| Battle of Tannenberg Line | |||||||
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| Part of Eastern Front (World War II) | |||||||
Front line positions |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
Germany
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Soviet Union | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Felix Steiner | Leonid Govorov | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 22,250 troops[1] 7 tanks[2][3] 70–80 assault guns[3] 49 aircraft[4][5] |
136,830 troops[6] 150 armoured vehicles[7] 1680 assault guns[7] 546 aircraft[4][5] |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Contemporary estimate: 2,500 dead or missing 7,500 wounded or sick[8] 6 tanks[7] 10,000 total casualties |
Contemporary estimate: 35,000 dead or missing 135,000 wounded or sick[8] 157–164 tanks[7] 170,000 total casualties |
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This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva.
The Battle of Tannenberg Line (German: Die Schlacht um die Tannenbergstellung; Estonian: Sinimägede lahing; Russian: Битва за линию «Танненберг») was a military engagement between the German Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front fought for the strategically important Narva Isthmus from 25 July to 10 August 1944. The battle was fought on the Eastern Front during World War II. The strategic aim of the Soviet Estonian Operation was to reoccupy Estonia as a favourable base for invasions of Finland and East-Prussia. Several Western scholars refer to it as the Battle of the European SS for the 24 volunteer infantry battalions from Denmark, East Prussia, Flanders, Holland, Norway, and Wallonia within the Waffen-SS. Roughly a half of the infantry consisted of the local Estonian conscripts motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. The German force of 22,250 men held off the Soviet advance of 136,830 troops. As the Soviet forces were constantly reinforced, the casualties of the battle were 150,000–200,000 wounded and dead Soviet troops and 157–164 Soviet tanks.
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After defending the Narva bridgehead for six months, the German forces fell back to the Tannenberg Line at the hills of Sinimäed (Russian: Синие горы) on 26 July 1944. The three hills are running east to west. The eastern hill was known to Estonians as the Lastekodumägi, Kinderheimhöhe in German (Orphanage Hill), the central hill was the Grenaderimägi or Grenadierhöhe (Grenadier Hill) and the westernmost as the Tornimägi or 69.9 Höhe (Tower Hill, also known in German as Liebhöhe or Love Hill). The hills are less than imposing and resemble gently sloping mounds rather than defensible heights. On the hills, the formations of Gruppenführer Felix Steiner's III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps halted their withdrawal and fell into defensive positions. The 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland started digging in on the left (north) flank of the Tannenberg Line, units of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) in the centre, and the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland on the right (south) flank. Another front section manned by the East Prussians of the 11th Infantry Division was situated a few kilometres further south, against the 8th Army in the Krivasoo bridgehead.[5]
The Soviet Marshall Leonid Govorov considered Tannenberg Line as the key position of the Army Group North and concentrated the best forces of the Leningrad Front.[9] Additional 122nd, 124th Rifle Corps and divisions from 117th Rifle Corps were subordinated to General Ivan Fedyuninsky commanding the 2nd Shock Army.[5] The goal set by the War Council of the 2nd Shock Army was to break through the defence line of the III SS Panzer Corps at the Lastekodumägi, force their way to the town of Jõhvi in the west and reach the Kunda River by 1 August.[4] To accomplish this, Govorov ordered to destroy the connections behind the German forces, committing air assaults on the railway stations of Jõhvi and Tapa on 26 July.[4]
There is no complete overview of the order of the Soviet forces or the detachment sizes in the Battle of Tannenberg Line.[5] For the attack on 29 July, Leonid Govorov concentrated all of the capable Soviet units, consisting in eleven divisions and six tank regiments.[2][7] The Soviet units that had suffered losses were completed with fresh manpower. The fresh delivery of the Soviet heavy artillery complimented the 9 divisions of the 109th, the 117th and the 122nd Rifle Corps.[5] The 109th and 117th Corps were concentrated close to the Sinimäed, while the 122nd Rifle Corps to the southern section by the church of Vaivara Parish. The positions of the 11th Infantry Division were mainly attacked by the 35,000-strong 8th Army with their 112th Rifle Corps, two fresh Tank Regiments, the 1680 assault guns deployed in nine artillery regiments and 150 armoured vehicles.[7] The armoured forces included the brand new IS-2 tanks with extra armour and pipe length. The weakness of the tank was its shortage of fire capacity (28 rounds). The forces were supported by the 576-strong 13th Air Army.[7] The Soviet order of battle (available data as of 28 July 1944):[5]
