Adolf Hitler's Battle of the Guards Armored Division and Its Outcome

At the beginning of the invasion of Poland, LSSAH belonged to 17 Infantry Division, which mainly provided flank protection for the pincer offensive in the south. The regiment fought many battles against the Polish cavalry brigade that tried to attack the German flank. In the small town of Pabianice near Lódê, LSSAH defeated the 28th Infantry Division of Poland and the Warrinska Cavalry Brigade in a fierce melee.

After the victory in the battle of Papiannis, Hylsa was incorporated into the 4th Armored Division of General Hans Reinhardt. In Warsaw, this unit experienced a siege war against the retreating troops of Poland, and repelled the crazy breakthrough attack of Poland, which was almost desperate. Throughout the campaign, although the army generals held different opinions on the high casualty rate of Hylsa and other SS occupation troops in the campaign, Hylsa was still an excellent fighting force.

Later, the regiment was stationed on the German border to prepare for the "Yellow Project". Its ground vanguard troops pointed directly at the Netherlands, and its combat mission was to occupy a bridge over the aysel River, connecting General Kurt's paratroopers with the Seventh Aviation Division and the 22nd Infantry Division. After the British attack on Arras, Hylsa and the SS Imperial Division went to the front and held fast to the surrounding areas of Dunkirk. The campaign was aimed at narrowing the encirclement of the British expeditionary force and the French army. In the Wormhoudt area, LSSAH ignored Hitler's orders to stop moving forward and continued to attack, successfully suppressing the British artillery positions in WinterPolgar Highland. The regiment suffered heavy casualties throughout the battle.

After the attack, under the command of SS Captain wilhelm mohnke, some officers and men of LSSAH2 Battalion, after receiving the false news that Sepp Dietrich was killed in the battle, slaughtered 80 prisoners of war in the 2nd Battalion of Royal Wallvik Infantry Regiment to avenge their division commander. History is called "Volmut Massacre". Although the massacre happened and the extent of wilhelm mohnke's participation is unknown, as a commander, he was not tried.

However, the tragedy in Volmut shows that LSSAH officers and soldiers have been brainwashed by political indoctrination. They are all excellent war machines, and they will ignore all established military laws and regulations. The regiment ended its campaign on the coast near Dunkirk.

After the Battle of the Western Front, Hylsa was expanded into a brigade, but he was still appointed at the regiment level. The whole brigade has added an anti-aircraft artillery battalion and a G-type artillery battalion. 1940 in the last few months, the troops prepared for the amphibious assault training for the "Sea Lion Project". But after the defeat of the Battle of Britain, the plan was cancelled. After that, the troops gathered in Bulgaria to prepare for the "blood sucking worm" plan to invade Greece and the Balkans. The combat operation began on April 6th, April1year, and LSSAH was attached to the 9th Armored Division. The regiment crossed the border near Plymouth and went deep into the Greek hinterland. After the occupation of Vevi in April 10, the reconnaissance battalion under the command of SS Major Meyer accepted the task of clearing resistance in the area of Krisula. This cut off the retreat of Greek and Commonwealth troops. However, the resistance of the 20th Infantry Division in Greece was fierce. According to the records, SS soldiers took the Krysula passage under Meyer's supervision. Meyer threw grenades at his soldiers, so no one dared to retreat.

The defensive work of attacking Australian, British and New Zealand troops was handed over to Fritz Witt, the captain of the first SS battalion. Fritz Witt No.1 Battalion [attachment = 106540] was later named the Witt Battle Group. An Australian officer once wrote: "German trucks marched arrogantly on the road only 3000 yards away from me, and then unloaded the infantry with great fanfare. Although they encountered our resistance for two days, in the early morning of April 12, the Germans successfully broke through the defense line and cleared the whole passage in the afternoon. " After killing 37 people and injuring 95 others, the first battalion occupied the passage and captured 520 people.

After the first Greek army was defeated on the main front, the whole campaign became a campaign to stop the enemy from retreating. After a fierce battle on April 20, the commander of the Greek army surrendered to Dietrich at the foot of the 5000-foot Metthorne Pass. At this point, the Commonwealth troops were the only allies on the Greek peninsula. They retreated from the collis Strait to the moglia Peninsula. On 26th, Hylsa arrived in Pettre Bay, successfully cutting off the rear route of Commonwealth troops. Dietrich ordered his regiment to cross the Gulf and occupy Pettre. Because there was no ready-made ferry, the troops successfully crossed the bay with fishing boats after giving up heavy equipment. On the 30th, the last batch of Commonwealth troops were either captured or fled for their lives. Therefore, LSSAH can occupy a place in the victorious military parade all over Greece.

