The Berlin operation is a triumph of the Soviet Army and the end of bloodshed, because it was she who put an end to the end of the Great Patriotic War.
Between January and March 1945, Soviet troops fought actively in Germany. Thanks to unprecedented heroism in the Oder and Neisse rivers, Soviet troops seized strategic bridgeheads, including the Küstrin area.
The Berlin operation lasted only 23 days, began on April 16 and ended on May 8, 1945. Our troops fled west across Germany to a distance of almost 220 km, and the front of fierce hostilities spread over a width of more than 300 km.
At the same time, not meeting any particularly organized resistance, the Anglo-American Allied forces approached Berlin.
The plan of the Soviet troops was, first of all, to deliver several powerful and unexpected attacks on a wide front. The second task was to separate the remnants of the fascist troops, namely the Berlin group, into parts. The third, final part of the plan was to surround and finally destroy the remnants of the fascist troops in parts and at this stage to capture the capital of Germany - the city of Berlin.
But, before starting the main, decisive battle in the war, a huge preparatory work was carried out. Soviet aircraft conducted 6 reconnaissance sorties. Their goal was aerial photography of Berlin. Scouts were interested in the fascist defensive lines of the city and fortifications. Nearly 15 thousand aerial photographs were taken by pilots. Based on the results of these surveys and surveys of prisoners, special maps of the fortified areas of the city were compiled. They were successfully used in the organization of the offensive of the Soviet troops.
A detailed terrain plan and defensive enemy fortifications, which were studied in detail, ensured a successful assault on Berlin and military operations in the center of the capital.
In order to deliver weapons and ammunition, as well as fuel, on time, Soviet engineers redid the German railroad tracks to the usual Russian gauge all the way to the Oder.
The assault on Berlin was prepared carefully, for this, along with maps, an exact layout of the city was made. It displayed the layout of streets and squares. The slightest features of attacks and assaults on the streets of the capital were worked out.
In addition, the scouts conducted misinformation of the enemy, and the date of the strategic offensive was kept in strict secrecy. Only two hours before the attack, the junior commanders had the right to tell the Red Army about the offensive.
The Berlin operation of 1945 began on April 16 with the main blow of the Soviet troops from the bridgehead in the Kustrin area on the Oder River. First, Soviet artillery dealt a powerful blow, and then aviation.
The Berlin operation was a fierce battle, the remnants of the Nazi army did not want to give up the capital, because this would have been a complete fall of Nazi Germany. The fights were very fierce, the enemy was ordered not to surrender Berlin.
As noted earlier, the Berlin operation lasted only 23 days. Given that the battle was on the territory of the Reich, and it was the agony of fascism, the battle was special.
The heroic 1st Belorussian Front was the first to act, it was he who dealt the strongest blow to the enemy, and the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an active offensive at the same time on the Neisse River.
It should be noted that the Nazis were well prepared for the defense. On the banks of the Neisse and Oder rivers, they created powerful defensive fortifications that stretched to 40 kilometers in depth.
The city of Berlin at that time consisted of three defensive structures built in the form of rings . The Nazis skillfully used obstacles: each lake, river, canal and numerous ravines, and the surviving large buildings played the role of strongholds ready for a round-robin defense. The streets, squares of Berlin turned into real barricades.
Starting from April 21, as soon as the Soviet army entered Berlin, and until May 2, endless battles took place on the streets of the capital. Streets and houses were taken by storm, battles even went on in subway tunnels, in sewer pipes, in dungeons.
The Berlin offensive operation ended in victory for the Soviet troops. The last efforts of the Hitlerite command to keep Berlin in their hands ended in complete collapse.
In this operation, April 20 became a special day. It was a turning point in the battle for Berlin, since Berlin fell on April 21, but before May 2, fighting was not for life, but for death. On April 25, a major event also occurred, as Ukrainian troops in the area of the cities of Torgau and Riesa met with the soldiers of the 1st American Army.
On April 30, the Red banner of victory was already developing over the Reichstag, and on April 30, Hitler, the mastermind of the bloodiest war of the century, took poison.
On May 8, 1945, the main document of the war, the act of the complete surrender of Nazi Germany, was signed.
During the operation, our troops lost about 350 thousand people. The loss of manpower of the Red Army was 15 thousand people a day.
Undoubtedly, this inhuman in its cruelty war was won by a simple Soviet soldier, because he knew that he was dying for his Motherland!