Northwestern Operational Command

The Northwestern Operational Command (SZOK) is a command of the Belarus Ground Forces. It is headquartered at Borisov and is commanded by Major General Alexander Volfovich. The command includes a mechanized brigade and a mixed artillery brigade. It was formed in 2001 from the 65th Army Corps.

The command traces its lineage to the 65th Army of the Red Army, a field army of the Soviet Union during World War II. It was formed in October 1942 from rebuilding elements of the first formation of the 4th Tank Army on the Don Front. The army was commanded by Pavel Batov until after the fall of Berlin, and served in various Fronts commanded by Konstantin Rokossovsky for the duration of the war.

Postwar, the 65th Army was moved to the Belorussian Military District, where it became the 7th Mechanized Army. In 1957 it became the 7th Tank Army. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union the army became part of the Belarus Ground Forces and was downsized into the 7th Army Corps in 1993. A year later it was renamed the 65th Army Corps.

History

Creation and Initial Operations of the 65th Army

4th Tank Army, under command of Maj. Gen. Vasily Kryuchenkin, launched numerous counterattacks against the German corridor to Stalingrad from August to October, 1942, until it was severely depleted in strength. (It was derisively known for a time as the "four-tank army" due to the few vehicles still operational.)David Glantz, "Pavel Ivanovich Batov", in ''Stalin's Generals'', (Harold Shukman, Ed.), Phoenix Press, 2001, p. 39

Pavel Batov, who had previously commanded the 51st Army and the 3rd Army, assumed command on October 22, 1942, a command he would hold until the end of the War. He had orders to rebuild these forces as a combined-arms army, the 65th Army, as part of Rokossovsky's new Don Front. This was accomplished by mid-November, and at this time the army consisted of:
* 3 Guards Rifle Divisions (4th, 27th, 40th)
* 6 Rifle Divisions ( 23rd, 24th, 252nd, 258th, 304th, 321st)
* 2 Separate Tank Brigades (91st, 121st)
* 3 Army Artillery Regiments, 1 Howitzer Regiment, 5 Guards Mortar Regiments, and supporting units.

65th Army played a leading role in Operation Uranus, the encirclement of the German forces at Stalingrad. Attacking out of the Kremenskaya bridgehead on the south bank of the Don. Rokossovsky later wrote in reference to Batov and his army:

In the lead up to Operation Ring the 65th mounted an attack by two rifle divisions against the positions of the German 44th Infantry Division on January 7, 1943. This attack penetrated the German defensive line and inflicted severe casualties. A counterattack by German armor contained the Soviet advance, but did not regain the original line, consumed scarce fuel and ammunition, and exposed the vehicles to concentrated artillery fire, leading to losses.

When Ring kicked off at 0805 hours on January 10, 65th Army was backed by a 55-minute artillery barrage from over 500 guns and howitzers and 450 rocket launchers on an attack front of 12 km, the highest density of Soviet artillery achieved to that point of the war. This was followed by air attacks from the 16th Air Army against positions to the rear of the main German line. About 0900 hours, shock groups of five rifle divisions of the Army, supported by the 91st Tank Brigade and six Guards heavy tank regiments (60-70 KV tanks and 21 Churchill Mark IV tanks). The front of the 44th Division was smashed quite quickly and four depleted battalions were overrun.

Redeployment to Central Front

Following the German surrender at Stalingrad, Rokossovsky's forces were redeployed northwest to become the new Central Front in the region around Kursk. 65th Army exploited a gap between the weak Second German Army and the Second Panzer Army, but was brought to a halt by the spring rasputitsa, German reserves released by their evacuation of the Rzhev Salient, and the German counter-offensive to the south of Kursk. 65th Army then dug in during the three-month lull in operations, towards the northwestern sector of the Kursk salient.

At this time the order of battle of the 65th Army was as follows:
* 18th Rifle Corps ( 69th, 149th and 246th Rifle Divisions)
* 27th Rifle Corps (60th and 193rd Rifle Divisions and 115th Rifle Brigade)
* 37th Guards, 181st, 194th and 354th Rifle Divisions
* 4 Separate Tank Regiments, 2 Antitank Regiments, 2 Mortar Regiments, 2 Guards Mortar Regiments, and other support units
Army strength: 100,000, 1,837 guns and mortars, 124 tanks and self-propelled guns.

Due to its position in the western sector of the salient, the 65th emerged mostly unscathed from the Battle of Kursk, and was well equipped to exploit the German defeat. In late July and August the Army joined in the pursuit of German forces to the Dnepr River. On 15 Oct., with divisional and army artillery firing 1,000 shells per minute in support, the 193rd Rifle Division forced a crossing of the Dnepr. From this point on, the 65th Army began earning a well-deserved reputation for its abilities in river-crossing and bridgehead operations.

Operation Bagration

Rokossovsky's command was renamed 1st Belorussian Front, and in June, 1944, 65th Army took part in major strategic operations in Belorussia. The Army's order of battle at this time was as follows:
* 18th Rifle Corps (37th Guards, 44th Guards and 69th Rifle Divisions)
* 105th Rifle Corps ( 75th Guards, 193rd and 354th Rifle Divisions)
* 15th and 356th Rifle Divisions, and 115th Rifle Brigade
* 1st Guards Tank Corps (15th, 16th, 17th Guards Tank Brigades, and 1st Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade)
* 1 Separate Tank Regiment and 4 Separate Self-propelled Artillery Regiments, and other support units.

In a well-known confrontation at the planning stage, Rokossovski convinced Stalin that, given the terrain, it was better to strike two strong blows against the German forces than just one. He was counting on Batov's ability to lead his Army across swampy regions south of Bobruisk, using corduroy roads, swamp shoes, and other means. 65th Army did not disappoint, and within a few days the German Ninth Army was encircled and mostly destroyed. For his performance, Batov was promoted to Colonel General.Glantz, p 41

65th Army crossed the Bug River

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