Battle of Leningrad attacked by Leningrad

Leningrad, formerly known as St. Petersburg, is the "window to Europe" of Russia established by Peter the Great in 1703. For more than 200 years, it has been the capital of the vast Russian empire and the birthplace of the October Revolution. 1924 changed its name to Leningrad and was called the second capital of the Soviet Union. It is the largest industrial center and the second largest transportation hub in the Soviet Union, with ten railway lines running through it, among which the October railway line connects Leningrad with Moscow and other economic areas in the Soviet Union. At the same time, it is also an important port in the Baltic Sea and an important base of the Red Flag Baltic Fleet of the Soviet Union.

In Hitler's strategy towards the Soviet Union, the initial main goal was to capture Leningrad, so that he could gain control of the entire Baltic Sea and join the Finnish army. Besides. Swedish iron ore can be supplied to Germany unimpeded. Hitler said to the German generals: "Petersburg should naturally be occupied first, and it should be destroyed. The occupation and destruction of this city will not only gain great strategic benefits, but also enable Germany to severely crucify the "window of Europe" opened by Peter the Great and turn the Baltic Sea into an internal sea of Germany. By occupying the cradle of Bolshevism, we can also disintegrate the enemy's rebellious will and destroy their morale. "

1940 18 February 18, Hitler issued instruction No.21,namely "Barbarossa plan". In this plan, the Germans who attacked the Soviet Union were organized into three army groups: North, Central and South. Among them, the task of the Northern Army Group is to set out from East Prussia and destroy the Soviet troops in the three Baltic countries, and then cooperate with the Finnish army to capture Leningrad before July 194 1. Hitler also claimed that he would go to the Winter Palace Square in Leningrad to review the troops and hold a grand celebration banquet at the astoria Hotel in Leningrad.

The Northern Army Group is under the command of Marshal Loeb, and includes General Qu Shiller's 18 Army, General bucher's 16 Army, General Hepner's 4th Armored Division, 22 Infantry Divisions, 3 Armored Divisions and 3 Motorized Divisions. Among them, the 4th Armored Regiment is under the jurisdiction of General Manstein's 56th Armored Regiment (1 armored division, 1 motorized division and 1 infantry division) and General Reinhardt's 4 1 armored regiment (2 armored divisions, 1 motorized division and 1)

The defensive tasks of the Soviet army in Leningrad are the Northwest Army and the Northern Army, ***5 group armies, 37 infantry divisions, 9 cavalry divisions, and 10 armored brigade, under the command of Marshal voroshilov, commander-in-chief of the northwest direction. Among them, the Northwest Army has the 8th, 1 1 and 27th Army Groups under the command of General Kuznetsov, which are deployed in Lithuania and Latvia to shield Leningrad. The Union Army has the 42nd and 23rd Army Groups, under the command of Admiral Milz Foucault, and deployed on the east and west sides of Lake Ladoga in the north of Leningrad to fight the Finnish army.

On June 22nd, 194 1, under the command of Marshal Loeb, the Northern Army Group took Hepner's 4th Armored Corps as the middle road, Qu Shiller's 18 Army as the left wing, and Buhe's 16 Army as the right wing. With the support of 1 air force, it was transferred from Konigsberg in East Prussia to Taogpier. Loeb's first task for the Fourth Armored Corps was to completely capture two bridges on the Sidvina River outside Taogefubis and occupy Taogefubis. Thus, the 56th Panzer Corps of Manstein and the 4 1 Panzer Corps of Reinhardt started a race. Manstein led the 56th Panzer Corps to throw off the left and right wings, cut to the chase, and marched 320 kilometers in four days. On June 26th, the 8th Armored Division first arrived outside Taogef Pires. Brandenburg, a teacher, asked the Germans to dress up as retreating Soviet wounded soldiers with four captured Soviet cars, deceiving Soviet bridge guards, and completely captured two bridges on the West Devinast River, so that the main force of the northern army group successfully crossed the wide West Devinast River and captured the city of Taogefpires.

The fall of Taogepires completely exposed the Pskov-Leningrad line to the Germans, because it lost its natural barrier. Stalin could no longer hold back his anger and ordered the dismissal of General Kuznetsov as commander of the Northwest Army. He was replaced by Major General Sobinnikov, commander of the Eighth Army, and appointed Lieutenant General Wa Tuting as the army chief of staff. However, the new command organization of the Soviet army still could not turn the tide, and the Germans continued to rush at the Soviet army like a flood. The Soviet army in a passive position not only failed to strike back, but also failed to strike back. 1 In July, the Germans occupied Riga, the capital of Latvia. On July 4, the German army broke through the Soviet defense line on the border between Latvia and Russia, and then occupied the Pskov region abandoned by the Soviet army on July 9, opening the door to Leningrad. At the end of June, the Finnish army in the north of Leningrad and the Finnish army in the southeast and Karelia also launched fierce attacks on the Soviet troops in Petrozavodsk and Vyborg respectively. Leningrad was sandwiched between the north and south of the German and Finnish armies.

Angry Stalin called Marshal voroshilov, commander-in-chief of Northwest China, and asked, "How did Pskov State get lost? Where are you going to evacuate? Evacuate to the Arctic Ocean? " Voroshilov said: "Comrade Stalin, I know my responsibility, and I will spare no effort to fulfill the entrustment of the party and the people."

Voroshilov urgently mobilized millions of Leningrad residents to build three lines of defense around Leningrad day and night, with Lugar as the center, starting from Simsk on the west bank of Ilmen Lake in the south, spreading along Lugar River and reaching the mouth of Lugar River in the north, with a total length of about 300 kilometers. Four infantry divisions and three militia divisions are deployed on this defense line. Considering the relatively weak fighting capacity of the Finnish army in the north, voroshilov transferred six divisions, 1 brigade, from the northern army to strengthen the defense of the Lougarre River.

After the northern army group occupied Pskov, its main force continued to advance along the Luga-Leningrad axis with Reinhardt's 4 1 Panzer Army as the forerunner. Manstein's 56th Panzer Corps made a detour eastward and attacked Chudovo to cut off the connection between Leningrad and Moscow. The Soviets fought to the death on the Lugar Line, and launched a powerful attack on the side of manstein's 56th Armored Army, which detoured eastward alone, and repelled them one by one.

The northern army group was blocked by the Luga River, which ruined Hitler's plan to take Leningrad before July 2 1 year. /kloc-in July of 0/9, Hitler issued No.33 instruction, ordering the 3rd Hult Armored Corps of the Central Army Group to turn northward, cutting off the traffic line between Leningrad and Moscow, and assisting the Northern Army Group in attacking Leningrad. On July 2 1 day, Hitler came to Pskov by special train and summoned Loeb, commander of the Northern Army Group. Hitler severely reprimanded the 65-year-old marshal and said, "I gave you two army groups and 1 air force, and gave you the opportunity and glory to occupy the second capital of Bolshevik, but you stopped in front of a defense line temporarily organized by the Russians." This is a disgrace to yourself. You are so disappointed! " Hitler ordered Loeb to win Leningrad at all costs in the next few days. Finally, Hitler said: "As for the aftermath of Petersburg, we must never show mercy and make every Russian tremble with fear! We should trample on the meaningless laws and Jewish-Christian traditions of the old world. We don't need Russia, we don't need hostile Russia, and we don't need friendly Russia. We just need a piece of land in the East. So we will never accept the surrender of Petersburg or Moscow. You must turn them into dust and make them disappear from the earth. "

As a result, Lao Loeb readjusted his troop deployment: the North Assault Group was composed of Reinhardt's 4 1 Panzer Army and Quxi's 18 Army, which broke through the defense line from the lower reaches of the Lougarre River and attacked Leningrad through Gaqi; With manstein's 56th Panzer Corps (lack of the 8th Panzer Division, plus 1 SS Police Division), the westward assault group attacked Luga from the middle reaches of the Luga River, containing the Soviet main force, and then attacked Leningrad along the Luga-Leningrad Highway; The South Assault Group, composed of Boucher 16 Army and the 57th Armored Regiment of the 3rd Armored Regiment of the Central Army Group Hult, broke through the defense line from the upper reaches of the Luga River, then turned to the northeast, attacked Chudovo, cut off the October railway line from Leningrad to Moscow, and surrounded Leningrad from the east.

On August 8, the Germans on the North Road took the lead in storming the Jinjishepu area from the lower reaches of the Luga River. By August 13, they broke through the Kingisshep line, occupied the Mo Losco Witz station, and cut off the railway and highway lines from Leningrad to Kingisshep. On August 1 1, the South German army attacked the Simsk region from the upper reaches of the Luga River. On August 15, the Soviet army broke through the first line of defense, occupied Novgorod, and then advanced to Chudovo in the northeast, preparing to cross the Volga River and occupy Tikhven with some troops. Manstein's 56th Panzer Corps launched an attack on Luga on August 10. Although frustrated, it still contained the forces of three Soviet divisions. On August 15, manstein was ordered to hand over the task to the 50th Army, and led the 56th Armored Army south to support the Germans in Nanlu. At the same time, the southeastern Finnish army north of Leningrad also advanced to Lake Ladoga with three divisions, while the Finnish Karelia Army attacked the 23rd Soviet Army in karelian isthmus.

The Germans are advancing at a speed of 2 kilometers a day. On August 2 1 day, the Germans in South Road occupied Chudovo and cut off the October railway from Leningrad to Moscow. At the end of August, the North Road Germans entered the Lutsk-Corpino area, only 20 kilometers south of Leningrad. On September 8th, the Germans from South Road reached the south bank of Lake Ladoga east of Leningrad, occupied Schluesselburg, cut off the last land communication line between Leningrad and the outside world, and surrounded Leningrad on three sides. Only Lake Ladoga can keep in touch with other places through water and air. In marshal Loeb's view, Leningrad is within reach. In Marshal voroshilov's view, Leningrad is hopeless. He even went to the front line, hoping to be killed by the Germans.

The situation is very serious. The Soviet Supreme Commander's base camp decided to form the Leningrad Army, and General zhukov, commander of the former base camp reserve army, became the commander of the Leningrad Army. On the evening of September 9, Stalin summoned zhukov urgently and said to him, "Go to Leningrad and take over from voroshilov to command the army and the Baltic Fleet." On the morning of September 6th, zhukov and his assistants Lieutenant General Hawking, Major General Fediyuniski and Major General Kokopev flew to Leningrad. At this point, voroshilov and others are in a meeting to discuss what measures should be taken once Leningrad is out of control. Zhukov immediately put forward that Leningrad must be resolutely defended until the last person. Zhukov then reorganized the army, with Fetyuniski as the deputy commander and Hawking as the chief of staff, and replaced Major General Ivanov, commander of the 42nd Army, and Major General Selba Foucault, commander of the 8th Army, on the spot. Zhukov and his assistants worked out the urban defense plan overnight: withdrawing some anti-aircraft guns from the urban air defense forces, deploying them in the most dangerous areas of Leningrad, and directly shooting German tanks; With all the guns of the Baltic Fleet to support the 42nd Army in Ulitz's Krakow-Pulkovo Highland; Establish deep ladder defense in all major directions, lay mines and set up power grids; Part of the 23rd Army was transferred from karelian isthmus to support the 42nd Army to strengthen the defense in Ulitz. Sailors of the Baltic Fleet and students from military academies formed five or six infantry brigades.

On the morning of September 9, the Germans launched a frontal attack on Leningrad from the south, with the main attack direction being Ulitsk in the southwest of the city and Pulkovo highland in the south. On June 5438+00, the Germans tore a gap in the defensive position of the militia division of the 3 rd Guards of the Soviet Union. On June 1 1 day, the Germans occupied Dudgov, occupied Hongcun the next day, and advanced to Ulitz. On September 13, the Germans broke through the Soviet defense line, occupied Sosnov Card and Koilovo in Finland, and advanced to Ulitz. Zhukov realized that Leningrad's defense had reached the most critical juncture, and decided to put the last reserve infantry unit of the Army 10 Division into battle. 14, 10 infantry division, with the support of artillery and aviation, carried out a quick assault on the enemy. The Germans didn't expect the Soviets to suddenly launch a counterattack. At that time, they were forced to give up Sosnov Card and Koilovo in Finland, and the Soviets recovered their original situation.

Loeb's time is running out. Because Hitler turned his attention to the Moscow axis. On September 6th, Hitler issued the No.35 instruction code-named "Typhoon Action", and decided to launch the Moscow Battle on June 2nd, 65438. Hitler asked Loeb to quickly establish contact with the Finnish army in karelian isthmus, surround the Soviet bloc in Leningrad, and create conditions for the German attack in the middle of the road on September 15 at the latest. At that time, Hepner's 4th Armored Corps and some air forces will be transferred to Marshal Bok's Central Army Group. If Leningrad cannot be captured before June of 15, it is even more impossible for Loeb to capture Leningrad. To this end, Loeb called the General Staff and asked for permission to postpone the delivery of the Armored Corps to the Central Army Group for four or five days. At the same time, he vowed to occupy Leningrad in a few days. Loeb's request was granted, allowing him to postpone it for four days. Hald, chief of the general staff, added a meaningful sentence at the end of the order: "Many things and the future of many people will be decided by these four days." Loeb understands that there are many people who own themselves.

On September 16, Loeb searched for the weak position of the Soviet defense, commanded the Germans to break into the Soviet defense line from the junction of the 42nd Army and the 55th Army of the Soviet Union, captured Puxi City, which is18km south of Leningrad, detoured the Pulkovo highland just south of Leningrad to the left, and detoured Corpino in the southeast to the right. However, under the tenacious resistance of the Soviet Union, the German offensive speed was as slow as a snail, and the advancing speed dropped from 5 kilometers per day in July to less than 2 kilometers per month in September. There is only one day before Hitler's time. Loeb decided to make a final effort at all costs. 19, the German offensive reached its climax. Under the cover of tanks, German infantry stormed Pulkovo highland and other places, artillery bombed Leningrad 17 hours, and aviation dispatched nearly 300 planes to bomb the city six times. But the soldiers and civilians in Leningrad withstood the final attack of the Germans and defeated Loeb's last fight.

Since then, the elite troops of the German Northern Army Group have been gradually transferred, and the 4th Armored Corps of Hepner and the 57th Armored Corps of Holt's 3rd Armored Corps of the former Central Army Group have been transferred to Moscow. Soon, the 18 air force was also transferred to the 2 nd air force, and the Germans were no longer able to launch a full-scale attack, and their positions gradually stabilized. However, the siege and anti-siege struggle between the two sides are far from over. The Germans imposed a tight blockade on Leningrad, constantly shelling and bombing the city. Hitler declared: "The purpose of our army is to surround the city and raze it to the ground through shelling and continuous aerial bombing. Any request to take over the city will not be considered in advance, because the problems of the residents' survival and providing them with food cannot and should not be solved by us. In a war for survival, we don't want to keep even a part of the population of such a big city. "

However, bombs can destroy the homes of Leningrad people, but they can't destroy their strong fighting spirit, nor can cold and hunger destroy them. In the most difficult days of 194 1 winter, the people of Leningrad miraculously opened up an ice road on the ice surface of Lake Ladoga, and connected with the outside world through this only "road of life". They brought in food and transported out the wounded, thus defeating the threat of hunger and cold and defeating the German attempt to trap the people of Leningrad.

On February 8, 1942, 1942, the Soviet high command issued an operational order to break through the blockade of Leningrad. Soviet assault troops participating in the war are: Leningrad Army 6 1 Lieutenant General Duhanov, commander of the group army; Lieutenant General romanov, commander of the 2nd Commando. The breakthrough point was chosen in Schluesselburg area on the south bank of Lake Ladoga. The date was set at 65438+65438 of1October 0943+ 1 (postponed to1October 65438+ 12 due to bad weather), and the campaign code was "Spark".

At 9: 30 on June 2, 1943+ 12, the Soviet army concentrated 2,000 cannons and mortars to attack the German positions in Schluesselburg for two hours, and then the Soviet army 6 1 and the second assault troops launched attacks from the south and the north respectively. After seven days of fierce fighting, they broke through the depth of the German position 14 km. 65438+ 10/8, the two armies of Leningrad and volkov joined forces in Workers' Village 1 5, thus breaking through the German siege of Leningrad for 17 months.

1944 65438+ 10, the Soviet high command decided to carry out a war of annihilation against the Germans in Leningrad and Novgorod, so as to completely expel the Germans from this area. This is also the first time in the "Ten Strikes" known as Stalinism. The combat missions are the Leningrad Army commanded by General Ge Volov, the volkov Army commanded by General Meretskov and the Second Baltic Army commanded by General popov.

1944 65438+ 10 14, the Soviets launched a large-scale attack on the Germans in Leningrad and Novgorod. By June 27, 65438 10, the Soviet army had pushed west and southwest 150 to 200 kilometers, annihilated 2 German divisions, defeated 23 divisions and recovered Hongcun and Wuli. On the same day, the heroic city of Leningrad celebrated its victory with a 20-gun salute.

Leningrad was besieged for 900 days, * * * 642,000 people starved to death, and 2 1 10,000 people died in German air strikes and shelling. However, the heroic Leningrad people's indomitable and tenacious fighting defeated the strategic goal of the German occupation of Leningrad, and kept the powerful German group firmly in the northwest battlefield of the Soviet Union, which strongly supported the Soviet Union's victory in other battlefields. The US military's evaluation of the battle of Leningrad in the World War II information piece is: "The general can win the battle, but only the people can win the war!" The British "Evening Flag" also praised: "Leningrad's resistance is an example of mankind's brilliant victory in incredible tests. In the history of the world, there may never be any resistance similar to Leningrad. "