After Marita, LSSAH was ordered to move to the north and join the southern cluster to prepare for the "Barbarossa" project. Because of his outstanding performance in the battle, Himmler promoted the regiment to the division level. As far as it is concerned, it has reached the brigade level, and this time it was officially expanded into a division, named "the motorized infantry division of Adolf Hitler's SS Guard Flag Division". However, there is no time to modify and supplement the staffing of the regular division, because the "Barbarossa" plan to invade the Soviet Union is about to begin, and the SS division is still at the brigade level.

At the beginning of the campaign, the division belonged to the armored cluster reserve. In August, he was transferred to the Third Armored Corps and became a part of the First Armored Corps of Chrysler. During this period, the fighting was extremely difficult, especially Meyer's troops. At the beginning of September, the division returned to the southern armored cluster to prepare for the Crimean attack. The operation was launched on1941September 17, and the division experienced a bloody battle in the town of Pelekop. In June165438+1October, LSSAH was transferred back to the First Army. After the Battle of Rostov, it occupied the area in late June. During the whole campaign, Hylsa Hershey pushed 960 kilometers into the hinterland of the Soviet Union.

The tenacious resistance of the Soviet Union forced the southern cluster to retreat to Rostov's organizational defense. LSSAH division stubbornly resisted in the cold of MINUS 40 degrees. During this period, there was a lack of winter clothes and no one, and only 150 grams of rations per day. However, the division held the line of defense. After the capture of Tica, Rasp in the following spring, this exhausted army took part in the battle to recapture Rostov, and regained control of the area at the end of July 1942. Due to serious personnel attrition and fatigue, LSSAH Division withdrew from the front line for reorganization. The division was ordered to be transferred back to the occupied area of Normandy, France, and reorganized into a fully armored grenadier division.

In the remaining 42 years, the reorganization of the troops was completed, thanks to Hauser, commander of the SS armored forces. All four SS armored divisions were incorporated into a tank regiment instead of the previous battalion. This means that these divisions are not just nominal armored grenadier divisions. At the same time, the division received nine Tiger 1 tanks, which were built by the First Armored Regiment.

The failure of Stalingrad led to the failure of the entire Eastern Campaign. Manstein, commander of the Don Army, asked the troops to defend against the Soviet attack in Kharkov after reorganization. All SS armored units were transferred to Manstein's cluster.

After 65438+ arrived at the front line at the end of 43 10, 1ss, as a part of Hauser armored cluster, immediately put into the battle to defend the Soviet attack in Kharkov. They faced hundreds of T34 tanks in popov's armored cluster, and the Soviet army took an armored army as the first charge unit. 1943 On February 8th and 9th, Fritz Witt's armored group and Max Wincher's armored group struggled to stop the Soviet attack. In the following weeks, after several defensive tug-of-war, the division was finally driven out of the center of Kharkov.

Despite heavy casualties and resolute response to all enemy attacks, the Soviet army successfully surrounded the whole cluster. On February 15, Hauser ignored Hitler's command to hold the city at all costs and ordered to abandon the city and retreat in the direction of KraSi Nuo Geller. The following week, after a series of wise decisions, the SS armored forces suffered heavy casualties and wiped out popov's troops. Hylsa Division was the main participant in these battles, and it defeated several Soviet divisions at the cost of casualties.

Hauser ordered the reoccupation of Kalkoff. 1ss, together with Imperial Division and Skeleton Division, formed the vanguard. The attack began on March 2, and the 1ss division formed three battle groups to attack Kalkoff. In the following weeks, a fierce battle was fought to capture Kalkoff 1ss. The Meyer battle group under the command of armored Meyer went deep into Red Star Square. The Witt battle group repelled Soviet snipers and then entered the city. Before Piper's battle group crushed the enemy line, the two battle groups were surrounded by repeated cuts in the melee. On March 2 1 day, the fighting ended and Kalkoff fell into the hands of the Germans. Piper's battle group has infiltrated Belgorod. To commemorate the 4,500 soldiers who died in the battle, the Red Star Square in Kalkoff was renamed Adolf Hitler's Flag Guard Square. 1ss division retreated to the rear to rest.

