75th anniversary of the siege of Leningrad. Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous
On this day 75 years ago, on January 18, 1943, the Soviet troops broke through the enemy blockade of Leningrad. It took another year of stubborn fighting to completely eliminate it. The day of breaking the blockade is always celebrated in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. Today the President of Russia will visit the residents of both regions Vladimir Putin, whose father fought and was seriously wounded in the battles on the Nevsky Piglet.
The breakthrough of the blockade was the result of Operation Iskra, which was carried out by the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, united south of Lake Ladoga and restored land communications between Leningrad and the mainland. On the same day, the city of Shlisselburg was liberated from the enemy, "locking" the entrance to the Neva from the side of Ladoga. Breaking the blockade of Leningrad was the first example in military history of the release of a large city by a simultaneous strike from outside and from within.
As part of the shock groups of the two Soviet fronts, which were supposed to break through the powerful defensive fortifications of the enemy and eliminate the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge, there were more than 300 thousand soldiers and officers, about 5 thousand guns and mortars, more than 600 tanks and more than 800 aircraft.
source: regnum.ru
On the night of January 12, the positions of the German fascists were subjected to an unexpected air raid by Soviet bombers and attack aircraft, and in the morning massive artillery preparation began using large-caliber barrels. It was carried out in such a way as not to damage the ice of the Neva, along which the infantry of the Leningrad Front, reinforced by tanks and artillery, soon moved on the offensive. And from the east, the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front went on the offensive against the enemy. She was given the task of capturing the numbered workers' settlements north of Sinyavino, which the Germans had turned into fortified strongholds.
During the first day of the offensive, the advancing Soviet units with heavy fighting managed to advance deep into the German defenses by 2-3 kilometers. The German command, faced with the threat of dismemberment and encirclement of its troops, organized an urgent transfer of reserves to the place of the breakthrough planned by the Soviet units, which made the battles as fierce and bloody as possible. Our troops were also reinforced with a second echelon of attackers, new tanks and guns.
On January 15 and 16, 1943, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts fought for separate strongholds. On the morning of January 16, the assault on Shlisselburg was launched. On January 17, the stations Podgornaya and Sinyavino were taken. As former Wehrmacht officers later recalled, the control of German units in the places of the Soviet offensive was disrupted, there were not enough shells and equipment, a single line of defense was crushed, and individual units were surrounded.
source: regnum.ru
The Nazi troops were cut off from reinforcements and defeated in the area of workers' settlements, the remnants of the broken units, throwing weapons and equipment, scattered through the forests and surrendered. Finally, on January 18, the troops of the shock group of troops of the Volkhov Front, after artillery preparation, went over to the attack and joined the troops of the Leningrad Front, capturing the workers' settlements No. 1 and 5.
The blockade of Leningrad was broken. On the same day, Shlisselburg was completely liberated, and the entire southern shore of Lake Ladoga came under the control of the Soviet command, which soon made it possible to connect Leningrad with the country by road and rail and save hundreds of thousands of people who remained in the city besieged by the enemy from starvation.
According to historians, the total combat losses of the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts during the operation "Iskra" amounted to 115,082 people, of which 33,940 people were irretrievable. Soldiers and officers of the Red Army sacrificed themselves to save Leningraders who did not surrender to the enemy from a painful death. In military terms, the success of the Iskra operation meant the final loss of the enemy's strategic initiative in the northwestern direction, as a result of which the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad became inevitable. It happened a year later, on January 27, 1944.
“Breaking the blockade eased the suffering and hardships of Leningraders, instilled in all Soviet citizens confidence in victory, opened the way to the complete liberation of the city,” recalled today, January 18, in her blog on the website of the Federation Council, speaker of the upper house Valentina Matviyenko. - Residents and defenders of the city on the Neva did not allow themselves to be broken, they withstood all the tests, once again confirming that greatness of spirit, courage and selflessness are stronger than bullets and shells. In the end, it is not force that always triumphs, but truth and justice.”
A page of history that is made up of many personal stories. Today is the 75th anniversary of the breaking of the siege of Leningrad. There was still a year left before the withdrawal. Hundreds of thousands of people died in battles with the Nazis and in the city itself, which survived despite hunger, cold and shelling. Vladimir Putin, a Leningrader himself, arrived in the northern capital.
The blockade and after 75 years the wound for the city does not heal. To Piskarevka, to the "road of life", to the Fontanka embankment... Today, people go here with their families to the place where the blockade was broken.
Thousands of townspeople and residents of the Leningrad region lit candles, silently listened to the metronome - the blockade air raid signal.
The blockade affected almost every Leningrad family. Not bypassed and Putin. One and a half year old Vitya, the elder brother of the president, died in one of the most terrible winters. Vladimir Putin found out about his burial place only a few years ago. And now every year he brings flowers to the grave with the only inscription "1942".
Piskarevka is the largest cemetery of World War II. According to various estimates, from 600 thousand to one and a half million people rest in 186 mass graves. The vast majority died of starvation. Veterans, students, people whose relatives are buried here often come here. Vladimir Putin, together with them, laid flowers at the Motherland monument.
