Assault on Insterburg

On January 22, 1945, Insterburg, one of East Prussia’s major cities and an important road and rail junction, was taken in the East Prussian Offensive. It had been turned into a powerful strongpoint, with additional fortifications in view of the coming offensive by the Soviet troops.

In October 1944, Army General Ivan Chernyakhovsky, the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, was ordered by the Supreme High Command to conduct an offensive operation by three combined-arms armies (5th, 28th and 11th Guards) and in cooperation with the 1st Baltic Front to defeat the Tilsit-Isterburg enemy group, with the subsequent seizure of the Insterburg - Darkehmen - Goldap line.

The successfully launched offensive and the breakthrough of the first and then the second lines of defence by the Soviet troops forced the German command to urgently redeploy some of the most combat-ready armoured divisions - "Hermann Goering" and "Greater Germany" – to East Prussia. As a result, the troops of the main group of the 3rd Belorussian Front were constrained by enemy counterattacks.

On October 23, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front advanced 30 kilometres into East Prussia with a front line 140 kilometres wide. The 31st Army captured the towns of Filipów and Suwalki (present-day Poland). On October 25, after the capture of Stallupönen by the troops of the 3rd Guards Rifle Corps of Lieutenant General Alexander Luchinsky’s 28th Army, a general decline of the offensive by the main forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front set in.

By October 27, General Chernyakhovsky realised the situation had reached a stalemate and, with the permission of the Supreme High Command, issued an order on going over to the defensive at the captured line of Sudargas - Schillehnen - Pillkallen - Walterkehmen - Goldap - Filipów - Augustów. The first phase of the Insterburg offensive was over.

The second offensive of the 3rd Belorussian Front towards Königsberg began on January 13, 1945 with a two-hour artillery barrage. The shock assault group of the front included the 5th, 28th and 39th Armies, 2nd and 3rd Guards Artillery Divisions of the Supreme Command’s breakthrough reserve and the 4th Guards Artillery Division. Despite the enemy’s tough resistance, its defences were broken and then crushed.

On January 18, tanks crossed the Insterburg - Tilsit railway line near Schillen and Grunheide. As a result of the manoeuvre, the Tilsit group was cut off from the Insterburg group. Following up on the success of the tank corps, the troops of the 39th Army marched up to 20 kilometres during the day, and by the end of the day, its advanced units reached the Inster River, pushing back the enemy’s 1st and 69th infantry divisions to the west bank.

It is also worth mentioning the feats of the Soviet pilots. After a raid by the squadron of Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Miroshnichenko, which fought as part of the 34th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 276th Bombardier Division of the 1st Air Army, the railroad junction of Insterburg was actually put out of action for several days. In a single air battle over Insterburg, the squadron of the 976th fighter aviation regiment of the 259th fighter aviation division of the 3rd Air Army shot down 9 enemy aircraft.

In the air battles over Insterburg, the pilots of the famous Normandie-Nieman air fighter regiment fought wing to wing with the Soviet aces as part of the 303rd Fighter Division of the 1st Air Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front. Brave Frenchmen shot down more than a dozen enemy planes, but lost three pilots. Marc Verdier, Jacques Casaneuve and Jean Piquenot gave their lives in the fight against the Nazi plague. The regiment was repeatedly awarded both Soviet and French decorations for the exemplary performance of its combat missions during the East Prussian operation.

On January 19, the Soviet troops crossed the borders of the Insterburg district. At night, the commander of the 18th Guards Rifle Division Grigory Karizhsky received an order as follows:

By 8 pm, concentrate in the Mekschen – Grunthal area and stand ready for assault in the forward echelon.

The regiments concentrated in the forest on the eastern bank of the Inster river. Reconnaissance groups immediately moved forward towards the ice-covered river. The enemy maintained large-calibre artillery fire.

It took less than a day for the sappers to build a 24-metre-long bridge across the Inster River. Constructed on double pile piers, it was capable of withstanding a weight of 70 tonnes. By 11 pm, the regiment crossed the river. Combat began with the units of the 1st East Prussian Division. Guardsman Alexei Petrasenko, a party leader of the 8th Rifle Company, distinguished himself in that battle. Breaking into the trench of the enemy, he killed ten fascists and captured eight. By six o’clock in the morning, the first defensive lines on the approaches to the city - the settlements of Jerellen and Gudaschen were taken. On the line Grunheide - Pladden (Badupänen ) – Wahningken, the Germans, having pulled up their assault guns, launched a counterattack which was repeated many times, but without success. The Soviet soldiers held out.

