However, the Southwest Front Army on the southern front has not yet begun to take action, and the Soviet troops in the southwest and northwest directions can't wait to launch new attacks. On June 23, the second day after the war began, According to the specific provisions of Order No. 3 of the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army, the three fronts of the Red Army in the western border area (Northwest, Western, and Southwestern Fronts) should send powerful mechanized troops to head-on attack the invading German army. Among them, the mission assigned to the Northwest and Western Fronts is to "encircle and annihilate the enemy Suwalki Group, that is, General Hoth's Third Armored Group, by means of concentrated assault, and occupy the Suwalki area by the dusk of the 24th." ". But for some reason, the commander of the Northwestern Front, General Kuznetsov, did not pay attention to the German Third Armored Group that was advancing towards Vilnius. , he believed that it should be dealt with by the Western Front under the command of General Pavlov.
In Kuznetsov's own plan, what really needs to be taken seriously is the German army that is attacking the center of his front's defense zone, that is, the Fourth Armored Group of Army Group North and the Eighteenth Army covering its flanks.
According to the counterattack plan of the Northwestern Front, the 12th Mechanized Corps, in cooperation with the 10th Infantry Corps of the 8th Regiment Army, should attack the German left flank from Skavdevili, while the 5th Mechanized Corps should attack the German right flank. The entire counterattack will be under the unified command of Major General Sobinnikov, commander of the Eighth Army, and the order was issued at 9:30 that morning.
The plan of the Northwest Front was impeccable in theory, but the actual situation did not accept the theory. First of all, the Soviet army in combat was unable to establish effective contact between its superior headquarters and subordinate units, or between friendly and neighboring units, and had almost no idea of the enemy situation in front of them. Such a counterattack would be tantamount to a blind man running away. Blind horse. In terms of specific measures, the Soviet army completely failed to act in accordance with the principle of concentrating its forces.
In this way, although the Soviet tank mechanized force used to counterattack the Fourth Armored Group Army had three tank divisions, they had no tactical coordination or even basic contact with each other, so they could not form an assault force at all. Moreover, due to the hasty preparation time, each unit failed to receive enough ammunition and fuel. At the same time, due to the lack of transport vehicles, it is difficult for them to expect to be replenished in the upcoming battle. Later German battlefield reports also confirmed that destroyed and abandoned Soviet tanks often contained few shells. This is a huge difficulty faced not only by the Northwest Front, but also by the Soviet mechanized forces in the entire western region. Therefore, it is difficult to exert the huge power that the tank force should have. And, the more important point is. They miscalculated their opponent, the German 4th Panzer Group. The number of tanks owned by this unit greatly exceeded them. This kind of battle without knowing oneself or the enemy was doomed to fail from the beginning.
While the German armored forces in the center achieved victory, the 2nd Army covering its flanks also made considerable progress. On the right wing of Army Group North, the Eighteenth Army approached the city of Libawa, surrounded the city and quickly launched an attack. This base is very important to the German army because this port is an important exit from the Baltic Sea. If the German army can successfully capture this port, then their powerful fleet can smoothly enter the Baltic Sea and reach Leningrad. By June 25, the German Army Group North had advanced more than 100 kilometers within the Soviet Union. Successfully controlled several ports, including Finland's Cohan Peninsula.
With Army Group North advancing smoothly, the Soviet Northwest Front troops stationed in the three Baltic countries retreated across the board. Anyway, the three Baltic countries were originally a strategic buffer for Leningrad, and they would not feel bad if they were lost. If the retreat of the Northwestern Front proceeds smoothly, even if it is successfully raided by the Northern Army Group, the situation for the Soviet Union will still not be too bad, because the remnants of the Northwestern Front can still surround Leningrad, although they will suffer heavy losses. , but as long as Leningrad remains, the Soviet Union will still have a chance to turn around on the northern front.
The plan looked good, and the losses of the Northwestern Front seemed huge to Moscow, but not unbearable. As long as Leningrad remains, they have a chance to counterattack. But Moscow's ideas had already been seen through by Lin Wei in Berlin. Did the remnants of the Northwest Front become the army surrounding Leningrad? This is definitely not a good thing for Germany. Fortunately, Germany still has general measures in place. That is the fourth offensive force of the German Wehrmacht.
On the surface, it seems that the forces Germany invested in Operation Barbarossa this time are divided into three army groups, but this is a mistake. On the territory of Finland, Germany still has a force. This is of course not the two divisions of the Waffen SS, but the newly formed Norwegian Army Group after Germany occupied Norway.
Since Lin Wei's plan failed during the Battle of Norway, King Haakon VII of Norway successfully fled to England. This made Germany's plan to use the royal family to stabilize Norway fail. For this reason, Hitt, who had not yet been assassinated at that time? Le, had to focus on the defense in Norway. The newly established Norwegian Army Group was established at that time. Before the end of the Battle of Britain, the strength of the Norwegian Army Group continued unabated. After all, Norway was too close to Germany, and iron ore was so important to Germany.
