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Mechanised corps (Soviet Union)

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A mechanised corps was a Soviet armoured formation used prior to the beginning of World War II and reintroduced during the war, in 1942.

Pre-war development of Soviet mechanised forces

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In Soviet Russia, the term armored forces (thus called Bronevyye sily) preceded the mechanised corps. They consisted of the autonomous armored units (avtobroneotryady) made of armored vehicles and armored trains. The country did not have its own tanks during the Civil War of 1918–1920.

In January 1918, the Russian Red Army established the Soviet of Armored Units (Sovet bronevykh chastey, or Tsentrobron’), later renamed to Central Armored Directorate and then once again to Chief Armored Directorate (Glavnoye bronevoye upravleniye). In December 1920, the Red Army received its first light tanks, assembled at the Sormovo Factory. In 1928, it began the production of the MS-1 tanks (Malyy Soprovozhdeniya 1, 'Small Convoy 1'). In 1929, it established the Central Directorate for Mechanisation and Motorisation of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. Tanks became a part of the mechanised corps at this point.

During this time, and based on the experience of the Civil War with its sweeping movements of horse-mobile formations, Soviet military theorists such as Vladimir Triandafillov born in Pontus of Greek parents and Konstantin Kalinovsky elaborated the principles of combat use of armored units, which envisioned a large-scale use of tanks in different situations in cooperation with various army units. In the mid-1930s, these ideas found their reflection in the so-called deep operation and deep combat theories. From the second half of the 1920s, tank warfare development took place at Kazan, where the German Reichswehr was allowed to participate.

In 1930, the First Mechanised Brigade had its own tank regiment of 110 tanks. The formation of two mechanized corps was authorized in 1932. The first two corps formed were the 11th Mechanized Corps in the Leningrad Military District and the 45th Mechanized Corps, formed in the Ukrainian Military District. That same year, the Red Army established the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (which existed up until 1998 as the Military Academy of Armored Units named after Rodion Malinovsky). Mikhail Katukov had his first major command as acting commanding officer of the 5th light Tank Brigade of the 45th Mechanized Corps in 1938.

In 1931–1935, the Red Army adopted light, medium, and later heavy tanks of different types. By the beginning of the 1936, it already had four mechanised corps, six separate mechanised brigades, six separate tank regiments, fifteen mechanised regiments within cavalry divisions and considerable number of tank battalions and companies. The creation of mechanised and tank units marked the dawn of a new branch of armed forces, which would be called armored forces. In 1937, the Central Directorate of Mechanization and Motorization was renamed to Directorate of Automotive Armored Units (Avtobronetankovoye upravleniye) and then to Chief Directorate of Automotive Armored Units (Glavnoye avtobronetankovoye upravleniye), headed by Dmitry Pavlov. This was carried out under Marshal Tukhachevsky, one of the generals shot in June 1937 in the Great Purge.

Soviet armored units gained some combat experience during the Battle of Lake Khasan (1938), the Battle of Khalkhin Gol (1939) and the Winter War with Finland (1939–1940). But these operations and also observation of the Spanish Civil War, led People’s Commissar for Defence Marshal Voroshilov to the conclusion that the mechanised corps formations were too cumbersome. A decision was taken to disband them in November 1939, and to distribute their units among infantry. This was a mistake, as the success of German panzer divisions in France showed, and in May 1940 Voroshilov was replaced by Marshal Timoshenko. Future Marshal Zhukov had drawn different conclusions from his own experience at Khalkhin Gol and from the other battles.[1]

The decision was reversed, and on 6 July 1940 the NKO ordered the formation of nine new mechanised corps, and in February and March 1941, began forming an additional 20.[2] By June 1941, 29 existed in the Red Army, although the degree of staffing they had significantly varied.[3] However, there was not enough time before the German attack in June 1941 to reform the mechanised corps units fully and for them to reach their former efficiency.[4] [5]

