Leningrad falls to the Third Reich!

In April, Model concentrated his army group north on the outskirts of Leningrad, digging in their troops elsewhere. While the Red Army probed their flanks with overwhelming numbers, they found that they could not shift the dogged German defence, and swift armoured counter attacks caused carnage in the Russian lines, preventing the Soviets from breaking through the German defences.

While Model’s flanks successfully fended off the Russian onslaught, his veteran Grenadier formations pushed forward into the city of Leningrad itself. Learning the lessons well from the debacle at Stalingrad over a year before, the Germans pursued a “bite and hold” strategy, taking parts of the city where they could then digging in for the inevitable Russian counter-attack.

Despite barely any air cover, the German tactics worked. Over and over the Russians threw divisions of men at a time against mere battalions, supported by hundreds of vehicles and Sturmovich aircraft with rockets and bombs. It was no use. The Germans had dug in well and had set up their defences with great thought. The accuracy of the dreaded MG42 was particularly notable, and a large portion of Russian casualties were caused by the inexperienced Russian soldiers running into carefully prepared killing zones.

After a month of heavy fighting along the front, Yeremenko reluctantly called off the counter-offensives. The Germans had held, and Leningrad had fallen. A great day of shame for the Red Army. Yeremenko was given little choice, he committed suicide on the 3rd May, rather than face the wrath of Stalin.

Model meanwhile prepared for the Russian counter-assault, which he knew must come, while accepting the praise of an overjoyed fuehrer. At the same time he struggled desperately behind the scenes to secure some air cover. Goering however had nothing to offer, the constant bombing of Germany had taken its toll.