Leningrad Front - Marshall Leonid Govorov
Total: 26,850 infantry, 458 artillery, 112 tanks
Total: 28,000 infantry, 174 tanks, 44 self-propelled guns, 518 artillery
Separate Corps and Divisions (possibly subordinated to one the above mentioned Armies)[5]:
Against the Soviet forces, a few tired German regiments without any reserve troops stood at their positions, ploughed up by the Soviet artillery. The commander of the Army Detachment "Narwa", Obergruppenführer Anton Grasser assessed the German capacity as insufficient against the Soviet attack. While sufficient in ammunition and machine-guns, the combat morale of the Germanic volunteers was under heavy pressure while the spirit of some Estonian troops had already been severely damaged in Grasser's opinion.[2][7] However, the following combat proved the opposite.[7] The small number of German Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers and shortage of aeroplane fuel gave the Soviets a massive air superiority.[2][7] Grasser's conclusion was short:[2][7]
| “ | The Army Detachment emphasizes that the situation is extremely intense and the great difference between ours and the enemy's forces demands the greatest attention from the High Command. | ” |
Leaving diplomatic formulation aside, Grasser announced that without immediate reinforcements the Soviets would inevitably break through Tannenberg Line on 29 June.[2][7] Such reinforcements were beyond the capacities of the Army Group North. The commander of the Army Group, Ferdinand Schörner had repeatedly called Hitler to the attention of the fact that virtually no division consisting of Germans was left at Tannenberg Line, which was threatening to collapse. These calls had no effect, as Hitler's response remained to stand or die.[7] The German order of battle (as of 28 July 1944):[5]
Army Detachment "Narwa" - Obergruppenführer Anton Grasser
Separate detachments:
Total: 22,250 troops[1] deployed in 25 Estonian and 24 German, Dutch, Danish, Flemish, Norwegian, and Walloon battalions[5]
On 26 July, pursuing the withdrawing Germans, the Soviet attack fell onto the Tannenberg Line before the vastly outnumbered Army Detachment "Narwa" had dug in. The Soviet Air Force and artillery covered the German positions by shells and grenades destroying most of the forest on the hills.[5][7] The headquarters of the newly arrived Flemish 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Langemarck were destroyed and almost all of their officers wounded. Sturmbannführer Wilhelm Rehmann left the battlefield, as Lieutenant George D'Haese stepped in to bring the brigade back to combat-readiness.[10] The German batteries were badly hit and the commander of a battery killed. It took a few days for Steiner to repair the assault guns and until this had been completed the impact of the German artillery remained modest.[11] Benefiting from the disorder, the Soviet 201st and 256th Rifle Divisions supported by the 98th Tank Regiment assaulted the positions of the "Nordland" Division seizing the eastern side of the Lastekodumägi.[9] In the darkness of the following night, the Anti-Tank Company, SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 "Danmark" destroyed the Soviet tanks and regained their positions.[12]
In the morning of 27 July, the Soviet forces launched another powerful artillery barrage on the Sinimäed. Anticipating an infantry attack would follow, Steiner concentrated the few working armour consisting in seven tanks[2][3] under the command of Obersturmbannführer Paul Albert Kausch. Steiner placed them behind the westernmost Tornimägi hill in readiness positions.[13] A company of Nebelwerfers were placed behind them, being able to fire forty-eight rockets within a few seconds.[12] Units of the "Nordland" Division were placed between the two hills and the defence was completed by the Anti-Tank Company, 1st Estonian behind the "Nordland".[7]
