Contents of this article
- 1. Why did Germany target the Soviet Union after attacking Britain?
- 2. Wilhelm Little von Loeb
- 3. What is some information about the German attack on St. Petersburg and Leningrad during World War II?
- 4.The Baltic Fleet was completely annihilated
Why did Germany target the Soviet Union after attacking Britain?
The Crazy "Barbarossa" Plan
Conquering the Soviet Union and dominating Europe was Hitler's long-planned conspiracy. As early as the surrender of France, the Germans began planning to invade the Soviet Union. On December 28, 1940, Hitler issued Instruction No. 21, formally confirming the invasion plan code-named "Barbarossa". The purpose of the plan is: before the war against Britain ends, use tanks, motorized units and aviation units to launch a sudden "lightning" attack to divide and encircle the main force of the Soviet army in the western part of the Soviet Union, and then launch an offensive in strategic depth to capture Leningrad. Russia, Moscow and Donbas, and advanced to the Volga River and Astra line, ending the war before the winter of 1941. In order to realize this plan, the German army concentrated 181 divisions and 20 brigades with a total of 5.5 million men, 4,300 tanks, more than 47,000 artillery pieces, 4,980 aircraft, and 192 ships, and organized these forces into three army groups and Three independently acting group armies are preparing to launch attacks in three strategic directions. The basic deployment of the plan is:
Army Group North, which governs the 16th and 18th armies and the 4th Tank Group, has a total of 29 divisions, commanded by Marshal Leib, east of Königsberg in East Prussia towards Lenin The general direction of Grad was to launch an offensive, eliminate the Soviet troops in the Baltic coastal areas, occupy the Soviet ports, and make the Soviet fleet lose its base.
Army Group Center, which governs the Fourth and Ninth Armies and the Second and Third Tank Armies, has a total of 50 divisions and 2 brigades. It is commanded by Marshal Bock. It marches to Brest and Minteke in Warsaw, Poland. The enemy launched an assault in a certain direction, encircled and annihilated the Soviet troops in Belarus, and then pointed directly at Moscow.
Army Group South consists of the Sixth, Seventeenth and Eleventh Armies, the Romanian Third and Fourth Armies, the First Tank Group and a Hungarian Rapid Army, with a total of 57 divisions and 13 brigades, led by Londe Under the command of Brigade Marshal Tate, he attacked from Helm in Poland toward Kiev, captured the Dnieper River crossing south of Kiev, eliminated the Ukrainian Soviet troops on the left bank of the Dnieper River, and then launched an attack on Donbass.
The German Norwegian Army and the Finnish Southeast Army and the Karelian Army, a total of 21 divisions and 3 brigades, deployed in Norway and Finland to cooperate with the Northern Army to capture Leningrad.
In order to ensure that Leningrad could be captured in one fell swoop, Hitler appointed Field Marshal von Leib, who had commanded the German army to break through the Maginot Line in France, as commander of Army Group North. Leib commanded 700,000 troops and was equipped with 1,200 aircraft, 1,500 tanks, and 12,000 artillery pieces, and ordered Leib to capture Leningrad before July 21, 1941, in accordance with the specified date of the "Barbarossa" plan. Hitler even arrogantly declared that he would not only go to Leningrad Palace Square to review the troops, but also hold a grand "victory" banquet at the Leningrad Astoria Hotel.
Why did Hitler attach so much importance to Leningrad? It turned out that Hitler's headquarters believed that seizing the Soviet Union, a heavy industrial center and seaport, was of special significance. Occupying this city on the Neva River will give you control over the entire Baltic Sea and control of ten railway lines, especially the October railway line that connects Leningrad and Moscow with other economic areas of the Soviet Union. Internationally, There's important meaning. From a political and military point of view, occupying Leningrad and joining the Finnish army can consolidate the fascist alliance and force other wavering countries to join the anti-Soviet war. At the same time, in order to ensure the necessary forces to attack Moscow, all tanks and mechanized corps of the Fourth Tank Group used to capture Leningrad can be mobilized.
The Soviet Union lacked sufficient vigilance
After the formulation of the "Barbarossa" plan, the German fascists strategically played the "Sea Lion Scam" to fake the real thing and paralyze the Soviet Union. Hitler once said that "the attack on Russia will be the biggest hoax in history." To this end, the Nazis used every possible means of disguise and deception to confuse the Soviet Union. Hitler assembled a large number of sea crossing and landing ships and equipment along the English Channel and Pas de Calais; he assembled many fake rockets on the coast; the army conducted frequent landing exercises; he even transferred a large number of German troops to the Soviet border. It was to attack Britain and then come to the East to rest and adjust. Before the war, Hitler uncharacteristically stopped attacking the Soviet Union in propaganda and focused his struggle on Britain. In this way, under the cover of the "Sea Lion Project", the German army had already assembled a large number of troops on the border of the Soviet Union. Preparatory work was required to be completed before May 15, 1941.
In March 1939, Stalin pointed out clearly the aggressive nature of the alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan, as well as the danger of Western countries attempting to " divert trouble eastward" and encourage Germany to launch an aggressive war. The Soviet people are called upon to prepare for the anti-aggression war in all aspects. In order to gain more time to prepare for war, Stalin signed a non-aggression treaty with Germany, a Soviet-Japanese neutrality treaty with Japan, and a mutual neutrality treaty with Turkey. From September 1939 to August 1940, the western national boundary was moved westward through military, political, and diplomatic channels. He also believed that the westward shift of the national border would make the German army's eastward invasion have to start hundreds or thousands of kilometers farther west. The Soviet Union also made full preparations both economically and in terms of soldiers, accelerated the development of agriculture and industry, and started a large number of military factories. In terms of soldiers, the "General Compulsory Military Law" was promulgated in 1939 to extend the service period. In terms of strategic planning and troop deployment, the Soviet General Staff made detailed arrangements to deal with the German aggression. Before the war broke out, the Soviet Union strengthened its combat readiness and western border defenses. When the war broke out, the Soviet army had a total of 149 divisions on the western border. However, the highest authorities of the Soviet Union seriously underestimated the time and scale of Germany's war of aggression against the Soviet Union. The fortifications in the western border areas of the Soviet Union were not completed. The Soviet army lacked sufficient ideological preparation for the enemy's sudden attack and lacked the ability to organize and implement a strategic retreat. Training and the lack of effective measures to deal with enemy tank groups caused the Soviet army's serious defeat in the early stages of the war.
Hitler's troops pressed on the border
At dawn on June 22, 1941, more than a thousand aircraft with Nazi symbols painted on their wings broke into Soviet airspace like lightning, attacking airports, military headquarters and transportation centers in the hinterland of the Soviet Union. A waterfall of bullets rained down. Immediately afterwards, more than 7,000 artillery pieces of various calibers fired simultaneously at the targets that had been aimed at. All of a sudden, artillery roared on the western border of the Soviet Union, gunpowder smoke filled the air, and flames shot into the sky... Hitler's "Barbarossa" plan began.
Among them, Army Group North under the command of Leib launched an attack on the Soviet Baltic Sea coast from Königsberg in East Prussia on June 22, with the support of a large number of aviation forces. As soon as the battle started, the German army easily crossed the Neva River, a natural chasm on the water, and drove straight into the heart of the Soviet Union.
On the northern front, the 56th Motorized Corps, the vanguard of the German Army Group Northern, penetrated 40 kilometers into the Soviet Union within 24 hours of the start of the war. On June 25, the German tank troops advanced to Utina, which was only 70 kilometers away from Daugavpils. On June 26, the vanguard of the German armored group was almost less than 8 kilometers away from Daugavpils, the main railway center between Vilnius and Leningrad. So far, in just 4 days, the German armored forces have crossed mountains and ridges, captured cities and territories, and advanced 300 kilometers into the hinterland of the Soviet Union.
