Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive
Encyclopedia
The Krasnoye Selo – Ropsha Offensive, also known as Operation January Thunder and Neva-2 was a campaign between the Soviet Leningrad Front
and the German 18th Army fought for the western approaches of Leningrad
in 14–30 January 1944.
was dropped from Leningrad and Lisiy Nos to the Oranienbaum Bridgehead
during a number of nights starting from November 1943. At daytime, the barges returned, disguised as committing an evacuation of the bridgehead. In charge of the bridgehead, Lieutenant General B.Z. Romanovskiy was replaced with Lieutenant General Ivan Fedyuninsky
.
and Leningrad Front
s designed the Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive aimed at forcing the German Generalfeldmarschall
Georg von Küchler
's Army Group North
back from its positions near Oranienbaum
. In the process, the attack was expected to encircle Generaloberst Georg Lindemann
's 18th Army.
and three German divisions had been withdrawn by October, while the Army Group had acquired sixty miles of additional frontage from Army Group Center during the same period. As replacements, Field Marshal Georg von Küchler
received the Blue 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 plan, Operation "Blue," called for a January withdrawal of over 150 miles to the natural defensive barrier formed by the Narva
and Velikaya River
s and Lakes Peipus and Pskov. 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 the October Railway running through Tosno
, Lyuban
and Chudovo
. There the two most exposed Army Corps, the XXVI and XXVIII, would regroup and catch their breath before proceeding farther back to their positions in the Panther Line.
The fate of Army Group North turned for the worse in the new year, for Hitler rejected all proposals for an early withdrawal into the "Panther" position, insisting that the Russian 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 reinforce Erich von Manstein
's Army Group South
as it reeled back from the Dnieper 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.
's 42nd Army fell on the sector of Obergruppenführer
Felix Steiner
's III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
, hitting the area of the 9th and 10th Luftwaffe Field Division
s. By the third day of the offensive, the 2nd Shock Army broke through the German lines with a penetration 23 kilometers wide. The Luftwaffe units crumbled quickly, and the Army Group North fell back to new positions along the Narva river
in Estonia. In a key Soviet assault on January 19, the 63rd Guards Rifle Division seized German positions to the front of Krasnoye Selo
. On January 19, the 2nd Shock Army took Ropša and the 42nd Army liberated Krasnoye Selo. By January 30, the Soviet attacks by the 2nd Shock and 42nd Armies cost the Germans around 21,000 casualties, captured 85 artillery pieces ranging in caliber from 15 cm to 40 cm, and pushed the Germans back by between 60 to 100 kilometers. Overall, the Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive was part of the operations of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts that broke the Siege of Leningrad
concluding an almost 900-day struggle.
on 1 February, the 2nd Shock Army's 109th Rifle Corps captured the Kingisepp
town. The III Panzer Corps brought up the rear, fighting many bloody rearguard
actions until it reached the positions on the eastern bank of the Narva river.
Leningrad Front
The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...
and the German 18th Army fought for the western approaches of Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
in 14–30 January 1944.
Preparations
The 2nd Shock Army2nd Shock Army
The 2nd Shock Army was a field army of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This type of formation was created in accordance with prewar doctrine that called for Shock Armies to overcome difficult defensive dispositions in order to create a tactical penetration of sufficient breadth and...
was dropped from Leningrad and Lisiy Nos to the Oranienbaum Bridgehead
Oranienbaum Bridgehead
The Oranienbaum Bridgehead was an isolated portion of the Leningrad Oblast in Russia, which was retained under Soviet control during the siege of Leningrad in World War II...
during a number of nights starting from November 1943. At daytime, the barges returned, disguised as committing an evacuation of the bridgehead. In charge of the bridgehead, Lieutenant General B.Z. Romanovskiy was replaced with Lieutenant General Ivan Fedyuninsky
Ivan Fedyuninsky
Ivan Ivanovich Fedyuninsky was a Soviet military leader and Hero of the Soviet Union .Fedyuninsky was born into a peasant family near Tugulym in the Urals. He finished the village school in 1913 and was apprenticed to a painter and decorator. He joined the Red Army in 1919...
.
Soviet
As a part of the Leningrad-Novgorod Strategic Offensive, due to commence on 14 January 1944, the Soviet VolkhovVolkhov Front
The Front was reformed on the 9 June 1942 from the Volkhov Operational Group of the Leningrad Front and served until 15 February 1944, participating in the relief of the Siege of Leningrad and taking part in other operations including:-Campaigns:...
and Leningrad Front
Leningrad Front
The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...
s designed the Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive aimed at forcing the German Generalfeldmarschall
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...
Georg von Küchler
Georg von Küchler
Georg Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von Küchler was a German Field Marshal during the Second World War. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
's Army Group North
Army Group North
Army Group North was a German strategic echelon formation commanding a grouping of Field Armies subordinated to the OKH during World War II. The army group coordinated the operations of attached separate army corps, reserve formations, rear services and logistics.- Formation :The Army Group North...
back from its positions near Oranienbaum
Oranienbaum, Russia
Oranienbaum is a Russian royal residence, located on the Gulf of Finland west of St. Petersburg. The Palace ensemble and the city centre are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.-History:...
. In the process, the attack was expected to encircle Generaloberst Georg Lindemann
Georg Lindemann
Georg Heinrich Lindemann was a German cavalry officer and field commander who served in the German army during World War I and World War II . He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
's 18th Army.
