‘At your orders, Comrade Lieutenant-Colonel.’
Kravtshenko really did not have it easy. He not only had to look after shells and fueclass="underline" beginning with foot bandages for the soldiers, via the regimental kitchen to the transporting away of the wounded, and the security and defence of the Rear Services, he had a multitude of problems to deal with.
Once they had all gone, Sacharkin pulled a small letter out of his map case. ‘I have received more information from corps headquarters,’ he said. ‘Tomorrow early, the 14th April, part of the rifle units will make a reconnaissance in force supported by a strong artillery group. The attack by the rifle units begins on the night of the 15th/16th April. We have to cross the Oder on the 16th and pass through the breakthrough point on the 17th.’
I was quiet for several seconds trying to concentrate on the plan. ‘Our superiors have sprung surprises again. Not only on the enemy, but also on us,’ I remarked sarcastically.
‘You are right,’ Sacharkin said. ‘At last the moment of surprise can decide the success of the whole operation.’
We discussed how we could best move the regiment to the bridgehead. There were about 7,000 [actually 3,000] tanks and self-propelled guns in the woods north of Küstrin that all had to be moved across the Oder. If the rifle units moved forward to the bridges the roads would soon be blocked and the enemy would know the direction of our main thrust for sure.
I therefore decided to ask General Krivoshein to allow me to get to the crossing points on the morning of the 16th April, so that we could be called forward to the bridges by companies. The general agreed.
‘It seems that we have settled everything.’ I said good-night to Sacharkin and turned in.
The Historic Battle Begins
The night of the 16th/17th April was dark. Not a star stood in the heavens. Shots rang from either side of the Oder. Then quiet returned. It was a night on the front line like so many others, but no one slept, for the attack on Berlin would begin in a few hours.
At the predetermined time the thunder of a gun tore through the quiet. We had all been waiting for this signal. The Katiushas fired, and shortly afterwards the artillery and mortar batteries. The infantry attacked the first enemy trenches even during the artillery preparation. The rattling of their machine-pistols and rifles came over to us. The infantry had engaged in the fight with the forward elements of the 9th German Army.
The beam of a searchlight bored into the sky. That was the signal to cease the artillery preparation, and tanks and infantry went into the attack.
Tanks and self-propelled artillery rolled in an unbroken stream across the Oder bridges. Our regiment followed the tanks of Babaian’s brigade. I wanted to drive ahead to the bridges in my Jeep, but others overtook me. Trucks and fighting vehicles moved in a tight column and could squash my light vehicle. I climbed aboard my SPG and got through on it. The drivers were afraid of it and let it pass. Only the tank-men were unimpressed by it and drove on unperturbed in their vehicles.
On the morning of the 17th April I received the order to go through the breakthrough sector and thrust forward quickly to the Seelow Heights with the other elements of the tank armies to which the Front’s mobile groups belonged.
During a short stop I mentioned to one of my machine-pistol men that his boot was torn. ‘Report it to your sergeant-major, he should exchange it for you,’ I called out to him.
‘Unnecessary, Comrade Lieutenant-Colonel. It should last until we get to Berlin.’
On the Seelow Heights the enemy had concentrated strong artillery forces and dug in assault guns and tanks. On the slopes were several trenches whose approaches were covered by barbed wire and minefields. Our regiment attacked north of Seelow in the Gusow–Platkow–Batzlow direction. At Gusow the self-propelled gun crews secured the 37th Mechanised Brigade’s crossing of the Alte Oder.
Staff-Sergeant Cholopov opened fire on Schloss Gusow and silenced a German machine-gun. Then with some well-aimed shots he put several armoured vehicles of the 11th SS Motorised Division Nordland out of action.
Near Platkow there was a more interesting episode. Goats emerged from a wood to drink in the river. Apparently Cholopov must have had tears in his eyes from shooting so long, for he thought there were enemy infantry before him and fired several shots. Major Sacharkin, watching this through his binoculars, laughed out loud: ‘That can’t be true! Such an experienced fighter, and unable to distinguish goats from infantry!’ But Cholopov had the last laugh. Our cook praised him in the highest terms, for he could prepare a wonderful Borscht from goat-meat.
There was bitter fighting on the Seelow Heights. Under these circumstances the Front War Council decided to bring reserves into the battle. Hundreds of fighter-bombers and fighters appeared over the enemy positions. At dawn the infantry resumed the attack. I drove to the commander’s conference and saw the troops on the move. On the right went Vedeniev’s tanks, on the left Vainrub’s. At corps headquarters I discovered that the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which had been fed into the battle from the Sandomierz bridgehead, were successfully thrusting forward to the west.
Unlike Marshal Zhukov, Marshal Koniev had made an immediate breakthrough of the enemy defences in his area and had meanwhile persuaded Stalin to let him participate in the battle for Berlin. Stalin, who was jealous of Zhukov’s popularity, seized this opportunity to humiliate him. Stalin’s taunting then led to Zhukov attempting to force the issue by introducing his two tank armies into the battle prematurely, severely impeding the 8th Guards Army’s assault on the Seelow Heights’ defences.
The infantry climbed up the slopes of the Seelow Heights; the engines of the tanks and self-propelled guns, towing vehicles with mortars, howled agonisingly as they struggled up the slopes, with the artillery also under tow. Following a renewed artillery bombardment, the attack made considerable progress and the enemy had to abandon the Heights. Finally our troops conducted some severe fighting at the enemy strongpoints of Batzlow, Buckow and Fürstenwalde.
Our column stopped before Batzlow. The village was on fire, and the fighting continued for several hours, personally orchestrated by the corps commander.
In contrast to March, April was sunny, warm and dry. Numerous woods were on fire and thick smoke made breathing difficult. The fighting was bitter and costly, but our tanks and SPGs advanced quickly on the asphalted roads. We drove into a small village. Nothing moved. The inhabitants had left their homes. Wherever one looked one saw thrown-away weapons, destroyed equipment and dead soldiers. But the enemy was still conducting an increasingly bitter resistance.
The fighting had not abated for four days, but our regiment was still in the reserve as before. We followed the corps’ first echelon, stopping, camouflaging the vehicles in a wood and rolling on again. Slowly the troops became nervous. They wanted to get involved in the fighting at long last.
Our advance battalion had liberated Zepernick and was approaching Malchow. There, towards 1000 hours on the 20th April, they were brought to a stop by the enemy. Sacharkin and I drove forward and observed the enemy.
Malchow was surrounded by rifle trenches. From further left towards Wartenburg came flashes of gunfire, and the thunder of the guns came across to us. Part of our corps had become stuck in the enemy defences and found itself under heavy fire.
General Krivoshein had decided to widen the wedge and push on further. Because of this, Yershov, the new corps chief of staff came to see me. ‘Our leading elements have reached the city area,’ he reported. ‘The corps commander is putting everything into taking Malchow and then attacking the city with all our forces.’