Библия Времени. Найди свое. Лим Ворд
SA and SS leaders) is too large.
In Germany, the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff up to the present time causes a painful reaction. Two feature films have been shot, published, widely distributed novels. Perhaps reflections on the situation of German refugees can push Germans and think about the fate of the 14 million civilians of the Soviet Union – which, as far as we know, the German media mentions (if that happens) as something not very significant.
The assault of Koenigsberg, the mystical and material bulwark of the German fighting spirit, began on April 6, 1945. It was necessary to break through three rings of defense and take 18 fortified forts. Human resources of the USSR are far from boundless; a lot of weapons, a well-established command system, but the army is already calling for the exhausted 17, even 16-year-olds. Almost all first-class infantry of the Red Army remained near Moscow, Leningrad, Rzhev and Stalingrad. The protracted siege of the citadel can reverse the winning situation, again putting the Soviet Union on the brink of disaster. The strength of the parties: the Soviet Army – 120,000 people, 540 tanks, 2,200 aircraft, the Wehrmacht – 100,000 people, 108 tanks, 170 aircraft.
After the artillery preparation and air strikes of Il-2 attack aircraft, heavy troops supported by heavy tanks, specially trained detachments, numbering 50—60 men, with two 45-mms, go into battle. tools and flamethrowers. They block, but, usually, do not attack large forts, cut communications, seep into the location of the German troops. The operation ends after 83 hours. In Koenigsberg, there have been cases of assault units attacking the civilian population; the only precedent for the whole war, since usually neither the Soviet Army nor the Anglo-British (ground) forces genocide of the Germans were engaged. Losses of the parties: the USSR: 3,700 people, 90 tanks and self-propelled guns, the Wehrmacht – irrevocably 42,000, and 92,000 prisoners (including part of civilians), as well as all the heavy equipment that existed at the beginning of the battle.
On the coast of the Baltic, in the north of Latvia (historical Kurland) remains the Kurland group, 350,000 people, communicating without any difficulties with the main forces of the Wehrmacht by sea. The offensive on the line of defense, based on tanks built into the ground along the tower, does not bring decisive success to the Soviet Army. Separate foci of resistance are smoldering, and are scattered by red sparks until May 23, 1945.
1. The air defense tower in Vienna. Almost every major German city, since 1940, has one or more similar, very colorful towers
2. The air defense tower (one of three) in Berlin. Each corner (small) tower has a double marine 105 mm. an instrument capable of «getting» an enemy aircraft at an altitude of 14,800 m., or (by firing at ground targets) at a range of up to 22 km., and several 4 × 4 × 20-mm Flak 400 cannons. The towers form a triangle with a side of three kilometers. The roof of the towers is 3.5 m high, reinforced concrete, the wall is 2 m. The building also has a bomb shelter function for the city’s population. The Berlin towers are dismantled. Several other buildings (for example, in Hamburg) have been refurbished… either under nightclubs, or shops
Soviet assault group. Often during the fighting in the city, soldiers wear steel cuirasses – 3 mm. bulletproof vests SN-38, protecting against small fragments and automatic bullets, fired at a distance of more than one hundred meters, as well as bayonet attacks. In some cases, the steel breastplate reflects a shot from the gun at point-blank range. When entering the field, where the best shelter is a dug trench in time, such facilities are less effective. In the Wehrmacht bulletproof vests (and also, we add, tank helmets) for some reason were not used
The IL-2 attack planes over Berlin
Soviet tanks on the outskirts of Berlin
A group of soldiers of the Soviet Army on the steps of the Reichstag. The soldier in the foreground is a soldier Grigory Bulatov. Together with the Kazakh Koshkarbaev Rakhimzhan (in this photo he is not), they first hoisted the flag over the heart of fascist Germany
Meeting of the Allies on the Elbe. Reich’s hopes for a separate peace and armed confrontation between the Anglo-Saxons and the USSR are not justified
The civilian population of Berlin and Soviet technology (SU-152)
Distribution of hot food to the inhabitants of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin. The beginning is April 16, 5 am. In the south – the troops of Marshal Konev, in the north – Rokossovsky, in the center – Zhukov. The most powerful artillery preparation, 1000 wagons of shells, did not have such an effect as before; who learned from the captured Soviet soldier the time of the assault, the German troops retreated to the second line of defense. Marshal Zhukov uses a hundred searchlights of air defense to blind the enemy and his night vision sights, but, according to eyewitnesses, in the continuous smoke and dust, there was not much benefit from them. The offensive stops at a number of hills surrounding the city of Seelov; they are protected by German units numbering 80,000 people, sheltered in bunkers, with 500 tanks and 2,500 guns. It took the effort of an additional two tank armies and Ilyushin storm troopers to take Seelow Heights, but this victory cost the Soviet Army 12,000 men and 500 tanks. From the south to Berlin, «as in the parade,» almost without resistance, troops of Marshal Konev are coming, from the north – Rokossovsky, in fact, the only Soviet marshal who really cares about soldiers’ lives. Desiring one to win the laurels of the winner, Zhukov does not allow them to participate in the assault of the German capital; besides, Konev’s armies have to repel the attacks of General Wenck’s 200,000th group hastily thrown from the Western Front. 36,000 tons of artillery shells fall on Berlin. Heavy tanks suppress firing points, passing through houses. Buildings are burning, their heat is boiling water in ponds and canals. The subway was flooded, by order of the Fuhrer, to avoid penetration into the rear of the Soviet troops, or from bombing, it is not known; 400 wounded, women and children are killed in the water. Soviet ground-attack aircraft and fighter planes masterfully pass through the streets of the capital (as well as to all the «straights» of other German cities), almost touching the wings of the walls of the building, hunting for the remaining resisting soldiers. Mighty air defense towers shine with searchlights on both sides, they let out into the sky the routes of shells, howling by sirens: thus dying dark, but majestic titan. May 1 – the beginning of negotiations that turned out to be unsuccessful, then the artillery preparation and storming of the Imperial Chancery, May 2 – surrender of the garrison of Berlin. The forces of the parties at the beginning of the operation: the USSR – 2.35 million people, 6,250 tanks, 7,500 aircraft, Poland – 156,000. Wehrmacht – 0, 85 million people, including Volkssturm and Hitler Youth, 1,500 tanks, 2,100 aircraft. Irrevocable losses: the USSR – 85 000 people, 2,000 tanks, 920 aircraft, Poland – 3000 people. Wehrmacht – 150,000 troops, 150,000 civilians, 300,000 prisoners, and all military equipment.
On May 2, before the half-destroyed Reichstag, the performance of Russian artists will take place. Speaker, in particular, Lydia Ruslanova, the voice of Russia. Georgy Zhukov removes from his chest the Order of the Red Star and hands the folk singer. Later, on the orders of Stalin, Ruslanov was arrested, knocking out the testimony of the Marshal of Victory, and, having achieved nothing, they were sent to the «ten» in the Magadan Region.
Who could speak here, now from the Anglo-Saxons, without a special