In six days of fighting, the 1st Belarusian Front captured and destroyed 366 enemy tanks and self-propelled artillery, and 2,664 artillery pieces of various calibers, annihilated more than 50,000 German troops, and captured more than 20,000 prisoners. Of the 100,000 German troops originally entrenched in this area, less than 30,000 escaped.
On the second day after the liberation of Bobruisk, Rokossovsky received a new order from the base camp: attack Minsk with part of the force, and attack Slutsk and Baranovich with the main force of the front army, and use the main force of the front army to attack Slutsk and Baranovichi. Cut off the enemy's retreat route to the southwest, and coordinate with the troops of the 3rd Belarusian Front to complete the encirclement of the heavy German force group in Minsk as soon as possible.
After receiving the order, Rokossovsky quickly adjusted his deployment and rearranged tasks for each unit.
On July 2, General Panov's 1st Guards Tank Corps launched a fierce assault in the center, broke through the defense line of the German 12th Division, and captured the Pukhovich area together with the 82nd Division.
General Pliyev's cavalry mechanized group quickly rushed towards Slutsk. In the early morning of July 2, the Guards Cavalry captured Stolbtsi, Gorocha and Nesvizh, cutting off the enemy Minsk Group's access to Baranovichi, Brest, and Luninets transportation lines.
The troops of the 85th Infantry Corps of the 3rd Army moved forward to the Bogost and Chervin areas, where they joined forces with the troops of the Second Belorussian Front.
General Bakharov's tank army, which bypassed Minsk from the south, captured the railway hub near Lyubiacha on July 2 and continued to advance north along the Slutsk-Minsk highway. On the same day, the tank troops of the Third Belarusian Front captured Smolevich and advanced from the northeast toward Minsk, thereby completing the encirclement of the enemy's 4th Army Group east of the Belarusian capital.
The enemy retreated hastily along country roads and the Mogilev-Minsk highway. However, the bridges and ferries had been blown up by the guerrillas. The German army, which was in chaos, was crowded in a narrow area and suffered continuous bombing by the Soviet Air Force, causing heavy casualties.
Seeing that his elite troops were so vulnerable to the Soviet attack, the German Marshal Busch was at the Army Group headquarters in Minsk and asked his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Krebs. : "What is going on? Why can't our best officers and most elite soldiers stop the Russian attack?"
Faced with the question raised by Marshal Busch, Krebs also fell into deep thought. He was wondering how could a hundred thousand troops be destroyed so quickly? How could the Russians defeat the heroic, tenacious and experienced German troops on the battlefield? And in just a few days, they plunged the entire army group into a disaster?
He was thinking in his mind that the huge disparity in power did not mean that this disaster was inevitable. You know, on the Eastern Front battlefield, the German army has created a record of defeating the strong by the weak more than once. For example, at the beginning of last year on the left bank of the Dnieper River, Marshal Manstein defeated the two Russian fronts despite being at a disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment.
Of course, there are some disadvantages to the army group's troops. For example, before the Russians launched their attack, there were some changes in the high-ranking command of the troops. In the first week of June, General Tipelskich took over the position of Commander Kruger of the 4th Army, and his original command of the 12th Army was handed over to Lieutenant General Mueller.
In addition, after Generals Wiese and Weidling were relieved of their posts, the command authority of the 35th Army and the 41st Armored Corps under their command also changed, and the division commanders of the subordinate divisions also made certain adjustments. Such changes will have some adverse effects on the morale and morale of the troops.
The worst thing is that the main defense areas of the Army Group, including Orsha and Mogilev, were handed over to a new commander like Tipelskich who had never commanded an army. After the battle began, his shortcomings in ability were clearly revealed.
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Krebs put forward his own suggestion to Marshal Busch after thinking for a while: "Because the offensive campaign launched by the Russians this time, both in terms of scale and direction of attack, is greatly unexpected. Our army's expectations caused us to lose our complete direction in a short period of time. Facing a front with breakthroughs everywhere, we need to take necessary retreats to ensure that the defense line can quickly stabilize."
"Chief of Staff, what you said makes perfect sense." Marshal Busch agreed with Krebs' proposal: "I will call the headquarters immediately and report the terrible situation here to the head of state."
