The Luga Defensive Line (Luga fortified position; Russian: Лужский оборонительный рубеж) was a system of Soviet fortifications (defensive line) of approximately 300 kilometres long, built in June–August 1941 on the territory of Leningrad region,In 1941, there was no separate Novgorod Oblast administrative entity. Almost its entire territory was part of Leningrad Oblast, while Kholmsky District was part of Kalinin Oblast. from the Narva Gulf, along the rivers Luga, Mshaga, Shelon to Lake Ilmen with the aim of preventing a breakthrough by troops of the German Army Group North to the north-east in the direction of Leningrad.
Major defensive operations of the Soviet Red Army took place at the line in July and August of 1941 halting Wehrmacht's rapid advance across the Baltic states and delaying its approach to Leningrad by about a month. The line was abandoned towards the end of August.
Background
Strategic importance of Leningrad
On 18 December 1940, Hitler signed Directive No. 21, known as the Barbarossa Operation. This plan envisaged an attack on the Soviet Union by three army groups along three main directions: Army Group North towards Leningrad, Army Group Center towards Moscow, and Army Group South towards Kiev and the Donbas. After the capture of Leningrad and Kronstadt, Army Group North was to turn its armies eastward, encircling Moscow from the north. In Directive No. 32 of 11 June 1941, Hitler set the timing for the completion of the "victorious campaign in the East" as the end of autumn. Franz Halder, Chief of Staff of the High Command of the Ground Forces of the Wehrmacht, wrote the following in his diary on 8 July 1941:The Führer's decision is unshakable to raze Moscow and Leningrad to the ground, in order to completely get rid of the population of these cities, which otherwise we would then be forced to feed during the winter. The task of destroying these cities is to be carried out by aviation. Tanks should not be used for this. It will be "a national calamity that will deprive not only Bolshevism, but also the Muscovites (Russians) in general of their centers".By the beginning of World War II, Leningrad was a leading industrial and cultural center of the country, with a population of 3,191,300. In terms of the value of gross industrial output, it ranked second after Moscow in 1940 and was the flagship of shipbuilding. Thirty percent of military production was concentrated in Leningrad. The Leningrad port played an important role in the country's foreign trade. By capturing Leningrad, the Germans would also gain control of the Baltic Fleet, which hindered Germany's most important shipments from the Scandinavian countries, primarily iron ore from Sweden. The fall of the city on the Neva would allow the unification of Wehrmacht forces with the Finnish army and a breakthrough into operational space east of Lake Ladoga. Such a breakthrough in the direction of Vologda and beyond could lead to the disruption of rail transport and the blockade of shipments from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. With the fall of Leningrad, German forces would gain unhindered access to the expanses of the north of the Soviet Union, and they could be thrown towards Moscow from the north, which would change the entire strategic situation on the Soviet-German front.
Northwestern Front before the start of the Battle for Leningrad events
The approaches to the northern territories of the USSR were covered by the Northern and Northwestern Fronts.
The Northern Front was formed on 24 June 1941 on the basis of the Leningrad Military District and covered the territory of the Kola Peninsula, Karelia, and Leningrad Oblast, defending Leningrad from the north. The front was commanded by Lieutenant General M. M. Popov, with Major General D. N. Nikishev as chief of staff. The Northwestern Front was formed on 24 June 1941 on the basis of the Baltic Special Military District, and with the start of the war, its troops fought on the territory of the Baltic Soviet republics. The front was commanded by Colonel General F. I. Kuznetsov, with Lieutenant General P. S. Klyonov as chief of staff. The border battles and fighting by the front's troops, which began on 22 June 1941, were lost by the end of 25 June. By early July, the Northwestern Front's troops failed to hold back the enemy and retreated to a depth of up to 500 km into the northwestern regions of Russia, ending up in the south of Leningrad Oblast. For inept troop management, the entire command of the Northwestern Front was removed from their posts. At the same time, although the Wehrmacht command achieved significant advances, it failed to encircle and destroy the Soviet troops.
In the first days of July, due to a shortage of forces and resources on the Northwestern Front, the Stavka instructed that troops from the Northern Front, previously tasked only with defending the city from the north, be involved in the defense of Leningrad from the southwest. The boundary between the fronts was set along the line Pskov–Novgorod, with the defense of the territory of the Estonian SSR remaining the responsibility of the Northwestern Front's troops. On 4 July, Lieutenant General P. P. Sobennikov assumed command of the front. Corps Commissar V. N. Bogatkin was appointed as a member of the military council, and General N. F. Vatutin—deputy chief of the General Staff, who had been at the front since 22 June 1941—became chief of staff. Under these conditions, the main task of the Soviet troops in this theater of operations was to prevent the enemy from breaking through to Leningrad and Novgorod, as well as to cover Tallinn, which was the main base of the Baltic Fleet. On 8 July 1941, the high command of the German armed forces set the following task for the troops of Army Group North: to cut off Leningrad from the east and southeast with a strong right wing of the panzer group from the rest of the USSR. On 10 July, the troops of Army Group North began an offensive towards Leningrad from the line of the Velikaya River along the directions and . On the same day, units of the Karelian Army of Finland began an offensive against the positions of the 7th Army of the Northern Front in Karelia. The date of 10 July 1941 and the line of the Velikaya River are considered by most researchers to be the beginning of the battle for Leningrad and its initial line.
