The Day the Russians Came Knocking
While the attackers were held at bay on the east side of the Oder waiting for reinforcements to make an assault on the German capital, the forces in Czechoslovakia continued to grow and advance throughout Bohemia. Bratislava, under Hungarian dominion, had fallen, and now so too had Prague and Pilzen. The German defense which had massed itself around Berlin and Dresden, now sought to block this southern advance. If the Russians were able to break through Winterberg, their armor would have a clear path into the German industrial heartland. Berlin therefore ordered a significant number of divisions in the Oder defense transferred south to stop this latest incursion. At best it was a military blunder, for it clearly weakened the defenses on the west bank of the Oder. It was an opportunity Konev would not let pass. He immediately set the wheels in motion for the attack on a now lightly defended Berlin.
August 13, 1944: While tanks rolled through much of Czechoslovakia, this was the day the capital of the Third Reich fell. A joint maneuver where Rokossovsky's armor in Stettin crossed the Oder to seize Rostock, it also saw the more important crossing of Katukov's famed 42nd Army into Berlin. It had been Katukov's army that had "liberated" two other capitals in the past two months: Riga and Memel, now it claimed its third capital, and in fact the symbolic capital of what this whole war was about. To share the honor, Katkov's 3rd Armor division represented Konev's 2nd Tank Army, that which had blown through Poland in record speed to the very steps of Berlin. It was a proud day for the Red Army, and a day of celebration in Moscow. Operation Titan, the offensive to encircle the majority of the German Army in Minsk, had not only succeeded in doing just that, it had seen an incredible collapse of the German eastern front. In under two months, the Red Army had advance from the Ukraine and Belarus to the streets of Berlin. Several days later Konev's tanks rolled into Dresden. With Berlin now fallen and the Oder now breached, it was a mad dash for Rokossovsky's and Konev's First and Second Tank Armies to see who would be the first to link up with the Allies.
The Toil in Romania
On August 18th, the oil fields of Ploesti finally were in the hands of the Russians, as Shaposhnikov's Crimean Army Group sent the Axis forces fleeing at last. What had been intended as a way to rob the Germans of oil for their war machine, it had finally been conquered long after the German war machine fell apart. At once Shaposhnikov turned south towards Bucharest. From Constanta along the coast, Primakov's 46th Army went ahead in advance to attack Romania's last port in Dobrich. The Romanians showing their mobility and good intelligence were quick to react to this however, as 13 divisions were in place by time Primakov showed up. Despite Russian air supremacy, the battle on the ground was one sided, and Primakov, loathe to lose face in the wake of Soviet advances on every other front, stuck the fight out until he had nearly 50% losses. Eventually the 46th had to retreat back to Constanta. The second defeat in Romania in the last month, it was clear the Romanians were proving to be much better opponents than the collapsing German Army.
Shaposhnikov's Bid
Marshal Boris Mikhailovitch Shaposhnikov
With the strategic objective of taking Romania no longer necessary, that of robbing the German war machine of oil, Shaposhnikov flew back to Moscow to confer with the General Staff if the continued conquest of Romania was worth the cost, in light of the Ploesti oil fields already being seized. To attack the stiff defenses in Bucharest, he argued would be incredibly costly in Russian casualties and materiel. With Germany's surrender estimated to be within the month, it was likely its puppets would cease hostilities as well, and waiting for this would spare the Crimean Army Group many lives. There were reports of over 30 combined German and Romanian divisions defending the area around Bucharest, and this front had several times showed its tenacity and will in battle. He was concerned the cost of victory would far outweigh the strategic gains of taking Bucharest.
His idea was met with a very cold reception by Bulganin and Malinovskij. Bulganin remarked he found it curious that while the rest of Europe was being overrun by the Red Army, the Romanian front had hardly advanced an inch in two months. He wondered aloud if there was too much cowardice in the officer's corps in the Romanian theater. He reminded Shaposhnikov that he had been given command of the Romanian front because the previous commander had been replaced for lack of results. Bucharest would be attacked, and the Romanian resistance crushed.
