Movement to contact and commitment to combat of reserve fronts (Great Patriotic War experience and modern times).
Military Thought › Vol. 13 Nbr. 2, April 2004
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Movement to contact and commitment to combat of reserve fronts (Great Patriotic War experience and modern times).
The Supreme High Command Headquarters (SHC Hq) were constantly upgrading methods of strategic operations during the years of the Great Patriotic War. The most important course of action in this field was the timely creation of reserves and their skillful use for reinforcing strategic force groupings. Reserve large strategic formations of fronts were designed to boost the efforts of troops or continue advance in newly opened sectors. The roles of reserve fronts were varied and depended first of all on their place in strategic force groupings, operational objectives, tasks of operations and the importance of sectors in which they operated. Their effective combat strength was determined on this basis.
In 1941-1942, the SHC Hq used strategic reserves (fronts and armies) mainly to disrupt and delay enemy offensives and stabilize fronts in the most important sectors. July 1941 saw the formation of the Front of Reserve Armies and the Front of the Mozhaisk Defense Line which formed the basis for the subsequent Reserve Front. December saw the creation of the Moscow Defense Zone. All these frontal formations were preparing defense lines for repulsing enemy attacks. The Reserve Front formed on 30 July 1941 in the western sector carried out the Yelnya offensive operation in early September. At the start of the Battle of Moscow, it took part in repulsing the enemy offensive, sustained considerable losses and was integrated into the Western Front. In 1943, the Reserve Front was recreated, albeit briefly (it was known as the Kursk Front on 24-27 March, and as the Orel Front on 27-28 March), in April it was transformed into the St...See the full content of this document
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