On July 1, with the fall of Riga, the capital of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, the German army broke through the defense lines in the Ostrov-Pskov defense zone on July 4. On July 9, the Soviet troops defending Pskov had to abandon the city after a bloody battle and retreat to Novgorod. As a result, Hitler's fascist iron hooves finally set foot on the territory of Leningrad Oblast after breaking into Russia.
Just as Army Group Northern was advancing with all its strength towards Leningrad, the two Finnish armies deployed on the Finnish side of Leningrad north of Leningrad, in order to cooperate with the German Army Group Northern in attacking Leningrad, also deployed on the other side at the end of June. In the direction of Drozavodsk and Vyborg, they launched a fierce attack on the Soviet Northern Front in an attempt to complete the encirclement of Leningrad with the German army from the north and east. Under this circumstance, General Hepner, commander of the German Fourth Armored Army, which was progressing smoothly, proudly declared that as long as he broke through the Luga River in one fell swoop, he would have the key to the door to Leningrad.
Troops at the gates of Leningrad
At the critical moment when Leningrad was facing enemies from three sides, the Soviet Army High Command appointed Marshal Voroshilov as the top military commander of the northwest command on July 10. Zhdanov served as a member of the Military Commission (political commissar) and tasked the two of them with unified command of the combat operations of the Northwestern Front Army and the Northern Front Army.
At the same time, the headquarters urgently mobilized millions of Leningrad residents to work day and night along the Luga River to build a road with Luga City as the center, starting from Shimsk in the south, passing Luga, and ending in Kingisep in the north, with a total length of approximately The 300-kilometer Luga Defense Line, on which the Luga Combat Group consisting of 4 infantry divisions and 1 tank division was deployed. Its main task was to block the advance of the German army in order to gain as much time as possible to build a second and third line of defense around Leningrad, that is, to gain as much preparation time as possible for Leningrad.
At 6 pm on August 15, 1941, German infantry, under the cover of tanks, broke through the Soviet first line of defense. When the German army launched a full-scale offensive on the Luga defense line, the Finnish army north of Leningrad also surrounded Leningrad with three divisions. The situation in Leningrad became tense.
On August 21, the German army occupied Chudovo and cut off the October railway from Leningrad to Moscow. On the 22nd, with the reinforcements of Manstein's 56th Motorized Corps, the German 16th Army not only eliminated the danger of being almost surrounded and annihilated by the Soviet army, but also advanced to the banks of the Lovati River southeast of Old Rusa. . On August 25, the Soviet 34th Army finally had to withdraw from the banks of the Lovati River due to the disparity in strength. At the end of August, the German army suffered heavy losses in front of the Luga Defense Line and then advanced to the Slutsk-Korpino area, only 20 kilometers south of Leningrad. At the end of August, the German army occupied Tosna, Mga and other places southeast of Leningrad, trying to encircle Leningrad from the east and advance along the left bank of the Neva River toward Lake Ladoga.
On September 8, the German army reached the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, occupied Shli Sherburg, and blocked Leningrad from land. On September 16, Pushkin, located 18 kilometers south of Leningrad and once the summer resort of the old tsar, fell into the hands of the Germans; on the 17th, Alexanderrovka, the terminus of a tram line in Leningrad, fell. At this time, the German army was only 14 kilometers away from the Palace Square in the center of Leningrad, and the German artillery was able to directly bombard the city of Leningrad. It can really be said to be a veritable "army at the city gate". From then on, the Soviet Red Army began a 900-day heroic battle to defend Leningrad.
Lake Ladoga "Road of Life"
On September 8, 1941, the German army occupied Shli Kjell Fort, which completely cut off all communication lines between Leningrad and other parts of the Soviet Union. Railway traffic was completely cut off. Only the middle section of Lake Ladoga, which is only 100 meters wide, is not within the enemy's fire range. This is the only water lifeline for besieged Leningrad to obtain food and all necessities from the outside world.
At 9:30 a.m. on September 9, the German Army Group Northern began a full-line attack on Leningrad. Hitler ordered his fascist troops to use blockades and constant air raids and artillery bombardments to level Leningrad and wipe the city from the face of the earth. Halder suggested using hunger to coordinate the German attack.
In September and October, the German army carried out fierce air attacks on Leningrad. On October 4 alone, the German army continued the air attack for more than 9 hours. It should be said that Hitler's move was very vicious, especially after the German army occupied Tikhvin on November 8, the transportation line transporting food from the Soviet Union to Leningrad was completely cut off, which cost 3 million Leningers. The army and people of Le were plunged into an unprecedented catastrophe of hunger.
In late November, Lake Ladoga began to freeze and water transportation was suspended, which made Leningrad's food supply even tighter. From September to November, residents' bread rations were reduced five times, and on November 20, they were reduced to the lowest limit: 375 grams per person per day for high-temperature workshop workers, 250 grams for general workers and technicians, and only 125 grams for employees and children. In these days of hunger and cold, death can take away people's lives anytime and anywhere. Thousands of people die of hunger every day in Leningrad. Workers who were producing starved to death next to machine tools, police officers directing traffic starved to death in their posts, doctors rescuing critically ill patients starved to death in front of the operating table, and elderly and frail residents starved to death on the way to buy food... After creating a "masterpiece", Hitler shouted triumphantly: "There will be cannibalism in Leningrad soon! ”
The situation is extremely critical! But the heroic people of Leningrad did not surrender. Marshal Voroshilov, commander of the Northwest Front, and Military Commissar Zhdanov issued an emergency mobilization order to the 3 million Leningrad soldiers and civilians: "Leningrad is facing danger, and the fascist bandit forces We are approaching our glorious city, the cradle of proletarian revolution. Our sacred duty is: at the gate of Leningrad, block the enemy's path with our chests! "In order to break through the enemy's blockade, the Leningrad military and civilians took quick and decisive measures at all costs to organize ice transportation.
In the early morning of November 18, the long-awaited northwest wind blew on Lake Ladoga. The weather was bitingly cold. By dusk, the temperature suddenly dropped by 12 degrees Celsius. On November 20, the thickness of the ice on the lake reached 180 mm. At this time, the Military Commission of the Leningrad Front Army believed that the situation was pressing and time was running out. They decided to immediately use horse-drawn sleds to start experimental transportation on the ice road where the road construction and exploration team members risked their lives to mark the direction with benchmarks. A large amount of food and other urgently needed supplies were quickly transported to Borisova-Griva Station and Lake Ladoga Station on the west bank.
On November 21, the first ice vehicle transport line built at a distance of 12 to 13 kilometers from the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, which was within the range of German artillery fire at Shlijjelburg, passed through Leninger. Thanks to the selfless work of the army and the people, the railway was finally opened to traffic successfully. The next night, the first convoy of 60 large trucks carrying goods destined for Leningrad departed from Kabauna on the east bank of Lake Ladoga and drove to Osinowitz on the west bank via the ice road.
It was this ice road that was later open day and night. Around the winter of 1941, when Leningrad was in the most difficult period of the starvation siege, it connected the transportation line between the east and west banks of Lake Ladoga and became the basis for Leningrad to obtain victory. The only channel for external support, it was hailed by the Leningrad military and civilians as their "road of life." In this way, the legendary Lake Ladoga "Road of Life" finally enabled the Leningrad army and people to defeat the threat of hunger, thus completely defeating Hitler's evil plan to trap the people of Leningrad.
"Spark" Battle of Revenge
The German troops approaching the city were at the end of their tether due to the tenacious resistance of the Soviet army. The heroic soldiers and civilians of Leningrad were not intimidated by Hitler's blockade and bombings, nor did they succumb to hunger. Under the leadership of the Soviet Communist Party, they rose up together and launched a heroic and tenacious struggle against German fascism. They reinforced various defensive measures throughout the city.
