the soviet partisan movement 1941-1944 by edgar m. howell

186 THE SOVIET PATRTISAN MOVEMENT
(1205) Only one battalion of 8th Jaeger Division has arrived in army
sector; another by tonight via foot and truck. The rail-road is
completely paralyzed.
21 Jan 44
(0010) The Novogorod garrison withdrew, fighting its way out.
(1235) Only one battalion of 8th Jaeger Division has reached
Vaslikavo. Another is expected.
(2400) Numerous demolitions by partisans, especially on all supply
routes of Eighteenth Army. Partisans attacked railroad stations
and installations.
22 Jan 44
(2400) Many partisan attacks against railroads, especially the
Dno-Soltsy Line.
Other reinforcements moving in to bolster the line were similarly
delayed by rail demolitions and convoy ambushes when they were most
needed at the front. The 12th Panzer Division, which had been ordered
north from Army Group Center, became stalled in transit when its
advance elements were halted at Luga on 23 January by chain demolitions
north of the city, and more than 24 hours later was still immobilized
there by additional attacks on the rail line. It was not until the 28th
that sufficient of its elements had arrived for it to join the battle above
the city and then it had to swing to the southeast to plug a gap developing
between the Eighteenth and Sixteenth Armies because another reinforcing
unit, the 58th Infantry Division, did not arrive due to blocked rail
lines and raids on convoys. 10 This latter division, which had been
routed north through Estonia to Narva because of the state of the
Pskov-Luga line, was forced to move southward on foot through the
frozen swamps east of Lake Peipus where it was constantly under direct
partisan attack. Often it had to fight its way through, and, forced to
furnish security for its own line of communications, it lost heavily in
transport. At one point the partisans had so wrecked the route by
blowing bridges and destroying corduroy roads that the column was
forced to go across country in very difficult terrain. 11 Then as the 12th
Panzer Division was moving up to its jumpoff position, partisans made
a night raid on its column as it moved forward through forest and swamps
and destroyed a number of vehicles, halting the entire division on the
road for some time. 12
As the Germans continued their withdrawals to the south and west,
the bands shifted their areas of operations accordingly. A number of
10
Entries for 24, 28, and 30 Jan 44 in KTB, H. Gr. Nord. 24.I.-31.I.44.
75128/32.
11 Entries for 30, 31 Jan and 5, 7 Feb 44 in ibid.
12 Entry for 8 Feb 44 in ibid.