The German army, shattered by Russian successes in Ukraine and the huge losses inflicted by Operation Gannibal, was now caught between the hammer of the 1ya Tank Army sweeping westwards and the anvil of the Third Internationale's remorseless pressure in the Rhineland and Westphalia. During the planning of Saltykov, there had been a feeling within Stavka that this timetable was too optimistic, particularly given the logistical challenges involved in keeping an entire tank army supplied as Vasilevskiy fought his way from East Prussia to Brandenburg.īy early July, it had become apparent that the timetable was, if anything, too pessimistic. As originally envisaged, the great westward offensive that would bring the Russian army to the gates of Berlin was tolast a full month, bringing the German capital under siege by late July.
