| Leningrad–Novgorod offensive | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theEastern Front ofWorld War II | |||||||||
 Soviet machine-gunners near Detskoye Selo railway station inPushkin, 21 January | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Germany |  Soviet Union | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Georg von Küchler (Until 1 February) Walter Model(From February 1) | Leonid GovorovVladimir TributsKirill MeretskovMarkian Popov | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Army Group North: 44 infantry divisions [2] | Leningrad Front Volkhov Front 2nd Baltic Front Baltic Fleet: 57 divisions | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 500,000 personnel 2,389 artillery pieces 146 tanks 140 aircraft[2] | 822,000 personnel 4,600 artillery pieces 550 tanks 653 aircraft[2] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 24,739 dead and missing[3] 46,912 wounded[3] Total: 71,651 casualties (per German military medical reports)[3] | 76,686 dead and missing, 237,267 wounded[4] Total: 313,953 casualties[4] | ||||||||
TheLeningrad–Novgorod strategic offensive was a strategic offensive during World War II. It was launched by theRed Army on 14 January 1944 with an attack on the GermanArmy Group North by the SovietVolkhov andLeningrad fronts, along with part of the2nd Baltic Front,[5] with a goal of fully lifting thesiege of Leningrad. Approximately two weeks later, the Red Army regained control of theMoscow–Leningrad railway, and on 26 January 1944Joseph Stalin declared that the siege of Leningrad was lifted, and that German forces were expelled from theLeningrad Oblast.[6] The lifting of the 900-day-long blockade was celebrated inLeningrad on that day with a 324-gun salute.[5] The strategic offensive ended a month later on 1 March, when Stavka ordered the troops of the Leningrad Front to afollow-on operation across theNarva River, while the 2nd Baltic was to defend the territory it gained in pursuit of the GermanXVI Army Corps.[7]
The Germans had suffered nearly 72,000 casualties, lost 85 artillery pieces ranging in caliber from 15 cm to 40 cm, and were pushed back between 60 and 100 kilometers from Leningrad to theLuga River.[8]
AfterOperation Barbarossa, German troops had encircled Leningrad, and began thesiege of Leningrad. Several operations had been designed by the Soviet commanders in the area to liberate the outskirts of Leningrad from the Germans. In the fall of 1943, preparations had begun to design another plan to retake the outskirts of Leningrad from the Germans, after the only partially successfulOperation Iskra in January that year which had followed the failedSinyavino Offensive of late 1942. The first staff meeting was held on 9 September 1943, two years and a day after the beginning of the siege.[9] Two plans, Neva I and Neva II, were conceived. Neva I was to be implemented if the Germans, pressured on different fronts, withdrew their forces from Leningrad on their own accord to reinforce the pressured areas. BothStavka and Leningrad believed this was possible.[9] Neva II, therefore, would be implemented if the Germans did not withdraw from Leningrad within the coming months.[9] The offensive would be three-pronged, driving from thefoothold at Oranienbaum that had been captured earlier that year, thePulkovo Heights and from the fortifications aroundNovgorod.[9] The offensive was planned to start in the winter, when sufficient numbers of troops and artillery could be moved across the ice without incident.[9]
The Baltic Fleet had been assigned the task of transporting the Second Shock Army under the command ofIvan Fedyuninsky over Lake Ladoga to Oranienbaum. From 5 November 1943 onwards the Fleet transported 30,000 troops, 47 tanks, 400 artillery pieces, 1,400 trucks and 10,000 tons of ammunition and supplies from the wharves at the Leningrad factories, Kanat and the naval base atLisy Nos to Oranienbaum.[10] After Lake Ladoga froze, another 22,000 men, 800 trucks, 140 tanks and 380 guns were sent overland to the jump-off point.[10] When the shipments were complete, the artillery was positioned along the entire length of the Leningrad, Second Baltic and Volkhov fronts at a concentration of 200 guns per kilometer, including 21,600 standard artillery pieces, 1,500 Katyusha rocket guns, and 600 anti-aircraft guns.[10] 1,500 planes were also obtained from the Baltic Fleet and from installations around Leningrad.[10][11] The total number of Soviet personnel prepared for action was 1,241,000, against the 741,000 German troops.[12] A final meeting took place on 11 January inSmolny.[13] General Govorov, the top Soviet commander on the Leningrad Front, had listed his priorities. In order to open up southeastward and eastward main railroad lines from Leningrad, Soviet troops would have to occupyGatchina, from which they could retakeMga, the minor city and rail station whose capture in 1941 had closed the last railroad route into Leningrad. Govorov positioned his troops accordingly.[13]
.jpg)
