Leningrad in the blockade
08.09.2021 00:28
Leningrad in the blockade
The commander of the Red Army at a battery of 85-mm anti-aircraft guns 52-K on the Dekabristov Square (Senate Square) in Leningrad. Isaac's Cathedral in the background
The battle for Leningrad completely buried Hitler's plan "Barbarossa". Leningrad closed the way for the Germans and Finns in the northwestern direction of the Soviet-German front. It was the failure of Germany's "blitzkrieg" strategy against the USSR.
General situation
The German Army Group North (16th and 18th field armies, 4th tank group), a total of 42 divisions, including 7 tank and 6 motorized. It consisted of over 720 thousand people, 13 thousand guns and mortars, 1500 tanks. The ground forces were supported by the 1st Air Fleet - more than 1 aircraft and the German Navy. Also in the north, in Scandinavia, the German army "Norway" and two Finnish armies operated. They were supported by part of the forces of the 5th Air fleet (240 aircraft) and the Finnish Air Force (over 300 aircraft). Finland declared war on the USSR on June 26, 1941, and its army launched an offensive in the Murmansk and Karelian directions. The Finns attacked Leningrad on both sides of Lake Ladoga in order to link up with the Wehrmacht, which was moving from the southwest and south.
The enemy troops were opposed by the North-Western Front (the former Baltic Military District) - the 8th, 11th and 27th armies, 31 divisions in total, including 4 tank and 2 mechanized. Then the troops of the Northern Front (Leningrad Military District) - 21 divisions and a brigade - were also led to the defense of Leningrad. The northern front defended the Murmansk and Karelian directions, later - the northern part of Estonia. The ground forces were supported by the Baltic Fleet.
The enemy had an advantage in manpower, tanks, aviation and artillery. It had an advantage in the quality of command, organization and interaction of troops. Plus combat experience - campaigns in Western and Southeastern Europe. In addition, the Red Army at that time was at the stage of reforming, modernization, and the Nazis attacked during the concentration and deployment of troops. Therefore, the first blow was very impressive, although not as much as one would have liked at Hitler's headquarters (the complete collapse of the Russian army).
The Germans broke through the defenses of the 8th and 11th armies on the move, which began to withdraw along the entire 445-kilometer front. By the end of June 22, 1941, the Nazis advanced 20 - 45 km, crossed the Neman. In the following days, the Nazis developed success, our troops fought desperately, but most often it was local resistance. Our troops suffered heavy losses. In 22 divisions, losses in personnel and materiel amounted to more than 50%.
The Nazis strove to quickly break through to Leningrad and capture the second capital of the USSR, the most important strategic, economic and cultural center of the Union. Subsequently, the main forces of Army Group North were to turn south and take part in the capture of Moscow. Under the blows of the German troops advancing on the Riga direction, our troops left Liepaja and Riga at the end of June and retreated to the north and northeast. The 8th Army retreated to Estonia, the 11th to Polotsk. On June 26, the Nazis crossed the Western Dvina and occupied Daugavpils. In the first third of July, the Nazis capture the cities of Ostrov, Pskov and reach the Plyussa River. At the same time, the Germans are advancing in Estonia, breaking through to Tallinn.
Our troops are fighting heavy battles east of the Pskov - Pushkin Mountains - Opochka line, along the Velikaya and Opochka rivers. Intensive work is underway on the construction of defensive lines in the Leningrad direction. The main line ran along the Luga River and up to Lake Ilmen. The second line of defense was along the line Peterhof - Krasnogvardeysk (Gatchina) - Kolpino. The third line was outlined on the line Avtovo - the ring railway. In Leningrad, all large construction projects (including the metro) were frozen, labor and equipment were transferred to the construction of fortifications. Hundreds of thousands of Leningraders, mostly women and old people, took part in the defensive work. In the city, divisions of the people's militia were formed and sent to the front.
