Well, what is a home army anyway? What sort of an army has no artillery, no tanks, no air force?

They don't even have sufficient small arms. They are minor partisan units, not regular forces. I've heard

that the Polish government has ordered these detachments to drive the Germans out of Warsaw.

I don't know how they propose doing that.

These folks don't normally fight the Germans, but hide in the forests.

They can't do anything else.

Joseph Stalin

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

The 20th century. Episode 444 Tem Tempest.

Last time I talked about events that took place on the Western Front from late July

into early August, 1944. This week I want to look at events on the Eastern Front during the

same period. The last time I events on the Eastern Front during the same period.

The last time I talked about the Eastern Front was in episode 440, and I finished off that episode by noting the Red Army's capture of Vilnius and Lublin. After most of Army Group's

center was encircled and destroyed, its portion of the German line disintegrated.

Hitler then turned to one of his favorite commanders, Marshal Walter Model, who had become his go-to guy when a strong defense was needed.

Over the course of July 1944, Model managed to rebuild Army Group Center and organize a new German

defensive line using replacement troops, plus divisions borrowed from Army Group North and Army Group

North Ukraine. Those are the forces that held the line to the North and the South, respectively.

The reconstituted Army Group Center was soon able to stand its ground against the advancing

Red Army, but the Soviets found weaknesses at both ends of Army Group Center's line, the seams,

if you will, between the section of the front Army Group Center held and the sections held by

its two neighboring army groups. The Soviet advances to Vilnius and Lublin represent exactly this,

...