2nd Hungarian army September 1944. Battle for Hungary

Soviet troops from new force resumed their attacks against the 6th and 8th German armies. At the same time, the 4th Ukrainian Front began the pursuit of the German-Hungarian troops retreating from the Eastern Carpathians.

On October 17, the strike of Malinovsky's army was aimed at Debrecen. From there, the Soviet armies were to advance to Nyiregyhaza and Tokay in order to seize the crossings of the 8th German army across the Tisza and cut off the escape routes of the units of the 1st Hungarian army that continued to fight on the side of the Germans. The exhausted tank divisions of the 6th German Army, slowly retreating, could hardly hold back the onslaught of the Red Army.

On October 20, the Germans had to leave Debrecen. In close cooperation, two cavalry and one tank corps of Soviet troops broke through the German defenses a day later and went to Nyiregyhaza, and the head tank units even to Tokay, while the 8th german army and the Hungarians were still making their retreat through the narrow mountain valleys of Transylvania.

After the breakthrough of the Red Army to Tokai, the fate of the 8th German Army seemed to be sealed. However, with the last huge effort, the German tanks managed to break through the battle formations of the Soviet troops that had broken through from the west and, early in the morning of October 23, connect south of Nyiregyhaza with the advanced units of the 8th Army advancing from the east. At the same time, the mobile Soviet troops that had broken through were also cut off.

During four days of fierce fighting, the barrier created by the Germans to the south of the cut off Soviet troops was held, despite all the attacks from the north and south. Only the remnants of mobile Soviet formations, having abandoned all their equipment, managed to break through to the south.

By the end of October, the German 8th Army occupied a new defense along the Tisza River near Tokai. East of Kopgaz, it joined the 1st Panzer Army, which, during a general withdrawal, also pulled back its right flank, taking up a well-prepared defense further north along the Carpathians up to Jaslo. Meanwhile, the 2nd Ukrainian Front pulled up a new large force in the area between the Lower Tisza and the Danube. South of Bayi, its formations were replaced by the 3rd Ukrainian Front. Malinovsky believed that the time had come to strike at Budapest. In front of him was only the 3rd Hungarian Army, which, as the only German help, was given the German corps headquarters without troops for consultations. On October 29, Malinovsky's army broke through the Hungarian front in the direction of Kecskemét. In the course of a swift pursuit, Soviet tanks reached the area southeast of Budapest, where they stumbled upon anti-tank ditches.

When the Hungarian front at Kecskemét collapsed, the headquarters of the German 6th Army standing on the Tisza was immediately instructed to organize defense in the interfluve of the Danube and Tisza, where new forces were already being pulled up. Tested in the battles for Dobrenek, the German tank divisions, which were at that moment being replenished, were thrown from the area north of Szolnok to the flank of the Soviet group advancing on Budapest, which made it possible for the Germans to hold a large bridgehead southeast of the Hungarian capital fortification on the east bank of the Danube.

Fighting flared up with great force in the area of ​​Cegled, Szolnok, during which the German troops had to withdraw to the right bank of the Tisza and gradually begin to retreat to the north. However, the connection of their command with Budapest in the west and with the defense along the Tisza in the east was preserved, and the breakthrough of Malinovsky's army to the north failed. The Hungarians, after breaking through their defenses at Kecskemét, withdrew to the long Danube island of Csepel and provided cover for the capital from the south. The superiority of Malinovsky's troops between the Danube and the Tisza was so overwhelming that German troops were gradually pushed back to the line of Godele, Eger, Tokaj, although their connection with Budapest was preserved. Malinovsky threw all his troops against the German Army Group South. Additional forces were needed in order to come close to solving the big problem - the capture of all of Hungary and the creation of a springboard for an attack on Vienna and South Germany. To this end, the 3rd Ukrainian Front under the command of Tolbu-khin, which had meanwhile completed its tasks in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, turned to the northwest, creating a threat to Budapest and the deep flank of Army Group South, which again had to withdraw forces from their front in order to prevent the maneuver planned by the Soviet command.

