9/20/2023 0 Comments Panzer corps 2 encirclement![]() ![]() 1st Cavalry Division – Generalleutnant Kurt Feldt.10th Infantry Division (mot.) – Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm von Loeper.XLVII Panzer Corps – General der Panzertruppen Joachim Lemelsen.XLVI Panzer Corps – General Heinrich von Viettinghoff-Scheel.XXIV Panzer Corps – General der Panzertruppen Leo Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg.2nd Panzer Group – Generaloberst Heinz Guderian.XLIII Corps – Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici.XIII Army Corps – General der Infanterie Hans Felber.XII Army Corps – General der Infanterie Walther Schroth.IX Army Corps – General der Infanterie Hermann Geyer.VII Army Corps – General der Artillerie Wilhelm Fahrmbacher.4th Army – Generalfeldmarschall Günther von Kluge.XX Army Corps – General der Infanterie Friedrich Materna.VIII Army Corps – Generaloberst Walter Heitz.V Army Corps – Generaloberst Richard Ruoff.VI Army Corps – General der Pioniere Otto-Wilhelm Förster.LVII Army Corps (mot.) – General der Panzertruppen Adolf Kuntzen.XXXIX Army Corps (mot.) – Generaloberst Rudolf Schmidt.3rd Panzer Group – Generaloberst Hermann Hoth.Army Group Centre ( German: Heeresgruppe Mitte) – Commander Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock.13th Army – Lieutenant General Pyotr Filatov.4th Army – Lieutenant General Aleksandr Korobkov.Western Front – Commander Army General Dmitry Pavlov, Chief of Staff General Vladimir Klimovskikh, Operations Officer General Ivan Boldin.The engagement was later known as the "Battle of Białystok–Minsk", but that is actually a slight misnomer. They fell to a double envelopment, centred on Białystok and Novogrudok. However, it was the OKH that undertook it successfully thanks to preempting hostilities, destroying much of the Red Air Force in the airfields while simultaneously severing most of the Soviet Western Front's land forces from lines of communication with other Soviet fronts. The forward placement of both German and Soviet forces in a double-bulge position enabled both sides to try the double envelopment. The plan suffered from weakness along the flanks, created by circumstances such as the line of demarcation placement following the division of Poland in 1939. ![]() The Red Army disposition in Belarus was based on the idea of avoiding a war of attrition by engaging in an aggressive counterattack to any invasion and carrying the war into German-occupied Poland. All together, the Soviet Western Front had 25 rifle and cavalry divisions, 13 tank and 7 motorized divisions. The 13th Army was held as part of the Stavka High Command Reserve and initially existed as a headquarters unit only, with no assigned forces. It included the 3rd, 4th, and 10th Armies along the frontier. Army Group Center could call upon Luftflotte 2 for air support.įacing Army Group Center was the Red Army's Western Front commanded by General of the Army Dmitry Pavlov. The two infantry Armies fielded 33 divisions and the Panzer Armies fielded nine Panzer divisions, six motorized divisions and a cavalry division. Its armored forces were Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group and Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group. The Army Group included the 9th and 4th Armies. Prelude Ĭommanded by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, Army Group Centre was tasked with attacking from Poland through the Białystok – Minsk – Smolensk axis towards Moscow. The Germans destroyed the Soviet Western Front in 18 days and advanced 460 kilometers into the Soviet Union, causing many to believe that the Germans had effectively won the war against the Soviet Union. The Red Army lost 420,000 men against Wehrmacht casualties of over 12,157. The majority of the Western Front was enclosed within, and the pockets were liquidated by 9 July. The Army Group's 2nd Panzer Group under Colonel General Heinz Guderian and the 3rd Panzer Group under Colonel General Hermann Hoth decimated the Soviet frontier defenses, defeated all Soviet counter-attacks and encircled four Soviet Armies of the Red Army's Western Front near Białystok and Minsk by 30 June. The Battle of Białystok–Minsk was a German strategic operation conducted by the Wehrmacht's Army Group Centre under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock during the penetration of the Soviet border region in the opening stage of Operation Barbarossa, lasting from 22 June to 9 July 1941. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |