of the Special Group of the front, became the basis of the new Southeastern Front on 30 September. On 1 October, the Outer Southern Defense Region was created by the front, uniting the Yelets, Kozlov, and Tambov Fortified Regions to defend the southern approaches to Moscow in the Orel Governorate and parts of the Kursk, Tambov and Chernigov Governorates. During the month, the front headquarters relocated to Sergiyevsk, and then Serpukhov, ahead of the White advance. Semyon Budyonny's Cavalry Corps was transferred to the front's 10th Army on 7 October. Defeat of the Armed Forces of South Russia On 11 October, it commenced a counteroffensive, with the Orel–Kursk operation and Voronezh–Kastornoye operation. Alexander Yegorov took command of the front for the counteroffensive, and led it for the rest of its existence. During the Orel–Kursk operation between 11 October and 18 November, the front's forces recaptured Kromy, Orel, Fatezh, Sevsk, Lgov, Dmitriyev, and Kursk. The Voronezh–Kastornoye operation between 13 October and 16 November retook Voronezh, Liski, and Kastornoye. The front's counteroffensive forced the AFSR into a headlong retreat. The 12th Army rejoined the front on 16 October. On 25 October, with the defeat of the AFSR, the Outer Southern Defense Region was disbanded and its troops used to form the 61st Rifle Division. The Cavalry Corps was redesignated the 1st Cavalry Corps of the front on 30 October, and became the 1st Cavalry Army on 17 November. Advancing in tandem with the Southeastern Front from November, the Southern Front fought in the Kharkov operation between 24 November and 12 December, capturing Stary Oskol, Novy Oskol, Sumy, Biryuch, Volchansk, Valuyki, Kupyansk, Belgorod, Kharkov, and Pavlovsk. In the Donbas operation, it crossed the Seversky Donets, capturing Izyum, Slavyansk, Bakhmut, Debaltsevo, Gorlovka, Ilovaysk, Konstantinovka, Lugansk, and Mariupol. The front pushed the Armed Forces of South Russia back to the Black Sea and North Caucasus by early 1920, and moved its headquarters forward to Kursk in early January. Its troops inflicted heavy losses on the Armed Forces of South Russia, and fought in the Rostov–Novocherkassk Operation between 3 and 10 January, capturing Taganrog, Novocherkassk, Rostov-on-Don, and Tikhoretsk, reaching the Sea of Azov. It was redesignated as the Southwestern Front on 10 January 1920, with the 1st Cavalry and 8th Armies transferred to the Southeastern Front, and the 12th, 13th, and 14th Armies remaining with the Southwestern Front. Commanders Pavel Sytin : 11.09.1918 — 09.11.1918 Pēteris