170th Rifle Division (Soviet Union): Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Central Front liberated [[Nizhyn]] on the [[Oster (river)|Oster River]] on September 15, which finally triggered the OKH to order a full withdrawal to the Dniepr. Over the next five days the Front staged a two-pronged thrust northward on either side of [[Chernihiv]] which collapsed the flank of 2nd Army, allowing it to advance north toward Gomel.<ref>Ziemke, ''Stalingrad to Berlin'', pp. 168-70</ref>

===Gomel-Rechytsa Offensive===

48th Army closed up to the German defenses at [[Gomel]] from the east and south on September 29-3029–30. Romanenko arrayed his five divisions under direct Army command in an arc extending from [[Dobrush]] along the [[Iput (river)|Iput River]] for some 25km to where it entered the [[Sozh|Sozh River]]. The Army largely faced the [[XXXV Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XXXV Army Corps]]. During the first two weeks of October, Rokossovskii launched his first attempt to seize Gomel and advance on Rechytsa, but this was unsuccessful. For the second attempt he called for the formation of three shock groups on Central Front's right wing (48th, [[Northwestern Operational Command|65th]] and [[61st Army (Soviet Union)|61st Armies]]). These were to attack on October 15 in the direction of Babruysk and Minsk. The first of these included seven divisions from 48th Army and four from 65th Army. Three divisions (102nd, [[194th Rifle Division|194th]], and [[307th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|307th]]), were moved into a bridgehead over the Sozh south of Gomel while the 170th, [[137th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|137th]] and [[175th Rifle Division|175th]] took over their former sectors. In the event, this effort made little more progress than the first attempt.<ref>Glantz, ''Battle for Belorussia'', University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2016, pp. 97-98, 103-04, 106, 110</ref>

On October 20, Central Front was redesignated as Belorussian Front, and at about the same time the 170th was subordinated to 42nd Corps.<ref>[http://www.soldat.ru/files/f/boevojsostavsa1943.pdf Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1943], p. 276</ref> Two days later Colonel Chervyak left the division and was replaced by Col. Semyon Grigorovich Tsiplenkov. This officer had been serving as deputy commander of the [[399th Rifle Division]] when he was wounded during Operation Kutuzov and was hospitalized in Moscow until September, when he returned to the 399th.{{sfn|Tsapayev|Goremykin|2014|pp=891–893}}

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{{quotation|RECHITSA – ...170th Rifle Division (Col. Tsiplenkov, Semyon Grigorovich)... The troops that participated in the liberation of Rechitsa, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of 18 November 1943 and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 12 artillery salvoes by 124 guns.}}Army Group Center's southern defenses were in a state of crisis by this point, and 9th Army had been forced out of Gomel. Along with a small group from [[1st Guards Tank Division|1st Guards Tank Corps]] the 48th joined the advance of 11th and 63rd Armies, which were pursuing the XXXV Corps as it withdrew from Gomel. By November 30 the combined armies had pushed the Corps westward and northwestward to the Klenovichi{{endash}}Potapovka line, 25km southeast of [[Zhlobin]].<ref>Glantz, ''Battle for Belorussia'', pp. 191, 193, 200</ref>

===Parichi-Bobruisk Offensive===

For Rokossovskii's next attempt to reach Parichi and Babruysk General Romanenko formed a shock group with his 42nd and [[29th Rifle Corps]] with armor support and it was to launch its attack in the 15km-wide sector from Shatsilki on the Berezina southwest to Zherd Station on the Shatsilki{{endash}}Kalinkavichy rail line, facing elements of XXXXI Panzer. This was to begin on January 16, 1944, and was to reach a line from Oktyabirskii to Parichi by the end of the month, after which 48th and 65th Armies were to exploit to Babruysk. 42nd Corps' immediate objectives were the villages of Zareche and Sosnovka roughly 15km behind the front, so it attacked in a two-echelon formation to sustain its drive across the Zherdianka River and beyond. This required a regrouping in which the [[194th Rifle Division]] provided cover for the 175th Division to move into first echelon and the 399th Division to move into second. The 170th was to be introduced once a penetration had been achieved.<ref>Glantz, ''Battle for Belorussia'', pp. 480-86</ref>