Debrecen operation (October 6-28, 1944)
By the end of September 1944, the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Rodion Malinovsky was opposed by Army Group South (it was created instead of the former Army Group South Ukraine) and part of Army Group F. A total of 32 divisions (including 4 tank, 2 motorized and 3 cavalry) and 5 brigades (3 infantry and 2 tank). German troops had about 3, 5 thousand guns and mortars, about 300 tanks, assault guns and 550 aircraft.
The 2nd Ukrainian Front consisted of the 40th, 7th Guards, 27th, 53rd and 46th armies, 6th Guards Tank and 5th Air Armies, 2 cavalry mechanized groups and 18 1st Panzer Corps. Two Romanian combined arms armies (1st and 4th), the Tudor Vladimirescu Volunteer Division and the Romanian Aviation Corps were also subordinate to the Soviet front. As part of this grouping there were: 40 rifle divisions, 17 Romanian infantry divisions, 2 fortified areas, 3 tank, 2 mechanized and 3 cavalry corps, 10, 2 thousand guns and mortars, 750 tanks and self-propelled guns, more than 1, 1 thousand aircraft.
According to the plan of the Supreme Command Headquarters, the main goal of the Soviet troops on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front (2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts) was the liberation of Hungary and Transylvania and the withdrawal of Hungary from the war. Thus, the preconditions were created for the Red Army to reach the borders of Austria, the southern regions of Czechoslovakia, and a threat to southern Germany appeared. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front were to defeat the enemy's Debrecen grouping (6th German and 3rd Hungarian armies) and liberate Northern Transylvania (defeating the 8th German and 2nd Hungarian armies). In addition, Malinovsky's armies were to go to the rear of the Carpathian grouping (1st German tank and 1st Hungarian armies), assisting the 4th Ukrainian Front and the 38th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the Carpathians.
The front command decided to deliver the main blow in the center on the Debrecen axis, along the Oradea, Debrecen, Nyiregyhaza lines. The shock grouping of the front consisted of the 53rd Army under the command of Ivan Managarov, the 6th Guards Tank Army of Andrey Kravchenko and the mechanized cavalry group (KMG) of Issa Pliev (2 cavalry and 1 mechanized corps). The 46th Army under the command of Ivan Shlemin and the 1st Romanian Army of Corps General V. Atanasiu advanced on the left wing of the front. The left wing of the front advanced through the territory of Yugoslavia in the Segedian direction, and was supposed to occupy a foothold on the right bank of the Tissa River. On the right wing, the 40th under the command of Philip Zhmachenko (in the Syget direction) and the 7th Guards Army of Mikhail Shumilov (in the direction of Dezh and Satu Mare) and the 27th Army of Sergei Trofimenko (in the Kluzh direction) were advancing. The Romanian 4th Army of Corps General G. Avramescu and the mechanized cavalry group of Lieutenant General SI Gorshkov (1 tank and 1 cavalry corps) were also located here. Later, part of the forces of the right wing were transferred to the central sector.
Crossing the Tissa
On the eve of the operation, in the second half of September 1944, Soviet long-range aviation struck strong blows at important railway junctions, bridges, warehouses and other objects on Hungarian territory. Aviation also struck Budapest, Satu Mare, Debrecen and other Hungarian centers. The offensive began on 6 October with short but strong artillery and air preparation. Soviet artillery and aviation struck at enemy positions, fortifications, firing points and rear areas.
On the Debrecen axis, Soviet troops almost immediately achieved significant success. On the very first day of the offensive, the 6th Guards Tank Army and part of the forces of the 27th Army advanced to a depth of 20 km. At the same time, the Soviet troops had to repulse the enemy's fierce counterattacks in the area between Oradea and Salonta. However, with the transition to the offensive of the troops of Managarov and Pliev on Elek and Kartsag and on the left wing of the front of Shlemin's 46th Army on Subotica and Szeged, the resistance of the Hungarian army was broken. The 53rd Army of Managarov and KMG Pliev, with the support of the 5th Air Army of General SK Goryunov, defeated the 3rd Hungarian Army. Soviet troops not only broke through the enemy's defenses, but also advanced up to 100 kilometers in three days, reaching the Kartsag area. On October 8, Pliev's cavalry-mechanized group reached the southwestern approaches to Debrecen. On the same day, Soviet troops crossed the Tissa and captured a number of bridgeheads.