Alone with Shaposhnikov after the meeting, he confided to him the overall mind set in Moscow. While in post war dealings and negotiations with the western Allies , much of Europe would wind up as independent states, it was Stalin's intent to annex Romania outright into the Soviet Union. The oil fields as part of Russia would increase Stalin's influence over European affairs, and seizing Romania would help secure the Black Sea as primarily Russian waters. Based on political objectives, Romania had to be taken, despite the intense cost. A troubled Shaposhnikov returned to Romania, he commented to his staff that the assault on Bucharest would continue full bore, that politics decided men's lives.
While the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies under Konev and Rokossovsky continued to advance west of Berlin and southwest from Prague, meeting limited resistance that could be subdued easily with the help of air support, Shaposhnikov led his Crimean Army Group into the incredibly well defended Romanian capital. As he gave the order to proceed, he gave a stern shake of the head and left HQ, he knew in the overall scheme of things, this would avail nothing, but would leave thousands dead.
From Ploesti 24 Russian divisions moved south, comprised of the 37th Army, 5th Shock Army, and Kurkin's 3rd Tank Army. Kurkin's force had been abused in earlier battles, and was mostly unfit for offensive operations, but because of the rumored strength of the Romanian defense, Shaposhnikov wanted every bit of manpower he could to throw into this fight. Antonescu had upwards of 36 divisions defending the city. From the outset the Russians were outnumbered, and the Romanians were surprisingly well armed. Shaposhnikov's worst fears about an unnecessary bloodbath were about to come true.
Into the Heartland
Once Berlin was taken it was a race of armor westward, expanding their front in all directions. Because of the haste of the continued advance from Poland, most infantry had not yet caught up, so two tank armies were continually subdivided until most units were merely division sized, trying to reach out and grasp as much German land as possible. In most cases the defense was very limited in size, and quickly put to flight. Magdeburg, Hannover and even Frankfurt were seized quickly, the 9th Corps from 1st Tank Army pausing on the north bank of the Rhine on the 20th waiting for resupply and reinforcements to catch up.
Crossing the Elbe however proved a bit more troublesome. While there was minimal defense on the west side of the river in terms of numbers, the Germans put up a considerable defense nevertheless. Leipzig was held by two divisions, which took two days of hard fighting for Konev's tanks to subdue. To the north Halle was even more troublesome. Volckers held the town with one cavalry and one infantry division which had been twice beaten and had retreated from the Red Army advances in Berlin and Dresden. They were down to 50% manpower and were quite spent both in body and supply. Despite this though they put up a valiant effort on the west bank of the Elbe, laying in ambush for Katkov's 3rd Tank Division. Most of the air resources available in the Berlin sector had to be called in to give support for the attack, and despite continued losses, Volckers held out nearly five full days before finally retiring. With air resources needed to rest for a much needed refit, and armored divisions holding the entire front of the Berlin sector in division sized defenses, they absolutely needed to wait for the infantry and secondary support units to come up to the front, they had far exceeded their expectations, and outstripped their rear line support. This of course being a very nice problem to have to contend with during any offensive.
The first real incursion into Hungary proper occured on the 24th as Shtern's 27th and Sokolovskij's 8th Armies attacked Budapest from Kosice. Overwhelmed five to one, the Hungarians put up an unexpectedly poor fight, and quickly fled from the city. The battle for the Hungarian capital being so quick and decisive, it comparatively made the effort on the Romanian capital look like a complete display of incompetence from top to bottom of the Crimean Army Group.
The Battle for Bucharest
While attack forces from army to corps to division size moved in on, attacked, and defeated the enemy in key European cities such as Liepzig, Frankfurt, Vienna and Budapest, Shaposhnikov sat in his Army Group HQ with his head in his hands as report after report came in of the upgraded casualty lists. With a combined 60 divisions taking part on both sides, one firmly entrenched to fight to the last man to save their capital from the Russian Menace, day after day of this slugfest went by. He so wanted to fly back to Moscow to plead with the powers that be to call off the attack. Bucharest strategically was not worth the price in men and equipment it was costing. The ulcer deep in the pit of his stomach not only churned over the wasted lives that were being thrown away on the battlefield, but also because win or lose, he would most likely be recalled to Moscow for such a failed offensive in Romania.