One German panzer division advanced as far as the Szekszard area, but was too weak to repulse the attack alone. The headquarters of the 6th German Army with another division was sent there to prevent the breakthrough of Soviet troops between Lake Balaton and the Danube. The command of the German army discovered between the lakes Balaton and Velenie, not occupied by troops, a very poorly equipped defensive position, in many places flooded and adjoining in the northeast to the Danube south of Budapest. Attempts to stop the Soviet advance south of this line on the shortest line between Balaton and the Danube proved futile. The transfer of several German tank formations from the area east of Budapest and the success of Tolbukhin's troops prompted Malinovsky to resume attacks in the north in mid-December in order to break the defenses between the Tisza and the Danube, which he was able to do on the weakened eastern flank of the 6th German army. Soviet tanks reached Balashshadyarmat, from where they turned west - into the valley of the Ipel River. At the same time, part of the strike group turned even steeper to the south in the direction of the Danube, surrounding Budapest from the east and north and reaching the Danube at Vac. The German 8th Army was thrown back through the Mi-Skolz to the former Czech-Hungarian border. The successes of the armies of Malinovsky and Tolbukhin put on the agenda a breakthrough in the defense of the 6th German army in order to cut off all routes leading from Buda pest to the west. Of particular danger to the 6th German Army was the blow of Malinovsky's troops, who were in the Ipel valley and threatened to defeat the German defenses in the Danube valley west of Vac. This forced the German command of the army group to transfer over the Danube the reserves concentrated south of the river, which were originally intended for a counterattack in order to push back the southern wing of Malinovsky's troops on both sides of the Berzhen mountains and restore contact with the eastern flank of the 8th defending at Balashshagyarmat German army. On December 19, Tolbukhin's troops launched an offensive against the 6th German Army between Lakes Balaton and Velence. Here, two German tank divisions managed to repulse the blow of the Soviet troops inflicted by large forces, but the German defenses northeast of Lake Velence were broken through. Soviet troops immediately rushed in a fan-like fashion to the north, northwest and west. In the north, the Soviet units reached the Danube at Esztergom through Bichke and cut the last German communication leading to Budapest, which was surrounded on December 24. At the same time, the establishment of peaceful power took place in the liberated territory. On December 21, 1944, the Provisional National Assembly opened in Debrecen. The Provisional National Assembly marked the beginning of the formation of the central authorities in the country. The first government - the Provisional National Government - included representatives of various parties: the Social Democratic, National Peasant, Communist, and trade unions. The Provisional National Government declared war on Germany and then signed an armistice with the USSR, Britain and the United States of America.

At the same time, fighting in Hungary continued.

In the north westbound Soviet troops managed to advance deeply and reach the Bakony mountains. The blow of the Soviet troops in the western direction overturned the German defense between the lakes Balaton and Velence. North of the Danube, the German attempt to push back the Soviet troops on both sides of the Berzhen mountains, despite the heavy losses incurred in the process, was unsuccessful. The front stabilized on the river Gron.

On the evening of December 24, Hitler ordered the transfer of one SS corps from East Prussia to strengthen the defense in Hungary. Reinforced by this corps, the 6th non-German army launched a counterattack south of the Danube on January 1 in order to restore contact with Budapest; however, despite initial successes, she was unable to achieve this goal. The German-Hungarian garrison and the Hungarian militia, created from members of the Arrow Cross organization, continued to desperately defend themselves in the city that was gradually turning into ruins. When Pest, located on the eastern bank of the Danube, had to be abandoned, bridges across the Danube were blown up, and fierce street fighting continued in the western part of the city - Buda, where the fortress was located. The liberation of the city and the retention of the western part of Hungary became Hitler's main task. He subordinated all other considerations to it and substantiated it with foreign-political reasons, as well as the need to protect the last oil fields in Hungary and Austria, without which it was unthinkable to continue the war after the loss of Romanian oil and in the face of ever-increasing destruction of German synthetic fuel plants by Allied aircraft. . When the encircled garrison of Budapest on January 13 desperately requested help by radio, an order was given for a new counterattack with the aim of liberating the city. The counterattack, in which the German divisions again pulled into the area, began on January 18 and, after three days of fighting, ended with the return of Szekesfehervar to the Germans. Now several more SS divisions, withdrawn from the Western Front after the Ardennes offensive, were destined for the Danube region, although the German defenses on the Vistula and in East Prussia were falling apart, and these divisions could arrive in Hungary only at the beginning of March.

To push the Red Army back across the Danube again - such was Hitler's invariable desire. Until mid-February, the defenders of Budapest, divided into separate groups, clung to the last knots of resistance in the ruined city.

Meanwhile, the German Army Group "South" was able to almost completely hold on to the line to which it was thrown back at the end of December. Adjacent to it in the north, the 1st Panzer Army took up defenses between the Beskids and the Hron River in its upper reaches. The 8th German Army, which held the line from the junction with the northern neighbor to the mouth of the Gron, was able to repel all attempts by the Soviet troops to achieve a breakthrough and even liquidated one of the Soviet bridgeheads on this river at the end of February, and the 6th Army prevented the advance of the Red Army for the mountains Bakony. The German formations defending in the area between Lake Balaton and the Drava River since November were united into the 2nd Panzer Army and subordinated directly to the army group. Army Group E, adjoining them from the south, which was under the authority of the Design Bureau, covered the regions of Yugoslavia up to the Adriatic Sea.

