| Bratislava-Brno offensive | |||||||||
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| Part of TheEastern Front ofWorld War II | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Germany Hungary |  Soviet Union Romania Czechoslovakia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Otto WöhlerLothar RendulicFerdinand SchörnerHans KreysingW. Schmidt-HammerKurt RöpkeKurt VersockUlrich KleemannWalther Nehring | Rodion MalinovskyAndrei KravchenkoMikhail ShumilovFilipp ZhmachenkoIvan ManagarovIssa PliyevVasile AtanasiuNicolae Dăscălescu | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Army Group South[a] Army Group Centre | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | 16,933 killed | ||||||||
TheBratislava–Brno offensive was an offensive conducted by theRed Army in westernSlovak Republic and southMoravia towards the end ofWorld War II. The offensive was held between 25 March and 5 May 1945 using the forces of the2nd Ukrainian Front to capture the capital of Slovakia,Bratislava, and the capital of Moravia,Brno.[1]
In the spring of 1945, the Red Army launched a major offensive on the southern wing of the Eastern Front. On 10 March, the4th Ukrainian Front began theMoravian-Ostrava offensive, and on 15 March3rd Ukrainian Front began theVienna offensive. The2nd Ukrainian Front, which was located between the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts, was assigned the mission to capture Bratislava and Brno.
At the beginning of the offensive the7th Guards Army, in a surprise night attack, broke through defenses of German153rd and357th Infantry Divisions on the riverHron. The breakthrough had a width of 17 kilometres (11 mi) and within two days the army had advanced about 35 kilometres (22 mi) west toNové Zámky. These units were assisted by ships of theSoviet Danube Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Klostakakov and members of the 83rd Independent Marine Brigade. To speed up the process,Marshal Malinovsky ordered the ships of the Soviet Danube Fleet between the villages ofMoča andRadvaň nad Dunajom to land the83rd Marine Brigade on ourDanube banks in the rear of the enemy, thus helping to break through the enemy's defenses. March 29, whenRed Army units conqueredKomárom (with part ofKomárno) in Hungary andNové Zámky in Slovakia.
Then the 7th Guards Army quickly rushed across theDanubian Lowland towards Bratislava. The advance of 53rd Army in thecentral Slovakia was slower due to the hilly terrain and the movement of the 40th Army in themountains was even slower. However, on 26 March 1945 theRomanian 4th Army liberatedBanská Bystrica, the centre of theSlovak National Uprising, defeated in the previous year. On 2 April the battle of Bratislava started when the Soviet units captured the Airport inVajnory. PresidentTiso and the government of the puppetSlovak Republic had already left the capital and by 5 April found asylum in Austrian monastery ofKremsmünster. The defense of Bratislava consisted of units of the German6th Army and Hungarian3rd Army. On the night of 3 April, Germans destroyed all major bridges over theDanube. With the support of the27th Tank Brigade and the Danube Flotilla, Soviet soldiers of the23rd Rifle Corps and the25th Guards Rifle Corps (both part of the7th Guards Army) pushed German troops out of the city. Bratislava was liberated by the evening of 4 April in the second week of the operation. The city districts on the south bank of the Danube were captured the next day by46th Army. This army too was part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, but because it fought on other side of the Danube River, for most of the time it took part in theVienna offensive of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. For the liberation of Bratislava the 46th Army contributed its10th Guards Rifle Corps. TheCzechoslovak government andpresident then moved to Bratislava on 8 May.[2]
The next main obstacle to further Soviet advance was the Slovak-Moravian border created by theMorava river, which in the area (betweenDevín andHodonín) was surrounded byriparian forests andwetland. In the springtime the flooded area was up to 8 kilometres (5 mi) wide. Despite this, on 6 April the first reconnaissance units of the6th Guards Cavalry Corps crossed the river and the next day they secured the damaged bridge and railway embankment, which was the only way above water. The heavy battle for the town ofLanžhot lasted for four days, where the strong German defense was strengthened by more than 60 tanks, including theTiger II heavy tank. Lanžhot was finally liberated on 11 April, but 25% of its houses were completely destroyed and another 60% were damaged. Soviet cavalry lost nearly 1,500 men and 2,000 horses, mostly as the result of long immersion in cold water.[3][4] The53rd Army had crossed Morava river near Hodonín which was liberated early on 13 April. The 53rd Army lost about 350 men during the crossing, while the German army about 130 men.[5][6] At the time, the 40th Army on the right flank was still fighting in Slovak mountains. On 10 April the Army liberated the town ofTrenčín and managed to cross theVáh River south of the town despite all bridges being destroyed by retreating German troops. Trenčín then became "front city" and its districts behind the river were not liberated until 29 April.[7]
