In the autumn and winter of 1941, on the Soviet-German battlefield, millions of German troops launched the famous "Typhoon Operation" in three directions, but the tenacious Soviet army not only withstood the sharp attack of the German army, but also repelled it by 170 kilometers to 250 kilometers in the subsequent counter-offensive, reversing the situation in which the Soviet army had been passively beaten since the outbreak of the Soviet-German war.
At this time, Leningrad, which had been besieged by the German army for nearly 3 months, was still struggling to support itself, and the situation of 2.55 million Soviet soldiers and civilians was getting worse and worse. The Soviet commander-in-chief in Moscow hoped that the Soviet counteroffensive would lift the siege of Leningrad in one fell swoop. However, in this encirclement and counter-encirclement campaign, the German Waffen-SS became famous in this battle.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > siege of Leningrad. </h1>
Since the outbreak of the war, the German Army Group North has attacked Leningrad according to the "Barbarossa Plan", although in the most critical time, the "firefighter" Zhukov stopped the German offensive, but did not completely eliminate the danger, the German army still formed a three-sided encirclement of the city, only one side of Lake Ladoga maintained water contact with the outside world.
Because Finland entered the war "conditionally" and did not see the Germans defeat the Soviet Union quickly, its 15 divisions attacking from north of Leningrad and on both sides of Lake Ladoga were reluctant to take further action; coupled with the German Fuehrer's shift of strategic focus to Moscow, the elite assault forces were transferred and Leningrad was adopted a "siege without attack" tactic against Leningrad.
With the implementation of the German "Typhoon Operation", the German Fuehrer also stepped up the siege of Leningrad, ordering Marshal Loeb to dispatch all the mobile units of about 2 armies to detour southeast to attack Tikhvin more than 150 kilometers away, not only destroying the supply base for the city, but also completely cutting off the railway trunk line to Lake Ladoga.
That is to say, the loss of Tikhvin meant that Leningrad became an isolated city, and the Soviets had to find another way to open up a road of about 200 kilometers long, and this narrow and dangerous road lost an average of 100 cars per day, each car could only travel 35 kilometers, and it took 14 days to go back and forth, which was very expensive.
Even if countless drivers died on the way to save Leningrad, the daily transport volume was only 600 tons of supplies, which was undoubtedly a drop in the bucket for the 2.55 million Soviet soldiers and civilians who were in short supply of food, the daily food ration standard per person was only 200 grams, the food shortage led to the death of a large number of citizens, and even about 15% of the soldiers were lost due to malnutrition.
Faced with Leningrad, which was more difficult than Moscow, the Soviet commander did not intend to give up, but concentrated all the troops that could be concentrated, about 200,000 people, and encircled the German army that was alone and deep, but still did not make significant progress. It was not until December 5 that the Germans were forced to turn to the defensive and the Soviets began a major counteroffensive that Leningrad improved.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > the German Waffen-SS world war fame. </h1>
On December 5, 1941, the temperature in Leningrad plummeted to minus 35 degrees, and the German army, which was extremely unaccustomed to the bad weather, was forced to turn to the defensive, and on this day, the Soviet counter-offensive was first launched from here. Caught off guard, the Germans were overwhelmed by the swarming Soviet cavalry and skiers, leaving their tanks and artillery behind and retreating in a hurry.
After only 4 days, the Germans abandoned Tikhoven and retreated to their original place of departure. The Soviets not only recaptured the supply base for Leningrad, but also the water surface of Lake Ladoga had been frozen, the ice lines of communication began to operate, and the transportation of supplies and the cars of the retreating citizens was transported day and night, which greatly alleviated the plight of Leningrad.
However, the Soviets did not stop there, continued to attack the retreating Germans, and rushed to Leningrad to "eat" the Germans in the area. In the face of the Soviet attempt to encircle, the commander of the German Army Group North, Loeb, requested a retreat, but the German Fuehrer refused. Unable to tolerate the "blind command", Loeb immediately submitted his resignation.
As a result, nearly 100,000 German troops were encircled in Jemiyansk in an area about 60 kilometers long and about 30 kilometers wide, the largest german heavy army group surrounded by the Soviets since the beginning of the war. The German Fuehrer, determined not to retreat, decided to strengthen the German forces in the encirclement through air transport and create the so-called "fortress" tactic.
More than 600 German transport aircraft continued to transport supplies and ammunition to the encirclement, and although the German situation was still difficult, it resisted the Soviet offensive and held out for 3 months. As the time was ripe for a breakout, the SS 3rd Division, the "Skeleton Division", located at the "mouth of the bag" of the encirclement, and the four divisions outside the encirclement should attack the Soviets inside and outside.
The Soviets, anticipating that the Germans were about to break through, not only launched heavy shelling and air raids on their assembled areas, but also strengthened the defenses of the area, and the 3rd SS Division finally opened a narrow passage 4 km wide and 40 km long after 16 days of bitter fighting, and all the Soviet attempts to encircle and annihilate the German army were "in vain" and lost 245,000 people.
In this breakout battle, the "skeleton" division, which did not care about casualties, showed extraordinary bravery, and although only 6700 men were left in the division, it was deeply appreciated by the German Fuehrer and convinced that the Waffen-SS was more capable of the combat tasks entrusted to him than the Army. From this point on, the size of the Waffen-SS began to expand rapidly, giving priority to the latest tanks.
It seems that the army with "faith" has stronger combat effectiveness. What do you think? Welcome to leave a message and discuss together.
References: World War II, Soviet-German War
Welcome to search for "Poplar Trees Talk about History" // Learn History, Spread Cultural Positive Energy // Unauthorized, Please Do Not Reprint!