Initially expecting a quick sweep of the Soviet forces in the triangle comprising
the towns of Dubno, Lutsk, and Brody, most German Panzer units were shocked to find out
that the Soviets counted with a large number of technologically superior armored heavy carriages.
The Battle of Brody, a massive World War 2 clash between 4,000 German and Soviet tanks
in western Ukraine that started only a day after Operation Barbarossa in June of 1941,
eventually became the largest armored battle in history, but few really know about it.
The Red Army's mechanized Corps incessantly tried to block the Nazi advance with all they had,
but they didn’t expect that the ever-mighty Luftwaffe would soon take control of the air.
Still, despite disordered planning, an essential lack of communication,
and flimsy leadership, the Soviets would not give up without putting up one hell of a fight…
Operation Barbarossa
The moment that Adolf Hitler and his top-ranking generals
had been preparing for months had finally come.
Hoping to repeat the success of the devastatingly successful Blitzkrieg operations in Western
Europe, the Wehrmacht launched a massive effort to invade the Soviet Union on Sunday, June 22,
1941. It was codenamed Operation Barbarossa.
The ambitious operation was Germany's most significant invasion attempt of World War 2,
as well as one of the largest organized attacks in history.
Around 80 percent of the available Axis forces, accounting for more than
three and a half million troops, suddenly unleashed their fury on Soviet territory.
From the Baltic Sea in the north all the way to the Black Sea in the south,
the Nazis invaded an impressive 1,800-mile front, creating a colossal front line.
Despite repeated warnings from fellow comrades,
Joseph Stalin refused to believe that Hitler, with whom he had co-signed the German-Soviet
Nonaggression Pact less than two years before, would try to invade the Motherland.
As a result, the German invasion caught the Red Army mostly unprepared and with no organized
mobilization against the Nazi threat. As Wehrmacht soldier Gerhard Goertz put it: [QUOTE] "Some of
them even came out in their nightshirts and opened fire; they were taken completely by surprise."
German propaganda described the attack as a preventive strike,
launched in response to an apparent incoming military assault by the communist Bolsheviks.
But in reality, Hitler had personally ordered the ruthless campaign to destroy one of the most
powerful nations in the world and a country that he viewed as Germany's sworn enemy.
The Führer dreamt of conquering the new Lebensraum, a living space for
Germans in the east, as a way to further expand the German Reich,
going from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural mountains.
The advance on that first day was swift, ruthless, and overwhelmingly effective.
With a three-pronged attack toward Leningrad in the north, Moscow in the center,
and Ukraine in the south, the troops on the battlefield were complemented
by powerful Luftwaffe aircraft that bombarded Soviet aircraft
still on the ground, while German Panzer tank divisions and top-notch artillery
helped them gain an early advantage against the numerous yet poorly trained Soviet troops.
The following day, the Soviet troops stationed in the triangle formed by the towns of Dubno,
Lutsk, and Brody in modern-day Ukraine were subjected to yet
another relentless attack by the newly-arrived Nazi forces.
Still, as unprepared as they were, the Soviets were ready to fight to the last man…
Panzer Group 1 vs. Soviet Mechanized Corps
At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi forces owned numerous Czech,
German, and captured French and British armored vehicles,
and nearly half of them were Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks.
On the other hand, by early June of 1941, the Soviets had almost 20,000
tanks in their repertory, most of them T-26 or BT-7 light tanks.
Still, the Soviet tanks’ front armor offered virtually no protection
against German anti-tank weapons, and the poor design of the Soviet shells
made them shatter upon contact rather than actually penetrate enemy targets.
The advantage the Red Army had was owning two impressive modern tanks,
far superior to the German vehicles.
One was the T-34, a medium-sized tank with a powerful 76.2-millimeter gun and a 60-degree
sloped armor to protect it from anti-tank weapons. The other was the Kliment Voroshilov KV-1 heavy
tank, which was widely known for its armor protection and a top speed of 17 miles per hour.
However, these models had only started being
rolled out and were not as available as their lighter and more vulnerable tanks.
On June 23, the German 6th Army and 1st Panzer Group
arrived in the area with the objective to seize the cities of Lutsk, Rovno, Dubno, and Ostrog.
However, within the first few hours of the initial attack, the German commanders were shocked
to realize that some of the Soviet tanks they attacked were immune to their anti-tank weaponry.
Eighteen hours after the start of the German invasion,
several mechanized corps of the Soviet 5th and 6th armies
were grouped to take part in a counterattack through the flanks of German Panzer Group 1.
The mechanized corps then started moving towards counterattack and blocking positions
with about 2,500 tanks. They were also joined
by an additional mechanized division, an entire cavalry corps, and two whole rifle corps.
A series of brutal engagements between the Panzer Corps and the mechanized corps broke out. However,
despite the powerful KV-1 and KV-2 heavy tanks that were impervious to most German anti-tank
weapons, the Red Army's logistics quickly broke down due to relentless Luftwaffe attacks.
With the majority of the Soviet Air Force aircraft being damaged the day before, the Soviets still
tried their best with what they had. However, after sending their remaining aircraft to support
the offensive, the mighty Luftwaffe fiercely prevented any Soviet reconnaissance movements,
leaving the commanders blind to an ever-escalating and quickly-evolving battle.
The Luftwaffe reigned over the Soviet airspace and was able to pinpoint and separate the
supporting infantry and deny them resupply of fuel and ammunition. In addition, the air
confrontations resulted in even more casualties and aircraft losses for the attacking Soviets.
Ultimately, with a lack of adequate planning and overall coordination between the many tanks and
mechanized corps, the Soviet counterattack failed to meet at the expected rendezvous point at Dubno.
Outmatched
By June 25, the Panzer Corps in the area had secured the city of Lutsk, claiming the lives
of countless Soviets in the process. However, the locals were able to reorganize and launch a
counterattack the following day with the objective to cut off and destroy two Panzer divisions.
The counterattack on June 26 was the closest the Soviets got to
isolating and destroying the large invading mobile force, but soon reality hit home:
the Soviets were clearly outmatched since the beginning of the invasion.
At full strength, an ordinary German panzer division consisted of a formation of motorized
infantry, motorized artillery, and motorized engineers, and between 150 to 200 tanks.
In addition, each formation was supported with about 2,000
trucks to support each panzer division's logistical needs.
In accordance with the Wehrmacht doctrine -which focused on the importance of training
all soldiers in roles performed by other men- the tank crews were also
knowledgeable in artillery roles and vice versa. As such, the tank crews trained
as mechanics had enough understanding to fix broken equipment in the field.
On the other hand, the Red Army was disorganized and lacked enough trucks and tractors to transport
infantry, howitzers, and supplies. While each Soviet tank division had 400 tanks,
these were supported by only 1,500 trucks.
Another major problem for the Soviets was that their units marched separately while on
their way to the front. In the Red Army's mechanized corps, the tanks came first,
closely followed by artillery pulled by trucks and then the infantry on foot.
The battery pulled by tractors arrived at the end.
Because of this strategy, entire units got lost or would get stuck on the roads.
In addition to their evident disorganization, unconcealed ammunition dumps, and several other
issues, the Soviet tank crews were not trained on the mechanical functions of
their often finicky machines. Thus, simple mechanical problems resulted in hundreds of
Red Army tanks being abandoned on the roadside en route to Brody, with only an estimated 3,000
out of the nearly 5,000 expected tanks actually arriving on the battlefield.
What’s more, after receiving orders to attack, several Soviet crews with available tanks
but lack of fuel or ammunition responded by either destroying their vehicles
or retreating, losing hundreds of them this way.
Despite having many more tanks than the Germans,
the experience and Wehrmacht doctrine ended up being more effective.
The End Is Near
The Soviet hold quickly deteriorated on June 28 and 29, as the advancing German
tanks encircled and annihilated every Soviet unit in their way and many others fell behind.
Despite fighting fiercely and giving it their all,
the lack of fuel and ammunition took a significant toll on the local forces,
and the entire left flank of the Soviet line completely collapsed by July 1.
Still, the German Panzer Group 1 formation was the one that suffered the most severe battering
in the quest to take over the cities within the triangle,
losing numerous tanks yet still able to operate with what they had. On the other hand,
the Soviet forces took the most casualties, rendering most of its troops non-operational.
Despite inflicting heavy losses on the German forces and having numerical and
technological superiority, the Soviets were outmaneuvered every step of the way.
Ultimately, at least 2,280 Soviet tanks were utterly destroyed during the Battle of Brody,
roughly 42 percent of the initial Red Army's Southwestern Front tank strength.
Poor Soviet logistics, absolute Luftwaffe supremacy,
and a total breakdown within the Red Army’s chain of command ensured the victory for the Wehrmacht.
The largely-unknown Battle of Brody became one of
the most intense armored engagements in the opening phase of the Soviet Union invasion,
and many experts claim it even surpasses the more widely known Battle of Prokhorovka
-usually referred to as the Battle of Kursk- regarding the sheer number of tanks involved.
The End of Barbarossa
Despite their massive loss at the hands of the Germans in the triangle
formed by the towns of Dubno, Lutsk, and Brody, the Soviets were not ready to give up just yet.
The weather also helped, and by December, it was taking its toll on the Germans.
A lack of appropriate oil and lubricants meant that the Luftwaffe aircraft, guns, and radios
were immobilized by the plummeting temperatures, and frostbite spread amongst the Nazi forces.
Despite over three million casualties at the hands of the Germans,
the Red Army continued to fight. Used to the harsh weather, the extensive reservoir of manpower
helped the Soviet infantry to constantly renew and match the Germans on this front.
However, Operation Barbarossa would eventually leave the Germans stretched to the breaking point.
With relentless will, the Soviet defense had turned into a full-fledged counterattack by
December 5, and the Germans were finally forced into a retreat.
Despite Adolf Hitler's call to defend every foot of ground no matter the cost,
Operation Barbarossa ultimately ended in Axis failure after five months, one week, and six days.
The largest military operation in history,
Barbarossa saw some of the world's longest and most brutal battles, many of the most horrific
German atrocities, and the highest number of casualties from both the Soviet and Axis powers.
And it is unquestionable that the grueling Soviet invasion significantly influenced the
course of World War 2, as well as the subsequent events of the 20th century.
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