The Germans' Doomed Tank Battle For The Baltics | Greatest Tank Battles | War Stories

january 1944 the soviet union launches a massive armored attack against german forces on the eastern front we knew they were coming we were told be on the lookout for russian tanks the soviets unleash wave after wave of tanks on the beleaguered germans the answer soviet sites 1580 tanks in the soil guns we have to stop them because it's gonna be worse if they take over germany vastly outnumbered the germans fight desperately to hold off the soviet attackers [Music] this tank battalion was the only one against two thousands of attacks this is something i never forget in my life in some of the most vicious armored fire fights of the war red army and german tanks clash in the battle for the baltics that was a dead man's job [Music] july 1943 two years of vicious fighting between the soviet union and nazi germany reaches a bloody climax when adolf hitler orders his forces to make one last all-out attempt to crush the red army but after weeks of bitter fighting near the city of course the germans are battered and in full retreat the battle decided the outcome of the war power road it was a turning point for the red army in the fall of 1943 the soviets prepare a massive offensive to drive the german invaders from the russian motherland once and for all their plan attack all along the eastern front with overwhelming numbers of men and machines in the north the soviets will advance through the baltic states and push into germany through east prussia and on january 14 1944 the red army attacks for the baltic campaign the soviets field three entire army groups composed of 1.2 million troops thousands of heavy guns and a staggering 1500 tanks the main strengths of the russian armored core was always the mass the russians always formed waves of tanks and sent them forward as a huge group as a blunt [Music] instrument the mainstay of the soviet armored core is the t-34 medium tank weighing 30 tons and equipped with a 76 millimeter main cannon and 45 millimeters of sloping frontal armor the t-34 provides a perfect balance of firepower protection and maneuverability when solid army started so offensive the superiority was so gigantic the german units had no chance the germans had to retreat to a line backwards the so-called pentaline to defend the panther line the germans can only muster 600 000 troops a few thousand artillery guns and less than 200 operational tanks and assault guns the germans scrambled to reinforce the line with all of their remaining tanks but the rapidly advancing red army outflanks them the soviets punched through the line creating a bridgehead 15 kilometers deep on the west bank of the narva river now they threaten the flank of german army group north and the vital rail link that supplies it the main attack an advanced column of t-34s probe german lines in a sector defended by two mobile anti-tank guns we were standing guard in i think it was in the near kinderheim at that area alvere we were just standing by the artillery of course always shot at us from a distance we were told be on the lookout for russian tanks we knew they were coming because there were some infantry people in front of us and they raid your fact that there are noises in the woods it sounds like tanks couldn't see exactly you know because it was still in the shadow of those trees i didn't keep my eyes off my telescope the whole time then finally i saw something moving there sure enough that's where the russians came out i told the commander he just says foyer fight okay shoot the sturmgeschertz is a mobile tank destroyer with its low silhouette and high velocity 75 millimeter main gun the stoog is the deadliest anti-tank weapon in the german armory and by 1944 they have destroyed 20 000 red army tanks the first one it hit but it didn't do any damage as soon as you shoot the loader he puts a grenade in right away he is ready i knew the distance all i had to do is turn it a degree or two you know and shoot again and we knocked it out one after the other came out they had 10 tanks they shot but they they missed it's like they didn't know what to do this was a common saying in the german army don't worry about the russians they always missed the first shot our buddy next to us was about all 100 yards from us and he knocked out two the third one i think started to move back already when i shot it the fourth one was farther back already and but i still hit it and then one took off our body chased him he knocked him out the others they all disappeared [Music] we shot six down and where they didn't hit one of us they were too slow we're just faster and better i told my commander i said i was lucky i said that i hear them all he said you were not lucky you were trained to hit them all the first time with the first shot their superior gunnery skills leave the two stoogs in sole possession of the battlefield but the victory is short-lived now the fighting gets even deadlier the germans desperate to stop the swarming t-34s throw their most powerful weapon into the fight the massive 57-ton tiger tank january 1944 the soviet union launches a major offensive against hitler's forces on the eastern front in the north they attack the panther line where battle hardened but heavily outnumbered germans struggled to fend off the attacks i told my commander i was lucky i said that i hear them all he says you were not lucky you were trained to hit them all at the first time with the first shot after weeks of fighting the soviets create a small bridgehead on the german southern flank now they plan to push north to the baltic sea encircling hitler's army group north but they must attack before the spring thaw turns the frozen ground to mud slowing the tanks [Music] by mid-march they have assembled a massive tank force that the germans cannot hope to match in 1944 as a german side we are