The fall of the walled city: how brilliantly carried out the assault on Koenigsberg destroyed the plans of the Nazi command

On April 9, 1945, the German garrison surrendered to the fortified city of Königsberg (modern Kaliningrad). Hitler's command planned to hold the city for a long time, thereby hindering the further advance of the Red Army to Berlin. However, it took the Soviet troops four days to take the fortress.

Hope Reich

“In order to understand what stronghold the Soviet soldiers had to storm in 1945, we need to remember that the Koenigsberg fortifications were built for centuries,” said Andrei Koshkin, a member of the Academy of Military Sciences in an interview with RT.

After the creation of a unified German empire in the 19th century, the construction process of the Konigsberg fortifications became more intensive. By 1882, 15 forts were built in the city, designed to accommodate up to 200 people in the garrison and up to 15 artillery pieces each.

“By the beginning of 1945, Konigsberg was one of the most powerful fortresses of Nazi Germany,” said military historian Yuri Knutov.

In addition, according to Andrei Koshkin, Königsberg was an important historical and ideological symbol for the leadership of Nazi Germany and supporters of Nazi ideology, since after the creation of the Kingdom of Prussia, the monarchs coronated traditionally.

New fortifications in the city began to be built in 1932, and after the defeat of the Wehrmacht near Stalingrad, this process intensified. The walled city was a complex system of fortifications. On the outskirts, stone buildings erected on the streets of barricades, bunkers and minefields were included in the defense system.

6-8 km from the center there was a chain of forts built in the 19th century, connected by trenches, anti-tank ditches and wire fences. The third ring of defense was located in the city center, bastions, towers and ravelins, erected in the XVII century, and then reconstructed taking into account the needs of modern warfare.

“The fortifications were connected by a system of underground tunnels. The walls of the forts and the citadel reached several meters in thickness and were able to withstand the entry of bombs and shells of even large calibers, ”said Alexander Mikhailov, specialist historian of the Victory Museum, told RT.

According to him, Königsberg was the hope of the Reich, and the military leadership of Nazi Germany hoped that the city, drawing on itself significant forces of the Soviet troops, would make it impossible to storm Berlin.

• Konigsberg Castle after the bombing, 1944
• Gettyimages.ru
• © ullstein bild Dtl.

“It is noteworthy that the Nazis in their East Prussian propaganda actively exploited the image of Soviet Sevastopol. The Nazis recalled that the Red Army and the Black Sea Fleet defended the city for 250 days, and claimed that they could hold Koenigsberg no less. It was vital for Hitler to stop the advance of the Red Army in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations with the Western allies, ”said Yuri Knutov.

On January 13, 1945, the East Prussian strategic offensive operation of the Red Army began. The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front involved in it were to defeat the powerful North Army Group, which consisted of 32 divisions and included the forces of three groups: Heilsberg, Konigsberg and Zemland.

On February 18, Army Commander Ivan Chernyakhovsky, who was commanded by the 3rd Belorussian Front, was mortally wounded and was replaced by Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky.

At the end of March 1945, Soviet troops liquidated the enemy’s Heilsberg group. The main goal of the 3rd Belorussian Front was Koenigsberg.

The assault on Konigsberg

According to various estimates, from 100 to 130 thousand fighters of German troops, police units and Volkssturm militias were concentrated in Königsberg and its district. At their disposal were about 4 thousand artillery pieces.

“The forces of the parties were approximately equal. The total number of Soviet troops near Königsberg was about 106 thousand people. From the point of view of military science, it was dangerous to launch an assault on the city — not only to take the fortress, but even to attack such a powerful group, it was necessary to create an advantage in the number of personnel by 3-4 times. However, it was not in vain that Vasilevsky was considered a genius of military calculations. He was not going to drive the soldiers in the ranks with machine guns of the enemy bunkers, ”said Yuri Knutov.

According to the expert, special assault groups were created to break through the enemy’s defense, each of which included a company of shooters, a platoon of sappers, as well as flamethrowers, machine gunners, chemists and artillerymen. Groups operated with the support of tanks or self-propelled guns.

As explained by Yuri Knutov, assault groups broke through the enemy’s defenses, circumvented the most powerful fortifications, and then undermined them.

“The operation began at noon on April 6 after a powerful artillery preparation, accompanied by Soviet air raids. After that, units of the 39th, 43rd, 50th and 11th Guards armies began storming the fortifications of the outer contour of Konigsberg, ”said Alexander Mikhailov.

The Nazis could not restrain the pressure of the Red Army and on the very first day of the Soviet offensive were forced to abandon their advanced positions. However, the day after the start of urban fighting, the situation became complicated.

The Germans made 35 counterattacks, some of which were repulsed with great difficulty. Despite the desperate resistance of the Nazis, Soviet forces were able to advance up to 3.5 km that day, occupy 130 quarters and storm three forts, as well as a number of industrial enterprises. The garrisons under the powerful blows of Soviet artillery and aviation forts began to capitulate.

• Hitler's military capitulate in Koenigsberg
• Gettyimages.ru
• © ullstein bild Dtl.

On April 8, fierce fighting continued. About 300 city blocks and four forts passed under the control of the Red Army. On this day, Soviet troops were able to close the ring around Königsberg and interrupt the communication of the fortress with the group operating on the Zemland Peninsula. The soldiers occupied the station and port of the fortress city.

On the morning of April 9, intense fighting in the city continued. The Nazis were concentrated in the center and in the eastern part of Königsberg. During the decisive blow of the Soviet troops, the Nazi group in the city was cut into pieces.

“Convinced of the hopelessness of his situation, the commandant of Konigsberg, General Otto Lyash, who participated in the war with the Polish campaign, made a decision on surrender. For this, he was sentenced in absentia to death in Germany, ”said Yuri Knutov.

On April 10, 1945, Konigsberg was cleared of disparate groups of Nazi troops. During the Koenigsberg operation, the Nazis lost more than 40 thousand killed. About 90 thousand Nazis surrendered. On the Soviet side, about 3,700 troops were killed.

“It was a real masterpiece of military art, demonstrating how much at that time the Soviet troops were superior to the Nazi in the ability to fight. The Nazis lost their stronghold, with the help of which they planned to drag out the forces of the Red Army and postpone the assault on Berlin, ”Andrei Koshkin summed up.