In the Danube region, as on the Oder, the Red Army, before moving into last offensive, had to first make up for the losses incurred and bring up fresh forces. In addition, it was important for her to use new allies. On January 20, the Soviet command signed a truce with the Hungarian government, which was formed on the occupied territory and whose side was also taken by the chief of the general staff of the Hungarian army, on January 20, demanding that the Hungarians create a new army of eight divisions. The Bulgarians were also to field an army to relieve the Soviet divisions between the Drava and Sava rivers. But before the Red Army had time to complete preparations for a new offensive, on March 9, on the orders of Hitler, in the conditions of the spring thaw that was already making itself felt, the German counteroffensive followed with the direction of the main attack on both sides of Lake Balaton. South of the lake, it soon bogged down.

Having exhausted the advancing German troops in stubborn defensive battles, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts on March 16 themselves went on the offensive. Despite extremely fierce resistance, in early April they completed the liberation of Hungary from German troops, entered Austrian territory and continued to advance in the direction of Vienna.

In the autumn of 1944, one of the main tasks for the Nazi command was to hold Hungary, which remained the only ally of the Reich in Europe, and also covered the approaches to Austria and South Germany. Therefore, it was planned to create an impregnable defensive line here and at the same time withdraw troops from Greece, Albania and Southern Yugoslavia. The construction of fortifications along the Tisza, the Danube and along the Hungarian-Austrian border began. In Yugoslavia, the situation was no less threatening for Germany. Back in 1941, on the basis of numerous partisan detachments, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia was formed here, headed by Josip Broz Tito. The Soviet command planned to strike with the forces of the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts on the territory of Hungary, and the 3rd Ukrainian Front, together with the Bulgarian army and the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, to move to the capital of Yugoslavia, Belgrade.

On September 28, from the east, from the territory of Romania, the offensive of the 3rd Ukrainian Front began in the Belgrade direction. The Yugoslav army fettered the enemy forces from the west. On October 20, Belgrade was liberated. Immediately after the liberation, the demining of the Yugoslav capital began. As a result, 845 objects were neutralized, including 85 major buildings.

Simultaneously with the offensive of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in Yugoslavia, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front on October 6 attacked the German group "South" in the direction of the city of Debrecen and captured it on October 20. Later they crossed the Tisza and reached the river. Danube. As a result, Soviet troops went to the rear of the Carpathian grouping of the enemy, which contributed to the successful offensive in the Carpathians of the 4th Ukrainian Front and the completion of the liberation of Ukraine.

By the end of October, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front occupied the northern part of Transylvania and a significant part of Hungary, creating a bridgehead for an attack on Budapest. The threatening situation for Germany was complicated by the unsuccessful attempt of the Hungarian government to withdraw from the war and the transfer of part of the Hungarian troops to the side of the Red Army. The Budapest operation began on October 29, 1944. As a result of stubborn fighting, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts united on December 26 in the area of ​​Esztergom and completed the encirclement of the Budapest enemy grouping, numbering 188 thousand people.

On December 29, the terms of surrender were announced to the enemy through loudspeakers, but the negotiations ended in vain. In early January 1945, Soviet troops began to liquidate the Budapest group. Attempts by the German command to break through to connect with the encircled forces were not successful. February 13, the capital of Hungary was taken. Even before the fall of Budapest, a provisional government of the National Independence Front was established in Debrecen. On December 28, it announced the rupture of the alliance with Germany and the declaration of war on it. The Budapest operation required an emergency mobilization of forces from the Soviet army. It is considered the most complex and stubborn of all the operations carried out in 1944.

Further attempts by the Red Army to complete the liberation of Hungary met with stubborn resistance near the lake. Balaton, where on March 6 the German forces launched a counteroffensive. By pulling up reserves, the Soviet troops were able to stop the enemy. On March 16, the right wing of the 3rd Ukrainian Front launched an offensive north from Lake Balaton, which forced the Germans to begin a retreat. By April 4, the entire territory of Hungary was occupied Soviet troops, and on April 13, the capital of Austria, Vienna, was captured. In January - February 1945, Soviet troops resumed their offensive in Czechoslovakia. On April 4, the Slovak capital, Bratislava, was liberated; on April 26, Brno.

