206th Rifle Division

On December 31 Colonel Ivanov handed his command over to Col. Samuil Ilich Tsukarev. At this time the division was in the 60th Army of Voronezh Front.[11] On January 13 the left-wing and center forces of the Front began the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh offensive operation against the 2nd Hungarian Army and part of the 8th Italian Army. 60th Army consisted of the 100th, 121st, 206th, 232nd and 303rd Rifle Divisions and the 104th Rifle Brigade. Each division had between 5,000-6,000 personnel on strength. By January 19 the Axis Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh group of forces had been encircled and the Army was defending along a 60 km line from Olkhovatka to Voronezh to Kremenchug, facing the German 88th, 323rd (minus one regiment) and 75th Infantry Divisions.[12]

In a regrouping that took place before the start of the next offensive the 206th was transferred to the 38th Army, still in Voronezh Front.[13] The intention was to encircle and destroy the Axis forces in the area of Voronezh and Kastornoye and subsequently develop the offensive directly on Kursk and Kharkov. Instructions to prepare and conduct the operation were issued by the STAVKA on January 20 and it was to involve the 40th, 60th and 38th Armies of Voronezh Front and the 13th Army of Bryansk Front. The first attack, scheduled for January 24, would involve the 40th and 13th Armies, which had the shortest distances to cover to meet up. 38th Army would attack second from the area of Terbuny. Its main forces would advance toward Nizhnyaya Veduga with one division on Kastornoye. Once the encirclement was made the secondary attacks by 38th and 60th Armies would split up and eliminate the isolated forces.[14]

When the offensive began the command of German Army Group B correctly determined its intention and possibilities. Believing that the encirclement of its 2nd Army would only be a matter of several days, orders were given to the VII Army Corps to withdraw from Voronezh and across the Don. Reconnaissance by 60th Army discovered this movement and it began to pursue. By dawn on January 25 the city had been completely cleared.[15] 38th Army's offensive began on January 25, moved up a day due to the German retreat from Voronezh. The attack did not begin until 1630 hours following a 30-minute artillery preparation on a 14 km sector from Kozinka to Ozerki. It had only 91 tanks (mostly in the 180th Tank Brigade) in support and no infantry reserves. The 206th was to attack toward Golosnovka and Zemlyansk to gain a line from the former village to Ilinovka by the end of the day to secure the left flank of the Army's shock group.[16]

It wasn't until dawn on January 26, following another artillery preparation, that the 240th and 167th Rifle Divisions, forming the Army's shock group, began to make any progress. Heavy fighting continued until 1300 hours when resistance began to weaken and the Axis forces began to fall back to the south. One regiment of the 206th which was attached to the shock group fought throughout the day for the village of Ivanovka. During the day the combined force advanced up to 8 km. As the Axis withdrawal continued the 38th Army went over to the attack along its entire front on January 27. Col. Gen. F. I. Golikov, commander of Voronezh Front, ordered a change to the operational plan, sending all three divisions plus the 180th Tanks in the direction of Kastornoye. This led to an advance of 15 km during the day's fighting. The 206th reached as far as Malopokrovka and Ilinovka but was unable to seize these places. The next day the tank brigade reached Kastornoye in conjunction with mobile forces of the 13th and 40th Armies, followed by rifle units of the 13th Army and the shock group of the 38th, leading to a stubborn fight for the town into the morning of January 29; meanwhile the 206th reached a line from Milavka to Akulovo to Makhovatka. As a result of these advances the main escape routes of the Axis Voronezh-Kastornoye group of forces had been cut.[17]

During the following days the 38th Army was to help complete the destruction of this grouping before beginning to advance on Kharkov at the beginning of February. By the end of January 29 the 206th had occupied Dolgushi and was continuing to attack towards Ploskoe. During the next day the division reached a line from Kotovka to Lozovka. By now there was a developing threat that significant Axis forces could escape from the encirclement because the 25th Guards Rifle Division of 40th Army was unable to hold a 30 km-wide front. Golikov ordered the 206th to move up to backstop the 25th Guards. During January 31 the division advanced to the southwest, reached Bykovo and was then subjected to counterattacks by Axis forces falling back on Yastrebovka. The division was forced to deploy along the line from Bykovo to Gologuzovka with its front facing to the southeast to repel breakout attempts to the west by Axis forces. Most of 38th Army's forces were now marching or preparing to march towards the Tim River.[18]

