pay full attention to the remaining German Pomeranian Group in the north, which still has 790,000 German troops, who are eyeing the Soviet army's flanks.
So, why were the heavy troops stationed abroad in Germany unable to return to the headquarters of Berlin City on the eve of the Battle of Berlin?
1945 Germany was powerless to make things happen. In 1944, the German army was already defeated and retreated step by step under the Soviet offensive. By February 1945, the Soviet army was only 60 kilometers away from Berlin, the capital of Germany. The Soviet army attacked Berlin not only because of the troops that attacked Berlin, but also other forces to prevent the German army from returning to help. Besides, the Allies on the Western Front did not sit still and attacked the Germans.
The nearly 300,000 German troops in The three Baltic Kingdoms are too far away from Berlin, and there are no ships, so they are completely besieged; the 300,000 German troops in Northern Europe are also too far away; the 400,000 German troops in Italy and the Balkans are even far away. The German "Central" Army Group and the "Austrian" Army Group commanded by Marshal of Czech in Czech had 900,000 people, which was relatively close, but Hitler was superstitious about the famous saying of Emperor Frederick the Great: "Whoever controls Prague will control the center of Europe!" During the Battle of Berlin, Marshal Scherner was ordered to defend the Czech Republic to the death.
Overall, before the Battle of Berlin, the German army had more than 3 million troops, including more than 42 million troops in the National Welfare Army, more than 1 million SS, and more than 2,500 aircraft, more than 3,000 tanks and storms. However, these troops were distributed on the three fronts of the east, west and south, about 3,000 kilometers, and the northern occupied areas, and were all restrained, attacked or besieged by the Allied forces. If these forces move, they will easily be surrounded and annihilated by the Allied air, sea and ground forces during the movement.
