Unity of Command II - Berlin 45. Hard Mode, Berlin #24

Описание: The second-to-last apocalyptic battle of the European war. Stalin committed three entire Fronts to capture Hitler's capital: 2.5 million men, 7,500 tanks, 41,600 artillery pieces, and 7,500 aircraft. The largest single concentration of military force in history, commanded by Marshals Zhukov, Konev, and Rokossovsky. Germany defended with approximately one million men including Wehrmacht remnants, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm militia, and Hitler Youth teenagers, backed by perhaps 1,500 tanks and 9,300 guns.

April 16, the offensive opened with history's largest artillery barrage. Zhukov attacked the Seelow Heights using 143 searchlights to blind defenders, the tactic backfired, reflecting off dust and smoke to illuminate Soviet troops instead. German commander Heinrici had withdrawn his main forces just before the barrage based on prisoner intelligence, forcing Soviets to fight intact units. Three days of brutal combat cost 100,000 Soviet casualties before the heights fell on April 18.

Konev's assault across the Neisse River proved more successful using massive smoke screens. His tank armies exploited southward, racing Zhukov to Berlin in a rivalry Stalin deliberately encouraged. By April 21 Soviet forces entered Berlin's eastern suburbs. Artillery shelled the city center. April 24-25 the encirclement closed, trapping the Berlin garrison and the doomed Ninth Army at Halbe where 60,000-80,000 Germans died attempting breakout through Soviet fire.

The urban fighting was apocalyptic. Soviet storm groups with tank and artillery support systematically pulverized districts block by block. German defenders fought from cellars and rubble using Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons with devastating effectiveness in close quarters. Three massive flak towers became impregnable fortresses. Approximately 2.5 million civilians endured the battle trapped in cellars without water, food, or sanitation.

April 30 at 3:30 PM Hitler committed suicide in the Führerbunker after marrying Eva Braun, learning of Himmler's betrayal, and appointing Dönitz his successor. That evening Soviet troops stormed the Reichstag, raising the victory banner around 10:50 PM though the famous Khaldei photograph was staged two days later. Goebbels poisoned his six children then committed suicide with his wife on May 1.

May 2 General Weidling surrendered Berlin's garrison. Approximately 134,000 German soldiers were captured. The battle cost the Soviets roughly 81,000 killed and 280,000 wounded. German military casualties totaled perhaps 92,000-100,000 killed, 220,000 wounded, and 480,000 captured. Berlin's civilians suffered catastrophically: 125,000-150,000 killed by combat, 10,000-20,000 suicides, and an estimated 100,000-200,000 women raped by Soviet soldiers in systematic sexual violence that continued for weeks.