The swamp in spring prevented the attack, which gave the flag-bearer time to rest. At the beginning of June, 1943, the branch was full again. The armored forces are 12 tiger, 72 type IV tanks, 16 type III tanks and 3 1 assault tanks. In late June, the troops were renamed the Second Armored Cluster.

The second armored cluster was sent to Belgorod to prepare for the summer offensive. 1ss, Imperial Division, Skeleton Division, once again as the vanguard of General Holt's Fourth Panzer Corps, was ordered to attack the south wing of Kursk. Mo Deer's 7th Panzer Corps attacked the north wing. After the two armies meet in Kursk, they will surround the Soviet army.

The second armored cluster arrived at the designated place on June 28 and began to prepare for the assault. The attack is scheduled for June 5 and 4. In the 2nd armored cluster, the left-wing 1 18 armored division and the right-wing 3rd armored division started sporadic attacks to ensure observation posts. The vanguard battalion of the National Flag Guard launched a fierce fire attack on the calibrated Soviet troops.

Soviet espionage infiltrated the German high command and informed the Soviet high command of the upcoming combat operations. The captured Germans also provided the main attack direction and battle details. At dawn on July 5, 43, Soviet artillery covered the German assembly area. Nevertheless, the Germans attacked after a short pause. The Soviet Air Force tried to annihilate the German Air Force on the ground, and the biggest air battle broke out between the two sides in history.

Hylsa's armored forces rushed to Soviet anti-tank positions in a wedge-shaped battle formation. The Soviet Union's strict defense system fell behind the attack, but in Mo Deer, the regional SS armored cluster and other troops in Hylsa successfully broke through the defense line.

By July 9th, the SS Panzer Cluster had advanced 30 miles north, approaching prokhorov Card. The flag guard once again charged, and at this time its armored force was only 77. With the support of several tanks, the 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment went straight along the highway and reached prokhorov Card after fierce resistance. By noon, the infantry had begun to clear the remnants of prokhorov Ka State Farm, and captured the 24 1.6 highland. 10 occupied the area in the evening.

July 1 1 Continue to attack. After repelling the Soviet 9th Guards Paratrooper Division, the division occupied Octia Burski State Farm and 252.2 highland. Two Soviet tanks attacked the advancing German army. In order to ensure the victory of the battle, the dominant German army withstood heavy casualties and destroyed many tanks. However, the Soviet resistance delayed the attack, and the division had to turn around and retreat to Octia Burski Farm. The battle continued until 13, but the focus of the battlefield has turned to the left-wing skeleton division of the division.

The Battle of prokhorov Card is still deadlocked, and a large number of Soviet defense forces are gathering in the Austrian rear. Hitler decided to cancel the battle. The SS panzer cluster was ordered to retreat. Issa division was ordered to withdraw from the front line. The division was sent to Italy to stabilize Mussolini's regime, because the allied forces landed in Sicily on July 10. The remaining heavy equipment of the division was left to the Imperial Division and the Skull Division, and then assembled for Italy.

The division withdrew from the front line and stopped in Innsbruck, Austria. Then assembled, crossed the Alps by land and arrived in northern Italy. Arrived in the Po plain of Italy on August 8, 1943.

1ss division's task is to alert the main roads and railway hubs in Verona. A few weeks later, the division moved to Palma and had several small-scale exchanges of fire with guerrillas. On September 8, 43, Italy surrendered, and the division was ordered to disarm the Italian army nearby. Except for a brief exchange of fire with the Italian army near Palma on September 9, the mission went very smoothly. By September, 2009 19, all Italian troops in the Po River valley in Italy had been disarmed. However, the German General Staff is worried about some Italian 14 soldiers in the border areas. The 3rd Mechanized Battalion and 2nd Armored Regiment of Piper Battle Group were sent to the area to disarm them. After arriving in Cuneo, an Italian officer met Piper, who said that Piper and his troops would be attacked unless they withdrew from Cuneo. Piper's refusal stimulated and led to the Italian attack. But the attack was quickly repelled by these veterans, and all Italian troops in the area were disarmed.

