Continued writing intro
Okumaya devam et...
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| The '''178th Rifle Division''' was formed as an infantry division of the [[Red Army]] in the [[Siberian Military District]], based on the ''shtat'' ([[table of organization and equipment]]) of September 13, 1939, on the basis of the separate 386th Rifle Regiment. Following the German invasion it was moved west and concentrated west of Moscow as part of [[24th Army (Soviet Union)|24th Army]] in early July. Late that month the Army was assigned to [[Reserve Front]]. While this Army played the main role in the successful offensive at [[Yelnya, Yelninsky District, Smolensk Oblast|Yelnya]], the 178th was held in reserve. In late August, in response to a German drive against [[22nd Army (Soviet Union)|22nd Army]] on the right flank of [[Western Front (Soviet Union)|Western Front]], the division was moved by rail and truck northward to join [[29th Combined Arms Army|29th Army]] in the vicinity of [[Nelidovo, Nelidovsky District, Tver Oblast|Nelidovo]], to cover the gap between that Army and the 22nd. When Army Group Center launched Operation Typhoon in early October the 29th Army was not directly affected, but soon had to fall back to the northeast under pressure from German [[9th Army (Wehrmacht)|9th Army]], giving up the town of [[Rzhev]] in the process. On October 17 the 29th Army became part of the new [[Kalinin Front]], and later in the month the 178th was moved to 22nd Army. On January 15, 1942, the Army went over to the counteroffensive, and the 178th soon found itself fighting to regain territory around Rzhev that it had been forced from months before. In February, the division was reassigned to [[30th Army (Soviet Union)|30th Army]], and it remained in that Army through the summer battles for the Rzhev salient. During Operation Mars, in November, it was in [[39th Army (Soviet Union)|39th Army]], and managed to gain ground during this otherwise failed offensive. During March 1943 the 178th took part in the pursuit of the German forces evacuating the salient, but soon came up on the extensive fortifications that had been built at its base, and remained facing them into August. When offensive fighting resumed the Army's objective was the town of [[Dukhovshchina, Smolensk Oblast|Dukhovshchina]], but it was only taken after heavy combat well into September. Once the town was taken the division was awarded a battle honor. Shortly after it was reassigned to [[3rd Shock Army]], still in Kalinin Front (soon renamed [[1st Baltic Front]]). During the fall and winter campaign of 1943/44 it faced the heavily fortified German positions just east of [[Novosokolniki]] as part of [[2nd Baltic Front|2nd Baltic Front's]] [[11th Guards Army|11th Guards]] and 22nd Armies, and finally liberated that town in late January 1944, earning the [[Order of the Red Banner]]. It left the fighting front in late March for a period of rebuilding in the [[Reserve of the Supreme High Command]]; when it returned in May it was assigned to [[21st Army (Soviet Union)|21st Army]] in [[Leningrad Front]]. | The '''178th Rifle Division''' was formed as an infantry division of the [[Red Army]] in the [[Siberian Military District]], based on the ''shtat'' ([[table of organization and equipment]]) of September 13, 1939, on the basis of the separate 386th Rifle Regiment. Following the German invasion it was moved west and concentrated west of Moscow as part of [[24th Army (Soviet Union)|24th Army]] in early July. Late that month the Army was assigned to [[Reserve Front]]. While this Army played the main role in the successful offensive at [[Yelnya, Yelninsky District, Smolensk Oblast|Yelnya]], the 178th was held in reserve. In late August, in response to a German drive against [[22nd Army (Soviet Union)|22nd Army]] on the right flank of [[Western Front (Soviet Union)|Western Front]], the division was moved by rail and truck northward to join [[29th Combined Arms Army|29th Army]] in the vicinity of [[Nelidovo, Nelidovsky District, Tver Oblast|Nelidovo]], to cover the gap between that Army and the 22nd. When Army Group Center launched Operation Typhoon in early October the 29th Army was not directly affected, but soon had to fall back to the northeast under pressure from German [[9th Army (Wehrmacht)|9th Army]], giving up the town of [[Rzhev]] in the process. On October 17 the 29th Army became part of the new [[Kalinin Front]], and later in the month the 178th was moved to 22nd Army. On January 15, 1942, the Army went over to the counteroffensive, and the 178th soon found itself fighting to regain territory around Rzhev that it had been forced from months before. In February, the division was reassigned to [[30th Army (Soviet Union)|30th Army]], and it remained in that Army through the summer battles for the Rzhev salient. During Operation Mars, in November, it was in [[39th Army (Soviet Union)|39th Army]], and managed to gain ground during this otherwise failed offensive. During March 1943 the 178th took part in the pursuit of the German forces evacuating the salient, but soon came up on the extensive fortifications that had been built at its base, and remained facing them into August. When offensive fighting resumed the Army's objective was the town of [[Dukhovshchina, Smolensk Oblast|Dukhovshchina]], but it was only taken after heavy combat well into September. Once the town was taken the division was awarded a battle honor. Shortly after it was reassigned to [[3rd Shock Army]], still in Kalinin Front (soon renamed [[1st Baltic Front]]). During the fall and winter campaign of 1943/44 it faced the heavily fortified German positions just east of [[Novosokolniki]] as part of [[2nd Baltic Front|2nd Baltic Front's]] [[11th Guards Army|11th Guards]] and 22nd Armies, and finally liberated that town in late January 1944, earning the [[Order of the Red Banner]]. It left the fighting front in late March for a period of rebuilding in the [[Reserve of the Supreme High Command]]; when it returned in May it was assigned to [[21st Army (Soviet Union)|21st Army]] in [[Leningrad Front]]. During the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive it took part in the main drive toward [[Vyborg]], and after this city was taken all three rifle regiments of the 178th were awarded its name as an honorific. The division remained facing Finland until early 1945, when it was moved to Latvia and spent the remainder of the war containing the German forces trapped in [[Courland]], eventually assisting in clearing the region after the German surrender in May. The 178th was one of the few prewar divisions that never saw service beyond the 1941 borders of the Soviet Union. It was moved to the [[Gorkii Military District]] in August, and was disbanded there in April 1946. |
| == Formation == | == Formation == |
Okumaya devam et...