The port of Riga is located four hundred kilometers from Luga, where the headquarters of Army Group North is located. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

On 28 August, Chen Dao's convoy was caught in a logistical supply convoy and drove to Luga, and after a bumpy journey, it was harassed twice by Soviet partisans before arriving in Luga on the evening of 31 August.

In the early morning of 1 September, Chen Dao hurried to an Orthodox church in the northwest corner of Luga City, and before leaving, Chen Dao had to do another costume change exercise, donning the uniform of an army general that he did not often wear.

Marshal Loeb was one of the few skinheads among the senior German generals, and in the star-studded church, Chen Dao saw Marshal Loeb with his shiny hair at a glance.

After saluting Marshal Loeb respectfully, Chen Dao said: "I have come here on the orders of the Führer to inquire about the progress of the war on the Northern Front. If your Excellency Marshal needs any assistance, you can tell me and I will find a way to solve it. ”

Marshal Loeb politely thanked Chen Dao for his concern, and then asked the chief of staff beside him to explain the current situation to Chen Dao.

"The Russians had three lines of defense outside Leningrad, the first of which was about forty kilometers outside Leningrad, starting from Peterhof, west of Leningrad on the Gulf of Finland, and extending through the Red Guard City in the south to the Neva River in the east, of which the Red Guard City was the key point of this line.

The enemy's second line of defense was about twenty-five kilometers outside Leningrad, starting from Kolpino on the Neva River and extending south to Pushkin City, the Duderkhov Heights, of which the Dudelkhov Heights were the key points of the entire defense line and the most important support points of the Soviet defense line outside Leningrad. ”

A staff officer handed over a dozen photographs, mostly aerial photographs.

Chen Dao saw from the photos that Leningrad's outlying positions were crisscrossed by streams, full of jungles, continuous anti-tank trenches, and countless pillboxes.

"This terrain, this defense, is not suitable for large-scale tank forces, but for commandos composed of elite infantry. When are you going to attack, what is the specific battle plan, and I'll see what kind of help I can give you. Chen Dao asked.

"Our offensive is planned to be launched in a week's time, on September 8 at the latest. The first step of the operation is placed here, on the left bank of the Neva, along which our troops will attack eastward, occupy Shlishheli Fort on the west bank of Lake Ladoga, cut off the Soviet troops in the Leningrad region, and connect with the Soviet Volkhov Front in the east. ”

"Very well, the first element of a large urban siege war is to cut off the connection between the defenders of the city and the peripheral troops, and turn the war of attrition into a war of annihilation. After we cut off the defenders of the Leningrad region from the Volkhov Front, the battle would have gone much smoother if the Finns north of Leningrad had been able to move south and flank the enemy in the encirclement with us. Chen Dao said.

"We had the same idea, but Marshal Mannerheim of Finland said that the Finnish army would advance only to the old border between the Soviet Union and Finland, and to the northern shore of Lake Ladoga, so that the Soviet troops in Leningrad could not get supplies from the north, but they would not participate in the attack on Leningrad," Marshal Loeb said. ”

Chen Dao rubbed his nose, guessing in his heart what Marshal Mannerheim thought.

In order to win the Soviet Union into the Axis powers, Germany promised to withdraw most of its troops in Finland, which was tantamount to acquiescing to the Soviet Union's control of Finland and tantamount to betraying Finland in disguise.

Now, the failure of the Finnish army under the command of Field Marshal Mannerheim to work may be a form of revenge for Germany's former betrayal.

This kind of political insider is not easy to say, Chen Dao pretended to be casual: "The Russians have more troops than the population of Finland, and Marshal Mannerheim is understandably afraid of the Soviets." It doesn't matter if they don't come, and if they do, after cooperating with us in the capture of Leningrad, the Foreign Ministry will probably have to quarrel with the Finns over the ownership of Leningrad. By taking Leningrad alone now, we will avoid a lot of diplomatic troubles. ”

After thinking for a while, Chen Dao said with a flickering eye: "However, since we have to attack Leningrad alone, we also have to deal with the enemy in this Oranienheim encirclement, and we have to withstand the attack of the Volkhov Front, the pressure will be very great. Well, there is still a week before the day of the general offensive, and in the course of this week, I will try to go to the rear and ask you for some reinforcements. ”

Field Marshal Loeb did not speak, and the chief of staff, Major General Morse, asked: "What kind of troops are the reinforcements?" Can you give me some information ahead of time, so I can revise the battle plan according to the number and type of reinforcements. ”

"You don't need to change the battle plan, the reinforcements I said come from the sky, about 200 to 400 aircraft, since the terrain here is not suitable for large-scale armored force operations, it is up to the air force to provide timely and powerful fire support for the infantry."

"Your Excellency Brother-in-law" is really wealthy, and he has hundreds of planes as soon as he makes a move.

Marshal Loeb and the next officer sighed in their hearts.

"Also, I want to determine as soon as possible which troops will be involved in the final street fighting, and then inform me so that I can train them and fine-tune the battle plan accordingly."

"Oh? What training are you going to do? Marshal Loeb asked.

Chen Dao took out a booklet from the briefcase he was carrying, 32 carat in size, with a white title "Street Fighting Manual" written on the green cover.

