4th Guard Army (Red Army)

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The 4th Guard Army ( Russian 4-я гвардейская армия ) was a large military unit of the Red Army that was deployed on the southern and central eastern fronts during World War II . Their units fought in 1943 in the Battle of the Dnieper , in 1944 in Operation Jassy-Kishinev and in the battle for central Hungary . In the last year of the war, 1945, the 4th Guard Army was part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and fought in Lower Austria at the end of the war .

history

1943

On the instructions of the headquarters of the Supreme Command on April 16, the 4th Guard Army was formed on May 5, 1943 by renaming the command of the 24th Army . The new army was to be used as a reserve to repel the German attacks near Kursk and comprised the following major units:

On July 3, the 4th Guards Army was withdrawn into the Stawka Reserve, transferred to the steppe front on July 18, and withdrawn again on July 23 to the reserve of the headquarters of the Supreme Command.

From August 13, 1943, the 4th Guard Army was part of the Voronezh Front and took part in the Belgorod-Kharkov Operation . After the offensive developed successfully, the troops reached the Dnieper and crossed it. On September 2, 1943, the army was reassigned to the steppe front (from October 16, 2nd Ukrainian front). From November to December, the 4th Guard Army fought to expand the western Dnieper bridgehead towards Krivoy Rog .

1944

In January 1944 the 4th Guards Army took part in the Kirovograd operation and from January 24th to February 17th the troops operated within the framework of the 2nd Ukrainian Front (Marshal Konev ) in the Korsun-Shevchenkovsk operation . On February 3, the troops, in cooperation with the other armies of the 2nd and 1st Ukrainian Front, created a stable encircling front around the German 8th Army , which led to the defeat of the enemy group by February 18.

From March to April, the 4th Guards Army took part in the Uman-Botosan operation , in which their formations crossed the Dniester and advanced towards Kishinev from the north . In August 1944, the army took part in Operation Jassy-Kishinev, and on September 5, it was withdrawn into the reserves of the headquarters of the Supreme Command.

Army organization in October 1944

31st Guards Rifle Corps, Major General Sergei Antonowitsch Bobruk

  • 4th, 34th and 40th Guards Rifle Divisions

20th Guards Rifle Corps, Major General Nikolai Ivanovich Biryukov

  • 5th and 7th Guards Rifle Divisions

21st Guards Rifle Corps, Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Fomenko

  • 62nd, 69th and 41st Guards Rifle Divisions

Reserve: 5th Guards Cavalry Corps, Lieutenant General Sergei Ilyich Gorshkov

  • 11th and 12th Guards and 63rd Cavalry Divisions (subordinated to 57th Army on December 8th)

On November 3rd the army was transferred to the 3rd Ukrainian Front . By November 24, 1944, the troops of the 4th Guard Army had occupied the eastern bank of the Danube on a front length of 135 kilometers from Mohacs to Dunapentele . Galanin's troops maintained contact with the right wing of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and shook hands with the 46th Army (Lieutenant General Petruschewski ) advanced on Budapest .

The 3rd Ukrainian Front was already operating on the western bank of the Danube 150 kilometers wide and 60 kilometers deep. The 4th Guard Army continued the offensive north towards Stuhlweissenburg with the assigned 18th Panzer Corps and on December 4th reached the section between Lake Velence and Lake Balaton , where the army troops returned to trench warfare on December 10th .

1945

The 4th Guard Army took part in the Budapest offensive at the beginning of January 1945 . On January 2nd, 7th and 19th, the German troops in Operation Konrad launched three strong counter-attacks to relieve Budapest. The front of the 80th Guards Rifle Division of the 31st Guards Rifle Corps (Major General Sergei Bobruk) was breached. At the same time, German troops landed in the Schütte on the south bank of the Danube. The 170th tank brigade of the subordinate 18th Panzer Corps could not withstand. Due to the resistance of the 31st Guards Rifle Corps, the German attack could only advance 6 km deep. After the German attempt to break through on the right flank of the 4th Guards Army had failed, the attack against the 20th Guards Rifle Corps was relocated to the area north of Bicske . Army General G. F. Sakharov , however, concentrated an artillery group of 46 guns and ordered the 7th Mechanized Corps with counter attacks.

Soviet tank troops under General Kravchenko crossed the then Reich border in the Oberpullendorf district on March 29, after successfully repelling the German Balaton offensive . Five rifle corps of the 4th and 9th Guards Armies covered the flanks of the 6th Guards Panzer Army during the Vienna operation . The 4th Army of the Guard pursued Kravchenko on the right wing via Eisenstadt and Gramatneusiedl to Schwechat . The 4th Guard Army remained in existence after the war and was only dissolved in March 1947.

guide

Commander in chief

Chiefs of Staff

  • Major General PM Verkholovich, April 1943 - March 1944
  • Major General / Lieutenant General KN Derewianko, March 1944 - until the end of the war

Members of the Council of War

  • Colonel / Major General IA Gavrilov, April 1943 - August 1944
  • Colonel DT Shepilov, August 1944 - May 1945

Web links