"In the German race there is nothing but evil! ... As you storm onward, kill!"
As the final days of Germany's reign of terror came to a close, the question was not will Berlin fall but which army will claim victory. The British and American forces basically believed that the final battle with the Germans would occur in the Alpine redoubts of Bavaria. As the bulk of these forces moved south, the campaign for Berlin was left for the Soviets.
During the Battle of the Bulge, the Western Allies requested that Stalin implement a major offensive toward the east to relieve pressure on the Western Front. Stalin responded by marching the Red Army through East Prussia in January 1945. They then paused in March to build up for the final westward push into Berlin.
The Russian commanders charged with the operation were two of Stalin's best;
Marshal Georgi Zhukov and Marshal Ivan Koniev. Zhukov was charged with taking the
city in a frontal attack, Koniev would take his troops and sweep below the city, attacking from
the south. Stalin fearing that Zhukov may experience trouble, ordered Koniev to send part
of his First Ukrainian Front to help Zhukov's 750,000 troops of the First Belorussian Front.
This set the stage for a confrontation of disastrous proportions in the German capital.
The defense of Berlin was entrusted to a long time Eastern Front veteran by the name
of Col. Gen. Gotthard Heinrici. Heinrici was one of the Reich's few experts on defensive warfare. The Russian advance would be costly, very costly!
The Red Army grouped about 40 miles east of the city limits and opened its preliminary artillery attack at 4 a.m. on April 16, 1945. Stalin, awaiting reports in Moscow, became increasingly concerned of the Western Allies advance from the west. Mother Russia was to take Berlin before any other military force.
Col. Gen. Heinrici had pulled his main force back from their positions and regrouped them in the shelter of the Seelow Heights area. The German defenders watched in amazement as the pre-dawn barrage fell on their former strongholds. The Soviets then flooded the battlefield with searchlights for anti-aircraft guns. This had a reverberating effect on the Russians because the armor and infantry that followed the shelling were illuminated as if it were almost broad daylight! Heinrici's 88mm artillery batteries opened fire with great effect. Zhukov's advance slowed.
Koniev's First Ukrainian Front, advancing from the south, had found a ford on the Spree River and reached the defensive perimeter of the city first.
On April 17, Stalin was delighted to hear of Koniev's position and ordered him to advance into the city. Stalin immediately contacted Zhukov and strictly reprimanded his favorite commander on his execution of the battle plan. That evening, the First Belorussian headquarters gave the order to take Berlin now! Tank units quickly gnawed a hole in the defenses at Seelow Heights and charged west.
Between April 18 and 22, both Soviet commanders poured troops and armor into the fighting as they desperately tried to reach the center of the city first. As their armies grew closer to the "prize", tension between them increased with each passing minute.
Then on April 23, Stalin issued order No. 11074, which effectively drew a line 150 yards short of the Reichstag of which Koniev was not to cross. Several of Koniev's troops did not recognize the boundary line. This disregard of the order led to attacks on Russian troops by Russian troops of another army unit. Not only were they embroiled in combat with the Germans, but with themselves too!
When the end of April arrived, troops from Genera1 Zhukov's First Belorussian Front had reached the Reichstag and raised the "Hammer and Sickle" above the symbol of Nazi power. The final battle was over. Hitler's "Thousand Year Reign" of terror had been quelled without mercy. Who knew what lay ahead?
Order of Battle for the Game
Game Map (slow: 186K)
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