Having lost 80 of its tanks in its probing attacks against the bridgeheads, the 5th Tank Division withdrew in the night to the north-east. The path now clear, the division advanced another 100 km to the outskirts of Vilnius. Its motorcycle battalion captured the city the following day. Consolidating its position in and around Vilnius, the division then handed responsibility for the city over to the 20th Motorized Division and resumed its advance east. Unlike previous campaigns, when the Red Army positions were outflanked and cut off, the Soviet defenders frequently continued to fight rather than surrender, even though their situation was hopeless. The stubbornness of the Soviet defenders cost more time and casualties, frustrating the German command. Though creating pockets of resistance, the Soviet command was unable to mount a linear defense, and the vital road and rail communications north east of Minsk were cut on 26 June, only four days into Operation Barbarossa. The following day, the division linked up with 18th Panzer Division from Panzer Group 2, trapping the bulk of three Soviet Armies, the 3rd, 10th and 13th, in a vast pocket west of Minsk.