On the southern flank of the Soviet-German front, the enemy offered stubborn resistance, trying to prevent Soviet troops from entering the western part of Hungary, where, like in Austria, there were small oil reserves, moreover, Hungary covered the so-called "Alpine fortress". The leader of the Hungarian fascists, Salashi, promised to hold Hungary with all his might and mobilized the population aged 12 to 70 years. Stubborn battles for every quarter and house were fought in Budapest. On January 12 and 17, the Germans tried to break through the outer ring of the encircled Hungarian capital with counterattacks, but unsuccessfully, then on January 18, the 4th SS Panzer Corps was thrown into the breakthrough. In the strike zone, there were 70 tanks and assault guns per 1 km of the offensive. This made it possible to advance 30 km on the 1st day and reach the Danube by 20.01, cutting the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front into 2 parts. But troops from the 2nd Ukrainian were transferred to his aid and gradually the situation between the Danube and Lake. Balaton has stabilized. But in the Lake Balaton area, it remained tense and this tension increased every day. The enemy, losing up to 100 tanks a day, moved slowly towards Budapest. Then the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts under the leadership of Marshal Timoshenko, using air supremacy and maneuvering artillery and tanks, inflicted a number of blows on the enemy and, moving forward significantly, reached the lake. Balaton. At the same time, the Germans lost a lot of equipment (only 480 armored units) and 30,000 people killed and captured. The liquidation of the group encircled in Budapest was carried out by General Afonin, a group of troops specially detached from the 2nd Ukrainian. On the night of February 12, about 12,000 people escaped from Buda, but all were destroyed by the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. The commander of the German group in Budapest himself, along with his headquarters, was also captured. On February 13, at 10 o'clock in the morning, the fighting in Budapest ceased. Enemy losses amounted to 188 thousand soldiers and commanders. By decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 9, 45, the medal "For the Capture of Budapest" was established, 350,000 people were awarded it.

Now the Soviet troops were faced with the task of completely clearing Hungary of the enemy, for which an offensive was being prepared west of Lake. Balaton, with the aim of capturing the oil-bearing region of Nagykanizsa, and then moving on to Vienna. But the enemy preempted: on February 17, a grouping of 3 infantry and 2 SS tank divisions from the Komarno area, with about 400 tanks and assault guns, attacked the 7th oigv. Army of the 2nd Ukrainian north of Esztergom, forcing her to leave the bridgehead on the right bank of the river. Gron. This 6th SS Army, according to materials transferred to our command by American military intelligence, was to be deployed in a completely different place. The Germans called this counterattack in the Balaton region Operation "Spring Awakening". The Germans wanted, having defended the oil-bearing region of Hungary, to transfer the 6th Army to strike at the central sector of the front. The 3rd Ukrainian went on the defensive, continuing to prepare for the offensive, and from 20.02 Marshal Tolbukhin began to command it. The operation was built according to the scheme of the Kursk Bulge: a defense that exhausted the enemy, and then a counteroffensive. Task number 1 - do not miss the enemy on the right bank of the Danube. On the morning of 06.03, the enemy between Lake Velence and Balaton dealt the main blow, stubbornly holding back his 18 tank (Govorunenko) and 1 guards. mechanized (gen. I.N. Russiyanov) corps. The Germans could not advance more than 2-4 km. On March 7, enemy losses increased. But German tanks, having night vision devices, continued to attack at night. On March 14, the enemy brought the last reserve into battle - the 6th, etc. In 10 days of fighting, the Germans advanced 20-30 km, and in the southern sector, 6-8 km. Losses amounted to over 40 thousand people, 300 guns and mortars, 500 tanks and assault guns, 200 aircraft. The enemy strike was repulsed, the Germans received an order to go on the defensive, and the Soviet troops received an order to go on the offensive no later than March 15-16. As a result, by April 4, the territory of Hungary was completely liberated from German troops (more than 140 thousand Soviet soldiers died on its soil); and Soviet troops reached the border with Austria. On April 1-4, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian captured the cities of Sopron and Wiener-Neinstadt, which opened approaches to Vienna. The enemy fortified Vienna well, but already on April 5, battles began on the approaches to it, and on 06.04 the 4th and 9th Guards. armies began to storm it. Vienna was covered from the east, south and west. In the city there was an uprising of the Austrian units, on April 9-10, Soviet troops were fighting in the city itself. On April 13, Vienna was liberated. 270 thousand Soviet soldiers were awarded the medal "For the Capture of Vienna." By mid-April, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front had reached the Eastern Alps, and in late April-early May, near the cities of Linz, Haflenz, and Klagenfurt, they met with American troops. Thus, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts completed the defeat of Army Group South and captured the southern approaches to Germany, freeing a significant part of the territory of Czechoslovakia along the way.

