Chapter 686: Defending Leningrad - Siege

The newly appointed commander of the Leningrad Front, Zhukov, Military Commissar Klementiyev, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Khozin, Deputy Commander Major General Fezuninsky and others arrived in Leningrad one day later than originally planned. They set out from Moscow on August 15. Because the German Air Force now has air superiority around Leningrad, they took a train to Leningrad. However, the train they took only went to Kalinin, the capital of Kalinin Oblast (Tver Oblast), and could not move forward.

It turned out that the German armored forces advanced rapidly and advanced to Chudovo, Novgorod Oblast, in the afternoon of August 15, cutting off the Red August Railway Line from Moscow to Leningrad.

So they had to take a plane instead. On the night of August 16, under the cover of night, they took the risk to fly to Leningrad in the flames of war.

Before the plane landed at the airport, Zhukov, Klementiyev and others had already felt the fierceness of the Battle of Leningrad in mid-air. Kotlin Island, where the Kronstadt Fortress is located, has now become an absolute hell of fire. The flashes fired by hundreds of artillery on both sides have turned the entire night sky red. Groups of flickering fireballs continue to illuminate the darkness somewhere, as if the magma from hell suddenly erupted.

However, what attracted Zhukov's attention the most was not the battlefield shrouded in the sea of ​​fire, but the faint flames that flashed from time to time in the dark place in the distance, which should be the surface of the Gulf of Finland.

There is no doubt that several battleships or heavy cruisers are now bombarding the Kronstadt Fortress with large-caliber artillery on the surface of the Gulf of Finland west of Kotlin Island!

"What's the situation? Where is Comrade Voroshilov?"

After getting off the plane and coming to the Northwest Headquarters, Zhukov only saw Military Commissar Zhdanov and Chief of Staff Major General Gorodetsky, both of whom looked like they were about to face a disaster. The Northwest Commander-in-Chief Voroshilov was not in the headquarters.

"Comrade Zhukov, the situation is very bad now!" Gorodetsky sighed, "The Germans are advancing rapidly on the battlefield south of Leningrad. The several divisions we sent to resist them have suffered heavy losses, and the 27th Tank Brigade is almost destroyed. Now Pskov, Luga, Novgorod and Chudovo have all fallen, and the German armored group is advancing towards Lyuban. The situation in the direction of Kotlin Island is slightly better. We have fought a tug-of-war with the Germans. The city of Kronstadt and the core part of the fortress are under our control. However, a German fleet arrived at the Gulf of Finland this afternoon. On the sea, 280mm artillery began to bombard the Kronstadt Fortress and the city. Comrade Voroshilov felt the situation was critical, so he went to the Kronstadt Fortress to take charge..."

"What!" Zhukov was shocked by Gorodetsky's last words, "Comrade Voroshilov went to Kronstadt? You... why didn't you stop him? He is the commander-in-chief of the northwest direction!"

"Stopped, Comrade Gorodetsky and I did not agree with Comrade Voroshilov going to Kotlin Island," Zhdanov said with a frown, "but he didn't listen!"

The Secretary of Leningrad City W shook his head while speaking. In fact, he knew why Voroshilov wanted to go to Kronstadt. The red marshal was going to die!

The world revolution has reached Leningrad, and the German offensive is swift and seemingly unstoppable. The German armored cluster on the southern front could not be stopped, and the Kronstadt Fortress in the west was also undefended. By then, the German battleships will arrive near Kotlin Island and bombard Leningrad with 380mm and 406mm cannons. Will Leningrad still be able to defend it?

If Leningrad is not defended in the end and Empress Olga returns to restore the throne, then Voroshilov, who presided over the Soviet military work and was responsible for the defense of Leningrad, will be the number one sinner in the Soviet Union. What's the point of living? It's better to die in Kronstadt!

"Comrade Zhukov, there is one more thing I want to ask for your opinion on."

Zhdanov had a sad face at this time, and hesitantly said: "When Comrade Voroshilov went to Kronstadt, he said that if the fortress fell, Leningrad would definitely not be able to be defended. He himself would definitely devote himself to the cause of GCism, but the living forces in Leningrad must still be preserved. So he suggested that once Kronstadt fell, we should start to retreat from Leningrad..."

"What? Retreat?" Zhukov rolled his eyelids, thinking that it was fortunate that Stalin sent him to Leningrad, otherwise the cause of GCism would be ruined by the fool Voroshilov.

The Kronstadt Fortress might be lost in a few days. Then he would abandon Leningrad? Was Voroshilov confused? How many people could be evacuated in a hurry? Wouldn't this be equivalent to handing Leningrad and more than two million working people to Empress Olga?