On February 1 the Army's commander, Maj. Gen. N. E. Chibisov, was ordered to occupy the town of Tim with the 240th and 167th Divisions and to pull the 206th out of the fighting in the Bykovo area and move it up to a line from Yastrebovka to Teplyi Kolodez by the end of the day. However, there remained an Axis group of 30,000-35,000 men east of Gorshechnoye still attempting to break out of the encirclement and the 206th, along with four other rifle divisions and one brigade, were tied down in fighting with it. One of three independent break-out groups consisted of 6,000-8,000 men of the 57th, 68th and 323rd Infantry Divisions and beginning on February 2 sought to escape in the direction of Bogatyrevo. By the end of the 4th it had made progress and was engaged in stubborn fighting with the 206th along a line from that village to Bykovo as the division was reinforced by the 232nd Division. The next morning the German group attacked the 206th's right flank regiment and pushed it out of Bogatyrevo to the north, then continued to move towards Verkhnie Apochki where it was halted by a regiment of the 237th Rifle Division and the 253rd Rifle Brigade. By now Golikov had assigned 38th Army the task of completing the elimination of the encircled groupings. On February 6 the 206th and 129th Divisions and the 253rd Brigade received orders to pursue the retreating Axis forces towards Degtyarnaya and Shlyakhovaya, which actually amounted to pushing back rearguards; by the end of the day the division had reoccupied Bogatyrevo. The next day it captured Srednie Apochki and Nizhnyaya Kleshevka. During these two days the "mobile pocket" advanced from 15 km-30 km westward and was making a bid break out through Tim and Manturovo toward Oboyan.[19]

During February 6–7 blizzard conditions had severely hampered the movement of men and supplies on both sides but also provided the Axis forces with cover from observation. This weather did not abate until February 10. During February 8 the 206th reached a road junction near Shlyakhovaya while the Axis forces pushed back units of the 237th and 232nd Divisions while not yet achieving a breakthrough. That day as well the 60th Army liberated Kursk and 40th Army reached Belgorod, which was cleared on February 9. On that day the main body of the "mobile pocket" made further advances against the positions of the 232nd and 167th Divisions. Fearing they might be encircled themselves the divisional commanders ordered their men to the north and southwest respectively, giving the Axis group a clear path to reach Manturovo and then Solntsevo. Advancing against rearguards once again the 206th reached Stuzhen.[20]

With its breakout achieved the Axis group, which had abandoned nearly all its artillery and vehicles, continued its march on Oboyan. 38th Army scrambled to close the ring again but was hampered by the state of the roads which left the tanks and other vehicles without fuel and the troops with little food or ammunition. By the end of February 10 the 206th had occupied Pokrovka and reached the area from Krutye Verkhi to Aleksandrovka to Height 248 where it seized part of the abandoned Axis equipment. On the night of February 12/13 the 240th Division cut the retreat route of one of the three original breakout groups, which was almost completely destroyed. At about the same time the 206th occupied Troitskoe and Ukolovo. Meanwhile, most of the remainder of the Axis forces reached Oboyan where they prepared to defend. General Chibisov now ordered his forces to encircle and destroy the Axis garrison of that town in preparation for a renewed offensive on Sumy, 100 km to the southwest. By the end of February 16 the 206th reached Krasnyi Pochinok and Korovino. By this date Oboyan was already partly encircled by three rifle divisions, including the 206th, and a brigade. Chibisov planned to take the town in an attack from three sides on February 18 but on the day before, anticipating the attack, the Axis garrison staged a hasty retreat. In the end only a few thousand men of the original encircled Axis force managed to escape.[21]

Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation. Note direction of advance of 40th Army.

