With the destruction of the 4th Army and more men to fight towards the end of WWII.The role of the 3rd Belorussian Front in the first phase of Operation Bagration was essentially complete by 28 June, when the cavalry-mechanised units halted at the Berezina.

On the eve of the offensive, Soviet partisans carried out large-scale sabotage activities behind enemy lines, aimed at disrupting Army Group Center's logistical and communications capabilities.

Some 10,500 explosives were detonated along the rail networks connecting the Dnieper to Minsk, all bridges in the area were blown up, and telephone lines extensively cut, paralyzing Army Group Center's communications for the first 48 hours of the offensive.

5th Panzer, which was reorganised on 28 June into a combat group under the command of Dietrich von Saucken, took up positions near Borisov on the main road north-east of Minsk, along which elements of Fourth Army were fleeing from the front.

5th Panzer's main tank regiments, which unlike many German armoured units at the time were at full strength, were concentrated to the north, screening the rail lines being used for evacuation.

Some further reinforcements were provided by Gruppe von Gottberg, the rear-area security units of the Dirlewanger and Kaminski Brigades (responsible for a series of atrocities and war crimes in the course of their 'anti-partisan' activities).

The crossing points on the Berezina southwards were defended by several police and security detachments organised as Gruppe Anhalt, and elements of divisions from Müller's XII Corps, which had fallen back on the town of Berezino.

[3] The overstretched main elements of Gruppe von Saucken now attempted to screen Minsk from the north-west, where the 5th Guards Tank Army threatened to sever the railway lines.

In the meantime, the four divisions of XXXIX Panzer Corps had begun to pull back and make for the crossings at Berezino, south of Borisov, in an effort to escape the developing trap.

The 25th Panzergrenadier Division acted as the spearhead for the breakout at midnight on 5 July, but was scattered, with some elements passing north of Minsk to reach German positions.

[5] Lieutenant-General Müller, who had been placed in command of all the encircled units of Fourth Army, was captured on 8 July after a failed breakout by the 18th Panzergrenadier Division.