The following abbreviations are used in the article: AK - army corps, IN - military district, Gra - Army Group, CA - Red Army, mk - motorized body, RM - intelligence materials, RO - intelligence department of the headquarters of the military, RU - Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Spacecraft, TGr - a tank group.
In the previous part, the RM was considered about the headquarters of field armies and TGr, which came to the leadership of the USSR and the spacecraft in 1941. The credibility of these RMs was unsatisfactory. Intelligence was unable to detect the redeployment of the TGR headquarters to the border, as well as the deployment of the North, Center and South headquarters near the border. Information about the deployment of army headquarters in East Prussia and former Poland also turned out to be unreliable. The reconnaissance did not find all the headquarters, and also did not record their redeployment on the eve of the war directly to the border. In this part, we will consider the RM on the headquarters of the corps, which entered in 1941.
Is it important to know about the presence of corps headquarters at the border and about corps groupings?
The absence of large headquarters near the border probably should have indicated that war is not expected in the near future. So they were obliged to think in the highest echelons of spacecraft control. This point of view was supported by the absence at the border of a significant number of troops (according to intelligence), concentrated on the territory of East Prussia and former Poland. A detailed examination of the RM about the enemy troops concentrated against the PribOVO, KOVO and ZAPOVO was presented in the first 4 parts of the article on intelligence.
A version appeared that the top leadership of the spacecraft did not care about the RM about the presence of enemy fronts, armies, corps and motorized groupings at the border. The main (supposedly) for our command was the number of enemy divisions. Only the German command needed information about the deployment of troops, headquarters and mechanized groupings. As an example, below is a fragment of a German map with reconnaissance information about our troops.
The German command paid much more attention to the efficiency of command and control of its troops during an attack than the authors of this version. The two fragments of the German map presented below show that by the beginning of the war, large headquarters of all levels had moved closer to the border. The problem was that all our intelligence services did not record the movement of these headquarters.
Later, when the intelligence data became more complete, not only German divisions began to appear on the maps of our headquarters of the armies and the fronts of the General Staff, but their belonging to the corps (to the armies) was also indicated. The well-known locations of large German headquarters were also marked on the maps.
Insufficiently complete and inaccurate RMs about the deployment of large German headquarters are probably connected with the opposition to the leak of information on the part of the German command and the implementation of mass disinformation of all possible sources of our intelligence.
Reconnaissance information about the deployment of German troops
The most complete in terms of the content of the RM on the deployment of German troops (up to Slovakia), which are published, is the Bulletin No. 5 of the RU dated 15.6.41. It includes rather detailed data from ROs of border VOs as of 31.5.41. Messages often ask the question: "From which RM does the author cite data on the deployment of German troops and headquarters?"
I will give information from the summary of RU from 15.6.41 for readers interested in this topic.
The summary was prepared according to the RM received on 31.5.41. Information in the RO for the RU was to be prepared on May 29-30. Since a significant part of the materials came from sources with a time delay due to their transmission through the system of mailboxes and messengers, the RM actually reflected the situation somewhere on May 26-28. Let's check the reliability of these RMs in terms of information on the deployment of corps headquarters.
In accordance with the report of the RU, the headquarters were (verified information): 7th AK - in Tilsit, 12th AK - in Insterburg, 8th AK - in Konigsberg, 6th AK - in Tsehanuv, 9th AK - in Warsaw, 32nd AK - in Lublin, 20th AK - in Danzig, 21st AK - in Poznan.
AK headquarters with unknown numbers (reliable information) were located in the cities: Letzen, Allenstein, Miedzyzenets, Biala Podlaska, Lodz, Zamosc, Klemensuv, Rzeszow, Iwonic, Tarnow and Krakow.
Requiring inspection of the RM on the headquarters of the AK: 24th (Lancut), 5th (Petrukov), 38th (Katowice). The RM also received information about the presence of the headquarters of the 2nd AK in Kielce. These data require verification, since earlier, the headquarters of the 1st AK was marked there. In other words, the very location of the corps headquarters in Kielce is beyond doubt. The only question is the number of this AK headquarters.
We will consider the reliability of information about the location of the headquarters of the 7th and 12th AK in the next part.
Previously, the RM was considered on the deployment of the headquarters of the 20th and 21st AK. Our intelligence confused them with the headquarters of the 20th and 21st military units. The VO headquarters, unlike the AK headquarters, could not be redeployed to the border and in their structure did not correspond to the AK headquarters. Observing them did not allow revealing the fact of redeployment to the border before the attack of these headquarters and their troops.
Reliability of RM on numbered buildings
The figure shows data on the location of headquarters in the cities: Kielce, Ciechanow, Konigsberg, Warsaw and Lublin. Information from the German map with the deployment of troops as of 27.5.41 and from the map of the headquarters of the Western Military District with the situation on 21.6.41 prepared on 23.6.41 is used.
