1:59

If that happened and Hitler could see no

2:02

other conclusion, then obviously

2:04

the capital would fall and terms

2:06

could be agreed to, as Stalin would

2:09

have no one else to resist for him. So

2:12

the key was the destruction of all

2:14

Soviet forces in Western Russia. Everything

2:17

else would take care of itself. Not

2:20

that every officer in Berlin agreed

2:23

with this, the most notable exception

2:25

being Army Chief of Staff General

2:27

Franz Halder, who was more of a traditionalist.

2:31

You take the capital, that's how both

2:33

sides know who won. But

2:35

that is a discussion for another day. The

2:38

man picked to lead the vaunted Army

2:41

Group Center was Field Marshal

2:43

Theodor von Bock. Bock had

2:45

done well in previous battles and thus

2:48

Hitler chose for him this plum

2:50

assignment. Bock would command

2:52

the 4th and 9th armies, two

2:55

armored groups and a large section

2:57

of the Luftwaffe for air cover. The

2:59

world would tremble and be changed

3:02

by Army Group Center. At least

3:04

that was the plan. One

3:06

of the many ironies of the Eastern

3:08

Front was that, as Poland

3:10

was divided between Germany and Russia,

3:13

with the latter taking the Baltic states

3:15

later, the main Soviet defensive

3:17

group, that is the Western Special

3:20

Military District, or WSMD,

3:23

under Colonel General D.G. Pavlov,

3:26

was actually closer to Berlin than

3:28

Moscow. This of course would

3:30

hurt Stalin in the first six months of the

3:32

war, as the WSMD

3:35

would be severely mauled by Army

3:37

Group Center. However, even

3:39

though the opening phases of Barbarossa

3:41

went well for Berlin, they would

3:44

find they were still a very

3:46

long ways away from reaching Moscow.

3:49

And in war, space equals

3:52

time. But that's in the future. Barbarossa

3:55

was not simply to remove communism

3:57

from Europe, it was to give the growing

3:59

Nazi states. state, additional fertile

4:01

land, and there was one more

4:03

thing. Yes, Hitler may have

4:06

been saying since the 1920s that

4:08

the words Bolshevik and Jews were

4:10

interchangeable, which is incorrect,

4:13

but he certainly wanted to rid the world of

4:16

Communists, Jews and

4:18

Slavs. As none of these groups

4:20

were considered a positive by Hitler, they

4:23

were to be gotten rid of, thus strengthening

4:25

the Nazi state, which meant this

4:28

was total war. Behind

4:30

the various army groups there were to be Einsatzgruppen,

4:34

or deployment groups, made up

4:36

of paramilitary death squads that

4:38

would help destroy Germany's enemies.

4:41

All this was to be arranged by Reichsführer

4:44

SS Heinrich Himmler, who was

4:46

only too happy to oblige. Hey

4:49

everyone, Ray here. So the

4:51

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6:14

Unlike when France or Denmark or

6:17

Norway was taken, the plan to conquer

6:19

Russia was 11 months in

6:21

the making. So Berlin expected

6:23

it to be all but over in six

6:25

to 10 weeks, though there was much

6:28

they did not anticipate that military

6:30

prowess could not overcome,

6:33

like the paltry state of Russian

6:35

roads and rail lines. Again,

6:37

Hitler had set the expectations, kicking

6:41

the door to Soviet Russia, i.e.

6:43

its forces in between Germany

6:45

and Moscow, and the whole rotten

6:47

structure would collapse. Opposing

6:50

this, Moscow and Stalin

6:52

in particular could not help but

6:55

be stunned when Nazi Germany overran

6:57

country after country in mere

7:00

weeks, thus completely wrecking

7:02

any expectations based off

7:04

the last war. So General

7:07

Zhukov was ordered to carry out war

7:09

games in late 1940, and

7:11

acting as the commanding invading general,

7:14

it did not take much on his part to

7:17

show how weak and uneven Stalin's

7:19

defensive lines were. Zhukov

7:22

was able to encircle and destroy

7:24

the first echelon of Soviet defenses,

7:27

which would match closely with what

7:29

would happen in the future. So

7:32

in private, where only whispers exist,

7:35

the word went out that the WSMD,

7:38

instead of being a military formation

7:41

large enough to not need quick outside

7:44

help if attacked, was now

7:46

to be sacrificed to the gods of

7:48

war, to buy Stalin time.

