The focus for the drive in Army Group North was to go through the Baltic States, make it to Leningrad, and seize it. On June 22, they started their offensive, capturing hundreds of thousands of soldiers on their drive. On June 26, the Germans crossed the Dvina River, which is about 300 miles south of Leningrad. The Germans continued to drive north, and on July 10 gained an ally in the Finns, who attacked the Russians in order to seize back territory they lost to them in the Winter War in 1940. This further imperiled the Russian defenders, who now had to deal with two opponents simultaneously on this front. On July 16 the Germans reached the Luga River, which was less than 100 miles from Leningrad. The German Army had crossed about 200 miles in a month, which was tremendous progress. The army halted here to regroup, as the infantry were many miles behind and supplies were short, and resumed their offensive on August 3, crossing the Luga River on the 8th. On September 1, the Germans reached Leningrad, and began to besiege it. This was decided by the German High Command because it was felt the Germans did not wish to take care of that many people, killing them or feeding them. They also felt that the tanks that would be used in this long operation would be better used for Army Group Center, who was missing most of its tanks to Army Group South, which was trying to take Kiev at this time. However, General von Leeb, the commander of Army Group North, defied that order, and sent his tanks in on September 9 to try and take the city. They were quickly bogged down, and offensives to try and help them take the city failed, and so the Germans would withdraw from the city. The tanks were then sent to Army Group Center as was planned, but this delay was a factor in the delay to take Moscow. The Finns had also stopped their attack by this time, having their armies hold at the 1939 Finn-Soviet border, as this was all they intended to take in the war. Seeing this situation, Army Group North settled in for a siege, and Leningrad was surrounded by enemy troops for 890 days, yet they still did not surrender. Holding this siege would be the main action for Army Group North until early 1944.