Tikhvin offensive

Tikhvin Offensive
Part of Eastern Front (World War II) - World War II

Maximum German advance (November 12)
DateGerman Offensive: October 16 - November 18, 1941
Soviet Counteroffensive: November 12 - December 31, 1941.
Location
Tikhvin, USSR
59°38′38″N 33°30′38″E / 59.643889°N 33.510694°E / 59.643889; 33.510694
Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
 Germany  Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
Nazi Germany Georg von Küchler
Nazi Germany Ernst Busch		 Soviet Union Vsevolod Yakovlev
Soviet Union Kirill Meretskov[note 1]
Soviet Union Nikolai Klykov
Soviet Union Mikhail Khozin
Soviet Union Ivan Fedyuninsky[note 2]
Units involved

Army Group North
Volkhov area:

  • I Army Corps
  • XXXVIII Army Corps
  • XXXIX Motorized Corps

Leningrad Area:

  • XXVIII Army Corps

Red Army[note 3]
Volkhov front:

  • 4th Army
  • 52nd Army
  • Novgorod Operational Group

Leningrad Front:

  • 54th Army
  • 55th Army
  • Neva Operational Group
Strength
  • 100,000 men in the operation around Volkhov
    • 80,000 in the defense around Leningrad
  • 300,000 men in all sectors involved
    • Casualties and losses
    45,000 casualties[1] 190,000 casualties (of which 80,000 are dead, imprisoned or missing)[1]

    The Tikhvin Offensive was a military operation undertaken by the German army in October 1941 during World War II in the course of Operation Barbarossa. The offensive, conducted entirely around the Volkhov River, was launched by Adolf Hitler with the primary objective of cutting off the supply routes supplying Leningrad. In addition, the German high command intended the deployment of troops in the region to cover the northern flank of the parallel offensive that the Third Reich was launching towards Moscow at that time and also to link up with the allied forces in Finland. The powerful Soviet counteroffensives, added to the accumulated attrition of the German army and the overextension of its logistic network, led to the collapse of the Army Group Norths and the German withdrawal from the occupied ground in the succession of combats.[2]

    The Soviet victory at Tikhvin marked their first successful counteroffensive in the sector and allowed Leningrad to continue to hold out in what would become one of the bloodiest sieges in history. The German Army Group North would henceforth not execute any further offensives in the region, being relegated to a defensive role.[1][3]


    Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

    1. ^ a b c Glantz, David M. (2002). Desperta Ferro (ed.). La batalla por Leningrado (in Spanish). pp. 146–147. ISBN 978-84-946499-7-4.
    2. ^ Glantz, David M. (2002). "4 - La pugna por el cerco. Milagro en Tijvin, 30 de septiembre-30 de diciembre de 1941". In Desperta Ferro (ed.). La batalla por Leningrado (in Spanish). ISBN 978-84-946499-7-4.
    3. ^ Glantz, David M. (2002). Desperta Ferro (ed.). La batalla por Leningrado (in Spanish). pp. 577–589. ISBN 978-84-946499-7-4.