20th Army (Soviet Union)
| 20th Army | |
|---|---|
20th Army soldiers fighting south of Dorogobuzh, 1 September 1941
|
|
| Active | 1941-1944 |
| Country |
 Soviet Union
|
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Combined arms |
| Size | Field army |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Pavel Kurochkin Andrei Vlasov |
Pavel Kurochkin Andrei Vlasov
Nikolai Berzarin
Mikhail Khozin
Max Reyter
Anton Lopatin
The 20th Army was a field army of the Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front during World War II.
The Army was first formed in the Orel Military District in June 1941. On 22 June 1941 the Army was part of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and was located west of Moscow.
On 27 June 1941 it was proposed to Joseph Stalin that the Soviet armies (13th Army, 19th Army, 20th, 21st Army, and 22nd Army) would defend the line going through the Daugava-Polotsk-Vitebsk-Orsha-Mogilev-Mazyr as part of the Reserve Front.
Committed as part of Western Front in defensive battles in Belarus, Smolensk, and Vyazma. By 5 August 1941 the army, in David Glantz's words, had been 'reduced to a skeleton.' The strength of the 289th Rifle Division had fallen to 285 men, 17 machine guns, and one anti-tank gun, the 73rd Rifle Division to 100 men and 4 to 5 machine guns, 144th Rifle Division to 440 men, and 153rd Rifle Division to 750 men. The Army HQ was disbanded having been encircled and destroyed in the Vyazma Pocket.
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Wikipedia