The 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division is part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The unit was formed at the end of World War II, and received its full name after 3 years.
The division participated in many armed conflicts, a large number of personnel were awarded medals and orders.
Formation
The 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division was formed at the end of the winter of 1945. The regiment went west. The unit took up positions in Hungary, where it received a baptism of fire. While all fronts were advancing rapidly, in the area of Lake Balaton, the Red Army for the first time in a long time and for the last time in the entire war erected defensive fortifications. This was due to Hitler's order to push the liberation troops from Vienna. No less important than the city itself, for the Nazis remained an oil well. And oil, as you know, is the fuel of war.
The 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division took up defense in depth. The plan was developed by the Supreme Commander’s Headquarters. It was based on the successful experience of the Battle of Kursk.
Breakthrough start
The Nazis planned to push through the defense of the Soviet troops with a quick tank strike. On March 6, before dawn, the Nazis launched an offensive. After heavy fighting, they captured the necessary, from a tactical point of view, sites.
The main blow came between two lakes, where the 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division was located. There they advanced in tight formation and crushed the Red Army men with superiority in technology. After 2 days, howitzers and MLRS systems thundered. This meant that the main forces of the Reich would soon enter the battle. By 9 a.m.
, the SS
Panzer Division began to advance.
But the Nazis underestimated the steadfastness of the Soviet soldiers, and the offensive choked, the defense survived. After an unsuccessful attempt at a counteroffensive, the Nazis were no longer able to organize serious pressure on their opponents. The Red Army liberated Vienna, and the road to Berlin was finally open.
After the second world
The 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division ended its participation in the Great Patriotic War, liberating Czechoslovakia, and then deployed in the Baltic. Participated in the suppression of the Nazi revenge-seekers attempted coup in Hungary. After that, the command sent a division to Czechoslovakia to participate in Operation Danube.
In 1968, the Czechoslovak government for the most part betrayed the ideas of socialism and wanted to ask NATO for help. In response, the Warsaw Pact countries decided to militarily suppress the coup attempt. Preparation and planning of the operation took place in the strictest confidence. The commanders on the ground until the last minute did not know about specific goals and combat missions. On August 21, Allied forces crossed the border of Czechoslovakia and occupied key political and military targets. The operation was successful, with almost no losses and battles.
Chechen wars
During both Chechen campaigns of the 7th Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division, various tasks were set. The soldiers fought in the hottest spots in the North Caucasus. In 1995, they stormed Grozny, where fierce battles were fought for each lane.
Also, the Seventh Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Division carried out the tasks of cleansing the Vedeno and Shatoi regions. This is a mountainous area where the notorious Argun Gorge is located. There, militants of the Arab mercenary Khattab defeated a convoy of federal troops during the first campaign.
The combat biography of the division also includes peacekeeping operations in Abkhazia and the suppression of protests in Azerbaijan during the collapse of the USSR. The personnel of the military formation is five and a half thousand people. The main equipment is airborne combat vehicles and armored personnel carriers. The nickname of the 7th Division is the Bison.