The Soviet attack concentrated at the Lastekodumägi and the Danmark Regiment south of it. The Danish anti-tank company used their Panzerfausts to set fourteen tanks on fire.[14] Meanwhile, the Soviet infantry forced the weakened "Langemarck" Sturmbrigade to leave the south side of the Lastekodumägi and dig into new trenches in front of the Grenaderimägi.[10] As the last resort, Unterscharführer Remi Schrijnen used the only heavy weapon left in the sturmbrigade, a 7.5 cm PaK 40 anti-tank gun. Schrijnen was wounded and cut off from the rest of his troops when he started acting as both the loader and the gunner. He and the Flemish heavy machine-gunners halted several Soviet tank attacks threatening to encircle the "Langemarck" and the Estonian battalions.[15]
The Soviet attack also failed to penetrate the defence line of the II.Battalion, SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Regiment 49 "De Ruyter". Several Soviet tanks broke through to the headquarters of the battalion, which were repulsed by Obergruppenführer Fritz von Scholz Edler von Rerancze sending twelve assault guns forward from the reserve.[12] South from Lastekodumägi, the Soviet forces broke through the defence of the "Danmark" Regiment and seized control of most of the hill by night time.[14]
Under Soviet pressure, the German defence threatened to collapse. On 27 July, Schörner arrived at the Sinimäed. He ordered an immediate re-conquest of the Lastekodumägi, demanding fanatic resistance from the soldiers.[2][7] A meeting convened by von Scholz laid the tactics for the implementation of the orders. Directly after the meeting, von Scholz was killed by a shrapnel splinter in front of the headquarters.[7]
On the night before 28 July, the SS Reconnaissance Battalion 11, "Nordland" and the I.Battalion, Waffen Grenadier Regiment 47 (3rd Estonian), launched a ferocious counter attack. Heavy casualties were inflicted on both sides, with the Estonian battalion destroyed.[14] The fighting for the Lastekodumägi was carried on to 28 July as one continuous battle. The II.Battalion, "Nordland" launched their fierce attempt to conquer the Lastekodumägi which the Soviets repulsed. The surviving German defence fell back to the Grenaderimägi.[14]
For the next day, the 2nd Shock Army was reinforced with the 31st and the 82nd Tank Regiments, three howitzer brigades, and nine heavy artillery regiments. In the morning of 28 July, the Soviet forces made a ferocious attempt to out flank the German forces resisting at the Lastekodumägi from the north side. With the last anti-tank gun of the "Langemarck" destroying the Soviet armoured force, the Soviets were denied a breakthrough. The Soviets suffering heavy casualties ordered an air and artillery assault aiming to destroy the withdrawing German units. Anticipating the attack, the German troops advanced to the no-man's-land close to the Soviet units instead. In close combat, a Flemish regiment of the "Langemarck" repulsed the Soviets which brought it to near destruction.[14]
In the evening of 28 July, the German forces attempted to regain the Lastekodumägi again. Using the tactics of "rolling" small units into the Soviet positions, the troops seized the trenches on the slope of the Lastekodumägi. When a Soviet tank squadron arrived, the German attack collapsed.[7] At the section of the 11th Infantry Division near the borough of Sirgala in the south, the Soviet tanks aimed to break through. Steiner ordered to withdraw to a new defence line at the Grenaderimägi. The order did not reach a significant part of the German forces who remained at their positions at the Lastekodumägi. Anticipating a major attack, Steiner ordered the heavy weapons of the SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 23 "Norge" and the "Danmark" Regiment to be pulled together into two shock units. By the night before the 29 July, the battles subsided.[7]
The morning of 29 July began with the preparatory artillery fire of 25,000 shells shot by the Soviets.[5] The battering covered the Tannenberg Line in a dust cloud. The forest on Sinimäed Hills was entirely destroyed, with the trees cut at the height of 2–3 metres. While having great psychological effect, the so-called "Katyushas" or so-called "Stalin's organs" were inaccurate causing little damage to the well-dug German troops. The 70–80 German Nebelwerfers answered. This was followed by Soviet bombers, trying to hit the last of the German troops, ducking down in their trenches. Disguised in camouflage, they remained unnoticed by the Soviet pilots.[7]
The attack of the 6,000 Soviet infantry[4] began at 0900, supported by a regiment of nearly 100 tanks (most of them IS-2). These used their 122 mm pipes to fire directly at the strong points showing any signs of life and destroyed the remaining bunkers.[4][16] The shatters of the German advance guard were destroyed. The platoon commanded by lieutenant Lapshin broke through to the top of the Grenaderimägi. Special courage was shown by sergeant Efendiyev who destroyed a German strong point at the defence of the hill. The Komsomol organiser of the V.I. Lavreshin of the 937th Rifle Regiment who had been marching ahead of his troops with a red flag in his hands attached it at the summit.[4] The small German units who remained resisting were paid no special attention to by the Soviets as the main attack was carried westwards.[17]