Offensive in Czechoslovakia was carried out by the forces of the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts, together with the Romanian and Czechoslovak formations (March-April). As a result of the Moravian-Ostrava offensive operation(4th UV) the Heinrici Army Group was defeated, an important industrial area was liberated. 2nd Ukr. the front carried out the Bratislava-Brnov operation. As a result of these operations, conditions were created for the liberation of Prague and the Sudetenland and the southern flank of the 1st Ukrainian Front was secured, a threat was created complete environment and the liquidation of the German Army Group Center, which contributed to the successful completion of the Berlin operation.

Completion of the liberation of Yugoslavia It was carried out by the forces of the NOAU, renamed from March 1 to the Yugoslav army, equipped, at the request of the Yugoslav government, with Soviet weapons, with the support of the Soviet Danube river flotilla and aviation. On May 2, the city of Trieste was liberated, and by May 7, the liberation of the country was completed. But at the ultimatum demand of England and the United States on May 15, Trieste and the territory adjacent to it were transferred under the control of the allies and remained part of Italy. At the final stage of the fighting in Yugoslavia, the Germans lost over 300 thousand people and a lot of equipment and weapons. On April 11, 1945, the Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Post-War Cooperation between the USSR and Yugoslavia was signed in Moscow.

Hungary's participation in the war of conquest against the USSR brought it to the brink of disaster. By 1944, the Hungarian armed forces had suffered huge losses on the Soviet-German front. The fascist dictator M. Horthy still continued to unquestioningly fulfill Hitler's demands, but the inevitability of defeat Nazi Germany was already obvious. The internal state of Hungary was characterized by the growth of economic difficulties and social contradictions. Severe inflation has sharply lowered the standard of living of the population. On August 25, when an anti-fascist uprising took place in Romania, the Hungarian government decided not to allow Soviet troops to enter Hungary. Horthy and his entourage wanted to buy time, striving to preserve the social and social political system. These calculations did not take into account the actual situation at the front. The Red Army has already crossed the Hungarian border. Horthy still tried to enter into secret negotiations with the United States and England for a truce. However, this question could not be discussed without the decisive participation of the USSR. The Hungarian mission was forced to arrive in Moscow on October 1, 1944, having the authority to conclude an armistice agreement if the Soviet government agreed to the participation of the United States and England in the occupation of Hungary and to the free withdrawal of Nazi troops from Hungarian territory. The Germans learned about these steps of the Hungarian government. Hitler ordered to tighten control over his activities and at the same time sent large tank forces to the Budapest area. All this did not cause any opposition.

By the end of September 2nd Ukrainian Front opposed Army Group South (created to replace the former Army Group Southern Ukraine”) and part of the forces of Army Group F - a total of 32 divisions and 5 brigades. The 2nd Ukrainian Front had much greater forces and means at its disposal: it had 10,200 guns and mortars, 750 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 1,100 aircraft. The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the 2nd Ukrainian Front, with the assistance 4th Ukrainian Front defeat the enemy opposing them, which was to withdraw Hungary from the war on the side of Germany.

On October 6, the 2nd Ukrainian Front went on the offensive. The main blow was inflicted by them on the Army Group "South" in the Debrecen direction. From the very first days of the fighting, the attackers achieved significant results. On October 20, the troops of the front occupied Debrecen. Continuing to develop the offensive in a wide strip, the Soviet troops reached the Tisza line. On the left flank of the front, the formations of the 46th Army of General I. T. Shlemin crossed this river and, having mastered a large bridgehead, reached the Danube in the area of ​​​​the city of Baia and to the south. During the offensive battles, the eastern regions of Hungary and the northern part of Transylvania were liberated.

Importance Debrecen operation It also consisted in the fact that the exit of the main forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front to the rear of the Carpathian grouping of the enemy played a decisive role in the liberation of Transcarpathian Ukraine from the Hungarian-German occupation. In mid-October, the fascist command began to withdraw its troops in front of the center and left wing of the 4th Ukrainian Front. This allowed the troops of this front, who had not previously achieved a noticeable advance in the Carpathian passes, to proceed to pursue the enemy and successfully complete Carpathian-Uzhgorod operation. Uzhgorod and Mukachevo were liberated.

