Storming of Koenigsberg. April 7, 1945
On April 7, the 11th Guards Army of Galitsky was to continue a decisive offensive with the aim of splitting the southern part of the Koenigsberg garrison and destroying it piece by piece. The guards were given the task of crossing the Pregel River and advancing towards the 43rd army of Beloborodov, which should have led to a general defeat of the enemy.
The city burned in many places. At night, Soviet assault groups continued their offensive, seizing house by house, block by block. The German soldiers did not surrender to the captivity. The Nazis stubbornly defended themselves, often fought with the fanaticism of the doomed, but retreated. But even German fortitude and military skill could not withstand the fierce onslaught of the Red Army. Stubborn battles for forts No. 8 and 10 continued at night. By morning, the remnants of the garrison of Fort No. 10 (about 100 men) surrendered. The blocked fort No. 8 continued to resist and only in the middle of the day was it taken by storm. The assault detachment of the 31st Guards Division with a swift blow took the railway bridge across the river. Beek, which contributed to the overall success. The German command at night actively strengthened the defense, transferred new forces to the southern sector of defense - 2 police regiments and several battalions of the Volkssturm.
On the morning of April 7, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front continued their offensive. The main forces of the armies went on the attack again. The 11th Guards Army continued its offensive along the Ponart - r. Pregel, 43rd Army was pushing towards Amalienau. On the right flank of the front, the 2nd Guards and 5th Armies launched an offensive in the Zemland direction. Weather conditions improved significantly, so aviation began to deliver powerful strikes against enemy positions in the early morning. Artillery, tanks and self-propelled guns, using houses and destroyed structures as cover, were pulled up to the second enemy position, which passed along the outskirts of the city.
View of one of the forts of Konigsberg
Trench line at Königsberg
Soviet officers inspect one of the forts in the occupied Konigsberg
There was no large artillery preparation on April 7, but the artillery fired at the enemy up to half of the ammunition load. Many guns fired direct fire. At the same time, large groups of bombers struck at the enemy's centers of resistance in the northwestern and western parts of Koenigsberg in the offensive zones of the 39th and 43rd armies. The aircraft also attacked the Nasser Garten, Rosenau and Continen areas. At 9 o'clock, Soviet infantry and tanks, supported by attack aircraft, launched an attack. The planes of the 1st Guards Assault Aviation Division smashed German strongpoints, equipment and concentrations of enemy infantry in small groups. Then the 276th Bomber Aviation Division began to strike at enemy positions. Soviet bombers attacked the Nasser Garten area, facilitating the advance of the 16th Guards Rifle Corps.
Almost everywhere Soviet troops advanced successfully. The right-flank 83rd Guards Division of the 8th Corps took Shenflies and reached Rosenau. The right flank of the division took Fort No. 11, and the southern part of Seligenfeld. As a result, a threat was created to encircle the German troops, which held the defenses in the area of Fort No. 12. The 26th Division stormed Rosenau. The assault group, supported by a mobile group of high-explosive flamethrowers, attacked two enemy fortifications, which interfered with the advance of our troops. After the impact of flamethrowers on the embrasures of the fortifications, the Germans suffered losses and about 200 garrison men surrendered. The 5th division captured the area of the locomotive depot for the second time (the first time the depot was taken on April 6, but then the Germans returned the position). Continuing their movement, the guards reached the Südpark, where they met a strong fire effect from the German forts.
By noon, units of the 31st Guards Rifle Division of the 16th Corps, after a hard battle, completely occupied Ponart and reached the Beek River. The forward units crossed the water line on the move and occupied an intermediate defensive line of the enemy on the northern bank of the river. This hastened the advance of the main forces of the army. The troops of the 36th Guards Rifle Corps also successfully advanced. The 18th division was advancing on Nasser-Garten, the 84th division reached Schönbush.
After breaking through the second position of the enemy, the assault on the third position began. Here the offensive of our troops slowed down, and in some places it was stopped. The Germans stubbornly resisted, fired heavily and in places went over to counterattacks, crowding the Soviet troops. So, the fire of the forts of the Südpark stopped part of the 26th division, the 1st division could not break through the enemy defenses in the area of the main marshalling railway station. The 18th division fought a heavy battle with the Shenbush garrison, and the 16th division could not advance either. In the Rosenau area, the Germans, up to an infantry regiment supported by tanks and self-propelled guns, counterattacked and pushed the 83rd division. Then the Germans attacked the 26th division in the Rosenau area and pushed it back several hundred meters. A surprise attack by a police regiment, supported by tanks and two artillery divisions, forced the regiment of the 1st division to leave the railway bridge northeast of Ponart.
