During the following summer offensives it helped break through the defenses of the German Panther Line and advanced into the Baltic states, eventually receiving a battle honor for its part in the liberation of Riga.

For the rest of the war it was part of the forces blockading the remnants of German Army Group North in the Courland Pocket in Latvia, eventually in Leningrad Front.

[2][3] Its order of battle consisted of: This was the second of the Siberian Volunteer Brigades and it had, on September 15, 6,059 personnel, of whom 33.4 percent were Communist Party members or Komsomols.

It was soon assigned to the 6th Rifle Corps and in late September sent under that command to the Kalinin area of the Moscow Military District.

By November 1 the Corps had been assigned to the 22nd Army of Kalinin Front facing the western side of the German-held Rzhev salient.

[5][6] Its order of battle was very similar to that of the 75th, with additional support elements: When formed the brigade had 5,982 personnel on September 15, of whom 37.8 percent were Communist Party members or Komsomols.

The offensive began on November 25 and the 75th Brigade, commanded by Col. Aleksandr Efimovich Vinogradov, soon routed elements of the 2nd Luftwaffe Field Division, broke clearly through the forward German defenses and continued to advance.

[9] Early on December 4 the 41st Army went over to the defense and the 75th and 78th were ordered to move to the southwest to face the SS Cavalry Brigade and the remnants of 2nd Luftwaffe, which were being besieged in the strongpoint of Demekhi by the 17th Guards Rifle Division.

During December 5–6 the German forces encircled most of 41st Army south of Bely, with the 19th Panzer Division punching through the 78th Brigade north of Podselitsa.

The commander of 41st Army, Maj. Gen. G. F. Tarasov, ordered Colonel Vinogradov to wheel the left flank of his brigade back toward Demekhi to join with the 17th Guards in erecting new defenses to prevent any deeper German thrust across the Vishenka River.

The operational objective for the first day of the offensive was the town of Pavlinovo situated on the Smolensk - Spas-Demensk railway, 10 km to the south.

Furthermore, two key German positions at Gnezdilovo and nearby Hill 233.3 had not been identified by Soviet intelligence and so escaped the preparatory bombardment.

A few hours earlier the 56th Guards, now supported by the 249th Tank Regiment, had captured the village of Delyagino, causing the German forces to retreat 2 km to the south.

These gains unhinged the Büffel-Stellung and allowed 10th Guards Army to finally reach the Smolensk - Spas-Demensk railway; the XII Corps was now forced to trade space for time until Sokolovsky's offensive outran its logistical support.

Despite German reinforcements by late afternoon XII Corps' front was crumbling and Soviet infantry and tanks were approaching Pavlinovo.

During this down time Colonel Vinogradov, who was accused by Sokolovsky of having "lost control" of the division and failure to achieve his combat missions, was relieved on August 16 and replaced the next day by Col. Yakov Ivanovich Dmitriev.

The objective was to finally shatter the XII Army Corps and then push mobile groups through the gaps to seize Yelnya.

10th Guards and 21st Armies attacked a German battlegroup around Terenino station, held by one infantry battalion and an engineer unit.

The next day the 10th Guards mopped up the German elements that had failed to make it over the Ugra and began pushing up the rail line toward Yelnaya.

However it was clear by the end of the day that IX Corps was close to breaking and during the night it fell back to the next defensive line, which was mostly incomplete.

Supply problems forced the Soviet armies to pause for a few days outside Smolensk before making the final push.

[21] By October 2, 10th Guards Army had reached a line from Liady southwards along the Mereia River to the town of Baevo.

At this point the 19th Guards Corps finally crossed the river and joined the pursuit, which led to the eastern approaches to Dubrovno, 15 km east of Orsha, by the end of October 11.

General Sokolovsky then ordered another regrouping during which the 19th Guards Corps moved northward to take up the Ozery-Shcheki (Sheki) sector along the Verkheta River north of the Smolensk-Orsha road.

While the remainder of 10th Guards Army cleared German defenders from the bogs south of the Verkheta, this was also at considerable cost, and a halt was called once again at the end of October 26.

The 10th Guards Army was again called upon to form part of the strike group which was concentrated on both sides of the Orsha-Smolensk highway.

[24][25] This transfer, which began on December 8, involved the movement of 43,250 soldiers, 1,700 vehicles, and 6,500 horses, since the Army was still dependent on quite a lot of horse-drawn transport.

However, its deployment was delayed by the need to replenish its forces, while Army Group North surprised the Soviet command by beginning a phased withdrawal from the salient on December 29, which was completed six days later.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Riga, by the order of the Supreme High Command of October 13, 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns.