Chapter III: The Outbreak of the Fascist War of Aggression against the Soviet Union (I)
The war of the fascist invasion of the Soviet Union is about to break out, the great patriotic war of the Soviet people is about to break out - forced, of course. This war was a war of great weight in the Second World War, an earth-shaking war, and a war of turning things around. The uncompromising nature of its struggles, the intensity and frequency of its battles, the enduring tenacity of its will, the magnitude of its costs, and the magnitude of its losses are unprecedented. No matter what posterity says, the people's great deeds are indelible, and the brilliant achievements of Soviet socialism are obvious to all, so we will further stretch our historical picture and show this great and fierce scene in history to the fullest.
Full map of Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941
Section 1 Border Engagement - Blitzkrieg Success
At dawn on June 22, 1941, fascist Germany tore up the non-aggression pact, went to war without declaring war, and suddenly launched an all-out attack on the Soviet Union with powerful forces: its artillery bombarded the Soviet border fortifications and the area where the forward troops were deployed, and thousands of kilometers of the national border were instantly filled with smoke and guns rumbled; its large number of bombers penetrated deep into the Soviet border and launched a comprehensive bombardment of its airfields, transportation, communications, troops and urban civilians. Cities such as Murmansk, Kaunas, Minsk, Kiev, Odessa, and Sevastopol were instantly caught in the sea of bombing, the personnel, weapons, equipment and facilities of the army suffered heavy losses in an instant, and the transportation and communication facilities of the state to implement unified scheduling of society and the army were instantly paralyzed. Especially in the first few days of large-scale bombing of the airfield, the fascist Luftwaffe destroyed thousands of Soviet combat aircraft that were too late to evacuate on the ground, seized air supremacy in one fell swoop, and provided an extremely favorable air environment for its ground operations, and the next Soviet operations will always face a powerful air threat from the enemy. In this way, the Soviet people and their armies ushered in a new day of war without any defense, a day of disastrousness, a day when the Soviet people entered a new historical period and a new combat career.
Outbreak of the Soviet-German War - Border Wars
Wasn't it a few hours before the enemy invaded that the Soviet commander-in-chief gave the army an order to immediately enter the first level of combat readiness, requiring the army to quickly enter the position, quickly disperse the camouflage, and quickly implement the light control? But when this order met the fascist invading army, it quickly lost its effectiveness. In fact, under the sudden blow of the invading army, the Soviet army suffered losses not only of its fighting strength, but also of its command and control. In the mode of blitzkrieg, the invaded army will be panicked, there will be a situation of weak command, and there will be a situation in which the superior does not understand the subordinate, the subordinate does not understand the superior, the local does not understand the overall situation, and the overall situation does not understand the local situation. In the previous blitzkriegs, fascism took advantage of this situation to quickly disintegrate the resistance of the aggressor and quickly eliminate the army of the aggressor, who also quickly lost confidence, lost their will, and obediently surrendered in the face of this situation. The same situation arose in the case of Big Brother of the USSR, but unlike the other aggressors, it only prescribed for itself the way out of resolute resistance, and there was absolutely no possibility of surrender and compromise to the aggressor. This is the most difficult and the most expensive path, but it is the only correct path, it quickly mobilizes all the forces of the state, quickly takes all actions to restore, strengthen and change the national resistance, establish an organized, powerful and orderly national resistance system, break the enemy's blitzkrieg blade, and thwart the enemy's blitzkrieg attempts.
Okay, back to the point. After the bombardment in the sky and on the ground, the fascist ground army was dispatched, and the forward was naturally its tank motorized army, naturally the four tank clusters, which quickly wedged into the Soviet defense system from all directions and quickly swept hundreds of kilometers of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet border defense system was quickly broken by them.
Section 2 Border Engagement - Central Direction
In the main offensive direction of the center, the specific offensive deployment of the four tiger and wolf armies of the "Central" Army Group is as follows: two tank groups are deployed on the outer flank of the front line, responsible for encircling the Soviet Western Front West Front west of Minsk [Note 1], and two army groups are deployed on the inner flank of the front line, using the results of the tank cluster, responsible for the final annihilation of the encircled Soviet army. [Note 1: After the outbreak of war, the three special military regions on the western border of the Soviet Army were changed to three fronts, of which the western special military region was changed to the western front. 】
The rightmost wing (southern flank) of the "Central" Army was Guderian's 2nd Tank Group, which was extremely powerful, with 3 tank armies (24, 46, 47 tank corps), 5 tank divisions and 3 motorized divisions, which launched an attack near Brest, and at the beginning of the offensive, it also had several infantry divisions of the 4th Army, mainly responsible for attacking the Fortress of Brest and covering its two wings, while the main force of the 4th Army was deployed on its left flank (north flank). At dawn on the 22nd, with an hour's fire of artillery and dive bombers, the Guderian group successfully crossed the West Bug River, but the infantry division of the 4th Army failed to take the Brest fortress on the same day, so Guderian had to detour through Brest to arrange his logistical supply line for the next few days.
As the old rule, Guderian continued his record of lightning strikes, and on the first day of the battle, his group rushed across several rivers and seized several bridges, and the forward reached Prouzane (northeast of Brest) seventy kilometers away. On the 23rd it captured Beleuza, after which two corps of its forwards began to advance in two directions: the 47th Army pointed to Minsk and carried out a roundabout encirclement mission; the 24th Army pointed to Bobruisk on the Berezina River, apparently preparing for the next attack on the Dnieper; and the 46th Army followed first on the second line, and then deployed between them as the interval between the first two armies expanded in the direction of attack, filling the gap in the front. The tactical thinking was much the same as that of the Western Front: the tank division rushed to the front, followed by the motorized division, and then the infantry division, which gradually established a circle against the Soviet army. Over the next few days, the Guderian cluster continued to advance, charging all the way and thwarting the scattered resistance of the Soviet army. On the 27th, the 47th Army captured Baranovich, and on the 28th, it reached Minsk, established contact with the 3rd Tank Group, and initially completed the encirclement of the Soviet army west of Minsk. Meanwhile, on the 26th, the 24th Army captured Slutsk and on the 28th reached Bobruisk. Various operational objectives have been successfully achieved. The straight-line distance from Brest to Minsk was more than three hundred kilometers, and to Bobruisk was nearly four hundred kilometers, and in less than ten days, the mechanized troops of the blitzkrieg hero had finished it in battle.
The far left wing (north flank) of the "Central" Army was Hort's 3rd Tank Group, which consisted of 2 tank armies (39 and 57 tank corps), 4 tank divisions and 3 motorized divisions (one of which was supposed to have been transferred from the reserve after the start of the war), and temporarily two infantry corps of the 9th Army. It attacked near Suwałki, with the 39th Army to the north and the 57th Army to the south, the main force of the 9th Army to its south, and the troops of the 16th Army, the "Army Group North" responsible for attacking Kaunas to the north. The Hoth Army was basically a replica of the Guderian Army, its movements were as fast and fierce as the latter, and the two armored armies were two sharp blades, directly into the heart of the rear of the Soviet Western Front - Minsk. The first objective of the Hort's operation was to seize several bridges over the Neman River – the Kaunas-Grodno section of the Neman River was the first obstacle in front of the Hort Army. To Holt's satisfaction, "the first day of the offensive went exactly as planned" and "the troops achieved complete strategic surprise", and several bridges were successfully acquired.
