Without addressing the likelihood of such a plan, I propose that the Soviets might have been planning to keep 4th Guards Tank Army as a strategic reserve. They were having more and more trouble with units not following orders, etc. Perhaps 4th Guards Tank Army was intended to act as a fire brigade, moving from place to place to knock down local warlords, marauders, rebels, and anyone generally not on board with Stavka's thinking. The Soviets have long been obsessed with internal security. The internal security situation was breaking down badly after 1998. The creation of a strong, mobile reserve in Belarus would have enabled the Soviets to move quickly and decisively against any of the numerous internal threats in Poland, Belarus, the western Ukraine, Lithuania, western Russia, or Slovakia, as well as parrying any moves by NATO.
Webstral
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