Editing Operation Barbarossa (section)

===Belorussia===
{{Main|Battle of Białystok–Minsk}}
In the opening hours of the invasion, the ''Luftwaffe'' destroyed the Western Front's air force on the ground, and with the aid of [[Abwehr]] and their supporting anti-communist fifth columns operating in the Soviet rear paralyzed the Front's communication lines, which particularly cut off the Soviet 4th Army headquarters from headquarters above and below it.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=29–33}} On the same day, the [[2nd Panzer Group]] crossed the Bug River, broke through the 4th Army, bypassed [[Brest Fortress]], and pressed on towards [[Minsk]], while the [[3rd Panzer Group]] bypassed most of the 3rd Army and pressed on towards [[Vilnius]].{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=29–33}} Simultaneously, the German 4th and 9th Armies engaged the Western Front forces in the environs of [[Białystok]].{{sfn|Seaton|1972|pp=119–125}} On the order of the Western Front commander, [[Dmitry Pavlov (general)|Dmitry Pavlov]], the 6th and 11th Mechanised Corps and the 6th Cavalry Corps launched a strong counterstrike towards [[Grodno]] on 24–25 June in hopes of destroying the 3rd Panzer Group. However, the 3rd Panzer Group had already moved on, with its forward units reaching Vilnius on the evening of 23 June, and the Western Front's armoured counterattack instead ran into infantry and antitank fire from the V Army Corps of the German 9th Army, supported by ''Luftwaffe'' air attacks.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=29–33}} By the night of 25 June, the Soviet counterattack was defeated, and the commander of the 6th Cavalry Corps was captured. The same night, Pavlov ordered all the remnants of the Western Front to withdraw to Slonim towards Minsk.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=29–33}} Subsequent counterattacks to buy time for the withdrawal were launched against the German forces, but all of them failed.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=29–33}} On 27 June, the 2nd and 3rd Panzer Groups met near Minsk and captured the city the next day, completing the encirclement of almost all of the Western Front in two [[Pocket (military)|pockets]]: one around Białystok and another west of Minsk.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=29–33, 56}} The Germans destroyed the Soviet 3rd and 10th Armies while inflicting serious losses on the 4th, 11th and 13th Armies, and reported to have captured 324,000 Soviet troops, 3,300 tanks, 1,800 artillery pieces.{{sfn|Murray|Millett|2000|pp=122–123}}{{sfn|Fritz|2011|pp=88, 509}}

[[File:Niemieckie czołgi i pojazdy pancerne przed atakiem na Słuck (2-929).jpg|thumb|right|German mechanised forces staging in preparation to attack [[Slutsk]] in present-day Belarus]]

A Soviet directive was issued on 29 June to combat the mass panic rampant among the civilians and the armed forces personnel. The order stipulated swift, severe measures against anyone inciting panic or displaying cowardice. The [[NKVD]] worked with commissars and military commanders to scour possible withdrawal routes of soldiers retreating without military authorisation. Field expedient general courts were established to deal with civilians spreading rumours and military deserters.{{sfn|Seaton|1972|p=111}} On 30 June, Stalin relieved Pavlov of his command, and on 22 July tried and executed him along with many members of his staff on charges of "cowardice" and "criminal incompetence".{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=56–57}}{{sfn|Forczyk|2014|p=253}}

On 29 June, Hitler, through Brauchitsch, instructed Bock to halt the advance of the panzers of Army Group Centre until the infantry formations liquidating the pockets caught up.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=54–56}} But Guderian, with the tacit support of Bock and Halder, ignored the instruction and attacked on eastward towards Bobruisk, albeit reporting the advance as a [[reconnaissance-in-force]]. He also personally conducted an aerial inspection of the Minsk-Białystok pocket on 30 June and concluded that his panzer group was not needed to contain it, since [[Hermann Hoth]]'s 3rd Panzer Group was already involved in the Minsk pocket.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=60–62}} On the same day, some of the infantry corps of the 9th and 4th Armies, having sufficiently liquidated the Białystok pocket, resumed their march eastward to catch up with the panzer groups.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=60–62}} On 1 July, Bock ordered the panzer groups to resume their full offensive eastward on the morning of 3 July. But Brauchitsch, upholding Hitler's instruction, and Halder, unwillingly going along with it, opposed Bock's order. However, Bock insisted on the order by stating that it would be irresponsible to reverse orders already issued. The panzer groups resumed their offensive on 2 July before the infantry formations had sufficiently caught up.{{sfn|Glantz|2010a|pp=60–62}}