"Comrade Military Commissar, we must not give up Leningrad. This is not even an option!" Zhukov said with great determination, "Comrade Stalin will never agree! And the people of Leningrad will not agree to let Queen Olga rule them... No matter what kind of brutal weapons Nazi Germany uses, we must resolutely defend Leningrad until the last man!"

...

In the early morning of August 17, 1942, in the officers' lounge of the German armored ship Deutschland, Marshal Guderian, the commander-in-chief of the German Wehrmacht's Eastern Front, was holding a telescope and looking at an island in the distance that was shrouded in fire and smoke.

"Marshal, my men may not be able to take down Kronstadt." Standing side by side with Guderian was General Student, the commander-in-chief of the airborne troops. The Kronstadt operation was commanded by him personally.

The "Sussman Assault Group" commanded by Lieutenant General Sussman of the airborne troops was deployed to the island. The original plan was to deploy a total of 10,000 troops, including airborne troops and marines, as well as dozens of Type 3 tanks and more than 200 artillery pieces (including howitzers, recoilless guns, mortars, anti-tank guns, etc.).

There were not many people, but because of the brain-opening "submarine + tank" sneak attack tactics, and Ju288 and Do217 dropped Fritz-X bombs to destroy the fortress's artillery. So Student and Sussman both believed that they could catch the Soviet army off guard and it was possible to capture the Kronstadt fortress within 24 hours.

But when the battle started, it was discovered that the Soviets in Kronstadt were all "fighting peoples" and they armed themselves to join the battle in a very short time! The participation of these Kronstadt militiamen in the war ruined the plan to quickly take Kronstadt. Therefore, on the 15th and 16th, Student had to continuously increase the troops on the island. More than 25,000 troops were sent to Kotlin Island, but progress was still slow. Now only half of the island has been taken, and the Kronstadt Fortress and the urban area are still in the hands of the Soviet army.

On the afternoon of the 16th, Guderian and Student simply took the armored ship sent by the navy to bombard the Kronstadt Fortress (because the fortress's artillery was basically destroyed by remote-controlled gliding bombs, so the armored ship could be used) to watch the battle at the front line.

"Can't take it? What if we invest more troops?" Guderian put down the telescope and asked loudly with the accompaniment of the rumbling of artillery.

"No, we can increase our troops, and the enemy can also increase their troops... The docks of Kronstadt military port must be full of ships from Leningrad." Student shook his head and said, "The Soviets control the military port facilities, and we can't match the speed of troop transportation. The number of Soviet troops on the island must exceed 50,000, and they are also relying on fortress cities. We can't beat them." "50,000?" Guderian nodded with a smile, "There are really that many, and our goal has been achieved... And the Soviet army's attack on Lviv has stopped in the past few days, and their Southwestern Front is likely to retreat." "Transfer troops from the Southwestern Front?" People at Student's level certainly know that the current attack on Leningrad is a sham, and the purpose is to attract Soviet reinforcements. He frowned, "It's a pity that they didn't transfer troops from Poland and Belarus."

"In war," Guderian laughed, "how can everything go well? Generally speaking, the enemy will not do what we hope for. So it is normal for Stalin to transfer troops from Ukraine instead of the near one, but this will make it easier for the Southern Army Group to act... Now it depends on the ability of Manstein and Bock."

Manstein is now a general and serves as the commander of the Northern Army Group. Marshal von Bock is the commander of the Southern Army Group. According to the latest adjusted counterattack plan, the major counterattack will be launched by the Northern and Southern Army Groups.

"However, there are also relatively smooth places this time. Küchler's 18th Army fought very smoothly... annihilated tens of thousands of Soviet troops, captured 20,000 prisoners, and the 1st SS Division will probably be able to advance to Kirovsk today."

"Kirovsk? So smooth?" Student was surprised. "Wouldn't that mean we have surrounded Leningrad?"

"Yes, it went surprisingly smoothly."

Guderian shrugged and smiled, "Perhaps the troops of the Soviet Northwest Front (the Germans didn't know there was a Leningrad Front yet) were attracted to Kotlin Island, so the east of Leningrad was very empty. And now the Soviet troops in Karelia are also retreating, and it seems that they will soon retreat to Leningrad. In this way, our 18th Army can join forces with the Finns, and we and the Finns' 600,000-plus troops can surround Leningrad. So the sacrifices of the airborne troops and marines on Kotlin Island are valuable... Let them hold on for a few more days."