Mechanized Corps (Soviet)
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A Mechanized Corps was a Soviet armoured formation used since before the beginning of World War II.
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[edit] Pre-war development of Soviet mechanized forces
In Soviet Russia, the so-called armored forces (Bronevyye sily) preceded the mechanized corps. They consisted of the automated armored units (avtobroneotryady) made of armored vehicles and armored trains. The country did not have its own tanks during the Civil War of 1918-1920.
In January of 1918, the Russian Red Army established the Soviet of Armored Units (Sovet bronevykh chastey, or Tsentrobron’), later renamed to Central Armored Directorate and then once again to Chief Armored Directorate (Glavnoye bronevoye upravleniye). In December of 1920, the Red Army received its first light tanks, assembled at the Sormovo Factory. In 1928, it began the production of the MS-1 tanks (Malyy Soprovozhdeniya 1, 'Small Convoy 1'). In 1929, it established the Central Directorate for Mechanization and Motorization of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. Tanks became a part of the mechanized corps at this point.
During this time, and based on the experience of the Civil War with its sweeping movements of horse-mobile formations, Soviet military theorists such as Vladimir Triandafillov and Konstantin Kalinovsky elaborated the principles of combat use of armored units, which envisioned a large-scale use of tanks in different situations in cooperation with various army units. In the mid-1930s, these ideas found their reflection in the so called deep operation and deep combat theories. From the second half of the 1920s, tank warfare development took place at Kazan, where the German Reichswehr was allowed to participate.
In 1930, the First Mechanized Brigade had its own tank regiment of 110 tanks. In 1932, the First Mechanized Corps had over 500 tanks, and it was probably the first armoured unit of operational significance anywhere in the world. That same year, the Red Army established the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (today’s Military Academy of Armored Units named after Rodion Malinovsky).
In 1931-1935, the Red Army adopted light, medium, and later heavy tanks of different types. By the beginning of the 1936, it already had four mechanized corps, six separate mechanized brigades, six separate tank regiments, fifteen mechanized regiments within cavalry divisions and considerable number of tank battalions and companies. The creation of mechanized and tank units marked the dawn of a new branch of armed forces, which would be called armored forces. In 1937, the Central Directorate of Mechanization and Motorization was renamed to Directorate of Automated Armored Units (Avtobronetankovoye upravleniye) and then to Chief Directorate of Automated Armored Units (Glavnoye avtobronetankovoye upravleniye), headed by Dmitry Pavlov. Soviet armored units gained some combat experience during the Battle of Lake Khasan (1938), Battle of Khalkhin Gol (1939) and the Winter War with Finland (1939-1940).
However, experiences in these operations, and also the experiences from the Spanish Civil War, led the Red Army command to the conclusion that the mechanised corps formations were too cumbersome, and a decision was taken to disband them in November 1939, and to distribute their units among infantry. This was a mistake, as the success of German panzer divisions in France had shown, and in late 1940 the decision was reversed. However, there was not enough time before the German attack in June 1941 to reform the mechanised corps units fully and for them to reach their former efficiency [1] [2].
Besides the operational armoured and mechanized formations, there were independent tank battalions within rifle divisions. These were meant to reinforce rifle units for the purpose of breaching enemy defences. They had to act in co-operation with the infantry without breaking away from it and were called tanks for immediate infantry support (tanki neposredstvennoy podderzhki pekhoty).
[edit] Great Patriotic War
In June 1941 there were twenty-nine mechanized corps in various stages of formation. The plan was for each of them to have about 36,000 men and 1,000 tanks, but only a few approached that strength level by the time war with Germany broke out [3]. During the war against the Axis, all mechanized corps were destroyed during the early phase of the invasion of the Soviet Union, and less than a month after the attack, the Red Army formally abolished the Mechanized Corps as a formation type. Remaining tanks were concentrated in smaller formations that were easier to handle.
In September 1942, the General Headquarters (STAVKA) authorized the formation of a new type of mechanized corps which was to become the main operational mechanized formation for the remainder of the war. They were about the same size as a German panzer division, and designed as a true combined-arms formation with a good balance of armor, infantry, and artillery. Mechanized corps were not to be used in breakthrough battles, but only in the exploitation phase of an operation.
A total of thirteen mechanized corps were formed during the war against the Axis nations, nine of them becoming guards mechanized corps. A further corps, the 10th Mechanized Corps, was formed in June 1945 and saw action during Operation August Storm. The 1st, 3rd, and 9th Guards Mechanized Corps were equipped with Lend Lease tanks, Sherman M4A2.
[edit] Composition of a mechanized corps 1940
- 2 Tank Divisions
- 2 Tank Regiments
- Motorized Rifle Regiment
- Motorized Howitzer Regiment
- Division Troops
- Antiaircraft Battalion
- Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
- Truck Battalion
- Maintenance Battalion
- Medical Battalion
- 1 Mechanized Division
- 2 Motorized Rifle Regiments
- Light Tank Regiment
- Motorized Artillery Regiment
- Division Troops
- Antitank Battalion
- Antiaircraft Battalion
- Reconnaissance Battalion
- Truck Battalion
- Division Trains
- Corps Troops
- 1 Motorcycle Regiment
- 1 Signal Battalion
- 1 Motorized Engineer Battalion
- 1 Aviation Troop
TOTALS: 1,108 Tanks (420 T-34s, 126 KVs, 560 Light tanks) 37,200 men 5 Tank Regiments with 20 Tank Battalions. 4 Motorized Rifle Regiments with 12 Motorized Rifle Battalions. 2 Motorized Artillery/Howitzer Regiments with 4 Artillery Battalions.
The formation was seen as very tank-heavy, lacking sufficient infantry or artillery to support the tank formations. The 1942 order of battle was much more flexible.
[edit] Post-war
Mechanized corps remained as a formations following World War II.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- "Through the Furnace of War" - Article on the development of Red Army armoured formations
- Dupuy Institute Forum Discussion on Tank/Mech Corps
- Article on the History of Red Army Mechanized Forces
- Tank equipment of 1940-1941 Mech Corps
[edit] Further reading
- Glantz, David, The Initial Period of War on the Eastern Front, 22 June–August 1941, p. 19
- Page, J. and Bean, Tim, Russian Tanks of World War II, Zenith Press
- Sharp, Charles, Soviet Armor Tactics in World War II: Red Army Armor Tactics from Individual Vehicle to Company from the Combat Regulations of 1944
- Sharp, Charles, Soviet Order of Battle in World War II Vol 1: The Deadly Beginning: Soviet Tank, Mechanized, Motorized Divisions and Tank Brigades of 1940-1942
- Zaloga, Steven & Ness, The Red Army Handbook, Leland
