In the previous part, a review of the disappeared infantry units and formations of the enemy, concentrated at the borders of the PribOVO and ZAPOVO, was begun. Among the disappeared infantry regiments (nn) and infantry divisions (pd) many had numbers known to our intelligence. These formations were for a long time in settlements or near them, local residents could talk about them.
It is possible that in places where the population is concentrated, the servicemen of these formations deliberately started talking about their units.
The detection of many pp, pd and their identification by numbers could occur by their names, the signs of which were on the shoulder straps of servicemen. Most likely, this happened on the orders of the German command. To "complicate" the detection of infantry troops by our intelligence, German servicemen sometimes removed signs and numbers from shoulder straps, but the shoulder straps or muffs themselves did not change. In this case, unburnt traces of the removed signs were visible on the shoulder straps …
Some of the "discovered" formations either did not exist on 22.6.41 or were far from the places of their discovery by our intelligence. A vicious method of detecting German units was used by analogy: if it was visually detected before the enemy company with insignia insignia, then somewhere nearby could be the indicated regiment or one of its battalions. At the same time, many numbers of formations concentrated near the border have not been found …
A little more about the enemy infantry at the borders of PribOVO and ZAPOVO
In addition to the PD, there were six more security divisions (207, 221, 281, 285, 286 and 403) at the borders of the PribOVO and ZAPOVO. The numbers of these divisions in the reconnaissance materials (RM) are absent. With the security divisions, the number of infantry formations at the border reached 57. Our intelligence, observing the German troops in May-June 1941, "learned" the numbers 43-x pd, of which coincided with the actual numbers 16. At first glance: the result is more or less positive.
However, there are suspicious oddities:
- on June 22, 1941, thirteen of the indicated divisions did not exist (39, 40, 43, 54, 154, 264, 301, 307, 431, 454, 509, 521 and 525);
- The 14th and 16th Infantry Divisions in the fall of 1940 were reorganized into motorized divisions, and their servicemen could not walk with insignia of infantry units, if such an order was not given to them;
- five pd were in France (205, 208, 212, 216 and 223) and two in Romania (22 and 24);
- The 213rd Infantry Division was disbanded on 15.3.41, and its regiments were sent to form three security divisions.
It turns out that up to 40% of divisions with known and confirmed numbers could not be located at the borders of PribOVO and ZAPOVO! And the intelligence services regularly tracked them … It is possible that our intelligence officers did not even find all the fictitious formations that the German special services slipped into them. It's just that where some fictitious formations appeared, our scouts were not found …
Infantry units and formations against KOVO
At the border, in the area of responsibility of KOVO, there were 21 infantry divisions, 4 light infantry divisions and 3 security divisions. Of the 25 divisions whose numbers became known to our intelligence, only nine (32%) turned out to be true.
The grouping of 28 divisions included 74 infantry regiments, of which the reconnaissance knew the numbers of 14 (19%).
The 1st and 4th mountain rifle divisions, concentrated against KOVO, included the 13th, 91st, 98th and 99th mountain rifle regiments. In RM, there is an indication of the number of only one regiment - the 136th, which was absent in the indicated divisions. Either the intelligence was mistaken, or the extra digit "6" appeared on the shoulder straps of the servicemen of the exposed regiment, it is currently not known …
Of the 25 divisions with numbers known to our intelligence in the KOVO area of responsibility:
- on 22.6.41, ten did not exist (39, 156, 193, 237, 249, 308, 365, 372, 379 and 393);
- 86th Infantry Division - was in the reserve of Army Group "North";
- The 96th frontline division was in the West and the 183rd frontline division was in the Balkans;
- The 14th and 18th Infantry Divisions in the fall of 1940 were reorganized into motorized ones and could not wear the insignia of the infantry division.
It turns out that 60% of these divisions could not be at the KOVO border, but they were seen …
Artillery regiments
It is rather difficult to accurately track the change in the number of artillery regiments, since not all RM received data on them. It is only possible to carry out a simplified assessment of the artillery regiments located in the area of responsibility of the PribOVO and ZAPOVO.
In accordance with the summary of the Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the spacecraft about the enemy grouping on 1.6.41, 56 artillery regiments were found in the territory under consideration (excluding anti-aircraft and anti-tank regiments). According to RM PribOVO and ZAPOVO, as of June 17-21 and according to the maps that were presented to you earlier, there are 45 artillery regiments (excluding two regiments in the city of Lodz, information on which is not available after June 1). Therefore, it can be said that reconnaissance did not find an increase in enemy artillery units against the troops of the PribOVO and ZAPOVO in June. There was even a decrease in their number. In the same way, there was no increase in the number of German divisions near our border in the zone of responsibility of the three districts, which we have already examined.
The reduction in the number of artillery regiments should be associated with the movement of artillery to new deployment locations, which turned out to be difficult for the population and for our sources of information.
Large headquarters of German associations
Consider the information provided by our intelligence about the headquarters of large formations of German troops: about the command of army groups, about the headquarters of field armies and tank groups. By the presence and location of such headquarters, one can judge the enemy's groupings and his plans. The figure shows well-known information about the headquarters of large associations concentrated near the border by June 22.
The figure shows the numbers of the armies near our border, which passed through the RM in the period 1940 - 21.6.41.
Of the seven armies available at the border by June 22, the numbers of six were mentioned in the RM! A very good result! However, there is not a single tank group number in the RM … Is it a success of reconnaissance or not? Let's take a closer look at this issue.
One of the writers, who considers himself to be a historian, wrote on the website that the lack of information about motorized corps and enemy tank groups in the Republic of Moldova is due to the fact that it was easier for the command of the spacecraft from the non-commissioned personnel to think so … The author categorically disagrees with this! Everything that intelligence was able to learn was cited in the RM. What associations or headquarters they learned about, they wrote about such. If the data was not verified, from other sources, then some kind of phrase was added. For example, "the data needs to be clarified." What the scouts did not know, they did not write about that!
In January 1940, Intelligence Report No. 1 said: … The German army has 91 divisions on the western border … All the above divisions are combined into five army groups, the numbering of which, like the numbering of army corps and divisions, has not been established …
We can say that on the Western front our intelligence simply did not have sources of information. And it is right! There were no such sources, not only on the Western Front, but also in large headquarters in Germany and in the headquarters of the associations deployed near our border.
First alarm bell: the Germans have learned to mask the locations and names of their major headquarters. A series of renaming and reorganization with a change in the deployment of headquarters, formations of all levels has confused our intelligence. The author argues that the lack of data on army groups and tank groups, on armies, on army and motorized corps in most of the Republic of Moldova is due to the lack of intelligence on their location and structure.
In the Polish campaign participated: army group "South" as part of the 8th, 10th, 14th armies and army group "North" as part of the 3rd and 4th armies. After the end of the war in Poland, both army groups and four armies (except for the 4th) changed their names and were moved to the Western Front.
Let us briefly consider the change in the years 1939-1941 of the names of large associations of the Wehrmacht and their relocation. We will only talk about those formations that by June 22, 1941 will be at our border.
The command of Army Group South was formed in August 1939 and operated in Poland. On October 3, it was renamed the Vostok command and was in charge of the troops on the Soviet-German demarcation line. On October 20, there was another change of name to the command of the Army Group “ A", Which took part in the war in the West. Command West was created on the basis of the headquarters of Army Group A. From 1.4.41, the redeployment of command "A" to the Soviet-German border began. For camouflage purposes, the command of Army Group A was renamed the Silesia Sector Headquarters, and on 22 June it was renamed the Command of Army Group South.
Army Group Command V Was created on 12.10.39, as a result of the renaming of the Army Group North redeployed from Poland to the west. The new command took part in the war in France. On 16.8.40, the redeployment of the command to Poland began, in which it was in charge of the troops on the Soviet-German demarcation line, and on 22.6.41 it was renamed the command of the Army Group Center.
Army Group Command WITH"Was formed in August 1939 and redeployed to the Western Front. In November 1940, the command was redeployed to the territory of Germany, and from 20.4.41 its transfer to East Prussia was started. At the new location, the command received, for camouflage purposes, the name "headquarters of the East Prussia sector", and on June 22 it was renamed the command of Army Group North.
From the information provided, it can be seen that from mid-August 1940, the command of Army Group B began to redeploy to Poland, and the other two commands would begin to move to our border only in April 1941.
4th Army … Formed in August 1939. Fighting in Poland and France. From 12.9.40, began redeployment to Poland under the command of Army Group "B".
