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Wreck Smurfy (talk | contribs) Continued writing Operation Mars |
Wreck Smurfy (talk | contribs) Continued writing Operation Mars |
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On October 30, 1942, Colonel Senchillo turned the division over to the command of Maj. Gen. Vasilii Nikitich Dalmatov. In the planning for the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive, the Army commander, Maj. Gen. V. A. Yushkevich, gave Dalmatov a diversionary assignment. His division was to attack with the 1208th and 1210th Rifle Regiments against a small German-held salient south of the road from [[Nelidovo, Nelidovsky District, Tver Oblast|Nelidovo]] to [[Olenino, Tver Oblast|Olenino]]. In the event the salient was taken and held, making it one of the few permanent gains by the Red Army in Operation Mars, although casualties in the division were high.<ref>David M. Glantz, ''Zhukov's Greatest Defeat'', University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1999, pp. 62-63, 210, 288</ref>
In the aftermath of the battle on January 4, 1943, the chief of staff of Kalinin Front reported on shortcomings in the combat units, including the 362nd:{{quotation|"...5. Weapons, as a consequence of the lack of care in the combat units, are rusty, filthy, rifles lack foresights; many of the automatic weapons no longer fire automatically because of defects, and heavy machine guns are not operable ([[185th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|185th]], 362nd, [[238th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|238th Rifle Divisions]] and others).<ref>Svetlana Gerasimova, ''The Rzhev Slaughterhouse'', Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2013, p. 221</ref>}}
As the German [[9th Army (Wehrmacht)|9th Army]] prepared to evacuate the salient its artillery units began firing off excess ammunition, and on February 24 the combat positions of the division were struck by up to 1,000 shells and mortar rounds.<ref>Gerasimova, ''Rzhev Slaughterhouse'', p. 132</ref> When that Army began [[Operation Büffel]] on March 1 the 362nd was part of [[25th Rifle Corps]] and briefly took part in the pursuit before being ordered, with its Corps, on March 11 into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for rebuilding at [[Plavsk]]. It remained there with its Corps for about a month before being assigned to [[Bryansk Front]].<ref>Glantz, ''After Stalingrad'', Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2011, p. 433</ref>
==Postwar==
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