on a counterattack. The East Prussians were saved by the swift movement of artillery behind them clearing their previous positions from the Soviets. Forces of the 117th Rifle Corps reached the headquarters of the 1st Battalion, Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS 45 Estland who resisted by heavy machine-gun fire in circular defense. The support by the anti-tank weapons of the 14th Company and the aid of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland helped to seize the main front line back to the control of the Estonian Regiment. Subsequent attempts by the 117th and 122nd Rifle Corps to break through were repelled in a similar way, causing them to lose 3,000 men, compared to the loss of 800 troops of Army Group Narwa. The Soviet attack at Auvere and Sirgala forced the III SS Panzer Corps to a hasty withdrawal from their positions in the Ivangorod bridgehead on the opposite bank of Narva. The Soviet 8th Army threatened to reach the Tannenberg Line before the Germans. 2nd Shock Army crossing Narva River On the morning of 25 July 1944 Soviet assault guns fired 280,000 shells and grenades at the positions of the Estonian Division across Narva river, who were covering the right flank of the III SS Panzer Corps. The density of the assault guns was 160 per kilometre of front line. The shock made the trenches collapse on both sides of the front line. After the artillery strike, the bombers and assault guns moved in to destroy the remaining strong points. Regiments of the 131st and the 191st Rifle Corps were ordered to cross the river on boats and rafts, accompanied by "Svyaschennaya Voyna" and the anthem of the Soviet Union playing from the loudspeakers. The assault guns and the machine-guns of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) along with the dive bombers destroyed the first attempts of the 2nd Shock Army, until the Estonians ran out of ammunition. The focus of the Soviet attack drifted to the Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 46, causing it to lose co-ordination and retreat to the Peeterristi crossroads on the highway nine kilometres outside Narva. The retreat opened access to the Soviets behind the retreating Army Corps. The 131st Rifle Division advanced towards the highway, as the 191st Rifle Division turned south towards Narva to cut the Germans out. Defense of German withdrawal along Tallinn highway The Soviet