The Wehrmacht breaks through to Leningrad
On July 10, 1941, the Germans attacked from the Pskov and Ostrov area. Building on the success, the 56th Motorized Corps broke through to the Solts area by 13 July and created a threat to Novgorod. The Soviet 11th Army launched a counterattack and defeated the enemy. The offensive of the German 4th Panzer Group was temporarily suspended at the turn of the river. Meadows. The Soviet Headquarters deployed the 54th and 52nd armies to strengthen the defense of Leningrad, covering the Tikhvin and Volkhov areas, south of Lake Ladoga and on the Volkhov River.
On July 21, 1941, Adolf Hitler arrived in the occupied Soviet territory in a special train at the location of Army Group North, where he held a meeting with the commander of the group, Leeb. The Fuehrer set the task to take Leningrad as soon as possible, to clear the Gulf of Finland from the Russian fleet, so that there would be a normal supply of ore from Sweden. It was decided to remove the 3rd tank group from the central (Moscow) direction and send it to the northeast, which was supposed to contribute to the rapid fall of Leningrad. Hitler believed that the fall of Leningrad and Moscow would lead to the "collapse of the Russians."
The counterstrike near Soltsy and the stubborn defense of the Luga group of the Red Army forced the German high command to stop the offensive and regroup its forces. On July 30, the General Headquarters, by Directive No. 34, demanded that Army Group Sever strike the main blow between Lake Ilmen and Narva in order to encircle Leningrad and establish contact with the Finnish army. To reinforce Army Group North, the 8th Aviation Corps was transferred from Army Group Center.
In Estonia, part of the 8th Soviet Army was cut off from the main forces of the front. On August 5, 1941, the Germans reached the distant approaches to Tallinn, on the 7th - to the Gulf of Finland, cutting off the Tallinn group and the base of the Baltic Fleet. On August 27, the Nazis broke through to Tallinn. On 28-30 August, the Baltic Fleet makes a dramatic transition from Tallinn to Kronstadt (Baltic tragedy. How the Baltic Fleet broke through to Kronstadt, Part 2).
As a result, the Germans were unable to destroy the combat core of the Baltic Fleet, and the Soviet fleet strengthened the defenses of Leningrad.
On August 8, 1941, the Germans launched an offensive in the Red Guard (Gatchina), Luga and Novgorod directions. After stubborn battles, the Nazis took Kingisepp on August 16, Novgorod on the 19th and Chudovo on the 20th, intercepted the Moscow-Leningrad railway. Developing the offensive, German troops occupied Luga on August 24, and Lyuban on the 25th. On August 28, the Germans captured Tosno, on August 30, they reached the Neva, cutting off the railways that connected Leningrad with the country. In the course of fierce battles, the enemy was stopped in the Krasnogvardeisk area. The Finnish army on the Karelian Isthmus pushed the 23rd Soviet army back to the 1939 border.
To improve command and control, the Soviet Headquarters on August 23 divided the Northern Front into two fronts: Karelian and Leningrad (23rd, 8th and 48th armies). On August 26, a group of representatives of the State Defense Committee was sent to Leningrad: VM Molotov, GM Malenkov, NG Kuznetsov, AI Kosygin, PF Zhigarev and NN Voronov. The main command of the troops of the North-Western direction was disbanded on August 27, and the Karelian, Leningrad and North-Western fronts were subordinated to the Headquarters. On September 1, the 55th Army was formed as part of the Leningrad Front. On September 5, the commander of the Leningrad Front, Lieutenant General M.M. Popov, was removed from office, and Marshal K.E. Voroshilov was appointed in his place. From September 11, the front was headed by G.K. Zhukov.
On September 6, 1941, the German Headquarters in directive No. 35 demanded to encircle the Leningrad group of Russians, take Shlisselburg and block Kronstadt. On September 8, the Germans, having broken through the Soviet defenses in the Mga region, took Shlisselburg and surrounded Leningrad from land. On September 12, the Nazis took Krasnoe Selo and reached the near approaches to Leningrad. On September 16, the troops of Army Group North between Strelna and Uritsk broke through to the Gulf of Finland, cutting off parts of the 8th Army from the main forces of the Leningrad group. The Oranienbaum bridgehead was formed. On September 17, the Germans captured Pavlov and entered Pushkin. Fierce battles were fought near the villages of Volodarsky and Uritsk, on the Pulkovo Heights, but the enemy did not go further. The German command withdraws the 4th tank group from the Leningrad direction to the Moscow one.