7:51

And it hurt the Soviet leader that his military

7:54

men had yet to come up with a strong

7:56

counter to the blitzkrieg. Thus,

7:59

the sacrifice. of WSMD.

8:03

During the night of June 20th, 21st, 1941, von Bock's troops moved

8:05

themselves and

8:10

their equipment closer to the border

8:13

of no man's land, in between German

8:15

and Soviet controlled territory. As

8:18

for actually going on the offensive, the

8:20

men, the Germans, were only given

8:23

eight hours warning. Of

8:25

course, all this movement was spotted by

8:27

the nearby Soviets, who told General

8:30

Pavlov, who in return asked

8:32

General Timoshenko for permission to

8:35

alert his men. The approval

8:37

did not come until 3.05 a.m. June 22nd.

8:39

The attack had started

8:44

five minutes before that. More specifically,

8:47

given the geography of the Baltic States,

8:49

the 9th Army and 3rd Panzer Groups

8:52

moved out at 3.05 a.m.

8:54

to coincide with Army Group North.

8:57

This had to be a united front

9:00

to make sure the enemy was not able to launch

9:02

their own attack or slip

9:04

around a partially moving German

9:07

offensive. This left the

9:09

4th Army Group and the 2nd Panzer Group

9:11

of Army Group Center to move out

9:14

at 3.15 a.m. Now

9:17

that the battle was on, Colonel General

9:19

Heinz Guderian, commander of the 2nd

9:21

Panzer Group, used speed and

9:24

audacity to capture bridges over

9:26

the river Bunk. Elsewhere, the

9:29

Panzer Regiment 18 used 80 specially

9:32

modified submarine tanks to

9:34

wade across, and though General

9:36

Hermann Halsman, the 3rd Panzer

9:38

Group, had only dry land in front

9:41

of them, they knew their chance

9:43

to cross a river would be coming soon,

9:46

and there would be many chances.

9:49

The Russians did not actively fight back

9:52

for the first few hours, as Stalin

9:54

had made them fearful of doing anything

9:56

to upset the Germans. The

12:00

two Darians' 3rd Panzer Division bypassed,

12:03

as best they could, the forest near

12:05

Brest, itself located about 70

12:07

miles or 112 kilometers south of Bialystok. First

12:12

they found that the sandy terrain there

12:15

used up much more fuel than expected.

12:18

They also found out, in a rather painful

12:20

way, that the Soviets were better

12:22

fighters amongst the trees. Another

12:27

crack that showed itself early on was

12:29

the different opinions of how this

12:31

battle should be fought by higher command.

12:35

After Bialystok was surrounded, Hitler

12:37

wanted the Panzer units of Army Group

12:39

Center to halt until

12:42

that pocket was reduced to nothing.

12:45

But General Franz Halder, Chief of Staff

12:47

of the Army High Command, or OKH,

12:50

fought against this and ordered von

12:52

Bock to keep going. His

12:55

compromise for when Hitler heard of

12:57

this counter-order was to tell

12:59

the Fuhrer that the Soviet pocket would

13:01

be surrounded by two rings. The

13:04

inner ring facing the Soviets would

13:06

be made of infantry, while the outer

13:08

ring protecting the infantry would

13:11

be comprised of armor. But

13:13

when Hitler found out, he once again ordered

13:16

the armor of Army Group Center

13:18

to stop.

13:19

As this flew in the face of everything

13:22

that Blitzkrieg was built upon, CNC

13:25

of the Army Walter von Braucht

13:28

knew he had to get involved. Even

13:31

worse, many German generals did

13:33

not think that Barbarossa would

13:35

be as easy as Hitler assumed

13:38

and stopping the panzers certainly wouldn't

13:40

make victory come any sooner. So

13:43

von Braucht ordered General Hoth to

13:45

keep moving with his armor in

13:47

the northern section of Army Group

13:50

Center's area of responsibility,

13:52

and for Guderian to do the same on

13:55

the southern side. All this

13:57

was labeled reconnaissance.

14:01

The same thing had happened during the Battle of

14:03

France, when the Panzers were about

14:06

to reach the coast. Hitler became

14:08

spooked by his own success and

14:11

ordered the Panzers to stop. But

14:13

the OKH ordered them on, again

14:16

under the cover of Reconnaissance

14:18

in force. But coming back

14:21

to June 1941, what

14:23

this boils down to is that Army Group

14:25

Center, the central thrust,

14:28

was now presenting an uneven

14:30

front, with the two flanks moving

14:32

on and fast, while the center

14:34

section slowed down, waiting

14:37

for Bialy Stok to fall.