In Moscow, the Hungarian military delegation accepted the preliminary terms of the armistice agreement between Hungary and the USSR and its allies. On October 15, it was reported on Hungarian radio that the Hungarian government intended to withdraw from the war. However, this statement was only declarative. Horthy did not take any measures to neutralize the likely actions of the Nazi command, first of all, he did not pull the necessary military forces into the capital area. This allowed the Nazis, with the assistance of their Hungarian henchmen, to remove Horthy from power on October 16 and force him to give up the post of regent. The leader of the fascist party Salashi came to power, who immediately ordered the Hungarian troops to continue the fight on the side of Nazi Germany. And although forces appeared in the Hungarian army that did not want to obey the Nazis (the commander of the 1st Hungarian army, Bela Miklós, as well as several thousand soldiers and officers, went over to the side of the Soviet troops), Salashi and the Nazi command managed to suppress fermentation in the army by drastic measures and force it to act against the Soviet troops. The political situation in Hungary remained unstable.

At the end of October 1944, the troops of the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front launched an offensive in the direction of Budapest, where mainly Hungarian formations operated. By November 2, Soviet troops reached the approaches to Budapest from the south. The enemy transferred 14 divisions to the capital area and, relying on strong fortifications prepared in advance, delayed the further advance of the Soviet troops. The command of the 2nd Ukrainian Front was unable to correctly assess the strength of the enemy and his ability to resist. This was largely due to the fact that reconnaissance did not detect the concentration of enemy reserves in a timely manner. Developed more successfully fighting on the right wing of the front, where the advancing troops occupied Miskolc and to the north of it reached the Czechoslovak border.

Joined the battles for Budapest and 3rd Ukrainian Front. After the liberation of Belgrade, formations of this front crossed the Danube and, with the support of the 17th Air Army, advanced to Lakes Velence and Balaton, where they joined forces with the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. The Stavka reinforced the 3rd Ukrainian Front at the expense of part of the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Before the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, the Headquarters set the task of encircling the enemy grouping in Budapest and occupying the capital of Hungary by joint actions. The offensive began on 20 December. The troops of both fronts, overcoming the strong resistance of the enemy, advanced along converging directions and after 6 days of fighting united in the area of ​​the city of Esztergom. 50 - 60 km west of Budapest, 188,000 enemy groupings found themselves in an encirclement ring.

The Wehrmacht command continued to reinforce Army Group South with troops and equipment. To hold Hungary - its last satellite - the enemy transferred 37 divisions, removing them from the central sector of the Soviet-German front and from other places. By the beginning of January 1945, south of the Carpathians, the enemy had 16 tank and motorized divisions, which accounted for half of all his armored forces on the Soviet-German front. The Nazis tried to release their encircled Budapest grouping with strong counterattacks. To this end, they launched three counterattacks. Hitler's troops managed to dismember the 3rd Ukrainian Front and reach the western bank of the Danube. The 4th Guards Army, which was operating on the external front, found itself in a particularly difficult situation; Nazi tanks broke through to its command post. However, the enemy's breakthrough was eliminated by the joint actions of the 3rd and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. By the beginning of February, the position of the Soviet troops was restored. At a time when the enemy tried in vain to break through the outer ring of encirclement, part of the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front fought fierce battles on the streets of the Hungarian capital. On January 18, the assault troops occupied the eastern part of the city - Pest, and on February 13 the western - Buda. This ended the fierce struggle for the liberation of Budapest. Over 138 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were taken prisoner. . Through democratic elections in the liberated territory, a supreme body was created - the Provisional National Assembly, which formed the Provisional Government. On December 28, this government decided that Hungary would withdraw from the war on the side of Nazi Germany and declared war on it. Shortly thereafter, on January 20, 1945, a Hungarian government delegation sent to Moscow signed an armistice agreement. The main forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, in cooperation with the 4th Ukrainian Front, were advancing in Czechoslovakia at the same time that the Budapest operation was unfolding. Having advanced 100-150 km, they liberated hundreds of Czechoslovak villages and cities.

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). The German troops had about 3.5 thousand guns and mortars, about 300 tanks, assault guns and 550 aircraft.

