Death Box ETO (id:#66783)

(ASL 16 - Twilight of the Reich ID: 295)   [next]   [previous]

Budapest, Hungary 1945-01-10 (11 others)

Overview:

By 9 January, Major-General Grigory Lazlo's 30th Rifle Corps, 7th Guards Army, of Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's 2nd Ukrainian Front had advanced from the outer suburbs on the northern side of Pest, towards the more densely populated portions of the city. On the Corp's left flank, elements of the 36th Guards Rifle Division, under the command of Major-General Georgy Lilenkov, had successfully fought their way across the natural barriers provided by the Rákos-patek, a deep stream that served as an anti-tank ditch, and the heavily fortified embankments of the circular railway line that cut across the eastern part of the city. The division now faced the prospect of clearing the Városliget, a vast park area in central Pest that was the home to a variety of attractions including a zoo, an amusement park, the Széchenyi Medicinal Baths, and the Vajdahunyad Castle. Built in 1896 using various architectural stylings including Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque, the castle was constructed as part of the Millennial Exhibition to celebrate 1,000 years of Hungarian history dating back to the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in the year 895. Key to enabling the initial Soviet entry of the eastern corner of the park was the assault lead by 32-year-old Senior-Sergeant Grogory Kulik, a platoon commander with the 104th Guards Rifle Regiment. Kulik was credited with capturing a tactically important fortified building at the corner of Thököly út and Mexikói út, where he and his comrades neutralized approximately 100 enemy soldiers in brutal hand-to-hand combat. For his actions, Kulik was awarded the highest Soviet military decoration, Hero of the Soviet Union Gold Star.

Defender: Russian (151st Rifle and 36th Guards Divisions, 30th Rifle Corps)  

Errata (source)