Returning to the Soviet Union in December 1937, Batov successively commanded the 10th Rifle Corps and 3rd Rifle Corps, the latter of which he led in the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland in September 1939. The corps later transferred to the Finnish front, and fought in the second phase (February – March 1940) of the Russian-Finnish War in the Karelian sector under 13th Army. For his services in Finland, Batov was awarded a second Order of Lenin, promoted to divisional commander ("Komdiv") and, in June, to lieutenant general. He was then appointed deputy commander of the Transcaucasus Military District. The outbreak of war with Germany would find him deep in the south of the USSR.