By the end of 22 June, the German armoured spearheads had crossed the Niemen and penetrated 80 kilometres (50mi). The next day, Kutznetsov committed his armoured forces to battle.
A BT 7 Destroyed in Russia in 1941A T-26 lies smoking with a KV-1 behind in Russia in 1941
Near Raseiniai, the XLI Panzer Corps was counter-attacked by the tanks of the Soviet 3rd and 12th Mechanised Corps. But this concentration of Soviet armour was detected by the Luftwaffe, which immediately directed heavy air attacks from Fliegerkorps IJu 88s against tank columns of the 12th Mechanised Corps south-west of Šiauliai. These attacks went in unopposed by any Soviet fighters and were carried out with great success. The Soviet 23rd Tank Division sustained particularly severe losses, with 40 tanks or lorries set ablaze. On 25 June, the Germans reportedly destroyed another 30 tanks and 50 lorries. The 28th Tank Division alone lost 84 tanks. The battle would last four days.[4] After escaping the encirclement at Raseiniai and making a fighting retreat through Estonia during July, the remnants of the 12th Mechanized Corps were disbanded in August 1941.
However, the 28th Tank Division was reported as part of the Novgorod Operational Group (seemingly a reformation of the 1939-40 Novgorod Army Operational Group) on 1 September 1941, while the 202nd Rifle Division was reported with 11th Army[5]
Footnotes
aOn 22 June 1941 the 12th Mechanized Corps consisted of 28,832 soldiers, 749 tanks including only lighter Soviet T-26, BT Series models, plus 23 armoured cars, 92 artillery guns, 221 mortars, 2531 vehicles, 194 tractors and 39 motorcycles.
bColonel Grinberg, who was the temporary commander of the 12th Mechanized Corps after the death of his corps' original commander Major General Shestopalov, reported on 29 July that the strength of his corps had fallen to under 17,000 men after the first two weeks of combat.
cOn 11 July 1941 Colonel P Poluboiarov, from the Northwestern Front armoured directorate, reported that the 12th Mechanized Corps had been in combat for 12 days and had been committed initially in large formations without infantry support or cooperation from artillery and air support. Subsequently, committed in local counter-attacks, it had only '80 worn out tanks and 15 to 17 armoured cars in total in both tank divisions'.
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