Germany's military defeats in 1944 caused the collapse of the Hitlerite coalition. On August 23, a coup took place in Romania, Antonescu was arrested. King Mihai I announced the end of the war against the USSR. After that, the Romanian troops took part in the war with Germany. On September 8-9, the communists and their supporters staged a coup in Bulgaria. The pro-Nazi government was collapsed and the Fatherland Front government was established, headed by Kimon Georgiev. On October 28, 1944, an armistice was signed in Moscow between Bulgaria and the Soviet Union. Bulgarian troops took part in hostilities against the Wehrmacht in Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria. On September 19, 1944, the Moscow truce was signed between Finland, the USSR and England in Moscow. Helsinki pledged to start hostilities against German troops in Finland.
Thus, only Hungary remained on the side of the Third Reich, as well as the puppet regimes of Slovakia, Croatia and Serbia. True, the Hungarian leadership also showed weakness. As the Soviet troops approached the Hungarian borders, the ruler (regent) of the Hungarian kingdom Miklos Horthy removed the pro-German government in August 1944 and on October 15 announced an armistice with the USSR. However, Hungary, unlike Romania, failed to leave the Hitlerite coalition. A Berlin-backed coup d'état took place in the Hungarian capital, and Horthy's son was kidnapped and taken hostage. Under pressure from Hitler, the dictator Horthy was forced to transfer power to the leader of the Nazi pro-German Arrow Cross Party, Ferenc Salasi, and move to Germany. Hungary remained an ally of Germany, and its territory became the scene of fierce battles.
The beginning of the liberation of Czechoslovakia. Slovak uprising
The victories that the Soviet troops won in the Jassy-Kishinev operation (Seventh Stalinist strike: Jassy-Chisinau Cannes), the liberation of Romania and Bulgaria from the German troops radically changed the military-strategic situation on the Balkan Peninsula. The strategic front of the German army was broken through for hundreds of kilometers, the Red Army advanced in the southwest direction up to 750 km. The German group "South Ukraine" ceased to exist. The Carpathian group of the Wehrmacht was deeply covered by the Soviet armies. In the Black Sea, the Soviet fleet gained complete domination.
Soviet troops came close to the borders of Hungary, Slovakia and Yugoslavia. A favorable situation has developed for the liberation of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. It was all the more intensified because, due to the successes of the Red Army, the Resistance Movement in these countries intensified even more. So, in Czechoslovakia, the liberation movement, despite the bloody terror and massive repressions of the Nazis, grew continuously. The resistance movement was especially widespread in Slovakia.
Slovakia during this period was formally an "independent state", which was led by a puppet government headed by Josef Tiso. Slovak troops took part in the war with the USSR from June 22, 1941. However, they were noted for their low combat effectiveness and were more used to fight the partisans. Subsequently, the Slovak division suffered a series of heavy defeats in battles in the southern strategic direction. Hundreds of soldiers went over to the side of the Red Army (many of them took part in the formation of the First Czechoslovak Brigade as part of the Red Army), others joined the partisan detachments. As a result, the German command sent the remnants of the demoralized Slovak troops to Italy, Romania and Hungary, where they were used as builders. In addition, Slovak troops began to use it to equip a defensive line in the Beskydy (a system of mountain ranges in the northern and western parts of the Carpathians).
When it became clear that Germany had lost the war, Slovakia started thinking about how to get out of the war with the least possible losses. The resistance movement became widespread. In the summer of 1944, partisan groups, weapons, ammunition, medicines and other materials began to be transferred from the USSR to Slovakia. In Slovakia, large partisan detachments began to be formed, which consisted of Slovaks, as well as Soviet groups, detachments and brigades that were transferred from the outside. So, on the night of July 25, 1944, a group under the command of Senior Lieutenant Pyotr Alekseevich Velichko was dropped in the Kantor Valley near Ruzomberk. It became the basis for the 1st Slovak Partisan Brigade. M. R. Stefanik. In total, 53 organizational groups were transferred to Slovakia by the end of the war.
Slovak troops were loyal to the partisans. So, on August 9, 1944, the Slovak army received an order to start military operations against partisans in the Low Tatras. But the soldiers warned the partisans and refused to fight them. The partisans began to operate openly in a number of settlements. In the city of Martin, they distributed weapons and enlisted volunteers in their ranks.
