The purpose of the area strategy was to create the most favorable conditions for a decisive assault on Berlin by smashing Army Group "A" in front of the city (which was responsible for covering the life-threatening centers of Germany) and advancing out of the Oder.

The campaign was intended to launch a powerful divisional assault from the landing fields at the same time, to break through the enemy defenses, to rapidly develop a high-speed offensive, and to seize the German retreating army or reserves before they gained a foothold in the middle of the defense.

The total depth of the campaign was specified as 300-350 km for the 1st Belorussian Front, and 280-300 km for the 1st Ukrainian Front.

On the side of the Soviet troops......

Participating in the campaign were the 1st Belorussian Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov) and the 1st Ukrainian Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Konev), with a total of 16 composite armies, 4 tank armies, 2 air force armies, as well as several independent tank corps, mechanized armies, cavalry corps, etc., with a total of 2.2 million men, 33,500 artillery pieces and mortars, 7,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 5,000 aircraft.

The left flank of the 2nd Belorussian Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky) and the right flank of the 4th Ukrainian Front (commanded by General Petrov) acted in tandem. Also taking part in the campaign was the Polish 1st Army.

On the German side......

The enemy in front of the Soviet army was the German Army Group "A" (renamed Army Group Center on January 25, and the commanders were General Harpe and General Schellner), with a total of 560,000 men, 5,000 artillery pieces, more than 1,200 tanks and assault artillery, and 600 aircraft. In the course of the campaign, about 40 divisions were transferred for reinforcement.

The Germans built a 500-kilometer-deep defensive system consisting of seven defensive areas between the Vistula River and the Oder River, the strongest of which were the first (i.e., the Vistula River Defense Area, consisting of 4 defense zones with a depth of 30~70 km) and the Sixth (along the old German-Polish border, including several fortified areas) defense areas.

The actions of the various armies in the Vistula-Oder campaign can be divided into two phases.

In the first stage (January 12-17), the Soviet army broke through the German defenses, smashed the basic strength of the group in front of them, and created conditions for the development of the offensive in depth, and in the second stage (January 18-February 3), the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front, with the cooperation of the 2nd Belorussian Front and the 4th Ukrainian Front, quickly pursued the enemy, routed the German campaign reserves, captured the Silesian industrial region, and seized some landing grounds on the west bank of the Oder River.

According to the base camp plan, the various armies were originally scheduled to move to the offensive on January 20. However, the Soviet High Command, taking into account the situation of the Allies on the Western Front (see Ardennes Campaign) and at the request of the Allies, instructed the commanders of all armies to speed up preparations for the campaign and switch to the offensive from January 12 to 15.

On January 12, the assault group of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an offensive from the Sandomierz landing site, and the campaign began.

Two days later, the 1st Belorussian Front launched an offensive from the Magnushev and Puvavi landings. By the end of the second day of the offensive, the assault groups of the various armies had advanced 25-40 kilometers and routed the German battle reserves that had entered the engagement.

From January 14 to 15, the defeated corps of the German 9th and 17th Field Armies and the 4th Tank Army began to retreat. By the end of the day on 17 January, the main forces of Army Group "A" had been routed.

The German defense was broken through on a 500-kilometer front, breaking through to a depth of 100-150 kilometers. On January 17, Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was liberated. The headquarters of the Supreme Command assigned the current task to the armies of the two fronts, namely, the 10th-12th day of the campaign to the Zhikhrin, Lodz, Radomsko, Częstochowa, and Mehuv lines (120-180 km in depth), which were completed in 5-6 days.

The tank army, the tank army, and the mechanized army played a decisive role in the fulfillment of this task, with an offensive speed of 30-45 kilometers per day and night, and a distance of 45-100 kilometers (1st Belarusian Front) and 30-35 kilometers (1st Ukrainian Front), respectively.

The German high command began to hastily draw additional forces from its reserves, the Western Front, and other parts of the Soviet-German theater in an attempt to stop the Soviet offensive in the direction of Berlin at any cost. However, the attempt of the Germans to restore the broken through front did not succeed.

On January 25, the armies of the 1st Belorussian Front forcibly crossed the Varta River, broke through the Poznan defensive area, encircled and defended 60,000 enemies in Poznan, and advanced to the front line of Kreuz and Wenluttadt before January 26.

On 22-23 January, the 1st Ukrainian Front, attacking in the direction of Breslau, reached a section of the Oder River between Keben and Opperon and forced its crossing in many sections. After the liberation of Krakow on 19 January, the armies of the left flank of the Front began the battle to seize the industrial region of Silesia.

In order to crush the German resistance as soon as possible, the Soviet high command carried out an encirclement maneuver with the 3rd Guards Tank Army and the 1st Guards Cavalry Army.

The Soviets posed a threat of encirclement, forcing the Germans to retreat. After the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced to the above-mentioned areas, the tasks assigned to it by the headquarters of the Supreme High Command were completed, but the offensive continued.

Between 26 January and 3 February, the 1st Belorussian Front broke through German fortifications, advanced to the Oder River, and captured several landing sites in the Küstrin area on the west bank. The 1st Ukrainian Front had previously liberated the Silesian industrial zone and consolidated the landing sites seized in the areas south of Breslau and Oprun on the west bank of the Oder.

On 3 February, the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front reached the Oder and captured a number of landing sites on its left bank, thus ending the Vistula-Oder campaign. The Germans were now entrenched along the Oder.

At the same time, the German Army Group "Vistula" was preparing a counter-assault on the right flank of the 1st Belorussian Front in Pomerania. In order to break this attempt of the German army, the Soviet high command carried out the Battle of East Pomerania.

In this battle, the results of annihilating the enemy ......

The Vistula-Oder Battle was one of the large-scale strategic battles of the Soviet-German war in terms of its scale and military and political results.

The Soviets crushed the German forces entrenched in Poland, forced their way across the Oder River, and captured a number of landing sites on the west bank. Military operations have moved to the German hinterland, and Soviet troops have advanced to an area 60 kilometers from their capital, Berlin.

During the battle, 25 German divisions were routed and 35 divisions were completely annihilated. According to the statistics of the Soviet army, in this battle, 43,000 German officers and soldiers were captured, more than 150,000 enemies were annihilated, and among the captured trophies, there were more than 5,000 cannons and pursuit guns, more than 300 tanks, more than 200 aircraft, and a large number of other equipment and technical weapons.