338th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

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338th Rifle Division
Active1941–1946
CountryFlag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
TypeDivision
RoleInfantry
Engagements Battle of Moscow
Battles of Rzhev
Battle of Smolensk (1943)
Operation Bagration
Baltic Offensive
Riga Offensive (1944)
Vistula-Oder Offensive
Battle of Königsberg
Samland Offensive
Soviet invasion of Manchuria
Decorations Order of Red Banner.svg   Order of the Red Banner 2nd Formation
Battle honours Neman
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Col. Vladimir Georgievich Kuchinev
Col. Nikolai Olimpievich Guz
Maj. Gen. Hmayak Babayan
Col. Fyodor Kharitonovich Polevoii
Col. Yakov Filippovich Potekhin
Maj. Gen. Leonid Nikolaievich Lozanovich

The 338th Rifle Division was first formed in September 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Penza. This formation took part in the early stages of the winter counteroffensive and made gains in the direction of Vyazma before being cut off behind German lines in February and largely destroyed by May. The division was formed again in June, once again in the Western Front, and proved itself a stolid and reliable unit in the often frustrating battles east and west of Smolensk and into the Baltic states over the next two and a half years. After taking part in the conquest of East Prussia in 1945, the 338th, along with the rest of its 39th Army, was railed all the way to the far east to join in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August.

Contents

1st Formation

The division started forming on September 9, 1941, at Penza in the Volga Military District. [1] Col. Vladimir Georgievich Kuchinev was appointed to command on the same day and he would hold that command through the entire 1st Formation and well into the 2nd. Its basic order of battle was as follows:

After about a month, the division was assigned to 26th Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. When this Army was moved north in November the 338th remained behind as a separate division in the Reserve. In mid-December the division was assessed as combat-ready and was assigned to 33rd Army in the central sector of Western Front.

Battle of Moscow

In its first operation the division was assigned to the Army's shock group for an attack on the Naro-Fominsk - Kamenskoe sector at dawn on December 18. Each division of the shock group had 10 tanks in support. The German front along this sector had been in their hands for two months and was extensively fortified. After an hour-long artillery preparation the 338th's assault managed to liberate the village of Sliznevo on the east bank of the Nara River but got no farther that day or the following due to stubborn enemy resistance. No other units made appreciable gains, and 33rd Army's offensive was shut down on December 20. [3]

After regrouping, the 338th joined in an attack in January, 1942, straight west through the overstretched and depleted German 4th Army through Mozhaisk towards Vyasma. In February this penetration became a trap when a German counter-thrust cut off 33rd Army behind German lines. By April the Army was being slowly ground down in its positions in the woods east of Vyasma, dependent on small-scale air supply; the Army commander, Lt. Gen. Mikhail Grigoryevich Yefremov, took his own life to avoid capture when a breakout attempt failed. [4] Over the following months small groups and individuals of the 338th filtered through the German lines to rejoin the Soviet front. On May 24 the division was officially disbanded, and its survivors were incorporated into the 113th Rifle Division of the rebuilding 33rd Army. [5] Colonel Kuchinev was able to escape, with a small command cadre, and soon took command of the division's 2nd formation.

2nd Formation

A new 338th Rifle Division began forming on June 4, 1942, in 43rd Army of Western Front, based on the 18th Rifle Brigade. The order of battle remained the same as that of the first formation.

18th Rifle Brigade

This brigade began forming in September, 1941, in the Oryol Military District, but like its "sister" 17th Brigade had to be evacuated eastwards in October as the German forces approached. [6] In late November it entered the reserves of Western Front, and arrived at the front in late December, joining the advancing 16th Army west of Moscow. In January, 1942 it was reassigned southwards to 43rd Army, still in Western Front, facing the enemy south of the Moscow - Minsk highway and west of Maloyaroslavets. The brigade remained in this Army until it was disbanded. [7]

Battles for Smolensk

Two months later the 338th was reassigned to 49th Army, still in Western Front. [8] During the German Operation Büffel and the Soviet follow-up in the Third Rzhev–Sychevka Offensive Operation, the division was part of an attacking force of about eight rifle divisions and seven tank brigades from 33rd, 49th and 50th Armies, plus two tank corps, that attempted to break through the new German lines at the base of the former Rzhev salient in the direction of Spas-Demensk. [9] In the course of this attack the 338th returned to 33rd Army for a few weeks; after this attempt failed due to appalling terrain conditions and strong German defenses it was moved back to the 49th. It remained there until September, taking part in the offensive that liberated both Spas-Demensk and, eventually, Smolensk. [10]

In September the division was moved back to 33rd Army and assigned to 70th Rifle Corps. On September 9, after exactly two years in command, Colonel Kuchinev finally passed the reins to Col. Nikolai Olimpievich Guz, who would hold them until mid-March, 1944. On October 3, Western Front began the first of a series of ill-fated offensives in the direction of Orsha. The 338th and its corps-mate, 371st Rifle Division, were deployed on the army's right wing between Lenino and Mikulino facing the German 95th Infantry Division. 33rd Army's attack faced stronger German defenses than its neighboring armies to the north, and by October 9 its assaults expired without any success. Over the following days 33rd and 49th Armies regrouped for a new offensive; the 338th remained in place for several days to conceal and protect the movements behind its lines. The new assault, which included the action known as the Battle of Lenino, began on October 12 but was once again stymied with limited gains and significant casualties, especially among the ranks of the Polish 1st Infantry Division. [11]

By November 14 the division, along with its Corps, had been redeployed to 31st Army, north of the Dniepr River, still on the Orsha axis. After a lengthy artillery preparation on this date, four armies of Western Front made yet another attack to the west. Assault and penal battalions of 10th Guards Army to its north advanced up to 2.5 km despite heavy fog that shrouded the battlefield; the 338th kept pace with an advance of up to 1.5 km, but the remaining divisions of its Army bogged down in the German forward security belt due to heavy machine gun fire. On November 17, 70th Corps, along with 15th Guards Rifle Corps spearheaded by units of 2nd Guards Tank Corps, wedged into the boundary between 78th Assault and 25th Panzer Grenadier Divisions north of the Orsha highway, but this attack also faltered. In five days of intense fighting the two Soviet armies managed to advance a mere 4 – 5 km, while the remainder of the Front's forces gained even less. [12]

In the following months the advance towards Orsha by Western Front was suspended in favor of the encirclement and reduction of Vitebsk. In mid-February, 1944, the Front commander, Army Gen. V.D. Sokolovsky, proposed a preliminary attack by elements of 5th and 31st Armies in the direction of Babinavichy, to draw German forces southwards from Vitebsk. By this time the 338th was in the 45th Rifle Corps of 5th Army. Under this plan the division would be part of a shock group attacking westward south of the Sukhodrovka River to outflank the German strongpoint at Vysochany. The attack, beginning on February 22, once again made very limited gains, in part because 3rd Panzer Army had shortened its lines around Vitebsk to free up reserves. By the end of this offensive, the division was down to a strength of just 3,605 men. In the following months Sokolovsky lost his job, and further attacks were suspended to prepare for a summer offensive. [13]

