Battle of Smolensk ( 1941 ) The First Battle of Smolensk was the first major battle during Operation Barbarossa in World War II that significantly delayed the advance of Hitler ' s Wehrmacht in the USSR . It took place in the region around the city of Smolensk between July 10 and September 10 , 1941 , i . e . , it raged for two full months about 400 km west of Moscow . At that point the Wehrmacht had advanced 500 km into the USSR without major difficulties in the mere 18 days that had elapsed since the initial invasion of June 22 , 1941 . The Wehrmacht fielded Army Group Centre ' s 2nd Panzer Group and the 3rd Panzer Group and the Red Army fielded the Western Front , the Soviet Reserve Front , the Soviet Central Front , and the Soviet Bryansk Front . Ultimately , the Soviet 16th , 19th and the 20th Armies were encircled and destroyed just to the south of Smolensk , though significant numbers from the 19th and 20th Army managed to escape the pocket . Albeit a huge temporary success for Hitler , the losses in terms of men and materiel incurred by the Wehrmacht during this drawn - out battle were enormous and — together with the 2 - month delay in the march towards Moscow — proved decisive for the Wehrmacht ' s defeat by the Red Army at the end of the Battle of Moscow three months later in December 1941 . Background and Planning . On 22 June 1941 , Axis nations invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa . In the opening phase , the campaign met with spectacular gains , as the surprised Soviet troops were not able to offer coordinated resistance . After 3 weeks of fighting , the Germans had reached the Dvina and Dnieper Rivers and planned for a resumption of the offensive effort . The main effort , targeted towards Moscow , was carried out by Army Group Centre commanded by Fedor von Bock . Its next target on the way to the Soviet capital was the town of Smolensk . The German plan called for the 2nd Panzer Group ( later 2nd Panzer Army ) to cross the Dnieper , closing on Smolensk from the south , while the 3rd Panzer Group ( later 3rd Panzer Army ) was to encircle the town from the north . After their initial defeats , the Red Army sought to reorganise itself and established several measures to ensure a more determined resistance . A new defensive line was established around Smolensk . Stalin placed Field Marshall Timoshenko in command , and transferred five armies out of the strategic reserve to Timoshenko ' s control . These armies had to conduct a series of counteroffensives to blunt the German offensive . The German high command was not aware of the Soviet build - up until they encountered them on the battlefield . Facing the Germans along the Dnieper and Dvina rivers were stretches of the Stalin Line fortifications . The defenders were the 13th Army of the Western Front , and the 20th Army , 21st Army , and the 22nd Army of the Soviet Supreme Command ( Stavka ) Reserve . Another army , the 19th Army , was forming up at Vitebsk , while the 16th Army was arriving at Smolensk . In Soviet historiography , the Battle of Smolensk ( actually a full campaign ) would take place in several phases , divided into distinct operations to halt the German offensive and the pincers . The Operation . Prior to the German attack , the Soviets launched their counter - offensive . On 6 July , the Soviet 20th Army ' s 7th and 5th Mechanized Corps launched an attack with about 1 , 500 tanks near Lepiel . The result was a disaster , as the offensive ran directly into the anti - tank defenses of the German 7th Panzer Division and the two Soviet mechanized corps were virtually wiped out . On 10 July , the Germans started their own offensive , when Guderian ' s 2nd Panzer Group launched its surprise attack over the Dnieper . His forces literally overran the weak 13th Army , which opposed his forces . By 13 July , Guderian had passed Mogilev , trapping several Soviet divisions there . His spearhead unit , the 29th Mot . Division , was already short of Smolensk . Meanwhile , 3rd Panzer Group had also launched its offensive , with 20th Panzer Division establishing a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dvina river , threatening Vitebsk . As both German Panzer Groups drove east , three Soviet Armies , the 20th , 19th , and 16th , faced the prospect of encirclement around Smolensk . From 11 July on , the Soviets tried a series of concerted counterattacks . The Soviet 19th Army and 20th Army struck at Vitebsk , while the 21st and the remnants of the 3rd Army attacked against the southern flank of 2nd Panzer Group near Bobruisk . At the same time , several other Soviet armies also attempted to counterattack in the sectors of German Army Group North and South . This effort was apparently part of an overall attempt to implement the Soviet prewar general defense plan . However , although the Soviet attacks managed to slow the Germans down , their results were so marginal that the Germans barely noticed them as a coordinated large - scale defensive effort . The German offensive therefore continued . Meanwhile , Hoth ' s 3rd Panzer Group drove north , paralleling Guderian ' s forces , and taking Polotsk and Vitebsk . The spearheads of his forces reached the area east of Smolensk on 14 July . At the same time , Guderian ' s forces broke into the town and took it after three days of heavy house - to - house combat . Guderian expected that the offensive would continue towards Moscow as its main focus , and therefore sent the 29th Mot . Division to the Dvina River to establish a bridgehead on the eastern side of it at Yelnya . However , Hitler and the German high command wanted to trap the Soviet forces in Smolensk and therefore ordered Guderian to seal the encirclement . Guderian did not believe he could split his forces this way , and this was affirmed when the Soviets attacked this bridgehead two months later during the Yelnya Offensive . In the north , 3rd Panzer Group was moving much more slowly . The terrain was swampy , rain was still a problem , and the Soviets were fighting desperately to escape the trap that was developing . On 18 July , the armored pincers of the two German Panzer Groups came within of closing the gap . However , Timoshenko had built up a hastily assembled force , which stopped the German advance and was continuously reinforced . The open gap allowed a number of Soviet units to escape . The Soviets transferred additional troops from newly formed armies into the region around Smolensk , namely the 29th , 30th , 28th , and 24th Armies . These newly built formations would , immediately upon arrival , start a heavy counterattack against the German forces around the Smolensk area from 21 July on . This put a heavy strain on the overextended Panzer forces , which had to cover a large area around the perimeter . However , poor coordination and logistics on the part of the Soviets allowed the Germans to successfully defend against these offensive efforts , while continuing to close the encirclement . The Soviet attacks would last until 30 July , when the Germans finally repelled the last of them . Finally , on 27 July , the Germans were able to link up and close the pocket east of Smolensk , trapping large portions of 16th , 19th , and 20th Armies . However , under the leadership of 20th Army , significant Soviet troops managed to break out of the pocket in a determined effort a few days later , assisted by the ongoing Soviet offensive efforts along the Smolensk front line . In the end , about 300 , 000 men were taken prisoner when the encirclement was subsequently reestablished and the pocket eliminated . After the Operation . The Battle of Smolensk was another severe defeat for the Soviets in the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa . However , this Axis victory did not come without strategic implications . For the first time , the Soviets tried to implement a determined coordinated counterattack against a large part of the front , although its main immediate result was that the battle did not end even more badly . Nevertheless , the increasing resistance showed that the Soviets were not yet defeated , and that the Blitzkrieg towards Moscow was not going to be an easy task . This exacerbated a division between the German high command and political leadership . The leaders of the General Staff , Franz Halder and Walter von Brauchitsch , and frontline commanders like von Bock , Hoth , and Guderian counseled against dispersing the German armored units and to focus directly on Moscow . Hitler reiterated the lack of importance of Moscow and strategic encirclements , and ordered a concentration on economic targets such as Ukraine , the Donets Basin , and the Caucasus , and more tactical encirclements to weaken the Soviets further . As a result , the German offensive effort became more fragmented , leading to the battles at Kiev and Uman . Those battles were also German victories , but also cost them vital time , men , and material on their approach towards Moscow , allowing the Soviets time to prepare the defenses of the city .