70 years ago, one of the largest operations of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War, Operation Bagration, was carried out in Belarus. During this operation (June 23 - August 29, 1944), the German armed forces lost 289 thousand people killed and captured, 110 thousand wounded, Soviet troops conquered Belarus and a significant part of Lithuania, entered the territory of Poland.
What did the parties plan?
The development of a plan for the Belarusian operation was started by the Soviet General Staff (under the leadership of Marshal Vasilevsky) in April 1944.
During the development, some disagreements of the command came to light. The commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, General Rokossovsky, wanted to deliver one main blow in the Rogachev direction with the forces of the 3rd Army of General Gorbatov, in which it was planned to concentrate about 16 rifle divisions.
The rate is Supreme High Command believed that it was necessary to strike two blows. It was supposed to deliver two converging strikes - from Vitebsk and from Bobruisk, both in the direction of Minsk. Further, it was supposed to occupy the entire territory of Belarus and Lithuania, go to the coast of the Baltic Sea (Klaipeda), to the border East Prussia(Suwalki) and on the territory of Poland (Lublin).
As a result, the Stavka's point of view prevailed. The plan was approved by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on May 30, 1944. The beginning of the operation "Bagration" was scheduled for June 19-20 (on June 14, due to delays in the transportation of troops, equipment and ammunition, the start of the operation was postponed to June 23).
The Germans were expecting a general offensive of the Red Army in the south on the territory of Ukraine. From there, our troops, indeed, could deliver a powerful blow both to the rear of Army Group Center and to the strategically important oil fields of Ploiesti for the Germans.
Therefore, the German command concentrated its main forces in the south, assuming in Belarus only local operations of a nature. The Soviet General Staff strengthened the Germans in every possible way in this opinion. The enemy was shown that most of the Soviet tank armies "remain" in Ukraine. On the central sector of the front, intensive engineering and sapper work was carried out during daylight hours to create false defensive lines. The Germans believed these preparations and began to increase the number of their troops in Ukraine.
rail war
On the eve and during Operation Bagration, Belarusian partisans provided truly invaluable assistance to the advancing Red Army. On the night of June 19-20, they began a rail war in the rear of enemy troops.
The partisans seized river crossings, cut off the enemy's retreat, undermined rails and bridges, wrecked trains, made surprise raids on enemy garrisons, and destroyed enemy communications.
As a result of the actions of the partisans, the most important railway lines were completely disabled, and enemy transportation along all roads was partially paralyzed.
Then, when, during the successful offensive of the Red Army, the German columns began to retreat to the west, they could only move along major highways. On smaller roads, the Nazis inevitably became victims of partisan attacks.
Operation start
June 22, 1944, on the day of the third anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, reconnaissance in force was carried out in the sectors of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts.
And the next day was the day of the Red Army's revenge for the summer of 1941. On June 23, after artillery and aviation preparation, the troops of the 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts went on the offensive. Their actions were coordinated by the Marshal Soviet Union Vasilevsky. Our troops were opposed by the 3rd tank army General Reinhardt, who was defending on the northern sector of the front.
On June 24, the troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts launched an offensive. Their actions were coordinated by Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov. Their opponents were the 9th army of General Jordan, who occupied positions in the south, in the Bobruisk region, as well as the 4th army of General Tippelskirch (in the region of Orsha and Mogilev). The German defense was soon hacked - and the Soviet tank forces, having blocked the fortified areas, they entered the operational space.
rout German troops near Vitebsk, Bobruisk, Mogilev
During the operation "Bagration" our troops managed to take into the "cauldrons" and defeat several encircled German groups. So, on June 25, the Vitebsk fortified area was encircled and soon defeated. The German troops stationed there tried to withdraw to the west, but failed. Around 8000 German soldiers were able to escape from the ring, but were again surrounded - and capitulated. In total, about 20 thousand German soldiers and officers died near Vitebsk, and about 10 thousand were captured.
The Headquarters outlined the encirclement of Bobruisk on the eighth day of the operation, but in reality this happened on the fourth. The successful actions of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front led to the encirclement of six German divisions in the area of the city of Bobruisk. Only a few units were able to break through and get out of the ring.
By the end of June 29, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front advanced to a depth of 90 km, crossing the Dnieper, and liberated the city of Mogilev. The 4th German Army began to retreat to the west, to Minsk - but could not go far.
The airspace was behind Soviet aviation and the actions of the pilots caused serious damage to the enemy.
