"Order the Armored Group Army to bypass the Brest Fortress and then advance quickly towards Slutsk and Minsk! Don't waste time with the Soviet Red Army blocking us! Don't worry, we have received huge reinforcements. The goal is to encircle and annihilate the Western Soviet Union. Front Army!" Guderian had obviously received the news from General Hermann Hoth that the First SS Armored Corps had entered Warsaw. According to Guderian's prediction, if the SS advanced at full speed, it would be completely You can rush to the battlefield after your own Second Armored Army and General Hermann Hoth's Third Armored Army have completed the encirclement. At that time, the armed SS troops marching all the way could completely make up for the lack of strength of the two armored armies.
After reporting his thoughts to Marshal Bock, commander of Army Group Center, Guderian quickly received a reply from Marshal Bock. The German Third Armored Group set out from the Suwa Uki area, broke through the defenses at the junction of the Soviet Western Front and the Northwest Front, and then launched an attack in the direction of Vilnius and Minsk. The Ninth Army subsequently followed up; the Second Armored Group Starting from the area east of Warsaw, it detoured around the Brest Fortress, and then quickly advanced toward Slutsk and Minsk, and the Fourth Army followed suit. After occupying Grodno, tighten the pocket near Minsk and completely annihilate the Soviet Western Front.
According to the orders of Marshal Bock and the Supreme Command, the Second Armored Army and the Third Armored Army immediately attacked Moscow after occupying Minsk, and the task of encircling and annihilating the Soviet Western Front was handed over to the following Fourth Army and Ninth Army. The 1st Panzer Corps of the Waffen-SS, which was rushing to the battlefield, served as a supplementary force to prevent the surrounded Western Front from breaking through.
General Hoth's 3rd A Group advanced hand in hand with General Kleist's 4th A Group of Army Group North and invaded Lithuania from East Prussia. Group 3A also encountered difficulties in dense forests and almost no roads when crossing the sandy terrain. The enemy's resistance here was more determined than in the north. Some border guards of the NKVD fought hard to the end, although they did not have any artillery support. The Lithuanian army that blocked the advance of the armored group put up unexpectedly tenacious resistance.
The few roads from west to east are just narrow sandy paths through the woods. Many of them have never been driven by vehicles. Although enemy resistance was slight, it was difficult to move off the road to deploy troops and overcome the resistance. As a result, the troops' advance was repeatedly blocked, and multiple forest fires made the situation even more chaotic. If any vehicle gets stuck or breaks down on the road, the road is completely blocked. The wooden bridges that crisscrossed the rivers had to be strengthened to accommodate vehicles. At Brauchitsch's insistence, some roads were designated for infantry use. But in fact, there are too few roads for both infantry and armored forces. An infantry division assigned to use a road could march up to twenty-two miles and take an entire day to pass a given point.
As the 7th Armored Division advanced toward the Niemen River road bridge, it encountered serious resistance for the first time. Attacking it were Soviet armored units from the nearby Varena tank training range, believed to be units of the Soviet 1st Tank Division. They fought with determination.
Guderian's Second Armored Group went much more smoothly in comparison. While General Hott was still busy solving his opponents, Guderian had successfully left the Soviet Red Army's sniper troops behind. The tanks and motorized columns of the Second Armored Army were like long snakes scurrying across the vast land of Belarus.
The first day of the war meant unprecedented disaster for the Red Army. The German army made major breakthroughs in almost all main directions of attack. The flanks of the 2nd Western and Northwest Fronts were greatly threatened, and the aviation units suffered heavy losses. Although Stalin, who was far away in the Kremlin, could not make an accurate judgment on the scale of this disaster, through the sporadic intelligence obtained by the People's Commissariat of Defense, he was already convinced that the disaster was actually coming. Although the old Bolshevik, who had experienced countless storms, was by no means in panic as some people said, the war suddenly came against his will, which really shocked and angered Stalin.
He cursed Pavlov, who could not find a trace, blamed the General Staff and other front commanders, and even threatened to "cut off the heads of the guilty." But Stalin also understood that he must quickly understand the actual situation on the front line and establish effective command. As a result, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Shaposhnikov and Kulik were sent to the Western Front, and Zhukov was sent to the Southwest Front. At the same time, countless orders were issued: a general mobilization order was issued across the country. Except for Baikal, Central Asia and the Far East, all citizens born between 1905 and 1918 who were obliged to perform military service would be mobilized. Military control was implemented in the European part of the Soviet Union, and all national defense, national security, and social order functions were transferred to military agencies. The military authorities had the right to mobilize workers and transportation.
The outbreak of the Soviet-German war also caused great shock and repercussions around the world. The occurrence of this incident was not sudden for Britain and the United States. They had obtained this information beforehand. According to the opinions of all mainstream military experts, the Soviet Union will soon fall to Germany's iron cavalry. The Americans had roughly the same view. According to the estimates of the U.S. Army Department, it would take at least one month for Germany to defeat the Soviet Union, and no more than three months at most.