Chen Dao handed the manual to Marshal Loeb.

"This street fighting manual is a collection of more than 30 examples of street fighting in large and medium-sized cities since we declared war on Poland in 39, and summarized the lessons and lessons learned. As far as I know, Leningrad is a large city with a population of about 2.5 million, and with the retreating defenders, the population is estimated to be three million. Training siege troops before street fighting breaks out can avoid many casualties and increase combat efficiency. ”

Chen Daochu deliberately looked for reinforcements for the Northern Army Group and took the initiative to do street fighting training, which unconsciously happened to be in line with the guiding principle of "convincing people with virtue".

This "Your Excellency Brother-in-law" is still very capable of practical things, and Marshal Loeb silently made a judgment in his heart.

Out of politeness, Marshal Loeb stubbornly squeezed out a sentence as a thank you to Chen Dao.

"General Rosen, you are as talented as the legend says."

Everyone was busy, and after a few polite words from Chen Dao and Marshal Loeb, they left the headquarters of Army Group North and drove straight to the southeastern outskirts of the city to find the headquarters of the Luftwaffe 1st Air Force.

After staying at the headquarters of the First Air Force for two hours, Chen Dao sent several telegrams and exchanged views with the commander of the First Air Force, General Korel, and as soon as he turned around, Chen Dao's figure appeared next to Marshal Loeb again.

Marshal Loeb looked at Chen Dao suspiciously.

"What else is going on with General Rosen?"

"Two things, the first is, have you decided which troops are going to participate in street fighting, to receive my pre-war training?" Chen Dao asked.

Marshal Loeb glanced at the clock next to him, it had just been more than two hours since Chen Dao's last arrival, and he had not yet given an order to handle the matter of opening the training class that Chen Dao had said.

The Chief of Staff, Major General Morse, took over Chen Dao's question.

"We are picking troops, General Rosen should not be too anxious."

"Well, I'm too anxious・・・・・・ but you'd better be more productive as well. Let's move on to the second thing, my mission has been accomplished, and I have come to report to Mr. Marshal. ”

"What task?" Marshal Loeb was a little confused.

Major General Morse reacted quickly and asked tentatively, "Your reinforcements have been found?" ”

"Yes, the naval aviation will send about 260 planes to come, and the transfer will be completed in four days. The Air Force will send the 54th Combat Aviation Regiment and the 2nd Yinmaiman Dive Bombing Wing to reinforce the 1st Air Force, and the transfer will be completed in 48 hours. ”

So fast! Marshal Loeb, Major General Morse, and the surrounding officers looked at Chen Dao in surprise, and everyone collectively felt a "brother-in-law efficiency".

Marshal Loeb felt that his old face was a little hot, and compared with the "brother-in-law efficiency", he was really procrastinating and inefficient.

"I see, General Rosen, I'll give you a mission now, you go and find a classroom where the training course will be held, right in Luga."

Chen Dao didn't talk much nonsense, received the order and turned to leave, Marshal Loeb watched Chen Dao leave, turned his head and said to Major General Morse: "You immediately select the troops and candidates to participate in the training class, and go now." ”

In less than three hours, Chen Dao impressed Marshal Loeb and others who were not familiar with him with his "brother-in-law efficiency".

・・・・・・

When Chen Dao communicated with Marshal Loeb, in the port of Leningrad, Zhukov, surrounded by a group of people, was inspecting the deployment of Leningrad, and at this time he was inspecting the Red Banner Baltic Fleet.

Zhukov arrived at the port with Andrei Zhdanov, secretary of the Leningrad Municipal Party Committee and Commissar of Political Defense.

Shortly after Zhukov arrived in Leningrad, he was getting acquainted with the troops of the Leningrad region.

Zhdanov patiently introduced Zhukov to the strength of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet.

"Our fleet can provide us with a powerful artillery force, naval guns, shore defense guns and railway guns combined, there are enough 345 guns, of which 91 are above 180 mm, 181 are 130-152 mm, and 73 are 100-120 mm. The air force under the fleet can also provide us with 286 aircraft, including 170 fighters, 11 attack planes, 50 torpedo planes and bombers, and 55 seaplanes. ”

"This is really a powerful force, the Germans will not let the Baltic Fleet go unchecked, we have to do a good job of protecting the fleet." Zhukov said.

"The fleet itself has 158 anti-aircraft guns on ships, and there are four anti-aircraft artillery regiments on the shore with 191 anti-aircraft guns that can be put into anti-aircraft operations." Zhdanov said.

"Very well, with the strong fire support of the Baltic Fleet, we have a little more certainty of holding Leningrad." Zhukov said.

"The Finns have cut us off from the north from friendly forces, and I think they will soon launch an offensive in the direction of Lake Ladoga and completely encircle the Leningrad region. At that point, the situation we face will be even more dangerous. Zhdanov said.

"The Germans are making a big move in Ukraine, most of our reserves have been transferred to Ukraine, and we are not able to get much assistance. Fortunately, Leningrad has a large number of factories that can provide us with large quantities of weapons and ammunition, and in any case, I will guarantee that Leningrad will not be surrounded. Zhukov said.