22nd of June - First day
Hostilies!
Massive reports of german attacks flooded field commands at the middle of the warm summer night of the 22nd of June. All along the front, german guns pounded away at presumed soviet positions, diversionaries infiltrated the soviet perimetre and immediately set up contacts with local partisans, effectively setting into motion a general uprising, though little provocation from the germans was necessary for it. With a couple of hours left till dawn, soviet commanders scrambled to contact Stavka for instructions on how to deal with the doom that approached. The airforce was the first to respond - the first Soviet fighters were in air before dawn, setting out to provide a protective umbrella for the Red Army troops below.
The 1st Mechanized Army was the only Soviet formation that was completely ready for combat. With supply stockpiles having arrived the previous day, it had all it needed for a successful offensive. Marshal Konev, in a shocking display of autonomy, order his troops to advance southwards into Suwalki, calling the two belorussian fronts in the area for assistance. Still, it being the middle of the night, the men and equipment would not be moving out for some hours. However, an hour later, news started pouring in from higher up. The first problem Stavka was presented was that Marshal Zhukov's 2nd Mechanized Army was not yet in position around Lwow. The Army had been ordered to move forward later than the 1st, and as a result, it was presumed to be ready for action by late 23rd. While Stavka was debating whether Konev should proceed with his offensive now that Zhukov will be a day late, a new wave of emergency came sweeping in.
At 3 o'clock, massive german formations descended upon the Soviet 2nd Army around Siauliau, and the 8th Army based around Kowel. Despite the latter being protected by the Bug, it was in a far worse position, since unlike the baltic offensive, the attack at Kowel included an estimated 9 german tank divisions. With the Second Mechanized Army out of action for one more day, holding the Bug seemed impossible. However, Zhukov's assurance that his mechanized armada would crush the opposing german Panzergruppe prompted the commander of Western Front, General Shtern, to send the 31st and 39th Corps, kept in reserves, immediately to Kowel, in hopes of stalling the german offensive long enough for a mechanized counterattack. General Belov, the officer in charge of the 8th Army, was very skeptical about holding out for the necessary amount of time, which was almost two days.
With Zhukovs Army being switched from an offensive mission to a supporting one, a wide sweep into Poland was obviously impossible. Konev recieved new orders at 4 o'clock, after the german attack into Lithuania was identified, to move against the german flank and strike towards Königsberg, while the two Belorussian Fronts would start a massive infantry-based attack at Suwalki, aimed to draw away resources that would go to support the german baltic offensive. Konev had two air fleets to call to his aid at East Prussia, as well as the 12th Army in Latvia to strike against Memel and relieve some pressure off the hardly hit 2nd Army. It was hoped that the baltic offensive could be blunted entirely by a determined attack on East Prussia, as well as it serving as a point of distress to the German command, drawing away resources from the Panzergruppen in Poland.
General Boldin's 12th Army struck the german troops in Memel at 8 o'clock, and was stunned to see the size of the german formation present. The force, that included a panzer division, could easily spare the resources to both carry on the offensive into Lithuania as well as repulse the weak Soviet counterattack from Latvia. Boldin's orders were to continue the attack at least until nightfall, however.
The first coordinated counterattacks hit the germans at 10 o'clock, as the 1st Mechanized Army struck at the german force in Königsberg, and the two Belorussian Fronts combined their strength to attack the outnumbered germans in Suwalki. Königsberg had a sizable Wehrmacht force in it, and despite lack of armour, it was a sufficiently strong formation to withstand Konev's massive offensive. Still, the goal was not to force the germans out of East Prussia, but to just take off pressure from the 2nd Army in Lithuania. The operation would be counted as a success if the german attack on 2nd Army would be called off. In the meanwhile, the offensive at Suwalki would involve over 30 divisions, and a numerical superiority of 3 to 1 was achieved. It was not impossible that Suwalki would be the first victory for the Red Army, and an important one at that - the german Panzer division in the area could present a credible threat otherwise.
As the sun set, it was becoming increasingly obvious that neither Kowel or Siauliau could be saved. Stavka would have to make a decision whether to start a strategic retreat to the Stalin line, or slug it out against a superior foe in hopes of a stalemate. The orders that reached Konev at 7 o'clock PM would clarify the direction Stavka was taking - his Mechanized Army would disengage and cover the retreat of the 2nd Army to its north. The german baltic offensive would continue for now. Despite this, Konev's forces were still a strong foe for the Wehrmacht, and was waiting for any sign of overextension by the germans. The same order would be given to Boldin's 12th Army in Latvia, but it was in a far worse shape than Konev's force and would have no operational offensive capability for a while - it had lost over a thousand men in the day long counterattack. Konev's casualites were under a thousand, but the Mechanized Army managed to inflict an equal amount of casualities to the forces in East Prussia as well. The 2nd Army was badly battered however, having lost one and a half thousand troops in the struggle to hold their position, though german casualities were not light either. While the situation in the baltic left the Red Army with little strength to achieve strategic initiative, it did not cripple it either.
In Poland, things were different. No counterattack were launched yet, and the troops trying to hold the Bug were taking horrendous casualities. Help was still a day away, though the first division was expected to arrive before the dawn of the 23rd. Here, however, Stavka would not allow a retreat. Meretskov did not wish to fall back without attempting a counterattack first, but this policy would put the center in grave danger, as it would require great sarcifices from the 8th Army at Kowel.
At the end of the first day of combat, soviet losses were at ten thousand men. Despite this, an estimated six thousand germans would be casualities for the Wehrmacht. So far, the german offensive was not too wide, and an organized retreat was entirely possible.