In the next few days, the operation of the Hut army was basically no suspense, and it was also a fierce advance, crushing the scattered resistance of the Soviet army all the way. On the 24th, the vanguard of the 39th Army captured Vilnius, and four days later, on the 28th, they advanced to Minsk and closed the encirclement. The 57th Army first advanced to the Vilnius-Lida Road, from which it extended to Minsk to form a circle against the Soviets, and its divisions were scattered in this area to prevent all Soviet attempts to break through. At the same time, infantry of the 9th Army gradually took over the encirclement, while the Hut Army freed up its hands to advance further towards the West Dvina River.
In the face of the rapid penetration of the fascist tiger and wolf division, the vast number of commanders and fighters of the Soviet army made due resistance and dedication under extremely difficult conditions, and constantly displayed heroic spirit, tenacious fighting style and sacrifice spirit that regarded death as homecoming. However, their resistance has always been fragmented and disorderly, and it will be difficult to stop the rapid crushing of the torrent of steel. At different points of the front, the Soviet border guards, who were on the front lines of resistance, put up heroic resistance, but their defenses were quickly broken by the invaders. This was followed by the resistance of the regular Soviet army, which was four hundred kilometers deep, but who could not enter the intended defensive areas under the blows of ground and air forces, or were forced to engage in encounters in batches between marches, or to conduct defensive battles in undefended areas, in short, they were put into battle under extremely unfavorable conditions. In fact, many troops were put into battle without food, ammunition, logistics or even weapons, while many more troops fell into the enemy's encirclement without knowing it, and were hit by the enemy and lost.
The Soviet border defense system was the first dam to resist the torrent of fascist war, but this dam was too fragile to stop the fierce and vicious torrent. Once this dam "broke through in a large area" and let the torrent of fascist war rush into the depth of the Soviet defense system, this system would be instantly shattered and disfigured. A key problem is that the Soviet communication system is too fragile, and we have pointed out in the previous volume that the Soviet communications force is insufficient, the central and forward armies rely on poorly concealed civilian communications, rely too much on wired communications, and so on. Under the rapid blows of the enemy's air and ground forces, the Soviet army was completely lost in an instant, the superior did not understand the part of the subordinate, the subordinate did not understand the overall situation of the superior, the left wing did not know whether the right wing resisted, the right wing did not know whether the left wing retreated, the front could not get timely support from the rear, and the rear could not meet the urgent needs of the front.
Of course, the problem of communication is only a superficial problem, and the fundamental problem of the Soviet army is a problem of ideological understanding, and it has not really realized the reality that the enemy is strong and we are weak, and has not realized the real power of blitzkrieg. On the battlefield of the invasion of the Soviet Union, the German army transformed blitzkrieg into a wide front and a wide range of high-speed operations, and in an instant, thousands of kilometers of the front were broken, hundreds of kilometers of depth were swept away, and it was advancing at a speed of tens of kilometers or even hundreds of kilometers a day. If the Soviet Army did not deeply understand this, then as soon as the war broke out, it had no time to respond, or its response was always lagging behind the rapidly changing situation, and in the end it could not but turn the tide of the war at a heavy cost.
Let us now look at how the Western Front, which was in the direction of the enemy's main offensive, commanded its subordinate units to fight. In fact, as soon as the war broke out, the Western Front's contact with its subordinate departments was not very smooth, and "the commander of the Front, General Pavlov, who knew exactly what was going on in the 3rd, 10th, and 4th Armies, nor fully understood the situation of the advancing enemy tank groups, often made up his mind that did not conform to the situation." Some senior generals of the Western Front, including General Pavlov, failed to stay in their command posts after the war broke out, to find out the overall situation, and to exercise stable command, but instead inappropriately ran to the front line to direct the operation. At the same time, there were also some Soviet commanders who lacked the initiative after the war broke out, and in the face of strong enemy attacks, they did not actively command the army to enter the battle, but passively waited for instructions from their superiors, and the result was in a more disadvantageous position.
Of course, whether it is running to the front line to "take the lead" or lack of initiative, it reflects the lack of experience of Soviet commanders, who cannot correctly deal with the enemy's sudden strikes and the complex situation brought about by the enemy's large-scale high-speed attack. After the war broke out, many Soviet commanders and fighters still actively threw themselves into battle, flexibly and flexibly implemented command, and there were many outstanding people and talents constantly emerging. I think that whether they are wise or foolish, they have grown up in the great winds and waves of socialism in the Soviet Union, and they have reflected the superiority of this system, and their foolishness has reflected the shortcomings of this system. In the early days of the war, they made mistakes, they lost, but the responsibility was not all on them, and the mistakes were not tactical in the campaign, but strategic.
Okay, back to the point. Due to a failure in command and the inability to function effectively because of the sudden heavy damage to the entire military system, the various units of the Western Front soon became uncoordinated. On the one hand, the 10th Army was in the salient of Białystok, did not feel the strong pressure of the war, and was still holding out, fighting, and the Western Front failed to withdraw this army in time to encircle. On the other hand, the 3rd and 4th Armies, which were on both flanks of the protrusion, were unable to organize effective resistance under the pressure of the enemy's two large armored torrents and had to retreat repeatedly, and only a few divisions of these two armies engaged in hasty frontal battles with the enemy, and many more troops were either under the enemy's ground and air assaults, or collapsed before the battle or were caught in the encirclement. General Pavlov inappropriately transferred the newly formed 13th Army (21st Army) from Minsk to the Lida region, which on the one hand pushed the army into the fire, and on the other hand, led to the emptiness of Minsk in the heart of the rear.
Of course, the Soviet high command also quickly realized the seriousness of the problem. At that time, in order to help improve the command, the High Command sent its own representatives to the various armies, among which Marshal Shaposhnikov was sent to the Western Front, and soon after his arrival in the Western Front, he proposed the withdrawal of the troops from the Białystok salient, which was approved by the High Command. But the advice is recommended, and it is not so easy to get it implemented, because there are enemies in the front who constantly hit you and oppress you, you can't get rid of it, you can't turn into an organized retreat, and then there are enemies who have already overtaken you, entered your rear, and are pinching you back and forth. You have been suddenly hit, you are not as intelligent as a person, your skills are not as good as a person, your strength is not as good as a person, and it is too difficult to get rid of the clutches of the enemy.
Of course, throughout the chaotic battle, the Western Front had some actions to consciously or spontaneously improve its position. The first was the concentration of the 6th, 11th Mechanized Corps and the 6th Cavalry Corps into cavalry mechanized clusters, commanded by the deputy commander of the Front, Borkin, who carried out a flanking counter-assault on the enemy in the Grodno area, but failed to achieve victory, because Borkin failed to concentrate all the troops in the appropriate areas, the units were too far apart, the communications were not well organized, the logistical support could not keep up, everything was uncoordinated, and the enemy's air threat was present at all times. In fact, only the 6th Mechanized Corps took active action, and despite the enemy's air attacks, with the support of its own aviation, the army launched a counterattack from the Białystok area to the Grodno area, and gave the troops of the enemy 9th Army a certain blow. As for the 11th Mechanized Army, it had already been caught in a bitter defensive battle southeast of Grodno and was unable to turn to a counterattack, while the 6th Cavalry Army, which belonged to Womza and Volkovsk (separated by more than a hundred kilometers), was attacked by enemy aircraft on its way and suffered heavy losses. The eventual counterattack ended in failure. With poor backup and exhausted fuel and ammunition, how can it be an opponent of a powerful enemy? The remnants of the counterattacks then followed the 3rd Army into the Nalibok Forest, where the 10th Army was eventually encircled.
The 4th Army retreated haphazardly in the direction of Pinsk-Slutsk, and although it was not encircled, it suffered heavy losses. At the beginning of the battle, it also organized its 14th Mechanized Corps to counterattack, but the three tank divisions and motorized divisions under the army either collapsed without fighting under the enemy's air and ground assault, or could not reach the combat area due to the lack of transport vehicles, or rushed into battle with inferior equipment in isolation and ignorance, and suffered heavy losses. One of the highlights of the 4th Army's defensive belt was the battle in the Heroic Fortress of Brest, where the Soviet border troops and the regular army (the 6th and 42nd Divisions, etc.) fought for a month, and when the invaders approached Smolensk in late July, the Soviet survivors still refused to surrender and fought until the last moment of their lives. This is a vivid embodiment of the great fighting spirit of the Soviet people, and this is where the hope of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union to reverse the disadvantage lies.
Second, when the enemy's 3rd tank group approached Minsk from the north, the Soviet command also concentrated as much of its forces (the 2nd and 44th Armies) as much as possible to carry out blockade operations, trying to save Minsk, the last lifeblood of the Western Front. In the process, some Soviet units (64th, 100th and 161st Divisions) performed heroically and effectively attacked and delayed the enemy, but the Soviets would eventually be unable to look ahead and delay the 3rd Tank Group, and although there was hope of delaying the 3rd Tank Group, they were completely unable to deal with the 2nd Tank Group approaching Minsk from the south. In the end, nothing will help.
Third, although the encircled Troops of the Western Front lost their organization and coordination, and although they were more and more trapped in the predicament of running out of ammunition and food, they also fought bravely and tried to make some breakthroughs in different directions, such as breaking through the encirclement of the 2nd Tank Group to the southeast, breaking through from the direction of Minsk to the east, and so on. On 9 July, the fascist Germans essentially eliminated the besieged Soviet forces, ended the campaign west of Minsk, and began to advance on new targets with all their might, while before that, the tank motorized troops advanced to new targets, destroying the Soviet army's reorganized defenses in new areas. The Fascist high command claimed that the campaign west of Minsk captured about 330,000 Soviet troops, more than 3,000 tanks, more than 1,800 artillery pieces, and a large number of other supplies. Whether or not the fascist record is exaggerated, the facts have shown that the Western Front suffered a devastating blow, and in less than twenty days, hundreds of thousands of troops lost their resistance, and the Soviet army had a huge gap in the western direction.
While the West was constantly struggling to fight upwards, the Soviet high command was in a state of uneasiness, worry, dissatisfaction, and anger. As soon as the war broke out, the contact between the Soviet command headquarters and the various frontal armies was smooth, but this did not help, because the various armies could not understand their own situation, and could not understand the situation of the enemy in front of them. Where the enemy is, where the enemy's main attack direction is, and what is the size of the enemy's strength, all of this is like a fog blocking the front army. Naturally, the same is true of the Western Front, or even more so. First of all, Commander Pavlov himself is not easy to contact, and the situation of the command itself is complicated, let alone anything else. Finally, the situation has been clarified, and the situation has deteriorated to the point of no return. In view of the lack of command of the front armies at that time, the high command sent its own representatives to all sides of the army. As mentioned above, Marshal Shaposhnikov was sent to the Western Front, in addition to Marshal Kulik, and the two marshals were unable to turn the tide, so Zhukov, who had been sent to the Southwestern Front, was urgently transferred back and joined the command camp of the Western Front. Zhukov knew what the western front was facing, and he was basically aware of the enemy's intentions and weaknesses, but he was unable to return to heaven because it was too difficult to reorganize the scattered army and restore order to the disrupted resistance.
After the war began, Stalin, as supreme commander of the Soviet army, showed some emotional instability, and at first he was obviously reluctant to accept the reality that the enemy was fully invading the Soviet Union- because the reality of the development completely deviated from the expectations of the strong man, and he was shocked by the soviet fiasco. Yes, how can the great and progressive Red Army be so inferior to the reactionary and evil fascist German army, who from the bottom of his heart is unwilling to accept the reality that the enemy is strong and we are weak. He was particularly dissatisfied with the command and actions of the Western Front. He was anxious and angry with the Western Front and the headquarters, and he blamed Marshal Kulik for inaction, for not being able to contact the representative of the Supreme Command, and shaposhnikov, who was not in good health, could not afford to face such a situation, so he had to urgently recall Zhukov and preside over the overall situation of the Western Front. Of course, on the whole, in such a frenzied crisis situation, Stalin did not lose his rationality, did not lose his decisiveness and strong ability to act, and he made the decisions he had made correctly. After all, this heroic figure came out of the great winds and waves of the October Revolution, and was an outstanding revolutionary figure of a generation, how could he be crushed by such a situation! Of course, even if he made the most correct decision after the outbreak of war, he would not be able to make up for the miscalculations and mistakes before the war, which was the fundamental factor that determined the current situation.
During this time, the Soviet high command also made an inappropriate decision, that is, to require the front armies to immediately turn to the counter-offensive and resist the enemy's order No. 3 outside the national gate, and the Western Front's organization of mechanized armies to carry out counterattack operations was mostly derived from this order. This order was issued hastily without understanding the circumstances of the time, and it was clearly a reflection of the Soviet army's idea of heavy offensive and light defense, and was a continuation of the Soviet army's pre-war vision, that is, to counterattack as soon as the war broke out and lead the war to enemy territory. However, it was not without certain rationality, under the circumstances at that time, it was impossible for the Soviet army to turn into a stable defense, and only by implementing a certain counterattack action could it be possible to temporarily delay the enemy's advance. In the process of actually carrying out this order, it is clear that there are two tendencies in the Soviet command: on the one hand, it insists that the front armies turn to the offensive, annihilate the enemy, and keep the enemy out of the country; on the other hand, the strategic reserves are not drawn from the rear to participate in the counterattack operation, but these reserves are deployed in new areas to establish a second-line defense, which is another action to continue the defense and not to counterattack at all. In fact, under the circumstances, it was impossible for the Soviet high command to take any kind of action that was perfect and reasonable, because what it lacked was not strength, mobilization and popular support, but time. It takes time to organize any action well, and hasty action can only bring losses, not necessarily the usual expected results. The key to the problem is to act, to act without hesitation, as long as it is resolutely resisting the enemy, it is good, you can only exchange losses for time, use losses to reverse disadvantages, win the initiative, and this loss will be huge.
Finally, let's talk about the casualties of the Western Front in the border operations: by July 10, about 340,000 people were captured and missing, more than 70,000 wounded, a total of more than 410,000 people, and the German army advanced 450-600 kilometers in the west. This was the price that the Soviet Union had to pay, not fundamentally because of its problems with its command and command after the outbreak of war, but because of all the miscalculations and mistakes it had prepared before the war. However, no matter how much loss it suffered, the Soviet army was actively fighting, trying to change its unfavorable situation, and must not let the socialist countries perish, and must not let the socialist people become slaves to the country, which is the bottom line that the Soviet Union absolutely adheres to. One after another, the former aggressors of the Soviet Union were defeated at the feet of fascists, their rulers did not have this bottom line, they had long set aside a way out for defeat and surrender, they preferred to settle down in the world rather than lay down any more, refused to mobilize the people, refused to inspire people, and the lightning strike caused a complete material and spiritual collapse. Under the blows of the Blitzkrieg, the Soviet Union also collapsed materially for the time being, but it did not collapse mentally, but became more and more excited and nervous, mobilizing all forces to fight the enemy to the end.
Section 3 Border Engagement - Northwest direction
Let's take a look at the situation in the northwest direction (Leningrad direction), which is basically a copy of the central direction, and the German army is advancing all the way, but there is no large-scale encirclement of the Soviet army, because the Soviet army here retreats relatively quickly, the enemy failed to seize it, and probably because the withdrawal was relatively fast, there was also an incongruity in the retreat process, resulting in Leningrad once opening the door. In this direction, the opposing sides are relatively weak. Under the "Northern" Army Group, the 4th Tank Group has jurisdiction over the 41st Army, the 56th Army, a total of 3 tank divisions and 3 motorized divisions, located in the center of the front, it naturally wants to take the lead, all the way through the pass, and its offensive zone is exactly the weak defensive area of the Soviet Army - the combination of the 8th Army and the 11th Army.
After departing from Tilsith on 22 June, the group advanced rapidly, especially on its right flank, the 56th Army, which had the weakest resistance in front of the Soviets, and on the day of the battle, it advanced 80 kilometers east to capture the Dubiza River crossing. On the 24th, its forwards advanced to Wilkemitz (northeast of Kaunas), 170 km away, and occupied the road to Taugavpils. On the 26th, after a 130-kilometer surge, it reached the West Dvina River, seized its bridge, and approached Taugavpils, completing its first operational objective. The 56th Army came out on top in an armored competition with its friend, the 41st Army, and Commander Manstein declared that "a sense of satisfaction grew in his heart." At this time, the 56th Army not only left the left wing of the 41st Army and the right wing of the 16th Army Group, but also left the Soviet retreating troops far behind, it was already alone behind the enemy, so it did not dare to continue to advance, but consolidated the position it had gained.
The 41st Army encountered fierce resistance in the face, and its advance was much slower, reaching the West Dvina River on 2 July. The 16th Army followed the 4th Tank Group and operated on its right flank, its first offensive target was Kaunas, and then continued to advance northeast, the army was at the junction of the "North" and "Center" armies, and in the direction of attack it was clearly "contrary" to the 3rd Tank Group to the south: it pointed to the northeast, while the latter pointed to the east, which helped to increase the effort to split the Soviet defensive front, making the gap between the West and the Northwest, but also led to the "North". The army's right wing front was constantly lengthening, and the gap between it and the "central" army was getting bigger and bigger. The 18th Army on the left flank of the "Northern" Army, with its main force attacking in the direction of Riga, advanced towards Liepaja in the coastal areas.
In the face of a sudden blow, the Soviet NorthwestErn Front (Special Military District on the Baltic Sea Coast) and the Western Front were instantly plunged into chaos, pitch black, completely out of order, organized resistance was non-existent, and the resistance or even heroic resistance of the individual battles was quickly crushed by the invaders. The resistance of the border troops was shattered, the resistance of the troops in the shallow depth was crushed, and the troops transferred from the deeper depth were defeated. Everyone does not know where the enemy is, where the enemy's main direction of attack is, the enemy was still within a few kilometers of depth at the beginning, and in a moment it appeared within a depth of more than ten kilometers and tens of kilometers, and within a few days, there were also enemies within a range of hundreds of kilometers and hundreds of kilometers. The front army did not know the situation of the group army, and the group army did not know the situation of the units below, and in ignorance it threw itself into battle, and soon returned with a big defeat. At the same time, the Soviet command could not obtain relevant information from the Northwest Front in time, and the acquisition of the situation always lagged greatly behind the enemy's actions, so it could not take timely measures to make up for the mistakes. Therefore, the command of the high command was equally dissatisfied with the command of the Northwest Front.
According to Order No. 3, the Northwestern Front also organized its two mechanized armies and several infantry units to counterattack on the 23rd: the counterattack direction of the 12th Mechanized Army was exactly the direction of the advance of the enemy 8th Army, and the counterattack direction of the 3rd Mechanized Army was the direction of the advance of the enemy 41st Tank Army. The enemy's situation is unknown, in fact, our situation is also unknown, there is no infantry support, no coordinated action, logistics, communications, technology and other support is completely unattainable, basically as soon as the order was received, the tank soldiers drove on the tanks and heroically rushed to the battlefield. The 12th Army, from the march, threw itself into battle piecemeal, engaged in three days of fierce fighting, made its best efforts, and inflicted considerable blows and delays on the enemy, of which the 28th Tank Division and the 9th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade performed well. However, the army was eventually defeated by the anti-tank forces of the enemy 18th Army and retreated in the direction of Šiauliai.
The 3rd Army, nowithstanding the enemy's location, "rushed to where the guns sounded", and its strength eventually split into two routes, one way (the 5th Tank Division and the 84th Motorized Division) was supposed to be used to strengthen the defenses of the 11th Army, and the other (the 2nd Tank Division) moved north alone, and finally fought the vanguard tank division (6th Tank Division) of the 41st Tank Army near Lasenia. Raseniai is a town more than 60 km south of Šioliai, east of which is the Dubiza River, the German 6th Tank Division after crushing the Soviet resistance, has crossed the river to establish a landing field, but suddenly counterattacked by the Soviet Tank Division, and once abandoned the landing field. According to Western authors, the biggest highlight of this counter-assault was that the Soviet army put in the KV-1 heavy tank, and its armor was so thick that the German tanks and anti-tank guns could not take it, which once caused panic in the German army. However, the Soviet assault force could only be maintained for a while, and the ammunition and fuel were quickly exhausted without support. After the Germans urgently transferred 88mm anti-aircraft guns (the Germans did not have large-caliber anti-tank guns, only such anti-aircraft guns could be replaced) to destroy them, after the arrival of the 41st Army's large troops, the 2nd Tank Division was surrounded and mostly annihilated, and another Soviet tank division made its own contribution to this anti-aggression cause after exhausting all its efforts.
By 25 June, the counterattacks of the two mechanized corps of the Northwestern Front had failed completely. At the same time, its two cover armies continued to retreat in their respective directions under the pressure of the enemy. The 11th Army was the most unfavorable and under the greatest pressure. The enemy attacked it not only the tank groups of the "Northern" Army and the 16th Army, but also the left wing of the 3rd Tank Group of the "Central" Army. The forces of the 11th Army fought a more fierce battle in Vilnius (within the offensive belt of the "Central" Army), but on the whole, under the strong blows and oppression of the enemy, suffered heavy losses, were divided into several parts, and retreated unorganized and unattended northeast towards Shebezh (near Idritsa) and Neville, so that Kaunas and Taugvepils had no cover, which was why Manstein's 56th Army was able to advance rapidly. The 8th Army's life was not much better, with its troops first retreating north to Riga, fighting hard in the area, and then continuing north on 1 July. Within the defensive belt of the 8th Army, the only highlight was the Battle of the Port of Liepaja. The 67th Infantry Division and the Naval Base Garrison set a shining example of perseverance, and for six days from the 22nd to the 27th, surrounded by sieges and with the support of the armed forces of the city workers, they repelled one enemy attack after another, and finally ran out of ammunition before being forced to abandon Liepaja. However, with the continuous fall of the coastal areas, the Soviet Baltic Fleet was also forced to withdraw north, while the enemy 'Northern" army could use the sea lines of communication for replenishment.
