| 4th Guards Tank Army | |
|---|---|
| 4-я гвардейская танковая армия | |
 | |
| Active | March 18, 1945–1960 |
| Disbanded | Predecessor: 4th Tank Army (1943–1945) Successor:20th Guards Combined Arms Army (1960) |
| Allegiance | .svg) Armed Forces of the Soviet Union |
| Branch | Land |
| Type | Tank Forces |
| Role | Tank Army |
| Engagements | Upper Silesian Operation Berlin Operation Prague Operation |
| Battle honours | Soviet Guard |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Dmitry Lelyushenko |
The4th Guards Tank Army was an operational military unit within theArmed Forces of theSoviet Union during theGreat Patriotic War and in the post–war period.[1]
The 4th Guards Tank Army was formed on March 18, 1945, by transforming the 4th Tank Army of the1st Ukrainian Front during theUpper Silesian Operation. It included the Directorate, the 6th Guards Lvov Mechanized Corps, the10th Guards Volunteer Tank Corps, the 68th Guards Tank Brigade and a number of separate formations and units. During theoperation, the army participated in theencirclement and liquidation of the Oppeln Group of German troops, which was liquidated by March 22. On March 24, the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps was included in the army, in which, in addition to artillery and motorized rifles, there were 150 tanks.
On March 24, 1945, the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps went on the attack in the direction ofLeobschütz –Troppau, but did not achieve much success and was able to advance only 3–4 km. In connection with this, the army commander brought the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps intobattle in the direction of Stoiberwitz. This maneuver yielded results, the corps advanced 10 km deep into the enemy's defenses and created a direct threat to the encirclement of the1st Panzer Division of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Guards, which until that time had held back the advance of the 10th Guards Tank Corps. In the next 3 days, the army completed the encirclement of German troops in the Biskau Region and, in cooperation with the60th Army, destroyed them.[2]
On April 3, the army left its combat sector in Upper Silesia of the60th Army and returned to theForst Area, where it was supposed to take part in theBerlin Operation. The 4th Guards Tank Army received the task of entering the breakthrough of the5th Guards Army, and after it had broken through the enemy's defenses on theNeisse andSpree Rivers, overtaking the battle formations of rifle units, it was necessary to rapidly develop theoffensive in the direction ofSpremberg and on the sixth day of the operation capture the cities ofDessau andRathenow. Before the start of the operation, a number of formations and units of the army received the rank of guards.
On April 16, units of the army went on the offensive. Successfully advancing, the 4th Guards Tank Army captured the cities ofSpremberg,Calau,Luckau,Babelsberg and on April 21 reached the approaches to the southwestern suburbs ofBerlin. The 63rd Guards Tank Brigade under the command of ColonelMikhail Fomichev, acting as the vanguard of the 4th Guards Tank Army, defeated the Germangarrison inBabelsberg (south of the outskirts of Berlin) and freed 7,000 prisoners from concentration camps. Among them wasFrenchPrime MinisterÉdouard Herriot and his wife. On April 22, the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps captured the cities ofBeelitz, Treuenbritzen andJüterbog, where theairfield and about 300 enemy aircraft were captured. Having reached the Treyenbritzen–Beelitz Line, the corps started a battle with the advanced units of the12th German Army of General Wenck, which was trying to break through to Berlin. All enemy attacks were repulsed, and his units were thrown back to their original position. On April 23, the 10th Guards Tank Corps crossed the Teltow Canal.[3]
Having entered the German capital from the south, the 4th Guards Tank Army was rapidly moving towards joining forces with the troops of the1st Belorussian Front, closing the encirclement aroundBerlin from the west. On the night of April 25, the 35th Guards Mechanized Brigade of the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps captured the city ofKetzin, 22 km west of Berlin, where it joined up with the328th Rifle Division of the 77th Rifle Corps and with the 65th Guards Tank Brigade of the 1st Belorussian Front, closing the encirclement in the area.
After that, the 4th Guards Tank Army continued to perform tasks: firstly, it had to reliably close the enemy's exit routes fromBerlin to the southwest, and secondly, to prevent the12th Army from reaching Berlin, which had the main task of releasing Berlin from 200,000–strong garrison, and, thirdly, not to release the remnants of the9th German Army, breaking through therear of our army in theLuckenwalde Region to the west, into the American zone. On the morning of May 2, the German troops, breaking through from the encirclement, went to the location of the armyheadquarters. The repulse of the attack was personally led by the Army Commander Dmitry Lelyushenko, and by noon the enemy was defeated.