By the end of September 1941, the situation near Leningrad had generally stabilized. The Soviet command is strengthening the defense, which the Germans and Finns cannot overcome with available forces. The German command relies on the blockade, artillery and aviation. Ground forces burrow into the ground and begin trench warfare.
The feat of the Leningraders
The situation was disastrous.
A huge city, the second largest in the Soviet Union, one of the largest in the world, has lost its iron and highway connections with the rest of the country. The sea routes froze. There are enemies in the north and south. The shores of the Gulf of Finland at the enemy. The Germans and Finns broke through to the northern and southern shores of Lake Ladoga, located north and north-east of the city. They began to advance along the eastern coast. But they could not completely capture the lake. Our soldiers stopped them. Part of the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga remained in our hands. Here, along the water, along the lake, the road to Leningrad remained.
The road was long and difficult. The route began in Vologda, where goods from all over the country were going. Echelons went to Tikhvin and Volkhov, there was no further railroad, the goods were loaded onto river barges that went along the river. Volkhov. New unloading from river barges to lake barges in Novaya Ladoga. Ladoga barges go to the western shore of the lake, where the port of Osinovets was located 55 km from Leningrad. A narrow-gauge railway was built here. The goods are again loaded into wagons, but there is another overload on the way. From the narrow-gauge railway to the regular railway, then to the motor transport.
When the Germans took Tikhvin, this only difficult path was cut short. Then we made our way kilometer after kilometer through forests, ravines and swamps. Often the road went where only wild animals used to roam, in 20 days they laid a 200-kilometer road to Lake Ladoga. It began almost 100 km east of Tikhvin at the Zabor'e station and, bypassing Tikhvin captured by the enemy from the north, went to Lake Ladoga, to Novaya Ladoga.
In November 1941, frosts began, the "road of life" along the lake stopped. And without ammunition, fuel and food, the defense will fall. But our people began to move on the ice of Ladoga (as the lake was called). The path was dangerous: Ladoga was restless, capricious. A strong wind destroys the ice, cracks and gullies appear. Even the most severe frosts cannot completely shackle Lake Ladoga. But there is no way out. On November 22, the first automobile convoy (60 trucks) passed the ice. The vehicles covered 27 km of the dangerous ice path. The “road of life” was dangerous. Suddenly the ice broke, cars were drowning. German planes bombed the convoys.
When our troops recaptured Tikhvin, cargoes again went by rail. But not immediately, it was necessary to restore the destroyed bridges between Tikhvin and Volkhov. Therefore, the cargos again went by car to bypass, but the path was already three times shorter. The road was restored to Voybokalo and Zhikharevo stations, which further reduced the distance. Then a railway was built to the lakeside village of Kobon. An ice road to Leningrad now ran from Kobona through Ladoga.
The days of siege were terrible for the townspeople. The Nazis constantly shelled and bombed Leningrad. Fires started in the city. Houses collapsed from shells and bombs. People died in homes and streets. There was no fuel, electricity stopped, the water supply was out of order. Hunger began. Death mowed people down.
Soups were made from wild plants. They made coniferous "cutlets". Blockade bread was baked with various additives. Oatmeal, barley, soy, corn flour was added to rye flour, flaxseed, cotton and hemp cake were used. They used bran, sprouted grain, mill dust, rice husks, etc. The bread was sour, bitter and herbaceous in taste. But hungry people dreamed of him. Five times during the autumn and winter of 1941, the bread distribution rate was reduced. On September 2, the first reduction took place: the norm is 600 grams of bread for adults, 300 grams for children. After 10 days, another reduction: adults began to receive 500 grams of bread each. In October, adults received 400 grams of bread each, children - 200. In November, there were two reductions: first, 300 grams, then 250 grams of bread each began to be received by adults, children - 125 grams each.
Despite all the horrors, the Leningraders held out. "Leningrad is under siege!" - the alarm sounded across the country. The whole country tried to help the besieged city.