Thus, as a result of the breakthrough of the front and the rapid offensive of the Soviet troops, the Debrecen group of the enemy was enveloped from the west, which created a threat of encirclement and complete destruction of the German-Hungarian armies in Transylvania and worsened their position on the Carpathian line. The German command issued an order to withdraw the troops. Pursued by the formations of the 40th, 27th and 4th Romanian armies, the German-Hungarian troops retreated in the direction of Nyiregyhaza.
The German command, in order to ensure the withdrawal of the armies and close the gap in the defense, threw significant additional and reserve forces and means into battle. Particular attention was paid to the Oradea-Debrecen line. Already on October 8, the German 3rd Panzer Division launched a counterattack in the Kartsaga area. On October 18, the 24th Panzer Division and the 4th SS Motorized Division were thrown into battle. In general, the German command concentrated 13 divisions, including 5 tank and motorized. In turn, the front command strengthened the main strike grouping with the help of formations transferred from the right flank, from the Regin-Turda area - the 7th Guards Army and the Gorshkov's cavalry-mechanized group.
In the course of a fierce battle, overcoming stubborn enemy resistance, on October 12, Soviet troops took Oradea, on October 20 - Debrecen. Developing an offensive to the north, Pliev's cavalry broke into the city of Nyiregyhaza on October 21. The advanced Soviet units reached the Tissa River, cutting off the escape routes of the German-Hungarian troops. As a result, the German command, in order to eliminate the threat of encirclement, had to organize a strong counteroffensive with the forces of three army and one tank corps. German troops were able to intercept the communications of KMG Pliev. On October 27, Pliev's troops left Nyiregyhaza and retreated to the main forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
The offensive of the Soviet troops on Szeged (Hungary). October 1944
By this time, the divisions of the 53rd and 7th Guards armies reached Tisza in the Szolnok-Polgar sector. On the left flank, units of Shlemin's 46th Army occupied a large bridgehead on the Tisza, reached the Danube in the area of the city of Bahia and to the south. On the right flank of the front, the 40th, 4th Romanian and 27th armies advanced 110-120 km by the evening of October 20 and crossed the Hungarian border a few days later. Thus, the armies of the 2nd Ukrainian Front on the left flank forced the Tissa and occupied a large bridgehead, in the center on a wide front they reached the river, and on the right flank came close to the river.
The operation was successful, although it did not solve the main problem. It was not possible to withdraw Hungary from the war. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front defeated the enemy's Debrecen grouping, advanced 130 - 275 km in various sectors and occupied a large foothold on the Tissa River, creating conditions for a decisive offensive in the Budapest direction. During the offensive battles, Northern Transylvania was liberated in the eastern regions of Hungary. The German-Hungarian troops suffered a heavy defeat, having lost more than 40 thousand prisoners only. In addition, the plans of the German command to create a stable line of defense along the line of the Transylvanian Alps were thwarted. German-Hungarian troops withdrew to the Hungarian Plain.
The importance of the operation of the 2nd Ukrainian Front was that the exit of the main forces of the Malinovsky front to the rear of the Carpathian enemy grouping created a serious threat for the German-Hungarian troops on the Carpathian border and played a decisive role in the liberation of Transcarpathian Rus. In mid-October 1944, the German command began to withdraw troops in front of the center and left wing of the 4th Ukrainian Front. This allowed the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, which had previously been stuck on the enemy's powerful Carpathian line, to pursue the enemy and successfully complete the Carpathian-Uzhgorod operation, liberating Mukachevo and Uzhgorod. Transcarpathian Rus (Ukraine) became part of Soviet Ukraine, this completed the process of reunification of Russian lands.
In addition, under the influence of the Debrecen operation, the political situation in Hungary changed. In the Hungarian army, desertion and desertion to the side of the Soviet troops intensified. And the Horthy regime intensified negotiations with Britain and the United States, went on to conclude an armistice with the USSR. True, this political process did not end with success. Horthy was dismissed and replaced by the right-wing radical Salashi, who continued the war to the end. Additional German forces were brought into Hungary.
