31st Army 1st Formation
Formed in July 1941 in Moscow Military District based on directives General Staff from July 6 and July 16, 1941, first as the field control of the 24th Army, and from July 16 - as the 31st Army.
On July 15, 1941, the army was included in Reserve Armies Front and by July 22 concentrated in the Rzhev area.
From July 30 - as part of Reserve Front, occupied defense at the line Ostashkov - Yeltsy - Zubovka (45 km west of Rzhev) - Tishina. In September she fought heavy defensive battles and at the beginning of October she was part of Western Front(from October 5) under the blows of superior enemy forces, it retreated to Rzhev.
The army was disbanded on October 12, 1941, its formations and units were transferred to the 29th Army, and field control was transferred to the front reserve.
31st Army 2nd Formation
Army troops took part in the Kalinin defensive operation(October 10 - December 4, 1941), and with the start of the counteroffensive near Moscow - in Kalininskaya offensive operation(December 5, 1941 – January 7, 1942). During the latter, in cooperation with the troops of the 29th Army, they defeated the main forces of the German 9th Army and liberated Kalinin (December 16).
Developing the attack on Rzhev, the army troops by the end of December 1941 reached the Volga in the area northeast of Zubtsov.
In the winter and spring of 1942, the army took part in the Rzhev-Vyazma strategic offensive operation (January 8 - April 20, 1942). From April 20, the army went on the defensive east of Zubtsov and subsequently, firmly holding the occupied line, fought offensive battles in the Sychev direction in order to improve their positions.
From July 23, 1942, the army was part of Western Front and as part of it participated in the Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operation (July 30 - August 23). During the Rzhev-Vyazemsk operation (March 2-31, 1943), its troops liberated Sychevka (March 8) and by April 1 reached the area east of Yartsevo, where they went on the defensive.
In the Smolensk strategic operation (August 7 - October 1, 1943), formations of the 31st Army, in cooperation with other front forces, broke through a number of enemy defensive lines, defeated his main group, and liberated the cities of Yartsevo (September 16), Smolensk (September 25) and reached the right bank of the Dnieper northeast of Orsha.
In the summer of 1944, the army consisting of 3rd Belorussian Front(from April 24) participated in the liberation of Belarus. In the Vitebsk-Orsha operation (June 23-28), army troops, after breaking through the enemy’s deeply layered defenses in cooperation with the troops of the 11th Guards Army captured Orsha (June 27) and at the end of June reached the Berezina River in the Borisov region.
During the Minsk operation (June 29 - July 4, 1944), the army participated in the encirclement and defeat of a large enemy group, the liberation of Borisov (July 1) and Minsk (July 3).
In the Vilnius operation (July 5-20, 1944), army troops liberated the city of Druskeninkai (July 14) and, in cooperation with the troops of the 50th Army and the 3rd Cavalry Corps, Grodno (July 16).
In August 1944, army formations reached the Suwalki area and temporarily went on the defensive at the line of the Wigry-Sucha Rzechka lakes. In October, army troops took part in the front's offensive operation in the Gumbinnen direction, during which they entered East Prussia.
In the East Prussian strategic operation (January 13 - April 25, 1945), the army, with a strike in the direction of Letzen (Gizzycko), Rastenburg (Kętrzyn), Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warminski), broke through the Heilsberg fortified area and on March 28 reached the Frisches Huff Bay (Vistula ).
On April 2, 1945, the army was withdrawn to reserve VGK rates, and on April 21 transferred 1st Ukrainian Front and as part of it participated in the Prague operation (May 6-11).
1941: Battle of Moscow1942: First Rzhev-Vyazemsk operation
Operation "Mars"
1943: Rzhev-Vyazemsk operation
Smolensk operation
1944: Vitebsk offensive operation
Belarusian operation
Gumbinnen-Goldap operation
1945: East Prussian operation
Prague operation
31st Army(31 A), from July 15, 1941 to May 11, 1945 - operational military formation (Army) as part of the Armed Forces of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.
Encyclopedic YouTube
1 / 3
✪ The Vesti TV channel released a story about returning to the USSR. Back in USSR
✪ For those who DO NOT WANT to be a citizen of the USSR
✪ Does the FSB of the Russian Federation serve or serve? To whom and how... (S.N. Lavrov) - 07/29/2018
Subtitles
Formation
The 31st Army Directorate was formed on July 15, 1941 in the Moscow Military District. The task of the 31st Army was to create a defensive line along the Ostashkov-Selizharovo-Rzhev line. From the north, the defense line bordered the line of the 27th Army, from the south - the 49th Army.
The initial combat strength of the 31st Army included:
Five days later, it was added the 119th Infantry and 110th Tank Divisions, the 644th Corps Artillery Regiment, the 533rd and 766th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiments and the 2nd Naval Artillery Batteries.
On July 30, 1941, the army was transferred to the Reserve Front and the line of defense was shifted to the Ostashkov-Yeltsy-Tishina line.
The composition of the army is often changed - 244th and 246th rifle divisions reassigned, and the 110th tank is disbanded into separate tank brigades. Instead, the 5th Infantry Division and the 4th Division of the Moscow People's Militia are introduced.
- control
- 110th Rifle Division (formerly 4th Infantry Division)
- 296 pub (formed according to the staff of NPO No. 09/4)
- 297 pub (formed according to the staff of NPO No. 09/4)
- 9 aPTObr
- 43 cap
- 766 apto
- 873 aPTO
- sound reconnaissance battery
Fighting
1941
The army received its baptism of fire on October 2, when German troops launched an offensive in the direction of Rzhev. By order of October 6, an operational group was formed from army units led by Major General Vitaly Sergeevich Polenov, with the assistance of the operational group of Lieutenant General Ivan Vasilyevich Boldin, whose goal was to interrupt the enemy’s offensive on Volokolamsk and Rzhev. On October 7, having stopped the advance of the 3rd tank group of the Germans, a counterattack pushed them back and took up defense along the line Zhuravlevo - Bolshoye Yakovtsevo - Ivashkovo, creating a corridor for the retreating units of the Soviet troops, which joined the task force.
On October 10, the tank group made its way to Sychevka, and by order of the commander, the operational group began to retreat to Rzhev in the evening.
The army found itself sandwiched on both sides by enemy troops (from the south - the 3rd Tank Group; from the north - the 9th Army), which were making their way to the city of Rzhev. With heavy fighting and unsuccessful attempts to gain a foothold in the defense, the army retreated to the east. Some of the military personnel retreated without permission, but were detained by barrier detachments.
Army formations began to be transferred to the 29th Army, and on October 12, control of the 31st Army transferred to the reserve of the Western Front.
On October 17, a decision was made to restore the army as part of the Kalinin Front. Vasily Alexandrovich Yushkevich took command of the army.
The troops managed to divert large enemy forces, which prevented the liberation of the city, but pulled significant forces away from Moscow.
On November 17, another rifle division, the 256th, joined the army.
Order from the commander of the Kalinin Front troops to the commanders of the 29th, 31st, 30th and 22nd armies on the front's troops going on the offensive with the aim of defeating the enemy's Kalinin group. The 20th of October
…2. The troops of the Kalinin Front ... with the main forces encircle and destroy the enemy group in the Kalinin area, between the Volga River and the Moscow Sea, and by the end of 21.10 capture the city of Kalinin, preventing the enemy from regrouping for an attack to the southeast, towards Moscow. The beginning of the general offensive is 21.10 at 11.00.
…5. The 31st Army (119th, 133rd Infantry Division, 8th Tank Brigade, Motorized Brigade) advance from the northwest and north to Kalinin and, in cooperation with 30A, capture the north-west by the end of 21.10. and south part of the city of Kalinin. ... Front Commander Colonel General Konev
On December 5, the Kalinin Offensive Operation began with the forces of the Kalinin Front. Overcoming stubborn resistance from the enemy, who repeatedly launched counterattacks, by the end of December 15, troops 29 and 31A had captured both flanks of the Kalinin enemy group, and on December 16 the city of Kalinin was liberated.
Given the favorable situation, the Headquarters demanded that the commanders expand the offensive zones.
1942
From January 8 to April 20, 1942, she took part in the Rzhev-Vyazemsk offensive operation. On April 20, the army went on the defensive east of Zubtsov.
On July 23, 1942, the army became part of the Western Front and participated in the Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operation from July 30 to August 23.
On August 23, the 31st Army liberated the city of Zubtsov.
From November 25 to December 20, 1942, she participated in Operation Mars (Second Rzhev-Sychev Operation).
