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The 23rd Mechanized Corps (
The corps was assigned to support the 24th Army on 27 June, but due to the slow deployment of the 25th Mechanized Corps was reassigned to the 19th Army on 1 July. The corps moved to the Perechen No. 4 Part III
/ref> Corps deputy commander Yakov Sharaburko became commander of the 23rd Rifle Corps, part of the 24th Army. On 1 August it included the 100th Rifle Division and the 194th Mountain Rifle Division.
Military Unit Number
A Military Unit Number (Russian: Войсковая часть) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet states, originally used by those of the Soviet Union
The Soviet ...
9841) was a Mechanized corps of the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
. Its divisions fought in the Battle of Smolensk (1941)
The first Battle of Smolensk (german: Kesselschlacht bei Smolensk, ' Cauldron-battle at Smolensk'; ) was a battle during the second phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, in World War II. It was fought around the ...
but the corps itself never fought as a unit. The corps became the second formation of the 23rd Rifle Corps.
History
Formation
The 23rd Mechanized Corps was formed in March 1941 in the Oryol Military District atVoronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...
. The corps included the 48th and 51st Tank Divisions, and the 220th Motorized Division. The 48th was at Voronezh, the 51st at Bryansk
Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population:
Geography Urban layout
The location of the settlement was originally ass ...
, and the 220th at Yelets
Yelets, or Elets (russian: Еле́ц), is a city in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Bystraya Sosna River, which is a tributary of the Don. Population:
History
Yelets is the oldest center of the Central Black Earth Region. It was me ...
. The corps was commanded by Major General Mikhail Myasnikov.
World War II
The corps was assigned to support the 24th Army on 27 June, but due to the slow deployment of the 25th Mechanized Corps was reassigned to the 19th Army on 1 July. The corps moved to the Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest ci ...
and Liozno region.
At this time the corps had 413 tanks. These included 21 new KV tank
The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour pro ...
s and T-34 medium tanks. The 51st Tank Division was sent to Rzhev to support the reserve armies.
On 9 July the 220th Motorized Division was ordered into action with the 19th Army, without the rest of the 23rd Mechanized Corps, which had not yet arrived in the area.
On 10 July, the 51st Tank Division was assigned to the 31st Army. The 57th Tank Division was assigned to the corps to replace the 51st Division but never joined it, instead moving to Orsha
Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers.
History
Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...
in support of the 20th Army.
On 11 July, the corps became part of 19th Army reserve in the Mogilno and Berezino region.
The 48th Tank Division was sent to the Nevel region and became part of the 22nd Army on 12 July to lead the army's counterattack.
As a result of these changes, the corps did not fight as a unit.
The ' (list of Soviet units during World War II) states that the corps was converted into the 23rd Rifle Corps (Second Formation) on 20 July./ref> Corps deputy commander Yakov Sharaburko became commander of the 23rd Rifle Corps, part of the 24th Army. On 1 August it included the 100th Rifle Division and the 194th Mountain Rifle Division.
References