Operation Budapest (October 29, 1944 - February 13, 1945)
The attack on Budapest began almost without a pause. Already on October 29, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front struck the enemy. The operation was attended by the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front and formations of the 3rd Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union Fyodor Tolbukhin. Tolbukhin's troops had just completed the Belgrade operation (the Belgrade operation) and were regrouping in Hungary to take part in the offensive against Budapest.
The headquarters set the task of striking with the aim of encircling and defeating the enemy's Budapest grouping, liberating the Hungarian capital, in order to withdraw Hungary from the war, to create the preconditions for the liberation of Czechoslovakia and Austria. The main blow was delivered on the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front by Shlyomin's 46th Army, reinforced by the 2nd and 4th Guards Mechanized Corps. Shlemin's army advanced southeast of Budapest, bypassing the city and was supposed to take the Hungarian capital. The second blow from the area northeast of the city of Szolnok was delivered by Shumilov's 7th Guards Army and Kravchenko's 6th Guards Tank Army. She had to bypass Budapest from the northeast. The rest of the front forces were given the task of pinning down the enemy forces in the center and on the extreme right flank, advancing in the direction of Miskolc. The troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, after the completion of the concentration of forces in the Banat area, were to take bridgeheads on the right bank of the Danube in Hungary and develop an offensive to the west and north.
The Soviet troops were opposed by Army Group South and the Hungarian armies. The German-Hungarian armies relied on the powerful Budapest fortified area and three lines of defense. Adolf Hitler attached great importance to Hungary. The last sources of oil were located here. He even said that he would rather give Berlin than Hungarian oil and Austria. Therefore, powerful mobile units were concentrated in Hungary, including selected SS troops. In Hungary, the Germans and Hungarians were going to stop the Soviet armies, prevent them from going further.
Tank and infantry units of the 2nd Ukrainian Front on the outskirts of Budapest
Soviet assault group of Lieutenant L. S. Brynina in a street fight in Budapest
Calculation of the Soviet 122-mm howitzer M-30 in the battle for Budapest. On the right, you can see the Erzsebet bridge, blown up by German troops, connecting Buda and Pest.
Soldiers of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in street battles for Budapest
The left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front broke through the enemy's defenses in the Budapest direction, where the Hungarian troops were mainly defending themselves, and on November 2 went from the south to the close approaches to Budapest. However, they failed to take the city. The German command transferred 14 divisions (including 3 tank and one motorized divisions) to the area of the Hungarian capital and, relying on pre-equipped strong fortifications, stopped the Soviet offensive. The Soviet command suspended the offensive in the Budapest direction and continued it in other sectors of the front. In the course of stubborn battles on November 11-26, Soviet troops broke through the enemy's defenses between the Tisza and the Danube and advanced 100 kilometers in the northwestern direction. Soviet troops reached the outer defensive line of the Hungarian capital.
On December 5, the troops of the center and the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front resumed their offensive against Budapest. Parts of the 7th Guards, 6th Guards Tank Army and Pliev's mechanized cavalry group reached the Danube north of Budapest by December 9. As a result, the enemy's Budapest grouping was cut off the escape routes to the north. On the left flank, Schlemin's 46th Army crossed the Danube south of Budapest. However, Soviet troops were unable to take Budapest this time too. The Germans and Hungarians stopped the Soviet troops on the "Margarita Line". The German command, with 250,000 troops in the Budapest area. the grouping, which relied on a strong system of fortifications, held back the Soviet offensive. German and Hungarian troops put up fierce resistance, the battles took on an extremely stubborn character. The Soviet command did not have correct data on the enemy's forces (this was due to shortcomings in intelligence) and could not correctly assess the enemy's capabilities to resist. On the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, Soviet troops occupied Miskolc and reached the border of Czechoslovakia.
At this time, the 3rd Ukrainian Front (three Soviet and one Bulgarian combined arms and one air army) joined the battles for Hungary. After the liberation of Belgrade, Soviet troops, with the support of the Danube Flotilla, crossed the Danube and advanced to the Velence and Balaton lakes. Here they joined forces with the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
On December 10-20, 1944, the troops of the two fronts were preparing for a new offensive. The Soviet armies were to complete the encirclement and destruction of the Budapest grouping by blows from the northeast, east and southwest, and liberate the capital of Hungary. Troops of two fronts, overcoming fierce enemy resistance (German-Hungarian forces consisted of 51 German and Hungarian divisions and 2 brigades, including 13 tank and motorized ones), advanced in converging directions and, after 6 days of fierce fighting, united in the area of the city of Esztergom. German troops counterattacked, but were defeated. As a result, 188 thousand people were surrounded 50-60 km west of Budapest. enemy grouping.