The 2nd Ukrainian Front included the 40th, 7th Guards, 27th, 53rd and 46th Armies, the 6th Guards Tank and 5th Air Armies, 2 cavalry mechanized groups and 18 th tank corps. The Soviet front was also subordinate to two Romanian combined arms armies (1st and 4th), a volunteer division named after Tudor Vladimirescu and a Romanian aviation corps. This group included: 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 Headquarters of the Supreme High Command main goal 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 prerequisites were created for the Red Army to reach the borders of Austria, the southern regions of Czechoslovakia, and a threat to South 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 (having defeated the 8th German and 2nd Hungarian armies). In addition, Malinovsky's armies were supposed to go to the rear of the Carpathian group (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 in the Debrecen direction, along the Oradea, Debrecen, Nyiregyhaza line. The strike force of the front included: the 53rd Army under the command of Ivan Managarov, the 6th Guards Tank Army of Andrei Kravchenko and the cavalry mechanized group (KMG) of Issa Pliev (2 cavalry and 1 mechanized corps). On the left wing of the front, the 46th Army under the command of Ivan Shlemin and the 1st Romanian Army of Corps General V. Atanasiu advanced. The left wing of the front advanced across the territory of Yugoslavia in the Szeged direction, and was supposed to occupy a bridgehead on the right bank of the Tisza River. On the right wing, the 40th under the command of Philip Zhmachenko (in the Sziget direction) and the 7th Guards Army of Mikhail Shumilov (in the direction of Dej and Satu Mare) and the 27th army of Sergei Trofimenko (Kluzh direction) advanced. The Romanian 4th Army of Corps General G. Avramescu and the mechanized cavalry group of Lieutenant General S. I. 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 Tisza

On the eve of the operation, in the second half of September 1944, Soviet long-range aviation inflicted strong blows on important railway junctions, bridges, warehouses and other facilities on Hungarian territory. Aviation also attacked Budapest, Satu Mare, Debrecen and other Hungarian centers. The offensive began on October 6 with a short but strong artillery and air preparation. Soviet artillery and aviation attacked enemy positions, fortifications, firing points and rear areas.

On the Debrecen direction, 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 repel fierce enemy counterattacks in the area between Oradea and Salonta. However, with the offensive of the troops of Managarov and Pliev on Elek and Kartsag and on the left wing of the front of the 46th army of Shlemin 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 S.K. Goryunov, defeated the 3rd Hungarian Army. Soviet troops not only broke through the enemy defenses, but also advanced up to 100 kilometers in three days, reaching the Kartsaga area. On October 8, Pliev's mechanized cavalry group reached the southwestern approaches to Debrecen. On the same day, Soviet troops crossed the Tisza and captured a number of bridgeheads.

Thus, as a result of the breakthrough of the front and the rapid advance of the Soviet troops, the Debrecen enemy grouping was engulfed 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 gave the order to withdraw troops. Pursued by 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 line Oradea - Debrecen. 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 reinforced the main strike force with the help of formations deployed from the right flank, from the Regin-Turda area - the 7th Guards Army and Gorshkov's cavalry-mechanized group.

During a fierce battle, overcoming the stubborn resistance of the enemy, on October 12, Soviet troops took Oradea, on October 20 - Debrecen. Developing an offensive to the north, on October 21, Pliev's cavalry broke into the city of Nyiregyhaza. The advanced Soviet units reached the Tisza 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. three army and one tank corps. German troops were able to intercept KMG Pliev's communications. 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 section. On the left flank, units of the 46th Army of Shlemin occupied a large bridgehead on the Tisza, went to the Danube near the city of Baia 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 border of Hungary a few days later. Thus, the armies of the 2nd Ukrainian Front on the left flank crossed the Tissa and occupied a large bridgehead, in the center on a wide front they reached the river, and on the right flank they came close to the river.

The operation was successful, although it did not solve the main problem. Hungary could not be withdrawn 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 bridgehead on the Tisza River, creating conditions for a decisive offensive in the Budapest direction. During the offensive battles, Northern Transylvania and the eastern regions of Hungary were liberated. The German-Hungarian troops suffered a heavy defeat, losing more than 40 thousand prisoners alone. In addition, the plans of the German command to create a stable line of defense along the border 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 grouping of the enemy 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, previously stuck on the powerful Carpathian line of the enemy, to proceed to pursue the enemy and successfully complete the Carpathian-Uzhgorod operation, freeing 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. Desertion and defection to the side of the Soviet troops intensified in the Hungarian army. And the Horthy regime stepped up negotiations with England and the United States, and agreed to conclude a truce with the USSR. True, this political process did not end with success. Horthy was removed and replaced by the right-wing radical Salashi, who continued the war to the end. Additional German forces entered Hungary.

The attack on Budapest began almost without a pause. Already on October 29, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front struck at the enemy. The operation involved the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front and formations of the 3rd Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Soviet Union Fyodor Tolbukhin. Tolbukhin's troops had just completed the Belgrade operation () and were regrouping in Hungary to participate in the attack on Budapest.

