8. Leningrad (1941-1944)
"There can be no interest in the continued existence of this large urban centre...we can have no interest in maintaining even a part of this very large urban population." The plan for Leningrad was simple: utter destruction. It was responsible for 11% of Soviet industrial output and it acted as the main base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet it was also a political and social symbol for the Russians. Finnish military forces covered the north and German forces occupied the south, with the end goal being to encircle the city, cut off communications and stave the Russians into submission. The citizens of Leningrad began the construction of fortifications. 120 miles of timber barricades, 395 miles of wire entanglements, 430 miles of anti-tank ditches, 5,000 earth-and-timber emplacements and concrete weapon emplacements, and 16,000 miles of open trenches were built. Despite these arrangements, the Soviets never thought to stockpile food they had only 35 days' worth of grain and didn't evacuate the elderly or the children. The armies began the 872 day siege. Bombardment from land and from the air, especially during the night, killed more than 5,000 and injured around 20,000. With the population starving the Soviets needed a way to get supplies to the city. This came in the form of Lake Ladoga. During the winter months the lake froze over and, named the 'Road of Life', supplies could be driven over it. A small suburban railway could then be used to take the supplies into the central city area. During the siege more than 1.4 million were evacuated, while 1.5 million more civilians and soldiers died. Starvation became rampant, with hundreds dying every day, and reports of cannibalism even led to 260 people being arrested. On January 27, 1944, the Leningrad-Novgorod Strategic Offensive defeated the German troops on the southern side of the city, before pushing the Finnish forces back.