The heroic people of Leningrad will never sit still and wait for death. Since the German troops came to the city in September 1941, although Hitler could see the dome of St. Isaacs Church and the spire of the Admiralty Building in the city through his telescope, the German troops could no longer take a step beyond them. The soldiers and civilians of Leningrad, who had been baptized by combat artillery fire, stared at the German forward positions with vigilance, always ready to repel the enemy's attack.
In the early morning of January 12, 1943, the Soviet Leningrad Front and Volkhov Front, in coordination with the Red Flag Baltic Fleet, and with the support of about 900 aircraft, began to attack Schlusselburg Siniavino The protruding portion carries out opposing assaults. On the 18th, more than 2,000 artillery pieces and mortars roared loudly together, breaking the silence of the harsh winter and spewing fury towards the enemy's positions. The two Soviet armies converged in the areas of the Fifth and First Workers' New Villages. One force recaptured Schlusselburg and opened an 11-kilometer-wide corridor along the southern shore of Lake Ladoga. Subsequently, 17 days and nights were spent here to repair a railway and a highway, and initially restored Leningrad's land connections. Improved one's own situation.
This is the roar of revenge carried out by the Soviet army in the "Spark" battle in order to break through the German siege.
On the night of January 18, 1943, when the people of Leningrad suddenly heard the announcer loudly announcing in an excited tone during the last news program broadcast by Moscow Radio: "The blockade has been broken! "Leningrad is relieved!" "This long-awaited victory news immediately made people burst into tears, and they rushed to tell each other. Even regardless of the heavy snow falling outside, everyone ran out of the house as excited as a child. "The Red Army has joined forces! "Ula!" Leningrad! "Ula!" Stalin! "The cheers resounded through the sky. The hammer-and-sickle flag was hung outside every house. Early the next morning, the entire city of Leningrad was shining with red flags waving in the wind, which was particularly eye-catching.
The final victory
After breaking through the German siege in the "Spark" battle, the Soviet army had won the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk and the Battle of the Dnieper River. By the beginning of 1944, it was ready to launch an offensive in the northwest. Favorable conditions for completely lifting the German blockade of Leningrad. In January, the Soviet Leningrad Front, Volkhov Front and the 2nd Baltic Front carried out the Leningrad-Novgorod Campaign with the coordination of the navy and air force, liberating most of the Leningrad Oblast and the Kalinin Oblast. One part, and then switched to defense. On January 14, the long-awaited major counterattack of the Leningrad people began. After two weeks of fierce fighting, the Soviet army achieved a major victory.
On January 27, 1944, the Military Committee of the Leningrad Front solemnly announced at a victory celebration: "The city of Leningrad has now been completely liberated from the enemy's siege and from the enemy's brutal shelling. "The people of Leningrad finally achieved a major victory in the defense war.
The defense of Leningrad, which lasted for 900 days, was of great political and military significance in the anti-fascist war of the people of the world. Although nearly a hundred soldiers and civilians died of freezing and starvation during the defense, as well as those who died in battle. Thousands of people, but this defensive battle not only strengthened the Soviet people's fighting spirit to resist German fascism and inspired their confidence in victory, but also consumed a large amount of the fascist German army's effective strength, keeping the enemy's powerful Northern Army Group tightly in On the northwest battlefield, the Soviet army achieved brilliant victories in Moscow, Stalingrad and other places, and made indelible contributions to the people of the world's final victory over fascism. In particular, the heroic deeds performed by the soldiers and civilians of Leningrad during the siege were even more touching and touching. Even the British Evening Standard issued such praise: “The resistance in Leningrad is an example of mankind’s brilliant victory in enduring incredible trials. A resistance similar to Leningrad may never be found again in world history. "During the battle, the Soviet army established a full-depth overall defense, closely coordinated all services and arms, closely cooperated with the military and civilians, combined centralized command with discretionary actions, ensured uninterrupted supplies through the air and on the lake, and used opposing assaults to break through the blockade. The important reasons for the victory provided valuable experience for large-scale urban defense battles.
Wilhelm Little von Loeb
At the beginning of the Second World War, Loeb served as the commander-in-chief of Army Group C on the Western Front, with a total of 8 basic divisions and 25 reserve divisions. The latter still had to be mobilized, and the equipment and training were not very strong, and there were no tanks. Corps, its troops are deployed from the Swiss border to the North Sea. The German army fought a positional battle with the French army on the Western Front. Loeb commanded the Seventh Army to deploy along the Rhine River from Basel to Karlsruhe; the First Army occupied the Western Barrier between the Rhine River and the Luxembourg border; a small Battle Group "A" was deployed south of Wesel. The two sides fought some local battles in front of the Western Barrier, each suffering between five and six hundred casualties and losing some aircraft. The German army had a slight advantage in the later period and captured more than 600 French soldiers.
The initial success of the expansion policy made Hitler eager to launch an offensive against the West. After delivering his "peace speech" at the Reichstag on October 6, 1939, Hitler immediately ordered to step up preparations for the attack and decided November 25 as the date for launching the attack. This made General Loeb very uneasy. At that time, he vented his dissatisfaction with Hitler in his diary: "He wants to destroy the neutrality of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and carry out crazy attacks. Hitler's speech in the Reichstag was a deception to the German nation!"
After consulting with the other two commanders-in-chief on the Western Front, Rundstedt and Bock, Loeb wrote a letter to Army Commander-in-Chief Blau Strange letter. The letter said: "...the fate of the entire German nation depends entirely on you. The military rationale for opposing the leader's intentions was obvious. The sword is no longer as sharp as the leader imagined. The entire German nation has a deep desire for peace, because they instinctively feel that it is impossible to eliminate Britain and France, and all conspiracy plans must be abandoned immediately..." The actual situation is exactly what he said in his letter. At that time, the Army could not meet the necessary requirements for war in terms of personnel and training levels. Loeb considered this the greatest tragedy of his life. Because he was in such a position, he had to give orders against his will, and the orders coming from his mouth would cause the sacrifice of many innocent lives, and he felt reproached by his conscience. But his contradictory mentality and unwillingness to give up power is a sign of his lifelong struggle for honor.
While Rundstedt and Bock agreed with Loeb, they were too bound by their calling to take other steps. Bock, in particular, had no intention of going against the leader himself. Loeb did not want to see Hitler take desperate risks, and he dared to curse Hitler's policies on any occasion. When he learned that his son had been killed on the Polish front line on September 9, 1939, he dared to call Hitler a "liar, idiot and criminal" and "a war madman." These words reached the ears of Bucher, the Supreme Judge of the Nazi Party, and from then on the secret police began to monitor his movements and even examine his private letters. Hitler ignored the opposition of many military generals and never gave up his war plan. Although the date of attacking the West was delayed as many as 20 times, the attack was still launched on May 10, 1940. Loeb's Army Group C was ordered to use active feint actions in front of the Maginot Line to contain as many Allied troops as possible in this area. He commanded General Witzleben's First Army to attack all the way. In mid-June, it had wedged the Maginot Line between St. Awald and Saarbrücken. The Seventh Army forcibly crossed the Rhine River in the upper reaches and advanced towards Colmar. The French army began to retreat from the Maginot Line, which had not yet played a major role, but it was too late. The German First Army broke through the fortification line of the heroic resistance of the French garrison east of the Saar River. The Seventh Army's fierce attack near the Vosges Mountains contained the northern and eastern wings of the retreating French armies. With the cooperation of the tank corps, the German army encircled and annihilated the French Second Army and the remnants of other armies in Alsace-Lorraine, and captured 700,000 French soldiers. The French defense system, which had learned the news of the French government's peace proposal and lost its desire to resist, collapsed, and the fortress troops of the Maginot Line laid down their weapons on June 22 (see Battle of France).
