War with the Axis: Reaching the Baltic Sea (12th August – 3rd September 1944)
Nuremberg and Dresden falls (12th – 18th August)
The increasing partisan activities on the newly occupied territories demanded the transfer of garrisons to the newly acquired the major cities. Peace-keeping troops arrived in Vienna, Bucharest and Prague.
A controversial event happened on the 12th August 1944. At 03:00 the French launched an full scaled attack against Nuremberg. The Hungarians immediately joined the assault, so the trapped 22 German divisions were attacked from the east and the west by the total of 42 units. Victory came in the afternoon. The next day the French were frustrated to see the Hungarians arrive first in the province. Tension between the Allies and Hungary grew when Horthy declared that he had no intention of giving up the newly occupied province. However, the occupation of Freiburg, the same day, gave the French a tiny fulfillment.
In the east, on 13th August, General Jány’s headquarters arrived in Stryj. From this point on Jány was responsible for the operations on the former territory of eastern Poland and Soviet Union. In the meantime, the VII. Motorized Corps captured Kielce, and won a battle against Czestochowa.
On 16th August, the IX. Mountain Corps finally arrived to Bohemia, to secure the defense of Liberec and Usti. Just a few provinces away, the X. Infantry Corps won a battle in Oppeln. The aim was to recapture the important industrial province, and to secure Breslau from the east.
The same say, at dawn, the VIII. Panzer , XIV. and XVI. Mechanized Corps launched an attack on Dresden. The defending 10 German divisions, despite the constant bombing, managed to put up a tough fight. The battle, however, was decided when the French joined the attack from the west. The defenders had no chance against the 40 assaulting units. At noon, the Allies and the Hungarians were victorious: the XVI. Motorized Corps captured Dresden two days later.
In the east, the XV. Infantry Corps occupied Czestochowa, and the VI. Mountain Corps arrived to Beltsy , to secure the defensive line. By the middle of August, the Hungarians had the initiative on all parts of the front.
The front after the occupation of Nuremberg and Dresden – 18th August, 1944
Advance in Poland (19th – 25th August)
From the middle of August, the Hungarians became superior on the Polish front. On 19th August the I., and VII. Corps were victorious in Zamosc, and the XII. and VI. Corps won a battle in Stanislawow. The latter was captured a day later. In the meantime, the XII. Motorized Corps occupied the key province of Lvov.
On 22nd August the X. Infantry Corps captured Oppeln, and they were immediately counter-attacked by 5 German divisions from Küstrin. The Hungarians managed to hold the province during the 14 hours of fierce fighting.
On 23rd August, the I. Infantry Corps arrived to Zamosc, and turned against Lublin together with the VII. Motorized Corps. The same day, the 63rd Mechanized Division occupied the undefended Kowel.
On 24th August, the Hungarians launched one of their biggest offensives: 18 divisions attacked Cottbus. The assault included the I., IX., VIII., XIV., XVI. And XIII. Corps. But after the German re-enforcements arrived from Berlin, the total of 41 defending divisions could easily hold the province. The Hungarian attack was broken-up in the afternoon. After this fiasco, the High Command decided to give up on Cottbus, move some divisions to the Polish front and concentrate only on defense in the Cottbus area. The same day, in the east, victory was achieved in Lublin, and the 64th Mechanized Division occupied the undefended Brest-Litovsk.
On 25th August the western front remained silent. In the east, however, the I. Infantry Corps captured Lublin, and Jány’s headquarters was the first to arrive in Tarnopol. In the meanwhile, the XV. and VII. Corps won a battle in Radom. The province was occupied a day later.
The front after the Hungarian advance in Poland – 25th August, 1944
The capture of Danzig (26th August – 3rd September)
The Hungarian Command realized that capturing provinces in the neighborhood of Berlin is impossible due to the high number of defenders. So, the Hungarians decided to move some forces to the other side of the Elbe and try to capture Danzig, so the Germans troops in the east are cut off from the capital.
The plan to capture Danzig – 27th August, 1944
On 27th August, the XII., XIV. and VIII. Corps launched a joint attack on Poznan. Victory came fast, as the single defending division retreated. That same day, Jány’s headquarters reached Rowne.
On 28th August, the XV. Infantry Corps won a battle in Lodz. The next day Poznan was captured. The former Polish capital fell, when the I. Infantry Corps occupied Warsaw. In the meantime, Jány’s headquarters arrived in Pinsk.
The first days of September brought further victories against the weak German forces in Poland. The VII. and XII. Corps occupied Bydgoszcz, the I. Infantry Corps Lomza, the XV. Infantry Corps Lodz, the 64th Mechanized Division Bielsk, and finally the XIII. Mechanized captured the port of Danzig. The German units in the east were now cut off from the capital.
The front after the occupation of Danzig – 3rd September, 1944
General Staff’s Report on the 3rd September
During August, the 64th Mechanized, the 65th Garrison, and the 66th Infantry Divisions were deployed. Additionally, production of fighters started. During the month the Hungarian base IC reached 100. The TC was 408/327.
By the middle of August, the Germans were forced to give up their counter-attack, the Allies and the Hungarians took the initiative throughout the front. The German divisions were facing major supply problems and were constantly being destroyed from the air.
Most of the Wehrmacht was concentrated in the Berlin area, which prevented the Allies to try to capture the capital, and allowed the Hungarians to advance rapidly in the territory of former Poland.
The Hungarian Supreme Command decided to try to liberate Poland and push until the Dniepr River in the east. Capturing territory beyond the Dniepr was dismissed, due to the problems of maintaining the partisans on a huge land mass.
The partisan activities were tackled by moving garrisons to the major cities in occupied territories and assigning newly deployed units to anti-partisan duties. Additionally, 2 Croatian militia units were transferred to Romania for peace-keeping purposes.
The Hungarians lost 40.120 men since the start of the offensive.
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