Graz-Amstetten offensive operation

During the Vienna offensive operation from March 16 to April 15, 1945, Soviet troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts inflicted a heavy defeat on the German Army Group South . Even during the Vienna operation on April 1, 1945, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the left flank of the 3rd Ukrainian Front (the 26th , 27th , 57th , 1st Bulgarian Army) to be freed from the German no later than April 10-12, 1945 troops of the cities of Glognitz , Brook , Graz (in Austria) and Maribor (in Yugoslavia ), as well as firmly gain a foothold at the turn of the rivers Mürz , Mura and Drava . But by the end of the Vienna operation, Soviet troops were unable to fully complete these tasks.

Therefore, on April 13, 1945, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command clarified the task - the troops of the right wing of the front to go to the river Traisen and take control of the city of Sankt Pölten , and the troops of the center and left wing to go on the defensive, only take active action if the offensive of the right wing succeeds ^[2] . Fulfilling the order, on April 15, 1945, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, without an operational pause, continued their offensive in the general direction of Graz. The task is the complete defeat of Army Group South and access to the line of contact with the American forces advancing from the west, which were soon to enter western Austria.

The 3rd Ukrainian Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union F.I. Tolbukhin ) participated in the operation - 294,760 people ^[1] :

• 4th Guards Army (Commander Lieutenant General N. D. Zakhvatayev ),
• 9th Guards Army (until May 5, 1945, Commander Colonel General V.V. Glagolev ),
• 26th Army (Commander Lieutenant General N. A. Hagen ),
• 27th Army (Commander Colonel General S. G. Trofimenko ),
• 57th Army (Commander Colonel General M.N. Sharokhin ),
• 17th Air Army (Commander Colonel General of Aviation V. A. Sudets ),
• 1st Guards Mechanized Corps (Lieutenant General I.N. Russiyanov ),
• tank corps,
• 5th Guards Cavalry Corps (Lieutenant General S. I. Gorshkov ),
• 1st Bulgarian Army (Commander Lieutenant General V. Stoichev ).

The combined-arms armies included 42 rifle divisions , 4 airborne divisions . Since the offensive was carried out without an operational pause, there was no replenishment of troops before the start of the operation; there was a shortage of personnel.

The German Army Group South (April 30, 1945 - Army Group Austria, Commander Colonel-General Lothar Rendulich ) was not able to recover from the heavy defeat in the Vienna operation by the beginning of the operation. Its total strength was about 450 thousand people, the 6th Field Army and the 6th SS Panzer Army were operating against the 3rd Ukrainian Front. To the south in the area of ​​the Yugoslav-Austrian border, the 2nd Panzer Army defended. Hungarian divisions were also part of the German armies.

In the face of the collapse of the defense on the Eastern Front, the Wehrmacht command sought to restrain the offensive of the Soviet troops, organized to move west and surrender to the Allies.

The Graz-Amstettin operation began with a powerful counterattack by the German forces (6th SS Panzer Army) on the right flank of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. From April 15 to 29, 1945, the troops of the 9th Guards and 26th Armies repelled the attacks of the 6th SS Panzer Army, while slowly moving forward along the mountainous and wooded area. Sometimes the enemy even managed to push back the advancing Soviet troops, especially on the front of the 26th army. Fresh units constantly arrived at the front, coming from Yugoslavia and even from Italy. In essence, instead of solving deep offensive missions, the front-line operation turned into a fetter of opposing enemy troops.

On April 29, 1945, the 3rd Ukrainian Front launched a large-scale offensive to the west in the Eastern Alps. In the last days of April 1945, units of the 4th Guards Army advanced towards Melk and reached the border of the Pilah River. Then the army advanced in the direction of Loosdorf , Melk , Amstetten . On May 5, the 9th Guards Army, bearing the brunt of the offensive, was transferred to the 2nd Ukrainian Front to participate in the Prague operation. On May 7, an enemy withdrawal was revealed under the cover of strong rearguards .

On May 8, all front armies launched a general offensive, moving from 17 to 75 kilometers per day. On this day, Soviet troops stormed the city of Amstetten , and also occupied the cities of Melk , Mautern , Graz and 5 more cities, more than 100 other settlements. At 3 p.m. on May 8, Soviet and American troops met for the first time in the front line of the Ems River.

On May 9, 1945, the persecution of the escaping German troops continued. The cities of Brookk , Leoben , Maribor and 6 other cities were taken. During the whole day, May 9, 1945, aviation continued to carry out bombing and assault attacks on German troops retreating to Ems.

The 57th army from the beginning of the operation was on the defensive and only on May 8, 1945 went on the offensive in the direction of Feldbach , Graz . By the end of the day, the forces of the 6th Guards Rifle Corps approached Feldbach. Although the unconditional surrender of Germany was signed on May 9, 1945, the Soviet troops had to take the city of Feldbach by storm - his garrison refused to surrender.

In the future, despite the signing of the Act on the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces , fierce fighting in Austria continued. So, on May 10, the 26th Army stormed Judenburg , whose garrison refused to capitulate. By May 11, Soviet troops intercepted the main routes for the withdrawal of German troops in the Eastern Alps , forcing them to mass surrender . For May 9-12, about 126 thousand German soldiers surrendered in the strip of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.

But the fighting did not end. Throughout Austria, pockets of resistance continued to persist, the defeated German troops constantly tried to break into the American zone of occupation. During the day of May 13, 2,945 soldiers were captured, for May 14 - 419 soldiers. On May 15, a large group that broke through from Yugoslavia to the American zone of occupation was intercepted and forced to surrender, 27,754 soldiers were captured: 15,300 Ustasha and 10,530 Germans. The 1st Bulgarian army operating on the southern flank of the front captured from over 30 thousand ustash from May 13 to 17 (later transferred to the NOAU troops). In the following days, combing of the area and capture of scattered groups and individual soldiers continued. So, on May 19, 65 Hungarian soldiers were captured, May 21 - 98 Germans, May 24 - several dozen Hungarian soldiers.

In general, in late April - early May 1945, troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front reached the line of Linz , Gaflents , Klagenburg , establishing a strong connection with the Americans through it. The withdrawal of the German Army Group "E" from Yugoslavia was disrupted, which contributed to its defeat by the Yugoslav troops. In conditions of almost complete liberation of Austria from German troops, on April 27, 1945, the Provisional Government of Austria was created.

During the operation, the losses of the 3rd Ukrainian Front reached 2173 people dead, 6552 people wounded and sick, a total of 8725 people.

German data on the losses of their troops are not precisely established, since the documentation and reporting in the conditions of the collapse of the front practically ceased. Soviet data on German casualties is contained in the monthly War Logs of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, according to which, from April 15 to May 8, 1945, front forces destroyed 39,490 soldiers and 9,226 were taken prisoner ^[3] . On May 9, another 10,830 soldiers were captured (only by troops of the 26th and 57th armies) ^[4] .

The Americans entered Austria on April 26, and the French on April 30. The loss of Americans in Austria amounted to 5,972 people, including 1,846 dead. Of this number, 5,413 falls on the US Air Force. Thus, the loss of ground forces reached 559 people, including 118 dead, in about a week of fighting.

• Graz-Amstettins Offensive April 15 - May 9, 1945
• The journal of operations of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in May 1945
• Military Journal of the 3rd Ukrainian Front for April 1945
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