";s:4:"text";s:3815:"The area was secured and a Soviet victory was won, but at a great cost.
Even with air support, the German resistance was stiff and the advance proceeded slowly with minor advances made on the first day.Much the same, by the second day the German frontlines still held and Soviet frontline troops proceeded to make minor advances once more. Heinrici had two children, Hartmut and Gisela, with his wife Gertrude.The Heinrici family had been soldiers since the 12th century. He depleted the men at the other parts of the line and turned the Oder floodplain into a swamp by releasing water from a dam to strengthen the Heights.
Though it was then discovered that the artillery had fired upon unoccupied fortifications and when the German infantry returned to their positions after the initial bombardments, they laid heavy fire upon the Soviet troops. Ziemke, Earl.
The Soviets were able to muster and field around 2.5 million men, 7,500 aircraft, 6,250 tanks, 41,600 artillery pieces not including the near 3,255 truck-mounted Katyusha rockets, and 95,383 motor vehicles for the Berlin Operation.The battle for Seelow Heights began when thousands of artillery pieces all opened fire upon German lines protecting the Soviet infantry advance. He had only enough ammunition for five days at most and virtually no fuel, while the Soviets (though having a few significant logistical troubles of their own) outnumbered him almost 10:1 and had total control of the air.
Heinrici saw action on both the Eastern and Western fronts in the Late in January 1942, Heinrici was given command of the In late 1943, Göring had Heinrici placed in a convalescent home in Karlsbad on the pretext of "ill health". By April 19, the Soviets had broken through the last line, and the By late April, Heinrici realized that the remnants of Around April 21, Hitler, now holed up in the underground Berlin bunker, learned of the retreat of Army Group Vistula only after a puzzling request by Heinrici, who sought permission to move his headquarters to a new site.
By this time, the German situation was at its worst. A description of the fighting at the Seelow HeightsCoupled with the terrible conditions caused by the flooding of the area, the infantry were mowed down in droves. The Russians had established bridgeheads across the Oder and were now at the Seelow Heights, dubbed as the "Gates of Berlin" because it was the last cohorent line of defence before Berlin itself. They also made three defensive lines filled with anti-tank guns and ditches, bunkers, and trenches spreading back to Berlin.
This was actually punishment for refusing to set fire to Smolensk in accordance with the Nazi "In the summer of 1944, after eight months of enforced retirement, Heinrici was sent to Hungary and placed in command of the As Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Vistula, Heinrici commanded two armies: the The Soviets had advanced rapidly in early 1945, conquering East Prussia, Danzig and much of Pomerania, but had been stalled east of the Oder for months.
On March 20, 1945, Heinrich Himmler was replaced by Gotthard Heinrici as commander of Army Group Vistula. Heinrici's first line finally broke apart, but the Soviets were again slowed (and bloodied) by his second and third defensive lines.