The principle of the Soviet attack in the operations in the Sinimäed was an overwhelming frontal shock, with only few of the attackers presumed to reach the target.[7] With the artillery fire preventing any reinforcements sent in from the German rear, the Soviet 8th Army went on attack and wedged in the north flank of the 11th Infantry Division. The Soviet main tactical goal Grenaderimägi was to be assaulted by the 6,000 troopers of the 109th Rifle Corps. The 109th Rifle Division attacked the "Nederland" who were covering the hill from the north.[5] The 120th Rifle Division hit the Grenaderimägi from the east. The 72nd Rifle Division assaulted the II.Battalion, 3rd Estonian Regiment which were defending the northern flank. The 117th Rifle Corps stood ready to break through the last of the German defences.[2][7] The Lastekodumägi fell entirely to the Soviets with the 191st Rifle Regiment at the head of the Soviet attack. These suffered great casualties in the fire of the last defenders who in turn were either killed or forced to the next hill the Grenaderimägi. With the seizure of the Lastekodumägi, the Soviet 201st and the 256th Rifle Divisions were exhausted as the 109th Rifle Division continued to press towards the Grenaderimägi alone. The defenders were commanded Josef Bachmeier the head of the II.Battalion, "Norge". The I. and II.Battalions, 3rd Estonian subordinated to Bachmeier had 20 to 30 men each. For the defence of the Grenaderimägi, every available Estonian was sent into battle, including communications personnel.[7] The central command post was destroyed by the Soviet fire while the Germans, Flemish, Norwegians, Estonians escaped destruction by lying down in their bunkers. Behind them at the summit of the Grenadermägi, stood the "Nederland". The gaps created in the attacking infantry and tank line by the German artillery did not stop the Soviet advance.[7]
The 109th Rifle Division passed the remnants of the II.Battalion, "De Ruyter" which used their light machine guns to cause heavy casualties to the Soviets. The Soviet attack ran into the camouflaged anti-tank gun of Remi Schrijnen standing near the northeastern corner of the hill.[17] Meeting the Soviet attack, he fired his gun destroying seven tanks in the course of which he was severely wounded when his gun was destroyed by a IS-2 tank returning fire from 30 metres.[15] Despite Schrijnen's heroics, the Soviet tanks besieged the Grenaderimägi and kept circling the hill all the while firing away at the defenders. They could not however capture the summit due to heavy casualties caused by the German anti-tank guns and the anti-aircraft guns pointing their barrels down. The other Soviet tanks reached the westernmost hill Tornimägi. The defenders in their bunkers, which were poorly fortified from the north and the flanks, were destroyed. Among the Soviet tank commanders, starshina S. F. Smirnov destroyed five German strong points.[4] One of the tanks reached the community centre of the municipality of Vaivara shooting a hole in the wall. This remained the westernmost point the Soviet Armed Forces reached in Northeast Estonia until late September 1944.[7]
By noon 29 July, the Soviet forces had almost seized control of the Tannenberg Line. During the attack, the Soviets had suffered great casualties and were unable to secure their positions at the Sinimäed. A fatally wounded German radio operator cleared the eastern slope of the Grenaderimägi by waiting for the Soviet troops to reach his position and then ordering an artillery barrage on himself as the Soviets surrounded him.[17] The Soviet tanks threatened the headquarters of the "De Ruyter" Regiment. The counterattack by the headquarters guards company was repelled and Obersturmbannführer Hans Collani seeing a Soviet tank from his headquarters doorstep, shot himself dead. His observations turned out as erroneous as Steiner ordered the last German tanks from the reserve commanded by Paul-Albert Kausch into the battle.[14] He distributed his tanks in three units. One of them went on counterattack at the Soviets besieging Tornimägi, the second of them securing Narva–Tallinn Highway in the west and the third unit counterattacking between the Grenaderimägi and the railway a few kilometres to the south.[7] The arrival of the German tanks came unexpectedly for the Soviet tanks. Probably being out of their ammunition, the Soviet tank squadron retreated and the counterattack of the "De Ruyter" repulsed the Soviets from the Tornimägi.[18] After the counterattack, one German Panther tank remained unscathed.[2][7]