1943
In one day, the army liberates 138 settlements and by March 19 reaches the border of the villages of Emelyanovo - Pleshcheyevo - Bezmenovo - Zhevlaki.
On March 22, units of the 31st Army tried to continue the offensive in the direction of Safonovo and Yartsevo, but did not advance beyond the first trenches. At the end of March, it was decided to stop the general offensive and go on the defensive.
On August 7, the offensive of the army troops began during Operation Suvorov. The main forces (36th and 45th Rifle Corps) entered the battle on August 8, but advanced only 4 km in the area of Rybok and the Vedosa River. We immediately had to fight off multiple enemy counterattacks. Troop advance was minimal. On August 11, the Moscow-Minsk highway had not even been reached.
On August 16, after a regrouping of troops, the offensive was resumed, but they advanced no more than half a kilometer. Heavy fighting continued for several more days, and on August 20, the offensive was again suspended by order.
The offensive in the 31st Army sector resumed on August 30. During the day, the attackers advanced 300-500 meters, and at night the Nazis began to withdraw troops (retreating, the enemy tried to gain a foothold on intermediate lines, but army troops pursued him, knocked him off the lines, turning the withdrawal of troops into flight). The pursuit began on August 31 at dawn with the crossing of the Vopets River.
By evening, troops liberated 90 settlements, including the village of Safonovo.
After a week of retreat, the Nazis managed to gain a foothold at the Yartsevo-Vop River line, and on September 7, the army troops temporarily went on the defensive. On September 15, the offensive resumed, Vop was forced, and on September 16, the city of Yartsevo was liberated, then, together with the 68th and 5th armies, the troops of the 31st Army captured Smolensk (September 25).
1944
In February - March she took part in the Vitebsk operation. As part of the 3rd Belarusian Front, it participates in the Belarusian and Gumbinnen-Goldap offensive operations.
The main role in eliminating the Minsk “cauldron” was played by the 31st and 33rd armies. This is what Army General Zakharov, commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front, wrote about the first days of liquidation: [ ]
The liquidation of the surrounded isolated enemy groups is proceeding outrageously slowly and unorganized. As a result of the lack of initiative and indecisive activity of the army commanders, the enemy rushes from side to side in search of a way out, attacks corps and army headquarters, warehouses, and convoys, thereby disrupting the smooth operation of the rear and control.
As a result, the 49th and 50th armies were ordered to allocate five divisions to fight the encircled enemy, and with the remaining units to bypass the German groups from the north and south, dismember them and destroy them in the forests north and northeast of Volm.
The liquidation took place, conditionally, in three stages:
- July 5-7 - dismemberment of the group and suppression of attempts at an organized breakout from the ring (the enemy suffered significant damage. His troops, after the surrender of General Muller, broke up into several groups and were disorganized. The lack of ammunition and fuel forced them to abandon their equipment and artillery. Each the group tried to get out of the ring on their own);
- July 8-9 - the defeat of scattered groups hiding in the forests southeast of Minsk and trying to infiltrate the battle formations of the Soviet troops;
- July 10-13 - Soviet troops combed the forests, catching small groups of the enemy.
In the last days of the summer of 1944, troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front and, within them, the 31st Army reached the approaches to the borders of East Prussia.
For example, a false concentration of troops of the 11th Guards Army on secondary sectors of the front was simulated, creating the appearance of a regrouping of units in the zone of the 31st Army.
1945
At the beginning of April, the army was withdrawn to the front reserve, then transferred to the 1st Ukrainian Front and, as part of it, participated in the Prague Operation of 1945.
During the war, tens of thousands of 31A soldiers were awarded orders and medals for courage, heroism and high military skill, and 32 of them were awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. Many of its formations and units were awarded orders and honorary titles.
Disbanded early September 1945
Command staff
Commanders:
- Major General Dalmatov, Vasily Nikitich (July 15, 1941 - October 13, 1941)
- Major General Yushkevich, Vasily Alexandrovich (October 17, 1941 - March 19, 1942)
- Major General Vostrukhov, Vladimir Ivanovich (March 19, 1942 - April 14, 1942)
- Major General (July - August 1945) (October 26, 1941 - February 27, 1943) - from May 1942 Major General
Army reports on combat strength and strength
Kalinin offensive operation (from 12/5/1941) Fighting in the Staritsky direction (12/17/1941 - 01/7/1942)
256 sd, 247 sd, 250 sd, 119 sd, 359 sd, 262 sd, 5 sd, 359 sd, 54 sd, 46 sd,
56 ap, 510 gap, two separate divisions of rocket launchers.- Rzhev-Vyazemsk strategic offensive operation (01/8/1942-04/20/1942)
Fighting at the turn of the river. Holding . (01/07/1942 - end 07/1942)
From January 7, 1942, the army was reduced to three divisions - 5th infantry division, 247th infantry division, 250th infantry division.
On March 8, 1942
On April 4, 1942
- Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operation (07/30/1942 - 08/23/1942)
20 Guards Infantry, 88 Infantry Infantry, 118 Infantry Infantry, 164 Infantry Infantry, 239 Infantry Infantry, 247 Infantry Infantry, 336 Infantry Infantry,
six separate tank brigades 34 brigade, 71 brigade, 92 brigade, 101 brigade, 145 brigade, 212 brigade,
nine artillery regiments, two mortar regiments, six separate divisions of BM-13 rocket launchers,
eight separate divisions of BM-31 rocket launchers, a separate anti-aircraft division,
eight separate sapper battalions, an anti-tank fighter regiment.- Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operation (Operation “Mars”) (11/25/1942 - 12/20/1942)
88 sd, 118 sd, 133 sd, 239 sd, 246 sd, 336 sd, 354 sd (in 20A by 1.12.42), 371 sd,
20 gvsd (at 20A by 12/1/42),
two tank brigades - 32 tank brigades, 145 tank brigades (from 20A by 12/1/42),
five artillery regiments - 74 gvap, 75 gvap, 392 pap, 644 pap, 1165 pap,
four anti-tank regiments - 6 gvptap, 680 anti-tank, 869 anti-tank, 873 anti-tank,
213th separate anti-tank battalion,
two mortar regiments and two mortar battalions - 112 minp, 40 gvminp, 13 ogvminb, 67th separate guards heavy mortar battalion,
two anti-aircraft regiments - 1269 zenap, 1270 zenap,
614th separate anti-aircraft battalion,
three separate engineering and sapper battalions - 72 sib, 113 sb, 738th separate mine-sapper battalion.- Rzhev-Vyazemsk offensive operation (02.1943 - 03.31.1943)
30 Guards Infantry, 88 Infantry Division, 118 Infantry Division, 133 Infantry Division, 251 Infantry Division, 371 Infantry Division, 150 Infantry Brigade,
21st armored train division, artillery and engineering units,
from 2.03.1943 6th and 20th separate aerosled battalions,
from 03/09/1943 42nd Guards Infantry Division,
from 03/13/1943 82nd Infantry Division, 331st Infantry Division, 18th Tank Brigade.- Smolensk strategic offensive operation (Operation “Suvorov”) (08/07/1943 - 10/2/1943)
36 sk - 215 sd, 274 sd, 359 sd, 549th mortar regiment, 873rd anti-tank fighter regiment,
36th and 156th separate companies of high-explosive flamethrowers,
45 sk - 331 sd, 88 sd, 220 sd, 646 ap, 41 company of high-explosive flamethrowers,
71 sk - 251 sd, 133 sd, 82 sd, army ski battalion, 205th high-explosive flamethrower company,
42nd GVTBR, 2nd Guards Motorcycle Regiment,
other artillery units - 529th Army Anti-Tank Fighter Regiment, 542 iptap, 644 paps, 392 caps,
1478 zenap, 341 zenap, 525 back, 28 gvmindn, 201 gvmindn,
engineering units - 90th Army Pontoon-Bridge Battalion, 51st Infantry Brigade, 72nd Army Engineer Battalion, 291st Airborne Battalion.
During the operation, regroupings of military units took place.
After the liberation of Yartsevo, the 152nd fortified region became part of the army.- Offensive operation in the Orsha direction (10/12/1943 - 12/2/1943)
Offensive operation of the 31st Army in the Babinovichi region (02/22/1943 - 02/27/1943)
36 sk, 71 sk,
army and corps artillery and engineering units.- Belarusian strategic offensive operation (Operation “Bagration”) (06/23/1944 - 08/29/1944)
36 sk - 220 sd, 352 sd,
71 sk - 88 sd, 192 sd, 331sd,
113 sk - 62 sd, 174 sd,
173rd infantry division of army subordination,
artillery units - 140 pabr, 392 kpap, 570 kpap, 83 gvgap, 43 iptabr, 529 iptap, 549 minp, 74 gvminp,
2 ovpdaan (separate aeronautical division of artillery observation balloons),
66 zenads (1981, 1985, 1989, 1993 zenap), 1275 zenap, 1478 zenap, 525 back,
armored and mechanized units - 213 TBR, 926 SAP, 927 SAP, 959 SAP, 1445 SAP, 52nd separate armored train division,
engineering units - 31st engineer brigade, 90th pontoon-bridge battalion,
flamethrower battalions - 14 units, 15 units.- Gumbinnen-Goldap offensive operation (10/16/1944 - 10/30/1944)
71 sk - 88 sd, 62 sd, 331 sd,
36 sk - 352 sd, 173 sd, 174 sd,
220 Infantry Division in the army reserve,
140 pabr, 549 minp, 529 iptap, 74 gvminp ( rocket launchers), four regiments of self-propelled artillery (sap),
other artillery and engineering units.- East Prussian strategic offensive operation (01/13/1945 - 04/25/1945)
From 01/29/1945,
44 sk - 62 sd, 174 sd, 331 sd,
71 sk - 54 sd, 88 sd, 220 sd,
152nd fortified area (until 02/11/1945), 140 pabr, 513 tp, 337 sap, 926 sap, 959 sap, 529 iptap,
other divisions.From 02/06/1945 to 02/12/1945 the army was reinforced by 32 Guards Infantry Division, 334 Infantry Division, 153 Tank Brigade, 1490 SAF
From 02/12/1945,
71 sk - 54 sd, 88 sd, 331 sd,
44 sk - 174 sd, 62 sd, 220 sd,
artillery units - 140 pabr, 62 gvminp, 42 gvminp, 74 gvminp, 549 minp, 529 iptabr, 23 iptabr, 46 iptabr, 14 iptabr, 35 iptabr,
flamethrower battalions - 13 special forces, 14 special forces, 15 special forces,
self-propelled artillery regiments - 337 sap, 959 sap, 926 sap,
engineering sapper battalions - 11 isb, 202 isb, 204 isb, 19 assault engineer battalion,
2nd Guards Motorcycle Regiment.- Redeployment to the 1st Ukrainian Front (04/2/1945 - 04/20/1945)
- Berlin strategic offensive operation (04/16/1945 - 05/9/1945)
- Prague strategic offensive operation (05/6/1945 - 05/11/1945)
71 sk - 54 sd, 88 sd, 331 sd,
44 sk - 62 sd, 174 sd, 220 sd,
36 sk - 173 sd, 176 sd, 352 sd,
140 pabr, 549 minp, 51 paws, 926 sap, 529 iptap, 357 iptap,
other divisions.
In August 1942, a little-known but strategically important military operation took place. It was called the Pogorelo-Gorodishen operation.
In the post-Stalin USSR, they tried not to remember much about it; there were few essays and works on it.
The most detailed essay, perhaps the only one, was left by General Leonid Sandalov.
Leonid Sandalov left an essay about a unique military operation of the Red Army
Conditions before surgery
In mid-1942, the war took on an ambiguous character.
The front of the Red Army in the south (Timoshenko, Khrushchev) was destroyed and retreated to the Volga, the front in the north (Khozin Govorov) confidently held the defense.
And the fronts in the center (Konev, Purkarev, Zhukov) not only defended themselves. But he also carried out offensive operations.
The actions of the Soviet troops took on the character of a methodical “gnawing through” a deeply layered defense.
Rifle divisions advanced slowly by 1-2 kilometers per day, winning every meter of land at great cost. Tank units often became the main argument of the Red Army.
Tank brigades could not break away from the infantry and acted together with them like tanks
Commanding the western front, G.K. Zhukov planned to strike on August 2, but this turned out to be impossible due to rainfall.
In addition, the results of the military operations of the Kalinin Front turned out to be very modest, especially at the junction with the 31st Army. Taking all this into account, the command of the Western Front, in agreement with Headquarters, postponed the start of the offensive to August 4.
Commander of the Western Front, Army General G.K. Zhukov
General Sandalov wrote:
Kalinin Front (commanded by Colonel General I. S. Konev) - with the troops of the left wing, deliver the main blow from the north to Rzhev and an auxiliary blow along the northern bank of the Volga on Zubtsov, clear the northern bank of the Volga from the enemy and capture Rzhev;
The Western Front (commander General of the Army G. K. Zhukov) - with the forces of two armies, strike from the front Aleshsvo, Vasilievskoye (the first point 12 km northwest, and the second point 12 km southeast of Pogoreloe Gorodishche) in the general direction of Zubtsov. The front's immediate task is to break through the defense against Nika and, providing for themselves from the south, reach the Vazuza River and gain a strong foothold.
Readiness to go on the offensive was established: for the Kalinin froit - on July 28, for the Western one - on July 31, 1942. To fulfill the task set by Headquarters, the Kalinin Front attracted the 30th and 29th Armenians, the Western Front - the 31st and 20th armies.
Decision of the commander of the Western Front"
“Commander of the Western Front G.K. Zhukov decided: a simultaneous attack by the 31st and 20th armies from the Aleshevo line. Vasilievskoe to break through the enemy’s defenses on the Derzha River, defeat the Zubtsov-Karmanov group of fascist German troops and reach the line of the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers.” Then the 31st Army was supposed to develop an offensive on Zubtsov and, with a blow from the south, assist the Kalinin Front - and the liberation of Rzhev, and the stronger 20th_ Army - to Sychevka.
To develop success in the Sychevsky direction, it was planned to introduce into battle a mobile front group consisting of the 6th and 8th tank and 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps, which was supposed to, in cooperation with the 20th Army, cut off the Rzhev ledge that went deep into the location of our troops enemy.
Three days after the 31st and 20th armies went on the offensive, the 5th Army was supposed to launch an offensive, and a few days later, the 33rd Army of the Western Front.
To support the advance of these armies, most of the front-line artillery from the 31st and 20th armies was planned to be regrouped to pre-prepared positions, first in the 5th Army zone, and then in the 33rd Army zone." A significant part of the front aviation was also supposed to be transferred to ensure the offensive of these armies"
Twentieth Army
The spearhead of the offensive was to be the 20th Army.
The 20th Army of the Western Front was formed during the Battle of Moscow. From defense on the approaches to the capital in the Khimki region, the 20th Army on December 6, 1941 launched a counteroffensive as part of the Western Front in the Solnechnogorsk direction.
Advancing on Krasnaya Polyana, the 20th Army defeated enemy troops in the Krasnaya Polyana area and, pursuing the enemy, captured the cities of Solnechnogorsk and Volokolamsk.
During the offensive of the Western Front in January 1942, the 20th Army broke through the enemy’s defenses on the Lama River, captured the Shakhovskaya, Seredan line, developing an offensive in the Sychev direction, and reached v. at the end of January 1942 to the fortified line of Bykovo, Vasilyevskoye, prepared in advance by the enemy.
Commander of the 20th Army of the Red Army, General Max Reiter
Sandalov writes:
“On ordinary days, enemy searches involved only occasional rifle, machine gun, mortar and artillery fire. During the day, the enemy fired an average of 200 to 400 shells at the troops of the 20th Army.
Sometimes, usually after sighting at high bursts, he used artillery raids on various targets. Single enemy aircraft conducted reconnaissance of our defenses. Small groups of planes took off to bomb our rear points, mainly the areas of the Shakhovskaya and Volokolamsk railway stations.
The troops of the 20th Army improved the army's defensive line to improve the outline of the front edge of the line and carried out a number of private offensive operations and battles of local importance.
Defensive work in the 20th Army and its neighboring armies, both in the main defensive zones and on the newly created army intermediate defensive lines*, was especially widespread in the early summer of 1942. Army troops worked to provide reliable cover as they approached Moscow, thereby masking preparations for an offensive operation.
At the end of June 1942, the 20th Army, with the forces of two rifle divisions, four rifle and two tank brigades, defended the 43 km long strip from Vasilyevskoye to Bykovo,
In the first half of July, the commander of the 20th Army, Lieutenant General M. L. Reiter, received personally from the commander of the Western Front a verbal order to prepare an offensive operation with the task of
Break through the enemy’s defenses on the Derzha River in the Pogoreloye Gorodite, Vasilievskoye sector, in cooperation with the 31st Army (commander Major General V.S. Polenov), defeat the enemy’s Zubiovo-Karmanov group and reach the line of the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers during the offensive from this line to Sychevka (the 251st Rifle Division defended the front line from Rozhdestvo - 9 km northwest of Pogoreloye Gora-dische - to Vasilyevskoye).
The 20th Army was reinforced by a rifle corps (consisting of a rifle division and four rifle brigades), three rifle divisions, three tank brigades, a scooter-motorcycle brigade, artillery, mortar and anti-aircraft units, rocket artillery units, an armored train division and an engineer brigade.
The day before operations included 20th army must were to move along with their sector to the southeast of Pogoreloe Gorodishche, the 251st Infantry Division of the 31st Army, in exchange for which three left-flank rifle brigades of the 20th Army with their sections retreated To 5th Army.
To ensure the secrecy of the preparation of the operation, the troops of the 20th Army, including the front-line forces and assets transferred to its reinforcement, were allowed to enter the Pogoreloe Gorodishche area only a few days before the operation.
It was strictly forbidden to draw up written documentation for the operation and conduct correspondence about it.”
On the night of August 1, the main group of the 20th Army made night marches to concentrate in the Pogoreloe Gorodishche area. Intended for the offensive in the first echelon, units of the 331st and 354th Rifle Divisions and units of the 8th Guards Rifle Corps, advancing from the Shakhovskaya area, began to replace the left flank units of the 251st Rifle Division and occupy the initial areas for the offensive.
Before planning the offensive, the Red Army had mobile tank formations, which now made it possible to conduct large-scale offensive operations
All artillery, excluding rocket artillery and unitsair defense, by the morning of August 1 took up firing positions. The movement of troops and the occupation of the initial areas took place in conditions of rainy weather, very wet soil and even more deteriorated roads. On the night of August 2, the remaining army troops were to occupy their original areas and positions.
The offensive of the troops had to be carried out in difficult meteorological conditions (mud roads, mud). Therefore, on the eve of the operation, a number of special measures had to be taken, but engineering support offensive
Each first-echelon rifle division was reinforced by two sapper companies, and the 8th Guards Rifle Corps was reinforced by a battalion of the 34th sapper brigade. The Army Mobile Group was assigned to the 214th Army Engineer Battalion, and the 17th and 20th Tank Brigades were assigned to an engineer company. To accompany the artillery groups of the divisions, special escort detachments were allocated, consisting of one or two rifle companies and a sapper company with mine detectors.
Start
Three hours before the attack, after all the fighters were familiarized with the order to attack, conversations were held among the troops, and in the second echelon, rallies were held dedicated to the upcoming battles.
6 o'clock August 4th. The so-called artillery dawn has arrived. The troops of the 20th Army were fully prepared for the offensive.
On August 4, the offensive of the 20th Army began in the Pogoreloye Settlement area. Unlike the Kalinin Front, here the Soviet troops were successful: in two days of operation, troops of the 20th Army broke through the defenses of the German 46th Tank Corps on a front of 18 km and a depth of 30 km and advanced units reached the approaches to the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers . The 161st Infantry Division opposing the Soviet troops was defeated. At the same time, the immediate task (taking Zubtsov and Karmanovo) was not completed.
In August 1942, an offensive operation was launched on the right wing of the Western Front - in the Zubtsovo-Rzhevsky and Sychevsky directions, carried out by troops of the 32nd and 20th armies. The 20th Army, which attacked Sychevka, began its offensive by breaking through enemy defenses in the Pogoreloe Gorodishche area.
General Leonid Sandalov wrote:
« In August 1942, an offensive operation unfolded on the right wing of the Western Front—on the Zubtsovo-Rzhev and Sychevsky directions—carried out mainly by troops of the 31st and 20th armies.
The 31st Army, the right-flank army of the Western Front, was advancing south of the Volga in the direction of Zubtsov and Rzhev. This operation was called Zubtsovskaya.
The 20th Army, which attacked Sychevka, began its offensive by breaking through enemy defenses in the Pogoreloe Gorodishche area (the regional center of the Kalinin region). The operation was called Pogorelo-Gorodishenskaya"
"This was the first successful Soviet offensive troops in summer conditions."
“At 6 o’clock. 15 minutes. On August 4, 1912, the morning silence in the Pogoreloe Gorodishche area gave way to a deafening cannonade. Guns, mortars and rocket artillery began artillery preparation. A barrage of fire fell on the enemy and within 10 minutes crushed the front line of his defense.
The fire raid was carried out on observation posts, artillery and mortar positions of the defensive zones of the enemy's 161st Infantry and 36th Motorized Divisions. The earth and air trembled from the roar of guns and mortars, from the explosion of shells and mines. From observation points one could see how columns of fire and earth rose up, how fragments of broken equipment in the enemy’s first trench were scattered, how dugouts and wire barriers on his front edge were destroyed.
After the first fire raid, the artillery fired for 10 minutes to suppress enemy artillery and its reserves in the depths of the defense, and then began to destroy and suppress observed targets at the front line and in the depths of the defense with methodical fire that lasted 45 minutes.
“The offensive of the troops of the 20th and 31st armies was one of the first experiences in preparing a deep offensive operation.
It contained the main elements inherent in a deep operation: the creation of a decisive superiority in forces and means in the main attack zone; organizing a breakthrough of enemy defenses in relatively narrow areas; long-term artillery and aviation training; breaking through the enemy’s defensive line with rifle formations advancing accompanied by a large number of guns and aircraft, with the direct support of tanks; entry into a breakthrough to develop the success of mobile army groups and a mobile front group. »
At 6:15 a.m. On August 4, 1942, the morning silence in the Pogoreloe Gorodishche area gave way to deafening cannonade. Guns, mortars and rocket artillery began artillery preparation.
A barrage of fire fell on the enemy and crushed the front line of his defense for 45 minutes. From observation points one could see how columns of fire and earth rose up, how fragments of broken equipment in the enemy’s first trench were scattered, how dugouts and wire barriers on his front edge were destroyed.
At 7 o'clock. 00 min. assault battalions and advanced units of the first echelon units crossed the Derzha River along assault bridges, on rafts and ferries, in boats, on improvised means of crossing and fording the Derzha River and with a swift rush through the passages made by assault detachments and sapper units in wire obstacles and minefields crossed together with attached tanks to attack. One by one, enemy strongholds fell into our hands or were blocked.
Leonid Sandalov wrote:
"At 7:45 a.m. assault battalions and forward units of the first echelon 251, 331 and "354-ii rifle divisions crossed the Derzha River on assault bridges, on rafts, on ferries, in boats, on improvised means of transportation and forded the Derzha River and with a swift throw through the passages made by assault detachments and sapper units in wire barriers and minefields crossed, together With assigned tanks to attack.
With exclamations of “hurray!”, “for the Motherland!”, “for Communist Party! our fighters broke into the front line of the enemy’s defense. Destroying and capturing the surviving enemy soldiers, units of the 251st, 331st and 354th Infantry Divisions captured the first trench."
To develop the success of the advancing troops of the 20th Army, at 17:00 on August 4, a mobile group of Colonel Armaia was advanced from the Kuz-minka area through Pogoreloye Gorodishche to Kopylovo, Gubinka and further to Burdevo. The pear advanced along two routes. in a two-echelon formation. The 3rd scooter and motorcycle brigade was moving in the first echelon. The brigade's motorcycle regiment followed the right route, and the scooter regiment followed the left.
The regiments were reinforced with tanks. Following the regiments of the scooter-motorcycle brigade, tank brigades moved: two brigades along the right route, and one brigade together with a rifle regiment along the left route.
Simultaneously with the 20th Army, the troops of the 31st Army went on the offensive.
Major General Vitaly Polenov, commander of the 31st Army of the Red Army
251st Rifle Division (commander Colonel B.B. Gorodovikov), which carried out the main attack. strike on its left flank, bypassing Pogoreloye Gorodishche from the south, the 923rd Infantry Regiment broke through the thickness of the Derzha River to Zolotilovo, the Assault detachment P123-ra of the Infantry Regiment under the command of Senior Lieutenant Kllmaiov N.F. blocked the fortified stronghold of Zoloti.tovo and a swift strike to the west, destroying the retreating units of the 336th Infantry Regiment of the 161st Infantry Division, at 10 o'clock. 20 min. broke into Konylovo.
By 15:00 on August 4, units of the 251st Infantry Division, continuing to carry out the assigned task of destroying the enemy in the Pogoreloye Gorodishe area, advanced units entrenched themselves on the line of the Sinaya River.
