Best result for Army Group Center in Bagration?

....would be?
Maybe the OKH figures out the likely Soviet assault axis? OTL they in the week leading up to the battle began to seriously consider the possibility of at least some offensive operations against Heeresgruppe Mitte.
 

JSchafer

Banned
Stalin and Soviet leadership and generals form a cavalry units and charge the German hard points on horseback in bright white uniforms and stallions. Since that won’t happen then OTL is more or less the best
 
Fall back behind the Vistula - shorten the front, create fortified defenses and gather the remaining Panzers in the rear as a counter-landing force.

Would be politically unacceptable because it entails abandoning Koenigsburg, but such a position would be extremely difficult for the Soviets to overcome.
 
Either withdrawal and shorten and thicken the lines, or allow penetration in the centre with the idea of trapping a large pocket of attackers using an armored counterattack from the beefed up flanks.

Really, the chances for the second option were probably gone after Kursk. But it might be the only way to sell Hitler on an idea that involves not sitting like ducks in their current overstretched position.
 
Either withdrawal and shorten and thicken the lines, or allow penetration in the centre with the idea of trapping a large pocket of attackers using an armored counterattack from the beefed up flanks.

Really, the chances for the second option were probably gone after Kursk. ...

Ya, the ability to inflict really serious damage as in the previous 18 months was faded. They could inflict some damage, but not in the same proportion as earlier. Since a successful retreat would require the mechanized corps to fight delaying actions they'd take some losses from their early June strength.
 
Many years ago a gamer buddy worked on a east/west front game specifically for testing the German choices in deployment between east and west. I never played it, but his initial opinion was any significant transfer of mechanized forces west to east between January and May 1944 stalls the Red Army in the east, and leads to Op ECLIPSE in the winter or early spring 1945.

Since he had not run through his game model much I can't say he had a lot to support that.
 
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