The 3rd Belorussian Front in Northern East Prussia

On the foggy and frosty morning of 13 January, the 3rd Belorussian Front opened its offensive against northern East Prussia with a bombardment of nearly 120,000 rounds. Major Baumann was returning at this time to his battery with the Third Panzer Army:

Already en route to the front, on the train travelling through the East Prussian countryside, one became aware of an almost unnoticeable vibration in the air. Leaving Königsberg railway station, one could hear a soft and deep rumbling—the sound of the continuous barrage between Gumbinnen and Schlossberg, at a distance of approximately 100 to 120 kilometres away. (Glantz, ed., 1986, 399)

In fact, the noise was more impressive than the reality. The Russian gunners were frustrated to find that the weather had worsened overnight:

The moon grew dim in the freezing air, and the higher it rose in the sky the more the fog spread on the ground. By five in the morning the moon was finally engulfed. The visibility was now minimal, and this had a considerable effect on the opening of the offensive. (Krylov et al., 1970, 375–76)

The Russians did not see that the Germans had already abandoned their outermost positions on purpose, so as to absorb the weight of the bombardment, and so, after a brief unopposed advance, the Russians ran into dogged opposition and fulminating counterattacks. Moreover, the German defences on this sector were exceptionally strong, for they lay on the direct approaches to Königsberg and, for once, the Germans had reached an accurate estimate of the number of forces facing them.