Simultaneously with the actions against Yugoslavia, the left wing of the 12th German army from the territory of Bulgaria launched an offensive against Greece in the Thessaloniki direction.
The grouping of German troops (six divisions, including one tank division, united in the 18th and 30th corps) had great superiority in manpower and equipment over the East Macedonian army. However, relying on the line of fortifications and the mountainous terrain favorable for defense, the Greek troops offered stubborn resistance to the enemy for three days. The so-called. the Metaxas line is a system of Greek defensive fortifications, on the border with Bulgaria, from Mount Beles to the region of the city of Komotini.
The defensive line was built in 1936-1940. The total length of the line, taking into account the unfortified sections where it was interrupted, was about 300 km. The line was named after the Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Ioannis Metaxas. The line consisted of 21 fortified complex (fort) capable of defending from all directions, which included dugouts and casemates, artillery machine-gun and mortar pillboxes, observation posts, numerous entrances and exits. The underground structures of each fort included a command post, officers' rooms, private rooms, a telephone center, a kitchen, water tanks, sanitary facilities, food warehouses, a medical center with an operating room, a pharmacy, a ventilation system, a lighting system (generators, kerosene lamps, lanterns, etc. etc.), sewers, external combat positions, anti-tank barriers, positions of anti-aircraft guns, etc. The line also included networks of anti-tank ditches, zones of reinforced concrete anti-tank gaps.
The German 18th and 30th Army Corps attacked the line from April 6 and after three days of fighting had only local success. For 4 days, despite massive artillery shelling and the use of ground attack aircraft and ground attack groups, which used dynamite, launched gases and gasoline, the Germans could not take the dominant position of the Greek defense line.
German Junkers Ju-87 dive bomber in flight in the area of the Greek defensive line of Metaxas
Anti-tank structures of the Metaxas line
However, at this time, the 2nd Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht (18th Corps), advancing through Yugoslav Macedonia along the Strumitsa River valley, bypassing Lake Doiran, made a roundabout maneuver, crossed the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border on April 8 and, without encountering serious resistance here, through the practically uncovered Greco-Yugoslav border and the Axios river valley came to Thessaloniki on April 9. Thus, on April 9, the Germans took Thessaloniki, went to the rear of the "East Macedonia" army, cut it off from other Greek armies.
On the same day, the Greek General Staff, believing that the struggle in East Macedonia no longer made sense, gave the commander of the "East Macedonia" army, General K. Bakopoulos, at his discretion, to continue to fight or surrender. Bakopoulos, a famous Germanophile, did not fail to take advantage of the order and gave the order to surrender the forts. The commanders of most of the forts did not obey and continued to resist. However, the resistance had already assumed the character of battles for the "honor of arms" and, having received honorary terms of surrender from the German command, the forts stopped one after another battle, starting on April 10. For its part, the German command offered the most honorable conditions of surrender in order to quickly complete the case and not force the Greeks to fight to the end. Field Marshal Wilhelm List, said that the Greek army could leave the forts, leaving their military flags with them, but subject to the surrender of weapons and ammunition. He also gave orders to his soldiers and officers to salute the Greek soldiers.
The rapid advance of German divisions in Yugoslavia put the Greco-British Army "Central Macedonia" in an extremely difficult position. By entering the Bitola area, German troops threatened to bypass its positions from the rear and isolate from the Greek troops fighting in Albania. On April 11, the Greek high command decided to withdraw forces from Albania to a new line of defense - from Mount Olympus in the east to Lake Butrint in the west. The withdrawal of Greek troops from Albania began on April 12.