By the end of August 4, 251, the 331st and 354th rifle divisions had advanced 8— II km. With the onset of darkness, the 312th Infantry Division began to move out from the second echelon of the army, which during the night was supposed to go into the forests east of Mikhalkino.
There was no wired connection between the army headquarters and the rifle divisions, but radio communication, although not stable enough, was not interrupted
By 20 o'clock in Pogoreloye Gorodishche, enemy resistance had ceased. The shooting died down. The residents of Pogoreloye Settlement were returning to their ashes from the forests and nearby populated areas.
The partisans returned from the partisan detachment - residents of Pogorely Gorodishche. The secretary of the district party committee, S.G. Dorochepkov, and the chairman of the executive committee of the district council, K.P. Petrov, organized its restoration from the first day of the liberation of the district center
On the morning of August 5, after a powerful artillery raid and attacks on enemy positions, units of the 251st and 354th rifle divisions broke the resistance of the units of the 161st Infantry and 36th Motorized Divisions and resumed the offensive.
Sandalov writes:
“The fighting took place along the enemy’s escape routes - along dirt roads, paths, forest clearings, and direct battles were conducted by the vanguard and. advanced units composed of tank units, machine gunners, rifle and artillery (mainly horse-drawn) units. During the offensive, our troops widely used envelopments and detours.”
As a result of the successful offensive of the right-flank troops of the 20th Army, enemy units lost their combat capability and, retreating to the west and southwest, abandoned weapons, vehicles, warehouses with ammunition, uniforms and food, motorcycles and other military equipment.
Retreating to the second defensive line, the enemy repeatedly tried to delay the troops in order to gain time before their reserve divisions approached from the rear and removed equipment and warehouses from the rear.
Clinging hastily created units with three to four heavy machine guns, one to two anti-tank guns and individual mortars to tactically advantageous points and lines, positioning themselves on them in hastily dug trenches, the retreating enemy units hastily organized a defense.
German soldiers were captured and confessed. Captured corporal of the 8th company of the 304th infantry regiment of the 161st infantry division Yakov Raushek on The interrogation showed:
“They had no idea about the Russian offensive. The losses yesterday were huge; not many managed to escape. The officers indicated to the soldiers only the points where the boom had to be carried out, and nothing more.
Together with a group of soldiers, he retreated to Lshshno, where they stopped, fell asleep from fatigue, and slept until captured.”
If, under the onslaught of the 251st, 331st and 354th rifle divisions, scattered units of the Kil-pi infantry division retreated without offering much resistance, and tried to delay our troops in battle only on some advantageous lines - the outskirts of villages, on forest edges and at road junctions - Then the units of the 3rd Motorized Division, defending mainly against the 8th Guards Rifle Corps, retreated with fierce battles and launched counterattacks in certain directions.
In defensive battles, units of the 36th Motorized Rifle Division, as a rule, were supported by aviation that intensified their activity, while the scattered units of the 161st Infantry Division, lost in the forests, could not establish contact with their aviation.
Sandalov writes:
“By 18:00 on August 5, the forward detachments of the 251st Infantry Division approached the indicated line, but they could not break through it on the move and started a brie, which continued until dark.
At the same time, the advance detachment of the 3131st Infantry Division, sent to Basyutnikn, broke through the enemy defenses with a sudden blow. To At 20:00 on August 5th I went to the Koptelovkz, Vasyutnikn area. The advanced units of the 354th Infantry Division approached Vishenki and Ramenka by 20 o’clock.”
As a result of two days of operation, the troops of the 20th Army broke through the enemy’s defenses on a front of 18 km and a depth of up to 30 km and advanced units reached the approaches to the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers, where they met organized resistance from the advanced units of the enemy operational reserves and the units of the first that survived the withdrawal echelon.
During the battle, the enemy suffered significant losses. In just two days of fighting, over 2,000 enemy soldiers and officers were killed and 150 prisoners were taken.
Our troops captured 48 guns, 8 tanks, 5 armored vehicles, many small arms and military equipment, several warehouses
Towards the middle day On August 6, a critical situation developed at the junction with the 31st Army. However, given the upcoming exit from the 6th Tank Corps, ... the command of the 20th Army, as well as the command of the 31st Army, did not allocate new units to the Bukontovo area.
The 331st Infantry Division with the 17th Tank Brigade, advancing with the main forces "from the line Koptedovka, Vasyutnikn on Istratovo, Pechora, tied counter booms on the Bers-Zuika River with units of the 1st Tank to the 6th Infantry who crossed Vazuza enemy divisions.
In an effort to quickly break through to the Vazuza River and cross it, the division commander introduced his second echelon - the 1103rd Infantry Regiment - from the left flank in the direction and towards Soldo, which captured Chappneau by mid-day.
By 12 o'clock on August 6, the 354th Infantry Division knocked out the defending units of the 87th Motorized Regiment of the 36th Motorized Division from Pesochnya and Vishenka and, developing an offensive on Skorosovo and Yarygino, captured Afanasovo and Podyablonka by 3 p.m.
Sandalov writes:
“By 15:00 on August 6, the corps of the mobile group of the front, after a 30-50-kilometre march, withdrew most of the troops to the designated areas and threw forward units to the crossings on the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers.
Most of the automobile units of the tank corps, especially from the service, engineering and rear units, as well as half of the tanks of the heavy tank brigade of the 8th Tank Corps, due to the small number of roads and their poor condition, remained east of the Derzha River.
At 17:00 on August 6, after putting the equipment in order and refueling the tanks, as well as after the end of the large cavalry halt, the mobile group of the front resumed its advance to the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers.”
At night, one company of the 31st Tank Brigade from the 8th Tank Corps reached the crossing over the Vazuza in the area of the village of Khlepen. The 251st, 331st, 354th rifle divisions, together with units of the front mobile group, had the task of crossing Vazuza and advancing on Sychevka.
This association was headed by the deputy commander of the 20th Army, Lieutenant General A. A. Tyurin. The 331st Rifle Division and the 17th Tank Brigade launched an offensive from the village of Istratovo to the villages of Pechory and Seltso and in the evening began fighting on the opposite bank of Vazuza from Khlepnya.
Sandalov writes:
« There was no doubt that the main combat operations were unfolding in the zone of the 20th Army, where on our side a mobile group of the front took part, and on the “Enemy” side, in addition to the troops of the 9th Army of the Sychev direction, three tank and two infantry divisions Army Group Center Reserve.
Meanwhile, on August 7, the troops of the 5th Army (Lieutenant General I. I. Fedyuninsky) also went on the offensive with the task of breaking through the enemy’s defenses south of Karmanovo and developing success in the north-west direction to Sychevka. However, it was not possible to break through the defenses of the 342nd and 35th German infantry divisions either that day or the next. On August 10, G.K. Zhukov set the 5th Army a more modest task: to direct its main efforts to capturing Karmanovo.
The successes of the 33rd Army under Lieutenant General M.S. Khozin, which began to attack later on August 13, were even less successful.
By August 8, the command post of the 20th Army moved to the Pesochnya area. Half of the radio stations of the army communications center and a large part of the radio stations of the formations were out of order or stuck in the mud of rear roads. From the new command post, wire communications were quickly carried out to the formation headquarters. To strengthen the troops, a cavalry squadron was allocated from the cavalry corps at the disposal of the army headquarters.
The commander of Army Group Center, Colonel General Walter Model, did not expect the Red Army to attack in the area of operations of the 20th and 31st Soviet armies
On the morning of August 8, troops of the 20th Army, together with parts of the corps of the front mobile group, resumed the offensive in pouring rain to capture bridgeheads on the western banks of the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers and to defeat the Karmanov group.
Sandalov writes:
« Both sides brought into battle on August 9 almost all the troops intended for action in the Zubtsovsky, Sychevsky and Karmlnovsky directions. The total number of tanks that took part in the battles during the days of the oncoming battle, 1 in the troops of the right wing of the Western Front, exceeded 800, and in the troops of the left wing of Army Group Center was about 700.
Of this number, 255 tanks of the 20th Army and 334 tanks of the front mobile group operated in the zone of the 20th Army. The enemy threw over 500 tanks into the 20th Army's zone. Some advantage of the troops of the Western Front in tanks was balanced by the fact that in ours In tank units, about a third of all tanks were small T-60 tanks with a 20-mm cannon.
In the Sychevsky direction, the 20th Army and the supporting group of the front were supported by 9 aviation divisions of the Western Front. Approximately the same aviation forces were allocated for operations in this direction for the German Army Group Center.
On the morning of August 9 - on the sixth day of the operation - the counter-battle of the troops of the right wing of the Western Front at the turn of the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers and in the Karmanovo area reached its climax.
