 Hitler promised his army commanders complete air support, reporting that Goering had told him that the Luftwaffe was able to deploy some 3,000 fighters for the operation; although the German leader also commented to discount 1,000 from the report, due to Goering's tendency to exaggerate, he said that there would be nonetheless at least 2,000 fighters to protect German ground forces.These aircraft were to support the Fifth and Sixth Panzer Armies, as well as launch a preemptive aerial offensive aimed at destroying Allied aircraft on the ground, before they had a chance to be used against the Germans.This figure was later revised to 800–900 aircraft, which would be taken from squadrons slotted to defend against Allied bombing raids over German cities.