Advance

On March 31, the divisional command was taken by Col. Hmayak Grigorevich Babayan. He would be promoted to the rank of Major General on July 15, and would remain in command until October 25. In April, Western Front was split, and the 338th became part of 3rd Belorussian Front. In the opening stages of Operation Bagration the division was in a secondary role; it was in the second echelon of 45th Corps, which was itself in second echelon of 5th Army. After a 2-hour and 20 minute artillery preparation and attacks from the air, 5th Army, deployed on a 30 km front, kicked off its assault on the afternoon of June 22. Its immediate objective was to penetrate the German lines and liberate the town of Bogushevsk. The 159th Rifle Division led 45th Corps, with the 184th and 338th following. The German 256th Infantry Division was defending, with elements of the 95th Infantry Division in reserve. On the first day the attackers broke through the immediate German defenses and began charging westward. By noon on the 23rd 5th Army had turned southwards and began crossing the Luchesa River; by midnight it was only 13 km from Bogushevsk. On the morning of June 24 the German VI Army Corps was still holding a line about 10 km east of Bogushevsk, but this was soon broken, with Soviet tanks entering the town at noon with infantry following. 45th Corps reached there early on June 26, continuing to advance towards Senno. By the end of June 27 the 338th was well past there and had reached Cherekhya, not far from Lake Lukomlskoye. [14]

In August the division was shifted to the reserves of 3rd Belorussian Front and joined the 113th Rifle Corps. By the middle of the month it had advanced nearly to the city of Jonava in Lithuania. [15] In September 113th Corps was assigned to 39th Army; the 338th would remain under those commands for the duration of the war. [16] Progress slowed over the following month as the German front was rebuilt, and when the Riga Offensive began in mid-September the division was just west of Kėdainiai. In the next two weeks it made little further progress, but began a more successful advance towards Raseiniai in early October. [17]

In the operational plan for the Vistula-Oder Offensive, the main shock group of 39th Army, gathered on its left flank, was to launch a vigorous attack in the direction of Pilkallen and Tilsit to surround and destroy the German grouping in this area in conjunction with 5th Army. Meanwhile, 113rd Corps, including the 338th, was to attack from behind the right flank of the Army's shock group in the direction of Lazdenen, with the objective of rolling up the German positions to the north. By January 17 the offensive was developing well, and three German infantry divisions were trying to escape a developing pocket in the Lazdenen area; 113rd Corps was ordered to speed up its attack by conducting night operations in the direction of Gross Skeisgirren. By this time it was clear that 39th Army had made the decisive advance into East Prussia and the front commander, Gen. Ivan Chernyakhovsky, ordered his armor reserves and 11th Guards Army to exploit the breach. By January 22 the advance had become a pursuit; 113rd Corps was advancing behind 94th Rifle Corps and had reached Popelken. On the 27th the 39th Army was straining to surround Königsberg from the north as quickly as possible, and the division was part of a force ordered to reach the shore of the Frisches Haff. [18]

From February until April the division was part of the Soviet force occupying positions on the Sambia Peninsula. When the final assault on Königsberg began on April 6 the 338th, along with its Corps, was deployed in two echelons immediately northwest of the city. Its attacks over the next three days were hindered by counterattacks by the German Samland Group attempting to maintain contact with the city. After the fall of Königsberg on the 9th, 3rd Belorussian Front was tasked with the destruction of the Samland Group, which began on April 13 and was completed on the 25th. [19] In late April the entire 39th Army went into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, and was moved by rail to the far east. By July the division was part of the Transbaikal Front. [20]

Postwar

On July 4, the division came under the command of Maj. Gen. Leonid Nikolaevich Lozanovich, and he would remain in command until after the end of the Manchurian campaign. At the time of the Japanese surrender, the soldiers of the division carried the full title of 338th Rifle, Neman, Division (Russian: 338-я стрелковая Неманская дивизия), but on September 20 they were awarded the Order of the Red Banner for their achievements in this campaign. [21] The division was disbanded in the summer of 1946 along with the 113th Rifle Corps in Port Arthur. [22]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">331st Rifle Division</span> Military unit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">352nd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)</span> Military unit

