Silesia, Germany
	Soviet victory: the Red Army captured the Silesian industrial region
Opponents
	Germany
Commanders
I. S. Konev	F. Schörner
Side forces
408,400 people, 988 tanks and self-propelled guns, 5640 guns and mortars, 1737 aircraft	20 divisions, 1420 guns and mortars, 94 tanks and assault guns
66,801 people, of which 15,876 are irretrievably	About 60,000 people, of which about 20,000 were taken prisoner. 40,000 killed and 14,000 captured

Front offensive operation of the Red Army against German troops during the Great Patriotic War. It was carried out from March 15 to March 31, 1945 by part of the forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front in order to eliminate the threat of a flank attack and capture the Silesian industrial region.

General environment

The configuration of the front line, formed as a result of the Lower Silesian Offensive by the Soviet troops, provided both sides with the opportunity to conduct offensive operations. The southern wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front loomed menacingly from the north over the grouping of German troops in the Oppeln-Ratibor area. The German command, in turn, had the opportunity to deliver a flank attack in the direction of Breslau in order to release it.

The headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the General Staff of the Red Army were concerned about the potential for the Germans to regain the lost part of the Silesian industrial region. In his memoirs, I. S. Konev cites the words of I. V. Stalin on this occasion:

In order to eliminate the threat to the southern wing of the front, the commander decided to develop and conduct a private offensive operation.

Operation plan

The plan of the operation provided for a simultaneous offensive in converging directions by two shock groups of the front with the aim of encircling part of the German troops in the Oppeln area. The first group deployed north of Oppeln included the 21st Army, the 4th Tank Army and the 34th Guards Rifle Corps. South of Oppeln, the second grouping was concentrated, consisting of the 59th and 60th armies, the 93rd rifle, 31st tank and 7th guards mechanized corps.

Defense of German troops

The front line of defense consisted of field-type fortifications and engineering barriers. In the immediate rear, most of the settlements were prepared for a long defense and formed strong knots of resistance. The area was densely mined and almost the entire space between the settlements was shot through by artillery and machine-gun fire. The German command paid special attention to anti-tank defense. Reserve firing positions were prepared for artillery.

The composition and strength of the parties

USSR

Part of the forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front (Commander Marshal I. S. Konev, Chief of Staff General of the Army V. D. Sokolovsky) consisting of:

• 5th Guards Army (Colonel-General Zhadov A.S.)
• 21st Army (Colonel-General Gusev D. N.)
• 4th Tank Army, since March 17, 4th Guards Tank Army, (Colonel General Lelyushenko D. D.)
• 59th Army (Lieutenant General I. T. Korovnikov)
• 60th Army (Colonel General Kurochkin P.A.)
• 7th Guards Mechanized Corps (Major General of Tank Troops Korchagin I.P.)
• 31st Tank Corps (Major General of Tank Troops G. G. Kuznetsov)
• 4th Guards Tank Corps (Lieutenant General of Tank Troops Poluboyarov P.P.)
• 34th Guards Rifle Corps (Major General Baklanov G.V.)
• 2nd Air Army (Colonel General of Aviation Krasovsky S. A.)

Total: 408,400 people, 988 tanks and self-propelled guns, 5640 guns and mortars, 1737 aircraft.

Germany

Part of the forces of the Army Group "Center" (commander Field Marshal F. Schörner):

• 17th Army;
• army group "Heinrici" (Colonel-General G. Heinrici), since March 22, the 1st Panzer Army (General of Tank Forces V. Nering)

Air support for the ground forces was carried out by the 4th Air Fleet.

In total before the start of the battle: 20 divisions, 1420 guns and mortars, 94 tanks and assault guns.

