Ivan Stepanovich konev's unstoppable offensive.

After the Battle of Korsun-Shevchenko, the southern part of the Soviet Union became a muddy sea due to the melting of snow water thawed in spring. The Germans thought that the Soviet tank mechanized troops could not move in this weather. After the severe winter, the Red Army had to rest and it was difficult to launch a new offensive. They hoped to have a rest and regroup, but what the Germans never expected was that the track of the Soviet T-34 tank was wider than that of the German tank and they could walk freely in the mud. At the same time, a large number of trucks aided by the United States to the Soviet Union have better off-road performance than German military vehicles, and more importantly, the Soviet Union has spent the whole winter.

After fierce fighting, he is still full of energy and high morale. As a result, to the surprise of the Germans, the Soviet army launched a large-scale spring offensive in the south, and three Ukrainian troops swept the southern battlefield with devastating force. The Second Ukrainian Army under the command of konev launched the Battle of Uman-Bo Tossani. Although the endless mud often makes excellent tanks like the Soviet T-34 get stuck in the mud, and it is more difficult for cars and artillery to advance, which can only be pushed by manpower, konev's army has advanced 200-600 kilometers in just one month. In the face of the heroic attack of the Soviet Union, the Germans left tanks, artillery and vehicles trapped in the mire and fled Ukraine almost "naked" riding cows or walking. During the attack, konev forces captured more than 80,000 enemy soldiers and rushed into the headquarters and supply center of the German Southern Army Group in Vinica. Destroyed and captured 600 tanks and 220 armored vehicles. At the end of March, the vanguard troops entered Romania. This is the first time that Soviet troops went to the border during the Great Patriotic War. As soon as the news came out, the Soviet Union was excited all over the country, and the capital Moscow celebrated this important event with the highest level of salute-324 salutes and 24 salutes. The German southern front collapsed rapidly under the avalanche attack of three Ukrainian troops. Manstein, commander-in-chief of the German "Southern" Army Group, and Kleist, commander-in-chief of the "A" Army Group, who was once an outstanding German soldier, were both dismissed by Hitler.

Destroy the army group in northern Ukraine

After the Battle of Ukraine, General Wa Tuting was killed by Ukrainian guerrillas on April 1944+05, and zhukov, who temporarily took over Ukraine 1 Army, misjudged. In the battle of Kamenets-Baudoul's encirclement, the first German tank army completely broke away from the encirclement and was dissolved by Stalin, while Marshal konev, who had made outstanding achievements, was ordered to merge the two armies into a new army. At this time, the Soviet Union's Suwu 1 Army was the most powerful army in the Soviet Union, with a strength of 1.2 million, 2,050 tanks and 3,250 self-propelled guns. Konev's next goal is to crush the most powerful German army group "Northern Ukraine". The group army has 900,000 people, 900 tanks and 700 planes. In the Soviet-German War, it was the first time that the Red Army fought a German army alone with a group army, which showed that the strength of the Red Army had been greatly improved in the war. On July 14, konev launched an attack known as the Battle of Lviv-Sandome. In this campaign, konev once again demonstrated his outstanding ability to attack good warfare and command large corps. He boldly organized the army into 90% tanks and self-propelled guns and concentrated them in the main assault direction, thus forming a strong advantage for the enemy. After the attack began, the Soviet infantry fought bravely with the support of strong artillery fire, and opened a breakthrough corridor with a length of 18 km and a width of 4-6 km on the solid defense system of the German army. Such a narrow corridor is not suitable for tanks to enter. They have to wait for the infantry to expand it to the two wings before they can enter the tanks to attack. However, if they delay, the Germans may send reinforcements to fight back.

Konev made a decisive decision and ordered the 3rd and 4th tank guards to attack immediately. After the powerful Soviet tank soldiers entered the breakthrough thunderously, the German defense line collapsed rapidly. Konev's army swept the Germans face to face. In July alone, more than 200,000 enemies were killed, wounded and captured, the "Northern Ukraine" army group was completely defeated, and a bridgehead across the Vistula River was established. Although the Soviet attack was in full swing, the sophisticated konev deliberately retained the forces of the 5th Army of the Reserve Guards during the attack, and did not let them get involved in the battle too much. It was not until he reached the Vistula River that the most elite army went into battle. As a result, although the Germans deployed powerful troops and even used the latest "Tiger King" tanks for the first time and attacked the bridgehead of the Soviet Union many times, they never destroyed the landing point of the Soviet Union.