6th Army … Formed in October 1939 by renaming the 10th Army. Participation in hostilities in France. Until 17.4.41 is in Normandy. Begins redeployment to Poland on April 18, and in May 1941 he becomes subordinate to the "A" group.
9th Army … Formed in May 1940 on the basis of the Vostok corps command. She was in the West. From 18.4.41, its redeployment from Belgium and Northern France to Poland begins, and in May 1941 it comes under the command of Army Group "B".
11th Army … Formed in October 1940 and was subordinate to Army Group C in Germany. Since June 1941, subordinate to Army Group "A". It was stationed on the territory of Romania.
12th Army … Formed in October 1939 by renaming the 14th Army. From 3.7.40 to 31.12.40 was in France. In March - May 1941 - in Bulgaria, from June 4 to December 31 - in Southern Serbia and Albania.
16th Army … Formed in October 1939, by renaming the 3rd Army, and sent to the Western Front. From 18.4.41 its redeployment from the Netherlands to East Prussia begins. Since May 1941, it has been subordinate to Army Group C.
17th Army … Formed in December 1940. From January 1941, it was subordinate to Army Group "B" on the Soviet-German demarcation line, and from May, it was transferred to the subordination of Army Group "A". She was stationed in Poland.
18th Army … Formed in November 1939 and was subordinate to Army Group B in the West. Until 20.7.40 was in South-East France in the reserve of the OKH. Its redeployment to the eastern border began on July 21. Since May 1941, it was subordinate to Army Group "C".
From the data presented it can be seen that at the end of July 1940, the redeployment of the 18th Army to the East began. Following her, from September 12, the 4th Army is sent to Poland. In January 1941, another 17th Army was sent to Poland.
On April 18, the redeployment of three armies at once begins: the 6th, 9th and 16th. In June, the last - the 11th Army - arrives. According to data from German websites, the 12th Army was not in the zone of responsibility of our border districts in 1941.
Intelligence reports 1939-1940
In the database of the A. N. Yakovlev, there are quite a few intelligence reports of the 5th Directorate of the Red Army (the future Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Spacecraft) about the German troops in the period from 1938 to the summer of 1940, but they are kind of militarily impersonal. There are similar reports in books on military intelligence. They contain a lot of general educational information and little information about the troops, their locations and numbers …
Examples are typical RMs: Summary dated 12.16.39 or Summary dated 3.5.40. You don't need to watch them - you won't lose much …
In the "Brief Review of the German-Polish War" of the 5th Directorate of the Red Army in September 1939, it is said about the German groupings, about the numbers of the armies, about the approximate number of divisions, but there is no such abundance of numbers that will appear much later. In RM, of course, there are numbers, but they are few …
After the defeat of the Anglo-French troops on 9.7.40, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff Smorodinov met with the German military attaché Kestring. The position of the Chief of the General Staff of Germany was brought up: … Troops will be transferred to permanent locations in East Prussia, and for the formation of new garrisons in Poland, since they no longer need to keep a lot of troops in the west. In this regard, large movements of troops will be made across East Prussia and across Poland, literally, "there will be strong movements of troops." Considering that the transfer of troops always causes undesirable interpretations in the foreign press, the chief of the General Staff of the German army instructed him to bring this to the attention of the General Staff of the spacecraft in advance, before the start of military transport …
In the Bulletin dated 20.7.40, information appears in its usual form (from the point of view of 1941) with a large number of formation numbers. The article summarizes the summary in a truncated form. More details can be found in the fund's database.
… The grouping of German troops on 16.7.40, taking into account the newly arrived units:
In V. Prussia - up to 13 infantry divisions, of which up to two motorized divisions, a tank brigade, 6 tank battalions and 7 cavalry regiments.
- The headquarters of the corps are marked in Konigsberg and Insterburg (the numbering is not established).
- Divisional headquarters: 21 pd to Letzen, 10 pd to Suwalki and 161 pd to Konigsberg; unspecified numbering - to Tilsit, to Ragnit, to Insterburg and Ortelsburg.
- In the Danzig area, over an infantry division, the headquarters of the XX AK and the headquarters of the 18th Infantry Division …
On the territory of former Poland - up to 28 infantry divisions, a tank regiment, a tank unit of unknown size and numbering, and 5 cavalry regiments. In addition, according to the NKVD, which requires verification, the Warsaw area arrived from 1 to 7.7 to 7 pd.
