The final offensive on the German capital began on April 16. After breaking out of the Küstrin bridgehead the units of 8th Guards Army were tasked with seizing the Seelow Heights on the west bank of the Oder. The Army was deployed along an 18km front from Golzow to Podelzig but its main attack would be made on a 7km-wide front from Golzow to Sachsendorf. The 4th Guards and 29th Guards Corps would make the main attack while the 28th Guards Corps covered the remainder of the front with the 79th and 88th Guards in the first echelon and 39th Guards in second. Within the Army the rifle regiments organized their battalions in a single echelon with the companies stacked in three lines. At this stage of the war, in common with most rifle divisions of its Front, the 88th Guards had roughly 5,200 personnel on strength.