A long, fiery-red flame shot from Shevtshuk’s gun. The shell went howling towards the Reichstag and exploded short of its target. The second shot went too far.
‘Now that you have got the range, the whole company can open fire effectively,’ Sacharkin said soberly. The first salvo cracked. I looked through the periscope. The dome of the Reichstag had disappeared behind thick smoke. The company went on to fire several salvoes. Finally Mussatov had the company fall in and thanked the crews.
Machine-guns began hammering in Siemensstadt. That was our infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel Pashitnov, our training officer, ordered the company commanders to silence the enemy. The firing continued.
The infantry jumped up and worked their way closer to the canal. But before we could cross it we had to find possible crossing points. I decided to send the scouts at nightfall. The group would be led by Staff-Sergeant Cholopov. He was experienced and clever and knew his way not only as a sapper but also with the SPGs.
‘The task must be completed by 0100 hours! Understood?’
‘Yes! No questions,’ replied Cholopov.
The groups set off late that evening. Half an hour later the men had reached our front line. They crept into a small building and went down into the cellar, from where they had a good view over the canal. Cholopov reported: ‘The canal has steep banks and is about 20 metres wide. A mortar is firing from the other side. We will now wait until it is fully dark, then we will creep up to the bridge.’
At last the time came. The scouts crept up to the canal, concealing themselves on the bush-covered bank. Someone was talking on the bridge and carefully struck a match.
‘We will swim across to the bridge,’ decided Cholopov. ‘Pavlov will remain on this embankment and maintain communication with headquarters.’
The scouts slid carefully into the water. Cholopov in front, behind him Sergeant Gaviuchin, then Sappers Pusitchev and Babashev. The ice-cold water burnt their bodies like fire.
‘They’ve stopped at the bridge, hardly visible above water,’ reported Pavlov.
Verey lights went up lighting up the ground around the bridge. The scouts vanished under the water as if ordered. Finally they reached the bridge’s piers. Above them a sentry was going to and fro. Somebody gave an order and the boots came closer. When Pavlov reported that the sappers had found two explosive charges and disarmed them, Sacharkin could hardly contain himself for joy.
Slowly the time went by but the scouts did not return. The connection with them was broken. At last footsteps were heard. Wet through and frozen, Cholopov reported: ‘Task fulfilled.’
I thanked them and ordered Lieutenant Mussatov to give the men 100 grams of vodka each. Shortly afterwards, we attacked the bridge supported by the infantry, covering the land between the canal and the Spree with a hail of shells. The enemy fled back to the Spree, many of the Volkssturm surrendering, happy that the war was over for them.
Unfortunately this was not always the result. We had to fight hard for every foot of ground. The storm troops had great difficulty forcing their way into the cellars and ground floor of a multi-storey building. The buildings around hampered our SPGs. We had no choice but to blow up a corner building. Our scouts and some signallers could enter the adjoining building to lay telephone wires. Everything depended upon the building having been abandoned by the enemy. Then suddenly a bullet whistled past my ears. I then realised that we had fallen into a trap. The enemy had made small holes in the walls to fire through. There seemed to be no way out of the predicament. But here too Babashev wanted to help. He poured inflammable liquid over several chairs, set light to them, and the room filled with smoke. Then, as he had no Trotyl left, he ignited it with some dummy explosive charges. It worked wonders. The Fascists hastily abandoned the building.
Despite strong resistance, our regiment got over the Spree and took up the fight in Charlottenburg with the tanks and motorised infantry of the 1st Mechanised Corps. Here the enemy defended himself even more strongly than before. He detected his end was near and wanted to hold out as long as possible.
The narrow alleys in Charlottenburg hampered our advance to the Tiergarten and to the Reichstag. Overall an SPG, including its gun barrel, was more than 10 metres long and almost 4 metres wide. So it was no longer possible for us to break through walls and trample down fences.
Lieutenant Kuklin went first with his SPG, Ivanov’s company following him. Kuklin had not forgotten his oath to be the first of our regiment to break through to the Reichstag. He wanted to exact revenge for his friends Gumar Salichov and Piotr Korotkov. Nothing seemed able to stop him. When Ivanov reported to me that Kuklin was fighting well ahead of the others, I immediately sent him Lieutenant Olitshev’s submachine-gun platoon to help, but it was already too late. His SPG was hit by a Panzerfaust and set on fire. Kuklin lost his life in this attack. This sad news hit us like a crushing blow. We removed our helmets and thought of him in silence. Our superiors posthumously awarded Kuklin the Order of the Great Fatherland War 1st Class.
Last Efforts
From documents and the memoirs of the former Fascist General Weidling, we know what the Fascist leadership clique did during the time from the 29th April to the 2nd May to prolong their defeat, if only for a few hours. The situation for the Berlin Garrison was anything but enviable. The Fascist troops had suffered heavy losses and many of their supply depots, which were mainly located in the outer districts, were already in our hands.
The Polish 1st Division Tadeusz Kosciusko reached Charlottenburg on the 29th April 1945 and came to our help. Our speed of attack increased and the situation for our troops improved. The supply of ammunition, fuel and foodstuffs worked excellently and our firepower increased. As stated by captured German generals, the enemy in the fighting for Berlin alone lost 100,000 men killed or wounded.
Our army’s headquarters was located in Charlottenburg with the four large staff vehicles under deep cover. I went there in the hope of meeting the staff officers of our corps to learn details of the situation in Charlottenburg. General Bogdanov sat in a wireless vehicle in front of a radio transmitting his orders to the corps commanders. ‘Comrade 20, send your reserve across the Spree. Lead the attack on map square 23!’
I looked at my map. This order applied to Krivoshein. The Tiergarten lay in map square 23. Once more I was impressed by General Bogdanov’s cleverness. With the advance of our troops into the Tiergarten, the enemy groups would be spread even further apart. That made it even more difficult for General of Artillery Weidling, entrusted with the defence of Berlin, to command his troops. He had already lost contact with some of his troops who had now become isolated from each other in Berlin.
The commander of the 12th Tank Corps, Major-General Salminov, reported that he had completed the ‘job’, together with General Berzarin. General Bogdanov ordered him to report to army headquarters for new assignments.
From the receiver came the booming bass of the corps commander, Vedeneiev. His troops had met up with the 47th Army north of Berlin in an outflanking manoeuvre and defeated the fighting German units. The general asked for the losses of officers in his armoured elements to be filled.
‘My thanks for this outstanding achievement. I cannot send you any officers at the moment. However, I will consider it,’ replied Bogdanov. After this talk Bogdanov went over to a radio and had a conversation, apparently with the Front War Council. As the army’s war council member, General Latyshev, climbed into the vehicle, Bogdanov went straight up to him. ‘Here is the new task. We are to make a thrust with part of our forces in an easterly direction along the Spree in order to support Kusnezov in the taking of the Reichstag.’