The fighting at Leningrad was relentless, and the city was completely cut off from the
outside world due to an effective German and Finnish encirclement in late 1942.
Moreover, the Soviet civilians and soldiers were starving and had no more ammunition or war assets.
Most of the populace would have to endure the harsh winters and
the brutal close-quarters combat until help arrived. If it ever came.
Under these extreme circumstances, the Soviet Army launched Operation Iskra in January of
1943 to break through the German encirclement and relieve the city with valuable supplies.
The fate of Leningrad and its people now depended on the success of this desperate operation...
Siege of Leningrad
The capture of the city that bore the name of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin was one of the
main strategic objectives of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Leningrad was of enormous political and military significance for several reasons. First,
it was the former capital of the Russian Empire and the location where the sparks
of Bolshevism ignited for the first time. Second, it was renamed Leningrad in honor
of comrade Lenin, the new hero of the Russian people. If the city was captured, Adolf Hitler and
his top brass were convinced that it would be an immediate moral knockdown to the Soviet Red Army.
More importantly, Leningrad was the main base of operations of the Soviet Baltic
Fleet, where almost 12 percent of the Soviet industrial output was located.
When Operation Barbarossa was unleashed in the summer of 1941, Leningrad was the
main target of Army Group North, commanded by the renowned c Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb.
It is said that Adolf Hitler intended to raze the city to the ground and give
portions of it to the Finnish allies. Whichever the case, Army Group North
advanced without mercy through the Soviet Union to reach its objective. By August 30, the Heer had
captured Narva, Kingisepp, and Chudovo, cutting off the rail link between Moscow and Leningrad.
As the German and Finnish forces began to form a blockade around the city, the Council of Deputies
of Leningrad desperately organized civilian response groups to fortify the city and prepare
for combat. But despite building several defensive lines, the Luftwaffe bombardments led to chaos.
By September of 1941, with support from Italian, Spanish, and Finnish troops,
Army Group North began to choke Leningrad to drain it out of vital resources.
Sinyavino Offensive After more than six months, the Red
Army began to prepare the Sinyavino offensive to relieve Leningrad in the autumn of 1942.
The 2nd and 8th Shock armies were to link up with the Soviet resistance at the city.
However, the Soviets were unaware of the Heer’s Northern Light operation,
whose purpose was to launch another offensive to link up with Finnish forces and capture the city.
The first stage of the Soviet offensive began on August 19 with the Leningrad Front,
which was followed by the Volkhov Front two weeks later. Over 190,000 Soviet
soldiers stormed the sector and successfully prevented the Germans from counterattacking.
Still, the 2nd Shock Army was encircled and destroyed, and after almost two months of bitter
fighting, the Soviet relief effort had failed at the cost of some 40,000 soldiers compared to the
24,000 from the Heer. Moreover, their ammunition and equipment were very scarce.
The Soviet operation also became the first sighting of the fearsome Tiger I heavy tanks,
which proved their worth in combat against Soviet armor. But unfortunately for the Germans, one of
their brand-new Tigers was captured by the Soviets and taken to Moscow for immediate inspection.
As for Leningrad, its defenders still held their ground, and Field Marshal Leeb realized that a
more significant Axis force was required to surrender the city at a faster pace.
Following this costly failure, Joseph Stalin ordered a quick second relief effort,
and preparations began almost immediately. Two months later, 20 Soviet divisions were
finally ready to break into the Leningrad sector and liberate the city at all costs.
Operation Spark Following the unsuccessful
Sinyavino Offensive, the Heer stabilized the Leningrad frontline again. Almost 16
kilometers separated Kirill Meretskov’s Volkhov Front and Leonid Govorov’s Leningrad Front.
The two Soviet forces were scattered and decimated. Still, by January of 1943, they were
ready for another attack with overwhelming force. Making the most out of the Wehrmacht’s imminent
defeat at Stalingrad, the Soviet High Command executed Operation
Iskra or Spark to deal one decisive blow to Army Group North and liberate Leningrad.
When it was inevitable that Germany would not be able to do anything to reinforce the
troops at Stalingrad, the Red Army made the last preparations to launch Operation Spark.
The Soviet Command asked that: (QUOTE) “With the combined efforts of the Volkhov and Leningrad
Fronts, defeat the enemy in the area of Lipka, Gaitolovo, Dubrovka, Shlisselburg,
and thus penetrate the Leningrad blockade. Finish the operation by the end of January 1943.”
The objective was to open a 10-kilometer corridor to supply Leningrad. Once this goal was achieved,
the USSR would resume operations to advance southward and cut off the Axis forces.
During the past Sinyavino Offensive,
the Volkhov and Leningrad Fronts attacked from the south of the town of Siniavino,
which left them vulnerable to attacks from the north and ultimately led to their defeat.
To prevent being flanked by the enemy, this time the two fronts would attack
from the north near the Ladoga Lake shore. The area around Lake Ladoga had a dense
forest with peat deposits. Although the wetlands made it difficult for vehicles
and artillery to cross it effectively, it was perfect for concealing the infantry.
Heer Fortifications Knowing that another offensive was imminent
to break the blockade, Army Group North had taken the necessary precautions to fortify the sector.
The Heer seized control of the Sinyavino heights, which were located a few kilometers
from the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, and almost 60 kilometers east of Leningrad.
