My Lonely Valentine

As the Soviet January offensive raced across Poland, the security of the German heartland was directly threatened. The Oder River was the last major water obstacle before Berlin. Therefore its defense became a priority. Both sides fiercely contested several bridgeheads on either side. One such bridgehead …

1945-01-31

J075

As the Soviet January offensive raced across Poland, the security of the German heartland was directly threatened. The Oder River was the last major water obstacle before Berlin. Therefore its defense became a priority. Both sides fiercely contested several bridgeheads on either side. One such bridgehead was at Kustrin –Neustadt. As Soviet tanks moved towards the railway station, they were engaged by an anti-tank platoon of the artillery regiment of the 25th Panzergrenadier Division, armed with panzerschrecks and light weapons.

Kustrin-Neustadt, Germany

The Vistula–Oder offensive was a Red Army operation on the Eastern Front in the European theatre of World War II in January 1945. The army made a major advance into German-held territory, capturing Kraków, Warsaw and Poznań. The Red Army had built up their strength around a number of key bridgeheads, with two fronts commanded by Marshal Georgy Zhukov and Marshal Ivan Konev. Against them, the German Army Group A, led by Colonel-General Josef Harpe (soon replaced by Colonel-General Ferdinand Schörner), was outnumbered five to one. Within days, German commandants evacuated the concentration camps, sending the prisoners on their death marches to the west, where ethnic Germans also started fleeing. In a little over two weeks, the Red Army had advanced 300 miles (483 km) from the Vistula to the Oder, only 43 miles (69 km) from Berlin, which was undefended. However, Zhukov called a halt, owing to continued German resistance on his northern flank (Pomerania), and the advance on Berlin had to be delayed until April.

Russian

German

Scenario Type = Standard