a neighboring rifle regiment was crushed, and the 81st was outflanked, but the German forces were unable to achieve their objective of Shishino.

69th Army ordered the division to withdraw to new lines, and it was transferred again, now to 48th Rifle Corps, where it would remain until the end of the battle.

The panzer troops, much weakened during the previous five days of heavy combat, had to rest and resupply on July 10.

On the following day, the division thwarted an attempt to force the river at Shcholokovo; its main opponent, 19th Panzer, was by now down to only 14 operational tanks.

However, a more successful crossing by 6th Panzer at Rzhavets to the north made the position of the rifle corps even more vulnerable, and elements of 5th Tank Army were diverted to reinforce it.

Finally, before dawn on July 15, 48th Rifle Corps began to withdraw from the loose pocket in which it was held, and completed this move by 1040 hrs.

The 81st was directed to assemble in the area of Dalnii Dolzhik, where it began a long process of rest and replenishment.

During the Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation, on September 14, General Morozov suffered a serious wound and left command of the division.

From September 25 to 27 the commander of the 235th Guards Rifle Regiment, Lt. Col. Grigorii Trofimovich Skiruta, led his troops in crossing two channels of the river near the village of Orlik, and was recognized for his personal courage and bravery with the award of the Gold Star of a Hero of the Soviet Union on October 26.

During this sharp fight the Romanian division penetrated the defenses of the 81st Guards and drove its forces northwards to the southern outskirts of the town of Harmanesti, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west-northwest of Târgu Frumos.

Here the division was able to halt the enemy advance, and prepare a counterattack with its second-echelon rifle regiment, supported by all of the divisional artillery.

After a short but bloody encounter, the Romanians broke for the rear, prompting their divisional commander to call for assistance from the neighboring German Grossdeutschland Division.

The attack began at 0400 hrs., and in the early going the 7th Guards Army advanced from 4–10 km (2.5–6.2 mi), in the direction of Târgu Frumos.

As soon as the Soviet tanks appeared in front of their trenches, with infantry advancing steadily behind them, few of them remained..." But this resistance increased as the Romanians retreated southwards.

"Retreating southward, the enemy clung to every house and hillock, trying with all of his might to halt us as far as possible forward from the fortified region... between the Seret and Prut Rivers.

The Royal forces offered particularly strong resistance in the sector from the village of Helestieni to Mount Hushenei..." By midday the division had bypassed and isolated several of Grossdeutschland's strong points and advanced up to 12km southwards, capturing several other fortified villages and approaching the outskirts of Târgu Frumos by late afternoon, before being intercepted by a battlegroup from the 3rd SS Panzer Division.

[14] In preparation for the final drive on Budapest, in November, the 81st, under 24th Guards Rifle Corps, was transferred to 53rd Army for the duration.

[15] It was now known by the official title of 81st Guards Rifle, Krasnograd, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Division (Russian: 81-я гвардейская стрелковая Красноградская Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия), and four men of the division had received the Gold Star of Heroes of the Soviet Union.