From December 1941 to April 1942, the almost deserted and unsuitable for life area near Pogost became the scene of fierce battles between units of the Red Army, trying to break through the blockade of Leningrad, and the German Wehrmacht. Deep snow and severe frosts, as well as fierce enemy resistance, forced the Red Army soldiers of the 54th Army, which fell into a positional dead end, to literally gnaw their way through the enemy defenses. For a long time, this battle received only brief mentions in generalizing military-historical works. This book, based on Soviet and German documents, for the first time tells about the battle, which became the first act of the tragic Luban operation.