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''This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva (1944).'' The Battle of Tannenberg Line ((ドイツ語:Die Schlacht um die Tannenbergstellung); (エストニア語:Sinimägede lahing); (ロシア語:Битва за линию «Танненберг»)) was a military engagement between the German Army Detachment "''Narwa''" and the Soviet Leningrad Front. They 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 the 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 half of the infantry consisted of local Estonian conscripts motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. The German force of 22,250 men held off 136,830 Soviet troops. As the Soviet forces were constantly reinforced, the casualties of the battle were 150,000–200,000 dead and wounded Soviet troops and 157–164 tanks. ==Background== After defending the Narva bridgehead for six months, the German forces fell back to the Tannenberg Line in the hills of ''Sinimäed'' ((ロシア語:Синие горы)) on 26 July 1944. The three hills run east to west. The eastern hill was known to Estonians as the Lastekodumägi (Orphanage Hill; Kinderheimhöhe in German). The central was the Grenaderimägi (Grenadier Hill; Grenadierhöhe) and the westernmost was the Tornimägi (Tower Hill, also known in German as or 69.9 or Liebhöhe (Love Hill)). The heights have steep slopes and rise 20–50 m above the surrounding land. The formations of ''Gruppenführer'' Felix Steiner's III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps halted their withdrawal and moved into defensive positions on the hills. 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.〔 The Soviet Marshal Leonid Govorov considered the Tannenberg Line as the key position of Army Group North and concentrated the best forces of the Leningrad Front. Additional 122nd, 124th Rifle Corps and divisions from 117th Rifle Corps were subordinated to General Ivan Fedyuninsky, commanding the 2nd Shock Army.〔 The goal set by the War Council of the 2nd Shock Army was to break through the defense line of the III SS Panzer Corps at the Orphanage Hill, force their way to the town of Jõhvi in the west and reach the Kunda River by 1 August. To accomplish this, Govorov was ordered to destroy communications behind the German forces and conduct air assaults on the railway stations of Jõhvi and Tapa on 26 July.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Tannenberg Line」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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