At Russian Northwestern Front Army Headquarters, Commander General Kurochkin, Political Commissar Lieutenant General Bogatkin, and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Vatutin were all furrowing their brows. Although the Northwestern Front Army had been rebuilt and reinforced after the fall of Ulyanovsk, it now possessed a full eight infantry army corps and one tank army corps, with total strength approaching 1.5 million men.
Unfortunately, the German Army Group A they faced included not only three German army corps, but also one Finnish army corps and three army corps from the Baltic States, for a total force of 1.4 million men. The two sides were practically evenly matched. Moreover, the Finnish and Baltic troops were no weaker than the Russians. Indeed, the Russian units that had only recently been formed might not even have matched the Finnish and Baltic troops in combat strength. Thus, when faced with Army Group A's fierce offensive, they simply could not hold their ground and were beaten back step by step.
As their positions were continuously lost and the Russian 1st Tank Army Corps was jointly mauled by two German Armored Divisions, the Russian Northwestern Front Army became even less capable of withstanding the German offensive.
"Comrades, the Germans are continually breaking through our frontline defenses, and our losses are enormous. Yet Comrade Joseph has issued a death order forbidding us to retreat! What should we do now?" General Kurochkin said darkly.
Lieutenant General Bogatkin and Lieutenant General Vatutin had no good solution either. Faced with the current situation, they were powerless to turn the tide. If they retreated, they might be able to preserve part of their forces. But that would mean defying Joseph's orders. In his towering rage, Joseph certainly would not let them off lightly. Yet if they held their ground to the death,