The Red Army actively used the tactics of concentrated strikes by tank formations and subsequent exits to the rear of the German troops. The raids of the tank guards corps destroyed the rear communications of the enemy, disorganized the defense system, blocked the retreat routes and completed his encirclement.
Commander replacement
At the time of the start of Operation Bagration, Field Marshal Bush was the commander of the German Army Group Center. During the winter offensive of the Red Army, his troops managed to keep Orsha and Vitebsk.
However, Bush was unable to resist the Soviet troops during the summer offensive.
Already on June 28, Bush was replaced in his post by Field Marshal Model, who was considered the master of defense in the Third Reich. The new commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Model, showed operational flexibility. He did not occupy the defense with the arriving reserves, but, having gathered them into a fist, launched a counterattack with the forces of six divisions, trying to stop the Soviet offensive on the Baranovichi-Molodechno line.
The model to some extent stabilized the situation in Belarus, preventing, in particular, the capture of Warsaw by the Red Army, a steady exit to the Baltic Sea and a breakthrough into East Prussia on the shoulders of the retreating German army.
However, even he was powerless to save Army Group Center, which was dismembered in the Bobruisk, Vitebsk and Minsk "cauldrons" and methodically destroyed from the ground and air, and could not stop the Soviet troops in Western Belarus.
Liberation of Minsk
On July 1, Soviet advanced units broke through to the intersection of the Minsk and Bobruisk highways. They were to block the path of the German units retreating from Minsk, hold them until the main forces approached, and then destroy them.
Tank troops played a special role in achieving high rates of advance. So, making a raid through forests and swamps behind enemy lines, the 4th Guards Tank Brigade, which was part of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps, outstripped the main forces of the retreating Germans by more than 100 kilometers.
On the night of July 2, the brigade rushed along the highway to Minsk, immediately turned into battle formation and broke into the city outskirts from the northeast. The 2nd Guards Tank Corps and the 4th Guards Tank Brigade were awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
Soon after the tankers of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps, the advanced units of the 5th Guards Tank Army entered the northern outskirts of Minsk. Pressing the enemy, tank units, supported by the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, who came to the rescue, began to recapture quarter after quarter from the enemy. In the middle of the day, the 1st Guards Tank Corps entered the city from the southeast, followed by the 3rd Army of the 1st Belorussian Front.
Late in the evening, the capital of Belarus was liberated from the invaders. On the same day, at 22:00, Moscow saluted the victorious soldiers with 24 volleys from 324 guns. 52 formations and units of the Red Army received the name "Minsk".
The second stage of the operation
On July 3, the troops of the 3rd and 1st Belorussian Fronts completed the encirclement of the 100,000th group of the 4th and 9th German armies east of Minsk, in the Borisov-Minsk-Cherven triangle. It was the largest Belarusian "cauldron" - its liquidation lasted until July 11.
With the entry of the Red Army to the line of Polotsk-Lake Naroch-Molodechno-Nesvizh, a huge gap 400 kilometers long was formed in the strategic front of the German troops. Before the Soviet troops, the opportunity arose to begin the pursuit of the defeated enemy troops.
On July 5, the second stage of the liberation of Belarus began. The fronts, closely interacting with each other, successfully implemented five offensive operations: Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas, Bialystok and Brest-Lublin.
The Red Army successively defeated the remnants of the retreating formations of Army Group Center and inflicted heavy losses on the troops transferred here from Germany, Norway, Italy and other regions.
Results and losses
During Operation Bagration, the troops of the advancing fronts defeated one of the most powerful enemy groupings, Army Group Center: its 17 divisions and 3 brigades were destroyed, and 50 divisions lost more than half of their strength.
The German armed forces suffered heavy losses in manpower - irretrievably (killed and captured) 289 thousand people, wounded 110 thousand.
Losses of the Red Army - irrevocably 178.5 thousand people, 587 thousand wounded.
Soviet troops advanced 300-500 kilometers. The Byelorussian SSR, part of the Lithuanian SSR and the Latvian SSR were liberated. The Red Army entered the territory of Poland and advanced to the borders of East Prussia. During the offensive, the large water barriers of the Berezina, Neman, Vistula were crossed, and important bridgeheads on their western shores were captured. Conditions were provided for delivering strikes deep into East Prussia and into the central regions of Poland.
It was a strategic victory.
In 1944, the Red Army carried out a series of offensive operations, as a result of which the state border of the USSR was restored along its entire length from the Barents to the Black Sea. The Nazis were expelled from Romania and Bulgaria, from most parts of Poland and Hungary. The Red Army entered the territory of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.Among these operations was the defeat Nazi German troops on the territory of Belarus, which went down in history under the code name "Bagration". This is one of the largest offensive operations of the Red Army against Army Group Center during the Great Patriotic War.
The armies of four fronts took part in the operation "Bagration": the 1st Belorussian (commander K.K. Rokossovsky), the 2nd Belorussian (commander G.F. Zakharov), the 3rd Belorussian (commander I.D. Chernyakhovsky), 1st Baltic (commander I. Kh. Bagramyan), forces of the Dnieper military flotilla. The length of the front of hostilities reached 1100 km, the depth of movement of troops - 560-600 km. The total number of troops at the beginning of the operation was 2.4 million people.
Operation Bagration began on the morning of June 23, 1944. After artillery and aviation training in the Vitebsk, Orsha and Mogilev directions, the troops of the 1st Baltic, 3rd and 2nd Belorussian fronts went on the offensive. On the second day, troops of the 1st Belorussian Front attacked the enemy positions in the Bobruisk direction. The actions of the fronts were coordinated by representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, Marshals of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky.
Belarusian partisans inflicted heavy blows on communications and communication lines of the occupiers. On the night of June 20, 1944, the third stage began " rail war". During that night, the partisans blew up more than 40 thousand rails.
By the end of June 1944, Soviet troops surrounded and destroyed the Vitebsk and Bobruisk enemy groups. In the Orsha region, a grouping was liquidated that covered the Minsk direction. The defense of the enemy in the territory between the Western Dvina and Pripyat was broken. The first baptism of fire near the village of Lenino, Mogilev region, was taken by the 1st Polish division named after T. Kosciuszko. French pilots took part in the battles for the liberation of Belarus aviation regiment"Normandy - Neman".
On July 1, 1944, Borisov was liberated, and on July 3, 1944, Minsk. In the region of Minsk, Vitebsk and Bobruisk, 30 Nazi divisions were surrounded and destroyed.
In the liberation of Minsk on July 3, 1944, the commander of a tank platoon of the 1st Tank Battalion of the 4th Guards Tank Brigade (2nd Guards Tatsinsky Tank Corps, 31st Army, 3rd Belorussian Front) of the Guard, Junior Lieutenant Dmitry Frolikov, distinguished himself.
During July 2, a platoon of Dmitry Frolikov as part of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps made an almost sixty-kilometer throw and by the evening reached the approaches to the capital of Belarus. A fierce battle lasted all night. On July 3, 1944, the Red Army soldiers were already on the outskirts of Minsk, and two hours later they broke into the city from the northeast.
The first to enter the streets of the Belarusian capital was the 4th Guards Tank Brigade under the command of Colonel O. A. Losik. And the first crew that broke into the capital of Belarus was the crew of Dmitry Frolikov. Its crew included senior sergeant P. Karpushev, sergeants V. Zotov, V. Kosyakov, V. Kostyuk.
Soviet troops continued their offensive to the west. On July 16, they liberated Grodno, and on July 28, 1944 - Brest. The invaders were completely expelled from the Belarusian land. In honor of the Red Army - the liberator of Belarus from Nazi German invaders on the 21st kilometer of the Moscow highway, the Mound of Glory was poured. The four bayonets of this monument symbolize the four Soviet front, whose soldiers participated in the liberation of the republic.
The canvas that he cited was created over 10 years, from 1944 to 1954. The author of the picture was an eyewitness to the events of July 3, 1944, when the Red Army drove the Germans out of Minsk. He survived the years of occupation, met the liberators. Therefore, everything that he painted on the canvas is not a fruit of the author's imagination, but a documentary fact.
By the summer of 1944, a favorable situation had developed on the Soviet-German front for the offensive operations of the Red Army, which firmly held the strategic initiative. The Soviet troops were tasked with defeating the central grouping of German troops - the Army Group "Center", liberating Belarus and reaching the state border of the USSR.
The Belarusian offensive operation in terms of its scale, the number of forces participating in it is one of the largest not only in the Great Patriotic War, but also in the Second World War. This operation was codenamed "Bagration". At its first stage - from June 23 to July 4, 1944- the Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk and Polotsk operations were successfully carried out, the Minsk group of the enemy was surrounded. At the second stage - from July 5 to August 29, 1944- Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas, Bialystok and Lublin-Brest operations were carried out.
