The 2nd Training Motorized Rifle Division named after Alp Arslan is a division of the Turkmen Ground Forces. Its headquarters is at Tejen in the Ahal Region.; ; It traces its history to the 357th Rifle Division formed in August 1941 in Sarapul in the then Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a standard Red Army rifle division. It notably served on the front lines of the 1st Baltic Front during the Second World War. Particularly, it helped lead the 3rd Shock Army in the battle and siege of Velikiye Luki. By late October 1945, the division had been transferred to the Turkmen SSR, where it was re-designated four times as Soviet Army unit. It remained in Turkmenistan even after the events of 1991 and serves as one of four units in its armed forces.
In the summer and autumn of 1944 the 357th took part in the Riga Offensive into the Baltic states, and won the Order of Suvorov for its part in the liberation of that city.
Formation and World War II The 357th Rifle Division began forming in August 1941 in the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Ural Military District.Walter S. Dunn, Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2006, p. 78 Its order of battle was as follows: 1188th Rifle Regiment 1190th Rifle Regiment 1192nd Rifle Regiment 923rd Artillery Regiment 640th Sapper Battalion 219th Antitank Battalion 422nd Reconnaissance Company 377th Signal CompanyCharles C. Sharp, "Red Tide", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From June to December 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. IX, Nafziger, 1996, p. 92
On the first day of September Colonel Dmitry Kirshev was assigned to command of the division, a post he would hold until February 14 1942. The division was assigned to 39th Army while it was still forming, but by the time it reached the front it had been reassigned to 22nd Army in the Kalinin Front. By the end of January 1942, it was back in 39th Army.Sharp, "Red Tide", p. 92
Battles of Rzhev During this period, the armies of Kalinin Front were deeply outflanking Army Group Center from the north, carving out the Toropets salient to the north and west of German 9th Army's positions in the Rzhev salient. During the rest of the winter the 39th Army was tasked with driving westwards to encircle and destroy these enemy forces in conjunction with Western Front attacking from the east.John Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad, George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd., London, UK, 1975, p. 326 In the event, difficult terrain and supply shortages, plus desperate German resistance, frustrated this plan. On February 15 1942, Colonel Kirshev was replaced in command by Colonel Aleksandr Lvovich Kronik.
On July 2 Army Group Center launched Operation Seydlitz to finally liquidate this threat to its rear. On July 6 the corridor from Kalinin Front to its besieged 39th and 22nd Armies was cut at the village of Pushkari, north of Belyi, which encircled the 357th along with several others. Over the following weeks individuals, small groups, and even some formed and armed subunits managed to make their way through the encirclement lines, but despite this 39th Army reported 582 killed, 269 wounded and the enormous total of 22,749 missing in action in the month of July. 39th Army had to be reformed on the basis of the 58th Army headquarters.Svetlana Gerasimova, The Rzhev Slaughterhouse, ed. & trans. S. Britton, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2013, pp. 59-61, 69 While enough of the division survived this ordeal to avoid being disbanded, by August 1 its remnants were in the Moscow Military District for rebuilding, which went on into September.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 158
Battle of Velikiye Luki By October 1 the division had been sufficiently rebuilt that it was assigned to the Moscow Defence Zone.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 197 On October 13 Kalinin Front received orders that several formations would be transferred to its command, in the buildup to the forthcoming Operation Mars. Among these was the 5th Guards Rifle Corps to reinforce 43rd Army. The 357th was directed to begin loading onto trains at Naro-Fominsk on October 15;Gerasimova, Rzhev Slaughterhouse, p. 213David M. Glantz, After Stalingrad, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2009, p. 52 however it is listed as still being in the Moscow Zone on November 1.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 219 The division arrived in 43rd Army later that month where it was assigned to 5th Guards Corps, but was soon sent, with its Corps, to reinforce 3rd Shock Army, which launched an offensive to retake Velikiye Luki and Novosokolniki on November 25.Glantz, After Stalingrad, p. 446Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942, p. 234 The 357th was described at this time as being at full strength for equipment and personnel, and that one in four (25 percent) were Party members or Komsomols. The division's Deputy for Political Affairs was senior Battalion Commissar V. A. Belov.https://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/beloborodov2/08.html (In Russian, retrieved Apr. 29, 2018)
Major General Afanasy Beloborodov 5th Guards Corps was to take the leading role in the offensive. After forcing a crossing of the Lovat River and bypassing Velikiye Luki to the southwest, its objective was to cut the rail lines from Velikiye Luki to Nevel and Velikiye Luki to Novosokolniki, and to link up with other forces of 3rd Shock advancing from the northeast to encircle the city. The 357th was to then storm the city from the west while 9th Guards Rifle Division continued the advance on Novosokolniki. 46th Guards Rifle Division, on the left flank, was to cover the other two divisions against counterattacks from the southwest. On the eve of the offensive, forward detachments of all three divisions crossed the Lovat, suppressed the German advanced positions along the west bank, and then advanced to their main line along the Nevel railway; this reconnaissance-in-force both revealed much of the enemy fire plan and put artillery observers in position to direct fire against it in the opening preparation. As reinforcement, the 357th was assigned the 27th Tank Regiment and, as it was intended to attack a fortified city, it also got one battalion of the 358th Guards Artillery Regiment, consisting of 12 152mm howitzers. Altogether, with its own assets and the divisional and regimental artillery, the Corps had about 45 barrels per kilometre on the breakthrough front. The Lovat is not wide (25 to 60 metres) but has a fast current, steep banks, and few good approaches.