14:41

To be sure, Stalin had been screaming counter-attack

14:44

this entire time, and indeed

14:46

the local commanders were yelling the same

14:48

thing, if only to avoid

14:51

being shot. But, and

14:53

this would remain the truth for the next few weeks,

14:56

there was little effective communication, little

14:58

to no air support, a lack of supplies,

15:01

little command and control, and certainly

15:04

even less combined armed attacks,

15:07

that is, the Army, artillery,

15:09

armor, and planes working together

15:12

for maximum effectiveness on

15:14

the Soviet front. This would

15:16

be worked out over time, until

15:19

then the Russians came at the

15:21

Germans in peace mail and

15:24

bled for it. Not

15:26

that there weren't moments of, let's

15:28

say, concern for the German

15:30

High Command. We've already seen

15:33

that von Lieb of Army Group North

15:35

stumbled a few times before his

15:38

infantry and armor units could be lined

15:40

up together for mutual support. Now,

15:44

it was von Bock's turn. On

15:47

the first day of the war, Dmitry Pavlov's

15:49

deputy, General I.V. Boldin,

15:52

was sent closer to the front as Pavlov

15:54

needed someone he could trust to

15:57

take the initiative. Besides, as

15:59

communications were spotty at best,

16:02

it was best to have his man on

16:04

the ground, on the scene, as

16:06

it were. And Bolden, from

16:09

a peasant beginning, had done well

16:11

for himself, because he took the initiative and

16:13

he stayed loyal to the party. He

16:16

would attempt to prove himself here,

16:19

once again. General Hermann

16:21

Hoth's Third Panzer Group consisted

16:23

of four panzer divisions and four

16:26

infantry divisions, and they were making

16:28

good progress to the north of Bielishtok.

16:31

In fact, he and his were moving

16:33

so fast that soon Hoth's

16:35

men could threaten Minsk

16:38

further to the east from the north.

16:41

And if Guderian, the southern version

16:43

of Hoth, within Armoured Group Center's

16:46

area of responsibility, could do the same, then

16:49

it was clear that Minsk would soon

16:51

fall and the way to Smolensk would

16:53

be open. But first things first.

16:57

Pavlov had told Bolden to go

16:59

to the forward area, take command, and

17:01

push the enemy back, if possible.

17:04

Bolden jumped into a very vulnerable

17:07

small aircraft and flew west,

17:09

landing within the Bielishtok

17:12

encirclement. Soon he was in

17:14

charge of the 6th mechanized, 11th

17:17

mechanized, and 6th cavalry corps. This

17:20

shock group of Boldens had just

17:22

over 1,000 tanks in its midst,

17:25

and at least half of them were KVs

17:28

and T-34s. The

17:30

idea was for him to swing in a counterclockwise

17:33

motion to reach and liberate

17:35

Grodno, located about 40 miles

17:38

or 64 kilometers northeast

17:40

of Bielishtok, with the ultimate goal

17:43

being Augustavo, located

17:45

in the northeast corner of what once was

17:48

Poland. If he could

17:50

achieve this, not only would the encirclement

17:52

be pierced, it would send shockwaves

17:55

through both Army Groups north and

17:57

center. And things had started to change.

18:20

And

20:00

in war, there is only one punishment

20:03

for this. They were all executed

20:06

by the NKVD, that

20:08

is, the People's Kamazariat for Internal

20:10

Affairs, basically Stalin's

20:13

personal police force. Meanwhile,

20:17

in the south of Army Group Center's

20:19

area of responsibility, General

20:21

Guderian and his panzers were equally

20:24

moving apace. The Soviet

20:26

22nd Tank Division had been trying

20:29

to stop Guderian's panzers but

20:31

were whittled down in the process, in

20:34

very short order. Guderian

20:36

was a whiz in fighting with his panzers,

20:39

but he also had an ego, and he did

20:41

not like to hear the word, no. We've

20:45

already seen Bolden's attempt with his shock

20:48

group, but it also hoped that if

20:50

he did break out, it might cause Guderian

20:53

to stop as well, as having

20:55

an enemy operate in your rear could

20:57

cut off supplies and reinforcements.