After the German counterattack, the tactical situation at the Tannenberg Line remained unclear. The remains of the II.Battalion, "Norge" at the Grenaderimägi assaulted the Soviets. The latter suffered heavy losses but re-grouped and cut the Norwegians off at the east side of the hill.[4][14] On the western terrace of the Grenaderimägi, the Kampfgruppe Bachmeier and the III.Battalion, 3rd Estonian kept resisting. The Soviets started searching the bunkers for documents and prisoners.[4] Steiner ordered an air assault using dive bombers from Tallinn Airport. The Soviets had anticipated the attack and had moved their self-propelled anti-aircraft units to the Lastekodumägi. These shot down several German bombers and afterwards turned their fire at the German infantry.[16]
Steiner had one more battalion to spare — the I.Battalion, Waffen Grenadier Regiment der SS 45 "Estland" (1st Estonian) which had been spared from the previous counter attacks because of the scarcity of able bodied men. Sturmbannführer Paul Maitla requested reinforcements from the men in the field hospital. Twenty less injured men responded, joining the remains of the other destroyed units including a unit of the Kriegsmarine and supported by the single remaining Panther tank.[7] The counter attack started from the parish cemetery south of the Tornimägi with the left flank of the assault clearing the hill of the Soviets. The attack continued towards the summit under heavy Soviet artillery and bomber attack, getting into close combat in the Soviet positions. The small German grenadier units were moved into the trenches. Running out of ammunition, the German troops used Soviet grenades and automatic weapons taken from the fallen.[7] According to some veterans, it appeared that low flying Soviet bombers were attempting to hit every individual German soldier jumping between craters, from time to time getting buried under the soil by the explosions of Soviet shells.[19] The Soviets were forced to retreat from the Grenaderimägi Hill.[5][9]
In the afternoon of 29 July, the Soviet forces made eight attempts to regain control of Grenaderimägi. The last of the German reserves were sent into the battle, including the supply troops. The two assaults by Maitla's improvised platoon at the Lastekodumägi forced the Soviets to refrain from further attacks and gave the Germans time to re-group.[2][20][21]
Reluctant to admit the catastrophe in his report to the Soviet High Command on 30 July, the Political Commissar of the Soviet 2nd Army falsely assured that the Grenaderimägi was still in the possession of the Soviet 109th Rifle Corps. As the justification of the failure to break through the German defence, the report cited the weak cooperation between the artillery and the infantry. The report also mentioned the poorly coordinated action of the armoured units, driving to the minefields, which were uncleared by the sapper units. The commissar made serious reproaches against the commanders of the units and claimed in his report than they were heavily drunk while attempting to command the attacks.[7][22]
On 30 July, the battles went on in the similar fashion. The Soviet artillery increased the intensity of the fire to 30,000 shells,[5] with the German artillery answering with 10,000 shells.[2] The subsequent attack by the Soviet heavy tanks broke through the defence of the II.Battalion, "De Ruyter" consisting in 35–45 capable men running between their heavy machine guns.[7] Hauptsturmführer Helmut Scholz took the units of the De Ruyter Regiment to counterattack destroying two tanks at the doorsteps of Scholz's bunker and forcing the Soviets to retreat.[17] For the battles of Tannenberg Line, Scholz earned the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves, the only SS infantry company commander to be a recipient of the Oakleaves.[7]
Simultaneously, the Soviet platoons were climbing up the Grenaderimägi under intensive German bombardment. Eventually, the attack was repelled by German hand grenades. By the coast, the Soviets attacked the II.Battalion, 3rd Estonian which in close combat destroyed 12 tanks and repelled the Soviet assault.[7][23] Units of the Soviet 8th Army advanced to some degree in the forests of the southern section of the front.[4]