In the Florin area between April 10 and 12, very heavy battles were fought against the two Greek divisions and an English tank regiment that were defending here. In these fierce battles, the Greeks repeatedly launched counterattacks. On April 12, German formations, with effective aviation support, broke through the enemy defenses in many places and, pursuing the British, began to rapidly advance to the southeast. At the same time, they widened the breach in the southern and southwestern directions. Thus, the German troops, advancing from the Bitola region through Florina and further south, again created a threat to the coverage of the Anglo-Greek forces and, during April 11-13, forced them to hastily retreat to the city of Kozani. As a result, German troops went to the rear of the West Macedonia army, isolating it from the troops stationed in the central part of the country.
The British command, considering that further resistance was pointless, decided to evacuate their expeditionary force from Greece. General Wilson was convinced that the Greek army had lost its combat capability, and its command had lost control. After Wilson's meeting with General Papagos on April 13, it was decided to retreat to the Thermopylae-Delphi line and thus leave the entire northern part of the country to the enemy. British troops from April 14 withdrew to the coast for evacuation.
On April 13, Hitler signed Directive No. 27, in which he clarified the plan of action of the German troops in Greece. The German command envisaged the delivery of two attacks in converging directions from the Florina and Thessaloniki regions to Larissa in order to encircle the Anglo-Greek troops and thwart attempts to form a new defense front. In the further advancement of motorized units, it was planned to capture Athens and the rest of Greece, including the Peloponnese. Particular attention was paid to preventing the evacuation of British troops by sea.
However, the coverage of the Greek-English group located east of Florina failed. As early as April 10, the British began to withdraw from their positions in the lower reaches of the Vistritsa River and by April 12, under the cover of the Greek rearguards operating between Vistritsa and the Vermion Mountains, they took up new positions that stretched from Mount Olympus to the Chromion region in the Vistrica bend. At this time, units of the 12th Army, advancing from the area of Thessaloniki, were still fighting with the Greek rearguards. In five days, British troops retreated 150 km and by April 20 concentrated in the Thermopylae region. The main forces of the Greek army remained in the north-west of the country, in the Pindus and Epirus mountains. The remnants of the army "Central Macedonia" and the troops of the army "West Macedonia", which suffered heavy losses, were reassigned to the commander of the army "Epirus". This army retreated, waging deterrent battles with Italian forces and subjected to fierce air strikes. With the release of the Germans to Thessaly, the Epirus army practically had no opportunity to retreat to the Peloponnese.
The defeat at the front and the order of the Greek government to withdraw troops from Albania caused a long-brewing crisis in the military-political leadership of Greece. The generals of the Epirus army, which had long been the center of Germanophilic sentiments, demanded an end to hostilities with Germany and the conclusion of an armistice with her. They put forward only one condition - to prevent the occupation of Greek territory by Italy. The Greeks did not want to capitulate to Italy, which they had previously beaten.
On April 18, a council of war was held in Tati near Athens, at which General Papagos announced that from a military point of view, the position of Greece was hopeless. A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on the same day revealed that some of its participants support the ousted generals of the Epirus army, while others support the continuation of the war, even if the government had to leave the country. Confusion arose in the ruling circles of Greece. It intensified even more when on the evening of April 18, Prime Minister Korisis committed suicide. However, at this time, supporters of the continuation of the war prevailed. The new Prime Minister Tsuderos and General Papagos demanded that the command of the Army "Epirus" continue to resist. But the newly appointed commanders of the formations refused to obey, dismissed the commander of the army, Pitsikas, and put General Tsolakoglu in his place. He sent parliamentarians to the German troops and on the evening of April 20 signed an armistice agreement between Greece and Germany with the commander of the SS Adolf Hitler division, General Dietrich. The next day, Field Marshal List replaced this agreement with a new one - on the surrender of the Greek armed forces, but Hitler did not approve it. Given Mussolini's insistent requests, he agreed that Italy was among the parties to the agreement on the surrender of the Greek army. This, the third in a row, was signed by General Tsolakoglu on 23 April 1941 in Thessaloniki. On the same day, King George II and the government left Athens and flew to Crete. As a result, the most powerful Greek army - 500 thousand. the Epirus army surrendered.
