On November 11, 1942, the last major attempt by German soldiers to capture the city of Stalingrad took place.
Under the command of Ivan Lyudnikov, the 138th Infantry Division fought heroically against the enemy. For a hundred days and nights, this division fought heavy battles on the barricades. The area 700 meters along the front line and 400 meters deep (the so-called "Lyudnikov Island") was surrounded on three sides by the Nazis, on the fourth side was the Volga. In a narrow section of the front of five kilometers, despite the attacks of five German infantry divisions and two tanks, the soldiers of Ivan Ludnikov's division, detached from the 62nd Army, repelled six fierce enemy attacks.
The area was covered by direct artillery fire and shelled mines and shells. The division under the command of Ivan Lyudnikov defended itself vigorously until going on the offensive in December 1942. On January 25, 1943, parts of the division headed north to destroy the northern group of fascist forces.
In forty days of battle, Ivan Lyudnikova's 138th Infantry Division destroyed up to 7,500 enemy soldiers and officers, knocked out twenty-two tanks and three armored vehicles, destroyed sixteen artillery pieces and fifty mortars and many other weapons. By the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, there were no more than 500 men left in the division.
For the courage and valor shown by the members of the 138th Rifle Division in the battles for Stalingrad, the division was awarded the guard rank by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union on February 6, 1943 and was named the 70th Guards Rifle Division.
@ "Post-Soviet secular" comes from childhood!