The two cover armies withdrew in different directions, leaving Taugavpils and the West Dvina River line west of them uncovered, and this was precisely the main direction of the enemy's attack, the enemy's shortcut to Leningrad. Faced with this crisis, the High Command had to personally adjust its deployment in an attempt to plug the gap. The 21st Mechanized Army moved from the Opochika-Idritsa area to launch a counterattack against Taugevpils. Now we return to Manstein's 56 tank corps, which occupied Taugavpils, occupied the landing field on the north bank of the West Dvina River, the Soviets did not let it idle, but constantly launched counterattacks on it, and sometimes groups of aviation troops launched bombings, and then the tank troops carried out surprise attacks, although Manstein "had to exert great effort to carry out defenses, and some areas were in a hurry", but the Soviets finally failed to drive Manstein across the West Dvina River, and they themselves were exhausted, and had to retreat under the enemy's counter-assault. After that, the large troops of the 4th Tank Group caught up, and the Soviet defenses were slightly strengthened, and the 27th Army unified the 21st Mechanized Army and the 5th Airborne Army, deployed on the west Dvina River. This is a hastily established river defense line, if nothing else, the army itself hastily formed, the 27th Group Army has just been formed, the 5th Airborne Army is not to be said, the airborne troops as infantry, before they have been mobilized, they have thrown themselves into battle, as for the 21st Army has just experienced a big war, the losses are serious, such a defensive line was quickly overwhelmed by the strong armored torrent of the invaders. On 2 July, The 4th Tank Group crossed the West Dvina River and charged at the new targets, Pskov and Ostrov.
The next action is basically no suspense. The Soviet 8th Army, under the pressure of the enemy 18th Army, continued its retreat north to Estonia, was divided by the enemy and broke away from contact with the Northwestern Front, reaching the Pärnu-Tartu line on 10 July. Under the pressure of the enemy, the chaotic and heavily damaged 11th Army continued to retreat northeast towards Szebiezh and Neville, while the 27th Army withdrew to Opochka. The middle section of the Pskov-Ostrov line continued to be the weakest area of soviet defense, which was a shortcut to Leningrad, the main direction of the enemy's breakthrough, and the 4th tank group took the lead and pointed directly here. Although there were fortified areas on the old Border of the Soviet Union, it was still the same old rule that the Soviet army did not have time to send new forces (the 41st Army from the General Reserve, the 1st Mechanized Army from the Leningrad Military District, etc.) to occupy the fortification area, and the enemy's offensive forward had already arrived here. The 41st Tank Corps was in the north and the 56th Tank Corps was in the south, and two sharp blades pierced the fragile Soviet defenses. On July 4, Ostrov was captured, on the 8th, Pskov was captured, and on the 9th, the 4th Tank Group successfully broke through the old borders of the Soviet Army to build a full depth of the area. During this period, although the Soviet army had counterattacks or even fierce counterattacks, it was powerless to stop the rapid advance of the invaders. Generally speaking, the front line advanced from the new border to the old one, marking the end of the border engagement of the war.
Here's what the invaders achieved in the northwest: By 10 July, the Northwestern Front had captured and missing about 74,000 people, wounded more than 13,000, for a total of more than 87,000 men, and the fascist German army had advanced 400-450 kilometers, approaching Leningrad.
Speaking of the northwestern battle south of Leningrad, let us briefly talk about the war on the Soviet-Finnish border between Leningrad and the Gulf of Finland and the Arctic Ocean. The war here began later than the war in the main direction, with the German Independent Army "Norway" starting first, and on June 29, June 30 and July 1, it attacked in three directions, Murmansk, Ukhta and Kandalaksha, with the Soviet 14th Army on the opposite side. This is a battle in the extremely cold conditions of the Arctic, and the strength and intensity of the battles invested by both sides naturally cannot be compared with the main direction. After withdrawing 20-30 km from the border in individual sections, the various units of the 14th Army blocked the enemy in all directions in mid-July, and the defensive line here was basically stabilized from then on, without much change, until the Soviets launched a counter-offensive in 1944. Of course, the fighting between the two sides was still continuous during the period, the invaders tried to break through the defensive line several times without success, and the Soviet army also continued to strengthen in this direction, in addition to the 14th Army, the Soviet army added several more army groups, and on this basis formed the Karelian Front, which was responsible for military operations in this extremely cold area. As for the battle between the Karelian Isthmus and Lake Onega and Lake Lagado to the south, it began in mid-to-late July, as we said earlier, it was attacked by two Finnish armies with the aim of encircling Leningrad from the north. (The reference map for this paragraph is the full map of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.) ）
Section 4 Border Engagement - Southwest direction
After the war broke out, the fighting between the two opposing sides in the southwest direction (Kiev direction) was also very fierce, but unlike the other two directions, for a period of time, the aggressor has not been able to break and disintegrate the resistance of the invaded, so as to achieve a long drive or large-scale encirclement of the invaded army, probably because the Soviet high command believes that this direction is the main direction of the enemy's attack, and the Soviet army here has relatively strong strength and may be more prepared. In the main direction of attack of the "Southern" Army Group, roughly bounded by the Russian Rava, to the north to the Pripyat River is the offensive zone of the 1st Tank Group and the 6th Army, and to the south to Peremeshli is the offensive zone of the 17th Army. Kleist's 1st Tank Group was also a sharp blade for the "Southern" Army to stab at the aggressor's defensive system, and it was also a leader, charging at the invaded as soon as the war began, and it had three armies (the 3rd, 48th and 14th Tank Corps) and included all the tank motorized units of the "Southern" Army (5 tank divisions and 4 motorized divisions). But the results it achieved could not catch up with those of the other Second Armies: on the first day of its development, when the tank motorized units of the "Northern" Army and the "Central" Army advanced to 35-50 kilometers, and it was still "dangling" within 10-20 kilometers, not because it did not fight hard and did not want to make a contribution to the cause of fascist aggression, but because it was fiercely resisted by the aggressor's army in the face, and it did not fully achieve the purpose of crushing this resistance with a sudden blow.
It should be said that on the first day of the war, the situation faced by the Soviet Southwestern Front (Kiev Special Army) was equally serious. The day before the start of the war, the Front Command had just opened its own field command post in Ternopil, and on the first day of the war, the connection between the command post and the armies was very weak. Although the new command post could previously be reliably connected with superiors and subordinates by telephone, wired and wireless channels, this was only a scenario under peaceful conditions, and as soon as war broke out, it was no longer applicable, and the various ways soon became no way, becoming two eyes and one black. The front command post made contact with the 12th and 26th army groups, because these two armies were not in the enemy's main direction of attack, and there was no major war for the time being. The 26th Army was deployed south of Peremeshli, with only skirmish fighting in its defensive strip, while further south the 12th Army was deployed on the Soviet border with Czechoslovakia (east of Uzhgorod and Mukachevo), and there was even more calm. The Front, on the other hand, was not so easy to contact with the 5th and 6th Armies, because they were in the midst of war, in the vortex of war. No news is the most serious news, that is, we need to take immediate measures to turn the situation around, but we cannot act immediately, because we cannot act on the basis of the three words "the most serious". We do not know the scale of the enemy's offensive, the direction of the main attack, the speed of advance, and so on; we do not know what kind of resistance the various armies in front of us are putting up, what kind of situation they are in, and what they need their superiors to do for them.
