Soviet Central Front
Encyclopedia
The Central Front was a Front
Front (Soviet Army)
A front was a major military organization in the Soviet Army during many wars. It was roughly equivalent to an army group in the militaries of most other countries except Germany...

 (i.e. a military formation of roughly Army Group
Army group
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area...

 size) of the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...

 during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

The Central Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. The first version was created on July 24, 1941 from the right wing of the forces in the Western Front
Soviet Western Front
The Western Front was a Front of the Red Army, one of the Red Army Fronts during the Second World War. This sense of the term is different from the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front usually operates within designated...

, including a new designation of the 3rd Army and the headquarters of the (disbanded) 4th Army, whose former HQ formed the Front headquarters. Colonel General Fyodor I. Kuznetsov
Fyodor Isodorovich Kuznetsov
Fyodor Isidorovich Kuznetsov , Colonel General, was a military commander of the Soviet Union.-Biography:Born to a peasant family in present-day Mogilev Oblast of Belarus, Kuznetsov served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and continued his service in the Bolsheviks' Red Army...

 took command.

The Front was a combination of the 13th and 21st
21st Army (Soviet Union)
-June to September 1941:21st Army was a part of the Second Operational Echelon of the RKKA. It was formed from the forces of the Volga Military District in May 1941 and was initially based on 63rd Rifle Corps and 66th Rifle Corps. The army was under the command of Lieutenant-General Vasilii...

 Armies. 13th Army
13th Army (Soviet Union)
The 13th Army was a name given to several field armies of the Soviet Union's Red Army, first created during the Russian Civil War...

, in the area of Mogilyov, had under command the 61st Rifle and 20th Mechanised Corps and in the Krichevsky direction the 45th and 20th Rifle Corps. The other initial component of the Front was 21st Army
21st Army (Soviet Union)
-June to September 1941:21st Army was a part of the Second Operational Echelon of the RKKA. It was formed from the forces of the Volga Military District in May 1941 and was initially based on 63rd Rifle Corps and 66th Rifle Corps. The army was under the command of Lieutenant-General Vasilii...

, under General Lieutenant Mikhail Yefremov, with 25th Mechanised Corps, and 66th, 63rd, 21st and 67th Rifle Corps. The new Front's air component was 136 aircraft (75 patched and repaired) under the command of Major General (Aviation) G.A. Vorozheikin. The Central Front thus became the first new Front formed after the German invasion.
At the time the Front was created its boundary with the Western front was along the Bryansk
Bryansk
Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Moscow. Population: -History:The first written mention of Bryansk was in 1146, in the Hypatian Codex, as Debryansk...

-Roslavl
Roslavl
Roslavl is a town and the administrative center of Roslavlsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia. It is a road and rail junction and a market town. Population: It was founded in 1137 by the Smolensk prince Rostislav Mstislavitch, hence the name...

-Shklov-Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...

 line (all inclusive for the Western front), and the main operational direction of the front was along the Gomel-Bobruisk-Волковыск
Vaukavysk
Vawkavysk or Vaŭkavysk or Volkovysk is a town in the Hrodna Province of Belarus. It is the center of Vaŭkavysk district and has a population of around 48,000....

 axis.

On August 1, 3rd Army joined the Front, and on August 7 Kuznetsov was recalled to Moscow to be given a new assignment. Command was transferred to General Yefremov. On August 8, Heinz Guderian's Panzergruppe 2 began its attack along the 13th Army sector. Four days later the German Second Army joined the attack. On August 17, the 63rd Rifle Corps was routed at the village of Skepnya (20 km to the east of Zhlobin
Zhlobin
Zhlobin is a city in the Homiel Voblast of Belarus, on the Dnieper river. As of 2005, the population is 75.866. The town was first mentioned in writing in 1492....

), and two days later elements of the Second Army occupied Gomel. On August 22 3rd Army fell back from Mozyr. Under these blows the Front was eventually encircled and destroyed near Chernigov, and was formally disbanded on August 25, 1941. The surviving forces transferred to the first version of the Bryansk Front
Bryansk Front
The Bryansk Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War.General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first formed in mid-late August 1941, comprising, in Erickson's words, 'on paper two armies, 50th and 13th, with eight rifle divisions each, three...

.

The second version of this Front was created on February 15, 1943. Then Colonel General Konstantin K. Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...

 took command, though he was promoted to full General in April 1943. General Lieutenant M. S.Malinin was named as Front Chief of Staff while general-major K.F.Telegin was made the member of the Front's Military Council. It incorporated the headquarters and forces of the Don Front
Don Front
The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name refers to Don River, Russia....

, plus additional armies; the 2nd Tank
2nd Guards Tank Army (Soviet Union)
The Second Tank Army of the Red Army was formed in January - February, 1943 on the basis of the 3rd Reserve Army of the Bryansk Front.Originally the Army comprised 11th and 16th Tank Corps, 60th, 112th and 194th Rifle Divisions, the 11th Guards Separate tank brigade, 115th Rifle Brigade, the 28th...

, 21st, 65th, and 70th (originally formed from NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....

 forces) were made part of the Front, along with the 16th Air Army under General Lieutenant Sergei Rudenko
Sergei Rudenko (general)
Serhi Gnatovich Rudenko was a Soviet Marshal of the Aviation.-Early life:...

. The Front's headquarters was established around 10 km to the east of Yelets
Yelets
Yelets is a city in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Sosna River, which is a tributary of the Don. Population: -History:Yelets is the oldest center of the Central Black Earth Region. It is mentioned in historical documents as far back as 1146, when it belonged to the Princes of Ryazan...

.

It was renamed the 1st Belorussian Front
1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during World War II...

on October 20, 1943.
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