The course of hostilities

The offensive of the strike groups of the 1st Ukrainian Front began on the morning of March 15 after a 40-minute artillery preparation. Having met stubborn resistance, the Soviet troops by the end of the day managed to penetrate into the enemy defenses for 8-10 km. At the same time, tank units operating as part of both the northern and southern groups suffered serious losses. So the 7th mechanized corps lost a quarter, and the 31st tank corps - a third of its tanks. For the first time, Soviet tank crews encountered the massive use of the latest modifications of the Panzerfaust by the defenders, which were especially effective during battles in populated areas. In order to fend off the strike of the 1st Ukrainian Front and prevent it from reaching the city of Neisse, the German command began to transfer new formations to the battle area. On March 16, fierce battles broke out between the advancing Soviet and counterattacking German troops. Despite this, by the end of March 17, the tactical defense zone of the German troops was broken through and mobile formations of shock groups rushed into the gap: the 10th Guards Tank and 7th Guards Mechanized Corps. On the afternoon of March 18, they met near the city of Neustadt, closing the ring around the Oppeln Wehrmacht group. The 168th and 344th Infantry Divisions, the 20th SS Infantry Division and part of the 18th SS Motorized Division ended up in the boiler. On March 19, the German command made the first attempt to release the German Goering Panzer Division surrounded by forces. The next day, larger forces were brought in for this purpose: the 10th Army Corps, the 20th Tank and 45th Infantry Divisions. The German counteroffensive was met by three Soviet corps: the 118th Rifle Corps, the 6th Mechanized Corps, and the 4th Guards Tank Corps. While the Soviet formations operating on the outer front of the encirclement fought off German counterattacks, the main forces of the 21st Army actually completed the liquidation of the encircled German group by the evening of March 20.

On March 24, as a result of a swift offensive and after intense street fighting, units of the 21st and 4th tank armies captured the city of Neisse.

On March 24, 1945, a tank platoon of the Guard Lieutenant Nazip Khazipov was the first to break into the village of Vladen, suppressed the fire of three assault guns, knocked out a tank and an armored personnel carrier and destroyed more than a company of enemy soldiers.

The next day, during the battle for a heavily fortified height, the Germans launched a strong counterattack, during which Khazipov's tank was hit and he was wounded. Despite this, the brave officer evacuated the wounded members of his crew and fought the enemy alone for four hours. Having destroyed one more enemy assault gun and more than a platoon of infantry, he fought until he died from a direct hit by an enemy shell.

The next and last large settlement that was to be taken during the operation was the city of Ratibor. The 60th Army of Colonel-General A.P. Kurochkin operated in this direction. However, the offensive in this direction was extremely difficult to develop. On March 22, weather conditions allowed the aviation of the 2nd Air Army to resume support for the attacking Soviet infantry. Despite this, the German units defended with great tenacity. In addition, the German command transferred from other directions and brought into battle the 8th and 17th tank divisions. In the current situation, the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front decided to reinforce the advancing units of the 60th Army with two corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army. This had a positive effect on the pace of the Soviet offensive. On March 24, the 38th Army of the neighboring 4th Ukrainian Front resumed its offensive in the Moravian-Ostrava direction, creating a threat of encirclement of the German group in the area of ​​​​Rybnik and Ratibor, and thereby changing the operational situation in favor of the Red Army. On March 27, the 60th Army took Rybnik. Then, for two days on March 29 and 30, Soviet aviation inflicted massive bombing and assault strikes on the positions of German troops in the Ratibor area. To strengthen the firepower of the attackers, the 17th and 25th breakthrough artillery divisions were transferred to the Ratibor area. On March 31, after a powerful artillery preparation for the decisive assault on the city, the 15th and 106th rifle corps of the 60th army began. They were supported by the tankers of the 31st Tank Corps and the army of D. D. Lelyushenko. Unable to withstand the onslaught, the enemy began to withdraw his troops. Having captured Ratibor, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the defensive.

Side losses

USSR

During the operation, the Red Army lost 66,801 people, of which 15,876 were irretrievably lost. During the battle, the commander of the 10th Guards Tank Corps, Nil Danilovich Chuprov, and the commander of the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps, Vasily Fedorovich Orlov, were killed.