Just as the Southwestern Front was actively working to find out the situation of the subordinates, the subordinates also tried to hold their respective positions and fight to the death with the enemy. The subordinate is naturally inseparable from the command of the superior, but without this command, the subordinate can not only do nothing, do his best to resist the aggressor and win time for the superior to reverse the situation, this is the only thing it can do at this time, as to whether it can do a good job, it depends on how much courage and wit it can burst out in this dangerous situation, the key to the problem is that it must have the spirit of selfless dedication to indomitable progress. It is still the old rule that the first to bear the powerful power of the aggressor's first surprise attack is naturally the border defense unit of the Southwest Front, and their heroic resistance deeds have long been recorded in the annals of the Great Patriotic War. The heroic resistance of the fighters of the 90th and 98th Border Guard Corps in Vladimir-Volensky and the area north of them fought until the last moment, the Peremeshli Border Guard Corps killed and wounded a large number of German troops, the battle of holding the San River Bridge, etc., in every border area, in every fortified area, in every permanent launch point, all kinds of resistance deeds rose and fell. The positions were blown up by the enemy, the barracks and other buildings were blown up by the enemy, all kinds of material facilities were blown up by the enemy, and they were already surrounded by the enemy in all directions, and their fighting did not stop, resisting the enemy's advance with their last bullet and the last breath of their lives.
While the border guards were fighting hard and heroically, the Soviet First Echelon Division, stationed near the border, tried its best to go to the predetermined area to support the former's battle. They advanced violently in the face of enemy artillery fire and the enemy's air and ground assaults, their preparations were inadequate, their troops were not all assembled, their logistical support was not in place, and they were engaged in battle from the moment they marched. The first to be put into battle were the troops of the 45th, 62nd, 87th and 124th Divisions of the 5th Army, the 41st, 97th, 159th And 3rd Cavalry Divisions of the 6th Army, and the advance troops of the 72nd and 99th Divisions of the 26th Army.
Within the 5th Army zone, the heroic resistance and perseverance of the 124th Division near Krestinopol, the 87th at Vladimir Voronsky, and the 45th and 62nd Divisions (15th Army) north of Vladimir Vronsky were exemplars of indomitable fighting spirit. After the 124th Division arrived at the battle area, it attacked the enemy from the march and forced him to retreat, but after all, the disparity between the enemy and our forces was huge, and under the strong pressure of the enemy, the 124th Division was forced to retreat after that, but it retreated while fighting, slowly retreated, held every favorable area, and launched a counter-attack from time to time, not giving the enemy the opportunity to break through the defense. When the 87th Division arrived at Vladimir Vronsky, it was soon encircled due to the lack of security on the flanks. It attracted the enemy's huge forces with tenacious battles, repelled its repeated shocks, and slowed its advance to the depths, and the division held out in isolation until the end of June, when some of its personnel rushed out of the encirclement and returned to the large force. The 45th and 62nd Divisions also fought fiercely: they repelled the enemy's onslaught again and again; when they ran out of bullets and shells, they fought with the enemy's bayonets; they were in a closed siege without any fear, fighting in awe, and rushing out of the encirclement. Within the 6th Army, the most difficult tests fell on its right flank, the 41st and 3rd Cavalry Divisions, as well as the Russian Fortifications of Rava, where the enemy also poured heavy troops into dividing the 41st Division's combat formation, but failed in the division's counterattack. The onslaught of the 3rd Cavalry Division terrified the invaders, fled in a hurry, and were forced to retreat to the border. In the area of the 26th Army, the main battle took place in Peremeshli, where the 99th Division and the Border Guard operated together, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy and retaking the city of Peremeshli, which the enemy had taken by surprise attack.
Of course, the fascist German army, which had invested heavily, still made the due progress, and in some border areas, the invaders broke through the Soviet defenses: the main breakthrough area was the left wing of the 5th Army, that is, the defensive area of the 87th Division and the 124th Division, which was the main input area of the enemy tank motorization troops; the other large breakthrough area was between the Russian Rava and Peremeshli, where the new Soviet troops were deployed, the combat effectiveness was not strong, and the 17th Army took advantage of the loophole, but this breakthrough area was not a great threat to the Soviet army. The Southwestern Front was mainly concerned with the previous breakthrough area. In the enemy's main breakthrough area, although the front-line troops of the Southwest Front fought bravely, delayed or even blocked the enemy's attack, after all, their strength was insufficient and hasty, and they did not form a complete defensive line and a long front, and the gap was seen everywhere, and the enemy tank motorized troops could easily detour and encircle. By the 24th, two days after the attack, the enemy began to break through the Soviet defenses in a large depth. The command post of the SouthwestErn Front also eventually learned of this situation, and also deployed large-scale rear troops into this direction to plug the gap and restore a complete defense. There were 8 mechanized corps under the Southwestern Front, and although the quality of the tanks was not very good, the scale was still considerable, and it was well organized to completely stop the enemy, and the key to the problem was organizational. It is the greatest difficulty to concentrate and coordinate these troops, which are hundreds of kilometers deep, and to throw them into battle in a timely manner. These units are still old problems, except for the bare number of tanks, insufficient communications, insufficient logistics, insufficient various support, and mechanized combat forces lack of mechanized support forces to follow.
In the main breakthrough area, the enemy troops were divided into two routes: the 3rd Tank Army in the north broke through the Soviet defenses in the Vladimir-Volensky area, and its first two tank divisions (13 and 14 tank divisions) were accelerating to the east; the 48 tank corps in the south broke through the defense from Krestenopol, and its first two tank divisions (11 and 16 tank divisions) were advancing southeastern to Razerkhov. Under the omnipresent enemy air threat, the Southwestern Front and its army group are struggling to move forward its rear troops, in addition to the large number of forward infantry units, the key is naturally the forward mechanized army, only they can timely and effectively block the advance of the enemy tank motorized troops, but the first to block the enemy's advance is General Moscarenko's anti-tank artillery 1st Brigade. The brigade arrived in time for the Tolchin area (20 km east of Vladimir-Volensky) and deployed to destroy many tanks with precise and powerful artillery fire, temporarily blocking the advance of the enemy 3rd Tank Army, of course, the 1st Brigade suffered considerable losses, and its ammunition supply was insufficient, and the 22nd Mechanized Army and the 135th Division also rushed to support the 1st Brigade.
The situation in the south was not good, the 15th Mechanized Army was trying to advance, but it was difficult to reach the designated area in time to stop the advance of the enemy 48 tank army. The army could only be deployed in pieces, and the 10th and 37th Tank Divisions and the 212nd Motorized Division could only arrive in turn. The army lacked vehicles and other means of transport, it was impossible to organize the delivery of ammunition and the evacuation of the wounded, its motorcycle regiment, the communication battalion and the engineering battalion could not move at all, and the motorized division, without means of transport, could only advance on foot like ordinary infantry divisions, while the 9th and 19th mechanized corps in the forward movement from farther rear faced the same situation. Yes, tanks alone cannot be called tank units, troops are called units, because it is a system, the more complex the troops, the stronger the system, the higher the coordination, and it is impossible to rush to achieve results. The command of the South-West Front was in a hurry, the commander, General Kirponos, was in a hurry, and how much they wished they had ample means of transport in their hands and immediately distributed them to these mechanized armies, but the supplies were tense, the lines of communication for transporting them were tense, and this unprecedented war of rapidity did not allow them to hesitate in the slightest, did not allow them to make better preparations for the war, unless they were fully prepared before the war. Of course, everyone has not lost hope, and is still fighting hard and trying to change.