Almost at the same time, the uprising was launched by the formations of the Slovak army. The commander of the ground forces of Slovakia Jan Golian prepared a plan for an uprising, which was approved by the Czechoslovak government in exile. However, the uprising began earlier than it was planned. On August 27, the partisans took Ruzomberok. Rebel Slovak soldiers killed 22 German officers who were passing by at one of the stations, who refused to surrender. It was a German military mission that was returning from Romania to Germany. In response, German troops began the occupation of Slovakia. They also had a legitimate reason. Back on August 23, the Tiso government asked Hitler to help in the fight against the partisans. As a result, significant forces were sent to suppress the uprising - up to 30 thousand soldiers, including the Tatra tank division.
On August 29, Golian gave the order to start the uprising. The so-called soldiers went over to the side of the rebels. East Slovak army, which began to form in connection with the approach of the Red Army to the borders of Slovakia. The town of Banská Bystrica became the center of the Slovak uprising. By September 5, the rebel army had about 78 thousand soldiers and partisans, armed with 28 tanks and self-propelled guns, 200 guns and 34 aircraft.
However, the Wehrmacht immediately blocked the Dukel Pass, through which the Red Army was supposed to come to the rescue. Taking advantage of the superiority in military experience and weapons, the Wehrmacht, with the support of Slovak units that remained loyal to the Tiso regime, began to crowd out the rebels. In the west of the country, the Slovak military practically did not resist the Germans. On October 27, 1944, the Germans took Banska Bystrica and the rebels went over to partisan actions, ending open resistance.
Slovak rebels
East Carpathian operation
Forces of the parties. During the pursuit of German troops after the completion of the Lvov-Sandomierz operation (Lvov-Sandomierz operation), the troops of the left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev and the 4th Ukrainian Front under the command of Colonel General Ivan Petrov reached the foothills of the Eastern Carpathians … The 38th Army of K. S. Moskalenko, the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps of V. K. Baranov, the 25th Tank Corps of E. I. Fomin and the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps of L. Svoboda (left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front). From the 4th Ukrainian Front, the following took part in the operation: A. A. Grechko's 1st Guards Army, E. P. Zhuravlev's 18th Army and the 17th Guards Rifle Corps. A few days before the start of the operation, the 4th Ukrainian Front was reinforced by the 3rd Mountain Rifle Corps. Mountain shooters had experience in fighting in the mountains of the Caucasus and Crimea, and had special equipment. The attacking formations included 246 thousand people (during the battle several more large formations were thrown into battle, and the number of troops increased to 378 thousand people), more than 5 thousand guns and mortars, 322 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1165 combat aircraft.
The Soviet troops were opposed by the Heinrici Army Group. It consisted of the 1st Panzer Army under the command of Gotthard Heinrici and part of the 1st Hungarian Army. The German army group numbered about 300 thousand people, 3250 guns, 100 tanks and self-propelled guns, 450 aircraft. German and Hungarian troops relied on a powerful defense in depth (up to 60 km) in the mountainous terrain, the breakthrough of which required long and careful preparation.
Operation plan. Initially, the Soviet Headquarters did not plan to storm the powerful enemy positions in the Eastern Carpathians. On August 26, the Stavka instructed the 4th Ukrainian Front to go on the defensive and postpone the previously planned offensive. In connection with the successful movement of the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front to the rear of the Carpathian group of the Wehrmacht, it became possible to liberate Slovakia without storming the enemy's fortifications in the Eastern Carpathians, using a roundabout maneuver from the southern direction.
However, the situation developed in such a way that the USSR had to provide assistance to the Slovak national uprising. Back in December 1943, the Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance was signed in the Kremlin. On August 31, 1944, the Czechoslovak ambassador to Moscow, Fierlinger, appealed to the Soviet government to help the uprising in Slovakia. Therefore, despite all the difficulties in overcoming the Carpathians with tired troops, the Soviet Headquarters on September 2 gave the order to conduct the East Carpathian operation. Political considerations turned out to be higher than the operational expediency of such an offensive.
