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Concept
Volkhov Front
Summary
The Volkhov Front (Волховский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the first period of the Second World War. It was formed as an expediency of an early attempt to halt the advance of the Wehrmacht Army Group North in its offensive thrust towards Leningrad. Initially the front operated to the south of Leningrad, with its flank on Lake Ladoga.
The Volkhov Front was formed on 17 December 1941 from the left wing of the Leningrad Front and elements of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Stavka Reserve) during the conduct of the Tikhvin Offensive operation under the command of the Army General Kirill Meretskov, with General Grigory Stelmakh (former commander of the 4th Army) as Chief of Staff and Army Commissar of 1st rank A.I.Zaporozhets.
Initially Sokolov's 26th Army (later 2nd Shock Army) and Galanin's 59th Armies were allocated to the Front's formation. The Front also included Meretskov's 4th Army and Klykov's 52nd Army. The Front's air support was provided by the 14th Air Army (14-я воздушная армия) of General-Major I.P. Zhuravlev. The 8th Army that was formed in early January was also added to the Front. Initially the Front held a frontage of 250 km.
The Front's neighbouring formations were the 54th Army of the Leningrad Front (later incorporated into the Volkhov Front) and the 11th Army of the North-Western Front.
Volkhov Front's goal was to move westward, pushing towards the Leningrad Front. In order to do this, it had to deceive the German army in several respects. This was carried out, for instance, by attacking the enemy in a swampy region, the least trafficable area where the German weakness compensated for the difficulty in movement. This constituted a deception because the Soviets have been focusing their attacks on a very narrow attack sector (16 kilometers). Secondly, Meretskov also directed a series of false and diversionary maneuvers. There was the case of tactical strategy that made the Germans believe the troops were amassing in the Malaya Vishera, which is located east of the Volkhov region.
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