The second memorial associated with the blockade is located in the Leningrad region. Nevsky Piglet is a tiny bridgehead that our soldiers held for almost all the days of the blockade. Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin also fought in the intelligence group. The president's father was wounded here. There are still tons of iron in this land, hundreds of nameless soldiers. And those who have not yet been found, it seems, are all going on the attack.
“The remains of our soldiers are still being found. And what made a special impression on me now - with weapons in their hands, turned towards the enemy: they did not retreat anywhere, death caught them with weapons in their hands in battle, when they went forward, they attacked. It is this attitude to the Motherland, to the Fatherland that is in the nature of our people. And this is what we must fix for many, many years to come for all future generations,” the President said.
Four years ago, the search engines decided to recreate the leading edge of the Nevsky Piglet. Then the historical exposition occupied a small hall and was supposed to be temporary. But almost 20,000 people visited it. In 2014, Vladimir Putin also visited there. He left an entry in the Book of Honored Guests and expressed the hope that the exposition will expand and become permanent.
And today, a completely new building with an already updated large panorama was opened in the Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad Museum-Reserve. The first visitors were the most severe critics - veterans.
Vladimir Molev is one of the few surviving participants in the breakthrough of the blockade. On January 12, 1943, he also climbed an icy cliff. Tanks were burning and sinking, but there were still living comrades nearby. These sculptures have a portrait resemblance - the authors recreated faces from photographs. The stories of these real people were told to the president.
“The first soldier we identified was Felimon Yakimovich Sokolov, originally from Belarus. Unfortunately, his house burned down, and the house books were not preserved either. Three years later, thanks to social networks, I managed to find relatives. A photo of Valentin Trotskevich was found in the archives,” said the author of the panorama, the commander of the Shlisselburg search detachment, Dmitry Poshtarenko.
As it turned out, the president remembers well the previous four-year-old exhibition. New expressive means and large-scale changes appreciated.
The president shared his impression of what he saw with the veterans: “We talk a lot and in sufficient detail, we often talk about the feat of Leningrad, about the feat of Leningraders, about the heroism of the defenders of the city, and it seemed that everyone knew everything well. Meanwhile, I am deeply convinced that we should use every occasion to remind about it - so that we ourselves never forget about it, so that the whole world remembers it, and so that nothing like this has ever happened in the fate of our country, and in the world as a whole.”
Modern technologies, authentic combat items, and a video installation of a night battle create the effect of complete immersion in events. Nevsky Piglet is one of the most heroic and at the same time tragic pages of military history. On a piece of land only two kilometers long, a real fiery tornado fell daily, but there was no order to retreat - then losses were not considered.
“Believe me, fighting here - we had to fight on the Kursk Bulge - is much worse than there. You see, there you can see the battlefield, you can see where to go, but here they sat in the swamps in winter, spring and autumn. In brutal conditions. And they fought with dignity,” said Vyacheslav Panfilov, veteran of the Great Patriotic War.
The president and veterans were also shown an excerpt from the new film. It is also about the Nevsky Piglet. How would a modern, rather cynical young guy behave if he got into the thick of that battle?
“In my opinion, it was done very talentedly, expressively, intelligibly, it hits right, it seems to me, where you wanted to go - right to the heart, to the soul. And this is the great value of this kind of work, thank you very much,” the President said.
In an informal conversation with veterans, Vladimir Putin once again emphasized that self-sacrifice, love for the motherland, devotion to friendship have always been a hallmark of our people and they were especially pronounced during difficult periods in the country's history. And there were many. The President assured that the work to perpetuate the memory of the national feat will certainly be continued.
September 8 marks the mournful anniversary - 75 years old from the day it started Blockade of Leningrad- one of the worst crimes of World War II committed by Nazi Germany and its allies.
It is believed that the Siege of Leningrad lasted 900 days. However, in fact, there were 872 days of blockade - from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. According to historians today, based on the latest data, the Siege of Leningrad claimed the lives of about one and a half million people, 97% of the victims died of starvation.
Key dates associated with the Siege of Leningrad
- September 8, 1941 - Day of the beginning of the blockade;
- January 18, 1943 - Day of breaking the blockade;
- January 27, 1944 - Day of the complete lifting of the blockade;
- June 5, 1946 - Day of breaking through the naval mine blockade of Leningrad.
The beginning of the blockade
September 8, 1941 is considered the beginning of the blockade, when the land connection between Leningrad and the rest of the USSR was interrupted. However, in fact, the blockade began two weeks earlier - on August 27, the railway communication between the city and the mainland was interrupted, by that time tens of thousands of people had accumulated at railway stations and in the suburbs of Leningrad, trying to leave to the east. Also in the city at that time there were already more than 300 thousand refugees from the western regions of the USSR and the Baltic republics captured by the Nazis.
Hunger
Leningrad entered the war with the usual supply of food. Food cards were introduced in the city on July 17, but they did not save much on food, the norms were large, and there was no shortage of food before the start of the blockade.