While the Wehrmacht was deploying to encircle and annihilate the Western Front, Lin Wei also issued an order to Dietrich, who was about to arrive on the battlefield, "Ignore any orders from Marshal Bock, follow my orders, and be sure to pay attention to the Berezina River. Don't let the encircled Western Front take advantage of this loophole! If more than 10,000 Soviet soldiers successfully break out from there, prepare to be the deputy commander-in-chief of the Logistics Department!"
Dietrich didn't know why Lin Wei knew that the Soviet Union's Western Front Army would definitely be surrounded, but Dietrich still chose to believe in his leader, and because of Lin Wei's strict orders, Dietrich also began to pay special attention to Bielie Zina River. From the map, it flows out of the Minsk Highlands, flows through swamps and densely forested basins in the southeast, and flows into the Niepr near Lechica. With a total length of 613 kilometers, it is just an inconspicuous river. I don’t know why my leader cares so much about it. Although he didn't understand it, Dietrich still kept an eye on it, so at the end of the Battle of Minsk, Dietrich successfully intercepted waves of remaining Soviet soldiers there.
Needless to say about the battle in Minsk, there has always been a debate between Ukraine and Moscow in the Supreme Command, but at least in Lin Wei’s eyes, the question of who is more important, Ukraine or Moscow, is simply a false proposition. If you want to defeat it quickly As for the Soviet Union, it would be a good choice to send the main force to the center and attack Moscow directly. But the risk involved was so great that even Lin Wei didn't dare to imagine it easily. Another winning plan is to occupy Ukraine and first establish an invincible position, then attack step by step, and finally win. This method is more reliable, but it will definitely take a long time, so Lin Wei is not sure about the issues in Moscow and Ukraine.
Marshal Rundstedt only took over as commander of Army Group South in April. The Wehrmacht's offensive in Yugoslavia in April did not affect the movement of troops to the Soviet border. After the war in Yugoslavia ended, the Sixth Army The section between Przemysl and Lublin was carried out. Its current task is to break through the Soviet Red Army's border position near Kovel and open the way for the Panzer Army. The neighboring 17th Army deployed in the area between Przemysl and Tomashu. The mission was to defeat the enemy near Wolf and seize the Konitsa area. The First Armored Group prepared for an attack behind the inner wings of the two armies, and after breaking through the border fortifications, it launched an attack on Kiev and the lower reaches of the Tiber River.
The Carpathian Mountains area was initially guarded by Hungarian border brigades, which would also participate in the war later. In Romania, the Romanian Third Army was deployed west of Botosani, and the Romanian Fourth Army was deployed on either side of Iasi. Marshal Rundstedt was ordered to cooperate with the Romanian army, which was initially commanded by Marshal Antonescu.
It has to be said that Stalin was still prepared for Germany's attack. After the German war in Western Europe ended, Stalin began to prepare for a military conflict with Germany. However, after the Soviet Union suddenly attacked and occupied the three Baltic countries, the Soviet Union was on the right. The opponent no longer exists. So from that time on, Stalin focused more and more of his attention on the southwest region of this huge empire.
Most of the troops of Kiev's Southwest Front are deployed in the area between Iasi and Lublin. The troops of the Soviet Southwest Front include the 5th, 6th, 9th, 12th, and 26th armies and the 4th and 26th armies. 5. Ninth and Fifteenth Independent Mechanized Corps.
These troops were organized into two large groups. The Younger Army Group was composed of forty-six divisions and was waiting in the area between Chernivtsi and Kiev. The Second Group was on guard along the Bug River until Dnei Ste River. The Second Group had twenty infantry divisions, three tank brigades, and seven mechanized brigades.
This means that the Southwestern Front has sixty-six infantry divisions, totaling nearly one million. Facing such an opponent, it is undoubtedly unwise to launch a strong frontal attack, which also gave Marshal Rundstedt, who was responsible for attacking Ukraine, a huge headache.
Marshal Rundstedt reported the difficulties he encountered to the Supreme Command and asked Army Group Center in the direction of Germany's main attack to send Armored Group Army to assist Army Group South in combat in order to annihilate the Soviet Southwest Front after progress was made.
The order from the Supreme Command was immediately transmitted to Marshal Rundstedt. Of course, he unceremoniously refuted Marshal Rundstedt's request. However, Rundstedt was not depressed, because after Commander Bronn Marshal Berg's telegram has already revealed that a total of forty divisions of the armed SS are rushing to the southern front, allowing Marshal Rundstedt to complete his plan without reservation and not to worry about the issue of troop strength. .
In fact, when Marshal Rundstedt was arguing with the Supreme Command, the fighting had already begun. Hundreds of artillery batteries deployed by the Wehrmacht along the Bug and San rivers were attacking identified Soviet fortifications, barracks, and roads. Heavy shelling. At the same time, the roar of the first long-range fighter jets sounded in the sky, and then bombs fell on traffic lines and airports.
