Page 267 - The Chief Culprit

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Military Alignment

Hitler, herded into a corner and full of fear, in June 1941 decided to turn east, and attack the
Soviet Union.
—B H L H

n September 1939, as a result of the Red Army’s “war of liberation” in Poland, the new
western border of the Soviet Union advanced in such a way that the so-called Belostok
Ibulge formed in Byelorussia—a powerful wedge that, like a ship’s bow, broke into the
territory occupied by Germany. e same thing happened in the Lvov region—there, an-
other powerful wedge of Soviet territory formed. e Belostok and Lvov bulges were like
two Soviet peninsulas in the German sea. Basic military logic dictated: if the Red Army in-
tended to defend itself, it could not keep troops in the Belostok and Lvov bulges. Already, in
peacetime, enemy troops surrounded the Soviet army on three sides in the bulges. e Soviet
flanks were open and vulnerable. A sudden and decisive German attack on the flanks in these
bulges would have cut off the best sections of the Red Army from the main forces and supply
bases. In the event of an enemy invasion, such an alignment of Soviet troops inevitably and
immediately would have led to catastrophe.
at is exactly what happened in 1941. Before the German invasion into the territory
of the Kiev military district, the most powerful Soviet front was deployed: the Southwestern
Front. e three most powerful armies of that front were in the Lvov bulge. In peacetime,
these three armies were already almost surrounded. Hitler only had to shut the trap on them.
On June 22, the very weak 1st German Tank Group hit Lutsk, Rovno, and Berdichev, quickly
cutting off all three Soviet armies in the Lvov bulge—the 12th (mountain), 6th, and 26th.
e 1st Tank Group, faced with open, unprotected operational space, immediately went
through the Soviet rear, crushing air bases, staffs, and hospitals. Here, in the rear, they found
tremendous quantities of Soviet weapons, fuel, ammunition, foodstuffs, and medical sup-
plies. e Germans seized truly remarkable trophies. e three Soviet armies in the Lvov
bulge were left with a problem that had two solutions, both of which were catastrophic: either

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