A bigger counterattack storm was brewing on the Southwestern Front. The Commander-in-Chief's Order No. 3, which called for a counterattack, also reached the Southwestern Front, which immediately caused much controversy within the Front's command post. The Chief of Staff of the Front, Pulkayev, and his Chief of Operations, Bagramyan, firmly believed that this order was unrealistic, and that it would be good for the Front to be able to block the enemy's attack at this time, and that it would be a counter-offensive, let alone Lublin, which would within two days be counter-attacked into the enemy territory -- this is exactly what Order No. 3 asked of the Southwestern Front. Pulkayev pointed out that the front should now slow down the enemy's advance with tenacious battles and reorganize the fortified areas on the old border, where rear troops are deployed, to establish a solid defense, to block the enemy's attack, and to buy time for the final counteroffensive. The Front's Military Commissar Vashukin demanded unreserved execution of the orders of his superiors, and he boasted that the Soviet army was insufficient, so let's make up for it with its great offensive spirit! "What a mental loss would it be if those of us who taught the Red Army a highly offensive spirit turned passive from the first few days of the war and surrendered the initiative to the aggressors without resistance?" Yes, the great Red Army, the great Soviet Socialist Republic, cannot do without the spirit of the offensive, and the Military Commissar of the Front, who is in charge of political work, is responsible for carrying this spirit into every corner of the Soviet army. In the end, commander Kirponos made a decision, saying that the orders of the superiors still need to be carried out, and that once the superiors' orders came, the subordinates would talk about the conditions and difficulties, and arbitrarily negate the order, "That will not have good results.", as for what kind of results the action can achieve, then do your best. In addition, Zhukov, the representative of the headquarters who came later, also agreed with the commander of the Southwestern Front, firmly supported and asked him to act immediately, determine the strength of the troops, and carry out a large-scale counterattack.
With determination, the action begins immediately. Battle orders were given to the armies concerned quickly, but the transmission and execution of orders was far less rapid. The Southwestern Front continued to command the army in two eyes and one black, and the situation of our country and the enemy was unknown, and the acquisition of all kinds of intelligence and information was extremely slow. The Front sent their own representatives to the various armies concerned to convey orders and supervise their implementation, but the news they returned was not satisfactory. On the whole, for this counterattack, the Southwest Front invested 6 mechanized troops and a large number of infantry units, the scale is not small, but the quality can not be discussed, the input of strength is scattered, there is no coordination, no organization and command, and no follow-up support, as Military Commissar Vashukin said, the only thing they have is the high offensive spirit and tenacious spirit of resistance.
This counterattack of the Southwestern Front, known in the Soviet history books as the Dubno-Lutsk-Rivnow Tank Engagement, is the true crystallization of the No. 3 order, compared to other fronts, this counterattack operation achieved greater results, which was a powerful delay to the enemy and even wanted to stop the enemy's action, of course, the price paid was higher, the Southwest Front directly exhausted its mechanized combat strength. According to Bagramyan's memoirs, the enemy put in a total of 1500 tanks, the invaders invested 600 to 700 tanks, the Soviet army invested 133 T-34 and KV-1 new tanks, and the rest were old, sick and disabled tanks.
The enemy's intention was already clear, that is, to break through to the Dubno, Lutsk, and Rivno areas, to encircle the Southwestern Front from the north, while the Soviet counterattack force was thrown into the flank of its assault direction to prevent the enemy from advancing. On the afternoon of the 24th, the main force of the 22nd Mechanized Army finally rushed over, and in coordination with the 1st Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade and the 135th Division, after a bitter battle, temporarily blocked the enemy's North Road Assault Group. In the south, starting from the afternoon of the 22nd, the main forces of the 15th Mechanized Army arrived one after another, and without hesitation, they threw themselves into the engagement, the battle was very fierce and very difficult, the 15th Army basically could not talk about a counteroffensive, it was struggling to support the situation at the beginning, waiting for the arrival of other troops. After a rapid and arduous march, the counterattack troops basically went into battle, and by the 26th, all the people and horses were basically in place, and the counterattack operation was also launched from all directions, reaching its climax. Its main assaults were: in the north, the 9th and 19th Mechanized Armies attacked from Lutsk to Dubno, and in the south, the 8th Mechanized Army and the weakened 15th Army attacked from Broad to Rajkhov and Beresjecko (both northwest of Brod) [Note 1], while ground operations were supported by the Southwest Front's front-line aviation and the Commander-in-Chief's Long-Range Aviation Corps. [Note 1: According to Bagramyan, due to the misjudgment of the Southwestern Front and the 5th Army, it was believed that a powerful enemy group north of the 5th Army was attacking Koveli from Brest, and the 22nd Army was transferred from Lutsk to Kovely to deal with this imaginary enemy group, so it was unable to participate in the next counterattack. The 4th Mechanized Army was put into battle west of the 15th Army, and the history books did not introduce much about the army, which should not be strong and had little success. 】
No matter how unfavorable the fighting conditions were, the vast number of commanders and fighters of the Soviet army still threw themselves into this battle with a vague future. After the divisions turned to the offensive, they made progress in some directions and inflicted many losses on the enemy: the 19th Army repelled the enemy 11th Tank Division 25 kilometers to the southwest, the 8th Army defeated the enemy north of Broad, advancing 10-20 kilometers, and the 20th Division of the 9th Army also penetrated deeply into the enemy's combat formation. However, these advances are isolated and lack follow-up investment, so they are also unsustainable. The enemy quickly adjusted its deployment and put new forces from the reserves, which not only broke the Soviet counterattack, but also made new progress. In fact, when the counterattack reached its climax, the Southwestern Front was also less confident about the next counterattack. On the evening of the 26th, commander Kirponos finally heeded the advice of the chief of staff Pulkayev and decided to stop the counterattack and use several newly transferred infantry corps (31st, 36th, 37th, etc.) to establish new defenses in the rear to prevent the enemy from advancing, while the mechanized army withdrew from the counterattack and went to the rear to replenish itself, and then counterattacked when the strength was sufficient. This idea was quickly opposed by the High Command, which demanded that the Southwestern Front continue to counterattack without hesitation, and in fact it could not fail to continue to counterattack, because just as it had the idea of stopping the counterattack, the enemy suddenly captured Dubno and rushed toward Ostrog, encircling the Southwestern Front from the north.
The Southwestern Front ordered the mechanized armies to counterattack and set out again, aiming directly at Dubno and preventing the enemy from advancing. The order was given, and waiting for the result of the order to be executed continued to be a long process, and communication was still not smooth. Only one corps, the 8th Army, actually engaged in a counterattack, and on the 27th, the army formed a assault group, starting from Beresjechko, after defeating the enemy's 16th Tank Division, advancing 30-35 kilometers, rushing into Dubno and entering the rear of the enemy 3rd Tank Army. The results are not great! However, this isolated and helpless impact soon had bad consequences, and the enemy quickly adjusted its deployment, surrounded the troops of the 8th Army rushing into Dubno on all sides, and the results of the counterattack were lost. As for the other armies, the 15th Army had long been weakened to the point where it was impossible to attack, even if the aggressive military commissar Vashukin personally supervised it. The 9th and 19th Armies were hit by the enemy's double blows on the ground and in the air, with particularly heavy losses, and were retreating towards Rivne.
On the 28th and 29th, the Soviet counterattack actually ceased to exist, although Kilbonos wanted to carry out another round of counterattack, because the threat was not gone, the enemy's powerful forces were still rushing towards Rivno and Ostrog, and it was not easy to turn to the defense now. At this time in Rivne, the 9th and 19th Mechanized Armies and the 31st Army were struggling to support, while in Ostrog there were the Lukin Battle Group and the 36th Army. The Lukin Campaign Group consisted of a unit of the 16th Army, which was supposed to fight in the central direction, but the southwest was tight, and some of its personnel were forced to stay, led by the commander of the army group, Lukin, to fight in the direction of Ostrog, which was not strong at all, and now it was "lonely city sunset fighting", and there was a big gap between it and the 36th Army that was undefended. A new counterattack order was issued, but the strength in hand did not support the implementation of this order at all.