But after Haakon VII returned to Norway because of the defeat of the British, the military strength of the Norwegian Army was a bit useless in Norway, but it didn't matter, the Norwegian Army still had its own value. In the Barbarossa Operation Plan, the Norwegian Army's The mission is to defeat the Soviet Red Army opposite Finland at any cost. After completing the mission, ignore the direction of the Soviet defeated troops and go directly south to intercept the retreat of the Soviet Northwest Front. As for the issue of Leningrad, leave it to the armed parties. It was completed by two divisions of the Guards. As long as the plan went well, Leningrad, which had lost the main force of the Northwest Front, was not an intractable fortress for the Waffen SS. The prisoners of the Soviet Red Army would be solved by the Finnish army. The Norwegian garrison consists of 1 army group, 5 corps, 12-13 divisions and 8 brigades. On the day Operation Barbarossa began, they also participated in the battle. Perhaps they did not expect that Germany would put a group army in Finland. The Soviet Red Army, which was responsible for guarding Finland, faced the Finnish army with a desire for revenge and the joint attack of the Norwegian Army Group, which was cooperating with the operation. It did not even hold on for a day. On the night of the 22nd, the entire Soviet Union collapsed. The road from Finland to Leningrad was cleared. Just as Lin Wei thought, Leningrad, which is closest to the border, should be the focus of care.
As Lin Wei expected, the Northwest Front Army immediately began to retreat after finding that it could not resist the offensive of the Northern Army Group. This situation made Marshal Loeb, commander of the Northern Army Group, very angry. He immediately ordered the Fourth Armored Army to intercept the retreat of the Northwest Front and buy time for the Norwegian Army Group moving south from Finland to intercept.
Beginning on June 29, the 8th Army and the 11th Army under the Northwestern Front retreated in two different directions, north and south respectively. The large gap that appeared in between made the German 4th Army, which had already crossed the West Dvina River, retreat. The cluster was able to attack more smoothly. In particular, the 11th Army of the Red Army, which was responsible for covering the direction of Pskov, was already in a state of commandlessness. The Red Army's retreat in the Baltic Sea region was chaotically organized. A large number of troops, together with the refugees, did not know where to retreat to or where to cross the river. Under the constant harassment of German saboteurs and local nationalists, they marched blindly and chaotically. retreat.
Not only that, many defeated small Soviet troops also hid on both sides of the forested roads, ambushing the German logistics troops. Sometimes a surviving Soviet tank would emerge from the forest. However, in the absence of cooperation from local residents, this tactic could not last long, because the residents of the Baltic Sea region did not like the Soviets, but would rather welcome the Germans. Some people even took the initiative to help the Germans eliminate local rebels and Soviet lurkers. . The brutality with which they treated Soviet soldiers and local leaders astonished even Marshal Loeb, the commander of German Army Group North. Perhaps because of this, of all occupied Soviet territories, the Baltic region was the most thoroughly purged of red elements.
Not only Marshal Loeb was very angry, General Nicholas von Falkenhorst, the commander of the Norwegian Army Group, was also very angry. I don’t know who came up with the doctrine of letting the Norwegian Army intercept the Northwest Front. I really don’t know if there is any. Looking at the combat map, although the distance from Finland to the three Baltic countries is not far from the map, it is only on the map. According to the advancing route of the Norwegian Army, it will take at least July 5th to reach the three Baltic countries where the Northwest Front is stationed. At that time, the Northwest Front had probably withdrawn from the three Baltic countries, and his own Norwegian Army had to intercept the Northwest Front on the original territory of the Soviet Union with its back to Leningrad. The number of troops was already almost three times that of the Norwegian Army. The enemy, General Nicholas von Falkenhorst, was very troubled.
What made General Nicholas von Falkenhorst even more angry was that the two divisions of the armed SS, which were originally the most mechanized, were very suitable for the interception task. They could start fighting in advance, and then the main force of the Norwegian Army would be in Then they joined the battle, but the High Command actually asked them to capture Leningrad.
"My group armies are all mountain divisions! They are not armored divisions. How can we let them run to the interception point? It must be the leader of the SS who is afraid that his troops will suffer losses, so he lets them attack Leningrad. It must be!" Nicholas .Von Falkenhorst thought angrily. If von Falkenhorst knew the cruel order Lin Wei gave the two divisions, he might not think so.
"Commander! What's our next move?" General von Falkenhorst's staff obviously knew what he was thinking, so he asked cautiously.
"Of course we are following the orders of the Supreme Command! Although it will be difficult, we have to give it a try!" Von Falkenhorst said helplessly. It is the duty of soldiers to obey orders, and General Von Falkenhorst would certainly not do anything to disobey military orders.
"However, our daily marching distance must be very fast, which is almost impossible for us!" the chief of staff objected.
"Almost impossible, not completely impossible! It is said that the Waffen SS once used a method in Norway to maintain their marching speed!" Nicholas von Falkenhorst asked rhetorically, "Isn't it right? Is this the case?"
"Commander, you mean?" the chief of staff's eyes lit up.
"Yes, let's gather the tanks, vehicles, mules and horses of the entire army group, and communicate with the Finnish army, asking them to help us as much as possible, and try to send the three divisions to the interception location first!" Nicholas von Falkenhaus The special general ordered with a wave of his hand.