However, by the beginning of the blockade, it turned out that the city did not have sufficient supplies of food and fuel, and the only thread connecting Leningrad with the mainland was the famous Road of Life, which passed along Lake Ladoga and was within reach of artillery and enemy aircraft.
The catastrophic food situation for the besieged city became clear on September 12, when inspections of food warehouses were completed. It was not only losses due to the famous Babaev warehouses bombed during the first air raids, where a significant amount of food was concentrated, but also errors in the distribution of products in the first two months of the war. The first sharp decrease in the norms for issuing products occurred on September 15. After that, the norms decreased until December, freezing at a minimum mark of the famous 125 blockade grams, which were supposed to be for children and dependents.
In addition, from September 1, the free sale of food was prohibited (this measure was in effect until mid-1944). The official sale of products in so-called commercial shops at market prices was also banned. At the same time, food, fuel, medicines, etc. could be exchanged for valuables on the black market, which operated in Leningrad throughout the war and blockade.
In October, the inhabitants of the city already felt a clear shortage of food, and in November a real famine began. It was especially scary when, before the ice on Ladoga, food was delivered to the city only by air. Only with the onset of winter did the Road of Life work at full capacity, but, of course, there was not enough food delivered along it. At the same time, all transport communications were under constant enemy fire.
The harsh winter of 1941-42 exacerbated the horrors of mass starvation, which led to huge casualties in the first blockade winter.
Victims of the blockade
During the years of the blockade, according to various sources, from 600 thousand to one and a half million people died. At the Nuremberg trials, it was about 632 thousand dead, but later this number was repeatedly revised, alas, upwards. Only 3% of the dead were victims of bombing and shelling, the remaining 97% died of starvation.
Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous!
In the first months of the blockade, despite the meager norms for issuing bread, death from starvation had not yet become mass phenomenon, and most of the dead were victims of bombing and artillery shelling.
It was then that the famous inscriptions appeared on the walls of some houses: “Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous.”
The inscriptions were made on houses on the northern and northeastern sides of the streets, as the Nazis were shelling the city from the south and southwest - from long-range guns installed on the Pulkovo Heights and in Strelna.
This is due to the fact that the shelling of Leningrad was carried out only from the territories occupied by German troops, the Finnish units, closing the blockade from the north, hardly shelled the city. In Kronstadt, such inscriptions were applied on the southwestern sides of the streets, since the Germans were shelling from the occupied Peterhof.
The most famous inscription on the even "sunny" side of Nevsky Prospekt was made in the summer of 1943 by two girls - fighters of the Local Air Defense (MPVO) Tatyana Kotova and Lyubov Gerasimova.
Alas, the real inscriptions on the walls have not been preserved, however, in the 1960s and 1970s, some of them were recreated in memory of the heroism of the Leningraders.
Currently, the inscriptions “Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous” are stored at the following addresses:
- Nevsky prospect, 14;
- Lesnoy prospect, house 61;
- 22 line of Vasilyevsky Island, house 7;
- Posadskaya street in Kronstadt, house 17/14;
- Ammerman street in Kronstadt, house 25.
All inscriptions are accompanied by marble plaques.
The feat of Leningrad was noted even before the end of the war. By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief dated May 1, 1945, Leningrad was named a Hero City for the heroism and courage shown by the inhabitants of the city during the blockade. Together with Leningrad, this title was awarded to three more cities - Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa.
75 years ago, on January 12, 1943, Soviet troops launched a deblocking operation near Leningrad (Operation Iskra). After powerful artillery preparation, the shock groups of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, the 67th and 2nd shock armies, went on the offensive.
The general situation in the Leningrad direction
By the beginning of 1943, the situation in Leningrad, surrounded by German troops, remained extremely difficult. The troops of the Leningrad Front and the Baltic Fleet were isolated from the rest of the Red Army. Attempts to de-blockade Leningrad in 1942 - the Lyuban and Sinyavin offensive operations - did not bring success. The shortest route between the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts - between the southern coast of Lake Ladoga and the village of Mga (the so-called Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge, 12-16 km), was still occupied by units of the 18th German army.
Shells and bombs continued to explode on the streets and squares of the second capital of the Union, people died, buildings collapsed. The city was under constant threat of air raids and artillery fire. The city by November - December 1942 was heavily depopulated. As a result of mass mortality, evacuation and additional conscription, the population of Leningrad decreased by 2 million in one year and amounted to 650 thousand people. The vast majority of the remaining population was employed in various works. The lack of land communication with the territory under the control of the Soviet troops caused great difficulties in the supply of fuel, raw materials for factories, did not allow to fully meet the needs of the troops and the civilian population in food and essentials.