Day after day went by, and despite the constant drone of aircraft overhead flying sortie after sortie to lend support, there was no break in the battle, no give in the defense. Intelligence from prisoner interrogations indicated the enemy had been completely out of food the last two days, fighting on empty stomachs. Reports had them grabbing the rifles and magazines of their fallen comrades, so short were they on ammunition. And yet the stern defenders fought on, giving nary a street without costing hundreds of Russian casualties. Shaposhnikov could not help but dwell on the similarities of his attack, and the German siege of Stalingrad three years earlier. Hitler had in effect signed Von Paulus' death warrant for failing to capture the city. Now Shaposhnikov sat buried in his hands, fearing his own imminent demise.
The Third Tank Army that he had sent into battle, ill prepared for such a campaign, was being absolutely torn to pieces in the streets. Logistical foul ups and the inability to resupply after continued campaigns left them with two strikes against them before the battle, now they were being ripped apart by the defenders. In many cases, tanks had stalled on the streets, their gas tanks empty, or they had run out of munitions, serving merely as offensive decoys for infantry operations a few streets over.
By the evening of the 25th it was obvious both sides were completely and utterly wrecked. It was a battle where both sides were repeatedly given the most dreadful of commands "at all costs." As his Army commanders came pleading to him to at least pause the attack, Shaposhnikov raised himself from his hands to sharply deny their request and repeat Moscow's order to advance at all costs. Likewise on the other side Antonescu faced the similar scene from his commanders, repeatedly shouting at them to defend and hold their ground. With over 50% casualties on both sides of the lines, no military historian would have given fault to the commander who first blinked and ordered a pull back for the sake of his men.
After a week of continued street fighting, the city itself lay in complete rubble, not a single building seemed to have four exterior walls still on it. A roof could hardly be found on any building. The rubble itself merely made the battle more costly for both sides, creating countless locations for concealment and tactical ambush. From third floor wrecks, snipers having a command of the surrounding blocks put their rifles to use, doing great scathe on troops behind the front lines as well. Platoon and company commanders were a favorite target, and that success only added to the communication breakdowns on both sides, making coordinated assaults next to impossible.
By the evening of the 26th, the lines were fully stalemated. On the west side of the city the Romanians made a counterattack, winning back ground that had cost the Red Army three days to attain. The Russians were now as spent as the Romanian and German forces, and far from home were running low on all things needed to maintain an assault. With casualties mounting, and a victory looking very slim, Shaposhnikov spent the evening looking blankly at the situation map. He had not eaten in nearly three days, slept even less. There was a discernable doom written upon his face, made worse by the recently finished phone call with Moscow. He was pale and trembling. Reports came in from all fronts that the units were no longer to sustain offensive operations. Across the front, company commanders were disobeying orders to send their 30 man strong companies to take the next street. The will was gone for the soldiers, the lines were beginning to cave in on them. Shaposhnikov with one last call to his Army commanders resigned to himself that they could not take the city. Yet with the majority of the city in Russian hands, it made a pull back even more unacceptable to Moscow.
As he called Moscow one last time, a look of blankness came upon him. He quietly hung up the phone, looking quite out into space, and declared to his chief of staff to call off the attack. As he left the room to return to his quarters he mumbled something about Zhukov flying in, and then declared it was better for one man to die than for a hundred thousand. His fate was set. On the morrow he would be recalled to Moscow, and generals knew all too well the gravity of what that order meant. Zhukov, currently the military governor of Germany in Berlin would be called in to take command of the Romanian theatre. As Shaposhnikov's staff sent out the orders for the full of the army to leave the city and retreat to Ploesti, a single gunshot rang out from the quarters of the Crimean Army Group commander. Shaposhnikov would not go back to Moscow alive.