The night of November 24 was foggy, which hindered German illumination flares as the Soviet forward detachments crossed the river and entered no-mans-land and the German advanced posts fell back to their main position. By 0800 hrs. on November 25 the Corps had seized a bridgehead of about 14 square kilometres, and the 1192nd Rifle Regiment had advanced to the village of Peschanka. However, the supporting tanks had fallen behind during the night approach. The fog lifted after 1000 hrs., allowing the 30-minute artillery preparation to begin. The infantry attack began at 1100 hrs., but developed slowly because the enemy fire system could not be fully suppressed. As the 1192nd attacked Peschanka it came under flanking fire from height 158.1 and the village of Gorushka, which slowed its progress. Later in the day, Katyusha rocket volleys suppressed the German fire enough that the 357th was able to enter Gorushka, while the 9th Guards seized height 158.1. This last was a serious loss to the enemy line. Meanwhile, the 508th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 46th Guards found a gap in the main German line, and over the next day exploited into the depth of their defense.https://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/beloborodov2/08.html (In Russian, retrieved Apr. 30, 2018) Note this source mis-numbers the regiment as the 1092nd.
While the Guards divisions created an outer encirclement of Velikiye Luki, the 357th moved as planned to cut the road and railroad immediately west of the city, beginning an inner encirclement, while still facing resistance from elements of the 251st and 257th Infantry Regiments of the 83rd Infantry Division, backed by rocket artillery and some armor. On the night of November 26/27 the first German reserves were identified, from the 20th Motorized Division and the 138th Regiment of 3rd Mountain Division. After painful progress through November 27, at 1500 hrs. Colonel Kronik was able to report that his troops had reached the Velikiye Luki - Novosokolniki road, sealed the Vorobetzkaya exit, and was attacking height 164.9. The division continued to make progress on the 28th, reaching out to the 381st Rifle Division which was advancing from the north. By the end of the day this was accomplished, while the 9th Guards had completed the outer encirclement. This produced an inner pocket of the Velikiye Luki garrison, and an outer pocket of the remaining defending forces, mainly the two regiments of 83rd Infantry and the 138th Mountain Regiment, which were holding out in and around the village of Shiripino.https://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/beloborodov2/08.html (In Russian, retrieved Aug. 17, 2018)
It was clear to the Soviet command that the Germans would soon attempt to relieve the besieged city, which lay about 15km from their lines, by first breaking through to the Shiripino group (holding a pocket about 4 - 4.5km in length) before covering the remaining distance. The top priority for the Soviets was to eliminate the pocket. Army General Georgy Zhukov arrived, along with Kalinin Front's chief of artillery General N. M. Khlebnikov, and insisted on assessing the situation from Colonel Kronik's observation post, despite the fact it was under fire from two sides. The attack began on the evening of December 2, with 12 Soviet battalions including the full 1188th Rifle Regiment and the divisional training battalion. However, just as the artillery preparation was to begin, word arrived that the expected German relief attempt had begun; the lines of the 508th Guards Rifle Regiment had been penetrated and by morning the attackers reached the pocket, but the Soviet commanders on the ground organized counterattacks to prevent any further advance. The battle continued and at noon the 357th's training battalion captured Shiripino, while Major M. Ye. Kheifets' 1188th Regiment took Shelkovo. Although the German command was successful in evacuating some of its encircled troops, it was unable to hold its ground, and when the lines stabilized the distance to Velikiye Luki had barely lessened.https://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/beloborodov2/09.html (In Russian, retrieved Sep. 13, 2018)
In anticipation of a further German effort to relieve Velikiye Luki, the 357th was transferred to the direct command of 3rd Shock Army on December 10. During the remainder of the month the division, along with the 257th Rifle Division and the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps, with significant assistance from corps- and army-level artillery, gradually ground down the city garrison. The encircled troops were reliant entirely on air-dropped supplies, and as the new year began were hanging on in the old fortress (Kreml) west of the river and in and around the railway station east of it.
Another German thrust to break through to the city began in early January 1943, and reached to within 8km of the Kreml before being halted. Two more desperate efforts were made on January 10 and the night of January 14/15, the last of which provided cover for a breakout from the Kreml position; only about 150 officers and men managed to reach friendly lines. The following day the rest of the garrison surrendered, bringing the battle to a close.