Film and Television: Starting from the Journey to Guandong

Chapter 163

Of course, the most brutal battle in the entire Soviet-German battlefield was undoubtedly the final Battle of Berlin.

The brutality of the Battle of Berlin cannot be said to be unprecedented in human history, but it is certainly unprecedented.

Although Mao Xiong won the final victory, he also paid the price of more than 300,000 casualties.

On May 1945, 5, the Berlin garrison commander Weidling announced his surrender.

On May 5, Keitel, the representative of the German High Command, signed an unconditional surrender document.

The end of the Battle of Berlin marked the end of World War II and the complete defeat of Germany.

With the successful landing of the Allied forces in Normandy, Germany was retreating steadily, and the attack on Berlin was put on the agenda of the Allied forces.

Whoever can capture Berlin, the center of Germany, will surely bring huge political benefits to the country that occupies it in the future.

Stalin felt that Mao Xiong had good reason to occupy Berlin before the American and British Allied Forces, because in this protracted war, the Soviet army made the greatest sacrifices and also destroyed the most main force of the German army.

As early as November 1944, the Mao Xiong High Command basically determined the combat intention of the Berlin Battle.

However, on the side of the British and American allies, there are considerable differences on the Berlin issue.

Churchill, who had always distrusted the bear, strongly demanded that the British and American troops occupy Berlin out of political needs. The commander of the U.S. military and the supreme commander of Europe, Eisenhower, was well aware of the cruelty of this battle and was full of doubts about the potential huge casualties.

It is said that the US military command conducted a sandbox simulation of the attack on Berlin and concluded that casualties would reach more than 100,000.

So Eisenhower followed the trend and decided to abide by the agreement he had reached with Mao Xiong, and Mao Xiong would carry out the campaign to attack Berlin.

Stalin, the leader of the woolly bear, had another unknown reason for attacking Berlin, and that was the secret of "weapons of mass destruction."

As early as 1937, Germany was developing such weapons of mass destruction.

The British learned about the German plan through the intelligence system and began to study it.

The Ugly people began secret research in 1939.

At the end of 1941, American and British scientists began to cooperate in research, and they planned to successfully develop it before the Germans.

At the time, research on woolly bears was still in its infancy.

Stalin learned through secret channels that the British and American research progress was very fast, and he was very anxious.

But Mao Xiong lacked the uranium necessary to make such a weapon at the time, and Chou Country refused to sell it to Mao Xiong.

If Berlin can be captured, then the equipment, raw materials and scientists in the German Atomic Energy Research Institute can be used by Mao Xiong, and Mao Xiong can catch up with Britain and the United States in terms of research and development, so Stalin is very determined to capture Berlin.

Berlin was the capital of Germany from the time of the Kingdom of Prussia until the Third Reich.

From 1933 to 1945, Berlin became the heart of Germany.

As long as Berlin is captured, it will at least psychologically destroy the German army's fighting spirit and force Germany to surrender.

At the end of March 1945, the Mao Xiong General Staff recalled Zhukov, commander of the White-haired First Front Army, and Konev, commander of the First Ukrainian Front Army, to Moscow to discuss issues related to the Berlin Battle.

Stalin was very worried about the Anglo-American allies violating the agreement because he knew that the British had been convincing the Americans to occupy Berlin. He put pressure on the two commanders, pointing out that Berlin must be captured in the shortest possible time.

The two commanders did not dare to neglect, and assured Stalin that their troops would complete their tasks within the specified time.

On April 4, the Mao Xiong General Staff submitted the final plan for the Battle of Berlin to the Mao Xiong High Command.

In the final plan, the overall goal of the Berlin Battle was: with the support of long-range aviation, use the forces of the three fronts to launch a powerful assault on the German army and capture Berlin.

Stalin approved the general plan for the Battle of Berlin, and the Soviet army began to prepare for the Battle of Berlin.

In order to confuse the German army, the Soviet army put a lot of effort into setting up a large number of false targets, including tank models and artillery models, so that the German top brass could not judge the Soviet army's main attack direction.

The Soviet army also conducted careful reconnaissance on the German defense situation, and this information was eventually fed into the intelligence department for reference by Soviet generals.

On April 1945, 4, the Soviet army's preparations were basically completed. The three fronts participating in the offensive have a total of 15 million troops, more than 3 artillery and mortars, more than 250 tanks and self-propelled artillery, and more than aircraft of various types.

Just as the Wooly Bears were stepping up preparations for war, Germany was suffering consecutive defeats.

