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In order to break the German encirclement of Leningrad and break through the front along the Volkhov, the Red Army began an offensive on January 13, 1942. The river, which is 220 kilometers long and up to 600 meters wide and impenetrable with its swampy banks, forms an ideal natural defense zone. On March 19, 1942, the Germans succeeded for the first time in completely sealing off the Soviet breakthrough point between Dolgowo and Gluschizo, known in the Landser jargon as the 'Erika Lane'. The units of the 2nd Soviet Shock Army were thus completely trapped.