These two men bid for Keberlin.

1 94565438+1 October, konev led the Ukrainian1army, together with the Belarusian1army commanded by zhukov, and launched the last powerful offensive against Hitler's Germany from their respective landing points on the Vistula River, aiming at Berlin, the home of the Third Reich. This is the most spectacular battle of the Vistula-Oder River in World War II. The two armies * * * have 2.2 million men, 7,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, 5,000 planes and 33,500 guns and mortars, of which Ukraine 1 army has 165438+ 10,000 men, 3,244 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2,582 planes and 16000. The two armies were originally scheduled to attack on October 20th, 65438/KLOC-0. However, due to the strong German attack in the Ardennes, the British and American military fronts were in crisis, and the Western allies urgently asked the Soviet Union for help. Therefore, the Soviet Supreme Command ordered the attack on June+10/October 12, 65438. This means that the Soviet army will not be able to get the support of aviation in bad weather, and can only rely on artillery and tanks to make breakthroughs. However, after the battle began, the Soviet offensive strength did not decrease, because konev always attached importance to artillery assault. As early as the campaign preparation stage, he personally led the commanders, commanders and teachers of various group armies to inspect the entire front of the battlefield, and concentrated a strong artillery group in the breakthrough direction. The frontal artillery density reached 250-280 guns per kilometer, and even reached 300 guns in some areas. After the attack began, the intensity of Soviet artillery fire was like a landslide. Although the artillery preparation only lasted 1 hour for 47 minutes, the Germans felt as if it was no less than 5 hours. The unprecedented artillery power of the Soviet Union made the German army, known for its tenacity, lose control and flee back without authorization. On the first day, the Soviets broke through the main defensive areas of the Germans. Konev didn't give the Germans any chance to breathe and fight back. At noon that day, he ordered two tank army groups to enter the breakthrough to attack and quickly defeat the Germans. Tippel, a German general, described the attack in his famous book History of World War II, and said: "The breakthrough was so fierce that not only the division of the first echelon was defeated, but also the powerful rapid reserve team was defeated ... There were so many troops wedged deeply into the German front that it was impossible to destroy them, even if they were restricted ... The Russian army quickly put the tank troops into an open gap and the main force began to advance toward the Nida River. "

Konev's army advanced, and together with zhukov's army, advanced 600 kilometers in 23 days, expanding the breakthrough by nearly 1000 kilometers, crossing the Oder River and occupying the battle landing site on the other side. During the 23-day battle, Ukraine 1 Army alone captured 43,000 enemy soldiers, annihilated more than 0.5 million enemy troops, and seized more than 300 tanks and 200 aircraft. In the swift and violent attack, konev also seized Silesia Industrial Zone with clever maneuver, which is the second largest industrial zone in Europe after Ruhr. His army did not stop after crossing the Oder River. But also hit the Nice River, which, together with zhukov's army, posed a threat to the German capital Berlin.

Stalin's original intention was to let zhukov, the most prestigious commander-in-chief of the Red Army, command the Belarusian 1 Army to occupy Berlin. However, because the Germans assembled a million troops in the capital and assumed a posture of all-out persistence, they wanted the Ukrainian 1 Army under the command of konev to join Berlin. Whose army captured Berlin became Stalin's problem, because both of them were brilliant in military exploits. He hesitated, and finally decided to let the two commanders compete. Whoever attacks Berlin first can occupy Berlin. In order to win the honor of capturing Hitler's lair and the German capital, the two most outstanding commanders of the Red Army, zhukov and konev, both tried their best (this matter was dubbed by the Soviet Union as launching a socialist labor competition). 16 In April, after the attack on Berlin began, the Belarusian 1 army where zhukov was located fired 1 0.23 million shells on the first day. This was the most violent artillery fire on the Eastern Front so far, and the survivors of the German army turned pale with fear in the future, while the Ukrainian 1 army in konev was better than Belarus/kloc-. With the overwhelming power of artillery fire and the smoke spread by attack aircraft, konev's army successfully crossed the Nice River, broke through the German defense line, and repelled the German counterattack with a large number of tanks. Konev ordered his two tank commanders to break away from the main force of the front army and boldly advance into battle, regardless of the rear, because he himself, as the commander of the front army, would personally ensure the safety of the rear. Then he got a phone call from Stalin, and the commander-in-chief told him that zhukov's troops were stubbornly resisted by the Germans and their attack was blocked. He asked whether zhukov's two tank armies could attack Berlin through the gap opened by his army. Konev thought it would cause great confusion. Now the war here is developing smoothly, and he has not met a strong German sniper. He can attack Berlin with two army groups of tanks in his hand. Stalin agreed to let him transfer the tank troops to Berlin. After konev answered the phone, he immediately gave orders to the commanders of the two tanks, asking them to attack Berlin quickly. After receiving the order, the two tanks immediately rushed to Berlin and arrived in the suburbs of Berlin on April 22. On April 25th, Ukraine 1 Army joined forces with Belarus 1 Army in Potsdam, completely surrounding Berlin, and arrived on the Elbe River on the same day, realizing the historic "Elbe River Joining Forces" with the US military.

