4th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union)
| 4th Mechanized Corps (1941-Dec 1942) 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps (1942-1945) 3rd Guards Mechanized Division (c.1946-1957) 47th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1957-59) |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 1941-1959 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Armoured Forces |
| Type | Corps |
| Engagements |
Operation Uranus Operation Bagration Baltic Offensive Invasion of Manchuria |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Andrey Vlasov Vasily Volsky |
The 4th Mechanized Corps was a formation in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.
Initially formed in January 1941, it was serving with the 6th Army,Kiev Special Military District under the command of General Major Andrey Vlasov when the German Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941. On 22 June 1941 4th Mechanised Corps consisted of 28,098 Soldiers and 979 tanks. It initially comprised the 8th and 32nd Tank Divisions, the 81st Mechanised Division, the 3rd Motorcycle Regiment, and other smaller units. It fought in the Battle of Brody,b and was destroyed in the Uman Pocket in August 1941 with 6th Army and was disbanded shortly after.
The Corps was reformed for the second time in September 1942. It was commanded by General Vasily Volsky during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. The corps entered the sector south of Stalingrad as part of Operation Uranus. The plan was to attack through the 51st Army's sector to obtain an encirclement by cutting through the Romanian Fourth Army led by Constantin Constantinescu.
On 20 November 1942, the Corps started feeding its initial units into the attack, between Lake Tsatsa and Barmatsak when the 126th and 302nd Rifle Divisions of 51st Army began to advance on a three-mile front supported by the 55th and 158th Independent Tank Regiments from 4th Mech Corps. The advance was made against the Romanian 6th Corps, whose units, Erickson says, began to surrender as the tanks got in among their positions.
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