On the Western Front, the American and British Allied forces surrounded the Ruhr area and swept away the German troops between the Rhine and Elbe rivers.

On the Eastern Front, with the exception of a few strongholds, all German groups east of the Oder-Neisse River were wiped out. On the southern front, the Soviet army was also approaching Vilna.

Faced with such a bad situation, most senior German officials believed that the best way out for Germany was to surrender to the American and British Allied Forces to prevent Berlin from falling into the hands of the Woolly Bears.

However, Uncle Xi is unwilling to surrender, otherwise he will not be able to escape the fate of being tried and executed.

It is for this reason that the German head of state intends to continue fighting until the last moment.

However, his generals did not seriously implement the order to resist the American and British Allied Forces.

Either there is no resistance at all, or there is a token resistance and then surrender. It made the march of the American and British Allied Forces as easy as traveling.

Only against the Soviet army did the German army seriously resist.

The German army was willing to defend Berlin to the death, not for victory, but for the hope of blocking the Soviet army east of the Oder-Neisse River and allowing the American and British Allied Forces to occupy Berlin.

As for why the German army was able to accept the American and British Allied Forces but was unwilling to accept the Soviet army, in addition to historical grievances, the more important reason was ideological opposition.

When building a defense line to defend Berlin, the German army made full use of the natural barrier of the Oder-Neisse River. Three defensive zones arranged in echelons were built here, and the fortifications were extremely strong. In the urban area, the German army transformed every large building in the city into a strong fire support point. Barricades were set up on the streets leading to the city center. Artillery was installed at intersections and squares, tanks were ambushed, and 400 tanks were built. Multiple reinforced concrete fortifications.

Since the German army has very few elite troops left, most of the troops guarding Berlin are teenagers or elderly people in their sixties, and generally lack training and equipment.

In order to improve the officers and soldiers' will to resist, Uncle Xi even formulated various strict battlefield disciplines.

In the early morning of April 4, the Soviet army issued an attack order.

Soon, the 1st Belorussian Front broke through the first line of German defense. Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front also launched an attack at the same time and quickly crossed the Ness River.

On the morning of April 4, Zhukov concentrated almost all artillery fire. The German army finally could not withstand the stormy attack of Soviet artillery shells and began to retreat toward the city. The Soviet army finally captured the Schlaufer Heights and began to advance towards Berlin.

From April 4th to 16st, despite the desperate resistance of the German army and causing huge casualties to the Soviet army, the Soviet army still broke through the German defense lines. The 21st White-Mao Front defeated the 1 main divisions of the German 9th Army and wiped out 16 enemies. The Oder River defense line built by the German army to resist the Soviet army collapsed.

At this time in Berlin, Weidling had less than 12 defensive troops, almost no air support, and only a few dozen tanks and a small number of artillery.

By April 1945, 4, there were nearly 26 Soviet troops directly attacking the city of Berlin, tens of thousands of artillery and mortars, more than 50 tanks and self-propelled artillery, and the Soviets dominated the air.

In terms of pure strength and weapons, the Soviet army far exceeded the German army, and many troops had experience in urban offensive warfare.

After being hit by the Berlin Peripheral War, the German army was at the end of its strength. Communication facilities were also greatly damaged by the Soviet army. Therefore, the German armies were unable to maintain effective contact with each other and were unable to coordinate operations and defend together.

According to the arrangements of the Mao Xiong High Command, the task of attacking Berlin's urban area will be completed by the two front armies.

Stalin privately created an atmosphere of competition between the two armies to incentivize the capture of Berlin as quickly as possible.

On April 1945, 4, the Soviet army launched a general offensive. The German army relied on every building to shoot at the Soviet army to block the Soviet attack.

In urban street fighting, Soviet tank assault groups were often attacked by German troops ambushing in rubble. Moreover, German soldiers used guerrilla tactics to deal with Soviet tanks. As long as they succeeded in a hit, they would quickly escape deep into the houses or underground passages.

In order to restrain the German guerrilla warfare, the Soviet army directly used artillery to bombard the buildings on the way forward, blowing up all the houses facing the street, and then advanced.

When encountering basements or underground passages with narrow entrances, flamethrowers will also be used. In some buildings, soldiers from both sides who were too late to draw their guns even engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

The German army made full use of the sewers, subway lines, underground pipes and drainage ditches under the city to carry out mobile and flexible sneak attacks, and snipers would often fire cold shots. Under the resistance of the German army, the Soviet tank troops and infantry suffered heavy casualties.

