Later in 1944 it drove into the western Ukraine, eventually into the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, and from the autumn of that year until the spring of 1945 advanced through the difficult terrain of Slovakia, winning its own Order of the Red Banner in the process and ending the war in eastern Moravia.

Concentrated on a 16km front that stretched from Summa to the Lähde road to the Munasuo Swamp, nine rifle divisions backed by five tank brigades attacked on February 11 and by the 15th the Finnish forces were withdrawn to the intermediate line.

About 2,000 Red Army troops were killed, nearly half of whom had been taken prisoner before being executed, a few hundred were evacuated by sea and most of the remainder disappeared into the mountains, with perhaps 350-500 joining partisan groups.

By nightfall on August 4 Chuikov's Group had proven incapable of maintaining a coherent defense over a front of 60km with divisions that had from 1,500 - 4,500 men each (the 138th had 4,200 on strength), with a total of about 40 tanks and 300 guns and mortars in support.

[12] As these command rearrangements were being made the 14th Panzer Division resumed its advance on August 5 and during the day thrust 30-40km north from Aksai, bypassing Group Chuikov's weak left flank and reaching Abganerovo Station, 70km southwest of Stalingrad.

On August 22 the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps redeployed and in heavy fighting reached the southern and eastern approaches to the Station, forcing the 138th and 204th Divisions into all-around defenses to protect it.

While this attack was fought to a standstill, on August 29 the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps found a weak spot and overwhelmed the 126th Rifle Division north of Abganerovo Station, advancing 20km during the day, forcing the 138th to abandon its positions at Tinguta.

[17][18] Overnight on September 9/10 a battalion of the 29th Motorized reached the Volga south of Kuporosnoe but was thrown back in part by the 131st Rifle Division after it had been relieved at Gornaia Poliana.

In the last days of September a task group of 57th Army carried out a successful counterstroke against the positions of 1st Romanian Infantry Division at Lake Tsatsa and the 14th Panzer had to be sent to stabilize the front.

Up to 40 German tanks attacked Soviet positions along Leninskii Prospekt and Tramvainaia Street at 1300 hours and pushed into the northern part of the Barrikady by the end of the day.

On the morning of October 17 the tanks and infantry of 14th Panzer made rapid progress after smashing through the boundary between the 650th and 768th Regiments, forcing both to retreat deeper into the northern and western parts of the Barrikady.

[26] During the night the German LI Army Corps regrouped again to complete the capture of the Barrikady, including its remaining halls and the Bread Factory one block south.

The 305th Infantry and the grenadiers of 14th Panzer were forced into the tedious and costly process of rooting out Soviet infantrymen and sappers from every room and shop and as they slowly approached the Volga became more exposed to artillery fire from the east bank.

[30] The next day the two sides, both reduced to little more than weak battalion and company groups, continued a desperate struggle among the ruined shops, halls and warehouses, with gains and losses measured in tens of metres.

On the morning of October 25 nearly all of the southern and central factory buildings were in German hands; at this point the 768th was deployed in the north and the 650th in the south of the division's sector with the 344th in between, still holding a corner of Hall 6.

"[31] During October 26 and 27 the fighting in the factory district focused on the ferry landing stage between the Barrikady and the Krasny Oktyabr where the reinforcing 45th Rifle Division was scheduled to arrive.

Between November 1-10 there was another operational lull but fierce fighting continued on a limited scale, including more unsuccessful German efforts to take the ferry stage with armor support.

The front-line positions of the 138th (and attached 118th Guards Rifle Regiment) were as follows:[T]he bank of the Volga River in the center of Derevensk, the railroad crossing on Pribaltiiskaia Street, the southeastern part of Volkhovstroevsk; the northeastern part of the Barrikady Factory, and Pribaltiisk.When the 305th and 389th Infantry Divisions completed their preparations on that date they had been reinforced with five combat engineer battalions from outside the city, each numbering about 450 men which, combined with their own remaining infantry and engineers, gave the divisions a total of about 5,200 men, outnumbering the Soviet troops they faced by more than two to one.

At the same time the 138th was struck by three infantry regiments, two engineer battalions plus 16 assault guns, weighted to its right (north) flank northeast of the factory, but managed to initially hold its positions.

The 578th Infantry Regiment, led by the 50th Engineer Battalion and ten assault guns, plowed slowly toward two key objectives designated as the "Pharmacy" and the "Commissar's House", both about 400m from the river; the latter contained Lyudnikov's headquarters.

Finding a gap between the 241st and 650th Regiments a German assault group seized the ruins around the Pharmacy, but when the 50th Engineers approached the Commissar's House they found all its entrances blocked with rubble.

The 138th was struck again on November 21, repelled four battalion-sized attacks supported by seven assault guns and had about 180 of its men wounded through the day but also received supplies from several ships which also evacuated most of the casualties.

Maj. Gen. F. E. Bokov of the Red Army General Staff complained that Chuikov was failing to support the division and demanded that more ice cutters and icebreakers be brought in to ensure supplies.

[41] Apart from minor positional sparring the fighting in the city was minimal until December 16 when the Volga finally froze solid, which soon allowed vehicular supply traffic to 62nd Army.

Progress increased on January 14 when the combined Soviet force gained up to ten blocks deep into the lower Krasny Oktyabr village, pressing toward Hill 107.5 which dominated the area.

24 directing his divisions to finally seize the objectives he had assigned a week earlier but they were now facing increasing numbers of German refugees from the fighting outside the city and made little progress.

A second brigade completed forming on September 15 at Kronstadt by the Red Banner Baltic Fleet with five battalions and went to the front with 4,980 officers and men under command including 2,368 Communist Party or Komsomol members.

A second 109th started forming almost immediately in the Central Asia Military District and remained there until May 1943 when it was railed west to join the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and was soon disbanded to provide much of the manpower and equipment for the new 138th Rifle Division.

The advance to the northwest continued until January 16 by which time the German XI and XXXXII Army Corps, holding the last sector of the Dniepr line, were deeply enveloped.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Košice and nearby towns, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 20 January 1945, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.