By the end of the day on January 20, the 26th Division on the right flank of the Army had penetrated deeply into the enemy’s defences, demonstrating that the 8th Corps had successfully completed its task, advancing 12-15 kilometres. The success of the 26th Division determined the further course of the army operation. In fact, all the necessary conditions were created for a rapid and complete break-up of the Tilsit-Isterburg enemy group. Its further destruction, piece by piece, could speed up the whole front operation.

The Military Council of the 11th Army tasked the 36th Guards Corps, together with the units of the 5th Army, to capture Insterburg.

January 20, at 9.30 am. A massive aerial bombardment of Insterburg with incendiary and high-explosive bombs began. Units of the 11th Guards Army advanced 15-25 kilometres during the day to the line Aulowehnen - Gross Franzdorf - Sesseläcken, creating a serious threat to the Insterburg-Gumbinnen group from the north.

January 21, 12.40 am. Chernyakhovsky set the 11th Guards Army HQ a task:

From the morning of January 21, continue the offensive and with the support of the 5th and 28th Armies and the 1st Red Banner Tank Corps, attack part of the forces from the north and north-west to seize Insterburg, with the main forces going to the front Neu Schirau - Wirbeln - Sterkeningen.

The 36th Guards Rifle Corps, advancing in the direction of Neunischken - Insterburg, was assigned to break through the enemy defences in the section Gross Schunkern - Georgenburg.

Under the order, the 8th and 16th Guards Rifle Corps continued their offensive on the right flank, seeking to break through the main strip of the Ilmenhorst fortified area and build on the success at Wellau, bypassing the Insterburg group from the north and west. The 36th Guards Rifle Corps, in turn, fought hard on the left flank of the 11th Guards Army in the Insterburg direction.

The Red Army had carefully prepared for the assault. Prisoners had been captured to obtain information, but they did not provide a complete picture. The only thing that helped was a map, which was found on the dead body of a German colonel of the 26th Army Corps stationed in Horstenau. This gave details of the operational situation at the front, with units and defensive lines marked on it. The information obtained led to the conclusion that the city had to be stormed immediately before its garrison was reinforced by other military units.

The assault was further complicated by the fact that the city was protected from the north not only by the erected defences, but also by the natural barriers of the Angerapp and Inster rivers. The Germans had blown up the dam on purpose, so that the water would submerge the floodplains of these rivers and hamper the further advance of the Soviet soldiers.

Notwithstanding all this and adverse weather conditions, the Soviet soldiers managed to destroy more than ten strongpoints and by 8 pm, they had succeeded in reaching the outskirts of Insterburg, where the last line of defence lay with field entrenchments and permanent defences.

The assault on the city began at 10 pm on January 21 after a 20-minute artillery barrage. The main blow was delivered by the 18th Guards Rifle Division with two (51st and 53rd) regiments, reinforced with the tanks of the 75th Detached Guards Heavy Tank Regiment along the motorway, aiming to take over the Inster River crossing near Georgenburg and break into the town from the north. The third (58th) regiment was to cross the Pregel near Nettingen and break into the city from the west and northwest.

The 16th Division attacked the city with the 43rd and 49th Regiments in the first echelon, concentrating its main effort on its left flank. The left flank of the 49th Regiment was reinforced with the 350th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, which had been given two-thirds of the available artillery. The 46th regiment in the second echelon was to cross the Inster river and then, the Angerapp River, breaking through the fortified outer defensive line from the north and entering the city.

The Nazi troops put up stubborn resistance. The first attack by both divisions was repulsed. The Soviet artillery failed to suppress firing points located in stone buildings. The second attack, which began 45 minutes later, also yielded no significant results. The Germans again met the advancing units with heavy machine-gun, artillery and mortar fire and desperate counterattacks.

