Rodionov Igor M Combat path of the 6th guards rifle division (1941 – 1943)
DOI:10.22394/2225-8272-2024-13-2-139-149
Keywords:
Great Patriotic War, Red Army, division, 120th Rifle Division, Elninsky operation, 6th Guards Rifle Division, Moscow defensive operation, Moscow offensive operation, Krivtsovsky HeightsAbstract
The purpose of the article is to characterize the main tactical unit of the Red Army
ground forces – the rifle troops. The main role in them was assigned to the rifle division. The 120th
Rifle Division, formed in the Orel Military District on the eve of the Great Patriotic War, took part in hos
tilities from the very beginning of the war. A similar fate was experienced by other rifle divisions formed
in the same district – the 19th, 89th, 145th, 149th, 217th and 222nd. The common point for all these
divisions was that just before the war they were all in summer camps, where they were overtaken by
the news of the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR. The next day, all divisions received
orders to move out of the camps to permanent deployment points to undergo the necessary mobiliza
tion procedure. All divisions of the district were transferred to the Bryansk region, where at the first
stage they participated in the construction of defensive structures at the border of the Desna River and
its tributaries, together with the local population, as well as students of Moscow and Voronezh universi
ties.
The 120th Division operated especially successfully during the Elninsky operation of 1941, for
which it was one of the first to receive the honorary name «Guards» and was reorganized into the 6th
Guards Rifle Division. The division acted no less successfully in the autumn battles, holding back the
advance of fascist troops on Moscow, in the Mtsensk region. The 6th Guards Rifle Division fought
stubborn battles in the area of Efremov, which ended with the final capture of the city. During the winter
campaign of 1942–1943, the division's fighters were able to liberate a number of settlements from
German enslavement in two neighboring regions - Orel and Tula, including the city of Novosil. The
soldiers of the division covered themselves with unfading glory in the battles near the village of Krivtso
vo.
During the autumn-winter campaign of 1942–1943, conducting active offensive operations, the di
vision was able to liberate more than 170 settlements. In general, considering the course of combat
operations of the 6th Guards Division in 1941–1943, we can say that the division went from Orel to
Orel with stubborn, fierce battles.
On the base of one military unit, the author shows the full severity of military operations, the cour
age and heroism of soldiers during the bloody battles for the freedom and independence of their home
land.
As a result, the author emphasizes that futher to understand the battles of the division in detail,
evaluate the correctness or incorrectness of the decisions made when planning and carrying out com
bat operations, and identify the degree of coordination in the battle formations of the division’s units
and formations are the point.
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