 On 22 June , Army Group North attacked the Soviet Northwestern Front and broke through its 8th and 11th Armies . The Soviets immediately launched a powerful counterattack against the German 4th Panzer Group with the Soviet 3rd and 12th Mechanized Corps , but the Soviet attack was defeated . On 25 June , the 8th and 11th Armies were ordered to withdraw to the Western Dvina River , where it was planned to meetup with the 21st Mechanized Corps and the 22nd and 27th Armies . However , on 26 June , Erich von Manstein 's LVI Panzer Corps reached the river first and secured a bridgehead across it . The Northwestern Front was forced to abandon the river defenses , and on 29 June Stavka ordered the Front to withdraw to the Stalin Line on the approaches to Leningrad . On 2 July , Army Group North began its attack on the Stalin Line with its 4th Panzer Group , and on 8 July captured Pskov , devastating the defenses of the Stalin Line and reaching Leningrad oblast . The 4th Panzer Group had advanced about 450 kilometres ( 280 mi ) since the start of the invasion and was now only about 250 kilometres ( 160 mi ) from its primary objective Leningrad . On 9 July it began its attack towards the Soviet defenses along the Luga River in Leningrad oblast . 