The Headquarters set the task of striking with the goal of encircling and defeating the enemy's Budapest grouping, liberating the Hungarian capital in order to withdraw Hungary from the war, and create the prerequisites for the liberation of Czechoslovakia and Austria. The main blow was delivered on the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front by the 46th army of Shlemin, reinforced by the 2nd and 4th guards mechanized corps. Shlemin's army was advancing 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 was supposed to bypass Budapest from the northeast. The remaining forces of the front received the task of pinning down the enemy troops 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 region, were to occupy 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 the 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 declared that he would rather give up Berlin than Hungarian oil and Austria. Therefore, powerful mobile formations were concentrated in Hungary, including selected SS troops. In Hungary, the Germans and Hungarians were going to stop the Soviet armies, not to let them go 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

The calculation of the Soviet 122-mm howitzer M-30 in the battle for Budapest. On the right, the Erzhebet bridge, blown up by German troops, connecting Buda and Pest is visible.

Soldiers of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in street battles for Budapest

The left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front broke through the enemy defenses in the Budapest direction, where the Hungarian troops were mainly defending, and on November 2 came out from the south to the near approaches to Budapest. However, the city was not taken. The German command transferred 14 divisions (including 3 armored and one motorized divisions) to the area of ​​​​the Hungarian capital and, relying on strong fortifications equipped in advance, 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 defenses between the Tisza and the Danube and advanced 100 kilometers in a northwestern direction. Soviet troops reached the outer defensive contour of the Hungarian capital.

On December 5, the troops of the center and left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front resumed their attack on Budapest. Parts of the 7th Guards, 6th Guards Tank Army and the Cavalry-Mechanized Pliev Group by December 9 reached the Danube north of Budapest. As a result, the Budapest grouping of the enemy was cut off the escape routes to the north. On the left flank, Shlemin's 46th Army crossed the Danube south of Budapest. However, the Soviet troops could not take Budapest this time either. The Germans and Hungarians stopped the Soviet troops on the "Margarita Line". The German command, having in the Budapest area 250 thousand. the grouping, which relied on a strong system of fortifications, was held back by the Soviet offensive. German and Hungarian troops put up fierce resistance, the fighting took on an extremely stubborn character. The Soviet command did not have correct data on the enemy's forces (this was due to intelligence shortcomings) and could not correctly assess the enemy's ability 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 armies) 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 lakes Velence and Balaton. Here they joined forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

On December 10-20, 1944, the troops of the two fronts were preparing for a new offensive. Soviet armies were to strike from the northeast, east and southwest to complete the encirclement and destruction of the Budapest grouping, to liberate the capital of Hungary. The troops of two fronts, overcoming the fierce resistance of the enemy (the German-Hungarian forces numbered 51 German and Hungarian divisions and 2 brigades, including 13 tank and motorized), 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, 188,000 troops were surrounded 50-60 km west of Budapest. enemy grouping.

To stop further bloodshed, the Soviet command sent parliamentarians with a proposal to surrender. Captain Ilya Ostapenko's group was sent to Buda, and Captain Miklos Steinmetz to Pest. The Germans killed the Soviet parliamentarians. Thus, Budapest, with its more than a million population, through the fault of the German command and the government of Salashi, who himself fled the city, was doomed to become the scene 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 South Army group. 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 Eastern Front. The Germans had never had such a density of tank troops 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 burnt heavy tank Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. E "Tiger" from the 3rd Panzer Regiment of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Dead Head". Lake Balaton area.

German panzergrenadiers on armored personnel carriers 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 defeated in Budapest. On the railway platform - Hungarian medium tank 41M Turan II

Violent fighting continued in Hungary. The German command tried to release the encircled Budapest grouping with strong counterattacks. German-Hungarian troops delivered three strong counterattacks. In some cases, there were 50-60 German tanks per 1 km of the breakthrough area. On January 2-6, 1945, German troops advanced 30-40 km along the right bank of the Danube. Especially powerful was the offensive on January 18-26 (the third counterattack) inflicted 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 advance, the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, Marshal Tolbukhin, applied the experience Battle of Kursk. Soviet troops in as soon as possible created defense in depth up to 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. Through the 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 the German troops were trying to unblock the Budapest grouping, part of the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front - a specially created Budapest group of troops under the command of Lieutenant General Ivan Afonin, and the field of his wound, Ivan Managarov (3 rifle corps, 9 artillery brigades), stormed Budapest. The fights were stubborn. Only on January 18 they took the eastern part of the city - Pest, and on February 13 - Buda. About 140 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were taken prisoner.

Operation results

Soviet troops surrounded and destroyed almost 190,000 enemy forces, liberated two-thirds of the country, and stormed Budapest. 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 the attack 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 declared war on Germany. On January 20, 1945, the Hungarian delegation in Moscow signed an armistice agreement. The liberation of Hungary by the Soviet troops thwarted the plans of London and Washington to use the Hungarian territory in their own interests.