For Marshal Loeb, he also wanted to attack Leningrad, capture the city, clear the rear of the obstacles for his own troops.

However, on the one hand, he had to command the troops to attack in the direction of Moscow as soon as possible, and he also wanted to attack Leningrad, which was really a bit overwhelming.

The strength of Army Group North was not as strong as Army Group Center, and now it is even more stretched.

However, his front was indeed too long, so he had to stop and deal with Leningrad in the rear.

"The Führer meant to be the first to occupy Leningrad and turn it into a logistics supply base that could be used." Loeb stood in front of the map and told his generals about the intentions of the battle.

"When the navy shelled, it had deliberately avoided the port, and the shelling was not too aimed there." He pointed to the inaccurate map of Leningrad and continued.

After all, Leningrad was also an important city, and it was impossible for Germany not to gather intelligence about it before the war.

But when it came time to gather information about the city, Hitler was not yet a traverser. Therefore, the intelligence gathering work for Leningrad was actually very sloppy.

First of all, the map is much worse, because the preparation is very inadequate, so many battles are now carried out by the grassroots commanders themselves.

This increased casualties, but also increased the cost of operations. Although Li Le had time to improve this aspect, he couldn't go down to every corner.

"The troops mobilized are not very large, Your Excellency Marshal...... The troops attacking the Soviet army were only about 200,000, and this number did not seem to guarantee victory. A military commander raised his hand with some uneasiness and offered his opinion.

"SS units are also going to war, not a small number of them! At least they can serve as the main offensive in some areas, at least 50,000 people. Loeb gave his own explanation.

If it weren't for the reinforcement of the SS, he would not have been willing to risk attacking Leningrad.

It's just that the three SS troops who came here were a little different from the previous SS. These three SS troops were the foreign legions of the SS, and they were all recruited from Estonia and other regions.

Their armament can only be described as average, and they are not the world-famous main force of the SS.

However, they are also very combative, because they do have a long-standing hatred of the Soviet Union and the Russians who oppress them.

"Give them the task of attacking the port, so that we can concentrate and advance from the southeast to the city." The chief of staff opened his mouth and gave a rough plan.

"The Führer repudiated the previous plan that required us to besiege Leningrad for a long time, and he changed his mind." When Loeb mentioned this, he was very happy.

In the past, when the Führer talked about the war plan for the invasion of the Soviet Union, he often talked about the destruction of Leningrad and Stalingrad.

More than once he described his desire in a hateful tone: he wanted to destroy these cities and make them completely disappear from the face of the earth.

Koleb knew that destroying a city of magnitude was not as simple as destroying a village.

So he was worried, fearing that the Führer, blinded by hatred, would forcibly destroy Leningrad and waste valuable strategic resources.

However, when the Führer reformulated the plan for the attack on the Soviet Union in September 1940, he did not mention the plan for the destruction of Leningrad.

Much more sensible than before, he was ready to change Leningrad back to its original name, renaming it St. Petersburg.

The Führer even admired Peter the Great and felt that there was nothing wrong with restoring some of Russia's geographical names to their original names.

Sometimes, Loeb even felt that the Führer was really becoming more and more wise. It has changed the bad mistakes of not asking about details in the past, and is more strategic and cares more about the optimization of details.

In the past, the Führer often gave orders that were difficult to complete regardless of the actual situation, but the Führer of today is more willing to make plans based on reality and have the ability to refine the details of the plan.

For example, the occupation of Leningrad was a new supreme operational objective issued by the Führer after comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the Soviet and German armies on the Northern Front.

The Führer decided to capture the city, and then restore sea transport, using transport in the Baltic Sea, to relieve the pressure on the transport of the troops at the front.

As long as this port is occupied, it will be much easier to handle supplies. Even if some of it is damaged, it is easy to restore it with a floating dock.

Once the transport function of the port of Leningrad was restored, the direct arrival of Leningrad from Wilhelmshaven would save a lot of transport troubles.

Leningrad had a direct railway to Moscow, and the Germans could get supplies in time as long as they attacked along the railway.

Even a fool knows that this plan is very feasible. Although Army Group North was somewhat scattered in strength, it was possible to take Leningrad as long as it was given a certain degree of reinforcement.

To a certain extent, this reinforcement was three SS foreign divisions and a new Belarusian infantry division.

The number of troops in the whole 4 divisions exceeded 80,000, and with the regular troops of the Finnish and German armies, the number was no less than that of the Soviet army.

Moreover, there was a gap in weapons and equipment between the two sides, the Germans and their servant armies had a clear advantage, and the supply of the Soviet army was also cut off.

Referring to these aspects, in fact, the German army near Leningrad had a certain advantage, and taking Leningrad was not too difficult a task.

The only thing that made Loeb a little apprehensive was that his advantage was not huge enough for him to complete the siege battle in front of him.

In fact, this is also a point that the German commanders are becoming more and more depressed: as time goes on, the kind of battles that are sure of ten things begins to become less, and they are faced more battles with unknown victories and defeats.

In the third month of the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Germans were no longer as overwhelmed as the first one, and they had to think about one problem: how to fight a crushing battle.

"The strength of our army is about 350,000 people, of which the coordinated forces of Finland and Estonia and other regions are about 150,000,......" the chief of staff counted the strength in his hands.

"According to the information obtained by the reconnaissance troops, the Soviet army probably has more than 400,000 people, possibly 450,000, or less." Loeb clutched all kinds of aggregated information in his hand and continued.

"We have to find a way to take Leningrad and minimize our own losses!" He tapped the love newspaper in his hand and said to his generals.