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18th Cavalry Division (Soviet Union)
The 18th Mountain Cavalry Division was formed in 1936 by renaming the 7th ''Tadzhik'' Mountain Cavalry Division in the Central Asia Military District. Wartime Service 1941 At the beginning of war the division was one of the three Mountain Cavalry Divisions assigned to the 4th Cavalry Corps in Central Asia. The division remained there until November when it was shipped forward to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. The division was briefly in the reserves before being sent to the Kalinin Front's 30th Army. Along with the other two cavalry divisions in the army they formed the 11th Cavalry Corps in January 1942. Despite being at 1/3 its prewar strength the division jumped off against the German flank north of Moscow. From February until July 1942 the 11th Cavalry Corps along with the 39th Army defended a nearly encircled salient in the vicinity of Bely and Vyazma-Smolensk. The Germans launched Operation Seydlitz The Battles of Rzhev (russian: Ржевская би ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in the roles of reconnaissance, screening, and skirmishing in many armies, or as heavy cavalry for decisive shock attacks in other armies. An individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations depending on era and tactics, such as cavalryman, horseman, trooper, cataphract, knight, hussar, uhlan, mamluk, cuirassier, lancer, dragoon, or horse archer. The designation of ''cavalry'' was not usually given to any military forces that used other animals for mounts, such as camels or elephants. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the early 17th to the early 18th century as '' dragoons'', a class of mounted infantry which in most armies later evolved into standard cavalry while ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkestan Military District
The Turkestan Military District (russian: Туркестанский военный округ (ТуркВО), ''Turkestansky voyenyi okrug (TurkVO)'') was a military district of both the Imperial Russian Army and the Soviet Armed Forces, with its headquarters at Tashkent. The District was first created during the 1874 Russian military reform when by order of Minister Dmitry Milyutin the territory of Russia was divided into fourteen military districts. Its first commander was Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufmann, who was also Governor-General of Russian Turkestan at the time. History Turkmen Horse Half-Regiment The Turkmen Horse was a cavalry force forming part of the Imperial Russian Army prior to the Revolution of 1917. Numbering two squadrons in peacetime, it was recruited from the Moslem Tekin tribesmen of the Turkestan Military District. Recruitment was on a voluntary basis with the men providing their own horses and equipment, and the Czarist government paying an allowance and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th Cavalry Corps (Soviet Union)
The 4th Cavalry Corps was a cavalry corps of the Soviet Red Army, formed three times. The corps first existed between 1928 and 1938 in the North Caucasus as a territorial unit, and was a Cossack unit for the last two years of its existence. Reformed in June 1938, the corps fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939 and converted into a mechanized corps in the summer of 1940. Reformed in Central Asia in January 1941, the corps served in the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in August of that year, returning to Central Asia in the fall of 1941 to receive three new cavalry divisions. It remained there until September 1942, when it departed for the Stalingrad Front. During Operation Uranus, the Soviet counteroffensive in the Battle of Stalingrad, the 4th Cavalry Corps was intended to act as an exploitation force, but due to being understrength it was surrounded and suffered heavy losses in November and December. Its remnants did not disband until May and June 1943. Histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reserve Of The Supreme High Command
The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the '' Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK ( ru , РВГК)) comprises reserve military formations and units; the Stavka Reserve acted as the principal military reserve of the Soviet Red Army during World War II, and the RVGK now operate as part of the Russian Armed Forces under the control of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces ( ru , Верховный главнокомандующий) - the President of the Russian Federation. History World War II Forces from the Reserve were assigned by the '' Stavka'' (Supreme High Command) to individual '' fronts'' (army groups) that were conducting major operations. These formations were designed to support any forms of operations but especially penetrations and exploitations in accordance with the Soviet deep battle doctrine. Beginning in 1943, the formations and units in the Rese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalinin Front
The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of World War II, named for the city of Kalinin. It was formally established by Stavka directive on 17 October 1941 and allocated three armies: 22nd, 29th Army and 30th. In May 1942, the Air Forces of the Kalinin Front were reorganised as the 3rd Air Army, comprising three fighter, two ground attack, and one bomber division. In November 1942 the Kalinin Front, along with the Western Front, launched Operation Mars against the German defenses in the Rzhev/Vyaz'ma salient. The 3rd Shock Army, now allocated to Kalinin Front, started the operation on 24 November by attacking Third Panzer Army at Velikiye Luki, and the next day the Kalinin and Western Fronts assaulted the entire perimeter of the Rzhev salient. The offensive involved the 41st, 22nd, 39th, 31st, 20th, and 29th Armies from both Fronts. The Front was then involved in the Battle of Velikiye Luki in January–March 1943. The 3rd A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
30th Army (Soviet Union)