only 16 tanks and 109 zoe guns and on the soviet side five hundred eighty tanks in assault guns outgunned and outnumbered the german high command sends in one of their best tank commanders lieutenant general hyacinth strokwitz von grossow straghwitz was known to be the panzer general he was the best tank general he was a graph of his account you know but he was a very well liked and he was a smart man strokwitz quickly strengthens anti-tank defenses on the panther line but has a bigger problem keeping the vital supply lines open german army has not enough vehicles a problem for german army was also the fuel because they had not enough fuel anymore it should be an easy victory for the well-supplied red army but strokefits has one big advantage an elite panzer unit he can deploy to critical parts of the front the most famous tank unit perhaps on german side on our front was the heavy tank battalion number 502 the star of the 502nd is otto karius who has turned it into one of the deadliest tank units in the german army and on march 17 1944 the 502nd scrambles to head off red army tanks at a vital crossroads held by german infantry carius and fellow tank ace albert kirscher arrive just as the soviets unleash a punishing artillery barrage the russians shot with every available weapon the entire sector was covered with such a barrage that we thought all hell had broken loose a sea of fire constant shooting constant explosions the sound was intense to the point of blocking your hearing the soviet barrage lifts and swarms of t-34s rush forward nothing stands between them and their objective except carius and kirscher in two of the deadliest tanks of the second world war the 57-ton tiger was developed to counter the t-34 it carries a powerful 88 millimeter main gun and with 100 millimeters of protective armor is all but impervious to t-34 fire karius sends kirsher out into the open directly in the gun sights of the advancing t-34s it was clear that they were pushing north with strong forces in order to roll up our bridgehead at narva q34s were already closing at full speed one of the most decisive factors was radio the germans were very keen on getting everything equipped with the radio and therefore they were able to maneuver very flexible on the battlefield they were able to communicate on the battlefield and therefore they were able to toy with the russian truth i was able to notify keshia just in time everything happened in the blink of an eye they careened into a bomb crater and didn't come out as the soviets press their attack carius targets tank after tank with his 88 millimeter gun you always have to try to hit between the turret and the main body and this is where you can do the most damage the remaining t34s didn't even get the fire they probably also didn't have a clue as to who knocked them out and from where the attack at the crossroads fails and all across the baltic front the red army offensive bogs down in the spring thaw the soviets now build up a force of more than a million men for a summer offensive one they hope will crush the german invaders once and for all through the winter of 1944 heavily outnumbered german forces defend the panther line against repeated red army attempts to break through and push north to the baltic sea [Music] a sea of fire constant shooting constant explosions you got to a position where you personally just hated the russians and try to kill as many as you can because if you didn't do that they would kill you the coming spring thaw will make it hard for tanks to maneuver the fighting dies down leaving battlefields along the panther line littered with the hulks of destroyed tanks [Music] today in the forests of estonia historians still find stark reminders of those deadly months [Music] is [Music] during that time there were so many battles here that metal is pretty much everywhere [Music] you're looking at the side armor of a t-34 the most famous type of soviet tank from the second world war if you walk around here you'll discover craters all over the battles that raged down here were very cruel and the losses were huge but the red army will not be deterred and in the spring of 1944 the soviets gear up for a massive summer offensive key to its success are the weapons factories that produce hundreds of new tanks every day [Music] the german rush had no chance to win the war because in modern wars we are not run on the battlefield but in the factories the german reich produced in the second world war only 25 000 million battle tanks and the allies produced more than 200 thousand battle tanks by late spring the soviets have assembled over 1.2 million troops and 2500 tanks aiming to finally drive the stubborn germans out of the baltic states and on june 22 1944 the third anniversary of germany's invasion of the soviet union the offensive begins in just a few weeks four army groups advanced through estonia lithuania and latvia squeezing the germans back towards the baltic sea on the southern flank the soviets push almost 200 kilometers towards the gulf of riga the scale and intensity of the million-man onslaught overwhelms the germans they were attacked everywhere and from all sides wherever they went they were beaten from all sides they were attacked so badly they were at a loss about what to do next the red army we're moving the units like a steamroller after this battle the germans were turned around like a wheel they're massively outnumbered and retreating all along the baltic front hitler orders commanders to counter-attack at once and german tanks venture out on near-suicide missions to surprise and with luck slow the red army juggernauts in this whole army there were panzer divisions which normally had 120 to 140 tanks in 1941 which were starting a day with 9 or 12 tanks what was left over were like firefighters they were sent from one crisis to the other crisis the only chance of the superior