Led by Pavel Belov it was involved in several colossal combat operations during the Great Patriotic War, with its most stupendous accomplishments seen during the Battle of Moscow.

As a result, despite many difficulties, they achieved the longest successful raid of the Second World War, surpassing the besieged 62nd Army (Soviet Union) at Stalingrad.

In operational subordination: 436th Fighter Aviation Regiment in the period from January 18, 1942, to February 4, 1942, on I-16 aircraft 28th Mixed Aviation Division between December 25, 1941, and January 25, 1942 On 14 October 1941, the German Army Group Centre resumed its offensive operations against the Soviet capital city of Moscow and merely 4 days later two crucial fortified regions of Mozhaisk and Maloyaroslavets were captured.

In order to hold Tula, which was a city that was essential to the Soviet war efforts against the Wehrmacht's Army Group Center in its push towards Moscow, the STAVKA High Command ordered the 2nd Cavalry Corps under the command of Major General Pavel Alexeyevich Belov, with its flanks reinforced by the 10th, 49th and 50th Armies to defend the city.

The combined efforts of the cavalry corps and the several Soviet armies were capable of repelling Guderian's strikes towards Tula, and on 31 October Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Brauchitsch, the Head of OKH, ordered that offensive operations against Moscow as part of the strategic Operation Typhoon be ceased due to logistical problems and supply shortages as winter approached, considering that the supply lines could not be further stretched and have efforts overly exerted upon their military culminating point.

In a desperate attempt to defend against the German onslaught, the STAVKA High Command hurled the 2nd Cavalry Corps under the command of Major General Pavel Belov, later renamed the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps on 26 November, the 112th Tank Division led by General Andrei Getman, an armored brigade, a battalion of BM-13 Katyusha rocket launchers and air support at the armoured beasts of the 2nd Panzer Group.

After a vicious fight had ensued, the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps and 112th Tank Division's combined efforts proved to be extremely effective, repelling the 2nd Panzer Group back by 40 kilometers, towards the town of Mordves.

It was on the same day that the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps and 9th Tank Brigade, with their flanks supported by the infantrymen of the 332nd Rifle Division, 10th and 50th Armies, mounted a powerful assault on General Heinz Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group.

The courage and combat effectiveness of the cavalry corps were unmatched, and the panzer group, which had been plagued with logistical issues as well as problems that arose along with the harsh winter, including the rampant growth in numbers of soldiers getting frostbites and tank's engines and fuels freezing, was already incapable of wielding the colossal armored power which it had once possessed against the opponents.

Guderian's panzers were subdued spectacularly by the horsemen of the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps, tankmen of the 9th Tank Brigade, and the supporting infantry.

[citation needed] As the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps continued advancing with much impetus, Guderian's forces were being pushed back rapidly.

Due to the fact that the cavalry corps were proclaiming an overwhelming number of victories over the German panzers, the disappointed and infuriated Fuhrer of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler, summoned Guderian back to the base of Wolfsschanze in East Prussia on 20 December, and subsequently relieved him of his command on Christmas Day 1941.

In this battle, the cavalry corps completely and magnificently subdued and repelled the once victorious and unstoppable 2nd Panzer Group which was commanded by the inventor of modern armored warfare and swept ferociously across the Russian steppe.

The group swung north and fought against the mighty 9th Army under Generaloberst Walther Model, and after much fighting, the 1st Guards Cavalry gradually gained the upper hand.

After that, the group was then ordered to attempt to encircle and destroy the German 9th Army, an operation which soon proved to be overly ambitious and would later result in a terrible defeat.

"[3] However, quite unexpectedly for Major General Pavel Belov, the 9th Army was able to perform a counter-encirclement of the group, trapping the Soviet soldiers inside a pocket, cutting them off from the rest of the forces of the Western Front.

As a cunning commander who wielded exceptional strategic ingenuity, Belov was able to lead his cavalry and launch numerous raids behind the enemy lines, disrupting supply routes and mounting ambushes and sudden attacks against groups of German soldiers.

However, the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps managed to avoid much interaction and conflict with German forces, while effectively operating within the occupied territories.

The corps, emerged in the forests of Kirov after which it made a breakthrough to link with the main Red Army forces and continue the fight against the Wehrmacht.

The Head of the German OKH, Generalfeldmarschall Franz Halder, was so impressed and stunned by the raid that he gave Belov the nickname "Fox", symbolizing the corps' ability to survive behind the enemy lines after an extremely terrible defeat and launch blows of lightning speeds against the forces in the rear.

[4] Reflecting on the fate of the fallen and survived Soviet soldiers who fell into the hell of the Battles of Rzhev one involuntarily comes to the conclusion about the influence of the personality in history.

Having regrouped forces and put himself in order, the corps launched a counteroffensive and, together with other units of the 16th Army, pushed the enemy 5–10 km South of the Zhizdra River, providing the necessary springboard for the future on advance.

Total losses from August 12 to September 8 of the corps during the operation amounted to 10457 people killed and wounded, 2,915 horses, 41 guns, 119 mortars.

Here they again the unit proved itself by crossing the river Dnepr and taking part in the Kyiv offensive operation, which resulted in the liberation of the Ukrainian capital.

For its role in the battles during the liberation of the city of Zhitomir, the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division was awarded the second Order of the Red Banner (November 13, 1943).