An epic painting by a certain Jerzy Kossak "Battle of Kutno" from 1939 dedicated to the famous myth of the attack of light cavalry. (with)

Everything in the "picture" surprises - from shooting a pistol at a triplex, surrendering under the mighty pressure of the Germans' lancers and ending with a pike strike on the forehead of an unknown armored demonstrator (Grotte's tank?), Who clearly crawled out of the Clone Wars cartoons of the heyday of the Trade Federation. :)

But that's not all: it turns out that in 1943 Kossak redrew his masterpiece, apparently seeing real tanks several times. What did not make them more alike: they look like mutated Churchills with towers from Matilda.

And so it was in reality:

18th Pomor Lancers Regiment and cavalry attack of armored vehicles near Kroyants

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany attacked Poland, thus unleashing the Second World War.

The resistance offered by the Poles to the treacherous aggressor, who had a significant superiority in tanks and aircraft, did not last long (from September 1 to October 6, 1939), but this short campaign was marked by many combat episodes glorious for Polish weapons. Among the latter, of course, are the cavalry attacks of the Polish cavalry, which, against the background of the then "war of the worlds", were perceived as a romantic anachronism and gave rise to the famous legend about the brave but reckless uhlans who rushed with pikes and sabers at German tanks. The creation of this myth was greatly facilitated by fascist propaganda, which wanted to prove the "natural savagery" of the Poles who tried to fight with such archaic methods against a powerful machine - the creation of the military and technical genius of the German Reich.

The real facts reveal the falsity of these claims. Indeed, in 1939, the Polish cavalry made at least six attacks in horse formation, but only two of them were marked by the presence on the battlefield of German armored vehicles (September 1 near Kroyanty) and tanks (September 19 at Vulka Venglova), and in both episodes enemy armored vehicles were not the direct target of the attacking lancers.

It should be noted that in the Polish cavalry the cavalry attack (szarza) (1) was not then a regulated type of hostilities. According to the "General instructions for battle" (Ogolnej instrukcji waiki), published back in 1930, the cavalry had to move in horse formation, and fight on foot.

The honor of conducting the first cavalry attack in the history of the Second World War belongs to the 18th regiment of the Primorsky Lancers (2) ... The regiment consisted of 35 officers, more than 800 sub-officers and privates, 850 horses, 2 anti-tank guns of 37 mm caliber (instead of 4 regular ones), 12 anti-tank rifles, 12 machine guns (4 pack and 8 on carts), 18 light machine guns, 2 motorcycles with wheelchairs and 2 radios. On August 29, the 2nd battery of the 11th cavalry artillery battalion was attached to the 18th regiment: 180 gunners, 248 horses, 4 light guns (with 1440 rounds of ammunition) and 2 heavy machine guns.

On August 31, 1939, the Pomor lancers occupied a position near the border, along the highway leading from Chojnice to the south. On the morning of September 1, the regiment's patrol posts reported that a strong enemy was moving towards them (infantry and armored cars of the 76th Motorized Infantry Regiment (3) 20th Motorized Infantry Division (4) XIX Panzer Corps of General Guderian). The immediate task of this division was to capture the city of Chojnice, and in the future it was to advance through the Tucholskaya Wasteland and the city of Osh to Grudzidz.

The guard posts of the 18th Uhlan regiment could not hold back the onslaught of a much stronger enemy and retreated, losing their commanders, second lieutenants Dembsky and Moscow, in killed. The Germans rushed to the defensive line of the Lancers, in front of which, however, they were detained by machine gun fire and an anti-tank gun. At 5.45 am, the enemy aircraft began circling over the observation post and the position of the 2nd battery of the 11th cavalry artillery battalion. By order of Captain Pasturchak, both battery machine guns (under the command of lieutenant Karnkovsky) fired at this aerial target and hit it. The downed German plane fell near the battery observation post, its pilot was killed, and the navigator was seriously wounded.

The 76th motorized infantry regiment, supported by armored vehicles, soon resumed its offensive, at the same time threatening to bypass the left flank of the lancers. The latter circumstance forced Colonel Mastalezh at about 8.00 to begin withdrawing his squadrons to a new line of defense in the Pavlovo-Ratslavka area.

To avoid the encirclement of other retreating units of the Polish army, the commander of the defense area, Colonel Majewski, after consulting with General Gzhmot-Skotnitsky, ordered Colonel Mastalezh with part of the 18th Uhlan regiment, which broke away from the enemy, to counterstrike the German infantry in the area of ​​the village of Kroyanty.

Assessing the current situation, the commander of the Pomor lancers ordered the mounted maneuvering detachment led by Major Maletsky (1st and 2nd squadrons and two platoons of the 3rd and 4th squadrons) through the villages of Krushki, Kroyanty and Pavlovo to go to the rear of the German infantry, attack it, and then retreat to Granowo and further to the line of fortifications in the area of ​​the town of Rytel, occupied by the Polish infantry.

Having learned about this disposition and the order of Colonel Mastalezh, Lieutenant Tsydzik (liaison officer of General Gzhmot-Skotnitsky) doubted the advisability of such a decision. "Wouldn't it be better, sir Colonel, to advance on foot?" he asked anxiously. The blood of an old soldier leaped in Mastalezh's veins. “Don’t teach me, sir lieutenant, how to carry out impossible orders,” he said with irritation in his voice. “That's right,” Tsydzik replied, but nevertheless contacted the head of the Chersk cover group by phone and informed him of Mastalezh's intentions.

After passing about 10 km, Major Maletsky's division ended up in a forest near the village of Krushki, northeast of Kroyant. The time appointed for the start of the attack (19.00) was approaching, and it was still about 7 km to the starting area of ​​Pavlov, when the head outpost of the detachment found a battalion of German infantry, bivouacking 300-400 m from the forest edge. Major Maletsky decided to attack this enemy on horseback, using the effect of surprise. He built his division in two echelons: in front of the 1st squadron, and behind him, at a distance of 200 m, the 2nd squadron. The number of both squadrons was then about 200 horsemen. (5) ... Lancers, dressed in field uniforms, were armed with sabers and cavalry carbines (6) ... On their heads they had French-style helmets (Adrian's model).

According to the old command "szable dion!" (sabers out!) The lancers quickly and harmoniously drew their blades, which glittered in the red rays of the setting sun. At that moment, when the squadrons dashingly turned around at the edge of the forest, Colonel Mastalezh appeared on their flank with his headquarters. Having caught up with Maletsky's division, the regimental commander wanted to personally take part in the horse attack. Obeying the signal of the trumpet, the lancers rushed swiftly at the enemy, stunned by such an unexpected attack. The German battalion, not taking due precautions, was taken by surprise and scattered across the field in panic.

The cavalrymen, overtaking the fleeing, mercilessly chopped them down with their sabers. However, this triumph of the cavalry did not last long. Carried away by their brilliant attack, the Poles did not notice several enemy armored vehicles hidden in the forest. Leaving from behind the trees, these armored vehicles opened frequent machine-gun fire on the flank of the galloping squadrons. A German cannon hidden in the thickets also began to fire at the lancers. Dozens of horses and people fell from enemy bullets and shells ...

Suffering heavy losses, Major Maletsky's division retreated behind the nearest wooded ridge, where it hid from enemy fire. In addition to Colonel Mastalezh, two officers were killed (the commander of the 1st squadron, captain Shveschchak and the 2nd adjutant, reserve lieutenant Miletsky) and 23 lancers. Lieutenant Anthony Unrug and about 50 lancers were seriously wounded. Only half of the riders participating in the attack gathered in the forest near the Chojnice-Rytel highway. Major Maletsky took command over the regiment instead of the killed Colonel Mastalezh.

The battle on September 1, 1939 cost the Pomor lancers dearly, who lost up to 60% of men and horses, 7 machine guns, 2 anti-tank guns and a radio station. However, these sacrifices were not in vain. Thanks to the selfless actions of the regiment, including the dashing attack at Kroyanty, an attempt by the enemy, who had a great advantage in manpower and equipment, to cut off the retreat path for the infantry of the Polish detachment Chojnice was thwarted (the latter gathered behind Brda at night and re-organized a line of defense there) ...

Returning to the cavalry attack at Kroyants, one should cite the lines of memoirs dedicated to it by the "father of German tank power" Guderian. “The Polish Pomor Cavalry Brigade, due to ignorance of the design data and methods of action of our tanks,” wrote the famous Wehrmacht general, “attacked them with cold weapons and suffered monstrous losses,” the facts already known to the reader of this article expose the falsity of this quote, which turned 3 incomplete Polish squadrons in a whole brigade, German armored cars in tanks, and 26 killed and 50 wounded lancers - in "monstrous losses". The maneuverable, well-trained cavalry of the 2nd Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which had excellent personnel, has repeatedly refuted such slander on the battlefield. In the tragic days of September 1939, she adequately confronted a strong enemy and often defeated him, fighting both on foot and in horse ranks, and in defense and on the offensive.

(1) -The word "szarza" in Polish means exclusively horse attack, in other cases the term "atak" is used.

(2) - The last cavalry attack of the Second World War was also carried out by the Poles: on March 1, 1945, two squadrons of lancers of the Polish Army (from the 2nd and 3rd Uhlan regiments of the 1st Warsaw Cavalry Brigade) under the command of Major V. Bogdanovich were captured in on horseback, the town of Schönfeld (Boruysko) is one of the German strongholds of the Pomorsky Val. Interestingly, this brilliant attack was carried out in the same area as the first.

(3) - The 76th Motorized Infantry Regiment (commanded by Colonel Reinhardt) consisted of three battalions. Each battalion had four companies (three rifle and one machine gun), 27 light and 14 heavy machine guns, 9 light and 6 medium

mortars.

(4) - 20th Motorized Infantry (Hamburg) Division (commander - Lieutenant General M.Viktorin) included: 69th, 76th, 90th motorized infantry and 56th artillery regiments, 20th observation (LIR), 20th anti-tank destroyer, 20th reconnaissance battalion, 20th pioneer battalion and 20th communications battalion. (5) - On the morning of September 1, 1939, the 1st and 2nd squadrons of the Pomor lancers (together with two platoons of the 3rd and 4th squadrons) numbered 256 people, but from the beginning of hostilities until 17.30 they lost about 20% of its personnel. (6) - The regiment left its lances in the depot, keeping only a few pieces in the ranks (as squadron badges).

A special chapter is devoted to the role of cavalry in our army during war and pre-war times. Anyone interested in the details can easily find them there. We will only quote the conclusion.

“The stories about stupid, backward cavalrymen throwing swords at tanks are, at best, a delusion of people who are poorly versed in tactical and operational issues. As a rule, these delusions are a consequence of the dishonesty of historians and memoirists. The cavalry was a completely adequate means of maneuvering combat operations in 1939-1945. This was most clearly demonstrated by the Red Army. The cavalry of the Red Army in the pre-war years underwent a sharp reduction. It was believed that she could not seriously compete with tank and motorized formations on the battlefield. Of the 32 cavalry divisions and 7 corps directorates available by 1938, 4 corps and 13 cavalry divisions remained by the beginning of the war. However, the experience of the war showed that they were in a hurry with the reduction of cavalry. The creation of only motorized units and formations was, firstly, overwhelming for the domestic industry, and secondly, the nature of the terrain in the European part of the USSR in many cases did not favor the use of vehicles. All this led to the revival of large cavalry formations. Even at the end of the war, when the nature of hostilities changed significantly compared to 1941–1942, 7 cavalry corps were successfully operating in the Red Army, 6 of them bore the honorary titles of the Guards. In fact, during its decline, the cavalry returned to the standard of 1938 - 7 directorates of the cavalry corps. The cavalry of the Wehrmacht underwent a similar evolution - from one brigade in 1939 to several cavalry divisions in 1945. the horsemen played a crucial role in defensive and offensive operations, becoming the indispensable "quasi-infantry" of the Red Army. In fact, before the appearance of large independent mechanized formations and formations in the Red Army, cavalry was the only maneuverable means of an operational level. In 1943-1945, when the mechanisms of tank armies were finally fine-tuned, cavalry became a delicate tool for solving especially important tasks in offensive operations. Tellingly, the number of cavalry corps was approximately equal to the number of tank armies. There were six tank armies in 1945, and seven cavalry corps. Most of both of them bore the rank of guards by the end of the war. If tank armies were the sword of the Red Army, then cavalry was a sharp and long sword. A typical task for cavalrymen in 1943-1945. there was the formation of an external front of encirclement, a breakthrough deep into the enemy's defense at a time when the old front was crumbling, and the new one had not yet been created. On a good highway, the cavalry certainly lagged behind the motorized infantry. But on dirt roads and in wooded and swampy terrain, it could advance at a pace quite comparable to that of motorized infantry. In addition, unlike the motorized infantry, the cavalry did not require itself the constant delivery of many tons of fuel. This allowed the cavalry corps to advance deeper than most of the mechanized formations and ensure a high rate of advance for the armies and fronts as a whole. Cavalry breakthroughs to great depths made it possible to save the forces of infantrymen and tankers. Only a person who does not have the slightest idea of ​​the tactics of cavalry and has a vague idea of ​​its operational use can assert that the cavalry is a backward branch of the army, which remained in the Red Army only through the thoughtlessness of the leadership. "

It should be added to this that it is not worth presenting a number of military leaders, like Voroshilov and Budyonny, as “anti-motorists”. As Pykhalov shows, it is somehow difficult to attribute to this category the same Voroshilov, who in a number of speeches speaks of a future war as a "war of engines".

If the cavalry is already so far behind, then it is reasonable to ask how things were with the enemy. The Germans did not experience a shortage of cavalry. In addition to the 3rd and 4th cavalry divisions created at the height of the war, SS divisions (8th Florian Geir and later formed by Maria Theresa and Lutzow) and "foreign divisions of the ground forces" (1st and 2nd cavalry), and allied cavalry (4 Romanian divisions, Hungarians, Italians, Croats). In addition, each infantry division had combat cavalry units, a cavalry squadron of a reconnaissance battalion. It numbered 173 horses - riding and harnessed to machine-gun carts (the carriage, repeatedly ridiculed by the "whistleblowers"). If we count only 118 infantry divisions thrown against the USSR on June 22, 1941, and only their cavalry squadrons, then we get 20,414 cavalry fighters. Three Soviet divisions.

On July 6, 1941, the formation of the 50th and 53rd cavalry divisions began in the Stavropol and Kuban regions.

The 50th Cavalry Division was formed in the city of Armavir, Krasnodar Territory; Colonel Issa Aleksandrovich Pliev was appointed commander of the division.

The 53rd Cavalry Division was formed in the city of Stavropol, the brigade commander Kondrat Semenovich Melnik was appointed commander

The Kuban villages - Prochnokopskaya, Labinskaya, Kurgannaya, Sovetskaya, Voznesenskaya, Otradnaya, the huge villages of the collective farm Stavropol region - Trunovskoye, Izobilnoye, Ust-Dzhegutinskoye, Novo-Mikhailovskoye, Troitskoye - sent their best sons to the cavalry divisions.

The cavalry included not only those who received mobilization summons, not only soldiers, sergeants and reserve officers. During these eternally memorable July days for the Soviet people, commanders, regiments and regional military commissars received hundreds of applications from citizens of non-conscription age with a request to accept them as volunteers into the ranks of the Soviet cavalry. Nikolai Chebotarev, a young Stakhanovite cutter at the Armavir sewing factory, wrote in his statement: “Please enroll me as a fighter in your regiment. I want to fulfill my duty to the Motherland, the duty of a Komsomol member and citizen of our great Motherland. I will defend Soviet soil from fascist bandits until my last breath. " A participant in the First World War and the Civil War, fifty-year-old Pavel Stepanovich Zhukov, who served in the Beloglinsky regiment of the First Cavalry Army, submitted a statement to the district military commissar: “I am ready to saddle a war horse. I decided to volunteer, please send me to the regiment. "

A group of former Red Guards and Red Partisans of Stavropol applied for their admission to the army and called on "all the former Red partisans and Red Guards of the Stavropol region to stand up for our socialist Motherland, help our valiant Red Army destroy the Nazi hordes that encroached on our sacred land."

Pliev I.A. Melnik I.S.

The camps were revived in the village of Urupskaya and near Stavropol. Under the mighty oaks and century-old poplars, the Don and Kabardian horses, carefully raised on collective farm horse-breeding farms, stretched out in long rows on marching hitching posts. Dozens of blacksmiths worked day and night, shoeing and reforging young horses. In barracks and in tents, on camp lines and in clubs, in canteens and warehouses, the motley-dressed mass of people shouted and shimmered with thousands of voices. Platoons and squadrons emerged from the sanitary checkpoints and showers, already in military uniform. People received weapons, equipment, horses, took an oath of allegiance to the Motherland, and became soldiers.

Senior officers were sent from regular cavalry units, from academies and schools. The bulk of junior officers, almost all political workers, as well as the entire sergeant and rank and file came from the reserve. Yesterday's engineers and milling workers, teachers and herd guards, instructors of district committees and party organizers of collective farms, combine operators and tractor drivers, agronomists and quality inspectors became squadron and platoon commanders, political instructors, artillerymen, machine gunners, cavalrymen, snipers, sappers, communications.

On July 13, the newly formed cavalry divisions received an order from the commander of the North Caucasian Military District: to load and join the Army in the field. There was no time for training and coordination of divisions, the Motherland was going through difficult days.

Empty the camps. Long columns of squadrons, artillery batteries, machine-gun carts stretched across the steppe. Alelei tops of Kubans, famously shifted to one side. The wind, oncoming, slightly stirred the ends of the colored caps thrown behind their backs.

Cavalry columns moved towards the railway stations. Echelons one after another set off from Armavir and Stavropol, hurrying to where the battles raged.

At Staraya Toropa station, lost in the boundless forests between Rzhev and Velikie Luki, on July 18, the unloading of the 50th cavalry division under the command of Colonel Pliev began.

Commissioner of the 50th Cavalry Division

Ovchinnikov A.A.

Echelons one after another stopped at the station. The soldiers led the stagnant horses out of the carriages, which announced the forest with a ringing, joyful whinnying, carried out saddles, weapons, equipment. Regimental guns and anti-tank guns, machine-gun carts and carts covered with tarpaulins were rolling down from the platforms. The small station Staraya Toropa, probably, has not seen such a revival during its entire existence.

The harsh nature of the Smolensk region seemed to bloom with bright colors. Among the dark green pines and firs, under the white-trunked birches, the scarlet tops of the Kubans and the heads flashed. Squadrons and batteries left, hiding in a pine forest. And the Cossack song scared away his age-old silence.

By evening, the last echelon arrived and unloaded, the entire division concentrated in the forest. Preparations for the campaign began. Patrols were sent to establish contact with the enemy and to communicate with their troops. Staff officers checked the readiness of the regiments and squadrons for battle.

Early in the morning, the order to march was received. The 37th Cavalry Regiment under the command of Colonel Vasily Golovsky was assigned to the vanguard. The division commander warned of a possible meeting with enemy motorized units, ordered to keep anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons in full combat readiness. The officers marked on the maps the tactical lines and the timing of their passage, the order of battle in case of meeting with large enemy forces.

The saddle signal sounded. The regiments quickly removed from their bivouacs, long marching columns stretched to the southwest.

The cavalry went through dense forests, among peat bogs, past Lake Verezhuni, surrounded by thickets of such reeds that a rider was freely hiding in it. The division's route lay to the crossing of the Mezha River near the village of Zhaboedovo. Accustomed to the steppe expanses, the cavalrymen were somehow uncomfortable in these forest jungles, stretching for hundreds of kilometers.

By the end of the next day, the division reached the northern bank of the Mezha River and stopped for a big halt in the forest.

According to the headquarters of the 29th Army, the forward units of our rifle formations should have been located at the Kanat, Ordynka line. However, the patrols sent ahead did not find their troops anywhere. Local residents said that large enemy forces were moving along the highways going from Dukhovshchina to Staraya Toropa and Bely.

The divisional commander decided to organize deep reconnaissance and to set up an enemy grouping in action on the southern bank of the Mezha. Captain Batluk and Senior Lieutenant Lyushchenko, who had already shown themselves to be energetic squadron commanders, were summoned to the headquarters. Looking at the expanded map, Colonel Pliev set them a task.

Tonight, cross the Mezha River and quietly get close to Troitskoye. During the day, take refuge in the forest, observe the movement along the highways to Bely and Staraya Toropa and establish what forces the enemy has, where are they going, are there tanks, how many are there? - The officers made notes on their maps. Pliev looked closely at them, did not rush them, calmly helped when they did not orientate themselves particularly quickly. - With the onset of darkness, surround Troitskoye with outposts with machine guns; the places of the outposts and the approach to these places should be reconnoitered in advance. An hour before dawn, carry out a short artillery raid on the village and attack swiftly, like a Cossack, so that not a single Hitler would leave. Be sure to capture prisoners, documents and immediately deliver them to me!

On the night of July 22, both squadrons crossed to the southern bank of the Mezha. Through forest paths the horsemen went to Troitskoye and hid in a pine forest a kilometer from the forest occupied by the enemy unit. Small patrols scattered through the forest; they were ordered to monitor the movements of the enemy and quietly capture the prisoners.

The first to meet the enemy were the scouts of Senior Sergeant Georgy Krivorotko, a Komsomol member from the village of Voznesenskaya. The exit went to one of the roads, which turned into a dense forest from the highway to the crossing. The horsemen dismounted, left the horses behind the trees, and crawled to the road. At ten paces from them, from time to time, large gray trucks, packed with soldiers, were passing by, shouting loudly, laughing, playing harmonica, singing some songs. The scouts tried to fire at the enemy from an ambush, but the senior sergeant categorically snapped:

I don’t allow any noise, lads ...

Krivorotko, firmly remembering the captain's order to seize the "tongue", that is, a living enemy, thought to himself: "What kind of devil Hitler's spiymati, but still without making a noise? .. It's not a dudak!"

But he came up with it. I collected several rawhide chumburs, tied them into a long and strong lasso, attached one end of the lasso at a height of about a meter to a pine tree growing near the road, and freely lowered the other end across the road and sprinkled it with needles on top. He himself hid behind a tree on the other side of the road and, grabbing a loop at the free end of the lasso, waited. Lance corporal Zakhar Fedorov and two soldiers received the order: "Yak huknu, grab that devil's tongue by the scruff of the neck and knit it without uttering a peep!"

A quarter of an hour passed. Private Nikolai Savin, who was sitting in a tree, poked his cuckoo once - a conventional sign that one Nazi was on the way. There was a rapidly approaching clatter of the engine. The scouts lurked, ready to jump. Krivorotko, straining his muscles, rested his feet on the trunk of a tree.

A motorcyclist appeared from behind the pine trees. There was a glimpse of a face covered with gray dust in huge glasses, an unusual-looking short uniform of gray-greenish color. The motorcycle was rapidly approaching the ambush. Krivorotko pulled on the loop with a jerk. Arkan rose in front of the rider's chest. The Hitlerite, not having time to brake, from full speed ran into a belt, elastic as a string, flew out of the saddle and stretched out on the road.

The scouts pounced on the stunned motorcyclist, twisted his arms with chumbura, prudently wrapped his head in his mouth. Less than three minutes later, the Nazi, bound hand and foot, was thrown across the saddle and jumped on their horses. Krivorotko commanded:

Gallop!..

Before the enemy soldier could come to his senses, the horsemen rushed him to the forest clearing, where the saddled horses stood, the cavalrymen sat and lay.

The prisoner was sent to headquarters. There they read the order of the 6th Infantry Division captured in his field bag, which contained a lot of valuable information about the enemy grouping on the southern bank of the Mezha River.

Dusk fell quickly. An impenetrable darkness enveloped the forest, and the noise of engines could no longer be heard from the highways.

The outposts moved to their places along the explored paths. Not a sound, not a rustle! .. The needles, which covered the ground and roads in a thick layer, concealed both the cautious step of the horses and the easy movement of machine-gun carts.

At exactly three o'clock, Captain Batluk raised his flare pistol. High in the sky, a red rocket lit up, slowly burning out, extinguished over the silent village, illuminating its vague outlines.

Immediately, regimental guns opened fire from the edge of the forest. A few seconds later, it broke out in Troitskoye. several crimson-red tears. The guns were beating continuously. An echo boomed through the awakened forest.

Panic began in the village. The motors chirped. Blinding headlights flashed.

The shelling stopped as suddenly as it began. On the outskirts of the village, gunfire ensued. But now, drowning everything out, from three sides something especially formidable in the darkness of this July night was heard, growing with every second "Hurray!" There was a rapidly approaching horse stomp ...

Kozaken! .. Kozaken! .. - the fascists shouted in horror.

Horsemen were racing along the street of the village. The blades gleamed dully. The night fight began. Screams, groans of the wounded, shots, machine gun fire, neighing horses and over all this - an incessant drawn-out "hurray-ah-ah!"

Shooting rang out from the roads leading out of Troitskoye, machine guns rattled rhythmically - the outposts were shooting the fleeing Nazis.

Soon everything was quiet. In the east it was brightening quickly. A fine, quiet morning rose over the forest expanses. The dismounted horsemen pulled out of the cellars and basements, from the attics and from the sheds, the half-dressed Nazis hiding there. From time to time, a short skirmish broke out: some did not want to surrender ...

The 8th Company of the 58th Infantry Regiment, stationed in Troitskoye, was almost completely destroyed. On the street and in the courtyards, more than a hundred enemy corpses were counted, many of them were lying around the location of the outposts. The German lieutenant and seventeen soldiers walked dejectedly along the road, surrounded by cavalrymen. A dozen or so submachine guns were seized, which the soldiers willingly dismantled. Eight light machine guns, six mortars, bags with maps and documents taken from prisoners were the trophies of the reconnaissance detachment.

The squadrons crossed the Mezha River and stretched through the forest to the location of the division. They walked merrily; the soldiers, excited by the successful night battle, animatedly shared their impressions.

The 53rd Cavalry Division crossed the Mezha River on a dark night, east of the village of Kolenidovo. The head detachment of the 50th Cavalry Regiment left the forest at dawn. Ahead, on both sides of the road, lay a small village.

The edge of the slowly rising sun came out from behind the trees. Its slanting rays illuminated the tops of the pines, glided across the clearing, lit dew on the grass with thousands of sparkling diamonds, gilded the distant roofs of houses.

Breaking the morning silence, shots rained down from the outskirts, machine-gun bursts crackled. The head outpost dismounted and got involved in a firefight. Senior Lieutenant Kurbangulov deployed a squadron to support the outpost. The machine guns removed from the carts were jammed, the cannon hit.

The regiment commander galloped up. Having ordered the squadron to advance along the road, and the battery to support it with fire, he himself led the main forces around to the right. Taking cover behind the trees, three squadrons crept almost to the very outskirts.

Leaving ahead, Colonel Semyon Timochkin saw an enemy artillery battery. The guns were only half a kilometer away, still covered with haystacks, and fired at the buried chains of the fourth squadron. This was a rare case in modern warfare: the artillerymen got carried away with shooting and did not notice the cavalry, which came almost to the flank of the battery.

The decision immediately came: "to attack in horse ranks!" The colonel ordered Major Sergei Aristov to deploy the regiment for the attack, and the machine-gun squadron to support the attack with carts from behind the flank. Squadrons quickly lined up at the edge of the forest, and carts galloped to the left, deploying in the direction of the village. Carriers jumped from the saddles, caught the indigenous horses by the bridle.

It became quiet at the edge of the forest. The horsemen peered ahead with greedy, restless eyes, trying to see the still invisible enemy. Hands nervously fingered the harness of the reins.

The squadron commanders did not take their eyes off the colonel. He sat motionless on his black horse, looked through binoculars. Suddenly, quickly releasing the binoculars from his hands, he grabbed the curved Caucasian blade from its sheath and raised it above his head. Commands were heard from everywhere:

Checkers, to battle! .. To the attack, march-ma-a-arsh! ..

Machine guns started working. The riders rushed to the battery. Black clods of earth flew from under the hooves, the distance to the guns was rapidly closing. A German officer was shouting something, jabbing his parabellum straight into the faces of the gunners. With a drawn-out "hurray-ah-ah!" The horsemen ran into the battery, chopped down the Nazis, fired, trampled their horses. Some of the gunners started to run. Others stood motionless with their hands up. Leaving a few soldiers at the captured guns, the regiment commander led the squadrons further towards the village.

