Bialystok - Minsk

Situation

When operation Barbarossa opened on the 22nd of June 1941, one of the most prominent axes, was the one from Bialystok to Minsk. The pattern of the border in this area formed a prominent bulge to the west of Bialystok, which offered German forces a tempting opportunity to attack the Russian flanks and encircle large concentrations of Russian forces.
This portion of the border was defended by forces of the Western Military District, which became the Western Front following the opening of hostilities. The Western Front consisted of the 3rd, 10th and 4th Armies, which were deployed from north to south respectively. On the northern flank, 3rd Army consisted of the 4th Rifle Corps with three Rifle Divisions and one Mechanized Corps, the 11th, which was comprised of one motorized and two tank Divisions. On the southern flank, 3rd Armies force strength was similar, with one Rifle Corps, the 28th and one Mechanized Corps, the 14th. One additional Rifle Division, the 49th, was held on the Armies right flank and placed under Army Group control. In the centre, the 10th Army force strength was slightly greater. It consisted of two Rifle Corps, the 1st and 5th and two Mechanized Corps, the 6th and 13th. The Front also had under its control one Cavalry Corps, which consisted of two Cavalry Divisions. One, the 6th Cavalry Division was attached to the 10th Army and was positioned well forward, to the west of Bialystok. The other, the 36th, was held well to the rear with the 6th Mechanized Corps.
The Fronts Mechanized Corps, although having been well concealed from German reconnaissance efforts, had been poorly deployed. They had been too widely scattered and in all cases the Motorized Divisions were a full days road march behind their respective Tank Divisions and unable to provide effective support. In addition, despite the fact that a good proportion of their vehicles were of the newer types, their crews had received little or no training and were extremely short on ammunition.
As the German attack opened, Russian command and control rapidly broke down. Radio communications broke down within the first 48 hours and most wire landlines were cut as the Germans advanced. The situation was made worse by the uncertainty caused by a series of conflicting orders, which were disseminated down through the various commands. The Russian forces were also caught of guard by the speed of the German attack and were harassed continually throughout the operation by the Luftwaffe.
German forces for the attack consisted of the 9th Army, consisting of the 8th, 20th and 42nd Army Corps in the north and the 4th Army and 2nd Panzer Group in the south. The 4th Army consisted of the 12th, 43rd, 7th and 8th Army Corps, while the 2nd Panzer Group was comprised of the 47th and 24th Motorized Corps. The 3rd Panzer Group, which initially advanced along the Vilnius axis, eventually emerged to the north of 9th Army in the area between Vilnius and Minsk. It consisted of the 39th and 57th Panzer Corps.

The Northern Flank

The German 3rd Panzer Group advanced rapidly along the Vilnius axis, leaving the elements of 9th Army to clear Russian forces to its south. The Germans concentrated the majority of their forces on the northern and southern flanks, while the 42nd Army Corps, primarily the 129th and 87th Infantry Divisions, covered the wide expanse between Augustov and Lomza. The 8th and 20th Army Corps, advanced towards Grodno, surrounding a Rifle Regiment of the 56th Rifle Division in Sipotski, whilst driving the remainder of the Division back towards the city where it attempted to establish defensive positions. In the area to the north of Grodno, the 8th Army Corps made significant progress, with its 161st Infantry Division establishing a bridgehead over the Neman River, to the north of the city. The 8th Infantry Division was involved in heavy fighting to the west of Grodno with elements of the Russian 29th Tank Division, while the 28th Infantry Division advanced to the south of the encircled Rifle Regiment at Sipotski.
The Russians brought the 85th Rifle Division forward to the south of Grodno, in an effort to halt the German advance and the 33rd Tank Division also tried to move northwards towards Grodno, but was continually harassed by the Luftwaffe. The 6th and 11th Mechanized Corps were also ordered to assemble the northeast of Bialystok and then mount a counter attack northwards towards Grodno. However, due to deteriorating command and control and the continual harassment of the road network by the Luftwaffe, the assembly of the forces tasked to mount this counter attack proved extremely difficult.
On the 23rd, the 85th Rifle Division was ordered to withdraw to the southeast of Indura and occupy defensive positions. To the south of Grodno, the 29th and 33rd Tank Divisions were told to continue their attacks in conjunction with the 6th Mechanized Corps, whose 4th and 7th Tank and 29th Motorized Divisions were assembling to the southwest of the city. The 4th and 7th Tank Divisions were forced to complete a difficult road march, the direction of which was changed several times during its course and as a result suffered from high rates of attrition amongst their vehicles and dwindling fuel stocks.
On the 24th, the Russian forces to the southwest of Grodno launched their counter attack against the salient occupied by the 256th Infantry Division. These heavy attacks forced the Germans to move both the 162nd and 129th Infantry Divisions southeastwards to provide assistance to their beleaguered colleague. The 85th Rifle Division was ordered to move back northwestwards to join in with the counter attack, assaulting Grodno itself. Despite the threat caused to the three German infantry Divisions to the west of Grodno, the counter attack had failed in its primary objective of halting the advance of the 3rd Panzer Group, which had raced almost 100km to the east towards Minsk. Its 39th Panzer Corps had reached Vilnius, while the 57th Panzer Corps had advanced even further eastwards. The 21st Rifle Corps was brought forward in an attempt to slow this advance in the area of Lida.
On the 25th, the 28th and 161st Infantry Divisions continued to make progress from their bridgeheads on the Neman River to the northeast of Grodno. The 28th Infantry Division advanced eastwards towards Ostryna, while the 161st Division attacked to the southeast, threatening the rear of the 11th Mechanized Corps. By the end of the day, the Russian forces involved in the counter attack were running out of fuel and ammunition and began to withdraw. The first forces to do so were the remnants of the 29th and 33rd Tank Divisions, which attempted to fight their way eastwards in an effort to keep open a corridor for other Russian forces trying to escape. However, they lost most of their vehicles and heavy equipment due to the lack of available fuel.
By the end of the day on the 26th, the 3rd Panzer Groups 20th and 12th Panzer Divisions were threatening Minsk and the 7th Panzer Division had pushed even further eastwards, towards the Berezina River. The headquarters of the Western Front issued the order for a general withdrawal of all forces, whose only route of escape was through a shrinking corridor running along the southern bank of the Neman River. This corridor was being squeezed from the south by the 29th Motorized Division, which had seized Volkovysk and from the north by the 28th Infantry Division, which was forcing the 56th Rifle Division to withdraw to the south. Those Russian forces, which managed to escape eastwards out of the Volkovysk pocket, found themselves becoming trapped in the larger Minsk pocket.
On the 27th, the 28th Infantry Division crossed to the southern bank of the Neman River and captured the town of Mosty, while elements of the German 20th Army Corps joined in the assault against the sagging northern flank of the pocket.