On May 1, the decisive blow of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps to the west and the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps to the east and southeast, in cooperation with units of the13th Army ofGeneral Pukhov, completely defeated the formations of the12th and the remnants of the9th Armies of the enemy. Belov's10th Guards Tank Corps, along with other army formations, continued to persistently storm the southwestern part of Berlin, pressing the enemy against theBrandenburg Gate. On May 2, the Berlin Garrison capitulated.
During theBerlin Operation, the troops of the 4th Guards Tank Army destroyed 42,850 enemysoldiers andofficers, 31,350 were taken prisoner, 556 tanks andarmored personnel carriers, 1,178 guns and mortars were burned and captured.[4]
The 4th Guards Tank Army, as part of the1st Ukrainian Front, took part in thePrague Operation, the last offensive operation of the Soviet troops inEurope. On May 3, the army gave its combat sector to the69th Army of the1st Belorussian Front and began to concentrate in the forests 35–50 km south ofBerlin to prepare an attack onPrague. The army was ordered to advance in the zone of the13th Army along the western banks of theElbe andVltava Rivers in the general direction ofTeplice – Shanov –Prague.
On May 5, units of the army crossed the Elbe in theTorgau Region. On May 6, the army went on theoffensive, a day earlier than planned, due to the start of thePrague Uprising. By the evening of May 6, the army troops, having traveled 50 km, reached the line ofWaldheim, Siebelen, and advanced detachments advanced up to 65 km, captured an important railway junction – the city ofFreiberg. On May 7, the 4th Guards Tank Army advanced another 50–60 km, to the Frauenstein–Sayda Line. Soon all the passes through theOre Mountains were occupied by Soviet units. The10th Guards Tank Corps occupiedTeplice and Shanov, and the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps took Duhtsev.
On the night of May 8, the 10th Guards Mechanized Brigade, acting as an advance detachment of the army, defeated the headquarters ofArmy Group Center in the area of the city ofŽatec, thereby completely paralyzing the control of German troops.
Acting in difficult mountainous conditions, the guardsmen of the 16th Mechanized Brigade of Grigory Shcherbak broke into the city ofMost, which is of great military–industrial importance, on the morning of May 8. There was placed a large plant for the production of synthetic gasoline. The brigade destroyed more than 20 enemy guns, defeated the Nazi garrison and liberated the city.
On the night of May 9, the 63rd Guards Tank Brigade broke intoPrague. At 04:00 in the morning, the entire10th Guards Tank Corps entered the Czech capital and reached its northeastern outskirts, eastern and southeastern outskirts. 6th Guards Mechanized Corps – to the southern and southwestern outskirts of the city. 5th Guards Mechanized Corps – to the western outskirts. Together with these units, the3rd Guards Tank Army,3rd Guards and13th Armies also entered the city.
The 4th Guards Tank Army, by order of the front command, after the liberation ofPrague, advanced to the east and southeast and cut off the escape routes of the defeated German troops to the west. The 11th Guards Mechanized Brigade of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, acting in the direction ofPilsen, at 11:00 on May 9, met with the2nd Infantry Division of the5th Army Corps of the 3rd American Army in the Rzhychany Area (20 km east of Pilsen).[5]
During thePrague Operation from May 6 to May 10, 1945, the 4th Guards Tank Army, having fought about 200 km, destroyed and captured about 200 tanks and armored personnel carriers, 246 guns and mortars, 6290 vehicles, captured 48 thousand German soldiers and officers, including 9 generals.[6]
After the end of the war, the 4th Guards Tank Army was included in theCentral Group of Forces and was located in theSoviet Occupation Zone. In 1946, the army was renamed the 4th Guards Mechanized Army. Its corps were converted into divisions. In November 1946, due to a decrease in the personnel of theArmed Forces of the Soviet Union, the 4th Guards Mechanized Army was transformed into the 4th Guards Separate Personnel Tank Division. Accordingly, its divisions were transformed into separate personnelregiments, regiments into separate personnelbattalions ordivizions, separate battalions into separate personnelcompanies orbatteries.
During 1949, a full–fledged 4th Guards Mechanized Army was re–formed from separate personnel units as part of the 6th and 7th Guards Mechanized and 10th Guards Tank Divisions. In 1958, it was again renamed the 4th Guards Tank Army. In 1960, it was transformed into the20th Guards Combined Arms Army.
On 1 April 1945[edit]
Parts of army subordination:
| For 1946[edit]
For 1958[edit]
|
| Armies |
|
|---|---|
| Guards | |
| Tank/Mechanized | |
| Guards Tank/Mechanized | |
| Shock | |
| Cavalry | |
| Sapper |
|
| Reserve Army |
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