The German army advanced so rapidly toward Leningrad, the second-most important city in Russia, that by August 30, 1941, the last of the railroad tracks that led to the town had been cut. Several days later, German tank units completed their stranglehold on the town. German troops under Field Marshal Ritter von Leeb from the southwest, and Finnish Marshal MannerheimΓÇÖs army from the northwest, rushed to the city outskirts quickly and began to shell the city fiercely. However, the NazisΓÇÖ hopes of a swift occupation of Leningrad faded when Marshal Zhukov was placed in charge of organizing the townΓÇÖs defense. He turned the city into a maze of strongholds and firing positions.