After the collapse and surrender of the Italian regime, the whole Italian guerrilla movement was frequent. The National Flag Guard was sent to the Istra Peninsula to suppress guerrilla resistance. During this period, the National Flag Guard was supplemented as a complete division. 165438+1the situation on the eastern front deteriorated in early October, forcing the flag guard division to return to the front line of the Soviet-German battlefield and arrive in zhitomir in mid-October.

After returning to the battlefield, the division belonged to the 48th Armored Cluster of the Fourth Armored Army, which stuck to the defense line in Thomire. The whole division was divided into several battle groups and put into battle. 165438+1October 18, Frey's battle group repelled the attack of the Soviet Fifth Guards Tank Army in Wozhen, Corchero. In the next two months, these fighting groups played the role of fighting firefighters, struggled hard, and finally helped the 48 th armored cluster hold its position.

1944 65438+1October, Wei Teman, the tiger commander of the division, was awarded the Oak Leaf Knight Medal in recognition of his outstanding performance in resisting the attack of the entire Soviet armored brigade. 1 At the end of the year, as a part of the third cluster of the First Armored Army, the division moved to the west of Cherkas.

When Gruppe Stemmermann's 56,000 troops were surrounded by Soviet troops in February, the flag guards and the rest of the 3rd and 47th armored clusters went to clear the way. But Hitler intervened and ordered the army to counter-encircle the besieged Soviet army. The 503rd Battalion, led by the National Flag Guard and its subordinate Baker, is the vanguard assault force. Although the attack started smoothly, it was stopped by four Soviet tanks and a muddy swamp. Tired Germans tried to build a bridgehead on the Gnirotikic River, but the surviving Germans in the encirclement blocked the road to the Gnirotikic River. The fighting ended at the end of February.

Most officers and men of the National Flag Guard Normal University retreated to Belgium to rest, with a battle group behind them. On March 22nd, the whole First Armored Army was surrounded again. The battle group of Qiwei behind the temple struggled to break through, and the vanguard troops contacted the second armored cluster of Buchatz on April 6, 44. The remaining troops of the battle group rested and rebuilt after arriving in Belgium. The most important battle of the flag-keepers in Normandy was to resist Operation Goodwood.

In this campaign, three heavily armed British armored divisions, under the cover of flanking infantry, broke into the defense gap between Caen and the eastern highlands. After crossing Burgess Mountain, they will face a plain in Ma Pingchuan. The attack began with a three-hour bombing of 2500 planes. Most German infantry were stunned, MG42 machine guns were damaged and most tanks were destroyed.

After the British tanks, the soldiers quickly picked up their weapons. The second battalion of the first armored regiment was hidden in the Woods, and they were allowed to fire at the enemy infantry at will. Malcolm found 60 British tanks in his Panther and destroyed 20 of them. 46 Panthers of the SS Panzer Regiment faced the enemy's 29th Tank Brigade and 1 1 Panzer Division. The main force of the division was all put into battle from Fares, where the reserve team assembled. At 0500 hours, the main force joined the 2 1 armored division to fight back, successfully stopping the British attack on the front left wing. British troops retreated to Caen after leaving 126 tank wreckage.

At first, on July 19, 2009, only a few sporadic British tanks were attacking, and it seemed that the Goodwood operation was coming to an end. However, at 13, the British army began to attack again, this time with reinforcements. They quickly broke through the front position of the German army and strove forward, taking a wave of tanks as the vanguard of the attack. When Sherman, Firefly and Cromwell's tanks passed through Boulcourt &; During Eacute's mountaineering, the tank group was destroyed. 15, reinforcements from the ss 12 armored division arrived, which immediately relieved the pressure on the right line. The British plan to attack the German bridgehead failed, but Caen was still in the hands of the British. The British army lost 493 tanks and suffered 40 1 1.