However, the position of Leningraders in the winter of 1942-1943. it was still much better than the previous winter. Some of the Leningraders even received an increased food ration compared to the all-Union. Electricity from the Volkhovskaya hydroelectric power station was delivered to the city through a cable laid under water in autumn, and fuel was delivered through an underwater pipeline. The city was supplied with the necessary products and goods on the ice of the lake - the "Road of Life" which resumed work in December. In addition, in addition to the highway, a 35-kilometer iron siding was also built right on the ice of Lake Ladoga. Day and night, multi-meter piles were continuously driven, which were installed every two meters.
Soldiers of the Volkhov Front on the offensive during the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad
Side forces
THE USSR. The troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet and long-range aviation were involved in the operation. By the end of 1942, the Leningrad Front under the command of Leonid Govorov included: 67th Army - Commander Lieutenant General Mikhail Dukhanov, 55th Army - Lieutenant General Vladimir Sviridov, 23rd Army - Major General Alexander Cherepanov, 42- Army - Lieutenant General Ivan Nikolaev, Primorsky Operational Group and 13th Air Army - Colonel General of Aviation Stepan Rybalchenko.
The main forces of the LF - the 42nd, 55th and 67th armies, defended themselves at the turn of Uritsk, Pushkin, south of Kolpino, Porogi, the right bank of the Neva to Lake Ladoga. The 67th Army operated in a 30 km strip along the right bank of the Neva from Poroga to Lake Ladoga, having a small foothold on the left bank of the river, in the area of Moscow Dubrovka. The 55th Rifle Brigade of this army defended the road from the south, which passed through the ice of Lake Ladoga. The 23rd Army defended the northern approaches to Leningrad, located on the Karelian Isthmus. It should be noted that the situation on this sector of the front was stable for a long time, even a soldier’s saying appeared: “Three (or “there are three neutral”) armies are not fighting in the world - Swedish, Turkish and 23rd Soviet.” Therefore, the formations of this army were often transferred to other, more dangerous directions. The 42nd Army defended the Pulkovo line. The Primorsky Operational Group (POG) was located on the Oranienbaum bridgehead.
Lieutenant General of Artillery Leonid Alexandrovich Govorov at his desk. Leningrad Front
The actions of the LF were supported by the Red Banner Baltic Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Vladimir Tributs, which was based at the mouth of the Neva River and in Kronstadt. He covered the coastal flanks of the front, supported the ground forces with his aircraft and naval artillery fire. In addition, the fleet held a number of islands in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, which covered the western approaches to the city. Leningrad was also supported by the Ladoga military flotilla. The air defense of Leningrad was carried out by the Leningrad Air Defense Army, which interacted with aviation and anti-aircraft artillery of the front and fleet. The military road on the ice of the lake and the transshipment bases on its shores were covered from the attacks of the Luftwaffe by the formations of a separate Ladoga air defense region.
The troops of the Leningrad Front were separated from the troops of the Volkhov Front by a 15-kilometer corridor of the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge, which closed the ring of the blockade of Leningrad from the land. By the beginning of 1943, the Volkhov Front under the command of General of the Army Kirill Meretsky included: the 2nd shock army, the 4th, 8th, 52nd, 54th, 59th armies and the 14th air army. But they took a direct part in the operation: the 2nd shock army - under the command of Lieutenant General Vladimir Romanovsky, the 54th Army - Lieutenant General Alexander Sukhomlin, the 8th Army - Lieutenant General Philip Starikov, the 14th Air Army - General Aviation Lieutenant Ivan Zhuravlev. They operated in a 300 km strip from Lake Ladoga to Lake Ilmen. On the right flank from Lake Ladoga to the Kirov railway, units of the 2nd shock and 8th armies were located.
For the offensive, strike groups of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts were formed, which were significantly reinforced by artillery, tank and engineering formations, including those from the reserve of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. In total, the strike groups of the two fronts numbered 302,800 soldiers and officers, about 4,900 guns and mortars (caliber 76 mm and above), more than 600 tanks and 809 aircraft.
Germany
The German high command, after the failure of attempts to take the city, was forced to stop the fruitless offensive and order the troops to go on the defensive. All attention was riveted on the bleeding, turned into ruins, but not surrendering Stalingrad. In the autumn of 1942, the outflow of troops to the Stalingrad direction began from Army Group North. The 8th air corps was transferred to the Stalingrad region. Manstein, who was supposed to take Leningrad before that, left with his headquarters. The 12th Panzer, 20th Motorized and several infantry divisions were taken from the 18th German Army. In return, the 18th Army received the 69th Infantry, 1st, 9th and 10th Airfield Divisions.
The formation of airfield divisions, due to heavy losses in the ground forces, began on the initiative of Goering in September 1942. Airfield divisions did not have a regimental level and consisted of 4 rifle battalions and an artillery battalion, they were manned by personnel of the ground services of the Air Force and anti-aircraft artillery, who had no experience in combined arms combat. They had different weapons, including Soviet captured ones. Thus, the German group near Leningrad decreased not only quantitatively, but also deteriorated in terms of quality.
