The Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive, also known as the Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive

Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive

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....

 during World War II was launched by the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 on with an attack on the German 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...

 by the Soviet 2nd Pribaltiysky, Volkhov

Volkhov 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

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:...

 army fronts. Approximately two weeks later, the Red Army regained control of the Moscow-Leningrad railway, and on Stalin declared that 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...

 is lifted, and that the German 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...

 retreats. Lifting of the 900-days blockade was celebrated in 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...

 on that day with a 324-gun salute.

The second half of the offensive (January 21 – January 28) corresponded to the first month of the Battle of Narva

Battle of Narva (1944)

The Battle of Narva was a military campaign between the German Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front fought for possession of the strategically important Narva Isthmus on 2 February – 10 August 1944 during World War II....

. The operation involved three fronts: The 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:...

, the Second Baltic Front

Bryansk Front

The Bryansk Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War.General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first formed in mid-late August 1941, comprising, in Erickson's words, 'on paper two armies, 50th and 13th, with eight rifle divisions each, three...

 and the Volkhov Front

Volkhov 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:...

. The total Soviet strength was 1,241,000 men, 10,070 guns, 385 tanks and 370 planes plus the Soviet Baltic Fleet

Baltic Fleet

The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...

. According to Soviet information, by , the Germans had suffered 21,000 casualties, lost 85 artillery pieces ranging in caliber from 15 cm to 40 cm, and were pushed back between 60 to 100 kilometers.

Background

After Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

, German troops had encircled Leningrad, and 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...

 began. 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 successful Operation Iskra in January of that year and the Sinyavino Offensive

Sinyavino Offensive (1942)

The Sinyavino Offensive was an operation planned by the Soviet Union with the aim of breaking the German blockade and establish a reliable supply line to Leningrad which was under siege for almost a year. At the same time, German forces were planning Operation Northern Light to capture the city...

 of late 1942. The first staff meeting was held on , two years and a day after the beginning of the siege. 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. Both Stavka

Stavka

Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...

 and Leningrad believed this was possible. Neva II, therefore, would be implemented if the Germans did not withdraw from Leningrad within the coming months. The offensive would be three-pronged, driving from the foothold at Oranienbaum

Lomonosov, Russia

Lomonosov is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, situated on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, west of St. Petersburg proper. Population:...

 that had been captured earlier that year, the Pulkovo Heights and from the fortifications around Novgorod. The offensive was planned to start in the winter, when sufficient amounts of troops and artillery could be moved across the ice without incident.

The Baltic Fleet had been assigned the task of transporting the Second Shock Army under the command of 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...

 over Lake Ladoga to Oranienbaum. From 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 at Lisy Nos

Lisy Nos

Lisy Nos is a municipal settlement in Primorsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the cape of the same name in the northern part of the Kronstadt Bay...

 to Oranienbaum. After Lake Ladoga froze, another 22,000 men, 800 trucks, 140 tanks and 380 guns were sent overland to the jump-off point. 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. 1,500 planes were also obtained from the Baltic Fleet and from installations around Leningrad. The total number of Russian personnel prepared for action was 1,241,000, against the 741,000 German troops. A final meeting took place on January 11 in Smolny

Smolny

The Smolny Institute is a Palladian edifice in St Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia.The building was commissioned from Giacomo Quarenghi by the Society for Education of Noble Maidens and constructed in 1806-08 to house the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens,...

. General Govorov, the top Russian commander on the Leningrad Front, had listed his priorities. In order to open up the two main railroad lines, whose ending terminuses were the Moskovsky Rail Terminal and Ladozhsky Rail Terminal, Soviet troops would have to occupy Gatchina

Gatchina

Gatchina is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov...

, from which they could retake Mga

Mga

Mga is an urban locality in Kirovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Population: The name is almost certainly from the identically named river Mga on which it lies ; the suggestion that it comes from the initials of the owner of the land in the 19th century, Maria Grigorievna Apraksin Mga ...

, the minor city and rail terminal on the outskirts of Leningrad whose capture had closed the last railroad route into Leningrad. Govorov positioned his troops accordingly.

The offensive

In the late hours of , long-range bombers from the Baltic Fleet attacked the main German command points on the defensive line. On January 14, troops from both the Oranienbaum foothold and Volkhov Front attacked, followed the next day by troops of the 42nd Army under the command of Ivan Maslenikov from the Pulkovo Heights. An artillery barrage was launched all along the front, laying down 220,000 shells onto the German lines. 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 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, and the Volkhov Front pushed the Germans back about three miles. A thaw occurred on the 16th, and the Second Shock Army managed to move forward 23 kilometers. On the 19th, the Second Shock Army captured Ropša and the 63rd Guards Rifle Division, part of the 42nd Army, drove the Germans out 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:...

. By January 26, German troops had been pushed 100 kilometers away from the city, and the Moscow-Leningrad Railroad line had been opened. The next day, Stalin declared the city to have been liberated, and Leningrad celebrated with a red, white and blue salute from 324 Katyusha MRLs and artillery pieces at 8 pm.

Eventually Leningrad was declared a Hero City

Hero City

Hero City is a Soviet honorary title awarded for outstanding heroism during the German-Soviet War of 1941 to 1945. It was awarded to twelve cities of the Soviet Union. In addition the Brest Fortress was awarded an equivalent title of Hero-Fortress...

 on May 1, 1945, International Workers Day and May Day, and by virtue of Order #20 of the Office of the Supreme High Commander, Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, a 21-gun salute

21-gun salute

Gun salutes are the firing of cannons or firearms as a military or naval honor.The custom stems from naval tradition, where a warship would fire its cannons harmlessly out to sea, until all ammunition was spent, to show that it was disarmed, signifying the lack of hostile intent...

was ordered to honor the city's determination and strength, especially during the almost 4 years that its was being besieged.