german tank units was to create surprising situations and autocarius is a master of surprise when spotters report soviet tanks in a village near the front line he rounds up eight tiger tanks and moves out we are completely on our own somewhere in the valley was a village in which there were already russian tanks the village was called malinova it would be too dangerous for us to attack online we have to get through this without losses if at all possible this tank battalion was the only one of the army group north within a frontage of at that time about 800 kilometers the only one against about two thousand of their tanks [Music] carriers comes up with a daring plan one he hopes will flush any hidden tanks in malinava into the open two tanks will drive into the village at high speed and surprise ivan he must not be allowed to fire a shot i will lead and both of us will advance to the center of the village as quickly as possible he could make an ambush and then use the moment of surprise that was the greatest advantage it's a moment of surprise each of us knew at that point that only speed was decisive [Music] kesha noticed that the turrets of both russian tanks were moving he immediately stopped and knocked out both of them he moves farther into the village and comes up against a chilling and fearsome sight he radioed and pointed to the right we were startled for a moment we thought we had a king tiger in front of us that had been captured by the russians but it's not a king tiger it's the red army's newest and biggest killing machine a monster tank designed specifically to smash karius and his tigers to smithereens the eastern front 1944 for seven months german and soviet forces have been battling for control of the baltic states in july the red army continues its million-man offensive against the heavily outnumbered germans in southern latvia german tank ace otto karius leads an attack on soviet tanks in the latvian village of melanova he could make an ambush and then use the moment of surprise that was the greatest advantage it's a movement of surprise but in the village carius and fellow tank ace albert kirscher get a surprise of their own when they come face to face with a monster tank we thought for a moment that we had a king tiger in front of us that had been captured by the russians what the germans have encountered is the js2 heavy tank named for soviet dictator joseph stalin the js2 is the red army's answer to germany's tiger and panther tanks it's protected by 120 millimeters of frontal armor and its 122 millimeter main cannon is powerful enough to destroy a tiger [Music] we were startled for a moment [Music] after i initially hesitated i fired and the tank burst into flames at the edge of the village the germans surprised an entire unit of js2s in a rest area carius and kirscher have only moments before the soviet crews reach their tanks [Music] but the outnumbered germans quickly discover a critical flaw in the js2s he had to bring the gun all the way down to make it level in order for the guy to put the cartridge in and then he had to readjust it in order to shoot it so there's there was a time lapse in between the slow loading soviet tanks can't compete with the rapid firing tigers only two russian tanks tried to flee to the east none of the others found any opportunity to move it's all over in less than 15 minutes karius and kershaw destroy more than 20 soviet tanks in one of the most audacious armored engagements of the war but the bigger picture remains unchanged the germans can't stop the red army's baltic offensive he was battered and we continued to hit and hit until death everywhere through july of 1944 the german front line continues to crumble the red army captures vilnius and presses on to the frontier with east prussia part of the german fatherland we could not afford to lose crowd we have to stop them because it's going to be worse if they take over germany [Music] as the red army nears the east prussian border rudolf salvermoser's unit is sent on a dangerous reconnaissance mission we were the lead tank of that reconnaissance we were supposed to find out where the russians are and then defend that hill and see what damage we can do to them we were behind a hill it was more like a hill like this here all you do is go enough that he can see out you know over the hill and then he said keep on going to the bush and i tried to tell him sergeant they'll see us then salvermoster spots an enemy target i saw the t-34 he was heading right into the woods he was almost at the woods i was shooting this way at 11 o'clock and the sun it was about four i guess in the afternoon the sun was shining your eyes are trained when you have this good optics i shot and as i shot this flash came i haul it watch out after seven months of bitter fighting the red army has smashed through german positions and by august is only days away from crossing the german frontier and invading the fatherland german commanders urgently needing intelligence on soviet troop movements dispatch a unit of stug assault guns to find and attack lead elements of the soviet thrust we were supposed to find out where the russians are and then defend that hill and see what damage we can do to them i saw that t34 he was almost at the woods i shot and as i shot this flash came when i saw that flash i saw the tank too and i hauled it pass off watch out [Applause] it hit us i came to when i was kneeling behind the tank and i must have sensed that my arms hurt because they were all burned and of course my face was burnt people say that's impossible i swear to that that's what happened i had sometimes nightmares about that later you know just thinking about it what would have happened if they would have knocked me out i would have been a donor [Music] this is something i never forget in my life [Music] all across the front lines the red army pounds the depleted