Battle of Balaton: "Spring Awakening"

The Battle of Balaton is considered the last significant defensive operation of the USSR troops in the Second World War. The name of the operation is associated with Lake Balaton, which is located in Hungary.

The Balaton operation took place on March 6-15, 1945. The forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front were involved in it from the Soviet troops.

Warring parties

Two main warring parties took part in the battle - the anti-Hitler community and the countries of the Nazi bloc. They included allied countries that supported the main troops.

The battle of Balaton took place with equal opportunities regarding the total number of troops.

Plans of the parties

Germany and its allies planned a successful counterattack after the winter of 1945, thereby pushing the Soviet troops beyond the Danube. In addition, the only oil field available to Germany remained in this area . Without it, armored and aviation forces would have lost fuel.

The German command was supposed to break up the forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in parts, inflicting three attacks by tank armies. The operations gave the name Spring Awakening.

The command of the USSR received information about the plans of the German forces and set the troops of the Ukrainian Front to conduct a defensive operation, as well as to defeat the enemy near Lake Balaton. At the same time, preparations for a campaign to Vienna did not stop. The Battle of Balaton was the last large-scale defensive operation of the Soviet troops in World War II.

Preparation of anti-Hitler troops for defense

According to instructions from above, the 3rd Ukrainian Front began defensive actions. In this case, the experience gained during the Battle of Kursk was used. Defensive work was carried out under the supervision of L.Z. Kotlyar, who was the chief of the engineering troops.

It was decided to pay special attention to the fight against tanks, which the enemy had significantly more. To this end, on the site between Gant and Fr. Balaton (83 km) created more than 60 anti-tank areas, in which the main artillery forces were concentrated.

In many respects, the success of the Soviet troops depended on the timely delivery of fuel and ammunition. Front-line warehouses were located on the other side of the Danube (in the east), so it was decided to build cableways and a pipeline for transporting fuel.

This made it possible to increase the material and technical base of the troops. Prior to this, supplies were delivered through crossings, but it was impossible to rely on them only because of the spring ice drift and the actions of German aviation.

Balaton operation: fighting events

The offensive of the Wehrmacht troops began on the night of March 6, 1945. The first attacks were directed at the armies of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. The advancing managed to force the river. Drauu. They were able to capture two bridgeheads.

By 7 a.m., German forces went on the offensive in the next section (57th Army). Their further progress was stopped.

After 1 hour 40 minutes, the enemy went with a tank army to the sector of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. This was the main blow of the Wehrmacht, which was inflicted between the bodies of Velenz and Balaton. Having launched massive tank attacks, they were able to advance by the end of the day into the front by 4 km. They also managed to seize Sheregeyesh (stronghold).

On the morning of March 7, the battle on Lake Balaton resumed with an attack by German forces. The command was looking for vulnerabilities in the defense of the anti-Hitler coalition. At the same time, the Soviet command sought to timely transfer the available forces to more threatening sectors. For two days, the enemy could not break through the tactical area, but they managed to wedge into it at a distance of up to 7 km.

On the morning of March 8, the attackers introduced the main forces. The fighting did not subside for several days, during which the Wehrmacht troops were able to break through two lines of defense. However, this success was not consolidated, since the lines of defense of the Soviet forces did not end there.

Within ten days, the enemy advanced 15-30 km, using a large number of tanks. They still failed to break through to the Danube, and by March 15 their offensive had ceased altogether due to a lack of necessary reserves.

The Battle of Balaton was the last significant offensive of the German armed forces during World War II. Having repelled the onslaught of the enemy, units of the Ukrainian Front went on a counterattack, which was aimed at Vienna.

Losses

The fighting lasted two weeks with the use of various military weapons, tanks, aircraft, so the casualties on both sides were impressive.

On the part of the USSR, 32899 people were affected, of which 8492 were killed.

Soviet sources indicate that the Wehrmacht lost about 40,000 people, as well as 300 guns, 500 tanks, 200 aircraft. For them, "Spring Awakening" turned into disastrous losses.

results

The Nazi bloc was unable to complete the task, while a large number of soldiers and military equipment were lost. His troops were weakened and exhausted, as a result of which Soviet forces were able to launch a successful attack on Vienna.

Hungary, for which World War II was associated with the plans of the Wehrmacht, was liberated from the Nazi bloc.