The Battle of Leningrad was an extremely tragic battle in the history of World War II, in which both the Soviets and Germans invested a large number of troops, and the Soviet army as a defensive side was besieged for nearly 900 days, and the German army also fought day and night for 900 days. Let's take a look at the course of the campaign.
Before we cross the battlefield, let's take a look at the location of Leningrad, why the Germans attacked it one by one, and why the Soviet Union insisted on it.
Leningrad, also known as St. Petersburg, is located on the east coast of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it has a total of 42 small islands, connected by 420 bridges, is the second largest city in the Soviet Union after Moscow, and this area is also an important industrial center and transportation hub of the Soviet Union, not only politically known as the "second capital of the Soviet Union".
Moreover, Leningrad's military position was also very important, and Hitler listed Leningrad as a "strategic necessity" in his plan to invade the Soviet Union, and also issued an order to his subordinates: "If you can't take Leningrad, you'd better not come to see me." ”
The German soldiers are not good, this leader is strong and the wife is strong is a truth, a mouth can exhaust three horses, so it is impossible not to go, Leningrad do not want to live in peace without attacking.
In the early morning of June 22, 1941, the helpless German army set out, and in order to ensure the success of this battle, they launched a large-scale surprise attack on the western border of the Soviet Union in three ways: south, central and north. The Eighteenth and Sixteenth Armies of the German "Northern" Army Group and the Fourth Tank Group, with a total of 23 divisions, as well as 16 divisions of the Finnish Army South-East And Karelia Army, attacked Leningrad from the north and south.
In order to ensure that Leningrad could be taken in one fell swoop, Hitler appointed Field Marshal von Leib as commander of Army Group North and ordered von Choeb to take Leningrad by July 21, in accordance with the date specified in the Barbarossa plan. Hitler arrogantly declared that he would then go to Leningrad's "Palace Square" to review the army.
It turns out that big words can't be said casually, and cowhide can't be blown casually, because if you don't get it right, it will become a joke. No, Hitler, who was talking big, was sullen, because on July 21, Hitler did not enter Leningrad for a military parade, and to be precise, the German army did not even enter the gate of Leningrad, and Hitler completely lost face, and his heart was full of mixed feelings.
And it was not until September that the Germans advanced to Rofka, south of Leningrad. There was still 14 kilometers from the Palace Square in the center of Leningrad, and although the German artillery had been able to directly bombard the city of Leningrad, the Soviets were not easy to provoke, and Marshal Voroshilov, commander-in-chief of the Soviet Northwest front, said: "At the gate of Leningrad, block the enemy's way forward with our chests." ”
So it is not difficult to imagine that the Germans must have suffered a lot in Leningrad, the strong attack is not good, the inducement is ineffective, the soldiers are fighting less and less, the most important thing is that Leningrad is too cold, there is no European romantic scenery, the last resort, the Germans only have to increase the road of troops.
When the German Fourth Panzer Army was transferred, the Germans began to prepare to besiege the city in a vain attempt to conquer Leningrad with hunger, and Hitler also collapsed and said, "We will wipe Leningrad from the earth." It can be seen that the German army was stimulated a lot, but although the Soviet army repelled the German attacks one after another, it was also exchanged for life and blood, and countless Soviet soldiers fell on the land of their hometown during this period.
And at this time Leningrad was already extremely short of food, the Germans surrounded Leningrad, 3 million soldiers and civilians fell into an unprecedented hunger, and thousands of people died of hunger every day.
Although the mountains and rivers are full of doubts, but the willow is another village of Huaming, the Germans are defenseless, that is, there is no defense against a lake called Ladoga Lake, and there is a section of water about 65 kilometers wide in the middle of Lake Ladoga that is not within the range of German artillery fire, and the soldiers and civilians of Leningrad have built a transportation line connecting the east and west banks of Lake Ladoga on the frozen lake, and this ice road has become the "road of life" of Leningrad.
With a strong supply line, the Soviet non-commissioned army in Leningrad is no longer afraid, let alone fight for 900 days, even if it is 900 years, it does not matter, anyway, we have food. Although the Soviets no longer cared, but the Germans could not stand it, on the one hand, the pressure of the first hand, and the Leningrad pressure was as indestructible as a copper wall, and finally on a sunny afternoon, the Germans all collapsed, and they had to leave this sad place. The Defense of Leningrad was declared victorious.