[烛光生存狂]-【战史】维也纳的红军谢尔曼

http://warandgame.wordpress.com/2008/05/

The Vienna offensive operation (16 March to 15 April 1945) was a strategic offensive operation of the Third and left wing of the Second Ukrainian Fronts. Its purpose was to complete the defeat of the German forces in the western portion of Hungary and the liberation of Vienna, Austria’s capital.

The plan devised by Stavka was to conduct the main attack with forces of the right wing of the Third Ukrainian Front (4th and 9th Guards Armies) and the supporting attack with forces of the left wing of Second Ukrainian Front (46th Army and 2d Guards Mechanized Corps) in the general direction of Vienna.

The shock group of the Third Ukrainian Front consisted of 18 rifle divisions, 3,900 guns and mortars, and 197 tanks and self-propelled guns. More than 800 aircraft of the 17th Air Army were in support of this force. The shock group of the Second Ukrainian Front consisted of 12 rifle divisions, 2,686 guns and mortars, and 165 tanks and self-propelled guns.

The shock group of the Third Ukrainian Front (4th and 9th Guards Armies) launched their offensive on 16 March. Having broken through the enemy’s defenses north of Szekesfehervar, this force began to move forward in a western and southwestern direction. The enemy was offering stubborn resistance. On 19 March, the 6th Guards Tank Army, to which my unit belonged, was introduced into the fight.

On 30 March, mobile formations of the right wing of the Third Ukrainian Front crossed the Austrian border. Having seized the towns of Sopron and Wiener-Neustadt between 1 and 4 April, the front’s forces had reached the approaches to Vienna. To crush the enemy’s fierce resistance, the Soviet command decided to bypass the city with forces of the Third Ukrainian Front from the south and with forces of the Second Ukrainian Front from the north. By n April, the front line had reached the near approaches to the Austrian capital. Fighting had begun for the city itself.

By the conclusion of 13 April, Vienna had been swept clean of enemy forces.

Tanks are not made for cities! Their combat capabilities are sharply reduced there: maneuverability is limited; engagement ranges are, for the most part, extremely close; without adequate infantry support, these combat vehicles can be relatively easily destroyed by enemy antitank gunners from close ranges and from concealed positions. Tank units strive to bypass cities. There were, however, occasions when the order firmly stated, “Go in!”

Early April 1945. Formations of the 6th Guards Army had seized the cities of Sopron and Sombatkhey in northwest Hungary. Vienna was about sixty kilometers away. We had to interfere with the Germans’ efforts to mine and destroy historical monuments and bridges, to move industrial equipment and cultural treasures out of Austria’s capital. The army commander, Colonel-General A. G. Kravchenko, made the decision to send a detachment to Vienna. This detachment consisted of the 1st Tank Battalion, 46th Guards Tank Brigade (eighteen Shermans), three SAU-152 guns [Samokhodno-artilleriyskaya ustanovka, self-propelled gun, of 152-mm, or 6-inch, bore diameter], and a company of airborne troops—eighty men from the 1st Airborne Battalion of the 304th Airborne Regiment, commanded by Guards Lieutenant Nikolay Georgievich Petukhov. The detachment was ordered to function as a raiding detachment in the enemy’s rear area, hurriedly reach Vienna, penetrate into the city center from the south, and seize key objectives: the parliament building, art history museum, opera house, Belvedere Palace, and Academy of Sciences. We were to hold the captured buildings and surrounding blocks until the arrival of the main body of the 9th Guards Mechanized Corps. The crews were briefed that they would be operating in the enemy’s backyard for twenty-four hours, possibly even longer.

The army commander cleverly included in the detachment the high maneuverability and firepower of tanks and self-propelled guns with the practiced ability of airborne troops to fight fierce and prolonged battles in the enemy’s rear. It was ever so strictly ordered: “Except in the most extreme case, do not become engaged in combat on the way to the Austrian capital!”

We began our careful preparation for this unusual and, we understood, difficult raid on the evening of 8 April. Two crates of captured chocolate (one could live several days on them) were placed on each Sherman and, more important, the tanks and self-propelled guns were loaded with two norms of ammunition.

The preparations and concerns took two hours. Everything was ready for the departure! The crews and paratroopers slept. How many hours would they have to combat the enemy without sleep or rest? No one knew.

Morning, 9 April. A thick fog blanketed the earth. The infantry at the forward edge did their uneasy work—they penetrated the enemy’s defense. We received the signal, “90″ (“Tanks, move out!”).

As the detachment commander, I shared a single thought and emotion with each tanker—get to Vienna quickly. Two circumstances dictated such operations. First, the objectives designated for capture were located a significant distance from the front line. Their defense might still not be well organized. Second, the Germans were unlikely to conceive of the idea that the Russian command would take this unbelievably risky step—inserting tanks and infantry into such a large metropolitan area.

The battalion column approached the southern outskirts of Vienna, the area of Favoriten. From here lay the shortest path to the center of the Austrian capital. An antitank gun fired from behind an earthen wall dating from the Middle Ages, setting one Emcha ablaze. Our hope for surprise on this axis had vanished. Î ordered the unit to withdraw to the northern outskirts of Erla. The crews and paratroopers quickly ate their rations. I called a conference of the company commanders, and we discussed the developing situation. All the officers agreed: execute a maneuver, try our military luck at another spot. This was a normal course of action in such circumstances. But where should we make this effort?

The southeastern sector of Vienna had several less dense built-up areas near the Danube canal. Honestly speaking, however, we did not have full confidence that the approach of Russian tanks to the city was not known here also. That is, on the new axis (if we went that way), we might not be able to achieve the necessary security for movement. One thing was sure. If we continued on our present course, we would suffer more losses.

We studied the layout of the southwestern sector of the Austrian capital. We were looking for a route through Meydling to the city center. There were substantial obstacles—hilly terrain covered by a forest and a winding road. The enemy would not need substantial forces to delay us. We decided upon a variant— bypass Vienna from the southwest and break into the city in the sector of the Hutteldorf-Linz highway.

Austria’s main highways were in excellent condition. The fires of war had not yet touched them. They were lined with tall, leafy trees. Their interarching green borders camouflaged the detachment well from the most dangerous threat in this situation — enemy aviation.

Darkness was approaching when the battalion reached the bridge west of Hutteldorf. Barricades blocked the streets and approaches to the bridge. Antitank fire struck the tank of Guards Senior Lieutenant Grigoriy Danil’chenko, commander of the 1st Tank Company. We were forced to withdraw a bit. We maneuvered to the right and reached Hakking. Our mission was growing more difficult as time passed! Here a solid fortress wall of

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