He was conscripted into the Russian Imperial Army in August 1916 during World War I and enrolled in the 203rd Reserve Infantry Regiment at Oryol.

[1] During the Russian Civil War, he joined the Mtsensk Red Guard detachment in October 1917 and was appointed a platoon commander in it.

With the courses, he took part in the suppression of the Yaroslavl rebellion from 6 to 21 July 1918, and in the fighting with the armed bands led by Sotnikov.

During training he twice left with the courses to the Petrograd front, where he took part in the battles with the Northwestern Army in the areas of Strelna, Ligovo, Gatchina, Pulkovo, and Yamburg.

After graduating from the courses in October 1919 he went to the Southern Front with the 7th Yaroslavl Regiment, where he fought against the Army of Wrangel as commander of a platoon and company of cadets.

At the end of August the division was relocated from Ashkhabad to the Tula area and as part of the 49th Army of the Western Front fought in defensive battles with superior German forces.

His units as part of the 16th Army of the Western Front fought sustained defensive battles on the Zhizdra river southwest of Sukhinichi.

Exhausting the German troops and inflicting significant losses, the corps went over to the offensive, forced the Zhizdra river and captured a bridgehead on the west bank.

Subsequently, Major General Korotkov directed the operations of the corps to hold the bridgehead until the approach of other army units.

[1] After the end of the war, Korotkov continued to command the army in the Southern Group of Forces until its disbandment in September 1945, then was placed at the disposal of the Main Personnel Directorate.

From November he commanded the 27th Guards Rifle Corps of the Central Group of Forces, and in January 1946 it was transferred to the Kiev Military District.