I te tau 1941, i te Operation Barbarossa, i mahi a Heinrici i te ope taua 4 i raro i a Günther von Kluge hei rangatira rangatira mo te XXXXIII Army Corps i te Pakanga o Białystok<unk>Minsk, te Pakanga o Kiev me te Pakanga o Moscow. I whakawhiwhia ia ki te Cross Knight o te Iron Cross i te 1941. I te mutunga o Hanuere 1942, i whakawhiwhia a Heinrici ki te mana o te 4 o nga ope taua. I te 24 o Noema 1943 i whakawhiwhia ki a ia te Oak Leaves ki tana Cross Knight mo tana kaiarahi i te Pakanga o Orsha
, i te wa e mau ana te ope taua 4 i nga tuunga paruru tata ki te rohe o Orsha i Belarus, i aukati i te haerenga o te Hauauru o te Hauauru i arahina e te Tiamana a Vasiliy Sokolovsky. I te wā o te wehenga atu o te 4 o nga ope taua, he nui te mate i pa ki te ope taua Whero. Ko enei angitu i tino whai hua ki te ingoa o Heinrici hei tohunga tiaki. I te mutunga o te tau 1943, ka kore ia e whakaae ki te whakahau kia whakangaromia te pa o Smolensk e te ahi i mua i te hokinga atu o te ope Tiamana, a, i whakakorehia ia i tana tūranga hei rangatira.