A total of 75 B-4 howitzers were lost from June 22 to December 1, 1941, and a further 105 howitzers were built from factories to make up for the loss. After the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Howitzer Regiments were evacuated to the far rear for protection, only returning on November 19, 1942 when the strategic initiative was wrestled back into Soviet hands. These howitzers would still be placed in the strategic reserve all the way up to the end of the war.