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48th Army (Soviet Union)

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48th Army
Active7 Aug 1941 – 14 Sep 1941 (1st Formation)
20 Apr 1942 – Sep 1945 (2nd Formation)
CountrySoviet Union
BranchRed Army
TypeInfantry
Sizethree to twelve divisions
Part ofNorthwestern Front
Northern Front
Leningrad Front
Bryansk Front
Central Front
1st Belorussian Front
2nd Belorussian Front
3rd Belorussian Front
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Nikolai Gusev

The48th Armywas afield armyof the Soviet Red Army, active from 1941 to 1945. The army was first formed in August 1941 and fought in theLeningrad Strategic Defensive Operation.The army suffered heavy losses and was disbanded in early September. Its remnants were moved to the54th Army.Reformed in April 1942 on the Bryansk Front, the army fought in theMaloarkhangelsk Offensivein the winter of 1943. It was sent to the Central Front in March and defended the northern face of the Kursk Bulge. During the summer, it fought inOperation Kutuzovand theChernigov-Pripyat Offensive.From November, the army fought in theGomel-Rechitsa Offensive.The army fought inOperation Bagrationfrom June 1944. During the offensive, the army capturedZhlobinandBobruiskand was on theNarewby early September. During early 1945, the army fought in theEast Prussian Offensiveand ended the war in East Prussia during May. The army was transferred to Poland in July 1945 and its headquarters was used to form theKazan Military Districtin September.

First Formation

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The army was established on 7 August 1941 from theNovgorod Operational Group,under command of Lt. Gen.Stepan Akimov,[1]its initial order of battle was as follows:

The army was assigned toNorthwestern Frontand was responsible for the front's left flank north ofLake Ilmen.It also had under command the Ilmen Detachment of Ships.[2]On 12 August the army, along with the11th,27thand34th Armies,began a series of assaults against the GermanX Army CorpsnearStaraya Russa.These attacks failed to regain much territory but delayed the German advance on Leningrad by a further week.[3]

Following this, the 48th took up positions forward ofLugaandNovgorodas part of the Luga defense line. That line was penetrated in the renewed German advance, and Luga fell on 20 August, with heavy Soviet casualties; the army was a wreck with only 6,235 men, 5,043 rifles and 31 guns remaining. It was transferred to theNorthern Frontand ordered to defend the Gruzino-Liubansector southeast of Leningrad. On 23 August Northern Front was subdivided, and 48th Army became part of the newLeningrad Front.[4]

On 1 September the 48th comprised the128thand311th Rifle Divisions,the mountain brigade, the 541st Gun Artillery Regiment of theReserve of the Supreme High Commandand the 21st Tank Division.[5]At this time, it was commanded by Lieutenant GeneralMaxim Antoniuk.[6]Heavy attacks by the GermanXXXIX Motorized Corpsforced the army to abandonMga,a key railway link. Akimov was ordered to retake the town, which he did with the help of a fresh division of NKVD border guards, but the town was lost again the next day. During the first week of September the20th Motorized Division,reinforced with elements of12th Panzer Division,ground its way northwards against the resistance of the mountain brigade and the NKVD men before capturingShlisselburgonLake Ladogaon 8 September, isolating Leningrad, with the bulk of the army outside, to the east. On 12 September, the remnants of 48th Army were disbanded, being reassigned to the new54th Army.[7]

Second Formation

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The army was formed for a second time from28th Mechanized Corps(Second Formation) Headquarters on 20 April 1942, part of theBryansk Front.It included the1st Guards Rifle Division,a mortar regiment and a separate engineer battalion. The army was commanded by Major GeneralGrigory Khalyuzin.[8]On 1 June, the army included the6th Guards,8th,211thand280th Rifle Divisions.It also included the 118th and 122nd Rifle Brigades as well as the 80th and 202nd Tank Brigades. Artillery and engineer units were also included. Air support was provided by the 879th Light Bomber Aviation Regiment. Army troops took up positions on the Korobka River west ofNovosil.From the end of June to July, the army fought in heavy defensive battles in theYeletskydirection. During the battles, the army was able to hold the German troops at the line of Bolshoy Malinovets, Zalegosh, Setenyovo and Svetitsky. On 27 August the deputy commander of the army, Major General Konstantin Ignatievich Novik,[9]was killed in action at Dishnia Station during a heavy enemy artillery raid.[10]In February 1943, the army launched an offensive in theMaloarkhangelskdirection. On 12 February, Lieutenant GeneralProkofy Romanenkotook command of the army.[11]By 23 February it was in position southwest of Novosil and northwest of Maloarkhangelsk.[12]