Germany

German troops lost almost 60 thousand people, of which about a third were taken prisoner. 80 tanks and assault guns, up to 1300 guns, 26 aircraft, 243 military equipment depots were lost.

Operation results

As a result of the Upper Silesian operation, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front destroyed more than 5 divisions of the Wehrmacht, eliminated the threat of a German counteroffensive and significantly undermined the military and economic potential of Germany. According to the Minister of Armaments A. Speer, with the loss of Upper Silesia, Germany lost a quarter of its military production.

Having lost the Silesian industrial region, the enemy did not give up hope of returning this territory back. Soviet intelligence repeatedly reported that the Germans were preparing a new attack on the southern wing of the Konev front. In order to eliminate the threat to its left flank, the command of the 1st Ukrainian Front began to prepare a plan for the Upper Silesian offensive operation, which provided for the destruction of a dangerous ledge in the area of ​​​​the city of Oppeln, part of which was occupied by our troops in February 1945.

The main objectives of this operation were to defeat the enemy grouping southwest of Oppeln and create more favorable conditions for an offensive in the Berlin direction. The encirclement and destruction of the German army group "Heinrici" was also supposed to contribute to the successful conduct of the Moravian-Ostrava operation by the 4th Ukrainian Front to liberate the eastern regions of Czechoslovakia. The second half of March was allotted for the implementation of the plan.

When planning an offensive operation in Upper Silesia, Stalin paid special attention to the need, if possible, to preserve industrial enterprises from destruction. And after the liberation, these primordially Polish lands were to go to Poland. Studying the map of the forthcoming hostilities, the Supreme Commander circled the area with his finger and said: "Gold".

To achieve the set goals, the front command concentrated almost half of its forces on a relatively small area. To participate in the operation, the Headquarters allocated the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, which had been in reserve since May 1944 and was not weakened by the fighting. It was supposed to defeat the enemy in stages: first, to encircle and destroy the German formations in the Oppeln area (Oppeln operation), then to clear the Rybnik coal basin south of Oppeln from the enemy, at the last, final stage, the last large city of this region, Ratibor (Ratsibuzh), was to be taken.

Preparation for the operation took 5 weeks. During this time, two strike groups were formed: the northern one was in the area of ​​​​the city of Grottkau, the southern one was in the Kozel area. Their task was to cut through the German units and close the encirclement. Significant forces were concentrated in the narrow sections of the breakthrough.

The enemy is also intensively preparing for battles, actively increasing his grouping in this direction. By mid-March, the Germans managed to well strengthen the front line of defense in this sector., as well as to create fairly strong nodes of resistance in their rear, to prepare most settlements and even individual houses for a long defense. The dense defense of the enemy by mid-March extended to a depth of 20-25 kilometers. The Germans paid special attention to the engineering support of the defense, placing as many minefields as possible wherever possible. The redeployment of Soviet troops did not become a secret for German intelligence, and the Wehrmacht command decided to violate the plans of the command of the 1st Ukrainian Front, ahead of the Red Army in striking.

March 8, 1945 German troops went on the offensive in the southern sector. But the factor of surprise did not work, and the attempt to break through the front line of the Soviet troops was not crowned with success. Having received a decisive rebuff and advancing only a couple of kilometers, the German units again went on the defensive.

On March 15, both Soviet groups went on the offensive. It was not possible to immediately break through the enemy defenses to its entire depth, despite the tank support of the offensive. The spring thaw, as well as dense minefields, greatly slowed down the attacking Soviet units. Tankers already suffered serious losses on the first day. The Germans hurriedly transferred reinforcements to the places of breakthroughs and themselves made unsuccessful attempts to counterattack. Unfavorable weather conditions prevented the use of aviation in full force.

On the first day, the armies of the front managed to advance only 8-10 kilometers. In order not to reduce the pressure, Konev's troops were on the offensive around the clock. At night, specially created night battalions were connected to the operation, which in the morning gave way to the positions of the main forces. After two days of heavy bloody battles, the tactical defense of the enemy was broken through.