Both sides brought into battle on August 9 all troops intended for operations in the Zubtsovsky, Sychevsky and Karmanovsky directions.
During the day of August 9, troops of the 8th Guards Rifle Corps, together with the 415th Rifle Division, fought continuous oncoming battles with counterattacks from Shtanino and Ryabinka to the north and northwest by units of the 2nd Tank, 36th Motorized, 342nd Infantry divisions and with new enemy units that appeared - judging by the prisoners - the 78th Infantry Division.
Meanwhile, V. Model, who returned to command of the 9th Army after being wounded, was convinced of the futility of a counterattack on Pogoreloe Gorodishche and ordered his troops to go on the defensive on August 10.
Encountering battles at the turn of the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers and battles in the Karmanovo area deprived the Soviet offensive of momentum. It was decided to concentrate attention on the capture of Karmanovo. Thus, the strike force advancing on Sychevka was weakened.
Sandalov writes:
"Within 9 August combat The actions of the troops in the zone of the 20th Army developed as follows.
The 8th Tank Corps with the 251st Rifle Division, in stubborn oncoming battles with the 5th Tank Division and units of the enemy's 253rd and 161st Infantry Divisions, expanded the bridgehead by 2-3 km on the western bank of the Vazuza - from Logovo to Tapmonnio to the west to the Osuga River - and defeated enemy troops on the eastern bank of Vazuza, north of Pechora"
On the night of August 10, the command of the Western Front, assessing the situation, came to the conclusion that continuing the offensive on Sychevka with the current balance of forces would not give the desired success. The troops of the Kalinin Front had not yet approached Rzhev, and therefore one could not count on their help in the offensive in the Sychev direction.
The situation urgently required creating a reliable superiority in forces and means in the Karmanovo area and accelerating the defeat of the enemy’s Karmanovo group. Subsequently, with a blow parts of the forces 20th Army and south help 5th army break the enemy's resistance and, with the joint forces of both armies, resume the offensive on Sychevka.
The German command, taking into account the importance of the defense of the Karmanovo region, which, covering the flank and rear of the Gzhat group, prevented the winding up of the defense against the 5th Army and, hanging over the left flag of the Soviet troops advancing on Sychevka, created a threat to them, took all measures to transform the Karmanovo forests and settlements surrounding Karmanovo into a single fortified area.
To reinforce the troops defending the Karmanovsky region, separate units and subunits of various divisions were transferred from other defense sectors.
Sandalov writes:
« The commander of the 20th Army, assessing the current
main with the forces of 2">1, 331 and 354th rifle divisions, together with the mobile group of the front (without the 8th tank corps), continue the offensive booms behind Vazueoi and Gzhatya and firmly secure the bridgehead along the line of Podyablonka, Chupyatno, Polovtsy, Star. Osinovi; the rest » Army troops encircle and destroy the enemy’s Karmanov group.»
The enemy widely deployed defensive work in all areas, which was carried out day and night. A large number of trenches were built.
One after another, they encircled the Karmanovo region and formed a multi-tiered defense on the approaches to Karmanovo. Ahead of the forest positions and strongholds, the enemy prepared barrage fire from artillery and mortar units.
The commander of the 20th Army, General Reuter, believed that the 20th Army would cope with the enemy in Karmanovo and he was right
In forest defensive positions and in strongholds organized in villages, on hills, in individual groves, the basis of defense was anti-tank guns and tanks buried in the ground. Combined with numerous obstacles, primarily minefields, such defenses were difficult to overcome.
On the morning of August 11, after half an hour of artillery preparation, the offensive of the 20th Army resumed on Karmanovo. Overcoming the resistance of enemy troops occupying a fortified area and fighting off numerous infantry counterattacks. Reinforced by secret forces, the troops of the 20th Army, advancing during the day, advanced 2-5 km. The 8th Tank Corps with the 415th Rifle Division, operationally subordinate to the corps commander, advancing from the Cherneyya, Lebs-DKI line, broke through the defenses of the enemy’s 2nd Tank Division, captured Yelnya and started fighting in Saburovo.
The 26th Guards Rifle Division, together with the 150th Rifle Brigade advancing on its left flank and in cooperation with the 11th and 20th Tank Brigades, as a result of intense fighting on the Korolsvo, Staaio line, destroyed enemy strongholds in this area and captured populated areas points Mordvino, Pushkino, Ryabinki, 153rd and 129th arrows of some brigades advancing on New. Truly, by the end of the day I came out to the forests east of Ryabinka
Sandalov writes:
“On August 12, the 6th Tank Corps and the Cavalry Corps were transferred to the subordination of the 20th Army.
Advancing between the Vazuza and Osuga rivers, against units of the 5th Panzer, which organized a strong defense And 25thinfantry divisions, troops of the 6th Tank Corps and the 251st Rifle Division pushed the enemy toifpa- on the army’s western flank and towards the end of August 18, battles began at the line of Luchkovo, Sady, Ze-adlovka, Pechora
At two points they crossed the Osuga rivers. The artillery of the 251st Rifle Division began to conduct methodical fire at the Osuga station and at the armored train cruising in its area...”
During the offensive, Soviet troops, in fierce and bloody battles, broke through the prepared enemy defenses, advanced beyond a depth of 30-45 km and eliminated the enemy bridgehead north of the Volga in the Rzhev region.
Karmanov offensive
To enhance advancing On Karmanovo, the army commander allocated the 312th Rifle Division from his reserve to ensure the fastest defeat of units of the 46th Tank Corps.
Sandalov writes:
“On the evening of August 18, the troops of the 20th Army were given the following tasks: the 20th Army, in cooperation with the 5th Army, in the morning of August 20, strike at Karmanovo and destroy the enemy’s Karmanovo group. 8th Guards Rifle Corps with 11th and 20th Tank Brigades" To with the 82nd Infantry Division operationally subordinate to him, the main attack is planned on Karmanovo through Ovsyanniki and an auxiliary attack through Myasikovo; defeat the troops defending Karmanovo and capture this important point of enemy defense."
On the morning of August 20, after half an hour of artillery and aviation preparation, the troops of the 20th Army went on the offensive against the German Karmanov group.
The commander of the 11th Tank Brigade, Paul Armand, wrote:
"On the night of August 20, the enemy fired at the forest where the advancing troops were concentrated. Shells exploded loudly, trees fell, and felled branches flew. Only at dawn the enemy artillery fell silent and our batteries began to speak. The planes started buzzing.
After half an hour of artillery and air preparation, the troops went on the offensive. A new sound was added to the roar of gunfire. It grew, grew stronger, and turned into a rumble. It was the tanks that went into battle.
On August 21 and 22, the troops advancing on Karmanovo squeezed the enemy units defending it into a ring. The assault began on the morning of August 23 and did not weaken. By noon, most of the enemy soldiers and officers were killed and captured, and only small groups managed to break through to the south. At 13:00 the Red Banner was raised over the district council building. There was an infirmary on the outskirts; about two hundred wounded Germans lay there.
It was getting dark. Mines and shells exploded less and less, and machine-gun fire fell silent. Heaps of ash and burning settled on fields and roads riddled with craters. The sky is in response to fires. Armand, excited, walked along the Highway. The charred German tanks were black. He held the leather helmet in his hand, the breeze blew across his head. Orderly Mitya Zhuravlev followed the colonel like a shadow.
In the battles for Karmanovo, our troops captured large trophies. Forty German tanks were destroyed. More than a thousand dead Germans were picked up on the outskirts and streets."
That evening Arman wrote:
"...Today at 11.00 there is great joy - they have finally smashed a very strong knot of resistance. I am still covered in dust and gunpowder smoke, but the angels are singing in my soul. The bastards made us suffer - but at least we gave them pepper! The vaunted German The tactics of resistance and Hitler's invincibility failed once again.
Fascists have a great way of showing their heels when you hit them properly. They didn’t have time to put turpentine under their tails - they ran away without it.”
The commander of the 11th Tank Brigade of the Red Army, Paul Arman, died tragically on August 7, 1943 from a sniper's bullet
Paul Armand and the commander of the 20th Army Max Reiter were Latvians by nationality, but today such heroes of modern Latvia are not needed
In heavy forest battles, overcoming numerous obstacles, destroying direct-fire guns, enemy tanks buried in the ground and destroying one after another the enemy trenches covering Karmanovo, our troops inflicted heavy losses on parts of the 46th Tank Corps and, squeezing it in a semi-ring , advanced 2-3 km to Karmanovo during the day.
The fresh 312th Rifle Division, reinforced by a combined detachment of the 8th Tank Corps, in cooperation with the 415th Rifle Division, successfully attacked Karmanovo from the west of Zhulebino and approached Roshchno by the end of the day. To repel the attacks of the rifle divisions, the enemy fired overlay with artillery and mortars.
The 8th Guards Rifle Corps slowly advanced on Karmanovo from the north of Ovsyanniki, methodically destroying defensive structures and overcoming various obstacles in the forest west of the Yauza River. By the end of the day, the corps' troops were fighting 2-3 km north of Karmanovo.
The 82nd Infantry Division, advancing on Karmanov;) from the east, during the day approached it by 2-3 km and tied a boom for Staroselye.
Sandalov writes:
“Pursuing the surviving units of the enemy’s Karmanov group, the troops of the 20th Army by the end of August 23 advanced 4-5 km south of Karmznovo. The 415th Rifle Division reached the Subbotine, Prilepy, Chuikove line. The 82nd Rifle Division and the 129th Rifle Brigade captured the Golomazdovo, Triely line.
To the left, the right-flank troops of the 5th Army reached this line. The 312th Rifle Division cleared the forests surrounding Karmanovo from enemy units. The 8th Guards Rifle Corps was concentrated into an army reserve in the forests north of Karmakovo. »
Tankers are examining an Sd.Kfz armored car that was captured in full working order. 231. Western Front, Karmanovo region, August 1942
On the day of the liberation of Karmanovo by the 20th Army - August 23 - the troops of the neighboring 31st Army, with the help of the left flank troops of the Kalinin Front, completely cleared the city of Zubtsov from enemy units and increased the bridgehead across the Vazuza River to 5-8 km in depth.
Results of the operation
The Pogorelo-Gorodnshchensk offensive operation of the 20th Army ended with the clearing of enemy troops from two regional centers - Pogorelo Gorodische and Karmanovo.
During the operation, the troops of the 20th Army liberated 245 settlements in the Kalinin and Smolensk regions from the enemy, and cleared 1,228 square kilometers of Soviet territory from fascist invaders.
This was the first successful offensive of Soviet troops in summer conditions
The map shows how the 20th and 31st armies advanced
Residents of Pogorelov Settlement return to the liberated city.
Unlike the Kalinin Front, here the Soviet troops were successful: in two days of operation, troops of the 20th Army broke through the defenses of the German 46th Tank Corps on a front of 18 km and a depth of 30 km and advanced units reached the approaches to the Vazuza and Gzhat rivers . The 161st Infantry Division opposing the Soviet troops was defeated.
But the operation had another important meaning.
The German Army Group Center suffered significant losses during the joint operation of the fronts.
In the battles near Rzhev, Sychevka, Zubtsov and in the Karmanovo region, a large number of troops from Army Group Center were defeated, as well as formations, units and various detachments transferred as strategic reserves from other directions, including over two divisions from the south .
During fierce battles at the line of the Bazuza and Gzhat rivers, the 5th and 1st Tank Divisions, as well as parts of the 6th and 253rd Infantry Divisions of the 39th. The enemy tank corps lost more than 60 percent of its personnel and military equipment and up to 75 percent of its tanks. The enemy troops who were in the Karmanov group suffered especially heavy losses.
In the 2nd Tank, 36th Motorized and in parts of the 342nd and 78th Infantry Divisions of the 46th Tank Corps, less than a quarter of the personnel and one tank remained. The enemy's 161st Infantry Division was almost completely destroyed.
From August 4 to 23, the troops of the 20th Army captured the following trophies: 203 tanks (62 of them serviceable), 380 guns, 2Q 9 mortars, 43 armored vehicles, 1,430 vehicles, and many small arms.
Many units and units of the 20th Army, as well as the 6th and 8th Tank and 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps distinguished themselves in battles during the operation, in victorious battles to defeat enemy troops and clear our territory from fascist invaders. Hundreds of soldiers, commanders and political workers who showed great courage were awarded orders and medals.
Assessing these events, the German historian Tippelskirch writes:
“The breakthrough was prevented only by the fact that three tank and several infantry divisions, which were already preparing to be transferred to the southern front, were delayed and brought in first to localize the breakthrough, and then for a counterattack.”
As a result, the German group in Stalingrad was deprived of the help of 3 tank and several infantry divisions
General Leonid Sandalov wrote:
“To restore the situation in the 9th Army zone, the German command was forced, during the intense period of fighting against Stalingrad and the North Caucasus, to hastily transfer up to 12 divisions from its reserve and from other sectors of the Soviet-German front to the Rzhev and Sychevka region.
The active actions of the Soviet troops of the Western and Kalinin fronts in August 1942 had a significant impact on the course and outcome of the defensive battles of our troops in the North Caucasus and near Stalingrad."
It’s interesting that exactly for this operation G.K. Zhukov received a new position. He became the first deputy people's commissar of defense of I.V. Stalin.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why they decided to consign the Pogorelo-Gorodishchensk operation to oblivion.
Liberal historians do not like the fact that the Red Army carried out successful operations in the central direction and that it was carried out by G. Zhukov.
After all, a successfully carried out operation under the command of Zhukov somehow does not fit with the image of the “butcher” guilty of the Rzhev meat grinder.”
There really aren't many war veterans left alive.
Leonid Nikolaevich Rabichev was born in 1923 in Moscow. Senior reserve lieutenant. In 1942 he graduated from military school. Since December 1942, lieutenant, platoon commander of the 100th separate army company of the VNOS under the control of the 31st Army. On the Central, Third Belorussian and First Ukrainian Fronts he took part in the battles for the liberation of Rzhev, Sychevka, Smolensk, Orsha, Borisov, Minsk, Lida, Grodno, in battles in East Prussia from Goldap to Koenigsberg, in Silesia in the Danzig direction he participated in the capture of cities Levenberg, Bunzlau, Heilsberg and others, in Czechoslovakia reached Prague. Awarded two orders Patriotic War II degree, Order of the Red Star, medals. Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR since 1960, member of the Moscow Writers Union since 1993, author of thirteen books of poetry and a book of memoirs.
Yes, it was five months ago, when our troops in East Prussia overtook the civilian population evacuating from Goldap, Insterburg and other cities abandoned by the German army. On carts and cars, on foot - old people, women, children, large patriarchal families slowly, along all the roads and highways of the country, went west.
Our tankers, infantrymen, artillerymen, signalmen overtook them to clear the way, threw their carts with furniture, suitcases, suitcases, horses into ditches on the sides of the highway, pushed the elderly and children aside and, forgetting about duty and honor and about those retreating without a fight German units attacked women and girls by the thousands.
Women, mothers and their daughters, lie left and right along the highway, and in front of each is a cackling armada of men with their pants down.
Those bleeding and losing consciousness are dragged aside, and children rushing to their aid are shot. Cackling, growling, laughing, screaming and moaning. And their commanders, their majors and colonels stand on the highway, some chuckle, and some conduct, no, rather regulate. This is so that all their soldiers, without exception, participate.
No, this hellish deadly group sex is not mutual responsibility and not revenge on the damned occupiers.
Permissiveness, impunity, impersonality and the cruel logic of a maddened crowd.
Shocked, I sat in the cab of the semi, my driver Demidov was standing in line, and I was imagining Flaubert’s Carthage, and I understood that the war would not write off everything. The colonel, the one who had just conducted, can’t stand it and takes the turn himself, and the major shoots off the witnesses, children and old people fighting in hysterics.
Stop it! By car!
And behind us is the next unit.
And again there’s a stop, and I can’t hold back my signalmen, who are also already joining new lines. Nausea rises in my throat.
To the horizon, between the mountains of rags and overturned carts, the corpses of women, old people, and children. The highway is cleared for traffic. It's getting dark.
To the left and right are German farms. We receive the order to settle down for the night.
This is part of the headquarters of our army: the commander of artillery, air defense, and the political department.
My control platoon and I get a farm two kilometers from the highway.
In all the rooms there are corpses of children, old people, raped and shot women.
We are so tired that, not paying attention to them, we lie down on the floor between them and fall asleep.
In the morning we deploy the radio and contact the front via SSR. We receive instructions to establish communication lines. The advanced units finally collided with the German corps and divisions that had taken up defensive positions.
The Germans are no longer retreating, they are dying, but they are not giving up. Their aircraft appears in the air. I’m afraid I’ll be wrong, it seems to me that in terms of cruelty, uncompromisingness and the number of losses on both sides, these battles can be compared with the battles at Stalingrad. It's all around and ahead.
