Pavlov's luck was indeed very bad. It was only on the fourth day after the German Army Group Center launched a counterattack. The German army penetrated 200 kilometers into Belarus from both wings of the Western Front, making the Bialystok salient difficult.
The main force of the Western Front completely fell into the pocket of the German army.
In response to this, the encirclement initiated by Marshal Bock was also supported by Germany's largest aviation fleet.
The Second Air Force, with nearly 1,000 aircraft under the command of Catherine, would be responsible for clearing out all remaining Soviet air forces in Belarus and conducting continuous and violent bombing of any Soviet ground activities inside and outside the pocket.
This pincer-like encirclement tactic, coupled with the joint attack of double-layer pockets and air strikes, would have been impossible to crack even if Pavlov was at his headquarters.
General Pavlov, who was staying at the headquarters of the 13th Army, was indeed completely frightened by the rapid German offensive. Since he was no longer in the headquarters of the front army, he could not get enough information on the entire front, and he did not know the actions of his other two armies.
What is the situation, let alone what actions the German army is taking.
From the orders he issued, it was clear that this mediocre man had been completely overwhelmed by Marshal Bock's huge wave of attacks, and his mental defenses had been completely broken, and his spirit had begun to collapse.
Kuznetsov's 2nd Army was better. Pavlov knew that the other party was a man of his own opinions, so on the evening of June 23, he just issued an order to the 10th Army from the headquarters of the 13th Army.
One life today:
"Comrade Commander of the Tenth Group Army, why didn't your mechanized army attack? Whose fault is this? Take action immediately, don't panic, but take command. You should attack the enemy in an organized manner, rather than running around without command.
You should know where each division is, when and what actions to take and what the consequences will be..."
As a result, when the commander of the 10th Army received such an incoherent order, he had no idea what Pavlov wanted to express, nor did he understand what strategic goals the Front needed their 10th Army to accomplish.
The only thing is that even if Pavlov's order is issued, it is equivalent to not being issued and has no practical significance.
In his front army headquarters, General Kuznetsov of the 2nd Army had to work part-time as the commander of the front army, leaving his original command of the 2nd Army to the chief of staff and coordinating the overall situation himself.
But after all, Kuznetsov needed time to get used to it and become familiar with it. During this period of time, Bock's tank group was already dividing its forces to bypass the Bialystok salient.
If someone could immediately issue an order at this time to immediately withdraw the three armies of the Western Front from the dangerous area, there might still be time to escape the encirclement.
However, Pavlov was not in the headquarters at all, and Kuznetsov, who had temporarily joined the battle, did not understand the specific situation, so he could only reluctantly package what he learned and sent it to Pavlov.
Pavlov, who received the news from Kuznetsov, even thought for a while that the German tank group was advancing alone and the supply line was stretched. He wrongly judged that this was the time to fight back.
Perhaps it was because the defeat suffered by the Western Front in the previous three days was so disastrous that Pavlov firmly believed that it would be difficult for him to bear the responsibility for this defeat.
Of course, his guess was correct. Stalin would not let him go, especially after he had boasted and slandered Zhukov. Once he failed to fight, the mistakes he had made before would probably be liquidated.
Many people at the top level of the Soviet Union already knew the details of Pavlov's incompetence. Once he failed miserably and his mediocre nature was exposed, almost no one would speak for him.
He can only rely on himself. If the situation can be saved, it will be fine. If it continues to deteriorate, Pavlov understands that his end will not be better than Zhukov's.
If it were Zhukov, he would have ordered his troops to retreat as he did on the Southwest Front.
Any military commander should understand how foolish it is to continue to allow troops to stay in an area that is about to be encircled.
But Pavlov was different. He thought more about political influence and his own personal interests.
Cowardly, he lost his sober rationality at this critical moment. He imagined that only by attacking boldly and with all his might could he possibly save the situation and make up for the huge mistakes he had made.
At this time, his mind was full of how to redeem his mistakes, but he could not think of being responsible for the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Western Front under his command, nor could he think of his responsibility to guard Belarus and the gateway to Moscow.
This is the biggest difference between Pavlov and Zhukov. He only knows how to be responsible for himself, while Zhukov is responsible for the country.
Pavlov immediately ordered that all reserve units of the group army and the front army be moved forward in an attempt to remove the threat from the German frontal infantry divisions to the Stoke salient.
However, in this way, a vacuum zone was left in the Minsk area, and more troops were packed into the forefront area, making the German army's tactics of interspersed encirclement more complete.
Barelov's order was equivalent to sending more troops into the German army's pockets, and at the same time handing over the tether of the pockets to Marshal Bock of the German Army Group Center.
At the same time, after Kuznetsov reported that the Western Front headquarters had no commander, Marshal Shaposhnikov, who was urgently sent by Stalin to the Western Front as the representative of the headquarters, had arrived at the headquarters and discovered that the Western Front had no commander.
Dangerous situation on the front.
Next, Kuznetsov returned to his 2nd Army Headquarters on June 25, while Shaposhnikov, who stayed at the General Headquarters of the Western Front, quickly reported to the Soviet Army High Command the possibility of the Western Front
A situation of being surrounded.
After the report, Shaposhnikov sent a telegram to Pavlov at the 13th Army Headquarters, requesting the other party to quickly withdraw troops from the Bialystok protrusion and transfer them to the old fortifications further back.
City line.
Pavlov, who was bent on redeeming himself and driving the German troops back to the starting point, could not listen to Marshal Shaposhnikov's request. He did not reply to Shaposhnikov's telegram at all and bit the bullet.
Pretending not to see it.
"What on earth is that guy Pavlov doing!" Stalin, the pipe in the Soviet high command's mouth trembled anxiously.
First, no one could be found in the front headquarters, and the representatives of the headquarters sent there could not command the troops transferred to the front line by Pavlov. If this continues, even Stalin, an amateur military commander, could see that the Western Front was expected to
Being surrounded.
It is nothing new that the German army is good at encirclement tactics. What is new is that generals are always being encircled.
"Send an order to the Western Front in my name." After thinking about it, Stalin had no choice but to personally mobilize the troops of the Western Front: "Let the 3rd and 10th Army retreat eastward to the Lida, Snounim, and Pinsk lines.