Despite this victory, five days later, the American army broke through the German position while the Allied forces still had overwhelming military superiority. Due to the shortage of military supplies, the weakened Germans could not stand the fierce fighting and could not move at all during the day. Hitler, who never allowed to retreat, ordered a surprise attack. On August 5 and 6, the flag guard division, four other SS armored divisions and three Wehrmacht armored divisions arrived at the assembly area to prepare for the final attack. The troops involved in the counterattack included an armored regiment, two grenadier battalions, a pioneer battalion and an anti-tank battalion. The weather was not suitable for flying that day, so the counterattack started smoothly, although the allies were aware of the attack. The Imperial Division planned to capture Motan, and Piper's battle group planned to capture Burropin, but the allied air strikes quickly destroyed the original plan. The next day, the Germans tried again, but it also ended in failure.

August 2 1-24: LSSAH division rushed out of the "fare pocket" and retreated to the other side of the Seine.

On August 29th, Hylsa Division was scattered 1 944 September: September1:Hylsa Division has lost all its tanks and artillery.

On September 3, there was a skirmish with the allied forces in Philippville. September 4th: LSSAH division was recalled to Germany for repair and supplement.

1944 10 month:

65438+1October 65438+May: Decorated in Onsabrück, Germany, adding 3500 people and some new equipment.

1944165438+1October:

165438+1October 9-18: The whole division rushed to Cologne, which was carpet bombed by allied planes, and participated in the rescue of citizens under the command of the 6 th Panzer Corps of the SS.

1944 65438+February: After finishing and supplementing, the division has 22,000 officers and men, 84 tanks and 20 self-propelled guns.

65438+February 65438+April: LSSAH Division was ordered to participate in the Ardennes counterattack, and the whole division was divided into four battle groups: Kampfgruppe Hansen, Kampfgruppe Sandig, Knitel (Fast Cluster), Schnelle Gruppe and Payper (Kampfgruppe Peiper).

65438+February 16: The attack begins. On the German side, many attacking troops were blocked by muddy roads.

12 17: after a day of fighting with the rotten road, the three-grid battle group crossed the defense line and began to attack the American army. Payper battle group shot and killed 84 American prisoners of war that day.

65438+February 18: Nitel battle group arrives in Laglaze.

65438+February 19-20: In the battle to capture Sta Villot, LSSAH Division slaughtered 130 Belgian civilians (including 47 women, 23 children, and even 9-month-old babies and 60-year-old people) because the civilians there provided cover for American soldiers. (1948, Heinz, squadron leader of the second-class assault team of the SS, the main person responsible for the massacre? Goldz was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the Belgian government.

65438+February 25th: The remnants of Piper's battle group retreat to the defense line before the German attack. 65438+February 27th: LSSAH Division handed it over to 18 and the 62nd national grenadiers in Amblève sector, and rushed to Lutrebois area to support the 5th Panzer Corps near Bastogne.

1945 65438+ 10 month:

65438+1October 12: The whole division was withdrawn to Cologne, Germany for renovation.

65438+February 0945:

February 15: Otto, captain of the ss brigade? Qom became a teacher in the Hylsa branch. LSSAH division went to Hungary to participate in the upcoming "spring awakening" action. At this time, the whole division also has 25 Leopard tanks and 2 1 IV tanks.

February 25th: Hylsa Hershey suffered heavy losses in the battle in the Hungarian Gran region, and the number of tanks dropped sharply to 1 1 Leopard tanks and 12 armored IV tanks.

February 26th: Participate in the "Lake Balaton" attack and prevent the Soviet troops from entering Austria.

65438+March 0945:

March 5: "Lake Balaton" attack begins.

March 9: Aesop and Adolf? Hitler's young armored division broke through the Soviet defense.

March 13: The attack failed. March 14: Hitler was furious when he learned that the attack on Lake Balaton failed, and ordered Hylsa Division, Imperial Division, Skeleton Division and Hohensdauphin Division to take off the armbands of honor from their military uniforms. Dietrich, then commander of the sixth SS Panzer Corps, refused to carry out this order.

March 16: LSSAH division acts as a guard to cover the retreat of the entire ss 6th panzer corps.

April 1945: The whole division has less than 1700 men and 16 tanks.

April 12: The 2nd Armored Battalion of LSSAH Division, which lost all tanks, was changed to infantry.

Soviet troops occupied Vienna. Issa branch was evacuated to Mariazel, Austria.

1May 945:

On May 8, Hylsa Division surrendered to the American defense line after destroying all the equipment according to the final order of the German command. Many officers and men of the army burned their uniforms and tried to move westward to stay away from the Soviet troops waiting for revenge.