At the time of the assault there were enemy units totalling up to 6,500 men (including tank and artillery regiments, Volkssturm battalions, police, firefighters, evacuation, ambulance crews and other units). Literally every building was readied for defence, stone houses were turned into permanent fortifications with large-calibre machine guns, light and medium guns. A large group of Nazis was entrenched in the buildings of the meat-processing plant. In one of the cellars there was a pillbox. Nazi guns covered the entire area, preventing an advance to the bridge. Young Communist League member Likhachev destroyed the machine-gun point with grenades.

Private Safonov and Sergeant Major Pavlov were the first to rush into the large stone building. Meanwhile, Guards Captain Fyodorov’s tank crew was the first to make it across the Inster River, destroying two guns and killing more than ten Nazis. Soon the tank was shot down. After that the crew started shooting the enemy soldiers with machine guns, helping the Soviet infantry to advance. Major General Karizhsky, trying to finally break the resistance of the enemy, put the 75th Guards Detached Heavy Tank Regiment into action. At 2 o’clock on January 22, this regiment with assault riflemen broke into the northern outskirts of the city and on reaching the river Angerapp, seized the bridge, securing the offensive of the division’s main forces.

Covering the bridge over the Angerapp, the enemy had entrenched in a four-story building from which they delivered precision machine-gun and automatic barrage fire. Battery commander of the 99th Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade Captain Borovik, with great difficulty, pulled heavy howitzers to the river and destroyed the defending building, one storey after another, with direct fire. After destroying the enemy, the artillerymen together with the infantry came to the bridge and crossed it to the west bank of the river.

January 22, 2.30 am. The bridge’s security was overcome without a single shot being fired, and preparations were made for the advance units of the division to cross. The right side of the bridge was sagging a bit, but it did not stop heavy tanks from crossing. The lime trees at the edge of the roadway, which had been cut down, ready to be used to block the bridge, were also demined.

Despite a heavy overnight battle, the soldiers of the 16th and 18th Guards Divisions managed to break through the enemy defences. Serious damage was inflicted on the enemy in the area near the airfield and Belkestrasse. The enemy wavered and began to retreat. A number of units did not take part in the unpredictable night battle, waiting for the dawn. Soon the rifle battalions of the 21st Guards Rifle Regiment and the 51st Guards Rifle Regiment also reached the northern outskirts of the city.

Stubborn fighting continued in the environs of the city until 4 o'clock in the morning. When approaching the centre, regiments of both divisions again met stubborn resistance from the enemy. The battle took on a focal character, the outcome of which depended on the independent and proactive efforts of small units and assault groups. The Germans, occupying the attics, upper floors and basements, were firing heavily at the advancing troops.

By morning, the last pocket of enemy defence near the railway station had been crushed. The victory was complete and final. On January 22 at 5:30 am, Major General Karizhsky radioed to the corps commander to tell him that Insterburg had been taken, and the enemy driven out of the city. He signed an operational report, stating that enemy units of the 1st East Prussian Infantry and 5th Tank Divisions had been defeated in the battles on the outskirts of the city and in the city itself.

During the assault, the enemy suffered significant losses. Many pieces of military hardware and ammunition were destroyed, in particular, 18 tanks, 13 self-propelled assault vehicles, 9 armoured vehicles, 19 mortars and 33 guns. In addition, 2,000 rifles and submachine guns, 233 machine guns, 45 mortars, 47 guns, 6 self-propelled machines with ammunition, 15 food-supply and clothing depots, two railway trains with different goods were seized. In the battle, 2,050 Nazi soldiers and officers were killed. The 18th Division alone captured 260 POWs.

The storming and capture of Insterburg became a milestone in the Red Army’s chain of victories during the final stage of the Great Patriotic War. The operation, cleverly thought-out by commanders and bravely carried out by soldiers of the 18th Guards Infantry Division, made it possible to defeat a massive enemy defensive group, thus opening the way to Königsberg for the Soviet troops and forcing the Nazis to retreat from the Masurian Lakes district. What is more, the large railway and motorway junction that had been captured was used by the Soviet army, helping to solve many logistical problems. It had a major impact on the development of a number of offensive operations in this area.

After the war, Insterburg became part of the RSFSR within the Kaliningrad Region. Since 1946, the city was renamed Chernyakhovsk in honour of the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, who died during the liberation of East Prussia from the Nazis.

5,414 Soviet troops were buried in mass grave No. 4182 on Sportivnaya Street in Chernyakhovsk.