The 352nd Rifle Division started forming in August 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Bugulma in Tatarstan. When it entered the fighting it was assigned to the Western Front before Moscow, and it would remain in that Front for most of the war; when Western Front was dissolved the division went to one of its successor Fronts and served there until the last few weeks. It took part in the first Soviet winter counteroffensive, then played peripheral roles in the battles around the Rhzev salient, before advancing in the offensive that liberated Smolensk in the summer of 1943. After a series of frustrating attempts during the autumn and winter of 1943-44, the city of Orsha was finally liberated in the opening days of Operation Bagration, and the 352nd was recognized for its role in the battle. Soon after it was further decorated for its part in the liberation of Grodno. In the winter of 1945 the 352nd took part in the invasion of East Prussia and the capture of Königsberg, but in April it finally was swung off its very straightforward combat path when it and its 31st Army were transferred to 1st Ukrainian Front advancing into Czechoslovakia. Soon after the German surrender the division was slated as one of those to be disbanded in place in central Europe.

The 359th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as a standard Red Army rifle division, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It took part in the costly battles around the German salient near Rzhev through 1942 and into 1943. Following this it served in the summer offensive towards Smolensk, also at considerable cost, but it won a battle honor for its role in the liberation of Yartsevo. After a brief rebuilding in the reserves, the division was moved south to the 1st Ukrainian Front, taking part in the liberation of Ukraine through 1944. Following the Vistula-Oder Offensive, the 359th gathered high honors during the fighting around Breslau in 1945, but along with many other distinguished Soviet formations it was disbanded with the coming of peace.

The 19th Guards Rifle Division was formed from the first formation of the 366th Rifle Division on March 17, 1942. At this time it was in the 52nd Army of Volkhov Front, taking part in the Lyuban Offensive Operation, which was planned to encircle and defeat the enemy forces laying siege to Leningrad. However, just at that time the German 18th Army was in the process of cutting off the Soviet Lyuban grouping in a pocket, and over the following months the division was nearly destroyed. Enough survivors emerged from the swamps in June and July to rebuild the unit, and it fought in the Second Sinyavino Offensive before it was shifted south into Kalinin Front to take part in the battle and siege of Velikiye Luki in December. In the summer of 1943 the 19th Guards fought in the battles for Smolensk, and won its first battle honor, "Rudnya". in September. During the offensive in the summer of 1944 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its successes in the fighting around Vitebsk. It was further honored in February, 1945, with the Order of Lenin for its role in the victories in East Prussia. In the summer the division was moved by rail with its 39th Army to the Far East and saw action in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August, winning its second battle honor, "Khingan", for its services. The division continued to see service well into the postwar era.

The 371st Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as a standard Red Army rifle division, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. It began forming in August 1941 in the Urals Military District. It was soon moved to the front lines near Moscow, and took part in the counteroffensive that began on December 5. It spent all of 1942 and the first months of 1943 in the fighting around the Rzhev salient, and after a short break served in the offensive that liberated Smolensk. After a winter of brutal combat on the approaches to Orsha and Vitebsk it was reassigned to 5th Army in 3rd Belorussian Front and took part in Operation Bagration, during which it was recognized for its role in the liberation of the latter city with a battle honor. The division was further distinguished in late July with the Order of the Red Banner for its part in the liberation of Vilnius. In January 1945, it fought its way into East Prussia, and as that campaign was winding down it was moved across Asia, along with the rest of 5th Army, to take part in the campaign against the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria.

The 88th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army, first as part of the prewar buildup of forces. In its first formation in the far north it had an unusual shtat probably to facilitate its movement in the roadless tundra and forests of that region. During the Winter War against Finland it saw action in the fighting around Salla. Its organization again proved beneficial in the spring of 1942 during the first stages of the Great Patriotic War. It played a large role in holding and then pushing back the Finnish III Army Corps during Operation Silver Fox and for this success was redesignated as the 23rd Guards Rifle Division.