On June 24, 1940, Loeb, who had outstanding military exploits, was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for breaking through the touted Maginot Line, and was promoted to marshal in July. In December, Loeb was transferred to the Army Group Commander-in-Chief of the Army General Reserve.
The victory in the Western Campaign strengthened Hitler's confidence in eradicating his number one enemy, the Soviet Union. The three army groups that attacked the Soviet Union established Army Group Center, commanded by Marshal Bock, Army Group South, commanded by Marshal Rundstedt, and Army Group North, commanded by Marshal Loeb.
Army Group North governs two armies and a tank group, with a total of 20 infantry divisions, 3 motorized divisions and 3 tank divisions. It is the smallest among the three army groups. Its mission was to advance from East Prussia to eliminate the Soviet troops along the Baltic Sea coast, seize the Baltic Sea ports, and then seize Leningrad and Kronstadt, causing the Baltic Fleet to lose its base. It should also provide timely support to the rapid corps of Army Group Center that initially attacked Smolensk. The regulations require that Army Group North should try to advance forward first with a powerful right-wing rapid corps in order to advance to the Opochka area as soon as possible, prevent the Soviet army from retreating from the Baltic coast, and create conditions for a rapid attack on Leningrad.
Marshal Koleb faced an extremely unfavorable terrain. The outline of the border forced the entire army group to be densely concentrated near the East Prussian border and on both sides of the lower reaches of the Niemann River. It was completely impossible to directly launch an attack on the Soviet Union from the expanded area. The army planned the siege.
In front of him was the famous Marshal Voroshilov of the Soviet Union and the troops he led. The Soviet army had obviously learned that a large number of German troops were concentrated in East Prussia. From the beginning, it was arranged in a deep echelon. 7 infantry divisions were deployed on the border of East Prussia, 24 infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions, two tank divisions and 6 motorcycle divisions. The mechanized brigade is divided into several military clusters and deployed around Vilnius, Kaunas, Siauliai and other cities and near the Opochka and Pskov areas in the rear.
In this case, Marshal Loeb could only create very favorable conditions to surround the Soviet army from the south and destroy it before it retreated. After careful planning, he ordered General Busch's Sixteenth Army to launch an attack on Daugavpils and its north along both sides of the Ebenrod-Kaunas road; General Küchler's Eighteenth Army Carry out the main assault towards Riga along the Tilsit-Riga road; General Hepner's Fourth Tank Group advances north of the lower reaches of the Neman River towards Fensk and the West Dvina River, seizes all crossing points, and attacks Apoka . On June 22, each group army launched an attack on the Soviet Union, quickly breaking through almost every border position defended by only a small number of Soviet troops. After the Fourth German Tank Group crossed the Dubisa River on a wide front, it quickly advanced towards the West Dvina River. In order to cut off all Soviet retreat routes in front of the West Dvina River and catch up with the battle of the northern group army, the Fourth Tank Group The cluster's progress is like a race. Marshal Loeb ordered Admiral Hupp to seize the bridge over the West Dvina River intact, which was of decisive importance to the victory of the battle. After receiving the order, the tank divisions scrambled to advance towards the river. In order to go out to the Daugavpils and Yekabupis sections of the river. A corps on the left side of the tank cluster was once blocked by a fierce counterattack by Soviet tanks during the attack, and the two sides launched a tank battle. From June 24 to 26, the army had to fight a series of fierce battles in Kedeniai, north of Kaunas, to repel the Soviet army. At the same time, another far-reaching corps entered the West Dvina River in the Daugavpils area with 1 tank division and 1 motorized division on June 26, and captured a landing site on its right bank. . It took the army only 4 days and 5 hours. The attack penetrated 200 miles into the Soviet defense area, and captured the ferry and the bridge intact. The combat effectiveness was unprecedentedly strong.
In order to prevent the German army from advancing, the Soviet army counterattacked with all its strength in an attempt to control the ferry. One squadron after another of the air force, regardless of the attacks of German aircraft and the interception of ground anti-aircraft guns, bravely strafed the German troops at low altitudes and bombed the bridges. Although he caused heavy damage to the German army, he also paid a heavy price.
When the entire German tank group had moved closer and established landing sites in the Livane area and the Yekapibus area, they ignored the Soviet army's resistance on the river bank.
At this time, after fierce fighting, the two German field armies also quickly followed up behind the rapid advance of the rapid corps. The Eighteenth Army captured Riga. After the two field armies reached the West Dvina River and crushed the last Soviet resistance, they began to advance with the Fourth Tank Group. After passing through the original border defense areas abandoned by the Soviet army and close to the countries along the Baltic Sea, the cluster entered the northern suburbs of Pskov and south of Opochka.
However, so far it has not been able to eliminate the heavy Soviet troops as planned. While the main force of the German Army Group was carrying out the above-mentioned combat operations, the flanking armies of the Eighteenth Army had already begun to clear out the Soviet troops in the southern area along the Baltic Sea coast. They captured Liepaja and Wenzhou without any special resistance from the Soviet troops. Zipil broke. An army was also launched on the other side of the West Dvina River in an attempt to capture Estonia. By July 10, the army had advanced to the lines of Tartu and Parnu. Although Loeb's Northern Army Group advanced to the predetermined area, even far beyond the West Dvina River, the results achieved on the battlefield were not so brilliant, and they only drove away the Soviet troops in front of them. This is because the configuration of the Soviet army played a big role, and Marshal Voroshilov's command contracted very quickly, which made Loeb waste all his efforts.
After that, the Soviet army, with its iron will and disregard for sacrifice, stubbornly blocked the rapid blitzkrieg of the German army. It also launched counterattacks again and again, and an astonishing number of tanks participated in the battle. The SS "Deathhead Division" of the German Army Group North suffered heavy casualties, and its division commander was also killed in the fierce battle.
Under fierce resistance from the Soviet army, the German Army Group North's offensive became increasingly slow after crossing the old Russian border south of Lake Chude. It is true that the Finns' attack on Leningrad on the Karelian Isthmus contained a large number of Soviet troops and reduced the difficulty of the army group's continued advancement. However, the offensive to the northeast caused the army group's southern flank to cross The troops were increasingly separated from Army Group Center and went too deep. The tank regiments of Army Group Center that were originally planned to cooperate with the operation had not yet arrived. Marshal Loeb felt that the troops were insufficient. Each army lacked the necessary strike power, but he had to Do it with encouragement.
Loeb commanded Army Group North to begin the operation to cut off the communication line between Leningrad and Moscow and advance towards Leningrad. After the two armies of the Fourth Tank Group crossed the old Russian border and reached the Pskov area, they were deeply wedged in the Soviet deployment. The right-wing army advanced to the Solici area southwest of Lake Ilmen, and the left-wing army advanced along the east side of Chud Lake. Its advance detachment entered the lower reaches of the Luga River southeast of Narva that day. The Soviet troops on this line did not panic because of the German wedge. They calmly resisted the attack. The fierce fighting forced the German tank troops to stop advancing before the infantry corps arrived. The main force of the German Sixteenth Army, which protected the right flank of Army Group North, arrived in Holm in August after a very fierce battle. The German troops in the north captured Stara Rusa after many days of fierce fighting and reached the mouth of the Lovati River where it flows into Lake Ilmen. At the same time, the left wing of the Sixteenth Army and the following Eighteenth Army pressed the Soviet troops defending in front of them in the area between Lake Ilmen and Lake Chud to the level of the Fourth Tank Group as early as mid-July. The area reached. The two sides fought tenaciously and fiercely in the northwest of Lake Ilmen and near the Luga River, forming a confrontation.
In order to break the deadlock, Loeb ordered the western flank of the Eighteenth Army to rush in from between Lake Chud and the Gulf of Riga to clear out the Soviet troops in Latvia and Estonia south of Tallinn and the Baltic Port; he ordered the tanks to Four groups launched an assault from the southeast and captured Narva. Narva and the narrow section between Lake Chud and the Gulf of Finland fell into German hands, but the main Soviet army crossed the Narva River in time and retreated eastward.
