After the Battle of Yugoslavia: The Germans occupied Belgrade in eight days.

The 7th Air Force of the 4th Air Force of Nazi German Air Force participated in the Balkan War for the first time. Hitler was furious because of Yugoslavia's betrayal, and he ordered the execution of Straff Gerrit.

At 7: 00 a.m. on April 6, the German Air Force attacked Yugoslavia and soaked Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia. 300 planes took off from airports in Austria and Romania, and a quarter of them were attacked by Ju87 dive bombers escorted by fighter planes. Dive bombers isolated Yugoslav air defense forces. Medium bombers mainly include Dornier-17 bombers and German JU-88 bombers, which bomb urban areas. The first round of three-wave bombing was interrupted every time 15 minutes, and the last wave was 20 minutes. Therefore, the whole city was bombed in nearly an hour and a half, and the Germans concentrated on bombing the government building in the city center. The medium bomber battle group continued bombing all day, while the dive bomber turned to bomb the airport.

During the bombing,17,000 civilians were killed, which destroyed the communication system between Yugoslav high-level officials and the army. Although some senior generals were able to escape the bombing of 1 round, the cooperation and control between troops could not be realized.

After destroying the enemy's nerve center, the German Air Force turned to attack enemy airports, communication systems, military concentration areas and other targets, and provided air support for the army's actions. The Yugoslav air force and insufficient air defense firepower were quickly destroyed, which made German bombers run wildly over the battlefield.

When the Germans began to invade Yugoslavia, the Royal Yugoslav Air Force had 64 German-made DO- 17 bombers (30 of which were made in Germany and the rest were made by Yugoslavia itself), which were purchased by Yugoslavia in the autumn of 1940. The only bombing force belongs to the Third Bombing Aviation Corps, including two bombing brigades. The 63rd Bombing Brigade is stationed at Petrovac Airport near Skopje, and the 64th Bombing Brigade is stationed at Mileshevo near Pristina.

During the battle, the aircraft factory in Kraljevo produced three more bombers of this type, two of which were handed over to the Air Force on April 1940 and one was also delivered on April 12.

In the initial bombing, the German Air Force blew up 26 such planes, four planes of the Yugoslav Air Force were shot down in the air and 45 planes were destroyed on the ground.

14 in April and 15 in June, seven surviving Do- 17 bombers flew to kask airport to evacuate Yugoslav king Peter Alekseyevich Romanov and government officials to Greece, and the country's gold reserves were also transported to Greece by these seven planes. After this mission, five planes were destroyed by the Italian air force's air raid on the paramita airport in Greece, and the other two were evacuated to Egypt to join the battle sequence of the Royal Air Force. At 4pm on April 15, General Alexander Luer, commander of the 4th Air Force, received an order from Hermann G?ring, commander-in-chief of the Nazi German Air Force, to stop bombing and transfer most of the bombing forces to support Greek military operations.

Trilateral March

Three different invading armies attacked Belgrade from different directions, and their marching routes were as follows:

1 Panzer Corps (12 Corps)

On the morning of April 8, the German 1 Panzer Group set off from the northwest of Sofia and broke through the defense line near Pieros. Among them, the German 14 Armored Division was led by the German 1 1 Armored Division, followed by the German 5th Armored Division, the German 294th Infantry Division and the German 4th Mountain Division in Nish, northwest China. 1 1 despite the bad weather, heavy road obstacles and the resistance of the fifth Yugoslav army, the armored division, with the support of strong artillery and air force, has broken through the enemy's defense line on the first day after the war. The Yugoslav military commander was shocked by the success of the German operation and ordered Moravia's troops to retreat, but the retreat could not be carried out on time before April 9. German tanks entered Nish and immediately headed for Belgrade, which was very beneficial to the Germans.

The 5th Yugoslav Army Corps, south of Parachin and southwest of Kragujevac, stopped the German attack, but it was quickly defeated and more than 5,000 people were captured.

At the same time, the 5th armored division was temporarily blocked by the rotten road near Pieroth. When the armored division attacked again, it was ordered to cross Nish and cut off the enemy near Leskovac. When the enemy troops on the front line of Nish collapsed, they transferred to the German Army 12 Corps and joined the 50th Armored Army in the Greek campaign.

On April 10, the 54th Panzer Corps crossed the moral Valley to pursue the enemy who retreated to the capital. The next day, the German attack head suddenly pointed to the south wing of the retreating Yugoslav Sixth Army. 12 On the evening of April, 1 Panzer Corps tanks arrived less than 40 miles southeast of Belgrade, and the two Yugoslav Army Corps did not try to cut off the border of 65438+ due to misunderstanding.

5 1 Panzer Corps (Independent Force)

When the 54th Panzer Corps entered from the southeast, the 5 1 Panzer Corps crossed the southeast of Banat and attacked Belgrade. The attack was led by the Great German Motorized Brigade equipped with the Second Motorized Division of Sineitai. When crossing the northern part of Foussas, the attacking troops entered Pancevo on April 1 1. Now, when they enter 45 miles north of Belgrade, the main force of 5 1 Panzer Corps continues.

