The Soviet September offensive had left a tiny bridgehead on the right bank of the Neva River. The Soviet offensive known as "Operation Spark" began with a Guards division filtering into this weak point in the German siege lines east of Leningrad and quickly beating down the German defenders. The corps commander, Karl Hilpert, ordered 5th Mountain Division to send a battle group to the scene immediately to restor the situation.

The speed of the German counter-attack took the Soviets somewhat by surprise, and the Guards yielded a good bit of the ground gained in the morning. But the jagers could not push them back over the river, as Hilpert hoped. The attack did shore up the "shoulder" of the Soviet penetration, but further north the Red Army had linked up with the Leningrad garrison. The Great Siege was not over, but a corridor had been forced through the German lines and Soviet engineers quickly built a rail line through it to relieve the worst of the city's suffering.