The 30th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May, 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 238th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It would soon after help provide the headquarters cadre for the 7th Guards Rifle Corps along with its "sister" 29th Guards Rifle Division. However, it was not assigned as a unit to the Corps until August when it joined 33rd Army of Western Front and saw extensive fighting, while also suffering extensive casualties, in the summer campaign against the German 3rd Panzer Army in the southern sector of the Rzhev salient. After leaving 7th Guards Corps the division was reassigned to several other armies in the Front until April, 1943 when it joined the 15th Guards Rifle Corps in 30th Army, which became 10th Guards Army the next month; it would remain under these commands for the duration of the war. The division took part in Operation Suvorov, Western Front's summer offensive towards Smolensk, and after the liberation of that city was involved in several unsuccessful drives on the Belarusian city of Orsha. By December the 30th Guards had been redeployed to 2nd Baltic Front and during the summer and fall of 1944 it took part in the offensives through the Baltic states, winning a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Riga. For the rest of the war the division remained in Latvia helping to contain the German forces trapped in the Courland Peninsula, eventually coming under command of Leningrad Front. In mid-1946 it was converted to the 30th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade.

The 56th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in June 1943, based on the 2nd formations of the 74th and 91st Rifle Brigades, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. Along with its "sister", the 65th Guards Rifle Division, the 56th was formed "out of sequence", that is, many Guards rifle divisions were higher numbered and formed earlier than the 56th. The division was immediately assigned to the 19th Guards Rifle Corps of the 10th Guards Army and remained under those headquarters for the duration of the war. It first saw action in Western Front's summer offensive, Operation Suvorov. On September 8 the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment was given the honorific title "in the name of Aleksandr Matrosov" and on September 25 the division as a whole was awarded the honorific "Smolensk" for its role in the liberation of that city. During the winter of 1943-44 it took part in the stubborn fighting north and east of Vitebsk, first in Western and later in 2nd Baltic Front. During the following summer offensives it helped break through the defenses of the German Panther Line and advanced into the Baltic states, eventually being decorated with the Order of the Red Banner after the liberation of Riga. For the rest of the war it was part of the forces blockading the remnants of German Army Group North in the Courland Pocket in Latvia, eventually in Leningrad Front. After the war the 56th Guards was moved to the town of Elva in Estonia where it was disbanded in 1947, although the successor formations of the 254th Guards Regiment exist into the present day.

The 65th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May, 1943, based on the 2nd formations of the 75th and 78th Rifle Brigades, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. Along with its "sister", the 56th Guards Rifle Division, the 65th was formed "out of sequence", that is, many Guards rifle divisions were higher numbered and formed earlier than the 65th. The division was immediately assigned to the 19th Guards Rifle Corps of the 10th Guards Army and remained under those headquarters for the duration of the war. It first saw action in Western Front's summer offensive, Operation Suvorov. During the winter of 1943-44 it took part in the stubborn fighting north and east of Vitebsk, first in Western and later in 2nd Baltic Front. During the following summer offensives it helped break through the defenses of the German Panther Line and advanced into the Baltic states, eventually receiving a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Riga. For the rest of the war it was part of the forces blockading the remnants of German Army Group North in the Courland Pocket in Latvia, eventually in Leningrad Front. After the war the 65th Guards was moved to Estonia where it was disbanded in 1947.

The 85th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in April 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 118th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. Late during the conflict it became known as one of the "Latvian Guards" rifle divisions due to its role in the liberation of that state.

The 1941 formation of the 160th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed as the 6th Moscow Militia Division (Dzerzhinskii) in early July 1941. The division gradually completed its formation in the 24th Army of Reserve Front east of Smolensk but was not committed to combat until after it was renumbered as the 160th on September 26. This renumbering was based on a misunderstanding that the original 160th had been encircled and destroyed earlier that month; as a result for the next 18 months there were two 160th Rifle Divisions serving concurrently.

The 91st Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in April 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 257th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It ended the war in the far east of Asia following the Soviet invasion of Manchuria with a highly distinguished record.