On March 17, in the Rothaus area, the troops of the 61st Tank Brigade of the 10th Tank Corps managed to force the Neisse River on the move and develop success in the direction of Neustadt.

The next day, the northern and southern groupings of Soviet troops met near the town of Neustadt, and by evening, the 61st Guards Tank Brigade of V.I. Zaitsev took the city on the move. Three German divisions and other parts of large formations with a total strength of about 45 thousand people were surrounded. The Wehrmacht command did not abandon attempts to break through the encirclement of the Oppeln grouping from the outside with the help of redeployed reserves. However, they suffered one setback after another.

In the battle for the village of Lesobschütz, a Soviet wrecked tank remained in no man's land. Sergeant Kazimir Arkhipov, the driver of the tank guard, volunteered to take the tank to the location of his troops at night. The muddy field was full of caterpillar tracks, it was not easy to find the tracks of your tank in the dark. Enemy flares helped. Silently crawling up to the tank, Arkhipov heard a light tapping and German speech. A German soldier was lying face down on the tank, looking into the open hatch and talking to someone. Quietly sneaking up behind, the sergeant killed the German with a knife. He knocked on the armor - a second German leaned out of the hatch. Arkhipov eliminated him too, after which he climbed into the tank and checked whether all control systems were working. The tank started up, and Kazimir Arkhipov drove the tank out of the neutral zone at full speed and returned to his own. In daylight, it turned out that the crew died from an exploding shell, but the mortally wounded driver apparently still had the strength to throw back the hatch cover, and the Nazi soldiers took advantage of this.

Meanwhile, the 21st Army fought to destroy the encircled enemy. On March 20, our troops managed to cut through the enemy forces that were in the cauldron, and by the morning of March 22, completely destroy them. The Germans lost about 30 thousand people killed. Another 15,000 surrendered.

Thus, the possibility of a flank attack by the enemy against the troops of the front from Upper Silesia during the Berlin operation was eliminated. In addition, our troops pulled back part of the German forces, which violated the plans of the Wehrmacht to release Breslau.

The main burden of the second stage of the plan - the capture of Rybnik and Ratibor - fell on the 60th Army of General A.P. Kurochkin. On March 22, the offensive was resumed. But on the first day of the offensive, they managed to advance only 8 km. The enemy, who was in well-fortified positions and constantly increasing his forces in this sector, desperately resisted.

On March 23, the offensive of the 21st Army was resumed with the task of capturing the city of Neisse, which was taken the very next day.

To speed up the operation, Konev decided to launch an auxiliary tank strike from the north. But already after 5 km, units of the 5th mechanized corps were forced to stop, having come across the destroying fire of enemy artillery. Thanks to the tank platoon, which managed to break into the settlement and destroy the firing points, forward movement resumed, but extremely slowly. To develop the offensive, the command of the 4th Army sent the 10th Guards Tank Corps to the south. But the enemy, in turn, pulled up reserves, trying to strike at the junction of two Soviet corps.

On March 24, the 38th Army of the neighboring 4th Ukrainian Front resumed the offensive in the Moravian-Ostrava direction, creating a threat of encirclement of the German group in the area of ​​​​Rybnik and Ratibor and changing the operational situation in favor of the Red Army. On March 27, Rybnik was taken by the troops of the 60th Army, and the next day the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps struck and broke through the enemy’s defenses, creating the threat of another “cauldron”. The enemy was forced to start a retreat in order to avoid encirclement..

On March 31, a decisive assault on Ratibor was planned. The German command gave the order to keep this city, which was the key on the way to Moravian Ostrava, at any cost. Having made a successful roundabout maneuver, our troops broke into Ratibor from the west. The battles for the city took on an extremely fierce character, but, nevertheless, on the same day Ratibor was occupied by the Red Army. Having captured the city, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the defensive.

