In June 1941, Batov was in command of the
9th Separate Rifle Corps, which comprised the
106th and
156th Rifle Divisions and the
32nd Cavalry Division, with a total strength of about 35,000 men. This corps was the only major Red Army formation in the
Crimea at the outbreak of Operation
Barbarossa, and Batov had arrived at its headquarters in
Simferopol just two days earlier. Later in 1941, he was made deputy commander of the
51st Army, and following the evacuation of that army from the
Kerch Peninsula he rose again to full command. Although the Crimea had been lost, Batov was exonerated by Stalin. In January 1942, he joined the
Bryansk Front as commander of the
3rd Army, and later as deputy commander for training of the Front, under Lt. Gen.
K. K. Rokossovski. Rokossovski noted that Batov preferred active command to "sitting in the headquarters", and that his current role was "a burden" to him. Batov and Rokossovski formed a professional and personal bond that would last beyond the latter's death in 1968, and Batov would continue to serve under Rokossovski's command until the end of the war. On October 22, 1942, Batov was moved to command of the
4th Tank Army on the approaches to
Stalingrad, replacing Mjr. Gen.
V.D. Kryuchenkin. This army, soon renamed the 65th Army, formed part of Rokossovski's
Don Front. Batov remained in command of 65th Army for the duration. He helped to plan the Soviet counteroffensive,
Operation Uranus, providing key intelligence to
Gen. Zhukov regarding the boundaries between German and Romanian forces. His army formed a key strike force in this offensive, and the subsequent
Operation Ring, which reduced and defeated the encircled Axis forces. Rokossovski later wrote: Following this victory 65th Army was moved to the northwest, rejoining Rokossovski as part of his new
Central Front. Exploiting success, the Front was pushing hard against the weak German
Second Army west of Kursk, when it was brought to a halt by the spring
rasputitsa and German successes around
Kharkov, to the south. In July 1943, Batov's army formed part of Rokossovski's Front during the giant
Battle of Kursk, on a secondary sector, and in the exploitation operations that followed the German defeat. From August through October, the 65th Army forced crossings of the rivers Sev,
Desna,
Sozh, and finally the
Dnieper, earning Batov and his army a formidable reputation in river-crossing operations. Rokossovski's command was first renamed as Belorussian Front, and later as
1st Belorussian Front. In June 1944, Batov's army took part in major strategic operations in
Belorussia. In a well-known confrontation at the planning stage, Rokossovski convinced
Stalin that, given the terrain, it was better to strike two strong blows against the German forces than just one. He was counting on Batov's ability to lead his army across swampy regions south of
Bobruisk, using
corduroy roads, swamp shoes, and other means. The 65th Army did not disappoint, and within a few days the German
Ninth Army was encircled and mostly destroyed. For his performance, Batov was promoted to Colonel General. The 65th Army crossed the
Bug River on July 22, and pushed on to cross the
Narev River, north of Warsaw, by September 4. Operation Bagration had run out of steam, but Batov's army held off strong German counterattacks against the Narev bridgehead for more than two months. Following this, Rokossovski's command was renamed
2nd Belorussian Front, and forces were built up in the bridgehead for an offensive to be launched in January. During the new offensive, 65th Army forced a crossing of the
Vistula River in early February. Rokossovski later noted: The winter offensive propelled Batov's army into eastern Germany, finally to the
Oder River, near
Stettin-an-Oder, where it once again forced a difficult river crossing in April 1945. Officials of the city surrendered to Batov's
193rd Rifle Division on April 26. ==Following the War==