However, due to the Soviet army's huge strength and weapons superiority, the German resistance strongholds were eventually eliminated one by one.

In order to reduce casualties, the Soviet army launched a propaganda offensive against the German army by airdropping a large number of leaflets. Some leaflets are even "safety passes". Those who surrender with such leaflets can not only avoid death, but even have their sentences reduced. After the war, the Soviet Union claimed that their propaganda campaign had achieved "remarkable results."

On April 4, the offensive and defensive battles in Berlin gradually moved to the city center. The number of German troops continued to decrease and their positions continued to shrink. That night, the Soviet army had surrounded the Tiergarten sandbank, where the center of Berlin was located.

The main institutions of Germany, including the Reich Office and the Reichstag, as well as the German leader Hitler, are located on this sandbar.

The Tiergarten Sandbar is surrounded by water. The Soviet army relied on powerful artillery fire to suppress it and used various methods to cross the river, and soon invaded the Tiergarten Sandbar.

Zhukov handed over the task of attacking Congress Bactria to the 3rd Assault Army. Because attacking a building did not require all troops to be dispatched, the 79th Infantry Army assumed the attack task.

At this time, the Capitol Building was isolated. The German army had completely renovated the building. The doors and windows were sealed, leaving only some holes for observation and shooting. The open space outside the building was covered with various criss-crossing trenches.

The Soviet army first used rocket launchers and self-propelled artillery to bombard the Capitol Building indiscriminately for 30 minutes. The walls of the building were instantly riddled with holes, and the German soldiers hiding behind the walls were also blown to pieces.

Taking advantage of the suppressed German firepower, the two Soviet assault battalions avoided the German frontal fire and used the cover of obstacles to sneak into the trench in front of the building to hide, ready to charge at any time.

After the bombardment ended, the two commando battalions took advantage of the gap where the German army had not organized an effective attack network and rushed into the Capitol Building in one fell swoop.

The Soviet troops and German officers and soldiers who entered the Reichstag immediately began a desperate struggle.

They staged brutal hand-to-hand combat in rooms, corridors, and stairwells. All types of weapons, including daggers, bayonets, flamethrowers and heavy machine guns, were put to use.

The red-eyed German soldiers even picked up anti-tank rockets and fired them at the Soviet troops. Wherever the rockets hit, Soviet soldiers immediately turned into a hail of flesh. If the Soviet army captured anti-tank rockets, they would immediately fight back and let the other side have the same taste.

Amidst the smoke, soldiers continued to fall from the stairs or broken floors below, falling to the hard ground and dying.

After the war, the Woolly Bear veterans recalled that battle with lingering fear, claiming that they had witnessed both sides fighting like savages with bare hands, and some German soldiers would self-destruct after losing their combat effectiveness. This overturned the previous image of the German army.

In order to increase their firepower, the Soviet army even brought mortars into the Capitol and fired at any place where German troops might be hiding.

After paying heavy casualties, the Soviet army finally cleared the German troops on the lower floors of the building. However, the German troops on the upper floors refused to surrender. Because they were at a commanding height, it was difficult for the Soviet army to attack.

Eager to capture it, the Soviet army sent two more assault battalions to support the Capitol. As the German soldiers continued to suffer casualties and the resistance became weaker and weaker, the Soviet troops eliminated the remaining enemies layer by layer and marched towards the top of the Reichstag.

Finally at 22:30, Sergeant Mining took the lead in reaching the top floor and inserted a red flag into the cement sculpture that had been blasted with a crack.

The fall of the Reichstag marked the end of the assault on Berlin. Although there was still sporadic resistance, it was no longer relevant to the overall situation.

On the same day that the Soviet army attacked the Reichstag, Mr. Xi, who was hiding in the bunker of the Prime Minister's Office, chose to end his life and committed suicide with his new wife when the building was about to collapse.

On May 5, Berlin garrison commander Weideling ordered a cessation of resistance and submitted a surrender order to the Soviet army. The Battle of Berlin, which lasted for more than half a month, finally came to an end.

Of course, it has always been a mystery as to whether Uncle Xi died in the end. Many people are willing to believe that he is dead, but there are many legends that he did not die and chose to remain anonymous.

There are even many people who call themselves Uncle Xi in later generations and are active on social media, so that the real history has been confused.

However, the matter of Uncle Xi faking his death is not groundless, at least he can do such a thing.

As for how he managed to disappear from the world and remain anonymous, there is no way to say. History may take time to confirm.

(End of this chapter)