South of Lake Ilmen, the German 10th Army, which reached the Lovaj River, encountered a sudden counterattack by the 38th Soviet Army Corps, putting it in a dangerous situation. It was forced to go on the defensive and was overwhelmed. Defeated steadily. The powerful Soviet troops that crossed the Lovaj River attempted to drive the German troops to Lake Ilmen. Loeb urgently ordered the troops of the Fourth Tank Group to quickly support the difficult Tenth Army. At the same time, he ordered the Third Tank Group from the south to join a tank corps of the Northern Army Group during the war to arrive on the west side of the Valdai Highlands, thus lifting the pressure. this crisis. Together with the 10th Army, the German tank corps drove the Soviet army across the Lovaj and Pola rivers, and defeated the 38th Soviet Army Corps on the west side of the Valdai Highlands. The southern flank of the German Sixteenth Army has advanced to the line from the eastern end of Lake Ilmen to the Ostashkov area.
Northwest of Lake Ilmen, the left wing of the Sixteenth Army was approaching the Volkhov River, while the Eighteenth Army was advancing towards Leningrad. Loeb ordered the Army to launch an assault on Schlusselburg. Completely cut off the roads connecting Leningrad to Moscow and Vologda, completing the encirclement of Leningrad.
Although the German Army Group North was weak in strength, it was not implemented on the battlefield where the original plan of Army Group Center required timely support from powerful formations, and it failed to achieve a decisive victory in the battle. However, under the leadership of Marshal Loeb, an expert in defensive warfare, and relying on his own strength, the offensive battle was relatively successful, and the results were still considerable. More than 300,000 Soviet troops were captured in multiple encirclement battles in the Baltic Sea region.
In early September, the rapid corps of Army Group North had advanced to the Neva River east of Leninsky. These corps launched a storming attack and captured Schlusselburg, thereby cutting off Leningrad from its southeastern lines of communication. The basic strength of the 18th Army advanced to the edge of Leningrad city and completed the siege of the city from land. The left wing of the Sixteenth Army was covering its left neighbor near Volkhov.
After reconnaissance, Loeb believed that there was hope for capturing Leningrad. At that time, there were 4.5 million people living in the city, there was insufficient food, and the plague was prevalent. However, Imperial Marshal Göring boasted that he would destroy the city with concentrated air force bombing. Hitler was thinking of occupying Ukraine first, so he decided to postpone the attack on Leningrad and Moscow. In mid-September, six divisions of Army Group North were transferred to participate in Army Group Center's attack on Moscow. The Fourth Tank Group and the Third Tank Group, which came to support the operation, were also transferred to Army Group Center. This made it difficult to realize the original plan of using the tank group to implement a far-reaching siege of Leningrad.
In this case, Loeb also wanted to find the weak link in the Soviet defense, wedge deep into the Soviet Front's position in Leningrad at a decisive point, and invade the city. So on September 18, he ordered the attack. After a week of very fierce fighting, the German army had to admit that it was impossible to continue to attack the city with the remaining forces.
Hitler now tried to starve Leningrad into surrender without attacking, and the city did suffer huge losses as a result. The number of people who died of cold, starvation, and disease was several times greater than those who died in battle, but the willpower of the Soviet military and civilians was fully demonstrated in Leningrad. With their high fighting spirit and spirit of sacrifice, Hitler's attempt became a wishful dream. In the second half of September, the Soviet army also launched a powerful counterattack on the southern flank of the German Army Group North, suppressing it in the Valdai Highlands and Lake Ilmen, making it difficult to attack again, putting the German troops occupying Lysselburg on the defensive. situation, the German offensive was forced to weaken. The Soviet army also laid a railway on the thick ice of Lake Ladoga. Used to supply the maintenance and ammunition needed in the city. However, the German Air Force never managed to blow it up. Loeb angrily slammed the table and cursed: "Hitler is directing the war in Russia. It’s as if he has some kind of secret agreement with Russia!”
In early October, Loeb launched an attack north of Lake Ilmen on Hitler’s order. After redeploying the weakened Army Group, he launched an offensive in October. In mid-month, he ordered all his armies to launch an assault in the northeast direction; although some progress was made at first, they soon encountered a strong counterattack by the Soviet army, and the offensive in the Valdai Highlands was blocked. The northern wing of the German Sixteenth Army overcame the Soviet army's tenacious resistance on November 10 and advanced to Tikhvin. But then the Soviet army launched a counterattack in early December and drove it across the Volkhov River. The Eighteenth Army also fought hard near Schlüsselburg and Volkhov. Loeb even wanted to drive the Soviet marines from the land to the sea and capture Kronshtadt. The desire to cut off the supply line to Leningrad also failed to come true. The Soviet Marine Corps firmly held a landing site 50 kilometers wide and 25 kilometers deep in Oranienbaum and the area west of it. The fighting around Leningrad was very fierce and almost feverish. Although the German army had reached the southern suburbs of Leningrad, the Soviet army, with the strong support of Leningrad workers, showed great tenacity and held the German army back. Loeb had to lament the bravery of the Soviet military and civilians, and lost confidence in the expected victory.
In the days before and after Christmas, there was a false silence on the front of Army Group North.
In late 1941 and early 1942, the Soviet counterattack forces made a series of breakthroughs between Lake Ilmen and Leningrad, advancing to the west bank of the Volkhov River. The German 18th Army, which was stationed from Schlusselburg to the front of the Volkhov River, tried its best to protect the rear of the entire army group and blocked the Soviet counterattack. The army carried out continuous counterattacks, reducing the width of the Soviet army's breakthrough to a few kilometers. Despite this, the Soviet army still occupied an area with a radius of 25 kilometers on the west bank of the river, and expanded in all directions through continuous attacks. The Soviet counterattack to the west near the southeastern shore of Lake Ilmen reached the old Rusa area; the counterattack to the south made the German 16th Army almost unable to parry, and opened a road to the south west of the Lovadi Valley. , and joined forces with the Soviet army advancing north from the Holm area, and surrounded six divisions of the German Second and Tenth Army, forming the Demyansk encirclement.
While Loeb asked for air supplies to the 100,000 German troops in the encirclement, they would need at least about 200 tons of food, ammunition, and oil for a day and night; at the same time, Loeb ordered the German troops in the encirclement to block the Soviet attack. Many battles It has been launched in the encirclement circle. At the same time, the German army was ordered to launch an attack from the southwest area of Old Rusa to rescue the two besieged armies. After continuous fierce fighting, the German army passed through the 40-kilometer-wide corridor tenaciously held by the Soviet army and reached the western end of the Taiwan Circle. Finally, contact with the besieged divisions was restored.
The German army in Holm was also encircled by the Soviet army and had to rely on air supplies. In an even more difficult situation, it persisted for several more months to defend the German army from being encircled by Demyansk. This is the only stronghold between the Circle and Velikiy Luki.
Loeb's defensive command principles were very successful. He successfully withstood the fierce siege of the Soviet army, which had a 20-fold advantage in strength, and built confidence among the soldiers. They praised the merits of their commander-in-chief. When Loeb's troops were surrounded and his supply lines were shelled, he also violated Hitler's will of "not taking a step back" and allowed the retreat of the Sixteenth Army, which was threatened by annihilation. This made Hitler greatly angry.
At this time, Hitler had dismissed Brauchitsch as Field Marshal and appointed himself Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Generals Rundstedt, Guderian, Forstall, Hoppner and Gale were also dismissed from their posts, and General Strauss took sick leave. On January 13, 1942, Loeb was commanding the besieged German troops. He was also relieved of his duties. But his defensive warfare principles also supported the confidence of the German troops surrounded by the Soviet army.