The Southern Flank

The attack against the southern flank of the bulge would be made by the 2nd Panzer Group, which advanced along two parallel axes, with the 17th and 18th Panzer Divisions and the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions.
On the 22nd of June as the attack opened, the 45th Infantry Division encircled the Russian 6th and 42nd Rifle Divisions in the city of Brest. The 17th and 18th Panzer Divisions attacked to the north of the city, while the 3rd and 4th advanced to its south. The 18th and 3rd Panzer Divisions soon ran into the Russian 22nd Tank Division, which equipped with mainly older vehicle types, suffered heavy losses. The Russian Division attempted to fight a series of delaying actions as it withdrew eastwards towards Kobrin. It was joined by the 30th Tank Division, which had also failed to stop the advance of the 18th Panzer Division.
Further north, the German 7th, 9th and 43rd Army Corps crossed the Bug River and attacked northeastwards along the boundaries of the 10th and 4th Armies. The Russian border forces quickly collapsed and the 13th Mechanized Corps was ordered to move forward to establish a new defensive line to the west of Belsk. Its 27th and 31st Tank Divisions lost many vehicles during the move due to mechanical failure and were unable to slow the attack, let alone establish a new defensive line.
On the 23rd of June, the 17th and 18th Panzer Divisions continued to make rapid progress, brushing aside the remnants of the 14th Mechanized Corps, while continuing in the direction of Baranovichi. The Russians employed the 47th Rifle and 17th Mechanized Corps to try and halt the advance of this group, first at Slonim and then Baranovichi, but both attempts failed. The 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions, forced the 205th Motorized Division out of Kobrin, following heavy fighting.
Further south, the 13th Mechanized Corps, along with the remnants of the 10th Army, began to withdraw into the vast Hajnowka Forest, pursued by elements of the 42nd Army Corps, while further west the 7th, 9th and 13th Army Corps continued to press Russian forces gradually withdrawing eastwards.
On the 24th, the 2nd Panzer Group continued its thrust towards Minsk, with the 18th Panzer Division capturing Baranovichi, while the 3rd Panzer Division secured Slutsk.
On the 25th, the Group detached the 29th Motorized Division northwards towards the important communications centre of Volkovysk and into the rear of the withdrawing 10th Army. Elements of the German 13th and 53rd Army Corps began to clear through the Hajnowka Forest in an attempt to destroy the Russian forces, which had withdrawn into this area.

The Pocket Closes

On the 27th of June, elements of the 23rd Infantry Division captured Bialystok and German forces began to squeeze the perimeter of the pocket from the north, south and west. The 2nd and 3rd Panzer Groups raced towards Minsk and Bobruisk, closing the pocket shut to the east.
On the 29th, the 20th Panzer Division captured Minsk and the following day, the 3rd Panzer Division secured Bobruisk. The following day, the 7th, 18th and 4th Panzer Divisions reached the Berezina River to the east of Minsk and in some places forced crossings. By the 1st of July, the remnants of the Russian 3rd, 10th and 13th Armies were trapped in a large pocket to the southwest of Minsk. The remnants of the Russian 4th Army had managed to escape to the south, but had suffered heavy losses in the process. Remnants of some units managed to slip through the weak German cordon to rejoin the Russian front line further east and some joined the growing number of Partisan groups in the area. But overall this had been a disastrous defeat for the Red Army, with some 250,000 men killed or captured and vast amounts of vehicles and heavy equipment destroyed or captured.

For a full and in depth account of the battles on the Bialystok-Minsk axis, read The Initial Period of War on the Eastern Front by David Glantz. See the sources page for details.