After the German offensive came to a halt in mid-July the STAVKA made its long-delayed plans for its own summer offensive. Voronezh and Steppe Fronts would attack to regain Belgorod and then push towards Kharkov and the Dniepr River. 40th Army was to attack with its shock group, consisting of the 206th and 100th Divisions of 47th Corps, the 2nd Tank Corps, a Guards heavy tank regiment, and a large number of supporting antitank, artillery and mortar units. This group deployed along an 8km front between Vysokii and Kresanov to break through the German defense on the sector from Terebreno to Lipovye Balki and attack along the Vorsklitsa River to secure the flank of the 27th Army.[28]

The overall offensive began on August 3 but did not involve 27th and 40th Armies until August 5. The 40th's shock group attacked at 0715 hours, following a two-hour artillery preparation against the positions of the German 57th Infantry Division, which had been severely damaged in the Kastornoye pocket months before. Its resistance was soon crushed; the two Soviet armies broke through along a 26km-wide sector and by the end of the day had advanced from 8km-12km, reaching a line from Starosele to Kasilovo to Ivanovskaya Lisitsa to Nikitskoye despite counterattacks by 11th Panzer Division which were beaten off. What remained of the 57th Infantry pulled back to Tomarovka.[29]

Following this success 40th Army was ordered to advance in the direction of Trostyanets with 47th Army, still in Front reserve, coming up behind. On August 6, 40th Army's shock group fought against the 323rd Infantry Division in the Dorogoshch area. It quickly broke the German defenses and began rolling them up towards the west, reaching a line from Krasnopole to Popovka to Slavgorodok. Army Group South now committed the 7th Panzer and Großdeutschland Divisions in an attempt to stop the 40th and 27th Armies. During August 8–11 40th Army attacked towards Boromlya. On the first day it pushed aside remnants of 11th Panzer, as well as 57th and 323rd Infantry, and took the area around Zhigaylovka by the end of the day. By August 9 it was facing increasing resistance; its right flank units advanced 4–5km and captured a German stronghold at Chernetchina. Meanwhile, the 10th Tank Corps, operating in cooperation with the Army, broke through the German defense, covered 20km, and seized Trostyanets.[30]

On August 10 the 40th Army advanced another 10–12km and captured Grebennikovka and Boromlya. Its left flank units were engaged in stubborn fighting in Trostyanets, beating back counterattacks by Großdeutschland well into the next day,[31] when Maj. Gen. Serafim Petrovich Merkulov took over command of the 206th from Colonel Rutko. During August 12–16 the 38th and 40th Armies were fighting along a line from Verkhnyaya Syrovatka to Trostyanets and were unable to advance. The offensive was renewed on the morning of August 17 with the commitment of 47th Army from the reserve; the division was transferred to that Army on the same day.[32] Following a 50-minute artillery and air bombardment the combined forces of the three Armies broke through the German defense and advanced 10–12km, reaching a line from Bezdrik to Velikii Istorop. The next day 47th Army advanced another 20km, after which it was ordered to cut the road from Lebedyn to Akhtyrka to help isolate the group of German forces massed around the latter place. This was accomplished on August 19.[33]

The 47th and part of 40th Army engaged in heavy fighting on August 20 with German forces transferred from Akhtyrka and made a further advance of between 5 and 10km. This cut the last road to that town from the west. The next day the 47th resumed the offensive with the goal of enveloping the Akhtyrka area from the west and southwest. While the German force there evaded encirclement, over the next three days it was defeated and Akhtyrka was liberated. By the end of August 27 the right-flank armies of Voronezh Front had reached the Psel River and a line to the south as far as Kotelva. From here the Front was to undertake a new offensive to the west toward Gadyach and to the south toward Poltava.[34]

