April 17, 1945 - The Battle of Berlin: First successes.

 April 17, 1945 - The Battle of Berlin: First successes. On the second day of the battle for the Seelower Heights, major successes for the Red Army were initially a long time coming.

 The 1st Belarusian Front had to cross swampy and flooded terrain to reach the Germans' second line of defense. 

The second line of defense, the Hardenberg position, was much more manned than the main line of defense.

 Only Vasily Chuikov's 8th Guard Army managed to advance to the hills around noon.

Most of the motorized units got stuck in the mud and could be taken under fire by the German guns. The Red Army's losses were enormous.

Further south, Konev's troops on the 1st Ukrainian Front made better progress.

 Above all, the 3rd and 4th Guards Panzer Army pushed ahead. Konev wanted to be in Berlin before Zhukov.

 While Zhukov's troops had to grapple with General Busse's 9th Army, Konev's tanks made faster progress by bypassing cities and larger communities.

When it got dark, Zhukov units also managed to break through the Hardenberg position.

 This was followed by the last line of defense, the Wotan position.

On the outskirts of Berlin, many of the people who remained there were concerned about the approaching noise of the battle.

The picture shows an aerial view of the Seelow Heights in direction of the Oder river, overviewing the former battlefield.