But Marshal Busch never dreamed that his call to Mustache would not only result in a scolding, but in the end he would actually be dismissed from his post as commander of the army group.
To be fair, Marshal Busch is a good field commander. Although he is not a strategic genius like Manstein, he once commanded an army group on the northern front for several years and caused a lot of trouble for the Soviet army. . However, as one of the commanders most loyal to the Führer, he became the scapegoat for the defeat of the war and was dismissed from his post. This made him very angry.
When he saw Marshal Busch leaving the Army Group Headquarters in dejection, Krebs personally sent him outside, held the old marshal's hand and said: "Marshal, please take care of yourself. I want to wait for the day when the Führer is angry." If it’s gone, you might be assigned a more important position.”
Regarding Krebs' safety, Marshal Busch just smiled miserably, then let go of the other man's hand, turned around and got on the barrel truck parked aside, and quietly left this sad place.
The person who succeeded Marshal Busch was Marshal Model, known as the "Master of Defense." The reason why Mustache appointed him as the commander of the Army Group was because he remembered that he had turned the tide in the Rzhev, Orlyol and Leningrad areas. Although the current situation in Belarus is not good, if Model takes action, there is still a chance for a comeback.
After Model arrived at the headquarters, he immediately issued an order to Krebs: "Chief of Staff, record my order."
"The 5th Armored Division was transferred to the north of Minsk to cover the huge gap in the front there;"
"The 4th and 12th Armored Divisions were sent to the Stolbchi area south of Minsk to keep the Berezina River crossing open for the 4th Army;"
"The 2nd Army used its assault artillery brigade and cavalry units to advance in the direction of the 9th Army while re-establishing contact with the 4th Army."
Although the order issued by Model was very appropriate, it seemed futile in the face of the Soviet army that was coming like a tide.
After liberating Bobruisk, Sokov's 48th Army received the task of liberating Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
When Sokov ended the call with Rokossovsky, put down the phone, and told everyone Rokossovsky's order, it immediately aroused cheers. You know, liberating the capital of a country is an amazing achievement.
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin asked first, "How are you going to fight this battle?"
"In the past, when attacking a city, we had to first clear out the enemies on the periphery and then attack the city." Sokov stared at the map and said: "This time I plan to change my style of attack. I won't wait until the periphery is cleared. Then attack the city. Except for leaving one or two troops to monitor nearby enemies, use the main force of the group army to directly launch a general attack on Minsk."
"Comrade Commander," Ponedelin couldn't help but be a little worried about the simple and crude plan proposed by Sokov: "If we encounter stubborn resistance from the enemy when we attack Minsk, we will be unable to capture the city for a long time. , enemies from the periphery are pressing in from all directions, how should we deal with them?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander, you don't have to worry about this." Sokov said confidently: "Don't see that there are still a lot of German troops around Minsk, but our friendly forces will contain them so that they cannot draw out their strength. To reinforce the garrison in Minsk. After all, in this battle, our army has an absolute advantage in terms of strength and equipment."
"Comrade Commander, you can't say that. Even if we have superior strength and equipment, it may not be that easy to win." Ponedelin was worried that Sokov would underestimate the enemy, and specifically reminded him: "You Don’t forget, in the Third Battle of Kharkov at the beginning of last year, you must know that at that time, our army dispatched the elite Southwest Front Army and Voronezh Front Army, and their strength and equipment far exceeded the enemy. However, in the end of the battle, we were still defeated. Gave it to Manstein.”
Hearing Ponedelin mention the Third Battle of Kharkov, Sokov was really dumbfounded. Yes, in this battle, the Soviet army with superior strength and equipment was indeed defeated by the German army, but the reason was Many aspects. Logistics supply is one thing, but General Vatutin, the commander of the Southwest Front Army at the time, had frequent command errors due to his limited capabilities. As a result, not only did the troops under his command suffer a disastrous defeat, but it even dragged down the Voronezh Front Army commanded by Golikov, causing The battle that was originally a sure win ended in failure.
"Comrade Deputy Commander, don't worry." Sokov raised his voice and said: "After three years of war, our commanders and soldiers have matured and learned how to fight. I believe that the third Hal The tragedy that occurred at the Battle of Cobh will never happen again here."