Period 1940–41

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In June 1941 there were twenty-nine[6] mechanised corps in various stages of formation. The plan was for each of them to have about 36,000 men and 1,000 tanks, and a few approached that strength level by the time war with Germany broke out.[7] Of this number, two formations especially stood out: 4th and 6th Mechanized Corps.[8] On 22 June 1941 each of these was fully formed, armed with more than 900 operational tanks, and stationed not further than 100–300 kilometers from the border.[8] Considering the armor qualities, each of these formations had a substantial concentration of the T-34 and KV-1 tanks.[8] Both of these formations, having more than 350 of the T-34 plus KV-1, could be reasonably expected to break through any German Panzer Corps of the time, not to say Army Corps.[8] Such estimation is based on sheer number of concentrated tanks, their main armament, the thickness of their armor,[9] their actual failure rate, the eventual losses to aircraft, and normal scheduled maintenance.[8] What it does not count are human-related factors.[8]

That being said, during the war against the Axis, all mechanised corps stationed in frontline areas were destroyed during the early phase of the invasion of the Soviet Union (including 4th and 6th), and less than a month after the attack, the Red Army formally abolished the Mechanised Corps as a formation type. Remaining tanks were concentrated in smaller formations that were easier to handle.

Period 1942–46

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In September 1942, the General Headquarters (Stavka) authorized the formation of a new type of mechanised corps which was to become the main operational mechanised formation for the remainder of the war. They were about the same size as a German panzer division, and designed as a true combined-arms formation with a good balance of armor, infantry, and artillery. Mechanised corps were not to be used in breakthrough battles, but only in the exploitation phase of an operation. They shared with the new Tank Corps a four-manoeuvre-brigade structure – three mechanised brigades and one tank brigade, plus an anti-tank regiment, artillery, and other support units. The new tank corps had three tank brigades and one mechanised brigade.[10]

A total of thirteen mechanised corps were formed during the war against the Axis nations, nine of them becoming guards mechanised corps. A further corps, the 10th Mechanised Corps, was formed in June 1945 and saw action during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. The 1st, 3rd, and 9th Guards Mechanised Corps were equipped with Lend Lease tanks, Sherman M4A2. The mechanised corps were converted to mechanised divisions relatively quickly after the war – by 1946 in most cases.[11]

Composition of a mechanised corps (1941)

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  • 2 Tank Divisions
    • 2 Tank Regiments
    • Motorized Rifle Regiment
    • Motorized Howitzer Regiment
    • Division Troops
      • Antiaircraft Battalion
      • Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
      • Truck Battalion
      • Maintenance Battalion
      • Medical Battalion
  • 1 Motorized Division
    • 2 Motorized Rifle Regiments
    • Light Tank Regiment
    • Motorized Artillery Regiment
    • Division Troops
      • Antitank Battalion
      • Antiaircraft Battalion
      • Reconnaissance Battalion
      • Truck Battalion
      • Division Trains
  • Corps Troops
    • 1 Motorcycle Regiment
    • 1 Signal Battalion
    • 1 Motorized Engineer Battalion
    • 1 Aviation Troop

Total

1,031 Tanks (420 T-34s, 126 KVs, 485 Light tanks)
36,100 personnel
5 Tank Regiments with 20 Tank Battalions
4 Motorized Rifle Regiments with 12 Motorized Rifle Battalions
3 Motorized Artillery/Howitzer Regiments with 6 Artillery Battalions

The formation was seen as very tank-heavy, lacking sufficient infantry or artillery to support the tank formations. The 1942 order of battle was much more flexible.

Composition of a mechanised corps (1944)

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  • 3 Mechanised Brigades
    • 1 Tank Regiment
    • 3 Motorized Rifle Battalions
    • 1 Submachine Gun Company
    • 1 Antitank Rifle Company
    • 1 Mortar Battalion
    • 1 Artillery Battalion
    • 1 Anti Aircraft Machine Gun Company
    • 1 Pioneer Mine Company
    • 1 Trains Company
    • 1 Medical Platoon
  • 1 Tank Brigade
    • 3 Tank Battalions
    • 1 Motorized Submachine Gun Battalion
    • 1 Anti-aircraft Machine Gun Company
    • 1 Trains Company
    • 1 Medical Platoon
  • 3 Assault Gun Regiments
  • 1 Motorcycle Battalion
  • 1 Mortar Regiment
  • 1 Anti-aircraft Regiment
  • 1 Rocket Launcher Battalion

Total:[12]

246 Armored Fighting Vehicles (186 T-34, 21 SU-76, 21 ISU-122, 21 ISU-152)
16,438 personnel
3 Tank Regiments and 3 Tank Battalions
9 Motorised Rifle Battalions and 1 Motorised Submachine Gun Battalion
3 Motorised Artillery Battalions

List of Soviet mechanised corps

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The listing and data here are drawn from Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, and V.I. Feskov et al., The Soviet Army during the Period of the Cold War, Tomsk University Press, Tomsk, 2004 (mostly pages 71–75).