Following General Nicholas von Falkenhorst's order, the Norwegian Army Group attacking Leningrad from Finland immediately saw this scene. Two armored men wearing black military uniforms and equipped with all kinds of heavy weapons The division drove Germany's latest Panther tank and advanced non-stop towards Leningrad. Most of the troops of the Norwegian Army were concentrated as much as possible to speed up their march from east to west to intercept the retreating Red Army of the Soviet Northwest Front. In the Norwegian Army's march south, all kinds of means of transportation were used on the way. The entire Army had assembled more than 300 Panzer IV tanks, and the tanks were fully loaded with German Wehrmacht soldiers. Behind the tanks, a The soldiers of the infantry division were chasing hard on 20,000 horses. Various cars and Soviet tanks captured by Germany became tools to transport the Norwegian Army. They had only one purpose, which was to intercept the retreating Soviet Northwest Front. , cooperate with the Northern Army Group to annihilate them.
From this point of view, the Soviet Northwest Front, which is now temporarily separated from Army Group North, is still far from true security. But at least now General Kuznetsov believes that he has been temporarily freed from the threat of Marshal Loeb's Northern Army Group, and the Northwest Front can also breathe a sigh of relief.
Regardless of whether General Kuznetsov's considerations are true, one thing is certain. Judging from the current situation, the situation of the Northwest Front Army is at least much better than that of the Western Front Army. Since the outbreak of the war, the border lines on the left and right wings of the Soviet Western Front have been broken through by Guderian's Second Armored Army and General Huth's Third Armored Army respectively. The two powerful armored groups under Marshal Bock were like sharp swords inserted into the depths of the Red Army, attempting to cut off the retreat of the main force of the Western Front in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and encircle and annihilate it. Therefore, the top priority of the Western Front is to prevent the advancement of these two German armored groups through counterattacks.
On the left flank, the Western Front prepared to launch a counterattack with the mechanized XIV Corps under the Fourth Army. But on the right wing, Front Army Commander Pavlov had no intention of using powerful forces to fight against the German Third Armored Group Army that was making a breakthrough there. Instead, he was just preparing to form a group with the Mechanized First Army, led by Front Army Deputy Commander Bolkin. The major general commanded a counterattack against the German Ninth Army troops, which in fact only served as auxiliary offensive tasks on the flanks of the Third Armored Army.
Perhaps General Pavlov felt that the Northwest Front should deal with this German armored group interspersed between the Western and Northwest Fronts. However, as mentioned before, the commander of the Northwestern Front Army Kuznetsov also believed that the Western Front Army should perform this task. Without the help of General Pavlov and General Kuznetsov, General Hott's Third Armored Army was still advancing with great success.
To make matters worse, fearing that the troops would be surrounded by the German Ninth Army at close range, Pavlov also ordered the Tenth Army to be transferred to the central part of the Bialystok salient for defense. This not only left the Soviet troops behind There were not enough troops to deal with the rapidly advancing German armored and motorized troops, and at the same time more troops were packed into the "big pocket" planned by the Germans.
According to the new instructions of the Western Front, the Bolkin Group should retake Grodno with the cooperation of the 3rd Regiment Army, and the remaining units should make every effort to stop the German advance. For this reason, General Pavlov's Thirteenth Army, the second echelon of the Front, also entered the battle in this area. This army group was in the formation stage when the war broke out, and its troops were temporarily drawn from the reserves of the Western Front. What Pavlov did not realize was that his decision would lead to the emptiness of troops in the depths of the Western Front, thus creating conditions for the destruction of the German armored forces.
On June 27, Lin Wei, who had just completed the eastward march plan of the armed SS troops, rushed to the Supreme Command and immediately learned of the extremely bad situation of the Soviet Northwest Front Army and the Western Front Army. The Supreme Command At that time, I was immersed in an optimistic atmosphere. This optimistic atmosphere seemed to have infected Lin Wei, who had been worried. Although there was still no news on the southern line, which Lin Wei paid the most attention to, the situation on the northern line and the central line could still make Lin Wei Wei was relieved that under the noses of a bunch of generals, Lin Wei turned around the map of the Soviet-German war situation several times, and finally shouted like a normal young man, "The Baltic Sea, Minsk, and the northwest of the Soviet Union." The Front Army and the Western Front Army are finished!"
Lin Wei certainly had his own reasons for being so happy. Once the Northwest Front Army was annihilated, Leningrad would be very empty. Lin Wei's goal of occupying Leningrad as soon as the war started would have been achieved. The destruction of the Western Front Army would make Moscow's There is no heavy troop group on the front, and although the Southern Army Group on the southern front is not moving, Lin Wei believes that it is not difficult for the Southern Army Group to capture Kiev. As long as the four cities of Moscow, Kiev, Leningrad, and Stalingrad, Germany As long as it successfully captures two of them, Germany can fulfill its promise and require Turkey to participate in the war. This will add hundreds of thousands of friendly troops to Germany in the Soviet-German War, thus further narrowing the manpower gap with the Soviet Union.