The Sixth Army, which was attacking on the right wing of Army Group South, used one corps to guard the Pripyat Swamp. The other two corps crushed the resistance of the Soviet Red Army at the border protrusion, thus allowing the leading troops of the First Armored Group to Crossed the Bug River a dozen hours after the war began.
According to the plan, the Seventeenth Group Army should clear out the enemies of the Lviv assault at the beginning. However, the German army responsible for the offensive encountered tenacious resistance from the Soviet Red Army. Some of the cooperating divisions lost contact with each other in the first few hours. A gap of ten kilometers widened in the connection between them. The paratroopers who unexpectedly attacked the important bridge in Przemysl also failed. As a result, on the first day when Army Group Center and Army Group North sang their triumphal songs, the entire Southern Army Group Almost no results were achieved.
Despite this, the Soviet Red Army was forced to abandon its border positions and retreat to a place 20 kilometers behind the border to build a new line of defense.
While the offensive forces in other directions had achieved significant results, the performance of Army Group South drove Marshal Rundstedt, who had just won the Battle of Britain, crazy. However, Rundstedt calmed down. The marshal still carefully considered the situation on the battlefield. Look for gaps between the Soviet Red Army, hoping to find powerful fighters.
The fighter planes arrived soon, but this was not created by the German army, but by the Soviet Red Army itself. After the first day of heavy losses, the Soviet Union went crazy like a furious lion. Under Stalin's order to drive the German army out of the border at all costs, the Soviet Red Army who fought with the German army on all fronts followed the instructions. A counteroffensive was taken on Stalin's orders. Marshal Timoshenko, the commander-in-chief of the Red Army in the southern part of the Soviet Union, gave the Southwest Front an order to counterattack Lublin. The commander of the Southwest Front, General Kirponos, skillfully used the mechanized equipment deployed between Rivno and Brody. The army launched an assault on the German vanguard that had appeared.
This order was originally correct, and it was also a very suitable order at the time, because unlike the Western Front Army and the Northwest Front Army, the Southwest Front Army did not suffer irreparable losses on the first day of the battle with the German Army Group South, that is, Said that the Southwest Front Army can still fight a battle with the Southern Army Group.
But when he issued the order, he encountered the German First Armored Army and achieved a breakthrough. The 3rd and 48th Motorized Chinese Army separated the Soviet Red Army's defense line near Vladimir-Turbosky, and then immediately continued to attack *hit. General Kilponos panicked at this time and ordered his troops to counterattack.
However, the 1st Armored Group Army, which had already broken through the front line, had fully entered the state and captured Lutz in the evening. The 48th Motorized Army firmly occupied Dubno and repelled three counterattacking Red Army divisions. .
At this time, General Kilponos finally realized that he and Marshal Rundstedt were at a complete disadvantage in the border confrontation. It was impossible for the Soviet Red Army to regain the border area, so he ordered, "The Red Army at the border All the troops immediately retreated to the Proskurov line of Kroskin-Volensnysnyskoye!”
"But General, Marshal Timoshenko ordered us to counterattack the German army's attack. I think we should obey the instructions from above. If the above are dissatisfied, you will be in danger!" the kind staff officer reminded General Kilponos. In his opinion, there is nothing more terrifying than violating the orders from above. You know, almost everyone above knows.
"No, I personally asked Marshal Timoshenko for instructions on this matter. I think the leader will understand our situation!" General Kilponos said sternly, "We were not part of the German army at all after the war started. Opponent, I don't believe that the leader doesn't know!" General Kilponos was really right. Stalin did not know the situation on the front line. Otherwise, Stalin would not have issued an order to counterattack.
General Kilponos actually contacted Stalin, which must be said to be a lucky thing. You must know that under the attack of the Luftwaffe, the command systems of many troops are in chaos. Stalin turned a deaf ear to General Kilponos's request, because so far, the situation Stalin had received was very optimistic, because all the army commanders were afraid that Stalin would be purged after learning the true situation, so they all Report good news but not bad news. Otherwise Stalin would not have issued such a ridiculous order.
However, Stalin still encouraged General Kilponos and wrote in the order, "The Supreme Command has established a new headquarters of the Southern Front in Bessarabia, specifically to deal with the Hungarian and Romanian armies. It is hoped that It will help the situation of your Southwest Front Army!"
But I don’t know if Stalin’s move really had an effect, or if Marshal Rundstedt had his own considerations. After the German Wehrmacht took control of Dubno, there were no major military operations in the next few days. The total number of German Army Group South and the Soviet Union's Southwest Front totaled two million troops. When the central and northern fronts were fighting in full swing, a strange situation formed on the southern front. The two huge armies, under the command of Marshal Rundstedt and Admiral Kilponos, were like two boxers with rich experience, looking for opportunities to kill their opponents in a static situation.