For the main forces of the front, the Upper Silesian operation was completed at this point. A little later, the 60th army of A.P. Kurochkin and the 4th tank army of D.D. Lelyushenko completed the fighting in this sector. On April 1, Lelyushenko's troops united in Resnitsa and completed the encirclement of the Biskau enemy grouping.. Parts of the 1st Ski-Jäger Division, the Führer Guard division and the penal battalion fell into the boiler. On April 2 and 3, the encircled German grouping was dismembered and destroyed by the forces of the 60th and 4th tank armies.

The enemy lost the last stronghold in Upper Silesia. The tasks facing the Soviet troops in terms of the Upper Silesian offensive operation were completed. For 17 days of the offensive (from March 15 to March 31), our armies were able to advance up to 45 km and occupy cities such as Neustadt, Kozel, Ratibor, Rybnik, Biskau. Up to 5 German divisions were destroyed, and the rest of the enemy forces were thrown back into the Sudetenland. This eliminated the threat of a German counteroffensive and undermined the military and economic potential of the Reich. As a result, the Soviet troops, having captured the southwestern part of Upper Silesia, took up an advantageous position for subsequent attacks on the Dresden and Prague directions.

During the Great Patriotic War, Silesia played an exceptionally important role for Nazi Germany. This area is rich in many minerals: coal, iron and lead-zinc ores, magnesites. On a relatively small area there were several large industrial centers located almost close to each other: mines, mines, blast furnaces, metallurgical and chemical enterprises. Military factories were also concentrated here. In addition, the Nazis transferred a number of enterprises from the Ruhr to Silesia, away from the bombing of allied aircraft. From this, the significance of Silesia for the Reich increased even more. Besides, through Silesia lay the path of our troops to Czechoslovakia and Berlin. Thus, the struggle for this industrial region of Germany was of great importance for both sides.

By the beginning of 1945, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front reached the 500-kilometer front to the Oder and managed to capture a number of sectors on the left bank of the river northwest and southeast of Breslau and north of Ratibor. The fighting in Silesia began in January 1945, as part of the Vistula-Oder operation. The Lower Silesian Offensive became its logical continuation.

The German command, anticipating the Soviet offensive in Silesia, fortified this area, preparing a powerful defensive line, the key nodes of which were the fortress cities of Breslau, Glogau and Liegnitz. Each city had two defensive contours (internal and external). The enemy managed to create a powerful line of defense, pulling up the rear reserves at his disposal to the region.

The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of I.S. Konev had to break the enemy's resistance in this sector of the front. And although the armies were weakened in the previous offensive and had some difficulties with logistical support, it was extremely undesirable to delay active operations. The enemy grouping in the Berlin direction increased every day. It was impossible to allow the enemy to have time to firmly gain a foothold on the left bank of the Oder.

The complexity of the upcoming offensive was also to keep the industrial base of the region intact. The commanders brought this idea of ​​the upcoming military operation to all the fighters.

On January 28, 1945, the headquarters of the 1st Ukrainian Front presented a plan of operation, the purpose of which was to defeat the Breslau-Dresden enemy grouping and reach the Elbe River by February 25-28. By the beginning of the operation, the troops of the front occupied positions along the Oder River.

It was planned to strike the main blow from two bridgeheads on the western bank of the Oder, north and south of Breslau in the general direction of Sprottau - Cottbus - Yuterbog. The northern fist was the most powerful and consisted of four combined arms and two tank armies - the 3rd Guards Army under the command of General V.N. Gordov, the 13th Army under the command of General N.P. Pukhov, the 52nd Army under the command of General K .A.Koroteev, the 6th Army under the command of General V.A. Gluzdovsky, the 3rd Guards Tank Army under the command of General P.S. Rybalko and the 4th Tank Army under the command of General D.D. Lelyushenko - as well as 25th Tank and 7th Guards Mechanized Corps. The 2nd Air Army supported the attack from the air.

Two combined arms armies (the 5th Guards under the command of General A.S. Zhadov and the 21st under the command of General D.N. Gusev) had to bypass Breslau from the south, with the support of two tank corps (4th Guards and 31st) in the general direction of Striegau - Görlitz - Grossenhain - Leipzig.

