were facing Estonians in combat over Narva river. Loudspeakers were set up on the Soviet side, calling the Estonians on the German side to swap side. On 17 March, after massive bombardment of the positions of the Estonian Division, and 500 deaths from the Soviet 1256th Rifle Regiment, the Soviets managed to establish a bridgehead on the west bank of the river eight kilometres north of Narva. Assisted by the artillery of the III Germanic SS Panzer Corps, the Estonian machine-gunners, placed along the bank, cleared the bridgehead by the following night. The three Divisions of the 14th Rifle Corps were destroyed and the remains reformed in the rear. Soviet bombing raids against Estonian cities The Soviet Long Range Aviation, subordinated directly to the Headquarters of Soviet Armed Forces, was committed to the task of bombing key Estonian towns of Petseri, Tartu, and the national capital Tallinn. The heaviest of the air assaults was at Tallinn, on 9 March. A week before, the Mayor of Tallinn had given an order to the city dwellers to leave the town, but the evacuation failed. The extent of the attack was beyond the expectations of the local people and the headquarters of the Army Group North. A bombing run consisting of 300 IL-4 planes throwing 3068 bombs, 1725 of them explosive and 1300 incendiary, inflicted heavy damage to the city. The fire brigades were scarce on water, as Soviet saboteurs had blown up the city pumping station before the air raid. Military damage was minor, with a few military installations and supply stores destroyed. The major military loss was the burning of a million litres of fuel in the fuel depot. Of the enterprises with some military importance, the "Luther" plywood factory and the "Urania-Werke"-run cable factory were destroyed. Most of the bombs fell on the dwellings and public buildings, including the Estonia Theatre, St. Nicholas Church, the city synagogue, four cinemas, and the Tallinn City Archives with their collection of medieval documents. A large part of the wooden suburbs burnt down and the city centre suffered major damage. According to the official report, 757 people were killed, of whom 586 were civilians, 50 were military personnel, and 121 were prisoners-of-war. 213 had serious injuries, 446 had minor injuries. Amongst the injured were 65 military servicemen and 75 prisoners-of-war. Later, more victims were found, with the number of deaths estimated at up to