Tank Army attacked the enemy almost continuously for twelve days in a row and held back their advance. According to Moskalenko, at Kalach-on-Don, his army stopped the advance of German General Friedrich Paulus's 6th Army to Stalingrad and almost won a month to organize defense in depth and pull up reserves. He was then appointed commander of the 1st Tank Army from July to August 1942 and the 1st Guards Army from August to October 1942 before finally receiving command of the 40th Army, which was separate from the Voronezh Front, a position he held until October 1943. Moskalenko led his troops during the winter counteroffensive and during the Battle of Kursk. He participated in the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh offensive, third battle of Kharkov and the battle of the Dnieper. Moskalenko was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for heroism and courage when crossing the Dnieper and securing a bridgehead on its western bank. From October 1943 until the end of the war, Moskalenko was the commander of the 38th Army. He led his troops as they helped drive the Germans from the Ukraine, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. Post-World War II After the war, Moskalenko commanded the 38th Army, which was transferred to the Carpathian Military District. From August 1948, he served as commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Moscow Region. He served in various capacities in the Moscow Military District, before being appointed its Commanding General in 1953. On 26 June 1953 the CPSU Secretary Khrushchev along with Marshals Georgy Zhukov and Kirill Moskalenko secretly arrested First Deputy Prime Minister of the USSR Beria during a joint CPSU Presidium and Cabinet meeting. While Zhukov could not carry a gun into the Kremlin, Moskalenko sneaked into the Kremlin with a gun to arrest Beria. During the next six months, he and Rudenko investigated the "Beria Case". In December 1953 the Soviet Supreme Court found Beria guilty after a five-day proceeding. On December 23, Beria was shot. Another version states that Beria was shot by machine gun during the military assault on his residential compound in Moscow. As a result of this operation, on 11 March 1955, Moskalenko, along with five other commanders, was given the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Moskalenko remained in the Moscow Military District until 1960, when he was made Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Rocket Forces. Moskalenko owed his very rapid promotion to having