The Red Army was opposed by the 18th German Army under the command of Georg Lindemann (Lindemann), which was part of Army Group North. It consisted of 4 army corps and up to 26 divisions. The German troops were supported by the 1st Air Fleet of Aviation Colonel General Alfred Keller. In addition, on the northwestern approaches to the city, opposite the 23rd Soviet Army, there were 4 Finnish divisions from the Karelian Isthmus Task Force.
The Germans had the most powerful defense and dense grouping of troops in the most dangerous direction - the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge (its depth did not exceed 15 km). Here, between the city of Mga and Lake Ladoga, 5 German divisions were stationed - the main forces of the 26th and part of the divisions of the 54th Army Corps. They included about 60 thousand people, 700 guns and mortars, about 50 tanks and self-propelled guns. There were 4 divisions in the operational reserve.
Tank Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. N, tactical number 116 from the 1st company of the 502nd separate battalion of heavy tanks of the Wehrmacht, shot down in the Sinyavin area from January 12 to February 5, 1943
Each village was turned into a stronghold prepared for all-round defense, the positions were covered with minefields, wire fences and fortified with pillboxes. From Leningrad, the defense was held by the 328th Infantry Regiment of the 227th Infantry Division of General von Scotty, the 170th Infantry Division of General Zander in full force and the 100th Regiment of the 5th Mountain Division, which had up to 30 tanks, about 400 mortars and guns. The defensive line of the Germans passed along the left bank of the Neva, the height of which reaches 12 meters. The coast was artificially iced, heavily mined, and had almost no convenient natural exits. The Germans had two powerful knots of resistance. One - buildings of the 8th hydroelectric power station, brick houses of the 1st and 2nd towns; the second - numerous stone buildings of Shlisselburg and its outskirts. For each kilometer of the front, there were 10-12 bunkers and up to 30 guns and mortars, and full profile trenches stretched along the entire bank of the Neva.
The middle defensive line passed through the workers' settlements No. 1 and No. 5, the Podgornaya and Sinyavino stations, the workers' settlement No. 6, and the Mikhailovsky settlement. There were two lines of trenches, a Sinyavino knot of resistance, cut-off positions, and strong points. The enemy used wrecked Soviet tanks, turning them into fixed firing points. They bordered the Sinyavino heights - the approaches, the sole and the western slopes, as well as the Kruglyaya grove. From the Sinyavin Heights, the southern coast of Lake Ladoga, Shlisselburg, the 8th hydroelectric power station and the working settlement No. 5 were clearly visible. This line was the position of the divisional reserves (up to one regiment) of the German group. The entire space was under flank fire from neighboring strongholds and centers of resistance. As a result, the entire ledge resembled one fortified area.
The 227th Infantry Division (without one regiment), the 1st Infantry Division, the 374th Regiment of the 207th Security Division and the 425th Regiment of the 223rd Infantry were defending against two armies of the Volkhov Front. The defensive line of the enemy passed from the village of Lipka through the workers' settlement No. 8, the Kruglaya grove, Gaitolovo, Mishino, Voronovo and further south. There was a continuous trench along the front line of defense, covered with minefields, gouges and barbed wire, and a second trench was also dug in some areas. Where the swampy terrain did not allow to go deep into the ground, the Germans erected ice and bulk ramparts, put up two-row log fences. Lipka, the working settlement No. 8, the Kruglaya grove, the villages of Gaitolovo and Tortolovo were turned into especially powerful centers of resistance.
The situation for the attacking side was aggravated by the wooded and swampy terrain in the area. In addition, there was a large area of Sinyavino peat extraction, which was cut by deep ditches and additionally reinforced with wood-and-earth, peat and ice ramparts. The territory was impassable for armored vehicles and heavy artillery, and they were needed to destroy enemy fortifications. To overcome such a defense, powerful means of suppression and destruction were required, as well as a huge effort of the forces and means of the attacking side.
Soviet officers inspect heavy German guns shelling Leningrad. These are two 305-mm M16 mortars of Czech production by Skoda
Heavy 305 mm mortar M16 of Czech production, captured by Soviet soldiers. District of Leningrad
Operation plan
As early as November 18, 1942, the commander of the LF, General Govorov, sent a report to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, in which it was proposed to carry out two operations east and west of Leningrad - Shlisselburg and Uritskaya in order to "lift the blockade of Leningrad, ensure the construction of the railway along the Ladoga Canal and thereby organize normal communication Leningrad with the country, ensuring freedom of maneuver for the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. The headquarters, having considered this proposal, demanded that all attention be focused on breaking through the German defenses in only one direction - the Schlisselburg one, which would lead to the achievement of the set goal in the shortest possible way.
On November 22, the commander of the LF presented an updated plan of operation to the Headquarters. It provided for counter strikes - Leningrad from the west, Volkhov - from the east in the general direction of Sinyavino. On December 2, the rate approved the submitted plan. The coordination of the actions of both fronts was entrusted to the marshal Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov. It was planned to prepare the operation by January 1, 1943. Specific tasks for the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts were defined in the directive No. 170703 of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of December 8, 1942. It required the joint efforts of the two fronts to defeat the enemy grouping in the Lipka, Gaitolovo, Moscow Dubrovka, Shlisselburg and thus "break the siege of the mountains. Leningrad, by the end of January 1943, the operation will be completed. After that, moving to a strong defense at the turn of the river. Moyka, pos. Mikhailovsky, Tortolovo, provide communications for the Leningrad Front and give the troops a 10-day rest. In the first half of February 1943, it was ordered to prepare and carry out an operation to defeat the enemy in the Mga region and clear the Kirov railway with access to the Voronovo, Sigolovo, Voitolovo, Voskresenskoye line.
Soviet soldiers on the attack near Leningrad during the beginning of the blockade
Operation preparation
To carry out the operation, two shock groups were formed: in the VF - the 2nd shock army of Lieutenant General V.Z. Romanovsky, in Leningradsky - the 67th Army of Major General M.P. Dukhanov. The strike force of the LF was to cross the Neva on the ice, break through the defenses in the Moscow Dubrovka, Shlisselburg sector, defeat the enemy who had dug in here, connect with the troops of the VF and restore Leningrad's connection with the mainland. In the future, it was planned that the formations of the 67th Army would reach the line of the river. Washing. The strike force of the VF was supposed to break through the defenses in the Lipka, Gaitolovo sector (width 12 km) and, inflicting the main blow on Sinyavino, capture the Rabochesky Settlement No. Ensuring the left flank of the 2nd shock army was assigned to the 8th army of General F.N. Starikov, which, with its right-flank formations, was supposed to advance in the direction of Tortolovo, pos. Mikhailovsky. Air support and cover for the troops was carried out by the 13th and 14th air armies of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts and the aviation of the Baltic Fleet (about 900 aircraft in total). Long-range aviation, coastal and naval artillery of the fleet (88 guns) were also involved in the operation.
The operation of the shock group of the Volkhov Front, by decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, was entrusted to the commander of the 2nd shock army under the direct supervision of the deputy front commander, Lieutenant General I.I. Fedyuninsky. The operation of the strike group of the Leningrad Front was to be carried out by the commander of the 67th Army under the direct supervision of the front commander, Lieutenant General L.A. Govorova. Marshals G.K. Zhukov and K.E. Voroshilov were representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme Command for coordinating the actions of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts.
The basis of the strike force of the LF was the 67th Army, built before the offensive in two echelons. The first echelon consisted of the 45th Guards, 268th, 136th, 86th Rifle Divisions, the 61st Tank Brigade, the 86th and 118th Separate Tank Battalions. The second echelon consisted of the 13th, 123rd rifle divisions, 102nd, 123rd, 142nd rifle brigades, and the army reserve - 152nd and 220th tank brigades, 46th rifle division, 11th , 55th, 138th rifle, 34th and 35th ski brigades. The offensive was supported by the artillery of the army, the front and the Baltic Fleet - a total of about 1900 guns and mortars and the 13th Air Army with 414 aircraft.
The shock grouping of the Volkhov Front consisted of the 2nd shock army, part of the forces of the 8th army. The first echelon of the 2nd shock army consisted of the 128th, 372nd, 256th, 327th, 314th, 376th rifle divisions, the 122nd tank brigade, the 32nd guards tank breakthrough regiment, 4 separate tank battalions. The second echelon included - 18th, 191st, 71st, 11th, 239th rifle divisions, 16th, 98th and 185th tank brigades. The army reserve consisted of the 147th rifle division, the 22nd rifle, 11th, 12th and 13th ski brigades. Part of the forces of the 8th Army operated on the left flank of the offensive: the 80th, 364th rifle divisions, the 73rd marine brigade, the 25th separate tank regiment and two separate tank battalions. The offensive was supported by the artillery of the front and the two armies with about 2,885 guns and mortars and the 14th Air Army with 395 aircraft.
In preparation for the operation, the commanders of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, at the expense of their reserves and regroupings of formations from other directions, significantly strengthened the 67th and 2nd shock armies, decisively concentrating forces in the breakthrough areas. Soviet troops outnumbered the enemy here in infantry by 4.5 times, in artillery - by 6-7, in tanks - by 10 and in aircraft - by 2 times. In the 67th Army, 1909 guns and mortars of 76-mm caliber and more were concentrated on the 13-kilometer section of the breakthrough, which made it possible to increase the artillery density to 146 guns and mortars per 1 km of the front. th Rifle Division (width 1.5 km), the density of guns and mortars per 1 km of the front was 365 units, in the breakthrough area of the 376th Rifle Division (width 2 km) - 183, and in the auxiliary direction - 101 guns and mortars per 1 km front.