Location
The initial plan for defensive fortifications, developed by a group under the deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District, Lieutenant General K. P. Pyadyshev, envisaged a belt of fortifications from the Gulf of Finland along the banks of the rivers Luga, Mshaga, and Shelon to Lake Ilmen, nearly 250 km.The Luga Defensive Line appeared on the map as a single line from the western coast of Narva Bay in the area of Preobrazhenka station along the Luga River, to Kingisepp, then to Porechye, Sabsk, Tolmachyovo. Around the city of Luga, a defensive bypass was planned along lakes and swampy areas, with the line then returning to the Luga River southeast of the city. Further, the line ran to Peredolskaya, Mshaga, Shimsk, to Lake Ilmen. In the center, Pyadyshev designated the main defensive hub, including the city of Luga, with a cut-off position Luga–Tolmachyovo. Another cut-off position was planned east and northeast of Tolmachyovo. It crossed the main roads leading to Leningrad from Pskov, Porkhov, Novgorod, and the Oktyabrskaya Railway.On 4 July 1941, the Chief of the General Staff, General G. K. Zhukov, transmitted to the Military Council of the Northern Front Directive No. 91/NGSH of the Stavka of the Main Command on preparing defenses on the approaches to Leningrad. This directive ordered the occupation of the defensive line Narva, Luga, Staraya Russa, Borovichi, and the creation of a forefield with a depth of 10–15 km. Thus, in fact, with its decision of 4 July, the Stavka retroactively approved the measures that had been proposed and were already being implemented by the command of the Northern Front.
On 5 July 1941, signed by Army General G. K. Zhukov, a new directive on preparing a defensive line on the approaches to Leningrad from the Stavka of the Supreme High Command arrived, and it was addressed to the Military Council of the Leningrad Military District.In accordance with the General Staff directive, in July 1941, the administration of the Leningrad Military District was formed. The district's tasks: preparation of reserves, formation and training of units and formations. In August 1941, the district administration was disbanded. It ordered the construction of a defensive line on the front Kingisepp, Tolmachyovo, Ogoreli, Babino, Kirishi, and further along the western bank of the Volkhov River. Particular attention was to be paid to firmly covering the directions Gdov–Leningrad, Luga–Leningrad, and Shimsk–Leningrad. Construction of the line was to begin immediately. Completion of construction—15 July 1941.
As a result, in August, the main defensive line and two cut-off positions were created. The main belt ran from the Gulf of Finland along the right bank of the Luga River to the Muraveyno state farm, then through the settlements Krasnye Gory, Daryino, Leskovo, Smerdi, Streshevo, Onezhitsy, along the right bank of the Luga River from Onezhitsy to Osvina, and further through the settlements Ozhogin Volochyok, Unomer, Medved, along the Kiba River, from the settlement of Medved to Pegasino along the left bank of the Mshaga River, and further to Golino along the left bank of the Shelon River.
The first cut-off position consisted of two belts: The first, 28 km long, ran from the village of Rakovno to the village of Vychelobok along the right bank of the Luga River, further along the right bank of the Udrayka River, to the village of Radoli. The second belt, 20 km long, ran from Kolodno, Chyornaya to Zaklinye along the Chyornaya River. The second cut-off position stretched from the Muraveyno state farm to Ploskovo along the right bank of the Luga River, further along the Oredez River, Lake Khvoylovo, Lake Antonovo, Lake Pristanskoye, the Rydenka River, and along the Ravan River to Fyodorovka, further along the rivers Tigoda and Volkhov to Kirishi. The length along the front was 182 km.
Construction
Organization
On 22 June, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR K. A. Meretskov, who had urgently arrived in Leningrad, recommended that the Commander of the Leningrad Military District Lieutenant General M. M. Popov begin selecting and reconnoitering possible defensive lines between Pskov and Leningrad, with immediate deployment of defensive works thereafter, involving available troops and, most importantly, the local population. This task was assigned to Popov's deputy, Lieutenant General K. P. Pyadyshev; under his leadership, a large group of specialists and military engineers worked on calculations for the construction of defensive fortifications.
In the morning of 24 June, Pyadyshev reported on the composition, procedure, and timelines of the reconnaissance groups, as well as the approximate organization and sequence of defensive construction. The main line was designated as the Luga River along almost its entire length, and further the Mshaga, Shimsk, to Lake Ilmen, with a developed and fortified forefield, starting from the Plyussa River. Two more defensive lines were planned on the near approaches to Leningrad. The creation of the Luga defensive belt, stretching for 250 km, was particularly labor-intensive and complex. It was to consist of two defensive belts and one cut-off position, running along the banks of numerous lakes and rivers. Appointed were: engineering chief of the Luga group of troops Lieutenant Colonel A. D. Tsirlin, and chief of construction of the Luga defensive belt Major M. M. Zyazin.