The Poor Stepsister
While the Sixth SS Panzer Army was lavished with the best equipment that the Reich could scratch together in 1945, the Second Panzer Army was apportioned with only a handful of tanks. The Second actually had farther to go and faced the 3rd Ukrainian Front straight on. The Sixth would attack the nexus of the Third and Second in a more fair fight.
The Second Panzer Army, a Wehrmacht formation rather than an SS formation, was a Panzer formation in name only by 1945. Having spent the last two years in the Balkans fighting partisans, the 2nd did have substantial SS formations, including the SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer (destroyed in Budapest). It was infamous among the partisan groups for its atrocities during occupation.
What should have been clear was that in 1945, with a handful of Sturmgeschutze, the 2nd Panzer Army was not an armored formation and was not capable of punching through the 3rd Ukrainian Front to get to a rendezvous with the 6th SS Panzer Army on the Danube, even with Army Group E helping with an attack on the 3rd Ukrainian Front's southern (and almost rear) flank.
The attack of the 2nd was to be led by, in fact, cavalry--not mechanized cavalry, but real sabre-rattling horse cavalry. And while ASL players frequently joke about the Polish Cavalry charging tanks in September of 1939, it is too often forgotten that the Germans were doing the same thing in April of 1945. However, at least the horse cavalry wasn't devouring fuel reserves that the Reich didn't have.
It was, clearly, a completely hollow sacrifice and a bad strategic decision. Used in Berlin or Vienna, the 2nd would have had an impact. Instead, they were thrown away.
De Angelis, who was born in Budapest, was extradited to Yugoslavia for war crimes, convicted, extradited to the Soviet Union for war crimes, convicted, granted clemency in 1955 and returned to Germany. He died in 1974.
However, roads were so bad in this part of Hungary that Cavalry may have been a better choice, as tanks would have left the sodden ground a muddy mess. In fact, the 2nd not only made no progress in their attack (named Operation Icebreaker), they didn't even attract any reserves away from the 6th's front.
Therefore, the 2nd Panzer Army's attack was a complete and utter failure, costing thousands of losses for no gain whatsoever. It also exposed Eastern Austria to a rout. The 2nd Panzer Army ended the war scattered in the hills of Eastern Austria and breaking toward the advancing Americans.
The Second Panzer Army, a Wehrmacht formation rather than an SS formation, was a Panzer formation in name only by 1945. Having spent the last two years in the Balkans fighting partisans, the 2nd did have substantial SS formations, including the SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer (destroyed in Budapest). It was infamous among the partisan groups for its atrocities during occupation.
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| Maximillian de Angelis, Commander II Panzer Army |
The attack of the 2nd was to be led by, in fact, cavalry--not mechanized cavalry, but real sabre-rattling horse cavalry. And while ASL players frequently joke about the Polish Cavalry charging tanks in September of 1939, it is too often forgotten that the Germans were doing the same thing in April of 1945. However, at least the horse cavalry wasn't devouring fuel reserves that the Reich didn't have.
It was, clearly, a completely hollow sacrifice and a bad strategic decision. Used in Berlin or Vienna, the 2nd would have had an impact. Instead, they were thrown away.
De Angelis, who was born in Budapest, was extradited to Yugoslavia for war crimes, convicted, extradited to the Soviet Union for war crimes, convicted, granted clemency in 1955 and returned to Germany. He died in 1974.
However, roads were so bad in this part of Hungary that Cavalry may have been a better choice, as tanks would have left the sodden ground a muddy mess. In fact, the 2nd not only made no progress in their attack (named Operation Icebreaker), they didn't even attract any reserves away from the 6th's front.
Therefore, the 2nd Panzer Army's attack was a complete and utter failure, costing thousands of losses for no gain whatsoever. It also exposed Eastern Austria to a rout. The 2nd Panzer Army ended the war scattered in the hills of Eastern Austria and breaking toward the advancing Americans.
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