The shooting stopped immediately there. Enemy infantrymen ran along the road, along the sides, along the forest, often stopping and firing back. Near the village the squadrons came under fire and began dismounting. Near the outskirts, amongst the haystacks, stood four howitzers bearing the Rheinmetall. 1940 ". Near the guns were piled mountains of shells in wicker baskets, heaps of spent cartridges were piled up, and corpses were scattered about. Sixteen prisoners of artillery stood gloomily, surrounded by horsemen.

The main forces were drawn up to the village. Having familiarized himself with the situation, the division commander, brigade commander Melnik, ordered the vanguard to advance along the highway. The approaching 44th and 74th cavalry regiments turned right and left, hiding in the forest. They were tasked with bypassing the village and destroying the enemy defending there.

Major Radzievsky interrogated the prisoners. He was answered by a non-commissioned officer with an iron cross on board his uniform. When Melnik appeared, the Nazis respectfully stretched out.

Anything interesting, Alexey Ivanovich? - asked the Melnik Radzievsky.

Nothing new, comrade brigade commander, - the chief of staff smiled. - Only now the non-commissioned officer crucifies that he is an old ideological enemy of Hitler, sympathizes with the communists.

The chief of staff translated. The Nazi threw up his palm to the visor and gave the command. The gunners jumped to the guns, quickly deployed the howitzers. The non-commissioned officer stood a little to the side, shouted something again. The non-commissioned officer had binoculars in his hands from somewhere, he looked in the direction of Zhaboedov, turned half-turned to the guns:

Fired a volley. The gun barrels rolled back and then smoothly snapped into place. With quick, mechanical movements, the Nazis reloaded their guns. Our soldiers looked at these soulless submachine guns with deep contempt.

On the outskirts of the village, where the enemy infantry was energetically firing back from the advancing cavalrymen, four black pillars shot up. The non-commissioned officer looked up from the binoculars, glanced ingratiatingly at the division commander, said in a satisfied voice: "Ze-er gut ..." He gave a new command, and when the numbers changed the settings, he shouted again: "Fire! .."

Howitzers roared again, shells from the Rhinemetal guns flew. Four more grenades went off among the Hitlerite infantry.

Fire! .. Fire! ..

The howitzers barked again and again ... Unther liked the role of battery commander, which he could not have dreamed of an hour ago. Who to shoot at - he obviously did not care at all; he was professionally proud only of the accuracy of his fire.

The chains of the avant-garde regiment came close to Zhaboedovo. The enemy's fire was noticeably weaker; obviously the German shells were doing their job. On the right and left, the cavalry broke out of the forest. The wind blew "hurray!" The miller, looking up from the binoculars, threw: "Genug!" The howitzers fell silent. The Nazis, who had previously worked briskly, somehow immediately wilted, faded. The cavalrymen began to talk:

They beat on their own - and at least that ...

Great Hitler fooled them! ..

In this battle, a battalion of the 18th German Infantry Regiment was defeated. The prisoners said that the 6th Infantry Division was given the task of advancing around our units defending on the Vop River line, and that the appearance of the cavalry came as a complete surprise to them.

The 50th Cavalry Division approached the Mezha River near the village of Ordynka, where the scouts found a ford.

At this time, the patrol of senior sergeant Korzun was making his way in the direction of Troitsky. The scouts rode in single file, somewhat off the road, hiding behind trees.

Korzun - an elderly, stout man with a thick mustache and the Order of the Red Banner on his tunic - did not take his eyes off the patrol patrol moving cautiously in front of him. The patrol was led by his compatriot, friend and fellow soldier in the civil war, corporal Yakovchuk. Here Yakovchuk pulled on the reins, stopped the sentinels, quickly raised his rifle above his head - a symbolic sign that he had noticed the enemy. There was a fractional crash of motorcycles.

Reason to the right! .. - Korzun said hoarsely.

The scouts hid behind the pine trees.

To a foot battle, all get off! - Korzun continued to command. - Statsyuk, Kochura, Trofimenko - remain horse breeders! The rest, follow me, - and ran to the road, jerking the bolt on the move. All six lay in a roadside ditch. The head patrol was no longer visible.

The crackling of engines was heard very close. Five motorcyclists appeared to the side, as if they had emerged from somewhere. Submachine guns hung on their chests. Shots crackled. The scouts, firing on the run, rushed to the road. Not a single Hitler managed to escape: three lay motionless beside the cars that continued to rumble, two were taken alive. They fiercely fought off the stalwart horsemen who had occupied them, and - already disarmed - continued to shout something, angrily flashing eyes. One had two motley hens dangling on a waist belt, tied by the legs, with their heads down.

Korzun came close to the prisoners, looked at them sternly, pulled out his blade half from its scabbard, and said impressively:

Well - sha, kuro-eaters! ..

The Nazis calmed down, calmed down.

The 47th Vanguard Cavalry Regiment crossed the river on the move and continued its march.

The cavalry columns were moving with a brisk gait along the forest road. A platoon under the command of Lieutenant Tkachenko was at the head marching outpost. The outpost had not passed even five kilometers from the crossing when the patrols reported that the enemy had appeared.

Tkachenko ordered the assistant to lead the platoon, and he himself gave the spurs to the horse and galloped out onto a skyscraper standing to the side, overgrown with a young spruce forest. Half a kilometer ahead, along the edge of the forest, an infantry column was gathering dust, about near the company. The lieutenant looked ahead and at the flanks of the column, but did not notice either the marching outpost, nor the sentinels, nor the observers. The Nazis walked in straight rows, unhurriedly, with their sleeves rolled up to the elbows and the collars of their uniforms wide open.

Here, bastards, go to a picnic! - said Tkachenko aloud. Turning in the saddle, he shouted: - Osipchuk!

A young soldier drove up to the platoon leader. Tkachenko ordered:

Gallop to the senior lieutenant! Report that an enemy company is on the way down the road. I turn right with the outpost, go around the forest and fire at the Nazis from the flank.

Osipchuk went down from the skyscraper, pulled the bay one with a whip, and immediately let him into the quarry. Dust swirled from under the hooves. The outpost disappeared behind the trees. After passing through the forest about one and a half hundred meters, Tkachenko gave the command:

On foot, tear-ah-ah! ..

The horsemen jumped from their saddles, hastily handing over the reins to the horse breeders, taking them off from behind the rifle. The lieutenant scattered the soldiers in a chain, ran to the edge of the forest, ordered again:

Get down! .. Open the fire only at my command ...

Dust rose from around the bend in the road, and the swaying ranks of the enemy infantry column flashed through it. Tkachenko jumped up, shouted in a broken voice:

Oho-o-on! .. Beat them, you bastards! ..

The forest came to life. Rifles crackled, machine guns flooded ...

The head detachment commander Senior Lieutenant Ivankin, having received Tkachenko's report, led the squadron to the right and deployed it at the edge of the forest. The following squadron of Senior Lieutenant Vikhovsky parted to the left and continued to move along the road, disguised by the dense underbrush. As soon as gunfire was heard ahead, both squadrons went into a field gallop. A few minutes later the horsemen jumped out into an open field about three hundred meters from the enemy column.

Vikhovsky released his horse into the quarry; the cavalrymen rushed after him. Horsemen of the first squadron jumped out of the forest to the right. Far ahead of them, next to Ivankin, galloped political instructor Biryukov, noticeable by his snow-white mare. Squadrons from both sides rushed towards the enemy.

The horse attack was so swift that the enemy company, which had already lost a dozen soldiers from the fire attack of the marching outpost, was immediately crushed, chopped up, trampled down. The cavalrymen rushed on, but a new column of the enemy emerged from the forest. The Nazis ran into a chain, then lay down and opened fire. The squadrons dismounted. The breeders galloped their horses into the forest. A firefight began. Reinforcements were approaching the enemy. Colonel Yevgeny Arsentiev deployed another squadron, sending it to support the two lead ones. The regimental battery took up a firing position behind the skyscraper, with frequent fire pressed the Nazis who had risen to the attack to the ground. The division commander ordered Colonel Vasily Golovsky to deploy his regiment to the right of the vanguard. A fierce battle ensued.

From the forest, overtaking the infantry, dark gray vehicles burst out. On the towers, black crosses surrounded by wide white stripes were clearly visible.

Lieutenant Amosov commanded:

Use your hands to roll the guns to the edge!

The calculations froze at the guns, the gunners crouched to the eyepieces of the sights, the thin barrels of the forty-five-millimeter rifles stared at the approaching tanks. And the tanks are no more than three hundred meters ... two hundred and fifty ... two hundred ...

On the fascist tanks - battery, fire! .. - the long-awaited command was heard. Shots rang out almost simultaneously. The guns were instantly reloaded.

Battery, fire! .. Fire! .. Fire! ..

Burning ... burning! .. - joyful voices were heard.

The stern, pale faces of the gunners lit up with a smile. The tank, which rushed forward, turned sharply to the right, stopped, leaning on its side. From under the tower, quickly thickening, poured smoke.

The gunner of the second gun, Sergeant Doolin, pulled the trigger. The anti-tank gun boomed softly. Another tank stopped rooted to the spot; from a ragged hole in the frontal part, a tongue of flame whipped out. The rest of the cars turned around and rushed back, under the cover of the forest. The enemy infantry lay down. Sapper blades flashed, black heaps of earth grew over the heads of the soldiers - the Nazis dug in.

Enemy batteries rumbled again. At the beginning of the war, the cavalrymen did not like to dig in: in peacetime the cavalry did little to do this, and now they had to put a lot of money on the shovel! The shelling continued for about twenty minutes, then tanks appeared again from the forest. Shots flashed from the towers, and red tracer bullets streaked. The tanks crawled up to the squadron chain buried in the ground.

Political instructor Biryukov, slightly raised himself, shouted:

Who is not afraid of the Nazis, follow me! - and crawled forward on his bellies, clinging to the ground. Behind him - with bundles of grenades, with bottles of incendiary liquid - crawled along the soldiers. Biryukov was the first to approach the tanks. Something flashed in the air, there was an explosion, from under the caterpillars flames whirled. The tank, shrouded in bluish smoke, froze a dozen paces away from the political instructor who had crouched to the ground ...

The division commander was informed that a group of submachine gunners were bypassing our flanks in a forest, obviously trying to reach the crossing.

Dusk began to deepen. There was heavy shooting, rockets cut through the darkness. All this was new even for people who had already been fired upon during the world and civil wars. The enemy seemed strong, skillful, well maneuvering.

A liaison officer arrived and reported that brigade commander Melnik decided to withdraw his regiments across the river at nightfall. Colonel Pliev was forced to take the same decision: an enemy infantry regiment with artillery and a dozen tanks was discovered in front of his dismounted units, ammunition was running out, and patrols reported that new enemy columns were moving from the south-west to the river.

As soon as it got completely dark, the artillery withdrew from the position and began to retreat to the ford; dismounted shelves followed. At the crossing, the cavalry dismantled the horses, formed, landed, squadron after squadron were forwarded to the northern coast.

The enemy noticed a retreat and again went on the offensive. Howitzer batteries fired continuously through the forest that surrounded the ford.

The artillery and machine-gun squadron of the rearguard regiment had already crossed the Mezha River and took up firing positions. The horse breeders withdrew across the river. Colonel Golovskoy with two squadrons remained on the southern bank. They slowly retreated platoon to the crossing. The Nazis followed them, but did not go over to the attack. At the very shore, I had to lie down again. The regiment commander ordered to let the enemy closer.

The enemy batteries continued to fire, but the shells exploded far beyond the river. Behind the cavalrymen, the unhurried Mezha splashed quietly. The river smelled cool, the smell of a swamp.

And out of the darkness appeared thick, moving lines of enemy infantry. The soldiers walked to their full height, slashing the night with automatic bursts.

The command was distributed:

Whoa-oh-oh! ..

The shore was surrounded by flashes of shots. Shouts of "Heil!" were replaced by the groans of the wounded. The submachine gunners died down, the missiles went out: the Nazis lay down. Ceased fire and artillery.

On a completely broken ford, the squadrons crossed the river and joined the regiment. While repelling this attack, Colonel Golovskoy was seriously wounded.

The 50th Cavalry Division gathered, moved along the northern bank of the Mezha in the direction of Lake Emlen and stood here for a day. At the same time, the 53rd Cavalry Division was concentrating in the area of ​​Lake Plovnoye.

At the end of July, to the east and southeast of Smolensk, Soviet troops began to inflict counterattacks on the troops of the Nazi Army Group Center. The blows were delivered: from the Bely area in the direction of Dukhovshchina, Smolensk; from the Yartsevo region also to Dukhovshchina and from the Roslavl region in the direction of Pochinok, Smolensk. Further down the Dnieper, Soviet troops drove the Nazis out of Rogachev and Zhlobin. Enemy troops, having suffered serious losses, by the beginning of August went over to the defensive at the front of Velikiye Luki, Lomonosovo, the Vop River, Yelnya, Roslavl, the Sozh River, Novy Bykhov, Rogachev, Glussk, Petrikov.

The troops of the Western Front fought stubbornly. The headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to allocate large cavalry formations for operations in the enemy rear.

Marshal Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko united the 50th and 53rd cavalry divisions concentrated on the right wing of the Western Front and assigned them the task of striking the enemy's rear, pinning down enemy units operating in the Yartsevo area, and preventing the fascist German command from to strengthen our Yelninsk grouping, against which our counterattack was being prepared.

Dovator L.M.

Colonel Lev Mikhailovich Dovator was appointed commander of the cavalry group, and regimental commissar Fyodor Fedorovich Tulikov was appointed military commissar.

Immediately upon appointment, Dovator went to the divisions that were on vacation in the forests around the Emlen and Plovnoe lakes. He visited every regiment, squadron, battery, and not only visited, but deeply - like a good, zealous owner - got acquainted with all aspects of the life of his new, large "economy".

Short, stocky, tightly built, dressed in a protective tunic and blue breeches, in boots polished to a gloss with shiny spurs - Dovator gave the impression of a fit officer, accustomed to carefully taking care of his appearance. On his chest gleamed with enamel a brand new Order of the Red Banner, which he had received for his distinction in the battles on the Solovievskaya crossing over the Dnieper.

Dovator walked around the location of the units, looked closely, asked the soldiers and officers about the battles in which they participated, about the pre-war service. He once served in the North Caucasus in the 12th Kuban Cossack Division, recruited in the same area where the 50th Cavalry Division was now formed. Quite a few old change fighters recognized their former squadron commander in the commander of the cavalry group. With such "old men" Dovator talked for a long time, remembered mutual acquaintances, joked merrily.

The horsemen remembered this episode for a long time. During the review, Dovator ordered the squadron commander, Captain Batluk, who enjoyed a reputation not only as a combat commander, but also as an excellent combatant:

Unleash this saddle!

Batluk spread a blanket on the ground near the hitching post, put the saddle removed from the homemade rack on it, with clear, familiar movements of the cavalryman began to take it out of the saddle bags: a horse brush, a comb, a hay net, a sack, a bag with spare horseshoes, nails and spikes, , a pair of linen, footcloths, soap, a towel, a bag with sewing and gun accessories, a sakwu with tea, sugar and salt, a can of canned food, a pack of biscuits and other small items that, according to the charter, a rider is supposed to have on a hike.

Captain Batluk beamed with pride for a serviceable subordinate, whose saddle fell under his arm. Dovator looked at the captain with a smile.

And how many cartridges, oats, canned food and rusks does the cavalry carry with him? - tilting his head to the left out of habit and slightly lifting his right shoulder, as if aiming at the interlocutor, he asked Batluk.

In his heart, Batluk was a little offended for this "exam" in the presence of not only the division commander and the regiment commander, but also the soldiers standing around him, but he answered clearly, as in a report:

According to the regulations, Comrade Colonel, a rider carries an emergency supply in a saddle pack: oats for a horse for a day, canned food, crackers, sugar, tea, and one hundred and twenty cartridges for a rifle.

And how many days did you have to fight on the Mezha River, not seeing your carts in the eyes and remembering the parents of all business executives in the world? - Still smiling with the corners of his eyes, continued Dovator.

Batluk, not understanding what they wanted from him, not so clearly, but still answered precisely:

Six days, Comrade Colonel.

So, the soldiers and horses ate for a day, and listened to the radio for five days? - Dovator threw dryly. He was quick-tempered by nature. I knew this for myself, through a long military training I tried to get rid of this shortcoming.

An awkward silence lasted for several minutes.

And if we left in the wagon train all these brushes, underpants and chain chumbura, with which, by the way, only elephants in the circus, and not horses on the march, - continued Dovator, - and give the rider in the saddle pack not oats for a day, but for three days, and three hundred cartridges, how much would the maneuverability of the cavalry increase? Perhaps, on the second day I would not have had to yell: "There are no cartridges, no bread, no oats, I cannot fight!" Yes, and our business executives would have a much calmer life! - finished Dovator and walked on, past the finally embarrassed Batluk, who did not receive gratitude for the excellent pack of saddles in his dashing squadron, which became famous in the first battles ...

Dovator served in the Soviet Army for eighteen years, in 1928 he joined the party. Passed the harsh military service: was a Red Army soldier, chemical instructor, normal school cadet, platoon commander, political instructor and squadron commander, chief of staff of a regiment and brigade. I knew the soldier and the officer well, I fervently believed in their moral and combat qualities.

But now he looked at his new units with particular meticulousness, trying to immediately reveal the reasons that prevented the cavalry from fully fulfilling the task assigned to it and breaking through into the deep rear of the enemy. From the experience of serving in the territorial regiment, Dovator knew the shortcomings of units with reduced training periods: the lack of proper coordination of squadrons and regiments, insufficient practical command skills among the officers. And this was in peacetime, in the territorial units that underwent three to four months of training every year. And now he was given divisions, which went to the front a week after the start of the formation. There was something to think about for the commander of the cavalry group!

Dovator looked at the cheerful, tanned faces of the rested people. With pleasure, the trooper-cavalryman noted that the horsemen carefully look after the horses, walk with checkers, which clearly serves the internal attire.

But Dovator saw something else as well. In conversations with his new subordinates, he noticed their enthusiastic responses about (alas, few!) Horse attacks, their somewhat exaggerated impression of encounters with enemy tanks and machine gunners. Dovator concluded that the average command and political staff, which came mainly from the reserve, had lagged behind quite a bit, that many of the officers were trying in 1941 to fight by the same methods that they had fought in the period civil war that the art of controlling cavalry in modern combat and its interaction with supporting combat equipment are not sufficiently mastered. A native of Belarus, well acquainted with the area of ​​hostilities, Dovator noticed the insufficient adaptability of the cavalrymen, who grew up in the steppe expanses, to the situation of the wooded and swampy Smolensk region.

He stopped at the carts standing under the pine trees, addressing the squadron commander, asked:

How did you, Comrade Senior Lieutenant, operate in the valley of the Mezha River, among forests and swamps, when you have machine guns on four-wheel carts?

Senior Lieutenant Kuranov was one of those avid machine gunners, about whom they say - jokingly or seriously - that they can “sign” from the “Maxim”, that is, knock out half of the rounds of their name on the target. In Kuranov's concept, an easel machine gun, a tachanka, two numbers on the sides of a machine gun, a riding one, squeezing the reins of four mighty horses (of course, white as swans are best!) - are as inseparable from each other as a person's body, head, arms, legs. He wanted to report all this to the colonel, but remembered the battle at Prokhorenka, when his machine guns got stuck in the swamp and they were barely pulled out by the second squadron. I remembered ... and said nothing.

It's beautiful, no doubt, - said Dovator, - when you see a machine-gun carriage on a head. The heroics of the civil war and dies! Only now is the forty-first year, and not the Kuban, but the Smolensk region - a century-old forest and peat bogs! I’m almost local myself, ”he continued. - My homeland is the village of Khotino, Beshenkovichi district, Vitebsk region; it is a hundred and fifty kilometers from here. I know the local forests well from an early age. As a boy, he collected mushrooms, berries, and caught birds in them. On them in the twenty-third year with a detachment of rural Komsomol members drove the kulak gang of Kapustin, but she was hiding in the most remote forest thickets. Here, Comrade Senior Lieutenant, a machine gun cart is a coffin! You can't turn off the road on it: the axle will fly or the drawbar will break. She will not go along the forest path, she will not make her way through the swamp, and the squadrons will have to fight without machine guns.

Dovator turned to Pliev and finished decisively:

Order, Issa Alexandrovich, that pack saddles be made for all heavy machine guns in the regimental smithies and pay the most serious attention of all regimental commanders to this. The day after tomorrow I will watch the machine gun squadrons.

Dovator with regimental commissar Tulikov returned to headquarters. As a matter of fact, the headquarters in the modern concept did not yet exist. Apart from the commander of the cavalry group, the commissar and the chief of staff, there was no one else. Immediately after his arrival, Dovator ordered one officer, two sergeants and three soldiers on the best horses to be assigned from each regiment to carry out communications. For control in battle, he intended for the time being to use the radio stations of the division with which he would be located. Light cavalry divisions had no wired communication at all at that time.

Dovator dismounted from his horse, slowly climbed the steps to the porch, entered the hut. Lieutenant Colonel Kartavenko handed him the intelligence reports he had just received and wanted to leave. The colonel detained the chief of staff.

Give, Andrei Markovich, preliminary orders to the division commanders, ”Dovator said quietly, looking through the window somewhere into the forest distance. - Ready for a hike - in two days. Do not take artillery with you. Allocate four heavy machine guns for the campaign in the regiments. For each machine gun, have two clockwork horses and five thousand rounds. Remount radio stations on packs.

Kartavenko, listening attentively, opened the tablet, took out his field book, and began to write down quickly.

Cars, carts, field kitchens, sick people, - said Dovator, - leave weak horses at their parking places and unite in each division under the command of one of the deputy commanders of the regiments. For the riders from the saddle bags, put everything in the baggage train. Leave only pots, spoons, horsebags and one brush per compartment. Each soldier should be given oats, canned food, crackers, three hundred rounds of cartridges and three hand grenades for three days. The division commanders will personally check everything and report to me by the end of the twelfth.

Dovator developed a plan for striking the enemy rear. He carefully studied the terrain and the enemy grouping in front of the army front, analyzed our past actions. Since the enemy, with forces of up to two infantry divisions, went over to the defensive along the southern bank of the Mezha River, with places of forward units on the northern bank, Dovator chose a section of the river for his cavalry to cross much to the east, behind the unfinished railway from the Zemtsy station in Lomonosov. On the map, this area was designated as a swampy, forested area with rare small villages. The enemy did not have a continuous front here, he was limited to the defense of settlements on the highways. It was in this area that Dovator decided to break through to the rear of the enemy.

Dovator summoned the commanders, commissars and chiefs of staff of the divisions and told them:

The headquarters of the Supreme High Command set for our and several other cavalry groups the task of breaking into the deep rear of the enemy. The cavalry must disrupt the normal operation of enemy communications, disrupt the control of the enemy's troops, and pull as many of his troops from the front as possible. By our actions, we must help the troops of the Western Front to delay the Hitler offensive against Moscow.

We are honored. Headquarters sends us one of the first to attack. We will personify our entire Soviet Army in the eyes of Soviet people who have temporarily fallen under the yoke of the enemy. And the names of our divisions and regiments will go down in history. After all, life is short, and fame is long! - finished Dovator with his favorite saying ...

On August 13, 1941, the reserve troops of the Supreme High Command Headquarters under the command of General of the Army G.K. Zhukov launched a counterattack on the enemy in the Yelnya area. The enemy's 15th, 78th, 263rd and 268th Infantry Divisions, as well as part of the 10th Panzer Division and the Reich SS Motorized Division, suffered heavy losses and were driven back from their positions.

In the early morning of that day, two patrols were sent from each cavalry division on the best horses under the command of the most daring and experienced officers. The raids were supposed to scout the routes along which the divisions were to advance, and to find crossings on the Mezha River.

At 17 o'clock the cavalry group withdrew from their bivouacs and moved southwest. The horses had a good rest on the night pastures, they walked briskly. The horsemen rode, talking animatedly. All conversations were conducted around Dovator. Everyone was carried away by the inexhaustible energy of the new group commander, his confidence in success. During these few days, he became close, understandable to everyone, his commander.

The 53rd Cavalry Division went to the Mezha River through a huge swamp overgrown with copses and bushes called the Savkin Pokos tract, which was marked on the map without a single path. Parts of the 50th Cavalry Division were sent further east and formed the left column of the cavalry group.

The route was extremely difficult. For the first five to six kilometers, the regiments walked in a chain, stretching out one by one. Under the hooves of the horses, a swamp swampland; the further, the deeper it became. An hour later, the vanguard regiment became.

Colonel Dovator drove out to the vanguard. Ahead lay a huge swamp, surrounded by a dark formation of birches and aspens. Patrols sent to the sides could not find any workaround.

Hurry three squadrons! Cut down trees, lay them on the swamp, cover them with branches, reeds and go forward! - ordered Dovator to the commander of the vanguard, Major Krasnoshapka.

The squadrons dismounted. The horsemen began to chop down trees with axes, mow reeds with their sabers; the night fell quickly to the ground.

Having arranged the flooring, the cavalrymen began to move forward almost gropingly. Snoring and spinning with their ears, the Donchaks and Kabardians, accustomed to the steppe expanses, cautiously walked along the unsteady, swaying flooring above the swamp. In 12 hours, only 14 kilometers of the path laid by the cavalrymen were covered. By dawn the division passed the Savkin Mowing area. Ahead, a swampy forest stood like a wall, but here it was still possible to move, only stopping here and there to fill up especially viscous places with felled branches.

At noon, when there were about six kilometers to the Mezha River, Colonel Dovator ordered to halt. Soon one of the patrols sent out the day before returned. Lieutenant Panasenko reported that he had found a ford not marked on the map, which was not guarded by anyone. The ford is surrounded by a swamp overgrown with reeds and bushes, its depth is about a meter. This was exactly what Dovator was looking for.

As soon as it got dark, the horsemen moved towards the ford. The vanguard regiment was to cross first and then secure the crossing of the main forces. Together with him, rescue teams made up of the best swimmers were sent forward.

The vanguard quickly crossed the river, but very much broke the bottom. The crossing was delayed. Horses stumbled on the bottom loosened by hundreds of hooves, many of them lost their balance, fell and swam. The riders jumped into the water; holding on to the stirrups of the stirrups, by the ponytails, swam alongside. Some of them swallowed the cold water that smelled of marsh grass. The Nazis did not find the cavalry crossing. Long before dawn, the 53rd Cavalry Division was already on the southern coast. After walking another fifteen kilometers, she took a big halt.

The 50th Cavalry Division also successfully overcame the difficult path. At night, the squadrons, unnoticed by the enemy, crossed the Mezha River.

The cavalry group came close to the enemy defense, the basis of which was the settlements on the roads leading from Dukhovshchina to Bely and Staraya Toropa.

Along the southern bank of the Mezha River, northwest of Dukhovshchina, the enemy did not have a continuous front. The 129th Infantry Division, defending the Duhovschinsky Highway, occupied settlements on the roads controlled by mobile groups of motorized infantry with tanks.

The 3rd Battalion of the 430th Regiment of the 129th Infantry Division occupied a resistance center at Ustye. The village was adapted for defense. At an altitude with a mark of 194.9 and in the village of Podvyaz there was a resistance center of the second battalion. In the forest were located the firing positions of the third division of the 129th artillery regiment, which was supported by the 430th infantry regiment.

The divisions conducted reconnaissance for two days. Small reconnaissance groups and patrols reported that it was impossible to pass in the place of the planned breakthrough between Podvyaz and Ustye, since the junction of these two strongholds was allegedly densely mined and well-shot. But the information of the scouts turned out to be unreliable, since they did not come close to the strong points.

Dovator summoned the commanders of divisions and regiments. He brought them to the edge of the forest near the strongholds and monitored the enemy's defenses all day. Reconnaissance made it possible to establish that the junction between Podvyazye and Ustye is not covered or guarded by anyone. Here, a verbal combat order was given to go into the rear of the enemy.

The 37th Cavalry Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lasovsky was assigned to the vanguard to carry out a breakthrough. The actions of the vanguard provided: from the Podvyazye side - a screen as part of the reinforced squadron of Senior Lieutenant Sivolapov, and a squadron of Senior Lieutenant Ivankin was sent towards the Ustye.

The vanguard had to act in a hurry. The main forces of the group at this time in a mounted formation await in the initial position the results of the actions of the vanguard.