Loeb has repeatedly submitted resignations in the past two years. This is not only due to dissatisfaction with Hitler's command, but mainly due to his extreme disgust with the policy of mistreating Jews. He was also disgusted by what the SS did in the occupied territories. Especially before the attack on the Soviet Union, the so-called "political commissar order" sent by the German High Command was the most unacceptable to him. The main content of the order was to shoot all captured Soviet political workers on the spot to show their anti-communist spirit. Loeb believes that from the perspective of international law, the status of these so-called "political commissars" is very special. They cannot be regarded as soldiers, nor can they be regarded as non-combatants in the same way that priests, military doctors, and field journalists can obtain the status of non-combatants. He can only be regarded as a battle supervisor. Regardless of your views on the status of these political commissars in international law, shooting prisoners on the spot still violates the traditional spirit of military personnel. If such orders are carried out, it will not only damage the honor of the soldiers, but also have an impact on the morale of the unit. This order can only cause the Soviet army to fight to the end under the supervision of these political commissars. He refused to accept orders to shoot him on the spot and demanded that such orders be revoked. Loeb handed over his duties to Admiral Kuchler and retired to Hohenschwangau. On May 2, 1945, he was arrested there by U.S. military police.
On October 28, 1948, Marshals Loeb, Küchler, and Speller, as well as 10 generals, were tried at the U.S. Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. Loeb was prosecuted for "violating the peace" and "carrying out an aggressive war." Loeb defended himself: "We were raised as soldiers and it is our duty to be loyal to our country at all times. But in the Third Reich under Hitler, we saw everything that was perverse and contrary to our principles. We have also opposed it, but effective means are limited under a dictatorship. Although we are soldiers, we do not start a war. We recognized the horrors of war and made every effort to prevent Hitler from pursuing his war plan. ”
On October 27 and 28, 1948, the verdict was announced. Loeb was acquitted of all but one count. He was found guilty, among other things, of having conveyed Hitler's evil message. For this, he was sentenced to three years in prison. Since he had been detained for more than three years before the sentencing, he was released after the sentencing.
Loeb has lived a quiet life since his release. Various investigations conducted by the "Committee for the Elimination of National Socialist Party Elements" in 1949 confirmed his consistent stance against the National Socialist Party. In November 1954, Crown Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria appointed him Prime Minister, a recipient of the Max-Joseph Military Medal. I don’t know whether he contributed to his opposition to Hitler? Or to his invading other countries? Or whether he contributed to the expansion and plunder of the German country and became a major contributor.
Died of Loeb disease on April 29, 1956.
What is some information about the German attack on St. Petersburg and Leningrad during World War II?
During the Soviet-German War, the German-Finnish Allied Forces and the Soviet Army carried out a series of large-scale offensive and defensive battles in the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) area from July 10, 1941 to August 9, 1944.
After the German Army Group Northern (commanded by Marshal W.R. von Loeb) entered the Velikaya River area, it attempted to engage the Finnish Army in the first part of Army Group Center (commander-in-chief was Marshal CG.E. Mannerheim). With the coordination of the main force, they carried out a north-south advance from the southwestern approach to Leningrad and southeastern Finland, captured Leningrad and Kronstadt, and then transferred their forces towards Moscow. The northwest troops of the Soviet Army (the commander-in-chief is Soviet Marshal KY. Voroshilov) were ordered to hold on to Leningrad, contain and consume the German forces, so as to reduce the pressure on Moscow, and wait for the counterattack. The participating forces of the Delfin Allied Forces include 4 armies, 1 armored group and part of the air force, divided into two assault groups, the south and the north. The Southern Assault Group consists of 31 German divisions, supported by 760 aircraft of the German 1st Air Force; the Northern Assault Group consists of 14 Finnish divisions and 3 brigades and 1 German division, supported by the Finnish Air Force and the German 5th Air Force. A total of 547 aircraft supported the first team. The Soviet armies that participated in the war successively included: Northern Front, Northwestern Front, Leningrad Front, Volkhov Front, Karelia Front, 2nd Baltic Front (a total of 39 divisions and 2 brigades), Red Banner Baltic Fleet, The Ladoga Lake Fleet, the Onega Lake Fleet, regiments of long-range aviation and home defense air force, as well as a large number of militia. During the battle, the Soviet military and civilians established a complete defense system inside and outside the city. The battle lasted three years and one month and was divided into four stages.
In the first stage, the German-Finnish coalition carried out a north-south advance, and the Soviet army defended close to Leningrad (1941.7-9). On July 10, 1941, the main force of the German army began to move from the Velikaya River area to Luga The main assault was carried out in the direction of Novgorod, and some troops carried out auxiliary assaults from Latvia to Estonia; on the same day, the Finnish army launched an attack from the north of Lake Ladoga to the Soviet Karelia defense line. By the end of July, the German army had advanced to the Narva, Luga, and Msaga rivers. The Finnish army had advanced northeast of Lake Ladoga to near the Soviet-Finnish border in 1939, and launched an offensive toward the northeast of the Karelian Isthmus. attack. Afterwards, the offensive of the German-Finnish coalition was blocked and the deployment was changed. From August 8 to 10, the German army successively launched attacks in the direction of Red Guard City, Luga and Novgorod. From the 16th to the 20th, the German army occupied Kingisep, Novgorod and Chudovo, cutting off the railways and roads from Moscow to Leningrad. On the 21st, the German army detoured from the southeast of the Red Guard fortification area toward Leningrad, but was blocked by the Soviet army. On the 28th, the German army occupied the Tallinn naval base. On the 29th, the Soviet Army abolished the Northwest General Command and placed all fronts under its jurisdiction directly under the Supreme Command. On the 30th, the Finnish army occupied Vyborg, and in early September they reached the Soviet-Finnish border line in 1939 on the Karelian Isthmus. On the 7th, the Finnish army cut off the Murmansk railway east of Lake Ladoga, and then turned to defense along the Sviri River. On the 8th, the German army occupied Schlusselburg and cut off Leningrad's land connections. On the 11th, the German army advanced from the west of the Red Guard City to the Uritsk area, directly threatening Leningrad. On the same day, the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army decided to appoint General G.K. Zhukov as the commander of the Leningrad Front, to reinforce the most threatened areas with a force from the Karelian Isthmus, to mobilize a large number of personnel from the navy to fight on land, and to supplement it with militia. Reserve teams at all levels. At the end of September, the German armored forces were transferred to the direction of Moscow, and the assault force in the direction of Leningrad dropped significantly. The Soviet army blocked the German offensive with tenacious defense, and the front lines close to the southwest and south of Leningrad stabilized.
In the second stage, the German army blockaded Leningrad, and the Soviet military and civilians launched an anti-siege struggle (1941.10-1943.1). On October 2, 1941, the Finnish army occupied Petrozavodsk and then moved north along the Murmansk Railway. On the 16th, the German army launched an attack in the direction of Tikhvin, Kirich and Mavisvišela. On the 22nd, the German army occupied the Mongolian Channel Islands, and part of the Soviet garrison withdrew to the Hanko Peninsula. On November 8, the German army occupied Tikhvin and cut off the Soviet Union's only main railway line for transporting supplies to Lake Ladoga, preventing Leningrad from receiving supplies through the lake. From November 10th to December 30th, the Soviet army turned to counterattack in the Novgorod, Maverick Vishela, Tikhvin and Volho areas. On November 22, the Soviet Union opened an ice transportation line called the "Road of Life" on Lake Ladoga. In the winter of that year, more than 360,000 tons of supplies, 6 divisions and 1 brigade of troops were transported to Leningrad via this line, nearly 540,000 residents, and about 3,700 wagons of industrial equipment were evacuated. By December 2, more than 22,000 Soviet troops stationed on the Hanko Peninsula had withdrawn in batches to Leningrad by sea. On the 3rd, the Finnish army occupied the Hanko Peninsula. On the 9th, the Soviet army recaptured Tikhvin, and by the end of December drove the German army to the left bank of the Volkhov River, restored railway traffic from Tikhvin to Voibokaro, and crushed the German army's advance out of the Svili River and Finnish An attempt to join forces. From January to April and August to October 1942, the Soviet army used two fronts to launch east-west pincer attacks in the direction of Lyuban and Sinyavino, but failed to lift the German blockade.