The situation of the German Army Group North at the end of 1943 had deteriorated to a critical point. TheBlue Division and three German divisions had been withdrawn by October, while the Army Group had acquired sixty miles of additional frontage fromArmy Group Center during the same period. As replacements, Field MarshalGeorg von Küchler received the SpanishBlue Legion and three divisions of SS troops. In such a weakened state, the Army Group staff planned a new position to its rear that would shorten the front lines by twenty-five percent and remove the Soviet threats posed in many salients on the current lines. The planOperation Blue called for a January withdrawal of over 150 miles to the natural defensive barrier formed by theNarva andVelikaya Rivers and LakesPeipus andPskov. This position, the so-called "Panther Line", was buttressed by fortifications that had been constructed since September. The retreat would be carried out in stages, using intermediate defensive positions, the most important of which was the Rollbahn Line formed on theOctober Railway running throughTosno,Lyuban andChudovo. There the two most exposed Army Corps, the XXVI andXXVIII, would regroup and catch their breath before proceeding farther back to their positions in the Panther Line.[14]
The fate of Army Group North turned for the worse in the new year, forHitler rejected all proposals for an early withdrawal into the "Panther" position, insisting that the Soviet forces be kept as far as possible from Germany and that they be forced to pay dearly for each meter of ground. Finally, Hitler transferred three more first-rate infantry divisions out of Army Group North to reinforceErich von Manstein'sArmy Group South as it reeled back from theDnieper River under continuous Soviet assault. Field Marshal von Küchler now held an extremely precarious position, and could only await events on the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts with great pessimism.[14]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Leningrad–Novgorod offensive" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In the late hours of 13 January 1944 long-range bombers from the Baltic Fleet attacked the main German command points on the defensive line. On 14 January troops from both the Oranienbaum foothold and Volkhov Front attacked, followed the next day by troops of the42nd Army under the command ofIvan Maslennikov from the Pulkovo Heights.[13] An artillery barrage was launched all along the front, laying down 220,000 shells onto the German lines.[15] Fog inhibited major progress for the first few days, although the Second Shock Army and 42nd Army advanced two miles on a seven-mile front while in combat with the9th and10thLuftwaffe Field Divisions,[13] and the Volkhov Front pushed the Germans back about three miles.[15] It thawed on the 16th, and the Second Shock Army managed to move forward 23 kilometers.[8][16] On the 19th, the Second Shock Army captured Ropsha and the 63rd Guards Rifle Division, part of the 42nd Army, drove the Germans out ofKrasnoye Selo. By 26 January German troops had been pushed 100 kilometers away from the city, and theMoscow–Leningrad Railroad line had been opened.[17] The next day, Stalin declared the city to have been relieved, and Leningrad celebrated with a red, white and blue salute from 324Katyusha rocket launchers and artillery pieces at 8 pm,[17] which was inconceivable during the siege due toblackout.
On 14 January Soviet troops of theVolkhov Front launched an offensive from the Novgorod area towardsLuga against a part of the18th German Army. The aim was freeing the October Railway and encircling, together with the troops of theLeningrad Front, the main forces of the 18th Army in the Luga region.
The offensive did not develop as rapidly as planned before the operation. The German 18th Army suffered a heavy defeat, but still wasn't destroyed and retained a significant part of its combat potential, which prevented the Soviet troops in the spring of 1944 to break through thePanther–Wotan line and begin the liberation of the Baltics.One of the reasons for this development was the lack of coordination between the2nd Baltic Front and the Volkhov Front, which allowed the German command to move significant forces from the 16th Army to the Luga area.
By 15 February the troops of the Volkhov Front, as well as the 42nd and 67th Army of the Leningrad Front, reachedLake Peipus, having pushed the enemy 50–120 kilometers to the West. In total 779 cities and settlements were liberated, including Novgorod, Luga,Batetsky, Oredezh, Mga, Tosno,Lyuban and Chudovo. The restoration of control over the strategically important railways, especially Kirov and October, was of great importance.
On 18 February, Soviet troops of the 2nd Baltic Front, carried out this operation in cooperation with part of the Leningrad Front against theGerman 16th Army of Army Group "North" with the aim of liberating the area southwest ofLake Ilmen and creating the conditions for further offensives.
As a result of the operation, the Soviet troops, pursuing the retreating enemy, advanced up to 180 kilometers to the West, liberating many cities and towns, includingStaraya Russa,Novorzhev,Dno andPutoshka.
 |  |  |
| Position of the armies before the operation and plan of attack | Operations between 14 and 31 January 1944 | Operations between 1–15 February 1944 |
In Soviet propaganda, this offensive was listed as one ofStalin's ten blows.