Information about AK numbers turns out to be incorrect in four cases out of five. The exact data on the location of the 9th AK became unreliable just a few days after the redeployment of this headquarters closer to the border. RMs remained unreliable until 21 June. All five headquarters, according to intelligence, were not redeployed to the border by the beginning of the war. The same as the army headquarters.
To understand how the German command acted, hiding the movement of its mobile troops, I propose to consider the data on the 32nd AK. The intelligence "saw" this headquarters, rechecked information about it, and fixed its location from May 1940 (at least) to the beginning of the war. The RM were rechecked many times and testified to the presence of the headquarters of a non-existent AK. This cannot be a mistake, because in the summer of 1940, the headquarters of the 3rd AK was redeployed to Lublin, which had not been discovered by our intelligence before the start of the war. Someone diligently portrayed the headquarters of the 32nd AK.
In March 1941, the headquarters of the 3rd AK was reorganized into the headquarters of the 3rd MK (III. Armeekops (mot.)). But for some reason not a single MK headquarters was found by our intelligence. Intelligence mined some information about the deployment of the AK, but there was no information at all about the presence of MK or TGR. There is a pattern in this issue. The German command managed to completely hide all information about the presence of large mobile groups from our intelligence.
At the end of May, the headquarters of the 3rd MK and the headquarters of the 55th AK are located in Lublin. After 19.6, both headquarters will move to the border, but our intelligence will still be confident in the presence of a certain AK headquarters in Lublin before the start of the war. This AK is present on the maps of the ZAPOVO and KOVO headquarters, with the plotted situation at 21.6.41. Just like several other AK, which are allegedly located in places of permanent deployment. Intelligence data on this will pass through the RO VO, through the leadership of the spacecraft and the leadership of the USSR. Looking at these RMs, we can say that there is nothing terrible yet: after all, the enemy troops and headquarters for the most part are far enough from the border. The headquarters of large mobile strike groups have not yet arrived in Poland and East Prussia.
Let's continue our consideration of the RM. Our intelligence reports on the presence of AK headquarters in the cities of Allenstein and Zamosc.
There is no AK headquarters in Allenstein itself. There is only the headquarters of the 4th TGr, which the Germans did not really hide, using its closed name in their correspondence. In correspondence for the other three TGrs, their coded names were used. But the headquarters of two microns near Allenstein were again not found by our intelligence. The same as the headquarters of the 3rd MK … The same situation with the AK in Zamoć. It was found, but it was not found that it is mk.
Of the five locations where the corps are stationed, only information about the location of the 13th AK in Lodz is reliable.
Of the four locations of the AK headquarters, only the location of the headquarters in Krakow is reliable. However, this is an inferior corps: reduced in strength and without troops.
Next, we will consider unverified information that has the right to be inaccurate. In two cases, it coincides with the locations of the corps headquarters. However, the 14th AK is MK.
Regarding the headquarters of the 7th and 12th AK, we can say for sure that the information on their location is unreliable.
Thus, of the 23 locations of the AK headquarters, only in eight cases the location of the headquarters coincides with the intelligence data. In a number of cases, intelligence did not reveal that the headquarters belonged not to the AK, but to the army corps (motorized). As of 27.5.41, there were seven microns on the territory of East Prussia and former Poland: the 3rd, 14th, 24th, 39th, 41st, 48th and 57th.
In his memoirs, the former head of the RU mentions the presence of 22 corps and the knowledge of half of the corps headquarters numbers.
The summary says about the numbers of the twelve corps headquarters. The reliability of this information can now be judged by the readers themselves. In fact, 43 corps headquarters were located at the Soviet-German border by 22.6.41.
Places of deployment of corps headquarters in the East
Consider the information about the deployment of the Wehrmacht corps headquarters, which by 22.6.41 will be concentrated in the East.
1st AK - from 13.9.40 redeployed to East Prussia. He will stay in Elbing until mid-April. From 23.4 to 27.5 he is in Konigsberg, and 16.6.41 is celebrated in Tilsit.
2nd AK - from March to early April 1941 is located in Graudens. From 5 to 12 April is deployed in Rossel. From 23.4 to 27.5 he is in Gumbinen, and 16.6.41 - in Otwock.
3rd AK - from 5.7.40 to 19.6.41 deployed in Lublin.
4th AK - since May 1941 is in Poland (27.5.41 in Tsadisniki), and 16.6.41 in Rata Rozlewicka.
5th AK - from 1 to 27.5.41 in Ortelsburg, and 16.6.41 - in Krasnopol.
6th AK - from 1 to 12.4.41 is located in Ortelsburg. From 23.4 to 27.5 - in Treuburg, 16.6 - in Rominter.
8th AK - until April 1941 is in the West. From 23.4 to 16.6 - in the city of Likk.