Taking into account the additional reserves received during the battles, more than 4 million people participated in the Bagration operation from both sides, about 62 thousand guns, over 7100 aircraft were involved.
The front line in the Belarusian sector at the beginning of Operation Bagration ran east of Polotsk, Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Zhlobin, west of Mozyr and further along the Pripyat River to Kovel. It went around Belarus from the north and south almost throughout its entire territory.
This gigantic protrusion had an extremely important strategic importance in the defense system of the German troops. He defended their main strategic directions (East Prussian and Warsaw-Berlin) and ensured the stable position of the army group in the Baltic.
On the territory of Belarus, the German aggressors created a powerful deep (up to 270 km) line of defense "Vaterland" ("Fatherland"). The self-name of this line emphasized that the fate of Germany depended on its power. By special order of A. Hitler, the cities of Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk, Borisov, Minsk were declared fortresses. The commanders of these fortresses gave the Fuhrer written commitments to hold them to the last soldier. Army Group Center was concentrated here, part of the right-flank formations of the North Army Group and the left-flank formations of the Northern Ukraine Army Group - a total of 63 divisions and 3 brigades, in which there were more than 1200 thousand people, 9500 guns and mortars, 900 tanks and assault guns, about 1300 aircraft.
Four fronts attacked the enemy's central grouping on a 700 km front line: the 1st Baltic Front under the command of General of the Army I. Kh. Bagramyan. 1st, 2nd, 3rd Belorussian Fronts under the command of Army General K.K. Rokossovsky, Colonel Generals G.F. Zakharov, I.D. Chernyakhovsky. Their combined forces numbered in line with the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front. On June 25-27, 1944, they surrounded and defeated the Vitebsk group of the Nazis, consisting of 5 divisions. June 26, 1944 Vitebsk was liberated, June 28 - Lepel. The enemy suffered significant losses (20 thousand soldiers and officers were killed and more than 10 thousand were taken prisoner).
On June 26, 1944, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front liquidated a powerful enemy defense center near Orsha, liberated Dubrovno, Senno, Tolochin. At the same time, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front launched operations in the Mogilev direction. They broke through the powerful defenses of the enemy and captured Mogilev, Shklov, Bykhov, Klichev. On this site, the main forces of the 4th German Bobruisk operation were stationed, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front by June 29, 1944 liquidated the enemy grouping of six divisions. On the battlefield, the Nazis left 50 thousand people killed. 23,680 soldiers and officers were captured.
Thus, during the six days of the offensive under the blows of the Soviet troops on four fronts, the powerful enemy defenses in the space between the Western Dvina and Pripyat fell. Hundreds have been released settlements, including the cities of Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk.
Operation "Bagration"
In the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of May 1, 1944, the tasks of the Red Army for the summer and autumn were formulated. It was supposed to complete the expulsion of the invaders from Soviet territory, to restore state border the USSR throughout, withdraw the European allies from the war on the side of Germany and free the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks and other peoples from fascist captivity Western Europe. In order to solve these tasks during the summer-autumn campaign, it was planned to prepare and consistently conduct a whole series of strategic offensive operations in a vast area - from the Arctic to the Black Sea. Paramount importance in the plans of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command for the summer of 1944 was assigned to the Belarusian operation.
By the summer of 1944, the front line in the Belarusian direction was bent in such a way that a huge ledge arose, which deeply wedged into the location of the Soviet troops. This ledge was an important strategic foothold for the Germans. Thanks to him, the German troops covered the approaches to Poland and East Prussia, maintained a stable position in the Baltic states and Western Ukraine. The Wehrmacht command also took into account the fact that the Belarusian network of railways and highways made it possible to maneuver forces and means in order to maintain interaction between the army groups "North", "Center" and "Northern Ukraine".
In addition, the ledge hung from the north over the troops of the 1st Ukrainian front and created the threat of flank attacks. In addition, German aviation had the opportunity to raid Soviet communications and industrial centers, based on airfields in Belarus.
Therefore, the German command sought to keep the Belarusian ledge at any cost. It prepared him for a stubborn defense, the main role in which was assigned to the Army Group Center, led by Field Marshal E. Bush.
At the northern junction of the Army Group "Center", the defense was held by the formations of the German 16th Army, which was part of the Army Group "North", and at the southern - by the formations of the 4th Panzer Army from the Army Group "Northern Ukraine". The main enemy forces were concentrated in the areas of Polotsk, Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk and Kovel, where they covered the most convenient directions for the offensive.