Artillery preparation of the attack was planned to last 2 hours and 20 minutes, support for the attack - by the method of barrage to a depth of 1 km, and then by the method of successive concentration of fire. In addition, it was envisaged, with the attacking troops on the ice, to put barrage fire 200-250 m from the first position of the enemy. All tank units (on the LF - 222 tanks and 37 armored vehicles, on the VF - 217 tanks) were planned to be used for direct support of the infantry. For air defense, strike groups were involved: in the VF - three anti-aircraft artillery divisions, six separate anti-aircraft divisions and two separate anti-aircraft railway batteries; in the LF - an anti-aircraft artillery division, an air defense regiment, six separate anti-aircraft artillery divisions, two separate anti-aircraft railway batteries, as well as four anti-aircraft artillery and four fighter aviation regiments from the Leningrad Air Defense Army.
A feature of the operation was that almost a month was allocated for preparation. Throughout December, the troops of the 2nd Shock and 67th Armies were intensely preparing for the upcoming operation. All formations were understaffed, military equipment and . The troops accumulated from 2 to 5 rounds of ammunition, depending on the systems of guns and mortars. The most time-consuming work was the preparation of initial areas for shock groupings of fronts. It was necessary to increase the number of trenches and communication passages, shelters for personnel, open and equip firing positions for artillery, mortars, tanks, and arrange ammunition depots. The total volume of earthworks on each front was in the hundreds of thousands of cubic meters. All work was carried out only by hand, at night, without violating the normal behavior of the troops occupying the defense, in compliance with camouflage measures. At the same time, sappers were building roads and columned paths, gati and lezhnevka through the swamps, which abounded in the initial areas, cleared minefields, and prepared passages in the barriers. So, the engineering units built 20 km of column tracks in the rear of the army, strengthened bridges and built new ones, made passages in minefields (one per company).
In addition, the LF also needed to make means to overcome the high bank of the Neva and areas of damaged ice cover. For this purpose, hundreds of board shields, assault ladders, hooks, ropes with hooks and "cats" were made. After considering a number of options (including creating a canal in the ice of the Neva, followed by building a pontoon bridge, or reinforcing the ice by freezing cables into it), it was decided to transport tanks and heavy artillery across the Neva along wooden "rails" laid on sleepers.
Particular attention was paid to the training of troops, commanders and staffs. Under the leadership of the army commanders, training camps for command personnel and command and staff games were held. For each division in the rear, a terrain similar to the one where the defense was to be broken through was selected. Here, training fields and camps were equipped according to the type of enemy strongholds, on which subunits and units learned to storm fortified positions, to conduct an offensive battle in the forest. So, the Leningraders at the Toksovsky training ground created a defense line similar to the one that was to be broken through. Regimental exercises with live firing were held here, the infantry was trained to follow the fire shaft at a distance of 100 meters. On sections of the Neva in the city limits, they worked out ways to overcome damaged areas of ice, storming a steep, icy, fortified shore with bunkers. Troops on the Volkhov front also underwent similar training. In conclusion, exercises with live firing took place. With the help of aerial photography, the maps were carefully refined. Photo schemes and corrected maps were received by all commanders, including companies and batteries. In the subunits and units allocated for the breakthrough, assault detachments and barrage groups were created to make passes and destroy the most durable defensive structures. 83 assault detachments were formed at the VF, including sappers, machine gunners, machine gunners, flamethrowers, artillery crews and escort tanks. Particular attention was paid to the development of methods for storming wood-and-earth barriers, peat, snow and ice ramparts.
Great importance was attached to operational camouflage. The regrouping of troops was carried out exclusively at night or in non-flying weather. For reconnaissance in combat and night searches, only those subunits and units that were in direct contact with the enemy were involved. In order to hide preparations for a breakthrough from him, reconnaissance operations were intensified along the entire front, right up to Novgorod. To the north of Novgorod they imitated violent activity, denoting the concentration of a large mass of troops and equipment. A limited circle of people participated in the development of the operation plan. All these measures have played their part. The enemy only managed to establish shortly before the start of the operation that the Soviet troops were preparing for an offensive, but he could not determine the time and force of the strike. The commander of the 26th Army Corps, General Leiser, taking this into account, suggested that the commander of the 18th Army, General Lindemann, withdraw troops from Shlisselburg. But this proposal was not accepted.
Soviet soldiers on the attack near Leningrad, during an operation to break the blockade of Leningrad. Photo source: http://waralbum.ru/
On December 27, 1942, the command of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts asked Stalin to postpone the start of the offensive to January 10-12. They explained this proposal by extremely unfavorable weather conditions, which led to a prolonged thaw and, in connection with this, to insufficient stability of the ice cover on the Neva and poor passability of the swamps.
In early January 1943, a joint meeting of the military councils of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts was held. It clarified the issues of interaction between the troops of the fronts in the operation, the simultaneity of taking the starting position, the beginning of artillery and aviation training, the time of the attack of infantry and tanks, the conditional line of meeting of the troops of the fronts - Workers' settlements No. 2 and 6, etc. It was also agreed that if the troops one of the fronts, having reached the planned line, will not meet the troops of the other front, then they will continue the offensive until the actual meeting.
Before the start of the operation, on January 10, 1943, General of the Army G.K. Zhukov, in order to see on the spot whether everything has been done for the success of the operation. Zhukov got acquainted with the state of affairs in the 2nd shock and 8th armies. At his direction, some shortcomings were eliminated. On the night of January 11, the troops took their starting position.
