Red Storm

The battle for the Seelow Heights on the outskirts of Berlin would be the battle upon which the fate of the capital would rest. On 16 April at 0300 hours, a massive array of Soviet artillery opened fore along the front. Searchlights were switched on to signal the …

1945-04-16

AP009

The battle for the Seelow Heights on the outskirts of Berlin would be the battle upon which the fate of the capital would rest. On 16 April at 0300 hours, a massive array of Soviet artillery opened fore along the front. Searchlights were switched on to signal the general advance and, as in the Revolution of 1917, troops advanced with morale-boosting banners flying. The Germans, expecting the onslaught, had abandoned their first line of defense, so that the main weight of the barrage fell on empty positions. Then the searchlights, which were blinding the Soviet troops more than lighting up German positions, were extinguished. Many units then waited until morning – after the murk and haze created by the heavy barrage had settled – to continue the attack. In the Letschin sector, in towns such as Alt Langsow, the Third and Fifth Shock Armies contested the main line of German resistance.

Alt Langsow, Germany

The Battle of the Seelow Heights was part of the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation. A pitched battle, it was one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions of the Second World War. It was fought over three days, from 16–19 April 1945. Close to 1,000,000 Soviet soldiers of the 1st Belorussian Front, commanded by Marshal Georgi Zhukov, attacked the position known as the "Gates of Berlin". They were opposed by about 110,000 soldiers of the German 9th Army, commanded by General Theodor Busse, as part of the Army Group Vistula.

Russian

German

Scenario Type = Standard