By mid-July 1944, the Soviet juggernaut - Operation Bagration had torn apart the German front in Belorussia. Over 300,000 German troops were either dead or captured and the once mighty Army Group Center had been annihilated, leaving a gaping 250-mile hole in the German defenses.
Tens of thousands of defeated soldiers trudged into Soviet captivity, facing a grim and uncertain future at the mercy of their vengeful captors.
As the Soviet steamroller pressed west toward Latvia, Estonia and the heart of the Fatherland, panic gripped the German ranks.
The Latvian town of Daugavpils was a key crossroads, a lifeline for the German Army’s northern forces.
If the Soviets seized it, Army Group North would be cut-off with disastrous consequences for the German war-effort.
Holding Daugavpils was crucial for the Germans, who frantically funneled reinforcements into the region.
Among these reinforcements was Major Hans Joachim Schwaner’s battlehardened 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion.
Having already proven its mettle in the brutal fighting around Leningrad, the 502nd and its Tigers were now poised to make their mark once again.
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27 сен 2024