I don't leave my phones. I receive orders, I give orders. Only during the day is there time to take the corpses out into the yard.
I don’t remember where we took them out.
In service annexes? I can’t remember where, I know that we never buried them.
There were funeral teams, it seems, but they were far in the rear.
So, I help carry out the corpses. I freeze at the wall of the house.
Spring, the first green grass on earth, bright hot sun. Our house is peaked, with weather vanes, in the Gothic style, covered with red tiles, probably two hundred years old, a courtyard paved with stone slabs that are five hundred years old.
We are in Europe, in Europe!
I was daydreaming, and suddenly two sixteen-year-old German girls walked through the open gate. There is no fear in the eyes, but terrible anxiety.
They saw me, ran up and, interrupting each other, German trying to explain something to me. Although I don’t know the language, I hear the words “muter”, “vater”, “bruder”.
It becomes clear to me that in the panicked flight they lost their family somewhere.
I feel terribly sorry for them, I understand that they need to run away from our headquarters yard as fast as they can, and I tell them:
Mutter, Vater, Brooder - niht! - and point my finger at the second far gate - there, they say. And I push them.
Then they understand me, quickly leave, disappear from sight, and I sigh with relief - at least I saved two girls, and I head to the second floor to my phones, carefully monitor the movement of the units, but not even twenty minutes pass before I Some shouts, screams, laughter, swearing can be heard from the yard.
I rush to the window.
Major A. is standing on the steps of the house, and two sergeants twisted their arms, bent those same two girls into three deaths, and on the contrary - the entire headquarters staff - drivers, orderlies, clerks, messengers.
Nikolaev, Sidorov, Kharitonov, Pimenov... - Major A commands. - Take the girls by the arms and legs, down with their skirts and blouses! Form into two lines! Unfasten your belts, lower your pants and underpants! Right and left, one at a time, start!
A. commands, and my signalmen and my platoon run up the stairs from the house and line up in ranks. And the two girls “saved” by me are lying on ancient stone slabs, their hands are in a vice, their mouths are stuffed with scarves, their legs are spread - they are no longer trying to escape from the hands of four sergeants, and the fifth is tearing and tearing their blouses, bras, skirts, and panties to pieces.
My telephone operators ran out of the house - laughing and swearing.
But the ranks do not decrease, some rise, others descend, and there are already pools of blood around the martyrs, and there is no end to the ranks, cackling and swearing.
The girls are already unconscious, and the orgy continues.
Major A is in command, proudly akimbo. But then the last one rises, and the executioner-sergeants pounce on the two half-corpses.
Major A. pulls out a revolver from his holster and shoots into the bloody mouths of the martyrs, and the sergeants drag their mutilated bodies into the pigsty, and the hungry pigs begin to tear off their ears, noses, chests, and after a few minutes only two skulls, bones, and vertebrae remain. .
I'm scared, disgusted.
Suddenly nausea creeps up my throat and I feel like I'm throwing up inside out.
Major A. - God, what a scoundrel!
I can’t work, I run out of the house without clearing the road, I go somewhere, I come back, I can’t, I have to look into the pigsty.
In front of me are bloodshot pig eyes, and among the straw and pig droppings are two skulls, a jaw, several vertebrae and bones and two gold crosses - two girls “saved” by me.
31st Army 1st Formation
formed in July 1941 in the Moscow Military District on the basis of directives of the General Staff of July 6 and July 16, 1941, first as the field command of the 24th Army, and from July 16 - as the 31st Army. It included the 244,246, 247 and 249 rifle divisions, artillery and other units.
On July 15, 1941, the army was included in the Front of Reserve Armies and by July 22, consisting of the 119th, 245th, 246th, 247th, 249th Infantry Divisions and the 110th Tank Division, was concentrated in the Rzhev region.
From July 30 - as part of the Reserve Front; occupied the defense at the line Ostashkov - Yeltsy - Zubovka (45 km west of Rzhev) - Tishina. In September it fought heavy defensive battles and at the beginning of October, as part of the Western Front (from October 5), under the blows of superior enemy forces, it retreated to Rzhev.
The army was disbanded on October 12, 1941; its formations and units were transferred to the 29th Army, and the field control was transferred to the front reserve.
Army commanders: Major General Rakutin K.I. (June - July 1941); Major General Dolmatov V.N. (July - October 1941)
Member of the Military Council of the Army - Major General A. G. Russkikh (July 1941 - October 1941)
Chiefs of Army Staff: Colonel Khotimsky Z. I. (July - September 1941); Colonel Anisimov N.P. (October 1941)
31st Army 2nd Formation
formed on October 21, 1941 as part of the Kalinin Front. It included the 133rd, 252nd rifle divisions, 8th tank brigade, and separate units defending in the area north and north-west of Kalinin.
Army troops took part in the Kalinin defensive operation (October 10 - December 4, 1941), and with the start of the counter-offensive near Moscow - in the Kalinin offensive operation (December 5, 1941 - January 7, 1942). During the latter, in cooperation with the troops of the 29th Army, they defeated the main forces of the German 9th Army and liberated Kalinin (December 16).
Developing the attack on Rzhev, the army troops by the end of December 1941 reached the Volga in the area northeast of Zubtsov.
In the winter and spring of 1942, the army took part in the Rzhev-Vyazma strategic offensive operation (January 8 - April 20, 1942). From April 20, the army went on the defensive east of Zubtsov and subsequently, firmly holding the occupied line, led an offensive -body battles in the Sychev direction in order to improve their positions.
From July 23, 1942, the army was part of the Western Front and, as part of it, participated in the Rzhev-Sychevsk offensive operation (July 30-August 23). During the Rzhev-Vyazemsk operation (March 2-31, 1943), its troops liberated Sychevka (March 8) and by April 1 reached the area east of Yartsevo, where they went on the defensive.
In the Smolensk strategic operation (August 7 - October 1, 1943), formations of the 31st Army, in cooperation with other front forces, broke through a number of enemy defensive lines, defeated his main group, and liberated the city of Yartsevo (September 16) , Smolensk (September 25) and reached the right bank of the Dnieper northeast of Orsha.
In the summer of 1944, the army as part of the 3rd Belorussian Front (from April 24) took part in the liberation of Belarus. In the Vitebsk-Orsha operation (June 23-28), army troops, after breaking through the enemy’s deeply layered defenses, in cooperation with the troops of the 11th Guards Army, captured Orsha (June 27) and at the end of June reached the Berezina River in the Borisov region.
During the Minsk operation (June 29 - July 4, 1944), the army took part in the encirclement and defeat of a large enemy group, the liberation of Borisov (July 1) and Minsk (July 3).
In the Vilnius operation (July 5-20, 1944), army troops liberated the city of Druskeninkai (July 14) and, in cooperation with the troops of the 50th Army and the 3rd Cavalry Corps, Grodno (July 16).
In August 1944, army formations reached the Suwalki area and temporarily went on the defensive at the line of the Wigry-Sucha Rzechka lakes. In October, army troops took part in the front's offensive operation in the Gumbinnen direction, during which they entered East Prussia.
In the East Prussian strategic operation (January 13 - April 25, 1945), the army, with a strike in the direction of Letzen (Gizhycko), Rastenburg (Ketszyn), Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warminski), broke through the Heilsberg fortified area and on March 28 reached Frisches Bay -Huff (Wislinsky).
On April 2, 1945, the army was withdrawn to the reserve of the Supreme Command Headquarters, and on April 21 it was transferred to the 1st Ukrainian Front and, as part of it, participated in the Prague operation (May 6-11).
The army was disbanded in early September 1945; its field management was turned to replenish the management of the Lvov Military District.
Army commanders: Major General V. A. Yushkevich (October 1941 - March 1942); Major General Vostrukhov V.I. (March-April 1942); Major General V.S. Polenov (April 1942 - February 1943); Major General, from September 1943 - Lieutenant General V. A. Gluzdovsky (February 1943 - May 1944); Lieutenant General, from July 15, 1944 - Colonel General V.V. Glagolev (May - December 1944);Lieutenant General P. G. Shafranov (December 1944 - until the end of the war).
Members of the Army Military Council: Major General; from June 1943 - Lieutenant General A.G. Russkikh (October 1941 - April 1944); Major General Karpenkov D. A. (April 1944 - until the end of the war).
Chiefs of Army Staff: Colonel, from May 1942 - Major General V. A. Gluzdovsky (October 1941 - February 1943); Colonel, from September 1943 - Major General M. I. Shchedrin (February 1943 - until the end of the war).