The 30th Army was a Soviet field army of the Red Army active between 1941 and 1943. It was re-organised to the 10th Guards Army (Soviet Union), 10th Guards Army on 16 April 1943. History It was formed on 13 July 1941 based on the 52nd Rifle Corps from the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Stavka). Initially, the 5th Army consisted of the 119th Rifle Division, 242nd Rifle Division, 243rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union), 243rd Rifle Division, 251st Rifle Division (Soviet Union) (both drawn from NKVD personnel), 51st Tank Division, artillery and other units. The army was built around a solid core of NKVD border guard servicemen. The army's first commander, Major General Vasily Khomenko, was the former commander of the Ukrainian District of NKVD Border Guards. On 15 July 1941 the army was transferred to the Reserve Front, Front of the Reserve Armies and assisted top construct defensive works on the defensive line running through Selizharovo, Olenino, Tver Oblast, Olenino, and Vasili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
11th Cavalry Corps (Soviet Union)
The 11th Cavalry Corps of the Soviet Union's Red Army was a cavalry corps active during the Second World War. It was created on 12 January 1942 at Kalinin Oblast. General Grigory Timofejev took command.Bonn, Keith E. ''Slaughterhouse: Handbook of the Eastern Front''. Bedford, PA: Aberjona Press, 2005, p. 347 Second World War On January 12, 1942, the 11th Cavalry Corps passed the breakthrough sector of 39th Army, raided the far rear of the German Army Group Centre alongside the west of the Rzhev-Sychevka-Vyazma traffic line. On January 26, 1942, the Cavalry Corps cut the Vyazma-Smolensk road on the west of Vyazma, kept contact with the 33rd Army, the pioneering of Western Front, on the south-west of Vyazma, completed its campaign mission to envelop the Vyazma City. From February to June 1942, the Cavalry Corps with 39th Army insisted defending the salient in the vicinity between Bely and Kholm-Zhirkovsky, which is nearly encircled by German troops, only a narrow corridor bet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
39th Army (Soviet Union)
The 39th Army was a Field Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II and of the Soviet Army during the Cold War. Formation and Kalinin Offensive It was first formed on 15 November 1941 in the Arkhangelsk Military District, in accordance with a directive issued by the Stavka (command headquarters) on 2 November 1941. The army was directly subordinate to the Stavka. On 1 December 1941 the army was listed by the Soviet General Staff's official order of battle listings as including seven rifle divisions and two cavalry divisions ( 355th, 357th, 361st, 369th, 373rd, 377th, and 381st Rifle Divisions, plus 76th and 94th Cavalry Divisions. On 1 December 1941 the army was tasked to build defense lines along the eastern bank of the river Sheksna. After regrouping in the area of Torzhok it was sent to the Kalinin Front on 22 December, where the 39th Army took part in the Kalinin Offensive Operation. The Kalinin Offensive Operation had begun on 5 December 1941 and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bely, Tver Oblast
Bely (russian: Бе́лый) is a town and the administrative center of Belsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Obsha River. Population: 6,900 (1897). History The name of the town means "white" in Russian, although it is unknown how or why this name originated. The fortress of Bely is first mentioned in a chronicle in 1350, since it was conquered by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was located on the border between Lithuanian and Russian lands, and intermittently changed affiliation between Lithuania (later Poland) and the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In the 15th century, it became the seat of the Belsky branch of the ruling House of Gediminas. The town was overrun by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1503. Three years later, Muscovites built a formidable castle, which the Lithuanians laid a siege to in 1508. The town was again subordinated to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1618 and 1654, after which it finally went under Moscow. In the course of the admin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vyazma
Vyazma (russian: Вя́зьма) is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast, and Mozhaysk. Throughout its turbulent history, it defended western approaches to Moscow. Population: 44,000 (1970). Medieval history and monuments Vyazma was first mentioned in a chronicle under the year of 1230, although it is believed to be much older than that. The town was named after the river, whose name was from Russian word "" (''vyaz), meaning "bog" or "swamp".Е. М. Поспелов. "Географические названия мира". Москва, 1998, стр. 108. At the time, the town belonged to a lateral branch of the Rurik dynasty, Rurikid House of Smolensk, and carried on a lively trade with Narva on the Gulf of Finland. In 1403, the local princes were expelled by Lithuanians to Moscow, where they took the name of Princes Vy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smolensk
Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. Population: The city has been destroyed several times throughout its long history because it was on the invasion routes of various empires. Smolensk is known for its electronics, textiles, food processing, and diamond faceting industries. Etymology The name of the city is derived from the name of the Smolnya River. Smolnya river flows through Karelian and Murmansk areas of north-western Russia. The origin of the river's name is less clear. One possibility is the old Slavic word () for black soil, which might have colored the waters of the Smolnya. An alternative origin could be the Russian word (), which means resin, tar, or pitch. Pine trees grow in the area, and the city was once a center of resin processing and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Seydlitz
The Battles of Rzhev (russian: Ржевская битва, Rzhevskaya bitva) were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place in the northeast of Smolensk Oblast and the south of Tver Oblast. Due to the high losses suffered by the Soviet Army, the campaign became known by veterans and historians as the "Rzhev Meat Grinder" (russian: link=no, Ржевская мясорубка, Rzhevskaya myasorubka). Overview The major operations that were executed in this area of the front were: # #Rzhev–Vyazma strategic offensive operation (8 January – 20 April 1942) (russian: link=no, Ржевско-Вяземская стратегическая наступательная операция) of the Kalinin Front, Western Front, Bryansk Front, and Northwestern Front #* Sychyovka–Vyazma offensive operation (russian: link=no, Сычёвско-Вяземская нас ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
