World War II is known as the greatest catastrophe in human history, this world war, there are countless classic examples for future generations to learn, there are also many tragic battles for posterity to remember, such as: the Battle of Midway, the Normandy landings and the defense of Stalingrad, but if you want to say that the most tragic battle of World War II, it must be the Leningrad defense war.
In this battle, the Nazi German army invested 750,000 troops, the Soviet Red Army invested 900,000 people, and the two sides fought repeatedly in Leningrad, and 900 days and nights the two sides fought to the death. And because of the German siege, the citizens of Leningrad also lived under hunger and disease, and under the double blow of natural and man-made disasters, one out of every three people in Leningrad was buried in this land. However, it was precisely because of such resolute resistance that Nazi Germany could not continue to advance, and it was also a respite for the Soviet Union.
Historically, there have been many opinions about the Leningrad Campaign, but one thing that the whole world recognizes is that the Leningrad Campaign became a turning point in World War II and laid the foundation for victory in World War II. And why?
In World War II, the most intense was the European theater, and the Eastern Front was the most important, after the invasion of the Soviet Union, almost all of Nazi Germany's elite troops were thrown into the Eastern Front. Of these, the 750,000 who attacked Leningrad were the elite of the elite.
In fact, Hitler's original idea was to rely on the two elite units of Army Group North (the unit attacking Leningrad) and Army Group Center (the unit attacking Stalingrad) to completely defeat the Soviet Union, and then return to the Soviet Union's Nandu Gao acceleration oil field to grasp the oil lifeline in his own hands.
If the Soviet Union lost the battle for Leningrad, Nazi Germany's Army Group North would attack Stalingrad from the south from the north, and the two elite armies would inevitably fall on Stalingrad, followed by Moscow and Siberia. After the defeat of the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany would mobilize heavy troops to attack Britain, and because Britain could not withstand such a powerful military blow, it was estimated that it would collapse in about a year, and the situation in World War II would end in An Axis victory.
Therefore, from the above analysis, the Soviet military and civilians defended not only this small northern city of the Soviet Union (now Russia) in Leningrad, but also the whole world. The later development of World War II began with this victory, and they exchanged their blood for victory for the Allies in World War II.
It is precisely because of the significance of this battle that even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has not forgotten the people who died in the battle, and every January 27 is the anniversary of the Battle of Leningrad, and every Russian leader will come to St. Petersburg (Leningrad) on this day to present a bouquet of flowers to commemorate the heroes who have passed away.
Let us always remember the people who died in the war, and let the war sleep forever.