The capture of the city of Breslau was entrusted to the 6th Army with the support of the 7th Guards Mechanized Corps. After completing the task, they were supposed to connect with units of the 5th Guards Army, which was advancing south.

Thanks to the regrouping of troops, I.S. Konev managed to achieve superiority over the enemy in the direction of the main attack, especially in tanks and artillery - the Soviet troops outnumbered the Germans by almost 6 times. In total, the front had the following forces: about 981 thousand people, 6,776 guns, 782 tanks, 572 self-propelled artillery mounts and 1,951 aircraft. Our troops were required to strike in open areas, at crossings, far from industrial centers.

Despite the defeats, the enemy still had quite serious forces. The German grouping in the zone of the 1st Ukrainian Front consisted of the 4th Panzer, 17th Field Armies and the Heinrici Army Group (1st Panzer Army), which were part of the Center Army Group (commanded by Colonel General F. Scherner ). By February 8, 26 infantry, four tank and two motorized divisions, as well as a tank brigade and the Breslau corps group, were operating in front of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

After the defeat of the German troops during the Vistula-Oder operation, the Wehrmacht quickly created a new defensive line, the basis of which were the fortress cities: Breslau, Glogau and Liegnitz.

In February - March 1945, battles unfolded in Lower and Upper Silesia.

The 1st Ukrainian Front, which included the 10th Guards Ural-Lvov Volunteer Tank Corps, was tasked with:

A task: defeat the Silesian enemy grouping, reach the line of the Neisse River and take more advantageous starting positions for subsequent attacks on the Berlin and Dresden directions.

Lower Silesian offensive operation (February 8–24, 1945)

As a result of the Vistula-Oder operation of 1945, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front reached the Oder River at the end of January.

Directly in the front line, they defended: one corps of the 9th Army of the Vistula Army Group, the 4th Panzer and 17th Armies of the Center Army Group (commanded by Colonel General F. Schörner).

The main blow to this enemy grouping was planned to be delivered from two large bridgeheads on the Oder - north and south of Breslau (Wroclaw).

North of Breslau, a strike force was created consisting of

3rd guards, 13th, 52nd and 6th combined arms armies, 3rd guards and

4th Tank Armies, 25th Tank and 7th Guards Mechanized Corps.

On the bridgehead south of Breslau, the 5th Guards and 21st Armies concentrated,

4th Guards Tank and 31st Tank Corps.

On the left wing of the front was supposed to operate

the third grouping - the 59th, 60th armies and the 1st guards cavalry corps,

striking from a bridgehead southwest of Oppeln (Opole)

along the northern slopes of the Sudetenland.

The actions of the troops of the frontsupported by the 2nd Air Army.

On February 8, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, after artillery preparation, went on the offensive and on the very first day broke through the enemy’s defenses in the center and on the right wing of the front, the 59th and 60th armies were unable to break through the enemy’s defenses and on February 10, by order of the command, they went over to the defense. Developing the offensive, the main forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front defeated the approaching enemy reserves, overcame intermediate defensive lines, and by February 15 advanced 60-110 kilometers, occupying a number of administrative and industrial centers of Lower Silesia, as well as the cities of Naumburg (Novogrodzec), Liegnitz (Legnica ), Bunzlau (Bolesławiec), Zorau (Heat) and others. The remnants of the 4th Panzer Army of the Wehrmacht retreated across the Beaver River.

Sappers building a bridge across the Oder, 1945.

Two German garrisons remained in the rear, surrounded in the city of Breslau (about 40 thousand people, the garrison was liquidated by May 6) and the city of Glogau (Glogow) (about 18 thousand people, was liquidated by April 1). By February 24, the troops of the front reached the Neisse River on the same line with the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, occupying an advantageous operational-strategic position for the final blow in the Berlin direction and covering the position in relation to the Upper Silesian (Oppeln) enemy grouping.