In the third stage, the Soviet army broke through the German blockade (1943.1~12). On January 12, the Soviet Leningrad Front and Volkhov Front, in coordination with the Red Flag Baltic Fleet, began to attack the enemy with the support of about 900 aircraft. Schlüsselburg-Siniavino salient carried out opposing assaults. On the 18th, the two Soviet armies converged in the area of the Fifth and First Workers' New Villages. One force recaptured Schlusselburg and opened an 8-11 km wide corridor along the southern shore of Lake Ladoga. Subsequently, 17 days and nights were spent here to repair a railway and a highway, and initially restored Leningrad's land connections. In the summer and autumn, the Soviet army took active actions to thwart the German army's attempt to re-block Leningrad, captured the German army's solid defense hub of Sinyavino, and improved its situation.
The fourth stage, the Soviet army completely lifted the German blockade (1944.1~8). After winning the battles of Stalingrad, Kursk and the Dnieper River, the Soviet army had the ability to launch an offensive in the northwest direction and completely attack the enemy by the beginning of 1944. Favorable conditions for lifting the German blockade of Leningrad. From January to March, the Soviet Leningrad Front, the Volkhov Front and the 2nd Baltic Front carried out the Leningrad-Novgorod campaign in coordination with the navy and air force, liberating most of the Leningrad Oblast and Gary. The Ningzhou part was later transferred to the defense. From June to August, the right wing of the Leningrad Front and the left wing of the Karelia Front launched the Karelia Campaign, successively captured Vyborg, recovered Petrozavodsk, and advanced to the Soviet-Finnish border east of Lungonvala. . Finland urgently mobilized troops from the interior and the northern front to support South Karelia. On August 9, the battle line was stabilized at Kudam Champa, Kuolisma, and Pitchialanta, and the battle ended.
Although more than 640,000 soldiers and civilians in Leningrad died from freezing and starvation, and 21,000 were killed by German air strikes and artillery shelling, they finally shattered the 900-day blockade and siege of the German army, pinned down and defeated the German Army Group North and the Finnish Army The main force, regaining large areas of territory in the north, effectively cooperated with the Soviet combat operations in other directions, and forced Finland to withdraw from the war in September 1944, leaving the German northern flank facing a complete collapse. During the battle, the Soviet army established a full-depth overall defense, closely coordinated all services and arms, closely cooperated with the military and civilians, combined centralized command with decisive action, ensured uninterrupted supplies through the air and on the lake, and used opposing assaults to break through the blockade. An important reason for the victory, it provided valuable experience for large-scale urban defense battles. Although the German army achieved certain results in the early stages of the battle, its determination to attack was shaken, its armored forces were diverted to other directions, its troops and supplies were obviously insufficient, and it lacked coordination with the Finnish army. As a result, it ultimately failed as the battlefield situation changed.
The Baltic Fleet was wiped out
In the twelfth century, Novgorodian ships first appeared in the Baltic Sea (then called the Varan Sea). During the Livonian War (1558-1583), Russian privateers (private armed ships) fought against Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian privateers. In 1658, the Russian government began building warships in Cockenhausen on the Dvina River to fight in the Baltic Sea. Later, according to the Peace of Cadiz (1661), Cockenhausen was assigned to Sweden, so Russia had to burn the warship. In October 1702, the Russian oar fleet and army troops under the command of Peter I captured the Swedish Fortress of Nottburg (Schlusselburg, today Peter Fortress), and in May 1703 they captured the Second Fortress on the Neva River. A fortress - Niyanshanz.
Thus, Russia opened the door to the Baltic Sea. St. Petersburg was established in May 1703, and the Kronshlott Fort was built in the autumn of the same year, laying the foundation for the establishment of the Kronshtadt Naval Fortress (the main base of the Baltic Fleet after 1724). In 1704, a warship repair factory was founded in Petersburg, which later became the shipbuilding center of Russia. During the Northern War, with the assistance of the Baltic Fleet, the Russian army captured the Vyborg Fortress, ports such as Reval, Pernov, Riga, Helsingfors and Orbe, as well as the Mon Channel Islands. In the Battle of Cape Hanko, the Battle of Issel and the battle near Glengam, the Baltic Fleet was victorious, allowing Russia to gain a foothold in the Baltic Sea and become a naval power. By 1722, the Baltic Fleet had 130 sailing ships (including 32 battleships) and nearly 400 paddle boats. The fleet adopted a lifelong service recruitment system to replenish its troops. The command of the fleet is the responsibility of the Naval Academy, and the fleet commander is only temporarily appointed during the war. During the reign of Peter I, the admirals with outstanding achievements in naval battles were: Aprakhin, Senyavan, Golitsyn and Golovin.
During the Seven Years' War (1756-1783), the Baltic Fleet blocked the Sonder Strait to prevent the British fleet from entering the Baltic Sea, conducted campaign transportation, and participated in the battles to capture Memel and Kolberg. During the Russo-Turkish War from the second half of the 18th century to the early 19th century, the Baltic Fleet formed several squadrons and went to the Mediterranean to fight the Turkish fleet. The ships of the Baltic Fleet sent to fight in the Mediterranean theater defeated the Turkish fleet in the Battle of Cesme, the Battle of Assos and the Battle of Navarino, and achieved great victories. These victories are inseparable from the command of Russian naval admirals such as Spiridov, Senyavin, and Greg. During the Russo-Swedish War from 1788 to 1790, the Baltic Fleet defeated all attempts by the Swedish fleet to capture Kronstadt and Petersburg, and conducted naval battles at Gogland Island, Rodchensalm, Reval, and Vyborg. achieved victory.
In the first half of the 19th century, Russia did not pay enough attention to the technical modification of the fleet. Therefore, when the Crimean War (1853-1856) broke out, the Baltic Fleet basically still used sailing ships, while the British and French fleets already had Lots of paddle steamers and propeller boats. However, in 1854, the British and French fleets broke into the Baltic Sea in an attempt to seize Kronstadt and Sviaborg, destroy the Baltic Fleet and blockade Petersburg but failed. In order to deal with British and French warships, mine obstacles were laid for the first time with anchor mines in the waters close to Kronstadt. Russia learned from the experience of the Crimean War and began to vigorously build a steam armored fleet starting in 1861. By the end of the 19th century, the Baltic Fleet had 19 steam armored ships, 4 coastal defense armored ships, 4 armored cruisers and 39 frigates. After the reform in 1874, the service life of sailors was shortened to 7 years, and the position of commander-in-chief of fleets and ports was established.
Voyages and circumnavigations for the purpose of scientific research (such as Krusenstern and Lisyansky, Lazarev and Bellingshausen, Liedtke, Nevelskoy, etc. Human exploration) was a major activity of the Baltic Fleet. The fleet was the cradle of many important discoveries and inventions. During the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), ships from the Baltic Fleet were mobilized to form the Pacific Squadron. This squadron went through many hardships and sailed 30,000 kilometers to reach the Pacific Ocean, but suffered a disastrous defeat (see the Battle of Tsushima). During World War I, the Baltic Fleet conducted many mine-laying campaigns (laying about 35,000 mines), disrupted the German fleet's communication lines, prevented the German fleet from penetrating into the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga, supported the army, and defended Petrograd from the sea. .