The troops of four fronts were supposed to take part in the Belarusian operation. The 1st Baltic Front under the command of General I. Kh. Chernyakhovsky - south of Vitebsk to Borisov. The 2nd Belorussian Front under General G.F. operated in the Mogilev direction. Zakharov. Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of General K.K. Rokossovsky aimed at Bobruisk, Minsk.
The developed Belarusian strategic offensive operation received the code name "Bagration" - in honor of the outstanding Russian commander, hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, Infantry General Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration.
According to the nature of the hostilities and the content of the tasks, the Belarusian operation is divided into two stages. At the 1st stage, the Vitebsk-Orsha, Mogilev, Bobruisk and Polotsk front-line operations were carried out and the encirclement of the Minsk group of the enemy was completed. In terms of duration, this stage took the period from June 23 to July 4.
The course of hostilities was as follows. On June 23, the troops of the 1st Baltic, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian fronts went on the offensive. The next day, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front entered the battle. The offensive of the main forces was preceded by reconnaissance in force, carried out on the morning of June 22 on the 1st Baltic, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian fronts and on June 23 - on the 1st Belorussian front.
The troops of the 1st Baltic Front, together with the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, already on June 25 surrounded 5 German divisions in the Vitebsk region and west of it and liquidated them by June 27. On this day, Orsha was liberated, on June 28 - Lepel, and on July 1 - Borisov. As a result, the German 3rd Panzer Army was cut off from the 4th Army.
Troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front after breaking through the enemy defenses along the river. Pronya, Basya and Dnepr liberated Mogilev on June 28. The troops of the right edge of the 1st Belorussian Front on June 27 surrounded over 6 German divisions in the Bobruisk region and liquidated them by June 29. At the same time, the troops of the front reached the line Svisloch - Osipovichi - Starye Dorogi. On July 3, eastern Minsk was liberated, which was surrounded by formations of the German 4th and 9th armies (over 100 thousand people). Somewhat earlier, on June 28, the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal E. Bush, was removed from his post. Instead, Field Marshal V. Model was appointed. This circumstance had no effect on the state of affairs at the front. Soviet troops continued to advance rapidly.
On July 4, the troops of the 1st Baltic Front liberated Polotsk and continued their attack on Siauliai. In 12 days, Soviet troops advanced 225-280 km at an average daily pace of up to 20-25 km, liberating most of Belarus.
The fascist German army group "Center" was defeated - its main forces were surrounded and defeated. With the release of our troops to the line Polotsk - Lake. Naroch - Molodechno - west of the city of Nesvizh, a gap of 400 km was formed in the strategic front of the enemy. An attempt by the German command to close it was unsuccessful.
At the 2nd stage of the Belarusian operation, which lasted from July 5 to August 29, the fronts, closely interacting with each other, successfully carried out 5 offensive operations: Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas, Belostok and Lublin-Brest.
The German divisions, which were surrounded in the area east of Minsk, tried to break through to the west and southwest. But during the fighting, most of the enemy soldiers and officers were either captured or destroyed.
The troops of the fronts continued to smash the remnants of the formations of Army Group Center and inflict heavy damage on enemy manpower and equipment.
The German command intensively transferred fresh units to this sector of the front from Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, as well as from the army groups North, South Ukraine and North Ukraine.
As a result of the offensive of the Soviet troops, all of Belarus, as well as part of Lithuania and Latvia, were liberated. Our troops entered the territory of Poland. We came close to the borders of East Prussia. The German Army Group North was isolated in the Baltic.
The success achieved during the Belarusian operation was used by the Headquarters for decisive actions in other directions. On July 10-24, the troops of the Leningrad, 3rd and 2nd Baltic fronts, as well as the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, went on the offensive. The front of the strategic offensive stretched from the Baltic to the Carpathians. The Soviet troops, which included the 1st Army of the Polish Army, crossed the state border of the Soviet Union with Poland on July 17-18.
By August 29, the advancing troops reached the line of Jelgava - Dobele - Augustov - pp. Narew and Vistula. Further promotion Soviet army was stopped by the enemy. The reasons for this are the general fatigue of the troops and the lack of ammunition. The Red Army in this sector of the front was forced to go on the defensive.
For 68 days of continuous offensive, Soviet troops in the 1100 km zone advanced westward by 550-600 km.
Literature
1. "Operation" Bagration "liberation of Belarus" Moscow, OLMA-PRESS, 2004
