In August 1944, during WWII, the Soviet 112th Rifle Division repelled an attack by German forces, including new Tiger tanks, near Szydłów, Poland. Despite initial setbacks and being outflanked, the Soviets managed to destroy several enemy tanks and retreated to avoid encirclement. The Red Army faced challenges with fuel, ammunition, and equipment shortages but held strategic bridgeheads on the Vistula River. German forces aimed to cut off Soviet advance units and force a peace treaty but failed. The Soviet's successful defense and counter-attacks led to the encirclement and surrender of Sandomierz, securing a significant bridgehead for further advances into Germany. The operation highlighted the resilience of Soviet troops and the ineffectiveness of German tactics, leading to an operational standstill in Eastern Europe as the Red Army prepared for a decisive offensive.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The Soviet Union launched an offensive on Szydłów on August 11, 1944, against an enemy force of up to 60 tanks and 1,000 motorized infantry.
2. The 112th Rifle Division repulsed the attacks, but the enemy started outflanking Szydłów to complete the encirclement of the division.
3. To avoid being surrounded, the division retreated.
4. The Soviet forces encountered new Tiger heavy tanks, which demonstrated high resistance to 57 mm and 76 mm armor-piercing shells.
5. The vulnerable parts of the Tiger tanks were the tracks, wheels, sprocket wheel, and gun.
6. The Soviet artillery managed to destroy up to three advanced enemy tanks on August 11.
7. In summer 1944, the Red Army pushed German troops from Belarus and Ukraine and entered Polish territory.
8. The 1st Belarusian Front seized two strategically important bridgeheads to the west of the Vistula River, south of Warsaw.
9. The 1st Ukrainian Front, led by Ivan Konev, crossed the Vistula near Baranów Sandomierski and secured two vital bridgeheads.
10. The Soviet forces had a good capability to conduct an offensive towards central Germany up to the Oder River without meeting any major natural obstacles.
11. However, the troops were running out of fuel and ammunition, and the lack of manpower and combat equipment was catastrophic.
12. The Wehrmacht supreme command concluded that German troops could regain their combat capability faster since they were close to their supply bases.
13. Hitler ordered Colonel General Josef Harpe to launch a counter-offensive south of Sandomierz.
14. Harpe's army group was to destroy the Vistula crossings and cut off the Soviet advance units from their main forces.
15. The German top brass planned to inflict a heavy defeat on the Red Army and its Western allies and force them to sign a peace treaty on acceptable conditions.
16. In 1944, arms production reached its peak in Germany, and the armed forces received cutting-edge military equipment, including jets, ballistic missiles, heavy tanks, and self-propelled artillery systems.
17. The Wehrmacht's top strategic objective was to eliminate the Sandomierz bridgehead, and Harpe's army group was augmented with a battalion of top-notch Wunderwaffe tanks, unofficially called Royal Tigers.
18. On August 11, the Germans crushed the front line of defense and took Szydłów.
19. Despite unexpected losses from artillery fire, the Germans still had their main forces to advance further towards the Vistula.
20. The Soviet forces were not expecting a heavy tank attack, including the Royal Tigers, which placed them in a difficult situation.
21. The 6th Guards Tank Corps prepared its last reserve for the battle, a regiment of IS-1 and IS-2 heavy tanks.
22. Only 11 IS-2 tanks remained operational, about half of the regiment's nominal strength.
23. An IS-2 tank platoon, led by Guards Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Klimenkov, was augmented with four T-34s to support the rifle regiment in an attack.
24. The IS-2 was fitted with the world's most powerful tank gun, but carried only 28 rounds.
25. The German tanks were under cross-fire, and the 76 mm and 85 mm projectiles kept bouncing, scraping away Zimmerit coating.
26. A second German tank began to burn, and the group's leader decided not to push his luck and ordered to retreat.
27. The Royal Tigers began to move backwards, skidding on the sand.
28. A projectile hit the third vehicle in the side and set fire to the engine compartment.
29. During a pause between the battles, Soviet officers managed to examine the three destroyed Royal Tigers.
30. The IS-2 of Guards Senior Lieutenant Vasily Udalov was facing a tank group including several Royal Tigers.
31. Udalov set up an ambush in the forest and destroyed three heavy tanks within an hour.
32. Fierce battles were waged west of Baranów for four days and brought mixed results.
33. The Germans managed to capture Staszów and a few other settlements but failed to break through to the Vistula.
34. A total of 22 Royal Tigers were counted as irrevocable losses at the Sandomierz bridgehead.
35. The rest were evacuated to rear positions, disabled, or required repairs.
36. During the decisive battles of August 12-14, not a single Soviet tank was destroyed by the Royal Tigers.
37. The poor debut of the Royal Tigers in the East buried German hopes of turning the tide of the war with the help of cutting-edge weapons.
38. The Wehrmacht was outnumbered by the Red Army and its allied militaries, who were also upgrading their equipment and whose commanders were already no less qualified than the German generals.
39. The reports about the setbacks near Baranów were a surprise for General Harpe.
40. General Harpe was dismissed from his position and assigned to the Western Front, where he later surrendered to US forces.
41. Marshall Konev gave orders to build on the successes gained, and on August 16, the 1st Guards Tank Army launched an attack to the north to complete the encirclement of the German forces in Sandomierz.
42. The tankers managed to join with the 3rd Guards Army, which held the bridgehead on the Vistula's western bank.
43. As a result, Sandomierz was encircled, and the rest of its garrison surrendered after heavy street fighting.
44. The key mission to capture enough territory for a reliable bridgehead was successfully accomplished.
45. The resilience of the Soviet troops despite months of continuous battles, unsuccessful tactics pursued by German tank forces, and many other reasons led to this outcome.
46. An operational standstill followed in the battles in Eastern Europe.
47. The Red Army was gathering strength for a decisive offensive from the Vistula to the Oder, and the Germans didn't have the resources for a counter-attack.
48. A depressing atmosphere of defeat encompassed the Führer Headquarters.
49. The plans for strategic defense were ruined, and Germany didn't have enough time to re-equip its military and start negotiations with Western leaders from the position of strength.
50. Everybody realized that the end was drawing near.