In the course of an hour-long fierce battle, the Soviet guards repulsed German counterattacks and restored the position in those areas where they were forced to retreat somewhat. The 83rd Guards Division threw back the enemy in the Rosenau area, and the troops of the 1st and 31st divisions, after a stubborn battle, captured the southern part of the main marshalling yard. On the left flank, the 36th Guards Corps also continued the offensive. The 18th Guards Rifle Division crossed the Beek River and reached the southern outskirts of Nasser Garten. 84th division with the support of units of the 16th division by 15:00. took Shenbush. At the same time, they took Fort No. 8, which was already in the rear of the Soviet troops. 150 people surrendered, more stocks of ammunition, food and fuel were captured, which allowed them to fight for a month in complete encirclement.
From 13 o'clock. the Soviet aviation again stepped up its actions. The front command, in order to worsen the enemy's ability to maneuver forces and strike at the reserves of the commandant of Koenigsberg, decided to attack the city center. The aviation was to deliver a concentrated strike on command posts and defensive structures in the center of the fortress and the port area. A powerful blow to Koenigsberg was struck by the aviation of the 18th Air Army (long-range aviation). Heavy bombers launched their attack at 14:00. and within 45 minutes. 516 cars passed through the city, which threw 3743 bombs. The operation was personally led by Air Chief Marshal Novikov. Almost simultaneously, the enemy positions were attacked by the planes of the 4th Air Army and the aviation of the Baltic Fleet. Initially, German anti-aircraft gunners tried to counter the air attack, but rather quickly the positions of the enemy air defense were suppressed. The fire was greatly weakened, and the last groups of aircraft flew almost without opposition. Attempts to attack German fighters were fairly easily repulsed by Soviet fighter aircraft. Several German aircraft were destroyed. In total, on April 7, Soviet aviation made 4,758 sorties and dropped 1,658 tons of bombs on the enemy garrison. In air battles and on take-off sites, up to 60 enemy aircraft were destroyed.
The effect of the air strike was severe. As commander Galitsky recalled: “A half-kilometer thick column of black smoke and dust rose over the city. It was a breathtaking sight. Until that day, I had never seen such a powerful air strike. Fires broke out in the city, many warehouses with ammunition and food were destroyed, communications were out of order, buildings in the central part of the city destroyed earlier by Anglo-American heavy bombers collapsed, many soldiers and officers of the enemy were buried in bomb shelters under the ruins. The morale of the troops of the Königsberg garrison was depressed, as the captured officers and generals told us about.
The commandant of the fortress O. Lyash was also impressed by the strikes of the Soviet aviation and artillery. “On April 6,” wrote Lyash, “a Russian offensive began with such power, which I had not yet met, despite the rich experience in the east and west … two air fleets continuously bombarded the fortress with their shells all day … Bombers and attack aircraft flew wave after wave, dumped their fatal burden on the burning city, which lay in ruins. According to him, German aviation could not resist these strikes, as well as anti-aircraft artillery, which at the same time had to fight against enemy armored vehicles. As a result, all communication lines were cut. It was necessary to use messengers who made their way through the ruins to the command posts of units or to the troops. Soldiers and civilians hid from bombs and shells in basements.
The commander of the 303rd Soviet Aviation Division, Major General of Aviation G. N. Zakharov, sets a combat mission for the pilots storming Konigsberg from the air
Preparation of the operation for the bombing of Konigsberg in the 135th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment
Soviet guards mortars in a firing position. Southwest of Konigsberg
The heavy gun of the battery commander, Captain Smirnov, at the firing position, is firing at the German fortifications in Konigsberg
The soldiers of the battery of captain V. Leskov bring artillery shells on the outskirts of the city of Konigsberg
In the afternoon, the 11th Guards Army advanced more slowly. The Germans fiercely resisted and continued to counterattack. The 83rd Division of the 8th Corps bypassed Rosenau and reached the southern bank of the Alter Pregel. Fort No. 12 was taken on the right flank of the division. German troops in the area of Adel Neuendorf - Seligenfeld - Schönflies were cut off from the main forces of the Koenigsberg garrison. It was more difficult for the 26th division, the German troops in the third position, despite the artillery and aviation training, retained a significant part of the firepower and stubbornly fought back. They had to call in attack aircraft, and after their strike, the division was able to break through the enemy's defenses and occupy the southern part of Rosenau.
The troops of the 16th Guards Corps resumed their offensive at 16:00. and after a two-hour fierce battle, they suppressed the German firepower and captured the area of the main marshalling railway station. However, the attempts of the 1st and 31st Guards Divisions to break through the enemy's third line of defense were unsuccessful. As a result, the commander of the 16th Guards Rifle Corps decided to enter the last division remaining in the second echelon, the 11th Guards Division. At 17 o'clock. 30 minutes. the division entered the battle. However, this decision was belated. The Germans strengthened their defenses and brought fresh reserves into battle. As a result, the general attack of the forces of the 16th corps, with the participation of a fresh division, could not lead to a radical change. The advance of the Soviet troops was small.