On 13 March, the army was transferred to theCentral Front.During the summer and fall of 1943, the army fought in battles on the northern face of theKursk Bulge,[13]Operation Kutuzovand theChernigov-Pripyat Offensive.Continuing to advance towardsGomelalong with the61stand65th Armies,the 48th Army cleared the left bank of theSozhof German troops by 10 October. The army then pursued the German troops to the south of Gomel. On 20 October, it transferred to theBelorussian Frontand from the first week of November fought in the expansion of the bridgehead on the right bank of the Sozh. From 19 November, it fought in theGomel-Rechitsa Offensive.During early 1944, the army carried out an attack towardsBobruisk.[12]

At the outset ofOperation Bagrationon 23 June 1944, the 48th Army had been substantially reinforced, and was comprised as follows:[14]

The main mission of the army in the initial stages was to screen the three German divisions in the triangle formed by theDnieprandBerezinarivers, while assisting the breakthrough of3rd Armyto the north with an assault by 42nd and 29th Rifle Corps against the German positions north ofRogachev;this would form the northern pincer seeking to encircle the German9th Army.By the evening of 24 June the Soviet corps were 5 km west of that town, the296th Infantry Divisionhad been overwhelmed, and the breakthrough was being exploited by9th Tank Corpsinto the German rear.[16]Advancing towards Bobruisk, the army capturedZhlobinon 26 June and along with the 65th Army destroyed German troops surrounded in the Bobruisk area. On 29 June, army troops captured Bobruisk. Continuing the attack towardsBaranovichiandBrest,28th,65th and 48th Armies defeated German troops around Baranovichi during three days of fighting. At the end of July, the army was south ofSurazh.During August and early September, the army advanced 150 kilometers and reached theNarewby 8 September in the area ofRuzhanyandPułtusk.[17]The army went on the defensive and transferred to the2nd Belorussian Fronton 22 September 1944.[12]On 15 December 1944, Lieutenant GeneralNikolai Gusevbecame the army's commander.[18]

During early 1945, the army fought in theEast Prussian Offensive.On 11 February it was moved to the3rd Belorussian Front.It advanced to theFrisches Haffon 25 March, where it went on the defensive. From 1 to 5 May, the army led attacks on the Baltic coast.[12]In July 1945 it was moved from Germany to Poland, and in September 1945 its headquarters was used to form theKazan Military District(ru:Казанский военный округ).[19]

Commanders

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References

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  1. ^Isaev, Alexei (2005).Котлы 41-го. История ВОВ, которую мы не знали[Boilers 41st: Unknown History of the Second World War] (in Russian). Moscow: Yauza. pp. 26–66.ISBN5699128999.
  2. ^David M. Glantz,The Battle for Leningrad 1941 – 1944,University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2002, p 48
  3. ^Glantz,Colossus Reborn,University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, p. 12. Glantz states that 48th Army was part ofNorthern Frontat this time.
  4. ^Glantz,Leningrad,pp. 61–62
  5. ^Combat composition of the Soviet Army,1 September 1941, available online atbdsa.ru
  6. ^"Biography of Lieutenant-General Maksim Antonovich Antoniuk – (Максим Антонович Антонюк) (1895–1961), Soviet Union".generals.dk.Retrieved7 February2016.
  7. ^Glantz,Leningrad,p 65-66, 75
  8. ^"Biography of Lieutenant-General Grigorii Alekseevich Khaliuzin – (Григорий Алексеевич Халюзин) (1897–1975), Soviet Union".generals.dk.Retrieved7 February2016.
  9. ^"Biography of Major-General Konstantin Ignatevich Novik – (Константин Игнатьевич Новик) (1889–1942), Soviet Union".generals.dk.Retrieved8 February2016.
  10. ^Aleksander A. Maslov,Fallen Soviet Generals,trans. and ed. by D.M. Glantz, Frank Cass (Publisher), London, 1998, pp 67–68
  11. ^"Biography of Colonel-General Prokofii Logvinovich Romanenko – (Прокофий Логвинович Романенко) (1897–1947), Soviet Union".generals.dk.Retrieved7 February2016.
  12. ^abcd"48-я АРМИЯ"[48th Army].bdsa.ru(in Russian).Retrieved7 February2016.
  13. ^Dunn, Walter Scott (1 January 1997).Kursk: Hitler's Gamble, 1943.Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN9780275957339.
  14. ^Combat composition of the Soviet Army,1 July 1944
  15. ^Dunn,Soviet Blitzkrieg,Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008, p 182
  16. ^Dunn,Soviet Blitzkrieg,pp 185–89
  17. ^Batov, Pavel (1986).Форсирование рек. 1942–1945 гг[Crossing of the rivers 1942–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. pp. 62–63.
  18. ^"Biography of Colonel-General Nikolai Ivanovich Gusev – (Николай Иванович Гусев) (1897–1962), Soviet Union".generals.dk.Retrieved7 February2016.
  19. ^Michael Holm,Kazan Military District

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