Kirponos finally had to issue a retreat order – unprecedented. The Fascist Germans were carrying out surprise attacks in the north, and the 6th, 26th and 12th Armies in the south were in a semi-encirclement, and they had to retreat immediately and establish a defense in the new area. In addition, the right wing of the 5th Army, although it did not receive the order to retreat, also began to retreat, and on the 28th abandoned Covelly and withdrew to the Storid and Stry rivers, which although not the main direction, were also in a bitter support for several days. The retreat was carried out on a large scale, with the various units fighting and withdrawing at the same time, and from time to time carrying out counter-assaults to ensure their stability in the new areas. On 30 June, the Command issued an equally unprecedented order to the Southwestern Front, no longer requiring the Southwestern Front to counterattack, but to retreat to the fortified areas of the old border, which was simply a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. In fact, the order to withdraw to the old borders was given to all strategic directions, but only the Southwestern Front had some practical significance, because only it had carried out a forceful counterattack, a more forceful blow to the enemy, and it was still possible to withdraw to the new area.
The Southwestern Front retreated to the old border
The so-called fortified area of the old national border refers to the first line of the fortified area of Korosken, Vronsky New Town, Shepetovka, old Konstantinov, Proskurov, etc. As we said before, chief of staff Pulkayev had asked to strengthen this line, but the Southwest Front put all its mind on counterattack, ignored this matter, and now it is too late to strengthen it, so whether the Southwest Front can consolidate in the new area is the first difficult problem. Everyone knows that the work of retreat is not easy to do, before our national army was dead as soon as it was defended, and once it was withdrawn, it was chaotic, and the weakened Southwest Front could avoid this outcome? It should be said that the commander of the Southwestern Front had already foreseen the move of retreat and had already secretly plotted this move, so as soon as the superior ordered it, Commander Kilbonos made his determination to retreat, and chief of staff Pulkayev and his war department also quickly formulated a specific retreat plan, and the problems in the retreat were quickly exposed.
This army, which was exhausted by the battle, had no reserves in its hands, which was dangerous for the retreat, and there were no troops to occupy the new defensive areas in advance, and the retreat carried out by the front-line troops under the front-line configuration was most likely disrupted by the rapid and fierce assault of the enemy. The threat of the enemy's powerful assaults at Rivne and Ostrog remained unabated, which was a great danger for the retreat. Although the 6th, 26th and 12th Armies had withdrawn in advance, the front was still too far west, and they did not completely jump out of the enemy's semi-encirclement, and it was difficult to say whether they could withdraw smoothly. Another is that this unit, which is accustomed to attacking, did not expect that there would be a day of retreat, and it is unknown whether commanders at all levels can organize the retreat. The retreat of the Southwestern Front also closely touched the heart of the Command, which had been repeatedly encouraged when it counterattacked before, and now that it had retreated, it was repeatedly expressing concern, and Moscow telephoned several times a day to inquire about how the retreat was going, and from time to time made specific suggestions and criticisms.
Counterattack requires a fearless spirit, retreat also requires a fearless spirit, the vast number of commanders and fighters of the Soviet army retreat with a strenuous posture, they retreat quickly, they retreat while fighting, they fall into a heavy siege, they protrude from the siege, they do everything possible not to let the enemy catch up with themselves, and they try every means to consolidate in the new area. The retreat was soon filled with dangers and dangers, and the enemy launched a fierce pursuit and surprise attack, which would not allow the Soviet army to retreat smoothly, but would do everything possible to sabotage this retreat. The enemy's main assault was divided into two routes, one from Rivno to Shepetovka, intended to break through the fortified areas of the old national line, and the other from Ternopil to Proskurov, intended to encircle the 6th, 26th and 12th Armies. These two directions were exactly the direction of the retreat of the Soviet 6th Army, and under these two surprise attacks, the retreat of the group army quickly became complicated, some troops fell into a siege, some directions appeared gaps, the troops suffered huge losses, and the group army was also poorly connected with the subordinate armies, the command was ineffective, and there was confusion. The contact between the Front Army and the 6th Army was also not smooth, and the headquarters of the group army was "stoned into the sea" at every turn. However, the Front always maintained a high posture, acted actively, firmly commanded, threw itself into its last reserve, and did its best to improve the situation of the 6th Army. Finally trying to live up to his promise, the assault in the direction of the enemy Ternopol-Proskurov was blocked. But the strength is extremely insufficient, blocking here, not there: the enemy made progress in the direction of Rivno-Shepetovka, broke through the old Soviet border between Vronsky's New Town and Novokir Miropol, and captured Berdychev on July 7 and Zhytomyr on July 9, and the enemy penetrated the new Soviet defensive area in great depth. This was a great threat, and the Southwestern Front was again ordered to die, and it was also to dispatch troops everywhere, but there was nowhere to be adjusted, and the death order was useless. Well, anyway, the Southwestern Front finally withdrew to the new defensive area, an extremely unguarded defensive area, which also marked the official end of the border engagement in the southwest.
Let's talk about the results of the fascist German army in this direction: more than 170,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and captured, more than 70,000 wounded, a total of more than 240,000, and the German army advanced 300-350 kilometers. The fascist command had to admit that this direction was still very difficult to fight in compared with other directions, and had to repeatedly invest new forces, eliminate threats, support advances, and make the efforts of the envoys.
Overall, by the three weeks leading up to the start of the war on July 10, the Soviets had lost 750,000 troops (of which about 600,000 were captured and missing), more than 11,000 tanks, more than 18,000 artillery pieces, and about 4,000 aircraft throughout the border engagement. The fascist Germans also lost about 100,000 horses, more than a thousand aircraft, and hundreds of tanks on the battlefield of the invasion of the Soviet Union. Although this loss of the aggressor is naturally not worth mentioning in relation to the loss of the invaded, it is not a small loss compared to the loss of previous wars since the beginning of the European war. Next we will see that the losses of fascism will be greater and greater, and the wonderful things of blitzkrieg will disappear step by step until they disappear without a trace, and the really strong resistance has come to its eyes. [Note 1: According to estimates from other writings, the Germans, along with their vassals, suffered a total of 200,000 casualties in the border engagement. 】
Let us now briefly describe the situation of the Southern Front (Odessa Military District). The Southern Front guarded the Soviet border south of the Southwestern Front, where the war also started later than the war in the main direction. On 30 June, the Southwestern Front began a full retreat, so that the Southern Front could no longer hold its position in the border area and had to follow. As a result, the German 11th Army and the Romanian army on the opposite side followed the Soviet retreat and occupied the Soviet territory east of the Prut River, reaching the cities of Mogilev Podolsky and Kameniets Podolsky. Meanwhile, on the lower Prut River, the Soviet 9th Army continued to hold the southernmost part of the Soviet western border until 25 July. (See full map of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.)
Well, our introduction to the Soviet-German border engagement is over, but the war has no intention of stopping—even if it is a brief cessation, the continuous fighting is fiercely fought on all fronts, and the fascist German army is advancing more rapidly and rapidly on the basis of the major victory of the border engagement, trying to destroy the Soviet resistance in one fell swoop, while the Soviet army and the people are resisting, retreating, resisting, and retreating again, until the enemy's offensive is completely stopped and turned into a real counteroffensive.