The Baltic Fleet is one of the origins of the Russian working people's active revolutionary struggle. From 1902 to 1903, the first social democratic groups appeared among the crew. During the revolutionary period from 1905 to 1907, there were many armed uprisings in the Baltic Fleet, such as the Liepava Uprising (1905), the Kronstadt Uprising (1905, 1906), the Sviaborg Uprising and Uprising on the cruiser "Azov Memorial" (1906), etc. In 1915, the core organization of the Bolsheviks of the Baltic Fleet - the General Shipboard Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party - was established in Kronstadt. During the February Revolution of 1917, the sailors of the Baltic Fleet sided with the revolting people. By the end of June, there were approximately 15,000 Bolshevik members in the entire fleet. On September 6, the Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet headed by Debenko passed a resolution not to recognize the provisional government and not obey its command.
In 1917, when the German army attacked the Strait Islands of Mongolia, the Baltic Fleet severely damaged the German fleet and failed to break into the Gulf of Finland and advance towards Petrograd. The Baltic Fleet played an important role in the October Armed Uprising in Petrograd (1917). The workers' Red Guards, sailors and soldiers of the Petrograd garrison were the decisive shock forces in the uprising. More than 10,000 armed sailors and 11 warships participated in the battle to overthrow the interim government. Debenko, Sladkov, Hovlin and others represented the Baltic Fleet in the Revolutionary Military Committee that led the uprising. At 21:40 on October 25 (November 7), the cruiser Aurora's bow gun used blank ammunition to send a signal to attack the Winter Palace. The radio station of the Baltic Fleet first released the "Message to Russian Citizens" of the Revolutionary Military Committee on overthrowing the Provisional Government signed by Lenin. The Russian warships' ice voyages from February to April 1918 wrote a heroic page in the history of the Baltic Fleet. This ice voyage rescued 236 warships and transport ships that might have been captured by the Germans, and moved them across the frozen Gulf of Finland from Reval to Helsingfors, and then to Kronstadt .
After the victory of the October Revolution, the officers and soldiers of the Baltic Fleet actively participated in the civil war. They were the backbone of the Soviet navy in various naval theaters and the formation of fleets in various inland river areas. In the Battle of Petrograd in 1919, the fleet's ships, coastal artillery, aviation and marine detachments fought side by side with the army and played an important role, sinking 18 warships and damaging 16 British armed interveners. , repulsed their attack from the sea and forced the British fleet to lift the blockade of Petrograd. The battle in June 1919 was also of great significance. At that time, the army and the Baltic Fleet worked together to recapture the Red Mountain Fort Fortress. The fleet's personnel participating in various fronts of the civil war amounted to 20,000 people. Due to its active participation in the struggle against the autocracy and the civil war, the fleet was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in February 1928.
During several five-year plans before World War II, the Baltic Fleet updated its technical equipment, added new surface ships, submarines and aircraft, refitted old battleships, and established fleet aviation, coastal defense forces, and air defense forces. force. The Baltic Fleet was the basis for the establishment of the Pacific Fleet and the Northern Fleet in 1932 and 1933 respectively. During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, the fleet blocked the waters in the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland, attacked enemy bases and fleets, supported the troops of the Leningrad Front in breaking through the "Mannerin Line", and advanced towards the maintenance of the Soviet Union. Fort attack. There are 23 servicemen in the fleet who were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for their outstanding combat missions.
Before the Soviet-German War began, the Baltic Fleet consisted of 2 battleships, 2 cruisers, 2 destroyer leaders, 19 destroyers, 48 torpedo boats, 69 submarines, 656 aircraft, several coastal defense regiments and air defense units. The Corps is one of the most powerful combat joint formations in the Soviet Navy. Its basic forces are stationed in Tallinn and Riga to confront the navies of Germany and Finland. Due to increased combat readiness on the eve of the war, the Baltic Fleet effectively crushed the enemy's surprise attack. Later, when the German army invaded the interior of the Soviet Union, the fleet's berthing system was severely damaged, its activities were greatly restricted, and it had to fight under extremely complex conditions.
The German high command sought to capture Leningrad with land forces supported by air force (see Battle of Leningrad) and did not intend to conduct a large-scale campaign in the Baltic Sea. Therefore, the main task of the Baltic Fleet from the beginning of the war was not to fight the enemy navy as expected, but to defend the naval bases and coastal areas that might be captured by the enemy from land, and to successively support the Northwest Front, Northern Front and Leningrad Front. In 1941, the Baltic Fleet was operating in several isolated directions under conditions where the enemy had air superiority and the danger of mine strikes was increasing. The Baltic Fleet had to defend the forward base and actively harass the enemy's maritime lines of communication in the Baltic Sea, while also protecting the extremely fragile traffic from Kronstadt through Tallinn, Hanko to the Mongolian Strait, which was under enemy flank attack. Wire. At the same time, the Baltic Fleet also sent troops and weapons to defend Leningrad. The regional fleets of Lake Chud, Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega and the ship detachment of Lake Ilmen were also formed with the strength of the Baltic Fleet. The Baltic Fleet used resolute actions to defend the fleet's main bases in Tallinn, Mon Channel Islands and Hanko Naval Base, thus delaying a large number of German forces for a long time.
At the critical moment when fighting close to Leningrad was extremely difficult, the garrison troops of the fleet stationed in the Mongolian Channel Islands and Hanko persisted in fighting bravely behind enemy lines, containing some enemy forces in the main directions and effectively supporting Leningrad. . Long-range bombers of the Baltic Fleet took off from airfields on the island of Saaremaa and carried out the first few air raids on Berlin. The pilots of the Baltic Fleet showed superb military skills in the air attack on Berlin. A large number of pilots, led by Colonel Preobrazhensky, were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Under the complex conditions of the land battlefield, the Baltic Fleet organized a campaign in which the Tallinn-based ships broke out and moved to Kronshtadt and evacuated Hanko Naval Base troops, covering the strategic flank of the Army and preventing enemy ships from intruding into the Gulf of Finland. The fleet actively participated in the direct defense of Leningrad, guarding the city's maritime gateway, and dispatched approximately 100,000 naval officers and soldiers to strengthen the land defense areas, ensure the change of deployment of the Leningrad Front troops, and also transport tactical landing troops on the enemy's flanks and rear, overland. The artillery of the Baltic Fleet was the fire support of Leningrad. Before the end of 1943, it had been responsible for suppressing enemy artillery shelling Leningrad.
The fleet's aviation, marines, naval guns and coastal artillery all actively participated in the previous offensive campaigns of the Leningrad Front. The Ladoga Lake Fleet to which the fleet belongs ensures smooth transportation on Lake Ladoga. It actively participated in the Leningrad blockade-breaking campaign in 1943, the blockade-breaking campaign in 1944, the Battle of Vyborg (1944), the Svyri-Petrozavodsk Campaign (1944), and the Mon Channel Islands Landing Campaign (1944). 1944). The Baltic Fleet's activities to disrupt sea lines of communication played a role in crushing the German forces along the Baltic coast, East Prussia, and East Pomerania. The fleet officers and soldiers were brave and perseverant in the war. The fleet's surface ships, submarines, aviation and coastal artillery units sank a total of 581 enemy combat ships and auxiliary ships and 624 transport ships from 1941 to 1945, with a total displacement of about 1 million tons. More than 100,000 servicemen were awarded medals and medals. Medals, 137 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
More than 20 units of the Baltic Fleet's ships and troops have been awarded the title of Guards, and 58 units have been awarded medals. On May 7, 1965, when commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the victory over fascist Germany, the fleet was awarded the Order of the Red Banner again. In February 1946, the fleet was reorganized and divided into two independent combat joint formations - the 4th Fleet and the 8th Fleet. This system was maintained until December 1955. After December, the original organizational structure will be restored. Starting in the 1950s, the Baltic Fleet, like other Soviet fleets, began to be equipped with new technological weapons, missile ships and jet aircraft.
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