On 31 July, the Soviet command changed the direction of their preparatory artillery fire aiming it this time behind the hill, cutting it off from the main army group. The gradual decrease in the number of shells fired by the Soviet artillery (9,000 shells on 30 July) witnessed the weakening of the Soviet attacks.[2][7] The Soviet infantry started climbing up the Grenaderimägi. The Estonian units against them ran out of ammunition.[2][7] Just in time, an improvised platoon of the "Danmark" arrived to their rescue, and another Soviet attack was repulsed. In the evening, the Soviets tried yet another conquest of the Grenaderimägi, repelled by the unit commanded by Bachmeier who was later decorated with the Knight's Cross.[17] The remnants of the I.Battalion, 3rd Estonian resisted the Soviet attacks at the southern flank.[24]
That time, the political commissar of the 2nd Shock Army admitted the failure to break through the defence. He explained it with the artillery fire running late.[7][25] The report presented the false assertion that the Germans had captured the Grenaderimägi only on 30 July.[5]
Receiving the order from Stalin to break through to Tallinn at all costs, Govorov appointed Fedyuninsky as responsible for reaching Rakvere no later than 7 August.[9] During the first days of August, the 2nd Shock Army received the 110th and 124th Rifle Corps as reinforcements raising the number of troops over 20,000 again.[5] The 8th Army received similar additions to their forces with the 112th and 117th Corps ordered to join the attacks.[5] The Soviet tank forces were also restored, with 104 armoured machines at their command.[5] At the nine kilometre long segment of the front, 1913 assault guns were collected, making it 300 cannons per kilometre. 365 pieces of heavy artillery were aimed at Grenaderimägi and 200 at Sirgala settlement in the south segment. As the daily amount, 200,000 shells and grenades were supplied to the artillery.[4] On 1 August, no combat took place, as both parties relocated their forces.[4] The Leningrad Front tried to shift the centre of weight southwards.
The army detachment "Narwa" replaced its nearly destroyed units with the less damaged detachments in the first days of August. Despite inflicting immense casualties on the Soviets, the Waffen-SS units were slowly getting worn down. The "Nederland" Brigade was reduced to the size of a regiment, while the two regiments of the "Langemarck" Sturmbrigade had the strength of an inforced company each.[7] The 2nd Estonian Regiment was virtually lost and the "Nordland" Division a shadow of its former self. To the German fortune, the Soviet intelligence overestimated the strength of the defenders to more than 60 tanks and 800 artillery[4] while in fact there were just one tank and 70–80 artillery left at the Tannenberg Line.[2][7]
By 2 August, the 2nd Shock Army had re-deployed, and assaulted using the same tactics, as previously. The men of the "Nederland" who survived the artillery bombardment, retreated down the slopes of the Grenaderimägi pursued by the Soviet units. In Steiner's memoirs, the intensity of the fire and the nature of the battles reminded of the Battle of Verdun.[26] When the artillery barrage ended, the freshly drafted II.Battalion, Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 46 (2nd Estonian) returned fire after inflicting severe casualties on the assaulting Soviets and counter attacked reclaiming the Grenaderimägi.[27] The Soviet tanks broke through in the southeastern section of the front as the Estonian assault team commanded by Hauptsturmführer Oskar Ruut, the 11th Infantry Division (consisting in personnel from East Prussia) and the 300th Special purpose Division repelled them while suffering heavy casualties.[5][7][17]
On 3 August, the Soviets made a stronger attempt with the preparatory artillery fire of 25,000–30,000 shells and grenades reaching the level of the attack of 29 July. The fire caused heavy casualties, while a part of the defenders left their positions. Eleven Soviet rifle divisions and four tank regiments tried to spread their attack along the front. However, the main weight of the impending attack tended at the Grenaderimägi again. The German artillery noticed the concentration of the Soviet forces, and launched their rocket fire inflicting great casualties to the Soviet infantry and the tanks before the beginning of the attack. As the German artillery fire did not dent the Soviet superiority in manpower, the Soviet attack began as scheduled. The Soviet 110th Rifle Corps attacking the Grenaderimägi found themselves in the middle of the cross-fire of the remnants of the I.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment.[7] As the commanders of the rifle corps erroneously reported the army headquarters on the capture of Grenaderimägi, the artillery fire was removed from the hill. The Estonians went on counter attack and cleared the hill.[27][7] Simultaneously, the 124th Rifle Corps attacking the south segment of the front by the Vaivara parish church was repulsed.