21:00

But this did not happen. Still,

21:03

there was a massive pocket of Soviet

21:05

armies trapped just east of

21:08

Bialystok. Again, Hitler

21:10

wanted to wait until that was destroyed, but

21:13

the generals under him did not.

21:16

Thus, the fake reconnaissance in force

21:18

orders were issued. In time,

21:21

this pocket of resistance would be

21:23

reduced, but waiting in Army

21:25

Group Center's near future was

21:27

another, even larger pocket,

21:30

just west of Minsk. Either

21:33

way, Army Group Center was making

21:35

good headway deeper into Soviet

21:38

territory, and soon, as we have

21:40

seen, they would have most of the armor

21:42

from Army Group North join them. As

21:45

Hitler changes his mind concerning

21:48

what Bock's main target

21:51

should be. episode

22:01

I really do appreciate it the warrior next

22:03

door guys Ryan and Tony I've

22:06

almost got my voice back but I think I

22:08

think I did okay so you'll let me know if I

22:11

did and I'm sure anyway before I

22:13

say hi to new members and thank those who

22:15

have donated I've got two announcements

22:18

for you one if you

22:20

have not heard

22:22

of or been to and the chances are

22:24

you haven't and you haven't been there

22:26

is a World War two museum in

22:28

Gettysburg Pennsylvania I think it's

22:31

called World War two museum the

22:33

American experience something like that

22:36

anyway it's it's pretty new it's been up

22:38

just over a year I went

22:40

there this weekend with my friend Jesse we

22:43

had a great time the the museum

22:46

is not the biggest one I've ever been to but

22:48

it is amazing and

22:50

the people there will explain everything and answer

22:52

your questions Jesse and I got very

22:55

lucky and we had a gentleman named Jack

22:57

who was more than patient

22:59

to put up with us we were there for good two-half

23:01

an hours we monopolized his time

23:03

so Jack if you ever hear this thank you

23:06

very much but for everyone else check

23:08

it out it's in Gettysburg Pennsylvania and

23:11

the other thing is if you are a tank

23:13

aficionado or just like tanks

23:15

a little bit like me there is

23:17

a tank museum in Danville

23:19

Virginia it's got dozens of

23:22

tanks and I think it's got planes it's got artillery

23:24

pieces it's got the whole shebang

23:27

unfortunately it is going

23:29

out of business or whatever the price closing

23:32

there we go it's not like they sell in the tanks they're

23:34

going out of business and they don't know exactly

23:37

when so if you want to see tanks

23:39

and if you've ever thought about going to the tank

23:42

museum in Danville Virginia do

23:44

it soonest because you

23:46

might just go there one day and the doors could be closed for

23:49

right now because they are closing they're

23:51

only opened on Fridays and Saturdays

23:54

Jesse and I are going to try to go there the

23:56

first or second week of December because

23:59

I seriously doubt the They'll be there in the new

24:01

year. So for whatever that's worth. And

24:03

now on to thanking people who

24:06

give my life meaning. Okay,

24:09

let's see here. First, as far as those who have recently

24:12

donated, thank you very much. Let's see

24:14

here. No particular order. Ying

24:17

Gavar Home from Norway. I hope

24:19

I got that right. Grady

24:21

Flife, thank you very much. Gavin

24:23

Kent, thank you very much. Anthony

24:26

De Luca who has donated before.

24:28

So Anthony Thoney, thank you very much.

24:31

And as far as those who have recently become members

24:33

who get the extra episodes, let's

24:35

see here. Priscilla Forney from Greensboro,

24:38

North Carolina. Dee Grice

24:40

from Grayslake, Illinois. Chris

24:42

Fowler from Christ Church, New Zealand.

24:45

Thank you, Chris. James,

24:48

is that Hassan or Shazan from

24:50

Des Plaines, Illinois. I'm

24:53

sorry about that James. I looked up

24:55

how to pronounce your name, but I got several

24:57

options. I apologize for the absolute

25:00

butchery that was your last name.

25:04

Paul Leonard from Toronto, Canada. And

25:07

George Sey from Livonia,

25:09

Michigan. So thank you all very much for supporting

25:11

the show. It certainly means a lot around

25:13

here. And we will see you soon

25:16

with the next part of Army Group Center.

25:19

Take care, everyone.