If the vanguard passes between the enemy strongholds unnoticed, then the main forces will move after it, avoiding getting involved in battle.

Ivankin I.V.

Having given a verbal combat order, the group commander gathered all the commanders and commissars of the regiments.

The enemy will pursue us with motorized units and tanks, since the infantry cannot catch up with the cavalry. We have no artillery with us. Tanks must be fought by other means. - Dovator spoke quickly, in short energetic phrases. It was felt that all this was well thought out by him and he wanted to be understood just as well by his subordinates. - Form groups of tank destroyers in squadrons. Select into these groups the most courageous, calm, battle-tested people. Give them more anti-tank and hand grenades, bottles of flammable liquid, machine guns. - Dovator carefully looked at the serious, concentrated faces of the officers. - Remember yourself and convince your subordinates that the main thing in the fight against tanks is a man, our Soviet soldier. These people will have to prove to everyone that the tank is not terrible for those who are not afraid of it ...

At about one in the morning, Lieutenant Dubinin's scouts entered the joint between the enemy strongholds. At three thirty minutes, the vanguard crossed the Podvyazye - Ustye road.

The morning of August 23, 1941 turned out to be fresh in autumn. Fog spread over the swampy lowlands of the Smolensk region, overgrown with low birch and alder forests. The visibility did not exceed two hundred steps. Nature woke up slowly. A lazy, not at all military silence was spilled around ...

Dovator, wrapped in a cloak, lay under a pine tree near the command post of the 50th Cavalry Division. It was not yet four when he opened his eyes, jumped briskly to his feet, glanced at his watch, slightly shivering from the matinee that was crawling under his tunic, said:

It's time, Issa Alexandrovich ...

Pliev went up to Dovator. His swarthy, freshly shaven face burned with the cold spring water; faintly drawn by the pungent scent of cologne. Lightly fingering the leather lanyard of the checker with the fingers of a small hand, Pliev calmly and quietly, as always, reported:

The division is ready, Lev Mikhailovich ...

The orderly held the horses somewhat aside. Kazbek, casting silver, flirted with the orderly's horse, and Hakobyan feigned rude shouts at the colonel's favorite. At a distance, officers and submachine gunners of the headquarters guard stood in a group.

Dovator easily got into the saddle, dismantled the reins and drove towards the road. It was visible how the horsemen were moving in the fog - the main forces of the cavalry group entered the breakthrough.

The Nazis heard the thumping of horses' hooves of thousands. Machine guns crackled. Enemy artillery opened fire. The dismounted regiments engaged in battle.

The squadron commander Senior Lieutenant Lyuschenko led his soldiers to attack the enemy trenches visible not far off. Lyushchenko was immediately wounded. Lieutenant Agamirov took command of the squadron. Hurray thundered. The Nazis were driven out of the trenches and hastily retreated to the village.

The dismounted 50th Cavalry Regiment under the command of Colonel Timochkin broke the resistance of the enemy infantry and knocked it out of the trenches near the Podvyaz. The enemy again tried to delay our advance, but was attacked by three reserve squadrons, led by the chief of staff of the division, Major Radzievsky. The cavalrymen on horseback pursued the remnants of the defeated second battalion.

Meanwhile, the main forces were crossing the road. It was getting light quickly. The fog cleared away and lay in separate islands in the damp lowlands. On the other side of the road a pine forest stood in a jagged dark blue ribbon, already heavily touched by the autumn gilding.

Together with his regiment, the squadron of senior lieutenant Ivankin, removed from the screen, crossed the road. At the edge of the forest I heard the rumble of engines and the clanking of tracks. Three tanks were walking along the road, rolling over bumps. The first to see the tanks was Ivankin. The tanks turned out to be to the left of his squadron, no more than three hundred meters remained to them. There was no time to waste, as enemy vehicles could crush the tail of the division's column. Ivankin gave an unusual command in the equestrian system:

Gas bottles, grenades, go to battle! Gallop!..

The squadron rushed to attack the tanks. A minute, and explosions of grenades were heard. The tankers, taken by surprise, did not manage to fire a single shot. The lead vehicle, engulfed in flames, stopped. Tankers jumped out of the opening hatch and, raising their hands, looked in dismay at the horsemen rushing past. Two other cars hurriedly left, firing back from the machine gun.

For resourcefulness and courage, Ivan Vasilyevich Ivankin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The Nazis managed to quickly close the breakthrough, cutting off the horse breeders of the 50th Cavalry Regiment and the first squadron of the 37th Cavalry Regiment. The main forces of the cavalry group were concentrated in the pine forest behind the road. This boron, small in size, could not shelter the numerous cavalry. It was necessary to break into a large forest on the Dukhovshchinsky highway. An open field lay in front of the forest. Dovator ordered to put forward all heavy machine guns against the strongholds and, under cover of their fire, attack the Nazi barrier on the highway during the day.

The 50th Cavalry Division operated in the first echelon, and the 53rd Cavalry Division in the second echelon. The 37th Cavalry Regiment was still in the vanguard.

Lieutenant Colonel Anton Lasovsky led the regiment at a step in a dismembered formation. When the Nazis opened fire, the regiment commander raised the squadrons at a gallop and, 400–500 meters away, gave the command to attack on horseback. The attack was supported by squadrons of the 43rd Cavalry Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Smirnov.

The third battalion of the 430th Infantry Regiment, which was hit by a cavalry attack, was almost destroyed; the second battalion also suffered heavy losses.

The cavalry divisions were concentrated in the forest south of the road. The way into the depths of the enemy's location was open.

The cavalry fought swiftly to the southwest. Ominous rumors of a breakthrough by the Soviet cavalry spread around the enemy's rear.

Enemy soldiers and officers, who were lucky enough to escape from the defeated garrisons, spread panicky news of the approach of numerous Russian cavalry. The fascist German command was forced to withdraw a number of units from the front and throw them against the cavalry.

The actions of the cavalry group under the command of Dovator behind enemy lines were distinguished by great thoughtfulness.

As a rule, during the daytime the cavalry took shelter away from the main roads and settlements, and rested. Only tireless patrols darted through the forests in all directions, attacked single vehicles, and captured prisoners. At night, the divisions made another leap, moving to the areas designated by the group commander on the basis of data collected by the patrols. Specially designated squadrons and even entire regiments carried out raids on enemy garrisons, destroyed them in short night battles.

One of the participants in this dashing raid, junior political instructor Ivan Karmazin, composed a not particularly artistic, but lovingly performed song throughout the war (mp3 file).

Through the dense forests, with a merry song,

With sharp blades, on dashing horses

Kuban Cossacks are moving in columns,

To fight valiantly with the Germans in battles.

Eh, hit the Kuban people! Cut it, guards!

Defeat the vile fascists, give no mercy!

For victorious deeds, for the defense of the Motherland

Dovator, our beloved general, drove us.

With the name of Dovator, a brave commander,

We went to defend the homeland against the enemy.

Where did the Dovatorians, the Kuban Cossacks,

The hordes of Hitlerites found their death.

We marked our way with glorious victories.

We beat the fascists, we beat and we will beat:

With bullets, grenades, mines, machine guns,

Machine gun "Maxim" and a blade to chop ...

The population of the liberated regions arranged a touching meeting for the cavalrymen. The Soviet people shared with the cavalry the last sack of oats, the last piece of bread, went as guides, told everything they knew about the enemy.

Colonel Dovator's horsemen rolled in an unstoppable avalanche along the enemy rear, and ahead of them there was a formidable rumor about the breakthrough of huge masses of Soviet cavalry. General Strauss's headquarters, in order to dispel the panic at least a little, published an order stating that it was not a hundred thousand Cossacks, as the alarmists say, that broke into the German rear, but only three cavalry divisions, numbering ... eighteen thousand sabers. Dovator, however, took in the raid only about three thousand horsemen, twenty-four heavy machine guns and not a single cannon!

On August 27, the cavalry group approached the Velizh - Dukhovshchina highway, which was one of the most important communications of the 9th German army. In all directions, patrols scattered like a fan, looking out for targets for raids. And several squadrons were sent to the highway and adjacent roads to defeat the enemy convoys.

The departure of Junior Lieutenant Krivorotko intercepted an enemy command vehicle at a small bridge on the highway. The Nazis began to shoot back, killed one of our soldiers. The scouts Kihtenko and Kokurin, jumping out of the ditch, began to throw hand grenades under the bus. The car caught fire, and several people jumped out of it. Submachine guns crackled. The fascists fell on the road like sheaves. Krivorotko rushed into the car and began to throw field bags, raincoats, suitcases with some papers out of it. From the captured documents it was established that the enemy headquarters was located in the large settlement of Ribshevo.

One of the squadrons went to the highway between Rudnya and Guki. The horsemen had barely had time to dismount when the rumble of engines was heard ahead. Four tanks were moving along the road.

The squadron commander Senior Lieutenant Tkach managed to warn the soldiers to shoot only at the Nazis jumping out of the cars. He himself, holding an anti-tank grenade in his hand, hid behind a huge pine tree that grew by the very road.

As soon as the lead vehicle was level with the pine tree, Tkach jumped out, threw a heavy grenade with a strong throw and immediately hid again. There was an explosion. The tank with the broken track spun in place, pouring machine-gun fire on the forest. The weaver, having waited until the machine turned aft, threw a bottle with a combustible mixture onto the engine part. The tank burst into flames.

The second tank was knocked out by political instructor Borisayko. A former instructor of the district party committee, a twenty-eight-year-old big man - Borisaiko puzzled the squadron commander while on the march, saying to him:

Petr Alekseevich, I made an invention of a defensive nature ... I invented the anti-tank artillery system of Sashka Borisayko. On, admire ...

The weaver barely kept a heavy structure of three hand grenades, tightly twisted by a telephone cable with an anti-tank grenade.

Is it really possible to throw such a weight? ..

And I, Pyotr Alekseevich, as it used to be, at sports competitions, I will throw something light, so then my arm hurts, - the political instructor answered with a broad smile. - I like to swing harder and hit from the whole shoulder ...

When Borisaiko threw his deadly "invention" under an enemy tank, a powerful explosion rang out, causing the tank's ammunition to detonate. The car was blown to pieces. Borisayko was stunned by the explosion. When he woke up, he saw that just a few steps away from the shapeless block of smoking metal, a third tank was unfolding, apparently intending to leave.

You won't get away, you bastard! .. - Borisaiko shouted and threw two incendiary bottles in a row at the tank. The car was engulfed in flames. The political instructor snatched a hand grenade from the hands of a soldier lying next to him, rushed to the tank, threw a grenade into the opened hatch. A pillar of fire rose from there, poured thick brown smoke.

For the destruction of two enemy tanks, Alexander Efimovich Borisaiko was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The tank behind it also began to turn. Komsomol member Nikon Frolov ran out to cut him and almost point blank threw a bunch of grenades. The tank sagged down heavily and froze in place.

Ivan Vasilievich Ivinkin was an experienced military officer. As a young man, he volunteered for the Red Army, fought with the White Guards and interventionists during the Civil War, joined the Communist Party, and was wounded. After retiring to the reserve, he worked for eight years as a military leader of one of the secondary schools in the city of Grozny. He is used to doing everything thoughtfully, calmly, carefully.

Leading two squadrons, Senior Lieutenant Ivankin organized an ambush where the highway in a long, rounded loop descended to the bridge over a very swampy river. The cavalrymen dismounted on both sides of the highway and waited patiently. The sentinels reported that an enemy motorized column was coming from the west.

Now you will hear, Comrade Senior Lieutenant, how my "Maxim" is singing, - said Senior Sergeant Ivan Akulov, lowering the sight rack.

Twelve motorcyclists drove out of the forest. In two chains they moved slowly along the roadside. Behind them appeared seven trucks, in the bodies of which soldiers in steel helmets sat in even rows.

More and more cars drove out from behind the trees, quickly sliding on the curve and going down to the bridge.

Akulov, squeezing the butt pad handles, caught the lead machine at the front sight and smoothly pulled the trigger. The machine gun went off, rifles and machine guns crackled. The trucks began to slow down, pull off the road. Behind them, the cars accelerating downhill pressed on. Within a few minutes, the entire convoy was destroyed. On the banks of the river, on the roadbed, around the burning bridge, 58 trucks, four fuel trucks and three Opel cars were left.

While the squadrons were dealing with enemy columns on the roads, the 47th Cavalry Regiment surrounded the village of Guki, where an SS punitive detachment was raging. Dismounted squadrons rushed into the village from three sides. Within half an hour, everything was over - more than a hundred corpses in black uniforms remained in a small village in Smolensk.

Driving down the street, the regimental commander noticed a white sheet of paper on the wall - an announcement of a bonus for the murder or extradition of Dovator. Colonel Arsentiev held the reins, turning to the orderlies, said:

Come on, lads, carefully remove this piece of paper. I'll take it to Lev Mikhailovich, let him read how much Adolf Hitler gives for his head.

The cavalrymen acted bravely on enemy lines of communication. The fascist German command was forced to withdraw significant forces of infantry and tanks from the front and throw them against the cavalry group. Enemy units from three sides covered the area of ​​operations of the 50th and 53rd Cavalry Divisions to the northeast of the Velizhsky Highway and began combing forest roads. Horse reconnaissance reported that enemy troops were concentrated in Ribshev and Rudna, trying to surround the cavalrymen. It was necessary to urgently leave this area.

Dovator tried to report the situation to the headquarters of the 29th Army, but the cavalry group went so far from its troops that its radio stations could not contact the army headquarters. Ammunition and food were running out. Dovator decided to retreat, but before retreating to raid the enemy headquarters. He knew that General Strauss had left with his headquarters from Ribshev and there was only an accidentally delayed topographic department and a fleet of trucks.

Intelligence was sent to determine the most convenient approaches to Ribshev, the composition of the garrison, and the location of the headquarters guard. Together with the patrols, two nurses went on reconnaissance - Goryushina and Averkina.

Dressed in peasant dresses, the girls, together with the partisan Alexei Blizhnesov, walked in the evening along the highway leading to Ribshev. Soon the travelers were overtaken by a truck. In the cockpit, next to the driver, sat a German lieutenant. The car drove forward a little and stopped. The Nazi, opening the door, shouted in broken Russian:

Come on, beauties, come here! ..

The girls drew level with the car. The lieutenant offered to take them to Ribshev. Pretending to be embarrassed, Lena Averkina nudged her friend with her elbow:

Let's go, Anka! ..