Guards

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  • 1st Guards Mechanised Corps – formed 24 October 1942 from the 1st Guards Rifle Division. Became 1st Guards Mechanised Division in July 1945.[23] Became 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division on 25 June 1957.[24] It was converted into the 2nd Guards Training Motor Rifle Division on 4 May 1962, 16th Guards Training Motor Rifle Division on 17 November 1964, then 100th Guards Training Motor Rifle Division on 3 November 1967.[25]
  • 2nd Guards Mechanised Corps – formed Nov 1942 in Tambov region. Assigned in sequence to the Stalingrad, Southern, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts. 1945 took part in the Budapest, Bratislava-Brno, Prague, and Vienna operations. Became 2nd Guards Mechanised Division after the war, and then c. 1957 became 19th Guards Tank Division in Southern Group of Forces.
  • 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps – formed from the 28th Tank Corps on 18 December 1942. Converted into the 3rd Guards Mechanised Division in November 1945. Became 47th Guards Motor Rifle Division 1957 and disbanded in 1959.[26]
  • 4th Guards Mechanised Corps – formed from 13th Tank Corps. Circa 1946 4th Guards Mechanised Division. Redesignated 5 June 1957 as 63rd Guards Motor Rifle Division at Lugansk, Kiev Military District.[27] On 17 December 1964 redesignated 4th Guards Motor Rifle Division. On 15 February 1980 transferred to Termez, Surkhandar'inskaya Oblast, Turkestan Military District, to replace 108th Motor Rifle Division which had been sent to Afghanistan. The division's 15th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment was left behind, and was replaced by a new 1213th Motor Rifle Regiment, activated in Termez. Disbanded in March 1989 and parts absorbed by returning 108th Motor Rifle Division.
  • 5th Guards Mechanised Corps – formed from the 6th Mechanized Corps created in June 1940 and started war with 10th Army, but disbanded or destroyed by end of July 1941. The corps was reformed in November 1942 under the same name, but with a different organizational structure. In January 1943, the 6th Mechanized Corps was granted "Guards" status and became the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps. It was renamed the 5th Guards Mechanized Division in 1945 and after a brief period as 53rd Guards Motor Rifle Division from 1957 to 1965, subsequently the 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1965 and served with 40th Army at Shindand in Afghanistan for some years.
  • 6th Guards Mechanised Corps – formed on 17 June 1943 from the 3rd Guards Motor Rifle Division.[28] Converted into the 6th Guards Mechanised Division on 10 June 1945 with 4th Guards Tank Army. Became 6th Guards Motor Rifle Division on 30 April 1957 and 90th Guards Tank Division on 8 February 1985.[29]
  • 7th Guards Mechanised Corps – formed from the 2nd Mechanised Corps on 26 July 1943.[30] Honorifics "Kuzbass-Nezhin". Converted into the 7th Guards Mechanised Division on 10 June 1945 with 4th Guards Tank Army. Became 11th Guards Motor Rifle Division on 30 April 1957.[29]
  • 8th Guards Mechanised Corps – formed from 3rd Mechanised Corps October 1943, after having taken part in the Battle of Kursk.[31] From its formation to the end of the war, the Corps served with 1st Guards Tank Army. In April 1944 awarded 'Carpathian' honorific. On 10 June 1945, it became the 8th Guards Mechanised Division. Converted into the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957, serving with 1st Guards Tank Army in Group of Soviet Forces in Germany postwar.[32]
  • 9th Guards Mechanised Corps – formed from the 5th Mechanised Corps (Third Formation) on 12 September 1944.[33] Became 9th Guards Mechanised Division by October 1945,[34] then 9th Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957. The division was disbanded on 1 November 1958 while serving with the 6th Guards Tank Army in the Transbaikal Military District at Sainshand.[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cross 1993, p. 66.