To stop further bloodshed, the Soviet command sent envoys with a proposal to surrender. Captain Ilya Ostapenko's group was sent to Buda, and captain Miklos Steinmetz was sent to Pest. The Germans killed the Soviet envoys. Thus, Budapest, with its more than a million population, through the fault of the German command and the government of Salash, who himself fled the city, was doomed to become the arena of a fierce battle in which thousands of civilians died. The German command was not going to give up Hungary and continued to strengthen the Army Group South. To hold Hungary, 37 divisions were transferred, which were removed from the central sector (Berlin direction) of the Eastern Front and other directions. By the beginning of 1945, 16 tank and motorized divisions were concentrated south of the Carpathians. This was half of all the armored forces of the German army on the Eastern Front. The Germans have never had such a density of tank forces in one direction on the Eastern Front.
German heavy tank Pz. Kpfw. VI Ausf. B "Royal Tiger" of the 503rd tank battalion in Budapest
Destroyed and burned out heavy tank Pz. Kpfw. VI Ausf. E "Tiger" from the 3rd Panzer Regiment of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Death's Head". Lake Balaton area.
German Panzergrenadiers on the Sd. Kfz. 251 in the attack on the positions of the Soviet troops
Destroyed Hungarian light tank 38M "Toldi I" from the 2nd Hungarian tank division destroyed in Budapest. On the railway platform - Hungarian medium tank 41M Turan II
Fierce fighting continued in Hungary. The German command tried to unblock the encircled Budapest grouping with strong counterattacks. The German-Hungarian troops launched three powerful counterattacks. In some cases, there were 50-60 German tanks per 1 km of the breakthrough section. On January 2-6, 1945, German troops advanced 30-40 km along the right bank of the Danube. Particularly powerful was the offensive on January 18-26 (third counterattack) from the area north of Lake Balaton. The Germans were able to temporarily dismember the 3rd Ukrainian Front and reach the western bank of the Danube.
To stop the enemy offensive, the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, Marshal Tolbukhin, used the experience of the Battle of Kursk. Soviet troops in the shortest possible time created a defense in depth with a depth of 25-50 km. An important role was played by reconnaissance, which timely revealed the movement of enemy forces, as well as artillery and aviation, which delivered preemptive strikes in threatened directions. By joint efforts of the troops of the 3rd and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, the enemy's breakthrough was liquidated. By the beginning of February, the front was stabilized, the Germans had exhausted their offensive capabilities.
At a time when German troops were trying to unblock the Budapest grouping, part of the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front - a specially created Budapest group of forces under the command of Lieutenant General Ivan Afonin, and the field of his injury, Ivan Managarov (3 rifle corps, 9 artillery brigades), stormed Budapest. The battles were stubborn. Only on January 18 they took the eastern part of the city - Pest, and on February 13 - I will. About 140 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were taken prisoner.
Results of the operation
Soviet troops surrounded and destroyed almost 190,000 enemy groupings, liberated two-thirds of the country and took Budapest by storm. During a long battle (108 days), 40 divisions and 3 brigades were defeated, 8 divisions and 5 brigades were completely destroyed.
The successful completion of the Budapest operation radically changed the entire strategic situation on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front. The southern flank of the German armed forces was deeply engulfed. The German command was forced to speed up the withdrawal of troops from Yugoslavia. The troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts created the conditions for the liberation of Czechoslovakia and an offensive on Vienna.
On December 22, the Provisional Government of Hungary was formed. On December 28, the Provisional Government announced the country's withdrawal from the war on the side of Germany. Hungary has declared war on Germany. On January 20, 1945, the Hungarian delegation in Moscow signed an armistice agreement. The liberation of Hungary by Soviet troops thwarted the plans of London and Washington to use Hungarian territory in their own interests.