German
The situation of the German Army Group North at the end of 1943 had deteriorated to a critical point. The Blue DivisionBlue Division
The Blue Division officially designated as División Española de Voluntarios by the Spanish Army and 250. Infanterie-Division in the German Army, was a unit of Spanish volunteers that served in the German Army on the Eastern Front of the Second World War.-Origins:Although Spanish leader Field...
and three German divisions had been withdrawn by October, while the Army Group had acquired sixty miles of additional frontage from Army Group Center during the same period. As replacements, Field Marshal Georg von Küchler
Georg von Küchler
Georg Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von Küchler was a German Field Marshal during the Second World War. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
received the Blue Legion
Blue Legion
The Blue Legion was officially called the Legión Española de Voluntarios was created from 1,500 pro-Fascist volunteers who remained behind at the Eastern Front, after most of the Spanish Blue Division had been repatriated in March 1944, because Francisco Franco had started negotiations with the...
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 plan, Operation "Blue," called for a January withdrawal of over 150 miles to the natural defensive barrier formed by the Narva
Narva River
The Narva is a river flowing into the Baltic Sea, the largest river in Estonia. Draining Lake Peipsi, the river forms the border of Estonia and Russia and flows through the towns of Narva/Ivangorod and Narva-Jõesuu into Narva Bay. Though the river is only 77 km long, in terms of volume...
and Velikaya River
Velikaya River
For the Velikaya river in Far East Siberia, see Velikaya River .Velikaya River is located in western Russia . It starts in highlands in the south of Pskov Oblast, flows north through the cities of Opochka, Ostrov, and Pskov into Lake Peipus, which is drained by the Narva River....
s and Lakes Peipus and Pskov. 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 the October Railway running through Tosno
Tosno
Tosno is a town and the administrative center of Tosnensky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Tosna River, southeast of St. Petersburg. Population:...
, Lyuban
Lyuban
Lyuban is a town in Tosnensky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Tigoda River southeast of St. Petersburg. Population: -History:...
and Chudovo
Chudovo
Chudovo is a town and the administrative center of Chudovsky District of Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Kerest River . It lies on the M10 federal highway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg, north of Veliky Novgorod and south of St. Petersburg...
. There the two most exposed Army Corps, the XXVI and XXVIII, would regroup and catch their breath before proceeding farther back to their positions in the Panther Line.
The fate of Army Group North turned for the worse in the new year, for Hitler rejected all proposals for an early withdrawal into the "Panther" position, insisting that the Russian 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 reinforce Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...
's Army Group South
Army Group South
Army Group South was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.- Poland campaign :Germany used two army groups to invade Poland in 1939: Army Group North and Army Group South...
as it reeled back from the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
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.
Combat activity
Fedyuninsky's 2nd Shock Army and General Ivan MaslennikovIvan Maslennikov
Ivan Ivanovich Maslennikov , General of the Army, was a Soviet military and NKVD commander of Army and Front level during World War II. A career Red Army officer, Maslennikov was transferred to NKVD system in 1928, and remained there until the German invasion of 1941, progressing from a...
's 42nd Army fell on the sector of Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
Felix Steiner
Felix Steiner
Felix Martin Julius Steiner was a German Reichswehr and Waffen-SS officer who served in both World War I and World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
's III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
The III SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (III. (germanische) SS-Panzerkorps) was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The...
, hitting the area of the 9th and 10th Luftwaffe Field Division
Luftwaffe Field Division
The Luftwaffe Field Divisions were German military formations which fought during World War II.-History:...
s. By the third day of the offensive, the 2nd Shock Army broke through the German lines with a penetration 23 kilometers wide. The Luftwaffe units crumbled quickly, and the Army Group North fell back to new positions along the Narva river
Narva River
The Narva is a river flowing into the Baltic Sea, the largest river in Estonia. Draining Lake Peipsi, the river forms the border of Estonia and Russia and flows through the towns of Narva/Ivangorod and Narva-Jõesuu into Narva Bay. Though the river is only 77 km long, in terms of volume...
in Estonia. In a key Soviet assault on January 19, the 63rd Guards Rifle Division seized German positions to the front of Krasnoye Selo
Krasnoye Selo
Krasnoye Selo is a municipal town in Krasnoselsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia. It is located south-southeast of the city center. Population:...
. On January 19, the 2nd Shock Army took Ropša and the 42nd Army liberated Krasnoye Selo. By January 30, the Soviet attacks by the 2nd Shock and 42nd Armies cost the Germans around 21,000 casualties, captured 85 artillery pieces ranging in caliber from 15 cm to 40 cm, and pushed the Germans back by between 60 to 100 kilometers. Overall, the Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive was part of the operations of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts that broke the Siege of Leningrad
Siege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
concluding an almost 900-day struggle.
Aftermath
Launching the Kingisepp–Gdov OffensiveKingisepp–Gdov Offensive
This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva.The Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive was a campaign between the Soviet Leningrad Front and the German 18th Army fought for the eastern coast of Lake Peipus and the western banks of the Narva River from 1 February till 1 March 1944...
on 1 February, the 2nd Shock Army's 109th Rifle Corps captured the Kingisepp
Kingisepp
Kingisepp , formerly Yamburg , Yam , and Yama , is an ancient town and the administrative center of Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located along the Luga Riverw west of St. Petersburg, east of Narva, and south of the Gulf of Finland...
town. The III Panzer Corps brought up the rear, fighting many bloody rearguard
Rearguard
Rearguard may refer to:* A military detachment protecting the rear of a larger military formation, especially when retreating from a pursuing enemy force. * Rear Guard , a computer game released in 1982...
actions until it reached the positions on the eastern bank of the Narva river.