2nd Shock Army The 2nd Shock Army ( ) was a field army of the Soviet Union during the Second World War . This type of formation was created in accordance with prewar doctrine that called for Shock Armies to " overcome difficult defensive dispositions in order to create a tactical penetration of sufficient breadth and depth to permit the commitment of mobile formations for deeper exploitation . " However , as the war went on , Shock Armies lost this specific role and reverted , in general , to ordinary frontline formations . Formation . The 2nd Shock Army was formed from the 26th Army within the Volkhov Front in December 1941 and initially consisted of the 327th Rifle Division and eight separate rifle brigades . During the Lyuban Offensive Operation , the 2nd Shock Army broke through German lines , was cut off from reinforcement along the Volkhov River by a German counter - attack , and was not permitted to retreat . When the order for retreat finally came in , the 2nd was literally destroyed trying to escape . This happened again , during the Siniavino operation in which the 2nd Shock Army had to return to the Front ' s HQ for resupply and manpower . By 1944 , the 2nd Shock Army consisted of five rifle divisions ( 11th , 43rd , 90th , 131st , and 196th ) along with 600 artillery pieces , a tank brigade , another tank regiment , two SPG regiments , and masses of ammunition and supplies . which was used during the Battle of Narva . After the end of the war , until January 1946 2nd Shock remained in the northeast of Germany ( with HQ at Schwerin ) , after which in full strength it was returned to the USSR , where its HQ was reorganized as HQ Arkhangel ' sk Military District . It comprised 3 rifle corps by this time ( 9 divisions ) . After 2nd Shock was re - designated HQ Arkhangelsk MD 116th Rifle Corps and its divisions , 109th Rifle Corps ( 101st Guards , 46th and 372nd ) went to the North Caucasus Military District , and 134th Rifle Corps ( 102nd Guards , the 90th and 272nd RD ) - in the Voronezh Region . Military History . In January 1942 the Volkhov Front commander , Meretskov , had to request the Army ’ s commander , General Lieutenant Sokolov , a former NKVD commissar , be relieved , as he was absolutely incompetent . Command was handed over to the former commander of 52nd Army , General Lieutenant Klykov . Later that same month it was launched against Lyuban , but its offensive saw the Army isolated , under a new commander , General Lieutenant A . A . Vlasov . On January 7 , 1942 , Vlasov ' s army had spearheaded the Lyuban Offensive Operation to break the Leningrad encirclement . Planned as a combined operation between the Volkhov and Leningrad Fronts on a 30 km frontage , other armies of the Leningrad Front ( including the 54th ) were supposed to participate at scheduled intervals in this operation . Crossing the Volkhov River Vlasov ' s army was successful in breaking through the German 18th Army ' s lines and penetrated 70 – 74 km deep inside German rear area . The other armies ( Volkhov Front ' s 4th , 52nd , and 59th Armies , 13th Cavalry Corps , and 4th and 6th Guards Rifle Corps ) , however , failed to provide the required support , and Vlasov ' s army became stranded . Permission to retreat was refused . With the counter - offensive in May 1942 , the Second Shock Army was finally allowed to retreat , but by now , too weakened , it was virtually annihilated during the final breakout at Myasnoi Bor . Vlasov was taken prisoner by the Wehrmacht troops on July 6 , 1942 . He later raised a legion of Russians who fought alongside the German forces . 2nd Shock Army again suffered severe losses during the Siniavino operation from 19 August - 20 October 1942 . Again , the army was returned to the Front reserves for rebuilding . In January 1943 it took part in the offensive which aimed to raise the Siege of Leningrad . The Stavka then intervened in Leningrad Front offensive planning during September 1943 , changing the plan so that 2nd Shock Army would attack from the Oranienbaum bridgehead . The offensive , under a newly appointed commander , General I . I . Fedyuninskii , begun on 14 January , took part in breaking the almost 900 - day Siege of Leningrad , and pushed west to the outskirts of Narva , resulting in the Battle of Narva . The 2nd Shock Army struggled to take Narva and German positions further west of the city until September 1944 , when deep exploitation by Soviet forces in the Baltic States forced a German retreat through Estonia . As a result of the strategic Soviet victory in this region , the 2nd Shock Army was moved south and assigned to the 2nd Belorussian Front . As part of the 2nd Belorussian Front , the 2nd Shock Army fought across Poland and northeastern Germany , with its route of march taking it north of Warsaw and Stettin . On May 1 , 1945 , the 2nd Shock Army took Stralsund on the Baltic Coast , ending the war there and on the island of Rügen .