They decided to launch the offensive at the junction of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian fronts. The main blows were delivered from the Krosno and Sanok area through the Duklinsky and Lupkovsky passes and further to Presov. Soviet troops were to enter Slovakia and join up with Slovak forces. Moskalenko's 38th Army, reinforced by the Czechoslovakian, tank and cavalry corps, was supposed to break through the enemy's defenses in an 8-kilometer sector in the Krosno area. Grechko's 1st Guards Army, reinforced by several tank, artillery formations and a mountain rifle corps, was to hack the German defenses in the Sanok area. In addition, in the future, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front were to launch an offensive in the Uzhgorod, Mukachev and Rakhov directions.
Thus, the East Carpathian strategic operation consisted of two front-line operations: the Carpathian-Duklinsky operation, which was conducted by the 1st Ukrainian Front and the Carpathian-Uzhgorod operation in the offensive zone of the 4th Ukrainian Front.
Given the severity of the situation, only a few days were spent on preparation. From that moment on, the USSR began large-scale military assistance to the rebels. Through the Ukrainian headquarters of the partisan movement, 15 organizing groups (more than 200 people) were transferred by air. They began to transport weapons, ammunition and other military equipment by airplanes. On September 17, 1944, the 1st separate Czechoslovak fighter aviation regiment (20 aircraft) was sent to Slovakia, and at the beginning of October - the 2nd separate Czechoslovak airborne brigade.
The sudden breakthrough of Soviet troops through the mountains was to play a large role in the success of the operation. The Czechoslovak military claimed to be in control of the Carpathian passes. However, it soon became clear that the passes were in German hands. The rebels were cut off in Central Slovakia, which was impossible for Soviet troops to reach quickly. Thus, the Soviet command had to decide on a risky operation - the troops had to overcome 50-60 km to the Carpathians, then take the well-fortified and inaccessible passes by storm.
Offensive
The Soviet offensive began at dawn on 8 September. Shtemenko S. M. in his work "The General Staff during the War" noted that the offensive had to be launched in bad weather conditions. Rain, washed-out roads and poor visibility made the advance difficult. The 2nd and 8th Air Armies could not operate at full strength. However, Soviet troops were able to inflict a strong blow on the enemy on the approaches to the main ridge of the Eastern Carpathians. But the Germans also acted skillfully and decisively. The German command, relying on advantageous positions in the mountainous and wooded areas, sought to close the way for the Soviet troops to Slovakia and Transylvania. Slovak troops in this direction, which supported the rebels, were quickly disarmed. The German command managed to withdraw large forces to all the main directions, retaining the passes and freedom of maneuver from the depths. As the Soviet troops advanced to the passes, the resistance of the German troops increased more and more. By mid-September, Soviet troops penetrated the enemy's defenses only 12-23 km. Although the entire operation was planned to a depth of 90-95 km and a duration of 5 days.
The entire complexity of the operation is characterized by the encirclement of Baranov's cavalrymen. During heavy battles on September 10-11, Soviet troops broke through the first line of the enemy's defense and in a narrow section of 1.5-2 km - the second line. The command decided to throw the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps into this narrow gap. At night, the corps made a breakthrough into the enemy's rear. However, on September 14, German troops closed the gap. All attempts to reestablish contact with Baranov's corps were unsuccessful. The cavalrymen were in a difficult situation - small stocks of ammunition came to an end, they ran out of food and fodder. The supply had to be organized from the air. The horses got tired, the cavalry lost mobility in the mountains. German troops gradually squeezed the noose around the guardsmen. To help out the cavalry, Poluboyarov's 4th Guards Tank Corps and Grigoriev's 31st Tank Corps were instructed to go into the rear of the enemy's Duklinsky grouping.
The armies of Moskalenko and Grechko literally gnawed at the enemy lines. The battles were intense. The German command pulled up to the dangerous area, additional troops and equipment, reserves. As a result, a situation arose when German troops in the breakthrough areas initially outnumbered Soviet formations in tanks and self-propelled guns by 2 times. The German command created a powerful grouping in a dangerous direction, transferred up to 5 infantry divisions here, which were withdrawn from relatively calm sectors of the front. The Soviet command had to additionally introduce two tank corps into the battle. However, the introduction of fresh forces into the battle could not change its course in favor of the Soviet troops.
