Snag Your Copy The Sword Behind The Shield: A Combat History Of The German Efforts To Relieve Budapest 1945Operation 'konrad' I, III, III Originated By Norbert Számvéber Accessible From Digital Format

author provides good maps for the text, and uses many primary sources, The book is a lively read with some eyewitness accounts, There are a few unclear sentences, possibly due to translation issues,
Overall it is an incredible book about a complex battle that is relatively unknown in the West, The history of the Hungarian theater of war from late Augustto the end of Marchis a special chapter of the history of the Eastern Front during World War II.
The Sovietnd andrd Ukrainian Fronts had encircled Budapest by Christmas, after very heavy combat, However, this was just the first phase of a period of intense combat, as Adolf Hitler and the German High Command planned the relief of the Hungarian capital.
The reinforced IV. SSPanzerkorps was designated for this task and its units were transferred rapidly from Polish territory to Hungary, Two operational plans were swiftly devised by the Germans, before they chose the code name "Konrad, " This was an armored strike from the Komarom region through the mountains south of the river Danube to the Buda side of the Hungarian capital.
The first day of Operation "Konrad" wasJanuary, and marked the beginning of a series of fierce clashes that lasted for nearly six weeks, a very special period in the history of the Battle for Budapest.
Both sides employed significant numbers of armored forces in these battles, including heavy tanks, The GermanHungarian forces tried to break through to Budapest three times in three different locations, but each time they struck relocated Soviet tank, mechanized, rifle, cavalry, artillery and antitank units fromrd Ukrainian Front's reserve.
In January, furious tank battles developed in the eastern part of Transdanubia in Hungary, especially in the areas of Bajna, Zsambek, Zamoly, Pettend, Vereb, Dunapentele and Szekesfehervar.
After the third and strongest German attempt codenamed "Konrad", which also

failed, the Soviet troops launched a counter offensive in late Januaryto encircle and eliminate the advancing enemy forces.
But the German armored Kampfgruppen managed to blunt the Soviet attack, which eventually wound down and fragmented, mirroring the German offensives before it.
This work is based mainly on German, Soviet and Hungarian archival records e, g. war diaries, daily and afteraction reports, etc, . In addition, a number of rare unit histories, contemporary private diaries and reliable personal memoirs, from generals to enlisted men, have also been used by the author.
The combat actions are extremely detailed, and provide a daybyday account, The author analyzes the command and control systems at operational and tactical levels and the losses of both sides, For a better understanding of the events the book includes many photographs and detailed specially commissioned color battle maps, .