The Battle of Poznan took place from 24 January to 23 February 1945 when the 1st Guards Tank Army and 8th Guards Tank Army assaulted the German fortress of Poznan in present-day Poland. The Red Army and some allied communist Poles engaged the German garrison of Festung Posen ("Fortress Poznan") in a tough reduction of fortifications, intense urban combat, and an assault on the city's citadel, and more Soviet and Polish troops were killed than Germans or Hungarians. The German garrison and an allied battalion from Hungary had sworn to fight to the last man in defense of the city, and it took just a day short of one month for the Soviets to capture Poznan. The capture of Poznan was vital to ensuing that the Soviets would be able to advance towards the Oder River from the Vistula, and it would not be long before the Soviets had established a bridgehead at Kuestrin.
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