Most of the terrain surrounding the Sinyavino heights was more than 140
meters higher than the flat area, which made it an excellent asset to attack.
Additionally, Heer engineers built an interconnected series of tunnels,
trenches, and other obstacles to halt the advancing enemy troops.
Artillery pieces, mortars, and machine-gun nests were tactically
placed to maximize range and damage the attackers. The decision to go on the defensive was mandatory
for the Heer, and 26 divisions were stretched thin in a front more than 450 kilometers wide.
In the end, there were no reserves left besides portions of the 5th Mountain Division,
and only five divisions guarded the 16-kilometer-long corridor
that separated Kirill Meretskov’s Volkhov Front and Leonid Govorov’s Leningrad Front.
The corridor was dubbed the bottleneck and was the only line of defense that prevented
the two Red Army forces from linking up and disrupting the German siege.
Attacking the Bottleneck
Major General MP Dukhanov and Lieutenant General VZ Romanovsky were tasked with spearheading
the offensive with the Volkhov Front’s 2nd Shock Army and Leningrad Front’s 67th Army.
Besides providing fresh infantry, engineer, and artillery units, the Soviet forces received four
aerosani battalions and three ski brigades. To prevent the Germans from flanking the
advancing Soviet troops, Lieutenant General F.N. Starikov’s 8th Army would lead a limited
offensive to disrupt the enemy garrison. Meanwhile, over 800 aircraft from
the 13th and 14th Air Armies would provide air support to the infantry.
The Red Army was expected to launch the attack on January 1.
Still, poor ice conditions did not freeze the Neva River as expected and delayed the operation.
Days later, the rising hero of the USSR, Georgy Zhukov, arrived at the region to
analyze the battlefield and the attack plans. Finally, during the night of January 11,
the infantry and tank brigades approached their starting positions to launch the offensive.
As they moved, the soldiers heard the roaring engines of Red Army night bombers that raced
through the pitch-black sky to attack German artillery positions and communication centers.
The preliminary artillery bombardments began at 9:30am on January 12.
Some minutes before the artillery barrage seized and the Katyushas rained fire on the Germans,
the two Soviet fronts started marching. The offensive to relieve Leningrad had begun.
Spearhead Assault The clash between the
opposing armies was almost immediate. As soon as the Soviet infantry left the treeline and their
concealed positions, the German artillery began to pummel it with accurate rounds.
Still, the Red Army's advance was relentless. The infantry and engineers took cover behind
their tanks and kept advancing until they reached safer ground.
The coordinated attack on the bottleneck from the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts began
to pay off during midday when both forces broke through the German defensive lines.
Soon, the 136th and the 268th Rifle divisions from the Leningrad Front
were able to capture a bridgehead that was over three kilometers deep and five kilometers wide.
Tanks and artillery then poured in and established a defensive line to prevent
the Wehrmacht from reconquering it. Then, as night settled on the horizon, Soviet sappers
built additional bridges to speed up the advance of echelon troops crossing the Shlisselburg river.
Although the ultimate cost was high, the Leningrad Front was now
in German-controlled territory and one step close to linking up with the Volkhov Front,
which had encountered stiff resistance on its side.
Meanwhile, the 2nd Shock Army had managed to penetrate the enemy defenses,
except for two strong points located at Lipka and Settlement number 8.
More than 1,000 German defenders resisted inside these strongpoints
and were willing to give up their lives. Still, the Heer deployed all its reserves to
reinforce the 170th and 227th infantry divisions during the night. Besides the much-required
infantry, some artillery pieces and four lethal Tiger Is also arrived to support the defenders.
Pushing Forward The morning of January 12
was greeted by intense artillery fire from both armies across the two fronts. The territorial
gain was a slow and costly task, given the tenacity of the outnumbered German garrisons.
Still, the Soviet forces steadily marched forward, taking small pockets of land as the days passed.
The Red Army fighters attacked as vigorously as they could,
but foul weather sometimes limited their efforts. Meanwhile, all the German attempts to regain
territories were halted after the Red Army quickly reinforced every conquered area with new units.
The Heer then began to move portions of units to reinforce sectors about to be lost.
The 5th Mountain Division and the SS Police Division were some of them.
On the other side, the Soviets deployed the 12th Ski Bridge to
cross Ladoga Lake and attack the rear lines, speeding up the link-up process.
As such, scattered Teutonic garrisons were cut off and forced to surrender.
By January 17, more settlements had fallen under Soviet control,
and the bottleneck had grown thinner. Govorov was then promoted to Colonel-General.
Linking Up During the morning
of January 18, units from the 372nd and 123rd Rifle Divisions linked up for the first time
near one of the captured German strongpoints. The German units located in the northern portion
were completely cut off and surrounded by the Red Army, and all Heer attempts to break through were
futile. Only a few units were able to break through the concealed forested area after
they left all of their heavy equipment behind. From January 18 to January 21, the combined
forces of both fronts attacked the encircled Wehrmacht garrisons to secure the entire region.
Still, the new frontline was stabilized after January 21,
and neither the Soviets nor the Germans attempted another assault.
USSR workers and soldiers quickly started to link the rail line that went from Leningrad
to the rest of the Soviet Union through the captured corridor. And by February 6,
trains began to deliver much-needed supplies to continue fighting the German forces at Leningrad.
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