Red Army soldiers of the Leningrad Front are attacking near the wreckage of a downed German aircraft. 1943
Staraya Russian operation
The first stage of the Polar Star operation ended in failure: the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts were unable to surround and destroy the Mginsk enemy grouping, and the armies of the North-Western Front - the Demyansk group of Germans (Operation North Star). Army Group North successfully withdrew the 16th Army from the Demyansk bridgehead and strengthened its defenses.
However, the Soviet command decided to continue the offensive, but with more modest goals (there was no longer any talk of defeating the entire Army Group North). The North-Western Front (NWF) Timoshenko was supposed to liberate Staraya Russa, creating conditions for the development of an offensive south of Lake Ilmen. The NWF included the 11th, 27th, 34th, 53rd, 68th and 1st shock armies. In total, more than 400 thousand people.
Timoshenko tried to break through the front of the enemy with a frontal attack. The offensive began on March 4, 1943. The 68th and 1st shock armies advanced on the left wing of the front, Trofimenko's 27th army on the right flank, advancing on Staraya Russa. The offensive of the NWF began without preparation. The situation in the Kharkov direction has changed, so Khozin's Special Group was disbanded on March 8. 1st tank Katukov's army was transferred to the south, handing it over to the Voronezh Front. NWF was left without strong mobile connections. Also, the offensive was carried out in extremely unfavorable weather conditions: an early thaw began, few roads became impassable, numerous rivers, rivers and swamps opened up. Therefore, the ski brigades were used as ordinary infantry.
The German command expected the Russians to go on the offensive in this direction. 12 liberated divisions of the German 16th Army became a serious reserve of the North group. The German defense was significantly condensed. Therefore, the divisions of Tolbukhin's 68th Army and Korotkov's 1st Shock Army had to attack the heavily fortified enemy defenses without preparation. The Germans built strongholds prepared for all-round defense, each height had pillboxes and bunkers, the area in front of them was covered with minefields and barbed wire. Also, the defense was saturated with firepower - cannons, mortars, anti-aircraft guns and machine guns.
The result was deplorable: in two weeks of fighting, Marshal Timoshenko lost every fourth soldier, the troops advanced only 10-15 km. It was possible to overcome only the first line of defense of the enemy along the Lovat River and liberate a dozen villages. The 27th Army reached the near approaches to Staraya Russa. On March 14, Timoshenko handed over the post of commander to Konev. The fronts did not give the marshal any more, transferring him to the representatives of the Headquarters until the end of the war.
Dogs of the sanitary service of the Red Army take out the wounded from the battlefield near Staraya Russa. 1943
On March 14, the 27th Army continued its attempts to break through to Russa, and the 68th Army tried to break through the defenses and bypass the enemy from the south. Frontal attacks by some infantry divisions predictably did not lead to success. Sitting in strong positions, the Germans repelled Soviet attacks. By March 19, our troops advanced another 5 km, reaching the next defensive line of the enemy on the Redya River. On March 20-21, the battles near Staraya Russa ended. The NWF went on the defensive. Local battles continued until the end of March.
The 52nd Army of the Volkhov Front (VF), which provided close support to the NWF, attacked in the area south of Novgorod on 14 March. Lacking sufficient forces and means, the divisions of the 52nd Army also did not achieve success and stopped the offensive on March 27.
The offensive failed. The main reasons: command errors, poor preparation and assessment of the situation. The NWF in the course of two operations eliminated the enemy's Demyansky bridgehead, but it did not succeed in defeating the enemy army and entering the operational space. Only a few tens of square kilometers of occupied forests and swamps were paid for with great losses. Therefore, the Germans called the withdrawal of the 16th Army from the Demyansk "bag" in the face of the many times superior Russian forces "fantastic achievement».
German ski battalion on the march in Staraya Russa. In the background is the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. 1943
German self-propelled guns StuG III Ausf. G on the street in Staraya Russa. 1943
Development of the Krasnobor operation
On February 27, 1943, the Stavka admitted that
"The operations carried out by the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts did not give the expected results."
The troops of the four armies (54th, 55th, 67th and 2nd shock) were ordered to temporarily stop the offensive and go on the defensive. The command of the fronts was supposed to present their views on the continuation of the operation.
As a result, it was decided that on March 14, the troops of the two fronts would resume the offensive with the same task - to encircle and destroy the Mginsk-Sinyavino grouping of the enemy of Army Group North. The 8th Army of the VF was supposed to break through the enemy defenses in the Voronovo-Lodva sector, intercept communications and go to the rear of the Mgin group. The 55th Army of the LF, advancing from the Krasny Bor area, liberate Ulyanovsk and Tosno, cut off the railway and highway communications in the Ulyanovka-Mga section with the development of an attack on Voitolovo, where it was supposed to connect with the troops of the 8th Army and create an encirclement ring. The 57th and 2nd shock armies in the Sinyavino direction temporarily went over to the defensive.
The troops of the two fronts failed to prepare for the offensive by March 14, including due to supply problems, and the start of the operation was postponed for 5 days. By this time, the NWF armies, having not achieved success and exhausted themselves, were already completing the operation. That is, the Germans could switch their attention to another direction.
On March 19, 1943, the 55th Army of Sviridov launched an offensive. In the first echelon there were 5 rifle divisions, 3 rifle and 3 tank brigades, in the second echelon - 4 rifle divisions and a guards tank brigade. On the German side, units of two German infantry, a Spanish division, SS troops, a company of "tigers" defended.
The troops of the 55th Army were able to break through the enemy defenses in a sector of 6-7 km, the advanced units advanced 8-10 km and reached the outskirts of Sablino and Ulyanovsk. Then the Germans transferred reinforcements - parts of three infantry divisions. The Nazis counterattacked and cut off our advanced forces. On March 26, our troops broke through the encirclement and advanced another 3 km. But this was the last success.
On March 25, the command of the Leningrad Front in Order No. 0077 "On shortcomings in command and control during the offensive operation of the 55th Army" gave an unsatisfactory assessment of the army:
"The Military Council of the Leningrad Front, evaluating the combat operations of the units included in the shock group of the 55th Army, considers them extremely unsatisfactory and the results achieved are insignificant."
The front command set the task "by all means capture the Sablino station and the village of Ulyanovka". Until the beginning of April, our troops attacked, but without success.
Double-armoured German bunker on the southern outskirts of Kolpino
Meretskov's failure
A similar situation was in the VF section. The 8th Army of Starikov had 5 rifle divisions, 4 tank regiments, all reinforcement artillery in the first echelon, 3 rifle divisions and 2 tank brigades in the second. To the north of the breakthrough site, from Voronovo to Gaitolovo, the defense was held by one rifle division and one brigade. In front of the positions of the Soviet army, units of two German infantry divisions defended.
The offensive began with a powerful artillery preparation - 2 hours and 15 minutes. The army made a breach in a section 8 km wide, advanced 2-5 km. The mobile group (Guards Rifle Regiment and Tank Battalion) intercepted the railroad to Mgu, but was cut off by the enemy. The German command took retaliatory measures, deployed units of 3 infantry divisions to the dangerous sector. The Nazis continuously counterattacked, and the offensive bogged down.
On April 1, Meretskov led a rifle division and a brigade from the reserve into battle. They had to take a stronghold in Carbusel in order to create conditions for the development of the offensive of the entire army. However, enemy resistance intensified, the Germans transferred parts of two more divisions to this area. The enemy's defenses could not be broken. The offensive finally stalled.
Soviet heavy tank KV-1. Volkhov Front
Results
The representative of the Headquarters on the VF Voroshilov in his report to Stalin on April 1 noted that "both fronts did not fulfill the task assigned to them”and suffered heavy losses in people and equipment due to the fact that they were not well prepared for the operation. Six divisions of Govorov's front were drained of blood. The 55th Army has lost its offensive potential. Voroshilov proposed to give the troops a month to put themselves in order, accumulate ammunition, and teach reinforcements elementary actions in the offensive.
On April 2, 1943, the Soviet Headquarters instructed the troops of the LF and VF to go on the defensive. Thus, the second attempt to encircle the Mginsk-Sinyavino grouping of the enemy again ended in vain.
As a result, it was not possible to defeat Army Group North during the strategic operation North Star. The Germans had a strong defense and knew where the Russians would attack. They skillfully defended themselves and counterattacked, deploying reinforcements in time. The troops of Govorov and Meretskov were unable to crack the defenses, surround and destroy the Mginsko-Sinyavinskaya enemy grouping, providing a full-fledged connection between Leningrad and the country. Tymoshenko's troops were unable to surround and destroy the enemy's Demyansk grouping, creating favorable conditions for a further offensive.
There was a pause in the northern direction. Both sides waited out the mudslide, prepared for future battles, improved defenses and replenished supplies. Meretskov, assuring Stalin that the enemy was preparing an attack on Leningrad, asked for reinforcements and tanks to start a new offensive. The VF received reinforcements, but instead of tanks, it was ordered to strengthen the defense. VF switched to massive use aviation and artillery, since the industry has sharply increased production, and there were no problems with ammunition.
Commander of the Volkhov Front, General of the Army Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov
The commander of the German Army Group North, Field Marshal Georg von Küchler, awards the Knight's Cross to Sergeant Georg Straube in the Staraya Russa region. 1943