B. V. Kotik, N. M. Kutuzov, V. I. Seleznev, L. V. Kabachek, Yu. A. Garikov, K. G. Molteninov, F. V. Savostyanov Diorama of the museum-reserve "Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad", dedicated to turning point in the defense of Leningrad - Operation "Iskra" (Kirovsk, Kirovsky district, Leningrad region)
To be continued…
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Exactly 75 years ago on this day, January 18, 1943, as a result of Operation Iskra, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts broke through the blockade ring, which for a long 872 days fettered the city on the Neva in its fetters. Thanks to this operation, a land corridor was liberated, through which as soon as possible was laid Railway. On February 7, 1943, after a year and a half break, the first train from the mainland arrived in Leningrad.
The history of the defense of Leningrad is one of bright pages in the annals of the Great Patriotic War. Serious and difficult trials then fell on the lot of firefighters, who from the first days of the war began to prepare the city for fire defense. From the very beginning fire department The city was paramilitary and became one of the services of the MPVO.
In August 1941, the Komsomol fire fighting regiment was created. It was formed from students, high school students, working youth. In total, its ranks consisted of about a thousand people. By the beginning of September on industrial enterprises about six thousand fire departments and more than two thousand in households were created. Throughout the war, shoulder to shoulder, along with men, women also fought with fire. Of the nearly ten thousand personnel, a quarter were women.
The first massive attack on Leningrad took place on Monday, September 8, 1941. The raid began at 18:55. In two hours, the Nazis dropped 6327 incendiary and high-explosive bombs on the city. 178 fires broke out. On the same day, the fire department of the city suffered the first losses ...
Later, the orders of the fascist command became known, demanding to open artillery fire on the first smoke and the glow of a fire in order to make it difficult to extinguish it, in order to destroy the city by any means. shells, at the oil depot "Krasny oilman" - 126, at the Kirov plant - more than 140 shells. Firefighters died in fires almost every day. Nikolai Tikhonov wrote: "They silently buried their dead, bandaged the wounded, not knowing rest, worked day and night, saving Leningrad from destruction by fire."
Under artillery and mortar fire, tormented by excruciating hunger, suffering terrible losses, firefighters never left their combat post and liquidated 1,152 major fires and 16,000 fires in the besieged city.
Moreover, it was then that new methods of fighting fires were born: creating fire breaks, using snow to extinguish, letting in cold air to give the flame the desired direction. For example, the fire that started on the night of January 12, 1942 in Gostiny Dvor, extinguished without water, falling asleep with snow and sand. To stop the fire, hungry exhausted people dismantled the structure of the building.
In the history of violent opposition to fire, there is a fact that speaks more eloquently than volumes of historical research - during the entire blockade of the city, only individual buildings were lost, and there was not a single case when an entire industrial or residential quarter was destroyed by fire.
In addition to extinguishing fires, firefighters performed a number of other functions. When there was mass death in the city, they dug trenches for the burial of the dead. During the summer months, personnel repaired stoves, cleaned chimneys, and repaired street water mains. Also, the firefighters of Leningrad took part in the construction of defensive structures on the outskirts and in the city itself, some fighters were seconded to the construction of the "Road of Life". Due to the lack of electricity in the city, firefighters were entrusted with the water supply of bakeries and baths.
During the war years, the fire department of the city on the Neva lost two-thirds of its personnel, and this is 2067 people, 1070 of them died of starvation and exhaustion. The Leningrad garrison lost 53% of its combat vehicles, thousands of meters of hoses and several buildings of fire brigades. More than 30 kilometers of fire communication lines were destroyed.
In July 1942, for the exemplary preparation of the fire defense of the city of Leningrad, for the valor and courage shown by personnel in the elimination of fires, the Leningrad fire department was awarded the Order of Lenin. More than a thousand firefighters were awarded medals and orders. This is the only case of such a high award for firefighters during the entire period of the Great Patriotic War.
The combat work of the personnel of the Air Defense Forces of the city of Leningrad was also duly noted. On November 2, 1944, the city's MPVO (the only one in the country) was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. The battlefield for the MPVO fighters was squares, streets, houses. Their duties included the elimination of the consequences of air raids and shelling, first aid to the population and the disposal of unexploded bombs, and ensuring the normal functioning of the city. In accordance with the tasks, each unit of the MPVO included companies: emergency recovery, medical and sanitary, fire, chemical protection, sapper, as well as a control platoon. On the account of the fighters of this service - work in more than 30,000 centers of destruction, assistance provided to thousands and thousands of Leningraders, tens of thousands of defused mines, shells, hundreds of kilometers of restored roads.
“The profession of firefighters is classified as one of the most dangerous professions on earth. Both in peacetime and in wartime, firefighters are constantly in a combat situation on the verge between life and death. But what the Leningrad firefighters did during the 900 days of the cruel blockade of the city on the Neva was a huge human feat.