On July 7, 1941, the main forces of the German 2nd Panzer Group (24th and 47th armies), under the command of Colonel-General Guderian, continued to advance a little east in Belarus. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Sir, your telegram!"

When Guderian led his troops to Baranovichi and prepared to attack the Belarusian military hub, he suddenly received a telegram from Army Group Center.

Guderian took the telegram from his adjutant and, impatiently, read the contents of the paper: "General Guderian, now the 3rd Panzer Group has begun to attack the northern flank of the Soviet Western Front, and has achieved certain results.

But our reconnaissance planes found that the southern flank of the Western Front has not yet suffered any attacks, and the enemy's 4th Army is retreating in an orderly manner. ”

After reading the telegram in his hand, Guderian, the commander of the 2nd Panzer Group of the German Army, immediately leaked a displeased expression. His adjutant soon found out about this and asked: "Mr. Guderian, like you, I also think that the 2nd Panzer Group should continue to advance in the direction of Moscow.

However, if we do not flank the Soviet troops in the Bialystok-Wavkavesk area together with General Hoth (commander of the 3rd Panzer Group), I am afraid that another opportunity to destroy the enemy will be wasted. ”

The adjutant's analysis did have some truth, at that time, the main force of the Soviet Western Front, consisting of three army groups, was in the area of Bialystok-Wavkavelsk (that is, eastern Poland and western Belarus), surrounded by German troops from the west, south and north.

In order to be effective, to strike at the combat capabilities of this Soviet army, or even to completely annihilate them. The German Army General Headquarters decided to flank the Soviets and try to encircle them in the Lida-Slonium area.

According to the plan, the 3rd Tank Group on the northern flank of Army Group Center would attack the 3rd Army on the northern flank of the Western Front, while the 2nd Tank Group on the southern flank would attack the southern flank of the target cluster, thus achieving the effect of a flanking attack from the north and south.

It's just that Guderian, who insisted on going his own way, was unwilling to cooperate with this battle plan. He only wanted to take his troops and advance to the east, striving to capture Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, in the shortest possible time, and did not think about destroying the Soviet army group at the front.

As a soldier, although Guderian did not want to implement the battle plan set down from above, he could not disobey the orders from above, so he left his reserve, the 46th Motorized Army, behind and served as the main force to attack the southern flank of the Soviet army.

The rest of Guderian's troops, with the exception of the 12th Army, which was stuck in the Brest fortress, the rest of the 24th Army and the 47th Army continued to advance eastward.

Originally, according to Guderian's plan, his 46th Army could still attack the south flank of the Soviet 4th Army, but what he did not expect was that just when they were about to attack the Soviet 4th Army, 4 Soviet armored divisions suddenly appeared behind the 46th Army.

Under such circumstances, if the 46th Army rashly launched an attack to the north, the reinforcements of the Soviet Southwestern Front were likely to take the opportunity to cut off the supply lines of the 46th Army and even the entire 2nd Panzer Group, and even unite with the troops of the Western Front to surround the 46th Army.

If this is the case, the Germans will not only be unable to launch an effective flanking attack on the Western Front, but will even risk the encirclement and annihilation of the 46th Panzer Army, and the supply line of the 2nd Panzer Group will also be cut off by the reinforcements of the Southwestern Front, and it will be impossible to guarantee logistics supplies.

Moreover, what is even worse is that the Soviet army has rapidly transferred a large number of troops from the North Caucasus, Siberia and the coastal areas of the Arctic Ocean to form the 19th, 24th, and 28th armies, which are rapidly advancing towards the Belarusian front.

The three newly formed army groups will soon be deployed on the "Manturov Line" in the Belarusian segment. They could advance westward at any time, taking the opportunity to join forces with the 9th and 22nd Mechanized Corps of the Southwestern Front to encircle the 24th and 47th armies of the German 2nd tank group, at which point a situation similar to that of the Battle of Brody-Dubno-Rivne (Operation Suvorov) would occur.

Considering the experience of the 1st Tank Group being encircled and annihilated by the Soviet Army because of its rash advance, neither the command of Army Group Center, nor the German High Command and the Army General Headquarters wanted a similar situation to occur, and did not want Guderian to risk being encircled and annihilated all the way east.

However, Guderian, who was bent on going his own way, was willing to take such a big risk, leaving behind the main force of Army Group Center and advancing all the way. Because he knew very well that the Soviet Army's Western Front was insufficient and could not mobilize enough troops for a while to cope with his advance.

With the rear of the Soviet army empty, Guderian intended to occupy as much Soviet territory as possible, deep into the rear of the Soviet Red Army. In this way, Guderian was not only able to occupy more Soviet territory, but also disrupted the deployment of Soviet troops and disrupted their logistical supplies, which would do more good than harm to the overall war effort.

Guderian thought for a moment and said to his adjutant: "Send a telegram to Field Marshal Bock (Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group Center) that the Soviet Southwestern Front has sent four armored divisions to appear on our southern flank.

In order to prevent our troops from being flanked by the Soviets, or even encircled, the 46th Army will stay in the area of Pruzhany and Kobrin for defense.

After the Soviet reinforcements retreated, we could launch an attack on the southern flank of the Soviet 4th Army. ”

After the telegram was sent, Field Marshal Bock, commander of the German Army Group Center, quickly replied to Guderian by telegram, "General Guderian, I order you to stop advancing to the east, concentrate the main forces, attack the south flank of the main force of the Soviet Western Front, and strive to encircle the forces of the enemy's three armies together with the 3rd Panzer Group in the area of Slonium and Lida.

Although your 46th Army is preparing for reinforcements from the Soviet Southwestern Front, and the 12th Army is being blocked in front of the Brest Fortress, you still have the strength of the 24th Army and the 47th Army.

Please stop moving eastward, transfer the 47th Army to the area around Slonium, launch an attack on the southeast flank of the main Soviet forces, and advance in the direction of Lida, and join forces with the main force of the 3rd Panzer Group between Lida and Slonim, and complete the encirclement of the enemy's main forces. ”