9th AK - from September 1940 to the end of April 1941 - in Oppeln (Poland). 27.5 - in Skalinov (near Warsaw), and 16.6 - deployed east of Warsaw (Sokolov).
10th AK - since January 1941 is in Poland: from 6.2 to 1.4 - in Neideburg, 5.4 - in Bartenstein, from 12.4 to 23.4 - in Helsberg, from 27.5 to 16.6 - in Insterburg.
11th AK - from 6.6.41 located in Romania.
13th AK - since March 1941 has been in East Prussia. From 22.3 to 27.5 in Litzmanstadt (Lodz). From 1 to 3 June - in Warsaw, 4.6 - in Jador, and 16.6 - in Lochów.
14th AK - from autumn 1940 to 12.12.40 in Katowice. Further, the corps is located in Romania, Serbia, Germany (27.5.41 - in Konigshütte). 16.6 - in Heudekrug (not far from the border of the Lithuanian SSR).
16th AK - from autumn 1940 to February 1941 is located in Allenstein. On 17.6.41, the headquarters was used for the formations of the headquarters of the 4th TGr.
17th AK - from 4.7.40 to 12.4.41 is located in Tarbrzeg (Poland). From 23.4 to 19.6 deployed in Chelm.
20th AK - until 2.11.40 is located in Schneidemuhl, 12.12.40 - in Stettin, from 22.3 to 27.5.41 - in Thorn, 16.6 - in Likk.
23rd AK - until May 1941 (inclusive) is in the West. 27.5 is noted in Hejlsberg (East Prussia) and is deployed there until 19.6.41.
24th AK - from autumn 1940 to 23.4.41 is located in Germany (Stuttgart). 15.5 - possibly located in Wibzyn. On 27.5.41 the headquarters of the corps is marked in the city of Konstancinek (near Warsaw). 16.6 he is stationed in Lukov.
26th AK - since July 1940 has been in East Prussia. Until 12.4.41 - in Angeburg. From 23.4 to 27.5 - in Tilsit. 16-19.6 is stationed in the Heidekrug.
28th AK - 27.5.41 is still in Germany (Friedland). From the end of May begins redeployment to East Prussia. 16.6 - stationed in Allenburg.
29th AK - arrives in Poland since March 1941. From March 22 to May 27, he is deployed in Kielce. On 16.6 he is in Dolkhobychuv.
30th AK - since the end of May 1941 is in Romania.
H. Kdo XXXIV - from the beginning of 1941 until April 23 is located in Lancut. 27.5 is stationed in Krakow. From 16.6 it is located near the town of Jaslo.
H. Kdo XXXV - from the autumn of 1940 until the beginning of the war, he was in Minsk-Mozovetsky.
38th AK - 27.5.41 is located in Elbing (East Prussia). 16.6 - in Konigsberg, from 19.6 - in Russ.
41st AK - in May 1941 arrives in East Prussia. From 27.5 to 16.6 deployed near Allenstein. 21.6 is at Tilsit.
42nd AK - from 13.6.41 began redeployment to Poland and by June 22 was at the border.
43rd AK - since May 1941 is in Poland (27.5 - Tomashov). In the correspondence (2.5.41) it is said about the location of the headquarters in Tomashov. 1.6 the headquarters are located in Lukov, and 15-16.6 - 6 km south of Sartaki.
44th AK - since July 1940 he has been in Poland (Radom - until 23.4.41, 27.5 - Janov, from 16.6 - Lubachów).
46th AK - from June 1941 arrives in Poland. In the correspondence it is noted that on 13-16.6 the headquarters of the corps moves between the cities of Demblin - Pulawy. The headquarters will be located in Pulawy until the start of the war.
47th AK - arrives in Poland in June 1941. From 16.6 he is in Sedlec, 19.9 - near Biala Podlaska.
48th AK … One of the sources of information mentions the arrival of the corps on the territory of the General Governorship on 15.4.41. On the map of the German command on 23.4.41, the corps is still missing on the territory of Poland. Only at the end of May does he appear in Zamoć. He will be in this city until 19.6.41.
49th Mountain Rifle Corps 27.5.41 is celebrated in Lanzug. The headquarters is located there before the start of the war.
52nd AK - from the end of the 40th to April 1941 is located in Germany (Hanover). At the end of May it is located in Krimisia (Poland), and from 16.6 - in Iwonicz.
53rd AK - since April 1941 is in Poland: 23.4 - Jastrow, 27.5 - Pabienice, 16.6 - Radom, 19-22.6 - Lukov.
54th AK - from June 1941 was in Romania.
55th AK - from 29.4.41 is located in Poland. From 27.5 to 19.6 - in Lublin.
56th AK - in June 1941 crosses Poland and 16.6 - celebrated in Insterburg. 19.6 is located at the border in Lengweffen.
57th AK - at the end of May 1941 is located near Allenstein. 16.6. - in Nikolayken, 19.6 - in Ragnit.