A task: during the Lower Silesian operation, the 10th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps was ordered, together with the formations of the 13th Army, to strike at the cities of Zorau and Forst.

Three days after the start of the operation, a dam on the Bubr River near the city of Zagan was captured. The 29th Guards Unech Motorized Rifle Brigade, reinforced with tanks from the 62nd Guards Perm-Kelets Tank Brigade, occupied a working hydroelectric power station. When capturing the crossing on the Bubr River, the driver A. G. Tereshchenko distinguished himself, with his tank he crushed 3 enemy guns, 4 machine guns, destroyed more than 50 Nazis, and after the battle, seriously wounded, brought his tank to a safe place. On February 13, parts of the corps broke into the city of Zorau. In the course of fierce street battles, tankmen and motorized riflemen, supported by the fire of mortar regiment mortarmen, overcoming the ambushes of the Nazis who had settled in basements and attics, destroyed tanks and firing points of the enemy and on the same day completely cleared the city of Nazi troops. After the capture of Zorau, parts of the corps continued the offensive and went to the Neisse River near the city of Forst. On February 21, the corps, like other formations and units of the 4th Panzer Army, was withdrawn to the front reserve for replenishment with people and equipment.

Tank repair in the field. 1944–1945 From personal archiveON THE.Kirillova.

On February 14 and 15, 1945, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief twice thanked the personnel of the corps for the successful completion of combat missions during the Lower Silesian operation.

Thus, during the Lower Silesian operation, which lasted 17 days, the 4th tank and 17th field armies of the enemy suffered a serious defeat. The enemy's defense along the Oder River on a front of 250 kilometers was destroyed, the remnants of the troops were thrown back to the left bank of the Neisse River, that is, more than 100 kilometers from their original position. With the front’s formations reaching the line of the Neisse River, the enemy lost very important military-industrial regions in the southeastern part of Germany, which until now had supplied the Wehrmacht with military equipment, synthetic fuel and ammunition.

Tank repair in the field. 1944–1945

The operational-strategic significance of the operation consisted in the fact that the troops of the front seized advantageous lines for the final blow in the Berlin direction. In addition, his formations took up an enveloping position in relation to the Upper Silesian enemy grouping and were able to prepare a further offensive in the direction of the cities of Dresden and Leipzig, as well as in the central regions of Czechoslovakia.

During the Lower Silesian operation, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command repeatedly drew the attention of the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front to the danger of a significant lag (up to 200 kilometers) of the troops of the left wing from the main grouping. With this in mind, on February 28, the Military Council submitted to the Headquarters a plan for an offensive operation by the troops of the left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front in Upper Silesia.

Upper Silesian operation (March 15–31, 1945)

The Upper Silesian operation is part of the strategic offensive of the Red Army in January-March 1945 on a 1200-kilometer front from the Baltic Sea to the Danube. As a result of the Vistula-Oder operation and the Lower Silesian operation, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front reached the Oder River and the Neisse River, occupying an enveloping position in relation to the Upper Silesian group of Nazi troops.

The task of the 1st Ukrainian Front: the defeat of the Oppeln-Ratibor grouping of Nazi troops, which opposed the southern wing of the front, and the exit of the troops of the left wing of the front to the foothills of the Sudetenland.

To accomplish the task, two strike groups were created: northern and southern.

The 4th Panzer Army became part of the northern group.

Directly in the zone of the upcoming offensive of the Soviet troops, they defended

17th Army and Army Group Heinrici of Army Group Center,

1st Panzer and 17th Armies of Army Group Center,

numbering about 20 divisions, 340 tanks and assault guns,

about 5 thousand guns and mortars and 750 aircraft.

The front commander created two strike groups:

one (4th tank army, 21st army, 34th rifle corps

and 4th Guards Tank Corps) -

north and another (59th and 60th armies,

7th Guards Mechanized and

31st Panzer Corps) - south of Oppeln.