german forces the soviets constantly bring up reinforcements and grow stronger by the day while the germans get weaker it is clear that they cannot hold out much longer by late july the red army has almost completely surrounded german army group north elements of the soviet first baltic front drive towards the gulf of riga tightening the noose i fought the rest of the war in the baltics and i participated in a very interesting race our goal was to advance with a lot more strength they gave us a division of katushas a heavy tank regiment and other things with that we would break through the front lines and advance to the gulf of riga the end result was that we trapped the germans in the northern riga in thailand and estonia july 30th 1944 the red army reaches the gulf of riga encircling 30 german divisions and ending hitler's last lingering hope for a turnaround in the fighting on the eastern front among us friends we said it doesn't look too good the germans are rapidly running out of ammunition fuel and food it looks like another stalingrad but this time a half a million are trapped and everybody said well maybe they are going to pull us out maybe somebody is going to come and save us the germans again call on general hyacinth struckvids he is given a near impossible task punch his way through red army lines and create an escape route with only 10 tanks and a few days to do it the fate of five hundred thousand men lies in his hands everybody was pretty well aware that that was a dead man's job august 1944 the once mighty german army fights a desperate battle to prevent its annihilation in the baltics you got to a position where you personally just hated the russians and try to kill as many as you can because if you didn't do that they would kill you hitler's army group north is surrounded by soviet fighters who are intent on their complete and utter destruction they attacked us they murdered our people i was only in one mood to kill as many germans as possible 30 german divisions a half million troops face another stalingrad with only two options surrender or die unless they can somehow find a way to escape that perilous task falls to tank general hyacinth strzokvitz who looks for an escape route near the gulf of riga where intelligence suggests soviet defenses are weakest on august 21st strzokvitz leads a scouting force of just 10 tiger tanks slipping through red army lines he approaches the latvian town of tukum's not far from the gulf tucum's bristles with soviet armor t-34 tanks at least 50 of them are lined up in the center of town if strokfest can get rid of them an escape route will be open strahovitz was a bold daredevil and the german officers were allowed to to change the mission if the situation changed they had nearly no infantry they had no artillery and so the navy had to place a role of artillery [Music] struck with in his staff had a radio communication with the navy and so they could make a good correlation fire and maneuver hoping to neutralize the soviet armor before their crews can react to his attack strzokvitz feeds their coordinates to a german naval flotilla in the nearby gulf of riga it was the very first time that a unit was supported by the fire of the navy the naval guns fire from 30 kilometers away each shell taking over a minute to hit the bombardment is lethal and intense when it ends struck fits and his tigers charge into tucums and finish off the few enemy tanks that try to escape and when the smoke clears every t-34 is destroyed struckwitch's daring raid punches a hole in soviet lines opening an escape route for the battered soldiers of army group north if you ask me today how did you do it i don't know you didn't mute me and you didn't chicken out you we are in it for the bitter empty 500 thousand men break out of the soviet encirclement and retreat west through the strzokvitz corridor and hitler is spared another stalingrad but the massive withdrawal marks the beginning of the end for the third reich the red army pursues the germans all the way to berlin and in may of 1945 the city is captured survivors of the fierce baltic fighting look back on it now and ask what was achieved by the appalling death and destruction we were thinking we are fighting for our fatherland we really believed it we were so brainwashed that we always believed in the end seek the final victory when you look back it seems silly but when you believe you fight for it [Music] i remember my friends who have passed away [Music] i always remember them may they rest in peace we wanted to win it that's all to get rid of that insane hitler saga the cost of the baltics campaign on both sides is enormous with each side losing hundreds of thousands of men across the three baltic states civilians died by the thousands their homes destroyed and their properties blighted by the wreckage of war remnants of these bloody encounters still litter the estonian in 2000 historians pulled a massive wartime relic from a small lake near narva on the russian frontier an entire soviet t-34 tank one of just a handful ever recovered in such good condition this tank was very unique since it had german crosses on it at some point the tank was captured by germans [Music] this history is the real history that we want to make a museum and make sure that all these things are displayed there in 1944 the battles were horrendous this

Channel: War Stories

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Keywords: military history, war, war documentary, military tactics, war stories, history of war, baltic tank battle, ww2 eastern front, ww2 russian german war, ww2 tank battles, end of ww2, baltic war, german tank war, german tank history

Id: 2appOUvxP4s

Length: 43min 39sec (2619 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 15 2021

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[u/KTMR29]

Good old Revisionism. Wehrbs out in force.