The officer made room, the girls climbed into the cockpit. Blizhnetsov was about to put his leg over the side, but the young soldier sitting above got up, threw up his machine gun, and shouted rudely:

Tsuryuk! .. Ryuska svol ...

From a conversation with a random fellow traveler, the girls learned that the enemy headquarters was located in the school building. In Ribszew, in the square in front of the school, they noticed rows of trucks covered with tarpaulins.

The lieutenant invited the girls to the officers' party. When the Nazis got drunk, the scouts, seizing a convenient moment, slipped out into the courtyard, made their way to the outskirts with their gardens, bypassed the well-spotted field guard and rushed into the forest. At midnight they returned safely to headquarters and told what they had seen. Lena brought an officer's field bag with a map and documents, which she had brought along at the party. Anna Goryushina and Elena Averkina were awarded the Orders of the Red Banner for brave intelligence and valuable information about the enemy of the Komsomol. - On the night of August 29, the horsemen swooped down on Ribshevo and defeated the enemy guard battalion. A huge warehouse of topographic maps and several dozen trucks were burned.

After that, the cavalry group concentrated in the forest. The enemy surrounded the entire area with troops transferred from the front. His aviation systematically, in squares, bombed forests. Heavy bombs exploded with a roar in the thicket, trees fell, forming blockages on the roads.

The cavalry group set off on the return journey. At dawn, planes detected its movement, and air attacks began. On the roads, following the retreating cavalrymen, enemy tanks and motorized infantry moved, pulling the encirclement and pressing the cavalry against the huge swamp. The situation was very serious.

Soviet people came to the rescue. The commander of one of the local partisan detachments proposed to lead the cavalry through the swamp, which was considered impassable. Knowing that the Nazis would never risk climbing into such a swamp, Dovator decided to overcome the quagmire at night.

Dovator organized this difficult march especially carefully. A squadron, led by senior lieutenant Vikhovsky, was sent forward as the lead detachment. To cover the retreat, a squadron of an exceptionally stubborn and calm officer, Senior Lieutenant Sivolapov, was allocated. Dovator summoned him and ordered:

Stay with the squadron on this line until I give the signal that the divisions have passed the quagmire. I forbid you to move away before the signal. Whatever enemy forces are advancing on you, hold on to the last soldier, to the last bullet!

The squadron will not leave without your signal, Comrade Colonel, ”Sivolapov answered shortly, looking directly into Dovator's eyes. Dovator shook his hand tightly.

Even before sunset, one squadron from each division marched northeast, towards the front. They were supposed to disorient the enemy and distract him from the main forces. Tied to the cavalry, the "frames" soon tracked down the columns of these squadrons stretching along the forest roads. Junkers circled over the forest, bomb explosions thundered, machine guns and automatic bomber cannons crackled. Then the squadrons turned abruptly off the roads and moved after the main forces, marching northward through the forest, towards an impassable quagmire.

The night of August 31 enveloped the dense forests of the Smolensk region. This night was perhaps the most difficult in this cavalry raid.

Following the guides - the partisans Gudkov and Molotkov - a line of horsemen stretched through the swamp, in impenetrable darkness. They walked in a column one at a time, both divisions in the back of the head one by the other. Soon I had to dismount and move on the bit. The horsemen walked along a barely noticeable path, jumping from bump to bump, every now and then stumbling and falling into the swamp mud.

The movement was extremely grueling. We often had to stop to give rest to exhausted, hungry horses, tired people who had not slept for several nights.

Behind, where the rear squad remained, a firefight began. The explosions of shells were heard, and the frequent shots of semi-automatic cannons were heard.

Sivolapov is under attack ... - said Dovator, turning to Kartavenko, who was following. The chief of staff said nothing.

There were still two hours before dawn, when a chain of command was sent from the lead detachment: "We have come out on solid ground." Dovator immediately ordered to give a signal to Sivolapov's squadron to withdraw. Red and white rockets soared over the pine trees. All at once cheered up, the most tired pulled themselves up, walked more vigorously.

The swamp is over.

Coming out of the quagmire, the cavalrymen stopped, cleaned up a little, gave the horses a drink in a forest stream, gave them grass to eat, and moved on. The radio operators finally caught the army radio, accepted the order of the army commander: to leave in the same direction. Rifle units of the Western Front were to strike towards the cavalry group, facilitating its breakthrough to their troops.

Without stopping, the cavalry went to the northeast, and only in the middle of the night Dovator gave rest to the units. Four trips on the best horses set out further, to the site of the planned breakthrough on the Dukhovshchinsky Highway; they were ordered to clarify the location of the enemy.

By dawn, three patrols returned and reported that the enemy was in the same position.

On September 1, the cavalry made another forty-kilometer transition and concentrated in the forest south of the village of Ustye. Here the fourth patrol awaited her. Lieutenant Nemkov reported to Dovator with detailed information about the enemy's defense.

As soon as it got dark, the cavalrymen attacked the enemy without firing a shot, defeated the first battalion of the 430th Infantry Regiment, broke through the enemy's location, passed the battle formations of their rifle formations and were withdrawn to the army reserve.

The blow of the cavalry group of Colonel Dovator was of great operational importance. The cavalry traveled about three hundred kilometers through the roadless wooded and swampy areas of the Smolensk region, penetrated deep into the rear of the 9th German army, demoralized its work, distracted - during hot battles near Yelnya - more than two infantry divisions with forty tanks from the front line. The horsemen destroyed over 2,500 enemy soldiers and officers, 9 tanks, more than two hundred vehicles, and several military depots. Numerous trophies were captured, which were then used by the partisan detachments.

The news of the glorious exploits of the cavalry spread throughout the country. After the message from the Soviet Information Bureau on September 5, 1941, the first correspondence "Raid of the Cavalry Cossack Group" appeared in Pravda. The army newspaper "Battle Banner" dedicated a special issue to the horsemen. The Soviet government highly appreciated the exploits of the cavalrymen. LM Dovator, KS Melnik and IA Pliev were awarded the military rank of Major General. 56 of the most distinguished soldiers, sergeants and officers of the cavalry group were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union.

From the Mezha River to the Lama River

By dawn on September 19, 1941, the cavalry, which was on rest after the end of the raid, made a forty-kilometer transition and advanced to the Borki-Zharkovsky line. The raids were directed forward with the task of establishing an enemy grouping on the southern bank of the Mezha River.

The scouts managed to get soldiers' books and medallions, letters and diaries. On the basis of these documents, it was established that the 110th Infantry Division, having suffered heavy losses in the August battles on the Nevelskoye sector, was withdrawn to the reserve, received replenishment and is now moving to forward positions.

The squadrons of the forward detachment were well prepared for the defense. The soldiers dug full-profile trenches, built dugouts with thick logs, and carefully camouflaged the artillery.

At dawn on October 1, enemy artillery opened heavy fire on the position of our forward detachment. Half an hour later, the enemy, by force up to an infantry regiment, went over to the attack. For six hours, the cavalrymen fought off the continuous attacks of the enemy infantry. The Nazis tried to bypass the right flank of the 47th Cavalry Regiment and push it to the river, but were thrown back with heavy losses.

As soon as information was received about the beginning of the enemy's offensive, the main forces of the 50th Cavalry Division made their way to the Mezhe River.

The commander of the 43rd Cavalry Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov, sent the first squadron of Captain Batluk with a platoon of heavy machine guns and two regimental cannons to the lead detachment, giving him the task of ensuring the deployment of the regiment.

Captain Batluk with the commander of the machine-gun platoon, while reconnoitring the area, found an enemy infantry battalion marching in a marching column. The Nazis walked quickly, clearly, keeping the alignment and keeping the distance between companies and platoons.

Belousov, bring the machine guns to the edge! - ordered Batluk and galloped to the dismounted squadron.

At first platoon, in a chain! .. Run after me! .. - he shouted.

The machine-gun platoon drove out to the edge of the forest. In some three hundred meters from the quietly marching Nazis, machine-gun carts were made for battle. A few minutes later, the crews of senior sergeant Matveyev, sergeants Stepanenko and Odnoglazov were already ready for battle. Lieutenant Nemkov's platoon was deployed to the right of the machine gunners. Farther away, the hunched figures of the soldiers of the remaining platoons with rifles and machine guns in their hands flashed between the trees. The enemy column continued to march in the same direction ...

The slender ranks of the Nazis were immediately broken, they scattered from the road and lay in the ditches.

Batluk raised the squadron to attack, the chains rushed forward. At that moment, the captain fell. The command was taken by political instructor Shumsky and the squadron continued the attack. Shumsky was also wounded, but did not leave the battlefield. The Nazis did not accept the bayonet battle and began to withdraw with heavy losses. The squadron went into pursuit, but in turn was counterattacked to the flank by enemy reserves. Under the onslaught of the superior forces of the enemy, the horsemen began to retreat.

The latter, covering the retreat of comrades, left the battle platoon, commanded by junior lieutenant Nikifor Sinkov, a former fighter of the 6th Chongar division of the First Cavalry Army. The Nazis captured a sparse platoon chain from both flanks. Sinkov gave the command: "Crawl away in three! .." - and, seriously wounded, fell.

A member of the Komsomol, Private Rebrov, who was lying not far from him, a volunteer from the village of Sovetskaya, under heavy fire, crept up to the junior lieutenant, lifted him on his shoulders and crawled after his platoon. Three times he had to stop and shoot back from the advancing Nazis. Rebrov was also wounded, but he did not abandon his commander and continued to crawl. When he was wounded a second time, the forces left Rebrov. He carefully lowered Sinkov to the ground and covered the commander who had not regained consciousness with his body. Saving the life of an officer, the brave warrior sacredly fulfilled his military duty, while giving his life.

Moving away, the cavalrymen dug in again.

Early in the morning of October 4, enemy artillery resumed shelling our positions. For three days already the horsemen held their defensive lines! The shelling lasted for half an hour, then the guns fell silent. The horsemen prepared to meet the enemy infantry, but they did not appear from their trenches. From the west, the sharp hum of engines rapidly grew.

Air!..

Over the tops of the pines, 17 bombers marched in three echelons heading north-east. For more than forty minutes they bombed our positions.

As soon as the planes disappeared, the enemy artillery began to speak again. Twelve tanks appeared at the edge of the forest, followed by infantry at full height. Having let the tanks two hundred meters in, from the front edge, forty-five-millimeter cannons hit them from cover. One car spun on the spot with a broken track, the second caught fire. The regimental cannons fired at the infantry with rapid fire. Unable to withstand the intense fire, the enemy infantry lay down. The tanks turned back, leaving one burning and two damaged vehicles. The attack was repulsed.

In the afternoon, General Pliev was called to the telephone.

Issa Aleksandrovich, the situation is getting complicated, - the voice of General Dovator was heard in the receiver. - The enemy is advancing in large forces on Bely. The army commander ordered the 53rd Cavalry Division to be sent there immediately. You will have to rely only on your own strength.

Pliev hung up the phone, pondered something for a few minutes, listening to the roar of the cannon fire, then turned to the chief of staff:

Comrade Soloviev, I decided to go over to a mobile defense. Give Lasovsky the order: immediately break away from the enemy, retreat behind the line at wide gaits railroad Zemtsy - Lomonosovo, occupy an intermediate line of defense along the Chernushka River and pass the remaining regiments through their battle formations. Smirnov and Arsentiev continue to stubbornly defend themselves until the rearguard takes over.

On the right flank of the division, the horsemen in groups reached into the forest, and half an hour later the 37th Cavalry Regiment was already trotting to a new line of defense.

The Nazis renewed their attacks. Their artillery and heavy mortars fired at our positions for about twenty minutes, then again dense infantry lines appeared with seven tanks in front. The second attack was also repelled, but on the southern bank of the Mezha the enemy came almost to Zharkovskaya, threatening to cut off the cavalry's escape route.

But in the east, red missiles caught fire - Anton Lasovsky reported that his regiment had taken up defensive positions. The general and the chief of staff rode off to personally withdraw the regiments of the first echelon from the battle. The regiments were to retreat in stages and immediately take up defenses at the third line.

The Nazis had not yet had time to prepare for a new attack, but the horsemen had already rushed into the forest, quickly dismantled the horses and were lost in the forest thicket. A roar was heard behind them, the enemy batteries again began to carefully work the trenches left by the horsemen. Soon the enemy noticed that he was hitting an empty spot. 22 bombers appeared in the sky, looking for cavalry. It was not possible to find her on the march, and the Junkers had to drop bombs anywhere.

With this maneuver, Pliev bought time. Only in the evening did the advance units of the enemy reach Chernushka, where they were met with fire from the outpost, prudently pushed to the western bank of the river. The Nazis turned around and launched an offensive; their artillery bombarded the river with a hail of shells. The three cavalry platoons left on the west bank fired for half an hour, retreated to the horse breeders and joined the regiment.

The enemy still managed to find our defenses. Its batteries carried the fire to the east coast, but the squadrons were stretched out in such a sparse line that the shells did little harm to them. The enemy infantry continued to stubbornly advance. Soon, both flanks of the 37th Cavalry Regiment were bypassed, up to three enemy infantry battalions were advancing from the front.

Then General Pliev ordered the rearguard to withdraw beyond the third line of defense, already occupied by the 43rd and 47th cavalry regiments.

The maneuverable defense of the cavalry pretty much exhausted the enemy. For the third time in a day, the main forces of the 110th Infantry Division were forced to deploy for battle. Again, they had to change firing positions, set new tasks for regiments, battalions, companies, organize interaction of infantry with artillery and tanks. All this significantly slowed down the offensive.

After an hour and a half battle on the third line, the cavalry regiments broke away from the enemy at dusk and retreated to a new line, where the rearguard had already taken up the defense again.

So during October 4, the horsemen held back the onslaught of an entire enemy infantry division, reinforced by tanks and supported by aviation.

Large enemy forces were rushing to Bely, for the defense of which the army commander allocated a group of General Lebedenko. Fierce fighting broke out to the southwest of the city. The Nazis pressed especially strongly along the Dukhovshchina-Bely highway, creating here a threat of a breakthrough at the junction of our two rifle formations.

