Moltke Bridge, Berlin,
Germany, 29 April 1945:
On the evening of April 28 the 79th Rifle Corps reached the Spree
River in force. The corps commander, Major General S.N. Perevertkin,
set up his forward headquarters in an upper floor of the customs
building so he could personally direct the attack across the
Moltke Bridge and to the Reichstag beyond. As night fell, both
sides prepared for the battle ahead. The Red Army brought up
tanks and direct fire artillery to support the shock battalions
designated to storm the bridge. The Germans used the time to
bring up some naval infantry as reinforcements and to zero in
any remaining guns on the bridge. Before the attack started,
the Russians were able to clear one of the roadblocks off the
bridge using heavy tanks. At midnight and without any preliminary
barrage, the two assault battalions stormed onto the bridge as
the supporting guns and tanks fired across the Spree into the
German defenders. The SS defenders laid down brutal small arms,
MG, and AT-gun fire on the troops now caught in the wire on the
southern barricade. Several rockets fell on the tanks and guns
supporting the attack, causing additional casualties. With the
infantry pinned down on the bridge, more tanks were sent in and
met with fire from the Zoo Flak Tower and Tigers from the 503rd
brought up from the Tiergarten. The torrent of destruction that
fell on the bridge wrecked both vehicles and men. Additional
infantry not able to use the knocked out tanks as cover were
able to gain a small bridgehead in the nearest buildings in the
Diplomatic Quarter. Dawn found the entire area shrouded in the
smoke from the battle the night before, and the surviving assault
troops were one step closer to the prize of the Reichstag.
BERLIN
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