The 176th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed as part of the prewar buildup of forces, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. The division completed its formation at Kryvyi Rih in the Odessa Military District and at the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union was in the same area, assigned to the 35th Rifle Corps. Being relatively far from the frontier it escaped the early disasters and retreated mostly in good order through southern Ukraine into the autumn as part of 9th Army. It then took part in the counteroffensive against the overextended German Army Group South that liberated Rostov-na-Donu for the first time in December. When Army Group A began its summer offensive in 1942 the 176th fell back into the Caucasus region, losing much of its strength in the process, but finally helping to take up a firm defense along the Terek River and finally in front of Ordzhonikidze. As a result of this fighting the division, along with its artillery regiment, were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After the German 6th Army was surrounded at Stalingrad the 176th advanced into the western Caucasus and entered the so-called Malaya Zemlya bridgehead south of Novorossiysk in the spring of 1943 where it helped to defeat the German Operation Neptun in April and in the autumn took part in the liberation of the city, for which it was redesignated as the 129th Guards Rifle Division.

The 212th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was badly damaged and then redesignated about five weeks after the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

The 222nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed in the months just before the start of the German invasion, based on the shtat of September 13, 1939. It was formed at Starodub and was considered a "sister" to the 217th Rifle Division. It first saw action in July 1941 as part of 28th Army in the fighting between Smolensk and Roslavl and the division took heavy casualties when it was partly encircled and forced to abandon the latter city in early August. It was again encircled during Operation Typhoon but managed to escape complete destruction and soon came under command of 33rd Army, where it remained for almost the entire length of the war.

The 226th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed as one of the first reserve rifle divisions following the German invasion of the USSR. After being hastily organized it arrived at the front along the lower Dniepr River as part of 6th Army and in the wake of the German victory in the Kiev encirclement it fell back toward, and then past, Kharkiv and spent the winter fighting in this area. During the Second Battle of Kharkov in May 1942 it scored early successes but was soon forced back by counterattacking panzers and barely escaped destruction in the first phases of the German summer offensive. After rebuilding in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command the division returned to the front north of Stalingrad where it joined the 66th Army. It took heavy losses in one of the last efforts to break through to the city before Operation Uranus cut off the German 6th Army, but it still played an important role in the reduction of the pocket during Operation Ring and as a result was redesignated as the 95th Guards Rifle Division in May 1943.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2006, p. 79
  2. ↑ Charles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 82
  3. ↑ Soviet General Staff, The Battle of Moscow, ed. & trans. R.W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2017, Kindle ed., part IV, ch. 3
  4. ↑ Aleksander A. Maslov, Fallen Soviet Generals, ed. & trans. D.M. Glantz, Frank Cass Publishers, London, 1998, pp. 76-77
  5. ↑ Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 82
  6. ↑ For this reason, Dunn lists the brigade forming in October. He also states it was first assigned to 5th Army in December. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys, p. 86
  7. ↑ Sharp, "Red Volunteers", Soviet Militia Units, Rifle and Ski Brigades 1941 - 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. XI, Nafziger, 1996, p. 15
  8. ↑ Sharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 126
  9. ↑ David M. Glantz, After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2009, pp. 333, 336-37
  10. ↑ Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 126
  11. ↑ Glantz, Battle for Belorussia, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2016, pp. 27, 69, 72
  12. ↑ Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 158, 162, 164
  13. ↑ Glantz, Belorussia, pp. 362, 365, 693
  14. ↑ Dunn, Jr., Soviet Blitzkrieg, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008, pp. 117-31
  15. ↑ Baltic Gap, Multi-Man Publishing, Inc., Millersville, MD, 2009, p. 15
  16. ↑ Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 126
  17. ↑ Baltic Gap, pp. 28, 35
  18. ↑ Soviet General Staff, Prelude to Berlin, ed. & trans. R.W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2016, pp. 123, 195-97, 224, 230
  19. ↑ Prelude to Berlin, pp. 254, 267-69
  20. ↑ Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 126
  21. ↑ Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union 1967, p. 427.
  22. ↑ Feskov et al 2013, p. 578.

Bibliography

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