After the breakthrough at river Morava Soviet units of7th Mechanized Corps swiftly advanced toJihlava river where they met the Germandivision Feldherrnhalle. On 18 April the commander ofArmy Group Centre ordered to abolish the "Festung Brno" and to encounter the enemy on the approaches to the city. The Soviet advance was stopped at the townRajhrad 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of Brno. The Soviet units however continued further west and by 10pm of the same day they reached the church of small villageOřechov, less than 12 km from the outskirt of Brno, which thus became within the range of Soviet artillery. The reconnaissance units of the 7th Mechanized Corps penetrated further north-west and captured several villages, including the villagePopůvky. Some of the Soviet light tanks even reached the outskirt of Brno but were soon destroyed.[8]
Because the Feldherrnhalle division was behind the Jihlava river and this area was defended only bySS training units andVolksturm, the tanks of16th Panzer-Division were called for the assistance in counterattack. In the evening of 19 April, German tanks andassault guns quickly penetrated the lines of exhausted Soviet soldiers, by fire at close range destroyed many Soviet tanks and recaptured the village Ořechov and the hillock with church. The next day, 20 April, German tanks of 16th Panzer-Division attacked towards the tanks of Feldherrnhalle division and together cut off and surrounded the Soviet reconnaissance atPopůvky. But the Germans did not have enough strength to completely destroy the encircled Soviets. Moreover, thecommander of 16th Panzer-Division was captured byCzech partisans which badly affected its coordination with other German units. In the night 23/24 April, the 7th Mechanized Corps launched new attack and relieved the encircled units, the next day once more liberated Ořechov. The battle of Ořechov lasted seven days and was the greatest tank battle in the history of Moravia. The Red Army had lost 960 men and 35 armored vehicles, Germans had lost about 275–300 men and about 30 armored vehicles, the village Ořechov had suffered 23 casualties and 80% of houses destroyed.[8][9][10][11]
The new Soviet assault was supported by6th Guards Tank Army which had just arrived to the rear of53rd Army after thefall of Vienna. While the 1st Guards Mechanized Cavalry Group renewed its attack on Brno, the 53rd Army launched the attack east of Brno, advancing towardsŠlapanice andSlavkov. The army's advance broke through the German lines and the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced through the gap in the evening of 23 April. By the evening of 25 April the army's tanks reached the outskirts of Brno from the east, while the Mechanized Cavalry Group reached Brno from the south. The next morning the city centre was liberated and by noon also theŠpilberk Castle, which until then served as the BrnoGestapo prison.[5]
Brno was liberated on 26 April 1945, but some of its northern districts were in German hands until 5 May. In the days following the liberation, armies of 2nd Ukrainian Front secured the western front line and expanded northwards to meet the forces of 4th Ukrainian Front and thus to outflank the German1st Panzer Army. However, after the outbreak ofPrague uprisingStavka changed the orders and the 2nd Ukrainian Front joined thePrague offensive. Meanwhile, both the Romanian1st and4th armies advanced along theMorava River and before the end of the war liberated the towns ofOtrokovice,Kroměříž, andProstějov.[5]
During the offensive, Soviet forces had suffered casualties of nearly 17,000 killed.[12] Soviet sources reported that they had destroyed nine German divisions. The offensive had reportedly created conditions for thePrague offensive as it enabled to outflank the Army Group Centre from the south.[13]
Within the Soviet 53rd Army was also attached a Czechoslovak Special Purpose Company. Its only purpose was to capture and secure the buildings in Brno for the needs of Czechoslovak government. However, because of the rapid end of war the government had relocated from Bratislava directly toPrague on 10 May.PresidentEdvard Beneš spent almost one week in the liberated Brno before he joined the government in Prague.[14][15]
The2nd Ukrainian Front (commanded by MarshalRodion Malinovsky; its chief of staff was Army GeneralMatvei Zakharov) was composed of the following units.
Elements ofArmy Group South (commanded byOtto Wöhler)
Elements ofArmy Group Centre (commanded byFerdinand Schörner)
Air support was provided byLuftflotte 4.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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