Formation of the Korsun-Shevchenkovskii (Cherkassy) Pocket

At this time the 27th Army was on the left (south) flank of 1st Ukrainian Front. On January 26 a mechanized corps and a Guards tank corps of the Front penetrated the right flank of 1st Panzer Army and began driving south. Meanwhile, a reconnaissance-in-force by 2nd Ukrainian Front against German 8th Army had found a weak point between Cherkassy and Kirovograd which was soon penetrated and exploited by 4th Guards and 6th Tank Armies. On the afternoon of the 28th the forces of the two fronts met at Shpola, encircling the 56,000 troops of XI and XXXXII Army Corps. During the first half of February two German panzer corps made desperate efforts to break through to the pocket while the encircling forces, including 27th Army, did their best to reduce it. On February 16 about 30,000 managed to escape, without any vehicles or heavy equipment.[47] Two days later the 206th was granted an honorific for its part in the battle:

KORSUN... 206th Rifle Division (Colonel Kolesnikov, Vladimir Pavlovich)... The troops who participated in the liberation of Korsun-Shevchenkovskii, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 18 February 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.[48]

During the battle the 27th Army was transferred to 2nd Ukrainian Front and the division came under command of the 33rd Rifle Corps.[49] Following this victory it took part in the Uman–Botoșani Offensive and on March 19 was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its part in the liberation of the former city.[50]

The 232nd Rifle Division captured Botoșani on April 7, forcing part of the Romanian 8th Infantry Division southward toward Târgu Neamț. Meanwhile, to the east, the 3rd Guards Airborne Division also attacked to the south, driving the main forces of the Romanian division back towards the town of Hârlău, flanked by the 202nd and 206th Divisions. The next day the 206th drove the Romanian group out of Hârlău, which placed it just 27 km north of Târgu Frumos. All that separated the 27th Army from its objectives were the disorganized remnants of the Romanian 7th and 8th Divisions. By now, however, the Romanian 4th Army had managed to assemble enough forces to man the Strunga Defense Line from Târgu Neamț to just south of Iași.[54]

35th Guards Corps resumed its advance towards Târgu Frumos at mid-morning on April 9 with the 202nd and 206th Divisions in the first echelon. The 206th quickly cleared the Romanian troops from the town and the adjacent region and dug into defensive positions to the southeast and southwest. Forward detachments of the 2nd Tank Army tried to reinforce the Corps but were unable to break contact with a battlegroup of the 24th Panzer Division north of Podu Iloaiei. The German 8th Army was already moving to counter the threat from 27th Army by moving the Großdeutschland Division from well east of Iași. During the afternoon this Division's 52nd Assault Engineer Battalion launched a counterattack which managed to seize and hold a small foothold in the southern part of Târgu Frumos, but the 3rd Guards Airborne soon came up to reinforce the 206th. By nightfall the three Soviet divisions had carved a menacing salient 5–10 km deep into the Romanian defense south and southeast of the town and were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the main body on 2nd Tank Army which was struggling through virtually roadless and muddy terrain.[55]

Early on April 10 Großdeutschland, which fielded 160 tanks including 40 Panthers and 40 Tigers, attacked westward along the road from Podu Iloaiei to Târgu Frumos in two columns on each side of the road. This was just as the 206th, 3rd Guards Airborne and 93rd Guards Rifle Divisions were preparing to resume their assault to the south so that only their rear elements remained behind in to town. The German attack tore these rear links and lines of communications apart. Their forward detachments were also struck by the Romanian 7th Infantry and 1st Guards Armored Divisions. The three divisions had no choice but to fight their way out of the developing trap; their only saving grace was that most of the motorized infantry of Großdeutschland had fallen behind leaving gaps between the tank groups that the riflemen could escape through overnight. By the next morning the survivors took up new defenses north and northeast of Târgu Frumos while the German forces built up positions to defend it. During the day on April 12 German infantry and assault guns cleared isolated parties from the 206th and 3rd Guards Airborne from a small pocket west of the town before further digging in. By the end of the day the three Soviet divisions held a line from the east bank of the Seret River near Pașcani east to the village of Munteni, 16 km northeast of Târgu Frumos.[56]

The next day the Grenadier Regiment of Großdeutschland began probing the defenses of 35th Guards Corps. This produced a penetration in the sector of 3rd Guards Airborne which required the 93rd Guards to be brought back to the front line from second echelon. Further jockeying for position by both sides continued through the next ten days. Overnight on April 24/25 the 206th was relieved-in-place by the 36th Guards Rifle Division which almost immediately came under attack by Großdeutschland and Romanian 1st Guards Armored.[57]

The commander of 2nd Ukrainian Front, Marshal I. S. Konev, was still determined to take Iași and organized a new offensive to begin on May 1. As part of this 2nd Tank Army was to support 27th Army in recapturing Târgu Frumos by enveloping the town from the east and then exploiting towards Vaslui in the south or through Slobodzia to capture Iași. The 16th Tank Corps was to support and exploit the assault by the 206th and 3rd Guards Airborne Divisions. Großdeutschland continued to man defenses on a wide arc from northwest to northeast of the town, supported by 1st Guards Armored on its left and a regiment of the German 46th Infantry Division on its right. In the event Konev had to postpone the start of the offensive by 24 hours. On May 1 the shock groups of 27th Army attempted to carry out reconnaissances, but were met by German artillery fire and bombing attacks. In one of the latter Colonel Kolesnikov "perished" and Colonel Nosal, commander of 722nd Rifle Regiment, was wounded. By the next morning the division occupied positions south and southeast of Lake Hirbu.[58][59]

The 27th Army's combat journal for May 2 describes the first day of the offensive:

The army commander decided to conduct the attack with three rifle divisions (the 3rd Guards Airborne, 93rd Guards Rifle, and 206th Rifle)[abreast from right to left] and retain one division (the 78th Rifle) in second echelon. The penetration of the defense was conducted along a 5.5-kilometre front in the sector from Cucuteni to... southwest of Lake Hirbu... in close cooperation with the 2nd Tank Army... The army's forces launched their attack at 0615 hours... after a 30-minute artillery preparation. Overcoming stubborn enemy resistance, the units of the 35th Guards Rifle Corps and 54th Fortified Region (on the army's right wing), in coordination with units of the 2nd Tank Army, wedged into the enemy's defenses and advanced four to six kilometres along the Târgu Frumos axis by 1100 hours... Enemy infantry and tanks (up to 70 tanks) counterattacked against the... attacking units at 1100 hours and pressed them back somewhat. Beginning at 1100 hours, groups of enemy aircraft repeatedly bombed the attacking units... The 35th Guards Rifle Corps lost 156 men killed and 275 wounded... during the day.

The 3rd Guards Airborne and 206th Divisions had shattered the defenses of the Fusilier Regiment of Großdeutschland from Hill 192 eastward to just west of the village of Polieni, captured the hilltop strongpoint, and driven the Fusiliers back towards Facuti. The supporting armor, including 16 IS-2 tanks of the 6th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment, reached the northern outskirts of that village and soon penetrated into it. This thrust was met by a battlegroup of 24th Panzer and the Panzer Regiment of Großdeutschland and stalled with losses to both sides.[60]

Meanwhile the 206th, supported by the 164th Tank Brigade and 16th Motorized Rifle Brigade, was attacking the German strongpoint at Polieni, which was defended by one battalion of the 46th Infantry. During the afternoon the German armor renewed its attack at Facuti and in a matter of hours defeated and drove back the 3rd Guards Airborne and 16th Tank Corps. During the day 35th Guards Corps and 54th Fortified Region lost a total of 160 soldiers killed and 289 wounded. Overnight Marshal Konev refined his offensive plan, ordering his forces to concentrate on far narrower sectors than the day before. The 78th Rifle was to replace the 206th on the Polieni sector, after which it was to regroup to the west and take up assault positions due north of Hill 192. 16th Tank Corps was to regroup on a narrow 1.5 km sector between the village of Nikola and Hill 197. Altogether the 206th, 3rd Guards Airborne and 93rd Guards were concentrated, left to right, on a 6 km-wide front backed by about 70 armored vehicles and most of 27th Army's artillery, in order to penetrate the German defenses and support the commitment of 2nd Tank Army towards Târgu Frumos.[61]

Overnight the German LVII Panzer Corps, which now included the 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf, regrouped the bulk of its forces precisely opposite the sectors where Konev intended to deliver his main attack. The journal of 27th Army for May 3 states:

After methodically suppressing the enemy's firing points with artillery and mortar fire, at 0600 hours the army's forces attacked southward... [T]he formations on the right wing advanced forward a short distance. However, the forces in the center and on the left wing had no success, failed to advance, and were fighting along their previous lines at day's end... The 35th Guards Rifle Corps lost 156 killed and 275 wounded...

No further progress was made on May 4, at a cost to the Corps of 55 killed and 237 wounded. Konev now gave up all hopes of resuming his offensive.[62]

At 0550 hours on May 7 the LVII Panzer Corps began a counteroffensive against Konev's positions north and northeast of Târgu Frumos. After failing to halt the German attack the 206th began to withdraw toward Hill 192, which was lost to units of the 24th Panzer and 46th Infantry Divisions before an intervention by 16th Tank Corps stabilized the Soviet line. 35th Guards Corps lost another 86 killed and 291 wounded during the day and lost most of the gains made since May 2. The next day both sides went over to the defense. Later that month the division was transferred back to 33rd Rifle Corps. In the last days of May Großdeutschland and 24th Panzer were assembled near Tăutești for a spoiling attack designated Operation Katja. The 206th was just arriving in this area to form the second echelon of its Corps. The attack began on June 2 and quickly penetrated 33rd Corps' forward defenses. The 206th hastily manned defenses at and forward of Epureni before the 24th Panzer arrived late in the day as a few tanks of 11th Guards Tank Brigade arrived to reinforce.[63]

At nightfall the Soviet armor, along with the remnants of the 206th and 202nd Divisions and the heavy weapons crews of 54th Fortified Region, were able to establish stable defenses just south of Movileni Station and the high ground to the west; more tanks from 16th Tank Corps arrived after dark. By now part of this sector of the Axis front had been turned over to the Romanian 18th Mountain Infantry Division. In the morning the Grenadier Regiment of Großdeutschland renewed the assault on Epureni and by evening had advanced to within 2 km of that village in the face of counterattacks by up to 20 tanks, including several IS-2s. The heavy fighting south of Epureni continued through June 4; at this point the German division had just four Tigers still serviceable. The next day the Romanian 18th Mountain took over the entire front facing Epureni as the panzers shifted to the east. On June 7 the 33rd Corps, now reinforced with the 93rd Guards and 409th Rifle Divisions, counterattacked toward Zahorna and took Hill 181 from the Romanian force. Großdeutschland was forced to intervene with what was left of its assault gun brigade. It was now clear that Katja could make no further progress and both sides went over to the defense the next day.[64]

On July 5 General Kalinin was hospitalized to convalesce from earlier wounds and was replaced in command the next day by Col. Aleksei Maksimovich Abramov. At about this time, as the division was rebuilding, it was noted as having about 80 percent of its personnel of Kazakh nationality, while most of the remainder were Russian.[65] By the beginning of August it had returned to 35th Guards Corps,[66] but before the start of the summer offensive it was again transferred, now to the 104th Rifle Corps. In the plan for the offensive the 27th and 52nd Armies were to provide the shock group for 2nd Ukrainian Front and the 104th and 35th Guards Corps were in 27th Army's first echelon. The 104th Corps deployed the 206th and 4th Guards Airborne Division in its first echelon on a 4 km-wide attack front, backed by the 11th Artillery Division, a heavy howitzer brigade, and 15 attached artillery brigades and regiments; in all the 206th would have 514 guns, mortars and rocket launchers firing in support. 27th Army was deployed along its previous lines, northeast of Târgu Frumos.[67]

Overnight on August 17/18 the 202nd Division took over a wide sector of the front from the 206th, allowing the latter to concentrate for its attack. The offensive began on the morning of August 20 following a powerful artillery preparation which lasted an hour and 40 minutes. 27th Army broke through the Axis front northwest of Iași between Spinoasa and Zahorna along a 20 km-wide front and as early as 1100 hours had forced the Bahlui River. By 2000 hours the Army's forces had advanced 7–12 km. In the face of Axis counterattacks by the end of the day the 104th Corps was southeast of a line from Kosiceni to Păușești. The first echelon rifle divisions had successfully carried out their combat tasks for the day; among these was opening a breach to allow the 6th Tank Army to be committed and begin its exploitation role. Among the Axis forces facing 2nd Ukrainian Front four Romanian front-line divisions and the German 76th Infantry Division suffered heavy losses and 3,000 officers and men were taken prisoner.[68]

The following day the offensive resumed at 0600 hours. Assisted by the 5th Guards Tank Corps the 104th Corps crushed the resistance of the Romanian 18th Mountain and 13th Infantry Divisions and the German 76th Infantry and 1st Panzer Divisions before fighting through heavy forest to overcome the Mare ridge. By the end of the day the 104th Corps reached a line east of Sinești to Schitu Stavnic. On August 22, while the Corps crossed the Bârlad River the 206th was pulled back into second echelon and concentrated in the Boresti area. The Front's goal for the next day was to help close the encirclement of the Axis Chișinău group of forces in conjunction with 3rd Ukrainian Front and by day's end 104th Corps had reached a line from Ivănești to Corodesti. On August 24 the 27th Army advanced as much as 30 km as the remnants of the Romanian units it faced ceased offering resistance. By the end of the day the Corps was operating on a line from Oprișești to Fatacuni.[69] On September 15 the 748th Rifle Regiment would be decorated for its role in the capture of the cities of Roman and Bârlad with the Order of Kutuzov, 3rd Degree.[70]

During early November the right flank armies of the Front (40th, 27th, 53rd and Cavalry-Mechanized Group Pliev) continued their previous advance into southeastern Hungary while the left flank armies marched on Budapest. The 27th and 53rd Armies were facing units of German 6th Army, which included the III Panzer Corps, Hungarian 2nd Armored Division and five Hungarian infantry divisions, but the Panzer Corps was soon moved westward to deal with the thrust on the Hungarian capital. On the morning of November 4 the 27th Army was to relieve units of 53rd Army along a sector from Polgár to Tiszafüred but this was complicated by ongoing fighting for the former town. A renewed offensive began on November 7 and the right flank continued a slow advance until the 25th. During this period the 206th was moved again, now back to the 35th Guards Corps.[76] At this point the 27th and 40th Armies were directed to regroup with the objective of capturing the Miskolc area. This important industrial and communications center was taken jointly by the two Armies on December 3. By the end of the day on December 19 the 27th Army was fighting along a front from 32–55 km northeast of Gyöngyös.[77]

During January 1945, the 206th was detached from corps commands to serve as a separate division within 27th Army.[78] On January 23 it assisted units of the 4th Romanian Army (now fighting on the Allied side) in the liberation of the Slovakian town of Rožňava; for its role in this on February 19 the 737th Regiment would be awarded the Order of Suvorov, 3rd Degree.[79] During February the Army came under command of 3rd Ukrainian Front and the division was again returned to 33rd Rifle Corps, where it would remain for the duration.[80]

With the end of the siege of Budapest and the German Operation Spring Awakening the Front was free to begin its final campaign into Austria. Székesfehérvár was captured for the second time on March 22 and for its part in this the 206th was awarded its final decoration, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd Degree, on April 26. On the same date the 748th Regiment was given the Order of the Red Banner and the 722nd Regiment received the Order of Kutuzov, 3rd Degree, both for assisting in the capture of the towns of Körmend and Vasvár.[81]

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• Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941–1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy. pp. 206–07