June 1941

Eastern Front

With Manstein only a few miles from the Dvina, he sends a special force of troops in advance of the main armored forces with the intent of capturing the bridge at Daugavpils. The Soviet guards are startled at the audacious attack and the 8th Panzer Division captures the road bridge intact. The Soviets try vainly to prevent the Germans from securing a foothold, but to no avail. Lelyushenko's XXI Mechanized Corps, on the north side of the town, launches a limited counterattack with the forces at hand but is unable to move the Germans away from the river. The Red Air Force makes a few raids in an effort to blow the bridge, but the majority of its aircraft are shot out of the sky, leaving the crossing intact.

Reinhardt unleashes a fierce counterattack with the 1st and 6th Panzer Divisions cutting through the III and XII Mechanized Corps. The III is shattered in the fighting and pushed back into boggy ground where it is annihilated. The Soviets retire under intense fire with the XII Mechanized Corps being the first to break off the battle. The attack between Siauliai and Rasainai has cost Kuznetsov the bulk of his armored reserve. The III and XII Mechanized Corps now no longer exist as coherent combat units after this battle.

While the German panzers were destroying the Soviet armored reserve, the infantry of the 18th and 16th Armies continue their forced marches. The 18th Army is involved in more bitter fighting at Libau and inland along the road to Riga. While Reinhardt was bogged down with the Soviet armor at Rasainiai, the infantry has been undermining the Soviet positions. Elements of the XXVI Corps drive deep into the Soviet flank and are advancing along the Libau-Riga road while the XXXVIII Corps strikes into the rear of the XII Mechanized Corps around Siauliai. The 16th Army is struggling to catch up with Manstein's advanced force while trying to protect the developing right flank of the army group at the same time.

Lead elements of the 3rd Panzer Group are only 18 miles north of Minsk while the 2nd Panzer Group is rapidly approaching from the south. Schmidt's XXXIX Panzer Corps smashes aside the 13th Army and fights its way into the city during the day. Farther north, the LVII Panzer Corps pushes deeper into the right wing of the West Front, advancing toward the Dvina. With Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group on the southern wing of the attack, the XXIV Panzer Corps advances toward the Berezina, capturing Slutsk, while the XLVII Panzer Corps swings around and drives directly toward Minsk. The 17th Panzer Division captures Stolpce in the process.

Golubev's 10th Army has spent most of its forward munitions and, with no access to reserve supplies, begins to fragment. In desperation, V. I. Kuznetsov's 3rd Army launches a counterattack toward Lida in an effort to punch a hole to the east, but encounters strong resistance from Strauss's 9th Army. As these disasters unfold, Korobkov's 4th Army struggles to free itself from the cauldron. A limited counterattack at Slonim compels Guderian to draw forces away from his eastward advance. As the German units swing around, the Luftwaffe hits the Soviets with a punishing attack from the air.

The collapse of the West Front prompts Marshal Timoshenko to establish a second defense line east of Minsk. Ershakov's 22nd Army is ordered to move up to the middle Dvina and Gerasimenko's 21st is to position themselves behind the northern flank of the West Front in order to reinforce th combat line as it falls back.

With the armored force pushing far ahead of the infantry, Army Group Center subordinates command of the 2nd Panzer Group to the 4th Army.

Kirponos launches his counterattack at 0900 hours despite the fact that not all his forces have assembled in time or are already under heavy attack. Regardless, the counterattack begins as scheduled. Reichenau's 6th Army and Kleist's 1st Panzer Group are struck heavily on their flanks forcing them to bring the bulk of the III and XLVIII Panzer Corps around to deflect the Soviet blows. Attacks by the XV Mechanized Corps, itself already under heavy attack, forces the 57th Infantry Division back 6 miles. The attack from Klevany by the IX Mechanized fails to prevent the 13th and 14th Panzer Divisions from pushing aside the XXII Mechanized Corps. The 11th Panzer Division completes the capture of Dubno, while the 299th, 11th and 75th Infantry Divisions struggle to fill the gap between the panzer divisions. The XIX Mechanized Corps strikes the flank of the 11th Panzer Division but after very heavy fighting is forced to fall back towar Rovno.

On his left wing Kirponos begins to disengage his armies. He orders Muzychenko's 6th and Kostenko's 26th Armies to fall back from the crumbling Przemysl and Rava-Russki sectors and retire through Lvov. To the rear, he orders Lukin's 16th Army north from its positions at Shepetovka in order to reinforce the hardpressed West Front, deniying Kirponos the use of this reserve. The 16th Army, however, has some of its forward elements already involved in bitter fighting with the XIV Panzer Corps, which has closed up to the town over the last few days. Shepetovka is a major supply base for the Southwest Front and has to be held in order to feed the units at the front their supplies.

As the fighting along the border intensifies, Finland officially declares war upon the Soviet Union. The Soviet 14th Army launches an unexpected attack from the Murmansk area, but fails to break through the frontier.