On 22 February, with their offensive having been stalled for three weeks, the Soviet Union presented Finland with peace conditions. While Finland regarded the terms as unacceptable, the war raging around them appeared dangerous enough to keep negotiating. To push Finland into unfavourable peace conditions, Stalin needed to take Estonia. Stalin's wish was an order to the commanders of the Leningrad Front - with their heads at stake. The artillery of the 2nd Shock army opened fire on German positions on 11 February south of Narva. The 30th Guards Rifle Corps, an elite unit usually used in breaching defence lines, joined the Soviet units attempting to seize the Auvere station. The guards riflemen widened the bridgehead to ten kilometres along the front. The remains of the German 227th and 170th Infantry Divisions retreated. General Major Romantsov ordered an air and artillery assault on the village of Auvere with the 64th Guards Rifle Division seizing it in a surprise attack on 13 February. Half a kilometre westward from Auvere railway station, the 191st Guard Rifle Regiment cut the railway two kilometres from the Tallinn highway, which was the last way out for the Sponheimer Group, but they were denied by the 170th Infantry Division and the 502nd Tank Battalion. The Soviet 98th and 131st Rifle Divisions (43rd Rifle Corps) established a bridgehead on the west bank of the Narva river stretching from the Siivertsi outskirts of the city of Narva to Riigiküla on 12 February. The 517-strong Soviet naval infantry brigade commenced their Mereküla Landing operation on 14 February, landing directly in front of the German coastal artillery. The "Norge" Regiment and the coastal guards, supported by three Tiger I tanks quickly responded. While the 2nd Shock Army artillery placed near Auvere failed to begin their attack at the agreed time, in seven and a half hours of fierce fighting, the Soviet beachhead was annihilated. On 9 February, Army General Leonid Govorov of the Leningrad Front ordered the 2nd Shock Army to break through the German defence line north and south of the town of Narva by 17 February, move the front fifty kilometres westwards and continue towards the town of Rakvere. Soviet units with experience from the Siege of Leningrad had a significant number of women within their ranks. Retreat was forbidden under the penalty of death. After the initial failure to fulfill Govorov's orders, Lieutenant General Ivan Fedyuninsky, in charge of the 2nd Shock Army, landed the 13th Rifle Division from the reserve across the Narva River at the Krivasoo Bridghehead to support the 30th Guards Rifle Corps' offensive aimed at the Auvere station.