The Germans were surprised to find so many Divisions deployed forward in the Early days of the invasion, and just as amazed at how poorly they were led.
The huge failure though, was the complete failure of German Intelligence to detect the nearly two million Soviet troops deployed in Southern Russia and Ukraine to hold down anti-Soviet unrest in the ‘Stans”.
It was these Soviet units that set back the Barbarossa timetables so badly. The Pre-invasion German war plan never accounted for them, and the supply chain could only handle so much.
That's one theory of why they were there. Here's another, by way of a Soviet defector: Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?
Yeah, Stalin was brilliant to have his army suppressing the Stans and then available for stopping Hitler. He had the forsight to have a hidden and secret army of suppressors. Who’d have thought of spinning it that way but you? LOL. I’ve known for quite a while you have a soft spot for Putin. I didn’t know you were able to find the magic in Stalin’s madness too. When it comes to tyrants and you, you’re never a critic.