56th Panzer Corps (2nd Corps)

When the Nazi German Air Force launched an attack on April 6th, the 2nd German Army Corps began to deploy offensive troops on the northern border of Yugoslavia, preparing to launch an attack on April 6th, 5438+00. In order to improve the attack plan, some troops launched some limited-purpose attacks along the border in the middle of time. Army commanders should keep hidden to prevent the main attack direction from being exposed prematurely, which will limit freedom of movement and reduce operational risks.

Corps commander decided to occupy an important bridge in the theater of the 56th Armored Army. Therefore, as early as April 1 year, the troops occupied an important bridge near Bares and a railway bridge about 10 miles northwest of Koprivnica.

On the evening of April 6, due to the weak resistance, the situation showed that the Yugoslav army's defense at the border was uncoordinated. The 56th Armored Army set up bridgeheads on the Mur River and the Drava River, and the army's attack on local residents aggravated the discord between the troops. Most of the soldiers of the Fourth Army of Yugoslavia responsible for defending this area are Crocy people. Rosia soldiers rebelled in several important military strongholds near the Delaware River and refused to resist the Germans. Because they thought that the Germans had come to liberate them from the Serbs, on the morning of April 10, when the Germans set foot on the Drava River Bridge near Burroughs and broke through the bridgehead, the defensive Yugoslav army collapsed immediately. With the support of the powerful air force, the German 8th Armored Division and the German 16 Motorized Infantry Division led the 56th Armored Army to push southwest in the area between the Delaware River and sava river. Attack Belgrade, on the evening of April 10, although the road and weather conditions were bad, the vanguard troops of the 8th armored division arrived in Slatin without any resistance, and the Germans accelerated to tighten the encirclement network, while the two divisions marched into the capital through Osijek, and the road conditions here were even worse.

Therefore, under the following broadcast by General Duchamp Simovic, the embattled enemy forces decided to put all their eggs in one basket: "All troops must attack the enemy forces they meet and arrange in front of them, without expecting any direct orders, but only according to your judgment, initiative and morality."

On April 1 1, the 8th armored division arrived in Osiyek, while the 16 motorized infantry division overtook Naxize. Several bridges were damaged and the road conditions were bad, which hindered the progress of the two divisions. They hope to attack the southern flank facing the 54th Panzer Corps and establish contact with 1 Panzer Group.

In the early morning of April 12, the 8th Armored Division entered Michevica, which then captured La Zarevac, 20 miles south of Belgrade.

In the early morning of April 12, the 56th Armored Division received a new order, and the 8th Armored Division continued to attack eastward to capture the bridge on sava river, west of Belgrade. At 6: 30 pm, the main armored division moved to the southeast and joined the left wing of 1 armored group in the southeast of Belgrade. At the same time, 16 motorized infantry division turned south to cross sava river and attack Vornic, so these two divisions.

At the same time, the Supreme Command of the National Defence Force and the Command of the Second Army Corps are waiting for the military action to capture Belgrade. Of the three troops, 5 1 Panzer Corps was the last to report approaching the capital. It has reached 10 miles east of Belgrade, 1/the armored division is leading1the armored group is approaching the capital.

The fall of Belgrade

As the three attacking forces tend to assemble in the direction of Belgrade, the Supreme Command of the National Defence Force failed to immediately decide which troops would enter Belgrade first. However, on the morning of April 12, Colonel Fritz Klingen Berg, armed with the Second Motorized Division of Sineitai, found that the bridge on the Delaware River had been blown up and led a patrol on the Shuhe River in a rubber boat. The patrol entered the capital without resistance. At 5 pm, the German Embassy in Yugoslavia raised the Nazi party emblem flag.

At the headquarters of the 2nd Army Corps, there was no news of the 8th Armored Division. 24 hours ago, it was reported in the western suburbs of Belgrade. Finally, in the early morning of April 3rd 1 1: 52, the relevant personnel of the armored division sent the following message by radio: Last night, the 8th armored division entered Belgrade, occupied the city center and raised the Nazi flag.

However, due to the good communication channels between the 2nd Corps and 1 Armored Group, before the news of the 8th Armored Division arrived, they received the following news:

Von Kleist Armored Group has occupied Belgrade from the south, and the great German motorized brigade has entered Belgrade from the north. 1 1 The armored division, led by paul ludwig ewald von kleist, entered the capital at 6: 32 in the morning.

Therefore, the battle to capture Belgrade ended in the meeting of the three attacking forces, and then 1 Panzer Group was transferred from 12 to the establishment of the 2nd Army, while the 56th Panzer Group took part in the next part of the battle under the command of 1 Panzer Group: chasing and completely destroying the Yugoslav army.