Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I muri i te tiimata o te Operation Barbarossa i te 22 o Pipiri, ka wehe a Dyakonov i te whare wananga, a, i te marama o Hepetema ka riro ia ia te 27th Separate Cadet Rifle Brigade. Tae noa ki te marama o Noema i whawhai te piriti i nga pakanga kaha i te taha o Moscow, katahi ka nekehia ki te Kalinin Front ka whawhai ki te whakangaromanga o nga ope Tiamana huri noa i te roto o Seliger, te hopu i a Molotitsy me te karapoti i te Pocket Demyansk. I te 29 o Hanuere, ka riro i te Koronel Dyakonov te whakahau o te 257th Rifle Division o te 3rd Shock Army, i arahina e ia i te
Ko te whakaeke a Toropets i Kholm. Ko ona waeine i neke atu i te 380 km i te pakanga mai i Ostashkov ki Velikiye Luki, katahi ka huri ki te paruru. I te puna o te tau 1942, ko te 31st Rifle Brigade me nga roopu reti e rua i tukuna ki raro i te mana o te wehenga, ka whakawhānui i tana raina paruru mai i te 40 ki te 80 km. I te Pakanga o Velikiye Luki, i wehewehea te wehenga i te hopu i te taone me etahi atu waahi kaha, na reira i hurihia hei 91st Guards Rifle Division i te Paenga-whawha 18.