By the end of October 3, the 53rd Cavalry Division approached the Bely area. General Lebedenko assigned the brigade commander Melnik the task of saddling the Dukhovshchinsky highway and stopping the enemy's offensive. The 50th and 44th Cavalry Regiments dismounted and took up defensive positions. Throughout the night the enemy conducted reconnaissance with strong reconnaissance groups, but nowhere could they penetrate our location. During the night, the squadrons dug in and made obstructions along the highway, which passed through a dense forest.

For two days there were battles on the near approaches to the city of Bely. Our units repulsed one attack after another, and often counterattacked themselves to restore their position. The Nazis were wasting time, and this threatened to disrupt their offensive plan.

At dawn on October 6, the enemy threw aircraft into battle. Bombers in groups of up to eighty aircraft each attacked our positions. From the explosions of aerial bombs, the forest was covered with smoke, century-old trees fell with a roar, and in some places a dry forest caught fire. The air was so hot that it became difficult to breathe.

The enemy, increasing the onslaught, broke through to the south of Bely. Tanks and motorized infantry, bypassing the city from the southeast, turned towards Zhirkovsky Hill, Sychevka. The army commander gave the order to withdraw. Rifle units, rolling up into marching columns, pulled along forest roads to new defensive lines. The cavalry covered their retreat.

The enemy launched even more persistent attacks, in which the infantry was supported by numerous tanks. The planes literally "hung" over our positions. Under the pressure of the numerically superior forces of the enemy, the dismounted cavalry regiments began to gradually retreat. To give them the opportunity to break away from the enemy and retreat to the horse breeders, brigade commander Melnik ordered his reserve to attack the advancing enemy infantry in horse formation.

At the edge of a large forest clearing, to the right of the highway, squadrons of the 74th cavalry regiment were lined up, the regimental battery and machine-gun carts took up firing positions on the right flank.

Squadrons of the 50th and 44th cavalry regiments of Colonel Semyon Timochkin and Major Boris Zhmurov began to leave the forest, firing back from the advancing enemy. A few minutes later the Nazis poured into the clearing.

Cannons thundered, machine guns fired. Under their fire, the enemy infantrymen lay down and then rushed back into the forest. Then Major Sergei Krasnoshapka pulled out a wide Kuban blade from its scabbard, shouted: "Checkers, to battle! .. Follow me! .." - and strongly sent his Akhal-Teke out with his spurs. The squadrons rushed after the regiment commander.

The cavalry attack came as a complete surprise to the enemy.

The squadrons crushed the enemy infantry and, before she could recover, disappeared into the woods.

After three days of fighting in the valley of the Mezha River, the 50th Cavalry Division withdrew to the Olenin-Bely Highway and for another four days repelled the enemy's attempts to bypass the right flank of the army. On October 9, the approaching rifle units changed their division, and the horsemen set out in the direction of Vyazovakh, where the 53rd Cavalry Division was already moving from Bely. An order was received from the commander of the Western Front to withdraw the cavalry group to the reserve for replenishment.

Having united, both divisions headed for the Osuga station, located on the Rzhev-Vyazma railway, but the enemy managed to forestall the cavalry. The 41st German Motorized Corps, capturing Zhirkovsky Hill, Novo-Dugino and Sychevka, launched an offensive on Rzhev. The cavalry withdrew to the Medvedovsky forest. The sent patrols brought disappointing news: along the highway along the railroad tracks, motorized columns of the enemy were going north, and from the west, his pursuing units were pressing towards the rear guards.

On the night of October 11, the cavalry group approached the highway. It was damp, cold, very dark. Tanks, trucks with infantry and guns on trailers, and special vehicles passed by in an endless stream. The engines whined heavily, the headlights gleamed dully through the dense mesh of the rainy autumn rain. Carefully, trying not to make noise, the vanguard 37th and 74th cavalry regiments pulled up.

The stream of cars began to thin out little by little, and finally the traffic stopped. The large, cut by deep ruts full of dirty water, cut by caterpillars, was empty. The command sounded: "Straight-I-yamo-oh! .." Hundreds of horse hooves moaned in the mud. The vanguard of the 50th Cavalry Division moved forward, crossed the road, stretched on, hiding in impenetrable darkness. Headlights flashed in the distance again - another enemy column was approaching.

The squadrons, which did not have time to cross the highway, again took refuge in the copse. General Pliev ordered to detain the vanguard that had crossed the road until the remaining units were concentrated. In front of the cars of the quarry, several horsemen rushed and seemed to melt into the darkness.

Trucks, tanks, guns, tractors came again. Cars skidded and stopped frequently. Nearby were the hoarse, angry voices of soldiers wrapped in spotted tents, pushing huge vehicles covered with mud-splattered tarpaulins. Finally, this column disappeared behind the trees. The cavalry continued to cross the highway.

There were still three squadrons of the 43rd Cavalry Regiment, following in the rearguard, when a long line of lights again appeared from behind a hillock to the right. The enemy could delay the cavalry for a long time, and there was not so much left before dawn.

Fire on the headlights! Squadrons, platoon, gallop! ..

Shots rolled out of the darkness. The lights stopped, started to go out. Flashes also flashed on the other side, and bullets fired at random, tracing bullets, howled overhead. Platoon after platoon galloped horsemen across the highway.

Pliev stood looking intently ahead. Nearby, hooves splashed in the mud, the figure of a horseman swam; from the cloak she seemed huge and awkward. A voice with a cold said:

Comrade General, only the third squadron is left ...

Move your guns faster! - responded the division commander. Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov disappeared into the darkness of the autumn night.

When the last cannon was transported across the road, Pliev quietly shouted back: "Third, straight-pit-oh! .." - and drove alongside Senior Lieutenant Tkach.

Two kilometers to the left of the highway, the 53rd Cavalry Division was crossing ...

3rd German Panzer Group captured Rzhev and Zubtsov; columns of tanks and motorized infantry moved along the roads further to the East - to Pogoreloe Gorodishche, Shakhovskaya, Volokolamsk. Our troops with heavy defensive battles retreated to Moscow.

The cavalry group forced a march to the area of ​​the Knyazhy Gory station, but the enemy again preempted it. The horsemen were forced to move on without stopping. Making their way along the deaf country roads, the 50th and 53rd cavalry divisions made sudden raids on enemy barriers that occupied the road junctions and continued their march to connect with their troops.

The first frosts hit. Broken, deep-ruled field roads bound; the mud froze in huge bumps. Horses, forged on summer horseshoes without thorns, became extremely difficult to move. The squadrons of the cavalry regiments were greatly thinned, no reinforcements have been received since the beginning of the war.

Dovator, Tulikov, commanders and commissars of divisions all the time rushed the units, this was insistently demanded by the situation. And the exhausted, for several days in a row did not sleep and malnourished people on emaciated, barefoot horses again and again rushed into attacks. The cavalrymen smashed the motorized infantry, knocked out and burned tanks, and repelled the continuous attacks of enemy bombers.

On Volokolamsk highway

On October 13, the cavalry group left the encirclement and concentrated in the forests east of Volokolamsk.

Here the cavalry group entered the operational subordination of the 16th army under the command of K.K. Rokossovsky. Rokossovsky was given the order: “to leave the 18th militia rifle division in the Volokolamsk region, subjugate all the units that are there, approaching there or coming out of the encirclement, and organize a defense in the strip from the Moscow Sea (Volzhskoe reservoir) in the north to Ruza on south, preventing its breakthrough by the enemy. "

This is how Konstantin Konstantinovich recalls these days: “The first to enter the area north of Volokolamsk was the cavalry corps under the command of L. M. Dovator. The cavalry corps, although it was very thinned, was at that time an impressive force. Its soldiers and commanders have repeatedly participated in battles, as they say, sniffed gunpowder. The command and political staff had already gained combat experience and knew what cavalry warriors were capable of, studied the strong and weak sides enemy.

Particularly valuable in those conditions was the high mobility of the hull, which made it possible to use it for maneuver in threatened directions, of course, with the appropriate means of reinforcement, without which the horsemen would not be able to fight enemy tanks.

The corps commander Lev Mikhailovich Dovator made a good impression on me, about whom I had already heard from Marshal Timoshenko. He was young, cheerful, thoughtful. Apparently, he knew his job well. The very fact that he managed to bring the corps out of the encirclement as combat-ready spoke of the general's talent and courage.

There was no doubt that the task assigned to the corps would be performed skillfully. "

The Rokossovsky cavalry group was tasked with organizing defense in broad front north of Volokolamsk up to the Volga reservoir.

On October 17, the Nazis attacked the positions of the cavalry group. But the dismounted cavalrymen successfully repulsed all attacks. The Germans failed to advance on this line.

On the morning of October 26, the Germans launched a new offensive against Volokolamsk. The main blow fell on the positions of the 316th rifle division General Panfilov. Now, in addition to the infantry, at least two tank divisions acted against it. The Kavgruppa was urgently removed from its positions and transferred to the aid of the Panfilovites.

Nevertheless, on October 27, using a large force of tanks and infantry, the enemy, breaking through the defenses of the 690th infantry regiment, at 16 o'clock seized Volokolamsk. He tried to intercept and highway eastern city, going to Istra, but this attempt fell through: the cavalrymen arrived in time in time for the 50th division of General Pliev, together with the artillery, stopped the enemy.

By the beginning of November 1941, through the heroic efforts of the Red Army, the offensive of Hitler's troops was delayed both in the central sector and on the entire Soviet-German front. Operation Typhoon remained incomplete, but this did not mean that the Hitlerite command refused to carry it out. By this time, no more than 500 sabers remained in the divisions of the cavalry group.

The command of the Wehrmacht once again in 1941 prepared for an offensive on Moscow, replenished and regrouped its troops. In the meantime, local battles were fought at the front.

The cavalry group of General Dovator concentrated in the Novo-Petrovskoe area, covering from the south the left flank of the 316th rifle division of General Panfilov, which was defending on the Volokolamskoe highway. Being a few kilometers behind the lines of their troops, the cavalry put their units in order after three months of almost continuous battles and campaigns. On November 7, the combined regiment of the cavalry group took part in the festive parade on Red Square.

In late October - early November, the Germans captured several settlements on its left flank, including Skirmanovo. Located at heights, only eight kilometers from the Volokolamskoe highway, Skirmanovo dominated the surrounding area, and enemy artillery from there shot through the highway. At any time, one could expect that the enemy from the Skirman ledge would want to cut this highway and go to the rear of the main parts of the 16th Army. On November 4-7, Rokossovsky's troops tried to knock the enemy out of Skirmanov, but did not reach their goal.

The possibility of eliminating the threat was discussed with Rokossovsky in Zvenigorod by the commander of the Western Front. To participate in the operation, the commander-16 could not attract a lot of forces. The 50th Cavalry Division, the 18th Infantry Militia Division and the 4th Armored Brigade of M.E. Katukov, which had recently arrived in the 16th Army, were to take Skirmanovo.

The battles for the capture of this point continued from 11 to 14 November. The Nazis stubbornly defended themselves, and the fact that Rokossovsky's troops, very limited in strength and means, and even on the eve of a new Nazi offensive, were able to recapture such an important point from the enemy and inflict significant losses on him speaks volumes. Skirmanovo and Kozlovo, freed from the invaders, represented a cemetery of German technology, only the burned and broken tanks were counted by correspondents of central newspapers thirty-six. Among the trophies captured at Skirmanovo were 150-millimeter cannons, many mortars, and dozens of vehicles. The streets of the villages were strewn with the corpses of fascist soldiers. But the losses of Rokossovsky's troops were also great - 200 killed and 908 wounded.

The success achieved at Skirmanovo could not be developed, for more the 16th Army did not have enough strength. Nevertheless, on November 15, unexpectedly, an order was received from the commander of the Western Front - to strike from the area north of Volokolamsk at the enemy's Volokolamsk grouping. The preparation period was determined by one night. Rokossovsky's request at least to extend the preparation period was not taken into account.

Predictably, the private counterstrike launched on November 16 by order of the front commander was of little use. At first, taking advantage of the surprise, it was even possible to wedge three kilometers into the location of the German troops. But at this time, they launched an offensive and our units, which had moved forward, had to hastily return.

The Kavgruppa, as always, turned out to be a lifesaver and covered the retreat of other units to their positions. The enemy was pressing on her from all sides. It was only thanks to their mobility and the ingenuity of the commanders that the cavalry escaped and escaped complete encirclement.

By the morning of November 16, the cavalry group took up defensive positions. The 50th Cavalry Division saddled the highway overlooking the Volokolamskoe highway from the direction of Ruza, the 53rd Cavalry Division went on the defensive, covering the highway going from Mikhailovskoye to Novo-Petrovskoye. The headquarters of the cavalry group was located in Yazvishche.

At dawn on November 16, 1941, the "general" offensive of the German fascist troops against Moscow began.

The main blow on the northern wing of the enemy was inflicted by the 4th and 3rd tank groups. In the area where this blow was delivered, the 316th Rifle Division of General Panfilov, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade of General Katukov and parts of the cavalry group of General Dovator were defended.

At about eight o'clock, the observers noticed 46 bombers approaching from the southwest under the cover of 19 fighters. Bombers, link by link, dived at the horsemen who had burst into the ground, bombed, fired from cannons and machine guns. The villages were on fire from many dropped bombs. The forest was tumbled down by the force of the explosions, the ice on the Lama River was covered with huge openings and cracks. The anti-aircraft battery of the cavalry group met the air attack and lit two Junkers.

Following a barrage of artillery fire, the enemy began an offensive in the zone of the 50th Cavalry Division, where the 43rd and 37th Cavalry Regiments defended themselves in Morozov and Ivantsov. Up to 30 tanks were attacked by advanced squadrons. The infantry followed the tanks out of the forest (diagram 3).

Because of the deep snow in the fields, the tanks could not turn around and moved in columns along the roads. The infantrymen, falling in the snowdrifts almost waist-deep, fell behind. The cannons, which were with the leading squadrons, opened rapid fire. The guns were echoed by dull shots of anti-tank rifles.

Soon four enemy vehicles caught fire, two more stopped with crippled, punctured sides; the rest began to deploy into battle formation. Heavy tanks rushed forward, raising a whirlwind of snow. The armored hulks were slowly advancing, flanking the location of the forward squadrons, which continued to fire back. General Pliev ordered to give a signal about the withdrawal of the advanced squadrons to the main forces. A few minutes later, rare chains of dismounted cavalrymen pulled back across the snowy field. Their retreat was covered by anti-tank guns.