In order to deprive the enemy of the opportunity to freely transfer troops from one sector of the front to another, and thereby alleviate the position of the shock group, on September 18 they received an order to go over to the offensive of units of the 18th Army and the 17th Guards Rifle Corps of the 4th Ukrainian Front. As a result, the general front of the offensive expanded to 400 km.
Zhuravlev's 18th army, using the weakening of the enemy's battle formations in secondary sectors and using deep bypass maneuvers of its resistance nodes and strongholds, on September 18 was able to overcome the Main Carpathian ridge. Soviet soldiers captured the Russian, Uzhoksky, Veretsky, Yablunitsky and other passes and continued their offensive down the southwestern and southern slopes of the Eastern Carpathians. Zhuravlev's army began to develop an offensive against Uzhgorod and Mukachevo. On the southern flank of the front, the 17th Guards Rifle Corps advanced from the Delyatin area to Yasin.
In addition, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front (40th Army) during the Debrecen operation occupied the part of the Hungarian Plain adjacent to the Carpathians. Yes, and there was no strength to resist, the 1st Hungarian army was almost completely defeated. For the army group "Heinrici" there was a threat of a strike from the southwestern direction and encirclement. Under this threat, the German-Hungarian troops began to retreat.
The commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front, Petrov, managed to organize the pursuit of the retreating enemy forces. Soviet troops, knocking down the enemy's rear guards, captured the city of Rakhiv on October 16, and on October 18, in cooperation with units of the 40th Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, captured the city of Siget. The troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front broke through into the valley of the Tisza River and began to rapidly develop an offensive against the city of Chop. On October 26, Mukachev was taken, on October 27 - Uzhgorod and on October 29 - Chop. The further offensive of the 18th Army and the 17th Guards Rifle Corps was stopped at the Chop-Snin line. The troops were tired, the Slovak uprising was defeated, and the German command deployed fresh forces and carried out a series of strong counterattacks.
On the right flank of the Soviet front, things were worse. The actions of the 38th and 1st Guards Armies were not so successful. They continued to break through the powerful defenses of the enemy. It was not possible to radically change the situation by the introduction of two new mobile formations into battle: the 4th Guards Tank Corps of P. P. Poluboyarov and the 31st Tank Corps of V. E. Grigoriev. Only by the end of September, the advancing troops reached the Main Carpathian Ridge. Troops of the 38th Army captured the Dukel Pass and entered Czechoslovakia. Units of the 1st Guards Army broke through the enemy defenses in the area of the Lupkovsky Pass and also reached the Czechoslovak border. Repeated subsequent attempts to advance further were unsuccessful. Until the end of October, Soviet and Czechoslovak troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy, but could not break through his defenses. The Germans brought up reinforcements and constantly launched counterattacks. At the end of October, both Soviet fronts went over to the defensive.
Commander of the 1st Guards Army A. A. Grechko (second from right) with officers of the army headquarters on the Arpad line. Carpathians. October 1944
Outcomes
The objectives of the operation were not fully achieved. The Slovak uprising could not be helped. German troops broke the direct resistance of the Slovak forces and captured the leaders of the uprising. The remnants of the rebels went over to partisan actions. They fought until the liberation of Czechoslovakia by the Red Army. I must say that in fact this was the last serious victory of the Wehrmacht over the army of another state. This was largely a consequence of the mistakes of the Czechoslovak military-political leadership, which overestimated its strength, underestimated the power and speed of the Wehrmacht. The Slovaks were clearly in a hurry. The Czechoslovak government in London was in a hurry to establish itself in Czechoslovakia, but it miscalculated.
As Konev noted in his memoirs, "dictated by political considerations, undertaken in the name of supporting the national anti-fascist uprising of the Slovak people, this operation cost us very dearly, although it taught us a lot." Soviet troops lost in this operation more than 130 thousand people (about 27 thousand irrecoverable people). German-Hungarian losses are estimated at 90 thousand people.
However, there were also positive results. Army group "Heinrici" suffered a serious defeat, was forced to retreat, having lost an important defensive line. The 1st Hungarian Army was defeated. Soviet troops occupied an important strategic line - the Eastern Carpathians, liberated Transcarpathian Ukraine, part of Eastern Slovakia. Conditions appeared for the further liberation of Czechoslovakia, the northern flank was provided for the Soviet offensive on Budapest.
Monument at the site of the battles for the Duklinsky pass
