Chapter 7 The Big Picture: A Short History of World War II | 159 |
The Road to Berlin
After the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans have only 26 divisions on the Second Front; most are either far below strength or consist of old men and young boys. Facing them are 57 infantry, 23 armored, and five airborne divisions, all at full strength. Eisenhower’s
Eisenhower’s plan goes forward as planned, with one unexpected change. On March 7, the U.S. First Army surprises the Germans at Remagen on the Rhine; the Americans capture the bridge before the Germans can destroy it. American troops pour over the bridge, creating a lodgment from which they launch an attack on March 25.
German units begin to surrender en masse. Army Group B surrenders on April 18. Less than a week later, American units meet Soviet units on the Elbe near Torgau. Eisenhower has already decided to let the Soviets take Berlin; he believes that casualties for British, Canadian, and American units will be too high if he tries to take the German capital.
Red Sky in the East the Soviets Capture Berlin
In early April, Stalin meets with his commanders (Marshals Koniev and Zhukov) to plan the final assault on Berlin. The Germans have prepared three major lines of defense; the Soviets fly hundreds of reconnaissance flights
and photograph every sector. Zhukov has a scale model of Berlin built to plan artillery barrages and infantry movements. On Zhukov’s front alone, the Soviets haul in over 7,000,000 artillery rounds. On April 16, the Red Army attacks.
Koniev’s forces make good progress from the outset, but Zhukov’s forces are stalled by fierce German resistance. Against orders from Stalin, Zhukov orders his armor forward to break the deadlock. By April 19, he has cracked all three German defensive lines. The next day, the bombardment of Berlin is well underway; the shelling is so intense that some civilians hiding in cellars are driven insane.
Berlin is completely surrounded by April 25. The next day, 500,000 Soviet troops converge on the center of Berlin. Finally, an assault on the Reichstag itself begins. At 1425 hours on April 30, two Red Army sergeants wave the Soviet
