THE RED ARMY TOWARDS THE ODERThen And Now. Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.THE RED ARMY TOWARDS THE ODERThen And Now

Hardback 152 paged illustrated throughout Understanding this book begins with the maps: German wartime charts charting territories that are now in Poland. The battlegrounds along the Oder were once Polish, then Prussian, then German-before being restored to Poland after 1945. In January that year, this shifting frontier became the last barrier between the Red Army and Berlin.Following the destruction of German Army Group Centre during Operation Bagration, Soviet forces drove west until weather and logistics forced a pause. On 12 January 1945 the offensive resumed with overwhelming force. Within days the Vistula line collapsed and the 1st Belorussian Front surged across Poland to the Oder, barely 60 kilometres from Berlin. Hitler ordered key strongholds designated as Festungen-fortress cities-to be held at all costs. What followed were savage, drawn-out battles for the bridgeheads that would enable Marshal Zhukov to launch the final assault on the Reich capital.This volume unites three After the Battle studies:- Issue 188: The Battle for Festung Posen, 1945- Issue 184: The Oder Bridgeheads, 1945- Issue 192: The Battle of Festung KüstrinChosen for their bridges and existing, if outdated, fortifications, these cities became crucibles. German defenders-Wehrmacht, SS, Luftwaffe, Volkssturm, foreign auxiliaries and even improvised naval formations-fought with tactical skill and ferocity against a numerically superior enemy. Casualties were severe; the fighting was often merciless.Rare German and Soviet wartime photography captures the reality: shattered citadels, improvised barricades, mud, ice and urban ruin. Particularly striking are images from the Schwedt bridgehead, documenting SS formations and special forces under Otto Skorzeny.For historians and modellers alike, this is an indispensable visual and operational record of the Eastern Front's final battles-raw, uncompromising, and fought in the shadow of Berlin.After the Battle ceased regular publication following the retirement of its long-standing editor and publisher. Its title survives in a new series issued by a different, reputable press, but the format has changed: rather than original, standalone monographs, the volumes are compact anthologies-tightly edited collations of previously published ATB material arranged around specific operations or campaigns. The resulting books remain well researched, accurate, and informative, and they preserve many valuable articles and illustrations. However, the reduced size and anthology format deliver less of the polished production values and singular focus that characterised the earlier dedicated ATB books, and consequently the new series lacks some of the heft and immediacy that readers of the original publications valued.…