The 36th Guards Corps was more successful. The 18th Guards Rifle Division, pulling up the entire regimental, part of the divisional artillery and self-propelled artillery installations, after a 20-minute artillery strike and air raid, at 17:00. 30 minutes. went on the attack. In a stubborn battle, the division captured the southern part of Nassen-Garten and engaged in a battle for the center of this suburb, an important enemy stronghold in the third position system. By evening, the guards captured this suburb. Then the 18th division, together with the 16th division, attacked the river port. The 16th Guards Division, repelling the enemy's counterattack, broke through the intermediate defensive line and captured the Kontinen stronghold. Having cleared the river port together with the troops of the 18th division, the 16th division reached the Pregel River late in the evening. The 84th Guards Division, having ferried most of the regimental and divisional artillery and vehicles of the 338th self-propelled guns regiment across the Beek River, after a short fire raid, broke through the enemy's defenses in fortified buildings and took part in the capture of Nassen-Garten, then moved on.
Soviet soldier guardsman-artilleryman with a cannon shell
Soviet fighters during the battle for Konigsberg, heading for a combat position under the cover of a smoke screen
Self-propelled guns with a landing of machine gunners attack enemy positions in the Konigsberg area
Results of the second day of the storming of the fortress
In the second day of the offensive, the 11th Guards Army of Galitsky, despite desperate counterattacks and powerful enemy defenses, achieved serious successes. Our troops advanced 2-3.5 kilometers, breaking through the enemy's second intermediate defensive line along the entire strip. The flanks of the Guards Army reached the southern bank of the Pregel River, and in the center broke through to the third defensive zone. The Red Army captured three forts, 7 reinforced concrete shelters, 5 pillboxes, up to 45 fortified points, the main sorting railway station, 10 industrial enterprises and up to 100 blocks of the southern part of Königsberg. Some German units and units defending in the southern part of the city were completely defeated, the first units began to surrender. True, it was not possible to fully implement the offensive plan on the second day. The troops of Galitsky's army were unable to force the Pregel and connect with the 43rd army of Beloborodov.
In other areas, the successes of the Red Army were undeniable. The 2nd Guards and 5th Armies of Chanchibadze and Krylov launched an offensive in the Zemland direction and bound the main forces of the Zemland task force with their actions. Now Mueller's 4th army was tied up in battle and could not provide serious assistance to the Koenigsberg garrison.
The 39th army of Lyudnikov successfully made its way to the Frisches-Huff Bay to cut off the Koenigsberg garrison from the Zemland grouping. The German command, realizing the danger of a breakthrough by Soviet troops to the coast, sought to stop the offensive of Lyudnikov's army in order to preserve the corridor between Koenigsberg and the Zemland peninsula. This corridor was needed for the possibility of maneuvering troops, the supply of reinforcements, ammunition and other military materials. The Germans threw into battle all the remaining reserves, and almost all of the available aviation, trying to push back the Soviet troops. However, Lyudnikov's army stubbornly continued the offensive, throwing off fierce counterattacks by German troops.
Beloborodov's 43rd army advanced 1 kilometer in a day. The Germans considered this direction to be the main one, fearing a breakthrough by Soviet troops into the center of the city. Commandant Lyash transferred the main reserves to the northwestern direction. The Germans constantly counterattacked. As a result, Beloborodov's army was able to clear 15 blocks of the enemy and captured Fort No. 5a. The right flank of the 43rd Army was fighting 3-3, 5 km from the Pregel River. Parts of the 50th army of Ozerov, storming house after house and conducting stubborn street battles, advanced up to 1.5 km and cleared 15 blocks from the Nazis. Ozerov's army captured the suburb of Baydritten. Although the armies of Beloborodov and Ozerov advanced insignificantly, their actions were of great importance, since they defeated the troops of the first echelon of the defense of the Konigsberg garrison and drained the main reserves of the fortress.
A decisive turning point took place in the Battle of Königsberg. The position of the Königsberg garrison was critical. Soviet troops broke through almost all the defensive lines in the south and northwest of the fortress. The Red Army captured the most important strongholds and centers of resistance of the German garrison in the suburbs and began an assault on the third line of defense in the center of the city. The bridgehead that remained in the hands of the Germans was completely shot through by Soviet artillery. By the end of the second day of the battle, most of the German reserves were already in action, the Germans suffered serious losses. Some German units were completely defeated, others suffered heavy losses. Lyash, seeing that the situation was critical and the garrison had exhausted its defense capabilities, suggested that the command of the 4th Army approve the plan for the evacuation of the garrison from Koenigsberg to the Zemland peninsula. This was supposed to save the garrison of the fortress from encirclement and death. However, the command of the 4th field army, fulfilling Hitler's tough directive, refused. The garrison was ordered to hold out at all costs. As a result, the death of the Koenigsberg garrison became inevitable.
Soviet sappers clearing mines in the streets of Königsberg
The commander of the 11th Guards Army, Major General K. N. Galitsky and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General I. I. Semyonov at the map. April 1945
