March 6, 1945 on the territory of Hungary began the Balaton defensive operation of the Soviet troops. During fierce battles, the Red Army, with the support of the Bulgarian and Yugoslav units, stopped the attempt to advance the selected units of the Wehrmacht and the SS, which tried to preserve Central European oil for Germany and cover the southeastern borders of the Reich.
Alignment of forces
In late 1944 - early 1945, Soviet troops in Hungary inflicted a number of painful defeats on Hitler's forces. The Red Army liberated Budapest from the Nazis and entered the western part of the country, approaching the borders of Austria.
“The situation at the beginning of 1945 in Hungary created a whole range of economic, military-political and moral threats to Hitlerism. The loss of Austrian and Hungarian oil would deprive the Nazi army of the most important source of fuel, and the Soviet withdrawal to the southeastern border of the Reich was fraught with a military catastrophe. In addition, Austria was the birthplace of Adolf Hitler himself. The thought that the Bolsheviks hated by him would come to his native places terrified the Führer, ”said military historian Yuri Knutov in an interview with RT.
- Submachine gunners of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in street battles for Budapest
- RIA News
In this regard, according to him, the Hitler command, instead of strengthening the defense of Berlin, decided to launch a powerful counterattack on Soviet troops on the territory of Hungary. The Nazis planned a sudden blow to break through the Red Army and throw it beyond the Danube.
In February 1945, the Nazis began to draw significant military forces to Hungary, including their best tank units. In particular, the 6th SS Panzer Army, which took part in the Ardennes battles, under the command of General Joseph Dietrich, was urgently transferred from the Western Front. In addition, the group prepared for the offensive included the 2nd Tank and 6th Wehrmacht armies, as well as Hungarian units remaining loyal to the Nazis. In total, 35 Nazi divisions, including 11 tank divisions, were supposed to participate in the offensive operation, code-named "Spring Awakening". Their total number was, according to historians, more than 430 thousand people. They had 6 thousand artillery guns and mortars, 877 tanks and 850 aircraft.
“It was a powerful group, ready to fall upon the forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, weakened by a long offensive, under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union Fedor Tolbukhin,” Knutov said.
Soviet military intelligence revealed the military preparations of the Hitler forces in the area of Lake Balaton, which prompted the command of the Red Army to organize a defense in depth in the direction of a potential strike.
The forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front at that time amounted to about 407 thousand people, 7 thousand guns and mortars, 407 tanks and self-propelled guns, 965 aircraft. After previous operations, Soviet units were not yet understaffed with personnel and armored vehicles. Together with the Red Army, the 1st Bulgarian and 3rd Yugoslav armies operated.
- The commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Fyodor Tolbukhin
- RIA News
As Hero of the Soviet Union noted in his memoirs, Army General Semyon Ivanov, who at that time was the chief of staff of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the experience of defense near Kursk was widely used in the Balaton operation.
“An important place in the defense was occupied by barriers of all kinds. Particularly high mining densities were created in the likely directions of the advance of enemy tank formations. As a result of a large complex of defensive work, sheltered accommodation of people and equipment was provided. The developed defense system made it possible during a defensive battle to carry out a wide maneuver by forces and means both on the front and from the depths, ”he wrote.
Breakthrough attempt
On the morning of March 6, 1945, after a powerful artillery preparation, the forces of the 6th SS Panzer Army, with the support of the infantry, went on the offensive between the lakes Velenets and Balaton - on the main line of the Spring Awakening operation. In several sections, the Nazis managed to break into the Soviet defense. In two days of fighting, the Nazis lost up to 4 thousand troops and about a hundred tanks and self-propelled guns, but continued to desperately rush towards the Danube. In some areas, according to various sources, the density of Nazi use of tanks reached 40-50 units per kilometer of the front.
The command of the 3rd Ukrainian Front brought into battle almost all the reserves, while it could not use the 9th Guards Army, which was being prepared for an attack on Vienna. It was necessary to increase efforts in defense in the most difficult way - due to maneuver from not attacked areas.
On March 10, the Nazis were again able to oust Soviet troops in certain areas. In just five days of fighting, the 6th SS Panzer Army broke through the main and second lines of defense of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, but the Nazis failed to completely cut it and go to the Danube.
On March 11, the Germans brought seven tank, two infantry, and two cavalry divisions, numbering over 500 tanks and assault guns, into battle between Lakes Velenets and Balaton. Powerful blows were inflicted in other directions. However, the Soviet troops survived. Even those positions that the Nazis managed to seize soon returned to the control of the Red Army.
On March 12, the Nazis were able to occupy a small bridgehead on the southern bank of the Elush Canal, expanding it in the following days. However, this did not bring the Nazis closer to solving their main task - access to the Danube.
- Soldiers and officers of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on the shore of Lake Balaton
- © M. Golyshev / RIA Novosti
Operation completion
Fierce fighting in the area of Lake Balaton lasted ten days. During this time, the Nazis were able to advance only 12-30 km, after which the offensive began to run out of steam. According to Yuri Knutov, despite the situational successes of the Nazis in certain areas, in general, the initiative completely belonged to the Soviet command.
On March 15, 1945, the Nazis stopped their offensive in the area of Lake Balaton and went on the defensive.
“All chances for major success have disappeared. The high fighting spirit of the SS divisions, which has been preserved until now, has been lost. Under the guise of stubbornly fighting tankers, whole formations retreated against the order, ”General Heinz Guderian, who at that time held the post of chief of the General Staff of the German Army, wrote in his memoirs about the events of March 1945 in Hungary
“It was no longer possible to rely on these divisions. This overwhelmed Hitler's measure of patience. He burst out in terrible anger, ordering to rip off the sleeve insignia with the name of these units among the personnel of the divisions, ”Guderian noted.
Hitler wanted to send the general to Hungary personally, but the military commander convinced the Führer of the futility of this undertaking.
- Technique abandoned by the Nazis in the area of Lake Balaton
- © Evgeny Chaldey / RIA News
On March 16, 1945, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts launched a large-scale offensive in the direction of the Austrian border.
“The Balaton operation is actually the last defensive operation of the Red Army during the years of World War II. After that, Soviet troops were only advancing. And for the Wehrmacht and the SS, the fighting of March 6-15 was the last large-scale offensive, ”said Yuri Knutov.
According to him, during the operation, the Nazis lost 40 to 45 thousand troops killed and captured. The losses of the Soviet side amounted to 32,899 people, of which 8,492 - killed, deceased and missing.
“The fighting in the area of Lake Balaton ended in disaster for the Nazis. Not only did they predetermine the Nazi’s loss of access to large oil fields and opened the way for the Red Army to Austria, they also broke the morale of the most combat-ready parts of Germany, depriving them of their last illusive hopes of preserving their Reich, ”the historian concluded.