In a similar fashion, the Soviets made two more attacks on 3 August. Each of them began with massive artillery barrage and ended with a German counter attack restoring the previous positions.[28][7] Overall on 3 August, twenty Soviet tanks were destroyed. The Soviets attacks from 4 August to 6 were weaker, as on 4 August, eleven tanks were destroyed, and seven tanks on 5 August. During the night before 6 August, six tanks were destroyed.[5] On 10 August, the war council of the Leningrad Front ordered to terminate the offensive and switch strictly to defence.[4] The Soviets reduced their operations to patrol activities with occasional attacks. The defenders used this respite to rotate several exhausted units out of the line for a few days for rest and refit, and to strengthen their positions. Until mid-September, the front stayed quiet.[5]
In the Soviet era, the losses in the Battle of Tannenberg Line were not mentioned in the Soviet sources.[29] In recent years, the Russian authors have published some figures[30][31] but not for the whole course of the battles.[7] The number of Soviet casualties can only be estimated upon other figures. In the attack of 29 July 225 men survived of the Soviet 109th Rifle Corps carrying the main weight of the assault. Of the 120th Rifle Division, 1808 men were lost as dead and wounded.[4] The rest of the Soviet rifle corps lost their capacity for further attacks.[16] In the same attack, the German forces lost 600 men.[2][32] The headquarters of the 2nd Shock Army reported 259 troops fit for combat within the 109th Rifle Division and a total exhaustion of the army at the night before 1 August,[25] which probably meant a few thousand troops fit for combat out of the 46,385 men who had initiated the Estonian Operation on 25 July. The losses of the 8th Army were similar to that.[32]
In the evening of 29 July, the army detachment "Narwa" counted 113–120 destroyed Soviet tanks, almost half of them in the battles of 29 July.[2][33] The 2nd Shock Army reported on fifty of their tanks destroyed on 29 July.[25][33] The German side counted additional 44 destroyed Soviet tanks on August 3–6.[34]
Russian author G.F.Krivosheev in his account "Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century" lists 665,827 casualties suffered by the Leningrad Front in 1944, 145,102 of them as dead, missing in action, or captured.[29] Estonian historian Mart Laar, deducting the losses in the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive, Battle for Narva Bridgehead and the combat in Finland estimates the number of Soviet casualties in the Battle of Tannenberg Line as 35,000 dead or missing and 135,000 wounded or sick.[7]
The German Army Group North buried 1709 men in Estonia in 24 July – 10 August 1944.[35][8] Added the men missing in action, the number of irrecoverable casualties in the period is approximately 2,500. Accounting the standard ratio 1:4 of the irrecoverable casualties to the wounded, the total number of German casualties in the Battle for Tannenberg Line is approximately 10,000 men.[8]
On 14 September, the Riga Offensive Operation was launched by the Soviet 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts. The offensive was aimed at capturing Riga and cutting off the Army Group North in Courland, western Latvia. After much argument, Adolf Hitler finally agreed to allow the evacuation of all the troops in Estonia. After months of holding the line, the exhausted men of the III SS Panzer Corps joined the withdrawal fighting their way back from the Tannenberg Line. On 17 September, the 3rd Baltic Front launched the Tallinn Offensive from the Emajõgi River Front joining Lake Peipus with Lake Võrtsjärv. The operation was aimed at encircling the army detachment "Narwa". Unable to hold the force, the German units withdrew towards the northwest while the incomplete II Army Corps was left to stall the Soviet attack. The "Narwa" withdrew quickly towards the Latvian border. On 22 September, Tallinn was abandoned. Some of the Estonian formations now began to attack the retreating Germans attempting to secure supplies and weapons to continue a guerrilla war as the Forest Brothers against the Russians and Soviet occupation.[5] Several troops of the Estonian Division stayed in Estonia. These units continued fighting, some survivors joining the guerrilla groups which fought the Soviet occupying forces until the end of the 1970s.[36]