On this day, 80 years ago, on January 31, 1945 (December 18, 1944 in the lunar calendar), the Soviet Army launched continuous attacks on the outskirts of Berlin. Soviet artillery advanced towards Berlin. On January 31, 1945, the overwhelming snowstorm could not prevent the Soviet army from entering the outer cities of Berlin. Marshal Georges Zhukov's First Army, closest to the capital, occupied the town of Beiersdorf, northeast of Berlin, only 67 miles from Berlin. The Nazis spoke on the radio of their fears that Zhukov would soon strike head-on on Berlin. Zhukov was firmly anchored on the edge of Berlin, while other Red Army troops circled hundreds of miles away to the east and south. A Communist team blockaded Königsberg, the capital of East Prussia. Another team advanced 22 miles towards the Morvenian Gorge, the main road to Prague and Vienna. Several Western newspapers reported that the Nazis were scared, but the Soviets reported that the German resistance was as crazy as ever. The Red Army occupied 150 miles of territory along the Oder River, isolating Nazi forces on the east and west sides. The isolated troops were supposed to defend Frankfurt. The next siege outside Berlin to be captured may be Frankfurt. The German refugees ran in front of the Soviet army like foxes chased by hounds. Some of them had lived in the "living quarters" of the area seized by Hitler in Poland. Other people came from eastern Germany. A Paris radio station broadcast that the Soviet army had surrounded 200,000 German people in a single city of Lodz. Some of the refugees were Hitler's generals, and Heinrich Himmler is said to be among them. Hitler ordered them to rush to the eastern front to "make and implement tough decisions." However, any decision other than surrender will prove tough.