The Soviet 63rd Rifle Division (MT) was one of the major units of the 5th Army, forming the extreme right of its formation. The 63rd MT had three infantry regiments, one artillery regiment and was reinforced with an assault gun battalion.
Before the attack he was reinforced with an additional assault gun regiment, a tank destroyer regiment, a light artillery regiment, a multiple rocket launcher regiment and two heavy howitzer regiments!
In the initial phase of the major Soviet offensive in Belorussia (Operation Bagration), the63rd MT was to attack on a front of only 3.3 km in the sector of the German 299th Infantry Division (IP) of the VI Army (SS) Corps. The commander of the 299th MP was Lieutenant General Hans Jung.
The German division had set up defensively in a strongly organized position with two of its regiments – of two battalions each – in the first line of defense and the third in reserve. The Soviet commander of the 63rd MT, Major General Laskin he had decided to attack with all three of his regiments in the front line, two on his right flank and one on his left.
He kept 2/3 of his assault guns and tank destroyers in reserve, while the remaining 1/3 was available for direct support of his infantry. After a 25-minute bombardment, the forces of the 63rd MT attacked.
The first German position was quickly captured before the defenders could react. By afternoon the forces of the 63rd MT had captured all the German strong points and had captured a bridge over a small river that ran through the German position.
By this time the 63rd MT had crossed two serious waterlogs, broken up five German battalions, and captured many of the German heavy guns. The German 299th MP had effectively ceased to exist, leaving a huge gap in the center of the German VI SS formation . The road to the encirclement of Vitebsk was now open from the south as well.
At the same time south of Vitebsk, after the disbandment of the German 299th MP, it was the turn of the 197th to take the brunt of the Soviet assault. And her forehead split open and her remains retreated. A corridor more than 20 km wide had been opened between the remnants of the German VI SS and the entrenched, by Hitler's assertiveness and the servitude of the head of Army Group Center, Marshal Bush , LIII SS, in Vitebsk.