  2. ^ Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, 116–117.
  3. ^ – h & catid = 1:2009-12-27-11-21-03 & Itemid = 24 DIVISION FIVE: A short biography of Nikolai Starodymov
  4. ^ Bean, Tim; Fowler, Will (2002). Russian Tanks of World War II. ISBN 9780760313022.
  5. ^ Kulʹkov, Evgeniĭ Nikolaevich; Rzheshevskiĭ, Oleg Aleksandrovich; Shukman, Harold (2002-01-01). Stalin and the Soviet-Finnish War, 1939–1940. F. Cass. ISBN 9780714652030.
  6. ^ Martínez (2010-09-22). Soviet Army Order of Battle in WWII June to December 1941. Lulu Enterprises Incorporated. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-1-4461-9180-4.
  7. ^ Joseph Page, Tim Bean, Will Fowler (2002): Russian Tanks of World War II, MBI.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Mark Solonin (2007). 22 czerwca 1941 czyli Jak zaczęła się Wielka Wojna ojczyźniana (in Polish). Tomasz Lisiecki (trans.) (1 ed.). Poznań, Poland: Dom Wydawniczy Rebis. pp. 94–150, 166–170, 528–529. ISBN 978-83-7510-130-0. (the only English translations of Solonin's works seem to be, as of June 2011, these online chapters)
  9. ^ The 37 mm cannon found in majority of German tanks and majority of German infantry divisions could not be reasonably expected to penetrate either T-34 or KV-1 front or side armor in combat conditions. To attempt to inflict any damage on these Soviet tanks, cannon larger than 37 mm was needed; in German Army Corps, 2 larger guns were assigned to some infantry regiments; the newest Panzer III and Panzer IV models also had larger guns, with 60–207 tanks assigned to each German Panzer Corps. Solonin, 2007, pp. 102–103, 528–529.
  10. ^ Keith E. Bonn (ed), Slaughterhouse: Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, 2005, p.428, 430
  11. ^ Feskov et al., 2004, p.48
  12. ^ Red Army Handbook, pp. 81, 86, and 89.
  13. ^ 2nd Mechanised Corps 1941
  14. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 July 1941
  15. ^ John Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad, Cassel Military Paperbacks 2003 edition, p.148
  16. ^ Drig, Yevgeny (18 March 2009). "17 механизированный корпус" [17th Mechanized Corps]. mechcorps.rkka.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  17. ^ Glantz 2010, p. 156.
  18. ^ Borisenko, Nikolai (2005). "20-Й МЕХАНИЗИРОВАННЫЙ КОРПУС И ЕГО РОЛЬ В ОБОРОНЕ МОГИЛЕВА ЛЕТОМ 1941–ГО ГОДА" [20th Mechanized Corps in the defense of Mogilev, summer 1941]. Mogilev Search Gazette (in Russian). No. 3. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  19. ^ Glantz SC 231
  20. ^ See also David Glantz, (2010). Barbarossa Derailed. Helion & Co, 2010. p. 92, and note 34 of p131. ISBN 9781906033729.
  21. ^ a b c Glantz, Stumbling Colossus, Table 8.5, 231.
  22. ^ Niehorster listing of Mechanised Corps on 22 June 1941[permanent dead link‍]
  23. ^ "1-й гвардейский механизированный корпус" [1st Guards Mechanised Corps]. tankfront.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  24. ^ Feskov et al 2013, pp. 204–205.
  25. ^ Feskov et al 2013, pp. 162–164.
  26. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 588.
  27. ^ Michael Holm, 4th Guards Motorised Rifle Division, accessed February 2015.
  28. ^ "6-й гвардейский механизированный корпус" [6th Guards Mechanized Corps]. tankfront.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  29. ^ a b Feskov et al 2013, p. 404.
  30. ^ "7-й гвардейский механизированный корпус" [7th Guards Mechanised Corps]. tankfront.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  31. ^ Bonn, 2005, p.351
  32. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 392.
  33. ^ "9-й гвардейский механизированный корпус" [9th Guards Mechanised Corps]. tankfront.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  34. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 485.
  35. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 162.

Sources and further reading

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