Large headquarters are established at the following points:
- eastern group headquarters to Lodz;
- army headquarters: 1st in Warsaw and 4th in Krakow;
- army corps headquarters: XXI in Poznan, III in Lodz, XXXII in Lublin, VII in Krakow and unspecified numbering in Warsaw;
- infantry division headquarters: 42 in Lochów, 182 and 431 in Lodz, 530 in Nieborow, 218 in Pulawy, 424 in Holm, 28 in Krakow, 139 in Nowy Sacz, 2 GDS in Gorlice and unspecified numbering: in Bydgoszcz, in Thorn, in Poznan, in Warsaw, Sieradz, Radom, Lublin, Kielce, Zamoć, Rzeszow and Tarnow …
There are quite a few German formations in the Summary. Regarding connections with numbers, there is no clarifying inscription that the data requires clarification, i.e. all data is confirmed and not in doubt. Let's see what formations the German generals slipped into our intelligence.
The largest headquarters is “ eastern group headquarters to Lodz . This headquarters is reported as of 15.6.40. This fictitious headquarters will be mentioned in the Intelligence Directorate's Briefs as of 31.5.41.and 15.6.41, and is also marked on the map of the headquarters of the ZapOVO as of 21.6.41 only in the city of Tomashov.
Consider smaller headquarters:.
1st Army headquarters from the autumn of 1939 he was in the western fortified positions in France until 31.7.44 and could not have been in Poland yet. Only if he was not portrayed by some unit that actively shone signs on their shoulder straps.
4th Army headquarters will begin its movement to Poland only in September 1940 and someone depicts him the same. There is another version: our intelligence learned in advance about the relocation of this headquarters … But it does not stand up to criticism, since all the other data is also mostly disinformation!
The Summary refers to the headquarters of the Army Corps (AK): and.
3rd AK - was in Poland in September 1939 and then went to the West. On July 5, 1940, he returned to Poland. RM are confirmed.
7th AK - in September 1939 he was noted in Poland, and in December of the same year he was already in the city of Trier (Germany). Then he goes to the West and is deployed in Verdun and on the coast of the English Channel until January 1941. He just can't check in in June - July 1940 in Poland …
20th AK - formed on 17.10.40. No comments required …
21st AK - from October 1939 to January 1940 is in Germany. In March 1940 he was reorganized into "Group 21" and sent to Norway. The mummers could portray him in Poznan together with the headquarters of the Eastern Group …
32nd AK - will be formed only in April 1945, but so far it exists only in the face of a fictitious formation …
We have now reached the divisions. 10th front noted in Suwalki. However, from December 1939 to May 1940, she is located in the city of Marburg (Germany), and since May 19 she has already been noted in France. In November 1940, the 10th Infantry Division will return to Germany …
18th front until 23.10.39 was in Poland, from October 25 in West Germany, from 1.1.40. - Netherlands, from May to 24 July - in France. Further, she will be reorganized into a motorized division …
21st front was noted in the city of Letzen. Misinformation or mummers again. Since January 1940, the 21st division has been in the city of Eifel (Germany), in March - Luxembourg, in June - in Germany and Belgium, from July to 12.9.40 - France and only then will go to East Prussia. But the German generals in June 1940 themselves did not yet suspect this …
161st pd in January 1940 he is in East Prussia, from May 4 - in Germany, Luxembourg and on July 8 he returns to East Prussia. Intelligence could have simply missed her loss. Later it was lucky that it surfaced again in East Prussia.
The rest of the division headquarters with known numbers will be examined in bulk:.
Infantry divisions numbered 42, 139, 424, 431 and 530 never existed.
Number " 182"For an infantry division will be used only in 1942, and before that none of the German generals knew whether a division with such a number would be or not …
The 218th Infantry Division was on vacation from July 1940 to January 1941 in Berlin. From January to March 1941, she again deployed to a division and in April she went to Denmark …
The 28th Infantry Division was in France until May 1941, after which it headed east.
The 2nd Mountain Rifle Division from March 1940 went to Norway and was there …
The author tried to show that the mass misinformation of our intelligence and through it the command of the Red Army and the leadership of the Soviet Union had already taken place in June - July 1940, and this information was believed …
Stay with us and we will learn a lot of things that are not customary to talk and think about … And it will be just as sad: how the German generals led us …
