Description
Book SynopsisA gripping and detailed study of the brutal urban battle for Budapest, which saw German and Hungarian troops struggling to halt the joint Soviet-Romanian offensive to take the key city on the Danube.
The 52-day-long siege of Budapest witnessed some of the most destructive urban fighting of the war. The Transdanubia region was strategically vital to Nazi Germany for its raw materials and industry, and because of the bridgehead it allowed into Austria. As a result, Hitler declared Budapest a fortress city in early December 1944.
The battle for the city pitted 90,000 German and Hungarian troops against 170,000 Soviet (2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts) and Romanian attackers. The operations to take the city ran across several phases, from the initial Soviet approach to Budapest commencing in late October 1944, through the encirclement of city first on the Pest side of the Danube, and then on the Buda bank, and on to the savage urban fighting that began in December 1944
Trade Review
A fascinating addition to the Osprey Campaign series that meticulously details a little-known battle. * Classic Military Vehicle Magazine *
Table of Contents
ORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN CHRONOLOGY OPPOSING COMMANDERS Axis Soviet and Romanian OPPOSING FORCES Axis Soviet and Romanian Orders of battle OPPOSING PLANS Axis Soviet and Romanian THE SIEGE OF BUDAPEST The first Soviet attack: 29 October–6 November 1944 Budapest surrounded: 11 November–24 December 1944 Taking Pest: 24 December 1944–18 January 1945 German relief operations: Konrad I–III Buda: 19 January–10 February 1945 Breakout: 11–13 February 1945 AFTERMATH THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX
