On 3 October the division engaged the Germans at the bend of the Dnieper River near the villages of Volovhek Kamenetz.

In the following days, in conjunction with the 32nd Tank Brigade it repulsed the attacks of the German 17th and Panzer Divisions ("Operation Virbelvind").

The 40th and 27th Guards Rifle Regiments led by Major Sherbina continued to conduct the defense.

There the division in conjunction with other parts of the army seized a large railway junction town on 24 December 1943.

Then it participated in the Gumbinnen Offensive, receiving the Order of Lenin on 14 November for its actions in the invasion of East Prussia.

[5] The 11th Guards fought in the East Prussian Strategic Offensive Operation, taking Königsberg, and the battles around Pilau.

[6] The division was transferred to the 8th Guards Rifle Corps in the same army, and was stationed at Mamonovo.