TheLossberg study was aGerman military plan prepared byLieutenant ColonelBernhard von Lossberg and developed underAlfred Jodl andWalter Warlimont in theOKW on September 15, 1940.[1][2] Its northward direction of attack on theSoviet Union was favoured in theBarbarossa Plan, signed byHitler. Key paragraphs:[3]"To conduct the operations first it's necessary to decide whether the main strike direction would be northward or southward to thePripet Marshes... The advantages of aiming the main strike northward are as follows:
The advantages of aiming the main strike southward are:
Suggestion is to choose the main strike direction northwardly."
"How the cooperation of both main groups eastward from thePripet Marshes will be organized henceforth and how the ultimate military goal will look like depends at great extent on whether the collapse of Russia after initial German successes takes place or not, and when".[2] Similar arguments for northern direction were made on November 26 inGerman General Staff project.[4]