Army formed two shock groups, one of which was composed of the 399th, 6th Guards and 16th Rifle Divisions, 9th Ski Brigade, the 42nd and 43rd tank regiments and over half of the Front's available artillery. However, after more than a month of continuous combat all three divisions were reduced to 3,000 - 4,500 men each. The assault began on March 6, on a sector north of Maloarkhangelsk, but the two shock groups failed to even dent the German defenses and it was called off a few days later. Following this both sides went into a relative lull to rebuild and prepare for the summer offensives. By the start of the Battle of Kursk 48th Army had been transferred to Central Front where it was located on that Front's right (north) flank next to Bryansk Front on the north shoulder of the salient. The 399th was now in the 42nd Rifle Corps, where it would remain for the duration of the war. On July 9 Col. Pyotr Ivanovich Skachkov took over command of the division from Colonel Ponomarev. 48th Army did not see much action during this battle, but following the German defeat it did play an important role in the counteroffensive, Operation Kutuzov, which finally liberated Oryol. During the subsequent advance into western Russia the division was recognized for its part in the liberation of the town of Novozybkov on September 25, and received the town's name as an honorific. Three days later Colonel Skatchkov was in turn replaced by Col. Daniil Vasilevich Kazakevich. He would be promoted to the rank of major general on June 3, 1944 and would be named a Hero of the Soviet Union on April 6, 1945; he remained in command for the duration of the war. Into Belarus By the start of October, Central Front had arrived along the Sozh River, as well as part of the Dniepr south of the Sozh. Its next objectives were the cities of Gomel and Rechitsa. The preliminary plan for the offensive called for 65th Army's 19th Rifle Corps to begin an attack against the German XXXV Corps' defenses at Gomel on October 7. Following a regrouping, four of 48th Army's separate divisions would join the offensive as soon as possible, with 42nd Corps and one other division to follow. This regrouping transferred the first three divisions into the bridgehead at Loev (the confluence of the Dniepr