Operation Northern Lights (1942)

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Operation Nordlicht was the code name for a planned operation by the German Wehrmacht to take Leningrad in September 1942 during World War II . As the time allocated for the operation German 11th Army in space Schlüsselburg since August 27, 1942, a Soviet offensive in the Battle of Ladoga first had to stop, the plan was never implemented.

Planning and preparation

After the blockade of Leningrad by German troops and the repulsion of a Soviet attack in the Battle of the Volkhov in early 1942, the front around Leningrad was frozen. A siege battle developed .

Front line around Leningrad (May 1942 to January 1943)

The Army Group North originally submitted plans for four companies:

  • Operation Northern Lights: the conquest of Leningrad
  • The creeper company: the expansion of the Demyansk valley
  • Moorbrand company: the removal of the Pogostje boiler
  • Bettelstab company: the conquest of the Oranienbaum bridgehead

Since the forces for all four companies were insufficient, the focus was subsequently on the company Nordlicht. This company was planned from July 23, 1942 to August 1, 1942 under the code name company Feuerzauber .

The plan was to break through the front south of Leningrad with three corps. A strong artillery and air force support was provided for this. Among other things, the heaviest railway guns were relocated to the Leningrad southern front. However, this advance should only lead to the southern city limits of Leningrad. Then two corps were to turn in to the east and cross the Neva there southeast of Leningrad . The Soviet troops standing between Lake Ladoga and Leningrad were to be included and destroyed. The aim was to enclose the city closely from the east and to deprive it of its supply routes across Lake Ladoga. The plan was to avoid house-to-house wars and to achieve a quick surrender of the city, similar to the fall of Warsaw in 1939. A landing operation was supposed to take place in the Soviet Oranienbaum bridgehead west of Leningrad .

For the attack, the Army High Command (AOK) of the 11th Army under General Field Marshal Erich von Manstein made twelve divisions available, including the Spanish Blue Division . The heaviest siege artillery was brought in from Sevastopol , including the Dora cannon , the 42 cm gamma mortar and the Karl mortar .

cancellation

Due to the large-scale Soviet offensive at Mga south of Leningrad that began on August 27, 1942 , all German attack forces were relocated there to repel the Soviet attack. After the end of the heavy fighting at Mga , the 11th Army no longer had enough combat strength to successfully carry out the Northern Lights operation.

literature

  • Erich von Manstein : lost victories. Bernard and Graefe Verlag, Bonn 2000.
  • Earl F. Ziemke and Magna E. Bauer: Moscow to Stalingrad. Decision in the East. Center of Military History, Washington DC 1987. ( Online )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ziemke and Magna: Moscow to Stalingrad , p. 408 ff .
  2. ^ Rolf-Dieter Müller , Gerd R. Ueberschär : Hitler's War in the East 1941–1945: a research report . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2000, ISBN 3-534-14768-5 , p. 108.
  3. ↑ Antje Leetz, Barbara Wenner: Blockade Leningrad, 1941-1944 . 7th edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1992, ISBN 3-499-19161-X , p. 104.