The British command began an emergency evacuation (Operation Demon). On the night of April 25, in the small ports of Attica and the Peloponnese, under intense bombardment, the first units of British troops began to be loaded onto ships. At this time, other British units fought rearguard battles, trying to hold back the advance of German troops. An attempt by the Germans to defeat the retreating British Expeditionary Force was unsuccessful (or the Germans did not particularly try). Destroying the roads behind them, the British units managed to avoid major battles with the enemy.
The troops had to be evacuated on the open coast, at small fishing stations, since the port facilities, especially in Piraeus, were severely destroyed by German aircraft and, moreover, German aircraft were constantly monitoring all ports. There was also no substantial fighter cover. In Greece, the British were loading in difficult conditions with the absolute domination of German aviation and were forced to limit themselves to night hours. After all the remaining heavy weapons were destroyed or rendered unusable, the units were transferred by rail or by road to collection points located near the places of loading. The evacuation of the troops continued for five consecutive nights. The Alexandria squadron allocated all light forces to ensure the evacuation, including six cruisers and nineteen destroyers. In the first two nights, 17,000 people were evacuated. Further loading was carried out with the strongest onslaught of the German troops.
On April 25, German troops occupied Thebes, and the next day, with the help of an airborne assault, they captured Corinth, cutting off the British troops remaining in Attica from retreating to the Peloponnese. On April 27, German troops entered Athens, and by the end of April 29 had reached the southern tip of the Peloponnese. By this time, the bulk of the British troops (more than 50 thousand out of 62 thousand people), having destroyed heavy weapons and means of transport, was evacuated by sea. The rest of the troops were forced to lay down their arms. During the evacuation, the British lost 20 ships, but these losses were partially offset by the fact that 11 Greek warships came under British control.
After the occupation of Greece, Germany seized numerous Greek islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas. They were of great importance for the fight against the British.
Italian tank M13 / 40 in Greece
Column of Italian soldiers with pack animals on the road in the mountains of Greece
German tank Pz. Kpfw. III on the bank of a mountain river in Greece
Outcomes
In Athens, a government obedient to the Germans and Italians was created from local traitors. A predatory "new order" was established in the Balkans. The task of creating in Southeast Europe a large strategic foothold for an attack on the USSR, which had large economic and human resources, was solved. England lost the fight for the Balkans.
With the end of the Balkan Campaign, the overall strategic situation in South-Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean region changed significantly in favor of the Reich. The oil-bearing regions of Romania were now out of reach of British aviation. The entire network of railways, highways, ports and airfields in the region was at the disposal of Germany. The economy of the Balkans was placed at the service of Germany.
The Balkan campaign, which lasted 24 days (from 6 to 29 April), strengthened the belief of the German military-political leadership in the blitzkrieg - "lightning war". The Germans occupied all of Greece in just three weeks, with the exception of the island of Crete, which they captured with the help of an airborne assault at the end of May, knocking out the British from there. Germany was able to achieve domination in the Balkans at a very low cost - 2,5 thousand killed, about 6 thousand wounded and 3 thousand people missing.
Greece lost 13,325 people killed, more than 62,000 wounded and 1,290 missing. British losses - 903 killed, 1250 wounded, about 14 thousand prisoners.
Greek General Georgios Tsolakoglou (seated at the table on the left) and SS Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich (standing second from the right) during the signing of the surrender of Greece
A springboard for further aggression
The defeat of Yugoslavia and Greece meant that Germany took dominant positions in the Balkan Peninsula. Thus, in the opinion of the German military-political leadership, favorable conditions were created for an attack on the USSR from the southern strategic direction. The Balkans became the rear base for the war with the Soviet Union.
German Nazis and Italian fascists established their own "new order" in the Balkans. Berlin and Rome in their domestic politics relied on inciting national contradictions and cultivating anti-Serb sentiments. That is, they did what Catholic Rome and Muslim Istanbul used to do, when they dismembered a single ethno-linguistic South Slavic (Serbian) community into parts hostile to each other. The main role in this process was to be played by the puppet "independent state of Croatia" (NGH), headed by the Croatian Nazis - the Ustasha.