On March 15, both Soviet groupings went on the offensive, overcame the enemy’s tactical defense zone within three days, and on March 18 closed the encirclement around five enemy divisions southwest of Oppeln. On March 19–20, the encircled grouping was liquidated. The Nazi troops lost about 60 thousand people, including 18 thousand prisoners.

As a result of the Upper Silesian operation, the Red Army captured the southwestern part of Upper Silesia and by March 31 reached the border of the city of Strehlen, the Neisse River - in the foothills of the Sudetenland, taking an advantageous position for striking at the Dresden and Prague directions.

A task: during the Upper Silesian operation, the army command set the following task for the Ural tank corps: together with the 117th rifle corps of the 21st army, strike at the enemy and reach the area of ​​the cities of Neustadt and Sylz.

On March 17, the corps crossed the Neisse River. After the completion of the crossing, the corps moved to Neustadt and part of the forces to Sylz. By the evening of March 18, the 61st Sverdlovsk Tank Brigade captured the city of Neustadt on the move. The main body of the corps went to the Sylz area, where it joined with units of the 7th Guards Mechanized Corps. The encirclement of the Oppeln grouping of the enemy was completed.

On the same day, March 18, a telegram was received from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief about the transformation of the 4th Tank Army into the 4th Guards Tank Army. This news was received with great enthusiasm by the tankers.

The encircled Nazi formations and units made desperate attempts to break out of the "cauldron". An order was given to destroy the enemy.

By the morning of March 22, the encircled enemy grouping was completely liquidated. Following the destruction of the Oppeln grouping of the enemy, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front were to capture the city of Ratibor, a stronghold and industrial center of Upper Silesia. Together with the 60th Army, the 4th Guards Tank Army took part in solving this combat mission. On the night of March 24-25, the Ural tankers were ordered to concentrate in the area of ​​​​the city of Leobschutz. On March 25, the corps was brought into battle to build up the strike of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps.

The Red Army is on the offensive. 1945

In an effort to hold on to the western part of the Upper Silesian basin, the only coal and metallurgical base left after the loss of the Ruhr, the Nazi command brought here several formations removed from other sectors of the front, including the 16th and 17th tank divisions, tank SS division "Protection of the Fuhrer".

Heavy fighting ensued. The SS division “Protection of the Fuhrer” acted against the Urals, on which the German command placed special hopes. The Ural tankers once again showed their ability to successfully fight against the best formations of the enemy. The enemy defense began to fall apart.

Together with the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, tank volunteers took part in the encirclement of two fascist divisions in the area of ​​the city of Biskau. The Sverdlovsk tank brigade - all the remaining tanks of other brigades of the corps were brought into it - went to the rear of the enemy's Ratibor group and captured the city of Reisnitz. The tankers of the battalion of the guards of Captain V.A. Markov, who were the first to break into the city, especially distinguished themselves here.

V. A. Markov sets the task for the tankers. 1945 From personal archiveON THE.Kirillova.

On March 31, together with the 60th Army, our tankers launched an assault on Ratibor, and the enemy could not withstand the onslaught of the Red Army.

On March 31, 1945, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief announced gratitude to the personnel of the corps, including the soldiers of the 61st Guards Sverdlovsk Tank Brigade, for excellent military operations during the capture of the cities of Ratibor and Biskau.

The Upper Silesian offensive ended with the encirclement and destruction of more than five enemy divisions, and the rest of his forces were driven back to the foothills of the Sudetenland.

As a result of the February-March offensive, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front overcame the powerful line of enemy defense on the Oder River, relying on which the Nazis hoped to reliably cover the Berlin and Dresden directions.

Thus, by the end of March, the Red Army, in cooperation with the Polish Army, having completed the liberation of Poland, reached the coast of the Baltic Sea and the rivers Oder and Neisse. As a result of the operations carried out, fascist Germany lost important military-industrial and agricultural regions, and its armed forces suffered new, irreparable losses. All this created the necessary conditions for subsequent strikes against the enemy in the Berlin, Dresden and Prague directions.