Relieve of Command
When von Leeb failed to capture Leningrad quickly, Hitler impatiently commented, "Leeb is in a second childhood; he can't grasp and carry out my plan for the speedy capture of Leningrad. He fusses over his plan of assuming the defensive in the northwestern sector and wants a drive in the center on Moscow. He's obviously senile, he's lost his nerve, and like a true Catholic he wants to pray but not fight."
An old-school German general, von Leeb did not take well to having his command managed from afar by Hitler, whom he considered an armchair general. In January, 1942, von Leeb asked Hitler to relieve him of his command, and Hitler complied. It was officially announced that von Leeb had stepped down due to illness, not because of his defeat. Colonel-General Georg von Küchler assumed command of Army Group North, and Hitler never employed von Leeb again.
Read more about this topic: Wilhelm Ritter Von Leeb
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