The seaside part of Croatia was occupied by the Italians. However, on June 6, 1941, when the Ustasha leader Pavelic visited Germany, Hitler agreed to include Sandzak, Bosnia and Herzegovina in Croatia. After the expansion of the borders, the petrochemical industry owned approximately 40% of the population and territory of the fallen Yugoslavia. During a meeting with Pavelic, Hitler advised him to "pursue a policy of national intolerance for 50 years," thus sanctioning the mass extermination of the Serb population. On June 15, 1941 Croatia joined the Triple Pact. Thus, Croatia became a zealous satellite of the Third Reich.
Most of Slovenia became part of the German Empire, a smaller part, the province of Ljubljana - into Italy. Hungary and Bulgaria got their pieces of the booty. The Italian fascists disguised their occupation policy by creating "independent" puppet states. They annexed part of Kosovo and Metohija, part of Macedonia and Northern Greece to Albania, which was under an Italian protectorate, and proclaimed the creation of "Greater Albania", included in the Italian empire and ruled by an Italian governor. Having occupied Montenegro, the Italians planned to recreate the Montenegrin kingdom, which would be associated with a personal union with Italy.
A special place was given to Bulgaria. The Germans deftly used for their own purposes the nationalist intoxication of the Bulgarian elite and the bourgeoisie, which had intensified under the influence of military successes. Sofia, on the one hand, was in a hurry to participate in the creation of a "new order" in the Balkans, on the other hand, she tried to create an impression in the world that the Bulgarians were not directly involved in the German-Italian aggression. On April 15, 1941, Bulgaria broke off diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia. On April 19, Hitler received the Bulgarian Tsar Boris. During the negotiations, the issues of the Bulgarian territorial claims and the participation of the Bulgarian army in carrying out the occupation service in Yugoslavia and Greece were resolved. On April 19, the Bulgarian army entered the territory of Yugoslavia, occupied the Pirot district and part of Macedonia. Bulgarian troops also entered Northern Greece. Transferring part of the territories of Yugoslavia and Greece to the control of the Bulgarian troops, the German command freed up troops for the war with the USSR. On April 24, 1941, an agreement was concluded between Germany and Bulgaria, which guaranteed the Reich the use of the economic resources of the regions transferred to Bulgaria.
Berlin tried to keep its partners and satellites in the Balkans in constant tension and uncertainty, emphasizing the temporary nature of the solution of territorial issues. For example, the final partition of Greece, the decision of the issue of the Bulgarian claims to Thessaloniki, Hitler postponed until the end of the war. Formally, the Third Reich agreed that Greece was Italy's sphere of influence. However, strategically important points - the area of Thessaloniki, Athens, the port of Piraeus, strongholds in Crete and other islands - remained under German control. The Germans formed a puppet Greek government headed by Tsolakoglu, which obediently followed the instructions of the "Eternal Reich". At the same time, an imperial plenipotentiary was sent to Greece, who owned real power in the country.
On June 9, 1941, Field Marshal List was appointed commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht forces in the Balkans. He directed the activities of the occupation administration and coordinated actions with the Italian and Bulgarian armies. Thus, all political, military and economic power in the Balkan Peninsula was concentrated in the hands of Germany.
With the end of the Balkan campaign, the German command immediately began to transfer the liberated troops to the borders of the USSR. Panzer divisions of the 12th Army were transferred here from Greece. Part of the army headquarters was sent to Poland. By May 1941, preparations were completed for the use of Romanian territory for the strategic deployment of Wehrmacht units.
German soldiers examine a damaged British Hurricane fighter jet
Column of German tanks Pz. Kpfw. III advancing through the mountainous region of Greece in April 1941 using the railroad tracks
