Leningrad-Novgorod operation

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Leningrad-Novgorod operation
Soviet map of the Leningrad-Novgorod operation
Soviet map of the Leningrad-Novgorod operation
date January 14th to March 1st, 1944
place Leningrad , Novgorod and Pskov Oblasts , Soviet Union
output Victory of the Soviet Union, German retreat to the panther position
consequences Final lifting of the Leningrad blockade
Parties to the conflict

German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire

Soviet Union 1923Soviet Union Soviet Union

Commander

Georg von Küchler
Walter Model

Leonid A. Goworow
Kirill A. Merezkow
Markian M. Popow

Troop strength
741,000 soldiers
385 tanks
10,000 guns and mortars
unknown
losses

3 divisions completely, 23 divisions partially broken up

314,000 soldiers,
77,000 of them dead

The Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive ( Russian Ленинградско-Новгородская операция ) was a winter battle between associations of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front of World War II , which lasted and 14 January to 1 March 1944 termination of its Leningrad blockade led . In the course of this operation four sub-operations were carried out: Krasnoseljsk-Ropschaer, Novgorod-Lugaer, Kingissepp- Dower and the Staraya Russa - Novorschewer operation.

prehistory

Soviet machine guns near the Detskoye Selo railway station in Pushkin

After the end of the German advance and the blockade of Leningrad in late 1941, the Soviet troops failed to end the siege in the Battle of the Volkhov in early 1942 and in the First Battle of Ladoga in the summer of the same year.

It was only in the Second Ladoga Battle in early 1943 that the Soviet troops were able to open a narrow corridor south of Lake Ladoga , which, however, was still within the range of German artillery. As part of Operation Polarstern (February 10 to April 1, 1943) and in the Third Ladoga Battle in the summer of 1943, the Soviets tried unsuccessfully to finally break up the blockade.

Associations involved

The German Army Group North under General Field Marshal Georg von Küchler (later under General Field Marshal Walter Model ) consisted of around 741,000 soldiers, 385 tanks and 10,000 artillery pieces and mortars with the 16th and 18th Armies. Opposite it stood the Leningrad Front under Leonid Alexandrowitsch Goworow , the Volkhov Front under Kirill Afanassjewitsch Merezkow and the 2nd Baltic Front under Markian Michailowitsch Popow .

Defense position north wall

The so-called north wall offered the German troops a good defensive position despite their numerical inferiority. It was located between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ilmen and was about 230 to 260 km deep. Almost all important localities and junctions were prepared for all-round defense .

course

Soviet soldiers fighting for Pushkin , January 1944

On January 12, 1944, the 2nd Baltic Front attacked and was involved in tough fighting near Novosokolniki . Two days later the 2nd Shock Army of the Leningrad Front began to break out of the Oranienbaum bridgehead . The 2nd Shock Army had previously been secretly shipped across the Gulf of Finland with around 44,000 men, 600 artillery pieces and other material . On January 15, the 42nd Army of the Leningrad Front also attacked, which from January 16 was also supported by the 59th Army of the Volkhov Front. On January 17th, the first German line of defense was breached and the Wehrmacht began to withdraw from Krasnoye Selo , Ropscha and Uritsk .

In order to stop the Soviet advance, three infantry divisions and parts of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division "Nordland" were relocated to the combat area. On January 19, the Red Army retook Krasnoye Selo and Ropsha from German occupation, and on January 30, Pushkin and Gatchina also fell and the Luga River was reached. The city of Luga was captured by the Soviet troops on February 12 and the Narva and the eastern shore of Lake Peipus reached on February 15 . On February 15, the Volkhov Front was disbanded and its units subordinated to the Leningrad and 2nd Baltic Fronts. In the second half of February, the Narva bridgeheads were widened from the Leningrad Front. At the end of February, the Soviets reached the Pskov - Ostrov defense lines and tried to break through them. Since the German defense was too strong, the operation was ended on March 1, 1944.

Result

The Red Army advanced about 180 to 280 km south and west on a 600 km wide front, blew up the siege of Leningrad , smashed 26 divisions of the Axis Powers, three of them completely, entered Estonia for the first time . The Leningrad and Kalinin areas were recaptured by German occupation. The Soviet losses amounted to 314,000 soldiers, 77,000 of them dead. However, the lack of experience of the high command on the fronts involved prevented major breakthrough successes such as in the south. The German 18th Army was able to evade enclosure and move into orderly defensive positions on the so-called Panther-Wotan Line along the Narva and continue the fight there.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ЛЕНИНГРАДСКО-НОВГОРОДСКАЯ СТРАТЕГИЧЕСКАЯ НАСТУПАТЕЛЬНАЯ ОПЕРАЦИЯ ( Memento from March 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  2. David M. Glantz , Jonathan House : When Titans Clashed. How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 1995, pp. 192-193.
  3. Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / victory.mil.ru
  4. ^ GF Kriwoschejew (ed.): Rossija i SSSR w wojnach XX weka. Poteri wooruschennych sil. Statistichesky issledovanie. Archive series . Olma-Press, Moscow 2001, ISBN 5-224-01515-4 ( Memento of March 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Russian)
  5. David M. Glantz, Jonathan House: When Titans Clashed. P. 193.

literature

When looking at Soviet sources, with the exception of samizdat and tamizdat literature that was published up to 1987, the activities of the Soviet censorship authorities ( Glawlit , military censorship) in revising various contents in line with Soviet ideology must be taken into account. (→ censorship in the Soviet Union )

Web links

Commons : Leningrad-Novgorod Operation  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files