Seeing that Sokov was so confident, Sidorin took the opportunity to ask: "Comrade Commander, do you plan to let those two troops monitor the enemies near Minsk?"
"The 109th and 118th Infantry Brigades are responsible for monitoring the enemy, and the 122nd Brigade serves as the army reserve." Sokov began to arrange combat tasks: "The remaining troops advance towards Minsk."
Sidorin, who was recording the order, saw Sokov saying this, picked up the teacup on the table and started drinking water, and asked in surprise: "What else?"
"I'm done."
"Ah, have you finished talking?" Sidorin said with some surprise: "Comrade Commander, troops from six divisions have swarmed in Minsk. If you don't arrange who will be the main attacker and who will assist, if you just let them rush forward like this, what's the point? Aren't you going to get into trouble?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, our divisions are now very scattered. If we assemble them and set out to attack Minsk, it will definitely take a lot of time." Sokov said to Sidorin: "One day The big credit is placed in front of them. Whoever moves quickly will have the opportunity to get this credit. Several division commanders have rich command experience. Even if we don't give them a specific offensive direction, they know what to do. How to capture this city.”
Regardless of whether Sokov's words were true, both Sidorin and Ponedelin had doubts about his statement. But now that Sokov had given the order, both of them also It was difficult to refute, so I could only follow his instructions and notify the participating troops, asking them to rush to Minsk as soon as possible to participate in the siege battle.
When Sidorin conveyed Sokov's order to the divisions, the troops immediately exploded: What, attack Minsk? And this time there is no arrangement for who will be the main attacker and who will be the main attacker. In other words, anyone's troops can be the main attacker. As long as they are the first to rush into Minsk, it will be a glorious achievement recorded in history.
Originally, the division commanders wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of liberating Bobruisk to let their troops take time to rest and recuperate, and if possible, ask their superiors to replenish their troops. But now that they see the attractive record in front of them, any rest or supplements have been forgotten.
Major General Tolstikov summoned several of his regiment commanders and said to them: "Comrade commanders, we are the 1st Guards Division. Do you know what this means? It means that our division is the best in the world. First Division, I don’t have to fight for other military achievements, but we cannot easily let go of such a great victory as the liberation of Minsk. You should return to your respective units immediately, cancel the original rest plan, and rush to the city as quickly as possible In the direction of Minsk, we must be the first unit to break through the enemy's defense lines and rush into the city."
After the several regiment commanders agreed loudly, they turned around and left the division headquarters, returning to their respective regiments to assign tasks.
In less than an hour, the 1st Guards Division set off from several places at the same time, using the speed of a rapid march, toward Minsk.
The 1st Guards Division is conducting combat mobilization, and Onupriyenko's 6th Guards Division is also conducting the same mobilization. Although this division did not participate in the battle in the final stage of liberating Bobruisk, the troops were relatively concentrated, but their distance from Minsk was much further than that of the 1st Guards Division.
But Onupryenko learned that Tolstikov's 1st Guards Division had set off, and immediately terminated the ongoing mobilization and ordered the troops to set off urgently to catch up with the 1st Guards Division, which had set off first.
Three hours later, the German troops stationed outside Minsk were attacked.
When the battle started, the German army discovered a strange imagination. The attacking Russians seemed to be going crazy. There was no artillery fire cover, or even machine gun fire cover, but a few people dared to charge towards their positions with guns in hand. It's just that I'm here to die.
As soon as these people were knocked down with machine guns, more madmen rushed up. Although they had guns in their hands, no one fired while running. Instead, they rushed up directly and used bayonets to overturn the enemies in front of them. German soldier.
As the saying goes, those who are arrogant are afraid of being stunned, and those who are stunned are afraid of losing their lives. With the recent series of defeats, the German army's morale has been weakened and morale is low. Seeing more and more Soviet commanders and soldiers who are not afraid of death, how can they have the courage to stay? They came down and continued fighting, turning around and running towards the city.
The German army fled all the way, and the Soviet army chased all the way, and soon rushed into the city of Minsk, and the battle naturally moved from outside the city to inside the city.
As gunfire and explosions broke out in the city, a red flag was raised on the top of the Belarusian government building. According to Soviet tradition, the raising of this flag means that the troops have occupied the city.