Destroy the central army group

The battle of Berlin shocked the enemy. After the fall of the capital, most Germans stopped resisting. Only one powerful German organization refused to surrender in the Czech Republic. This is the "Central" Army Group under the command of Marshal Ferdinand Chaulnes. It has nearly 50 elite divisions with a total strength of nearly 900,000 people. The Soviet Supreme Command ordered that the main force of konev's powerful Ukrainian 1 Army be quickly dispatched to Czech territory to annihilate the enemy together with the 2nd and 4th Army of Ukraine. Konev withdrew his troops from the ruins of Berlin as quickly as possible and redeployed. Under his command, Ukraine 1 Army 10 tanks and 1600 tanks bravely attacked the south. Konev's tanks advanced so fast that the headquarters of the German "Central" Army Group was annihilated by Soviet vanguard tanks without warning, and 900,000 Germans lost command and fell into chaos. Konev's tanks arrived in Prague, joined forces with the rebels in the city, and then arrived at the troops of the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian armies, and assembled the encirclement of the main group in Schellner. Dovander people were cornered and forced to lay down their weapons. To celebrate the liberation of Prague, the Soviet capital fired its last salute, celebrating its meritorious service in the Soviet-German war with 24 guns and 324 guns. A few hours later, Moscow celebrated the victory of the Great Patriotic War with 1000 cannon for 30 times.

The glory of victory

After the war, the Soviet government held a grand reception in the Kremlin to celebrate the Red Army commanders. The Red Army generals who made great achievements in the Great Patriotic War gathered together. The hall was full of stars and medals. Molotov made a speech on behalf of the party and the government. He proposed a toast to the glorious Red Army commanders. He first mentioned Marshal zhukov and praised his name as always associated with the battles of Moscow and Leningrad, the liberation of Warsaw and the conquest of Berlin. After the applause, Molotov mentioned Marshal konev for the second time. He proposed to congratulate the hero of the Ukrainian campaign and the liberator of Prague. "konev's army and Marshal zhukov's army rushed into Berlin together!" Participants also gave warm applause. In the orders issued by the Soviet Supreme Command during the wartime, the names of zhukov and konev were juxtaposed most frequently.

After the victory of World War II, when discussing the victory parade at the Kremlin military conference, Stalin proposed that Marshal konev should preside over the parade. But konev refused to become Parade Leader. He said that he was not a cavalry, and he preferred to walk in front of his own army and cross the Red Square. Stalin was extremely unhappy after being rejected and said angrily, "You are too arrogant, Comrade konev! Come on, let's give this to Comrade rokossovsky. "

After the war, Marshal konev successively served as the head of the independent regiment of the garrison headquarters Special Forces of the Kremlin, and was reassigned as "Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Union" and "First Acting Minister of Defense" of the Soviet Union on 1946, replacing former Minister zhukov until 1950. Later, he took over as commander of the Soviet Union's Carpathian Theater. This move is regarded as Stalin's demotion and demotion to konev. However, this was a series of demotions by Stalin to generals who were widely praised by the Soviet people during the war, not just konev, so konev did not have fierce dissatisfaction.

After Stalin's death, konev became active again. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Warsaw Pact Armed Forces until 1960, and then retired from the active stage at the front. From 196 1 to 1962, he returned as the commander of the Soviet garrison in East Germany, and then accepted the new post of "Soviet Ministry of Defense" at the grand welcoming ceremony as the assessment general.

Konev was one of the most admired military idols in the Soviet Red Army until his death in 1973. As a marshal of the Soviet Union, he won the Soviet Hero Medal twice. Ivan konev was finally buried in the Red Square Cemetery in the Kremlin, where many of the greatest heroes of the Soviet Union were buried, and people can still visit it today.