39th Army ( Soviet Union ) The 39th Army was a Field Army of the Soviet Union ' s Red Army formed on 15 November 1941 in the Arkhangelsk Military District , in accordance with a directive issued by the Stavka ( command headquarters ) on 2 November 1941 . The army was directly subordinate to the Stavka . On 1 December 1941 the army was listed by the Soviet General Staff ' s official order of battle listings as including seven rifle divisions and two cavalry divisions ( 355th , 357th , 361st , 369th , 373rd , 377th , and 381st Rifle Division s , plus 76th and 94th Cavalry Division s . Kalinin Offensive . On 1 December 1941 the army was tasked to build defense lines along the eastern bank of the river Sheksna . After regrouping in the area of Torzhok it was sent to the Kalinin Front on 22 December , where the 39th Army took part in the Kalinin Offensive Operation . The Kalinin Offensive Operation had begun on 5 December 1941 and was one part of the Moscow Strategic Counter - Offensive . The army was within the joint sector of the 22nd Army and 29th Army under the command of Lieutenant - General Ivan Maslennikov . At the end of December the 39th Army broke through the enemy defenses to a significant depth . During the battles of 2 – 7 January 1942 the troops on the right wing reached the Volga River and those in the center broke through a new line of defense organized by the enemy on the right bank of the Volga , covering Rzhev from the west and southwest . By the end of the operation on 8 January 1942 the 39th Army had reached the north - west of Rzhev . The Sychevsk - Vyazma Offensive Operation ( 8 January – 20 April 1942 ) began immediately and the 39th Army broke through the enemy defenses in a narrow sector , expanding its offensive on Sychevka and providing a corridor through the enemy front for the 29th Army and 11th Cavalry Corps ( commanded by Colonel S . V . Sokolov ) . By the end of January 1942 its troops came to the Vyazma - Smolensk railway on the north of Yartsevo where they met stubborn resistance of the enemy troops . In early February the enemy counter - attacks from Rzhev and Olenino stopped the advance of Soviet troops and the Russian troops on the Kalinin Front were forced into a defensive situation . This resulted in the Kholm - Zhirkovsky ledge being connected to the Kalinin Front by a narrow corridor between Nelidovo and Bely , where the 39th Army faced the threatening situation of having their lines of communication cut by the enemy . The 2nd Shock Army at the Volkhov Front was in a similar situation in the same time . Kalinin defense . From February to June 1942 the 39th Army was fighting in the north - west of Vyazma - Kholm - Zhirkovsky in a defensive role . Here the 39th Army engaged in the defense of a salient which contained an enormous enemy force , caused by the 9th Army who were involved in Operation Seydlitz . The German operation began on 2 July , against the troops of 39th Army and 11th Cavalry Corps , which occupied the Kholm - Zhirkovsky ledge . The Germans attacked at the narrowest part of the corridor , approximately 27 – 28 km , attacking in the direction of Bely and Olenino . By 6 July , the German troops had closed the corridor and the 39th Army and 11th Cavalry Corps were in encirclement and then dissected into two groups . By 8 July , the 11th Cavalry Corps were subordinated to the 39th Army . The German army ceased Operation Seydlitz when it " officially ended on July 12 , after reporting by radio from the Fuhrer ' s headquarters : ' The victory in the Summer Battle of Rzhev ' . " Evacuation and disbandment . On 17 July , around 8 , 000 troops of the 39th Army , under the command by Maslennikov , crossed the river Obshu ( which passes the Bely from northeast to southwest ) to land on the north bank and occupied the area north of the village Shizderevo . On 18 July , by order of the Kalinin Front commander , the military council of 39th Army with a group of staff officers and the wounded were evacuated in nine Po - 2 light aircraft in Andreapol , of which three planes crashed . Surrounded parts of the 39th Army had been ordered to obey the Deputy of Maslennikov , Lieutenant - General Bogdanov , and the deputy of the political commissar of 39th Army , Division Commissar Shabalin . Battles continued for three weeks while the Germans tried to destroy the encircled groups of the 39th Army . In late July 1942 the individual units were released from the front and , with no troops , the 39th Army was disbanded . Soviet invasion of Manchuria and after . On 1 May 1945 , 39th Army was transferred to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command . That day , 39th Army rifle units consisted of 5th Guards Rifle Corps ( 17th , 19th and 91st Guards Rifle Division s ) , 94th Rifle Corps ( 124th , 221st , and 358th Rifle Divisions ) , and 113th Rifle Corps ( 192nd , 262nd , and 338th Rifle Division s ) . Artillery forces included 139 пабр , 610 иптап , 555 минп , and the 621st Anti - Aircraft Artillery Regiment ( зенап ) . In May – June 1945 39th Army was relocated to Mongolia and on June 20 it was included in the Transbaikal Front under Marshal Rodion Malinovsky . It then took part in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria . In the Khingan - Mukden operations ( 9 August - 2 September ) Army troops attacked from Tamtsag - Bulagskogo protrusion forces Japanese Third Area Army Kwantung Army ( 30 A , 44 A ) , and the left flank of 4th Independent Army . After defeating the enemy , covering the approaches to the passes Greater Xing ' an , the army seized Halun Arshansky - fortified area . Developing the offensive in the Changchun , advanced fought for 350 – 400 km , and taking Ulan - Hoto and Solon . By August 14 it had reached the central part of Manchuria . Expanding the offensive to the south , part of the army in conjunction with the 6th Guards Tank Army released on 19 August Mukden , August 20 - Changchun entered Kvantun and 21 August took Dalian , and on August 22 Port Arthur on the Chinese coast . From 1945 - 55 the 39th Army was stationed at Port Arthur . In Port Arthur was a naval base , the commander of which was Vice - Admiral Vasily A . Tsipanovich . In 1948 , the Shandong Peninsula , 200 kilometers from the Far , acting U . S . military base . Every day there appeared a reconnaissance plane and at low altitude on the same route flew over and photographed the Soviet and Chinese sites , airfields . Soviet pilots stopped the flights . Americans sent a note to the Foreign Ministry in a statement about the attack on the Soviet fighters " off course light passenger aircraft , " but reconnaissance flights over Liaodong stopped . In June , 1948 , in Port Arthur , a major joint exercise of all arms was undertaken . Malinowski managed the whole exercise , from Khabarovsk arrived SA Krasovsky - Far East Air Force commander BO . Exercise was held in two main stages . On the ground - a reflection of marines imaginary enemy . The second - an imitation of massed bombing . In Port Arthur was deployed the 113th Rifle Corps headquarters of Lieutenant General Tereshkova ( 338th Infantry Division - the area of Port Arthur , Dalny , 358th from the Far to the north boundary of the zone , 262 Rifle Division along the northern border of the peninsula , the headquarters of 5 Artillery Corps , 150th Fortified Region , 139 apabr . 7th Regiment separate communication provided connection between parts on the Liaodong , as well as Moscow and Vladivostok . Artillery Regiment , 48th Guards . SMEs defense regiment , IAP , Ballon ATO . Editors newspapers of the 39th Army , " Son of the Motherland " . After the war , she became known as " the glory of the Motherland " , the editor - Lieutenant Colonel BL Krasovsky . Naval Base USSR . In the area of Jinzhou City headquarters stationed 5th Guards Rifle Corps Lt . Gen . L . Alekseeva , 19 , 91 and 17th Guards Rifle Division under the command of Major General Eugene L . Korkutsa . Chief of Staff Lieutenant Strashnenko . The division includes the 21th separate battalion , on the basis of which the Chinese volunteers were trained . 26th Guards cannon artillery regiment , the 46th Regiment of Guards mortar , part of the 6th Division Artillery breakthrough torpedo regiment Pacific Fleet . At Dalihem ( Dalian ? ) was based the 33rd gun Division Headquarters 7th BAC , air units , the 14th zenad , 119 th Infantry Regiment guarded the port , plus elements of the Soviet Navy . To address the issue of troop withdrawal in 1954 in Port Arthur Nikita Khrushchev arrived . He gave the military five months for withdrawal . October 2 , 1954 a communiqué was signed on redeployment of the 39th Army and Navy units . By that time , the Soviet Union had in China six rifle and one mechanized division , a Division patrol boats , crew submarines , torpedo boats brigade , the brigade of water region , coastal defense forces and air defense , naval bombers ( potentially including the 130th Maritime Torpedo Aviation Division ) and fighter Air Division Air Corps ( 37th Fighter Aviation Division ? ) . On 31 May 1955 and the deployment of troops over . Capital facilities and most of the equipment transferred to China . Almost everything was free of charge , including dozens of torpedo boats , tanks , submarines , all the ammunition . On the day of departure of troops solemn construction in parts where the Chinese gave the keys to the property . To the sound of the Soviet anthem was lowered naval flag of the Soviet Union , and then was replaced by a Chinese flag . Conclusion took 8 months . After retiring in Port Arthur for a while there were still Soviet specialists who taught Chinese sailors . Reduction and then disbanding the 39th Army began in 1955 . The Army was disbanded in 1956 as part of Maritime Military District . After the war , the army was stationed for many years in Mongolia , with its headquarters at Ulan Bator . Soviet perceptions of threat from China increased in the 1960s . A number of measures were taken to increase troop strength in the Transbaikal and in Mongolia . From the Baltic to the Far East came the 21st Guards Tank Division , of the Leningrad Military District in the ZabVO – 2nd Guards Tank Division . It also deployed 5th Guards Tank Division , 32nd , 66th , 49th , and 111th Tank Divisions . By the early 1970s the 39th Combined - Arms Army had been strengthened in the Transbaikal , while in Mongolia there was formed a progressive group from the 39th Army . In the late 1980s the army consisted of the 2nd Guards Tank Division , 51st Tank Division , and 12th , 41st , and 149th Motor Rifle Divisions . The withdrawal of troops from Mongolia took 28 months . On 4 February 1989 a Sino - Soviet agreement was signed to reduce troops on the border . 15 May 1989 and the Soviet government announced a partial , then the complete withdrawal of 39th Army of the Transbaikal Military District from Mongolia . The army consisted of more than 50 , 000 soldiers , 1816 tanks , 2531 armored vehicles , 1461 artillery systems , 190 aircraft and 130 helicopters . On 25 September 1992 the completion of the withdrawal was officially announced . The last Russian troops left Mongolia in December 1992 .