The tanks, accompanied by infantry, crept further towards the Lama. Our artillery struck from the main line of defense. Before reaching the river, the tanks turned, leaving two more vehicles hit by shells. The enemy infantry could not even get close to the range of rifle and machine gun fire. The first enemy attack was drowned out.

The Nazis pulled up their reserves, regrouped, and again dense infantry lines crawled forward after the tanks. The front of the enemy's offensive became much wider, overwhelming Morozovo and Ivantsovo. In the first echelon, it advanced up to an infantry regiment and 52 tanks.

Our troops repulsed the second attack of the enemy, and after it - the third and fourth. Despite the fact that it was almost dark, the attacks continued with unrelenting force. Enemy lines advanced on our positions, rolled back, rebuilt, replenished and again rushed forward.

In the evening, the enemy still managed to break into the flaming heap of ruins, which in the morning was called the village of Ivantsovo. The commander of the 37th Cavalry Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Lasovsky, took his soldiers five hundred meters to the north. The right-flank 43rd Cavalry Regiment held the ruins of Morozov for another half an hour, but, bypassed from both flanks, was under the threat of encirclement. The regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov, ordered the squadrons to retreat behind a deep ravine that stretched north-east of the village. The regiment again took up defensive positions at the edge of the forest. The Nazis managed to capture the entire front line of defense of the 50th Cavalry Division. In the sector of the 53rd Cavalry Division, enemy attacks were repelled.

To restore the situation in the defense zone of the 50th Cavalry Division, Dovator made a decision to knock the enemy out of the villages he occupied by a night counterattack.

The ruins of houses in Morozov and Ivantsovo burned down. A frosty night descended over the Moscow region. In the west, huge fires blazed across the horizon. Over the leading edge of the enemy, rockets soared into the sky every now and then. Machine guns were shooting. Long beams of searchlights darted across the sky. It was quiet and dark on our side ...

The regiments unfolded to cover the ruins of the village on three sides. The gray ranks swayed, moved forward, moving into a wide trot. A hundred and fifty paces remained to the ruins. They still didn't notice anything there.

The sentinels shot from their submachine guns, rushing into the street at a field gallop. Commands were heard, the horses made a move, snow dust began to swirl, "hurray-ah-ah!"

From the ruins, from hastily dug trenches, rifle clatter was heard, machine guns began to fire, semi-automatic cannons began to beat. The Nazis resisted, but were surrounded by quickly dismounted cavalry and defeated. The breeders brought in the horses. The 43rd Cavalry Regiment trotted towards Morozov, one squadron bypassed the village from the south. The sentinels rushed forward and soon reported that there was no one in the ruins: the enemy did not accept the battle and hastily retreated to the southern bank of the Lama River. Both regiments began to take up their former defensive positions ...

As soon as the dim, late November dawn dawned, on November 17, enemy attacks resumed. The 5th Panzer Division continued persistent attacks against the cavalrymen of General Pliev, who were defending between the Volokolamsk highway and the Lama River. In the direction of Novo-Petrovskoye, units of the 10th Panzer Division attacked the regiments of the brigade commander Melnik.

The Nazis threw a mass of dive bombers into battle. Artillery and heavy mortars rained down on the positions of the Soviet troops. After that, dense lines of infantry with dozens of tanks in front went on the attack. And again, under fire from our dilapidated trenches, the Nazis were forced to retreat to their original position. The battle continued unabated for fifteen hours.

Ten tanks broke through at the junction of our two squadrons and rushed to the regiment's command post. Senior political instructor Kazakov, having gathered a group of orderlies, messengers, horse breeders, hastily organized a defense.

Ivan Globin, a member of the Komsomol from the village of Prochnokopskaya, pressed himself against the snow-white trunk of a perennial pine tree and peered vigilantly ahead. A bottle with a combustible mixture was clutched in his hand. The tanks crept up. Streams of steam from the strenuous engines billowed in the frosty air. The shots of tank guns thundered, machine guns crackled. Shells screeched, tracer bullets lashed through the trees, over the snowdrifts, extinguished with a hiss in the snow.

Globin estimated the distance to the nearest tank moving slightly to his left. When there were twenty-five steps left, he put his boots on the trampled snow more firmly, pulled his right hand back. A steel hulk crawled past. Bullets snapped sharply at a nearby pine tree. Globin screwed up his eyes for a second, somehow shrank all over, but immediately took control of himself, leaned forward sharply, tossed the bottle. The rumor caught the sound of broken glass. A light flashed behind the turret of a tank that passed ahead. Smoke poured. The tank, sticking its nose into the tree, burst into flames. The same fate befell another tank, knocked out by Globin with a bunch of hand grenades. For his heroic deed, the brave Komsomol member was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The tanks stopped, increasing the fire. The deputy regiment commander, Major Skugarev, knocked out an enemy vehicle, but was seriously wounded. A platoon of anti-tank rifles of Lieutenant Zakharchenko arrived in time and knocked out three more tanks. Then the survivors hurried back.

The battery of Lieutenant Alexei Amosov took up a firing position at the forefront, directly behind the combat formations of dismounted squadrons. The whitewash-painted guns were dug deep into the frozen ground; only long, thin trunks, securely covered with steel shields, were visible over the snow. Camouflage nets with densely woven pieces of white cloth were stretched over the guns. Already a dozen meters away, the cannons looked like small snowy hills.

On the eve, the battery fought a heavy battle. Five tanks, an armored car and eleven vehicles with infantry were destroyed by well-aimed shots of artillerymen, more than a hundred of the Nazis were killed by fragments of their shells.

Rockets soared over the outpost. From the trenches, machine gun fire was heard, machine guns rattled, mines began to explode.

Seventeen tanks, accompanied by infantry, firing on the move, moved directly to the battery. Shells exploded between the guns, shrapnel screeching through the air.

For armor-piercing tanks, aim at flanking vehicles. Battery - fire! ..

The left-flank tank took a running start, poking its gun barrel into a snowdrift. Senior Sergeant Doulin has already had three destroyed tanks in his combat account!

Two more cars froze in the middle of the snowy field. The battery thundered with frequent shots; the gun commanders chose their targets on their own. The squadrons concentrated all their rifle and machine-gun fire on the enemy infantry, cut it off from the tanks and forced it to lie in the snow.

The heavy tank approached about a hundred meters. Doolin caught sight of the turret of the tank and pulled the trigger. No sooner had the gun barrel in place after the shot, when a flame burst out from under the tower, an explosion rumbled, the tank stood very close to the gun.

The attack was repulsed.

Three more times the Nazis went over to the attack. Four more tanks and an armored vehicle were knocked out by artillerymen; two of them were destroyed by the calculation of the communist Tikhon Doulin. The enemy failed to pass through the battery firing position. Nineteen gunners of this battery were awarded for excellence in this battle. Lieutenant Amosov and Senior Sergeant Doolin received the Order of the Red Banner.

At the end of the day, enemy infantry bypassed Morozovo and Ivantsovo and, accompanied by seven tanks, rushed to Matrenino, where the division's headquarters was located. Communication with the headquarters was cut off. The 37th and 43rd Cavalry Regiments were surrounded.

Lieutenant Colonels Lasovsky and Smirnov left their positions that had become unnecessary and concentrated their squadrons in the forest east of Ivantsovo. It was decided to go to Chismena, to look for the division headquarters. There were the rear, the horse breeders. They had to go on foot, hungry, in summer uniforms. They broke through the Volokolamskoe highway with a fight. We stopped for the night in the village. Before dawn, the regiments reached the command post of the 50th Cavalry Division.

The 53rd Cavalry Division, operating to the left, repulsed seven enemy attacks. At noon, the Nazis managed to break through at the junction of the first echelon regiments. Dense chains of the enemy's reserves advanced to the place of the breakthrough. Colonel Timochkin threw a squadron of Senior Lieutenant Ipatov with three tanks into the counterattack. By an attack of tanks and dismounted cavalry in the flank, the Nazis were thrown off the road into deep snow, they rushed back, but from the other flank they were attacked by a squadron of senior lieutenant Kurbangulov. The battalion of the 86th Motorized Regiment was defeated.

For almost two hours the enemy did not undertake attacks and only in the coming darkness again threw up to four battalions of infantry with 30 tanks on the horsemen. Under their onslaught, the squadrons of the 50th and 74th cavalry regiments left Sychi and Danilkovo and again took up defensive positions.

By the end of the day, the 111th motorized regiment of the enemy broke through along the Volokolamskoe highway to the rear of the division, but brigade commander Melnik transferred the reserve 44th cavalry regiment with tanks, which threw the enemy back and restored the position.

It was the fourth day of the continuous fierce battle for Moscow. The battle reached particular tension on November 19. On this day, 37 Cossacks of the 4th squadron of Lieutenant Krasilnikov from the 37th cavalry regiment of the 50th division performed their immortal feat. Lasovsky's regiment fought in a semi-encirclement. The 4th squadron was on the left open flank in the Fedyukovo-Sheludkovo sector. Lieutenant Krasilnikov was killed. There were no more officers in the squadron. The command was assumed by the junior political instructor Mikhail Ilyenko.

From the combat report of the headquarters of the 50th Cavalry Division:

"To the commander of the cavalry group, Major General Dovator, combat report # 1.74 of the headquarters of the 50th cavalry division. Railway barracks (northeast of Fedyukovo).

22 hours 30 minutes 11/19/41 g.

1. Up to the enemy infantry battalion with 31 tanks, artillery and mortars occupied Sheludkovo. Up to 40 tanks and up to 50 vehicles with infantry - Plague.

2. At 18.00 the enemy, supported by tanks, took height 236.1 and the outskirts of Fedyukovo, but was knocked out by the counterattack of the 37th cavalry regiment, and the position was restored.

3. Trophies - 2 light machine guns, 1 mortar.

Enemy losses - 28 tanks and up to an infantry company.

Our losses (according to incomplete data) - 36 people killed, 44 wounded. The 4th squadron of the 37th cavalry regiment completely left (killed).

In the 37th cavalry regiment, 36 people and 1 heavy machine gun remained ... "

At dawn, the squadron was attacked by enemy infantry with ten tanks. Having destroyed six tanks with grenades and bottles with a combustible mixture, the Cossacks repulsed the attack. A few hours later, the Germans threw twenty tanks into battle. At the request of Dovator, General Katukov sent five thirty-fours headed by Senior Lieutenant Burda to help the thinned defenders of the line. Having lost seven tanks, the Germans withdrew again, and the Katukites returned to their line of defense. Reflecting the third attack, all the remaining Cossacks of the squadron were killed. But the tanks did not pass to Moscow in their sector.

Let us recall the names of all 37 Cossack heroes: junior political instructor M.G. Ilyenko, N.V. Babakov (platoon commander), K.D.Babur, N.I.Bogodashko, L.P. N. S. Emelianenko (squad leader), A. N. Emelyanov, N. N. Ershov, A. S. Zhelyanov, I. P. Zruev, A. M. Indyukov, I. Ts. Ilchenko, I. N. Kirichkov, V. K. Kozyrev, E. M. Konovalov, N. A. Kutya (squad leader), N. A. Lakhvitsky, D. Ya. Mamkin, A. P. Marynich, P. Ya. Meyus, I. Ya.Nosoch, G. T. Onishchenko, V. I. Pitonin, S. P. Podkidyshev, L. G. Polupanov (squad leader), P. Ya. Radchenko, A. I. Rodionov, A. F. Rodomakhov, P. M. Romanov, G. A. Savchenko, A. A. Safaryan, V. Sivirin, M. K. Chernichko, V. G. Shapovalov, N. K. Shevchenko, N. S. Yatsenko.

In the area of ​​the village of Denkovo, where in those days the command post of Dovator was located on the mass grave of the memorial complex, the words are carved on a concrete stele: "In 1941, the heroic defenders of Moscow, the guardsmen of Generals IV PANFILOV, LM DOVATOR, stood to death here. glory to the heroes!"

At 15:00 on November 20, a combat order was received from the commander of the 16th Army, General Rokossovsky: the cavalry group to withdraw beyond the Volokolamskoe highway, covering the right flank of the 8th Guards (former 316th) rifle division. On the same day, November 20, Dovator's cavalry group was transformed into the 3rd Cavalry Corps, and on November 22, the 20th Cavalry Division under the command of Colonel A.V. Stavenkov, who arrived from Central Asia, entered the corps.

20th Mountain Cavalry Division

Commander of the p-k Stavenkov A.V.

Formed in July 1934 on the basis of the 7th Turkestan Cavalry Brigade. Before the war, she was a member of the 4th Cavalry Corps.

22kp (room m-r.)

50kp (com.mr)

74 kn (com.mr)

20th Red Banner Order of Lenin Cavalry Division arrived in Active army from the Central Asian Military District in mid-November 1941. The personnel of the division have already been fired upon and gained combat experience. It was one of our oldest regular cavalry divisions. Formed at the beginning of 1919 by order of M.V. Frunze to fight the White Cossack cavalry, the division went through a glorious battle path: it smashed the Kolchak corps rushing to the Volga, fought the road to Turkestan, fought against the Basmachs in Central Asia, and was awarded two orders. The division was well equipped and armed.

By the end of November 21, 1941, our troops withdrew to the line of the Istra reservoir, the Istra river. The waterways were blown up. The water spilled over tens of kilometers, blocking the enemy's path. The offensive of the Nazis in the Volokolamsk-Istra direction was suspended.

Fascist German troops were forced to deliver the main blow to the north. The 3rd Panzer Group launched an offensive along the banks of the Volga reservoir at Klin and Solnechnogorsk. In the same direction - through Teryaeva Sloboda, Zakharovo - convoys of tanks and vehicles of the 46th motorized corps of the 4th tank group reached.

The commander of the Western Front, General of the Army G.K. Zhukov, advancing units of the 7th Guards Rifle Division of Colonel Gryaznov to the Solnechnogorsk direction, ordered the cavalry to be transferred to the Leningradskoye Highway, assigning it the task of restraining the enemy's onslaught until the front-line reserves approach.

At dawn on November 23, 1941, the commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, General Dovator, received an order from the commander of the 16th Army: to move on a forced march to the Solnechnogorsk region. The 44th Cavalry Division, two tank battalions from the army reserve and two battalions of the Panfilov 8th Guards Rifle Division of the Red Banner entered his subordination.

44th Cavalry Division

Commander Kuklin P.F.

Formed in July 1941 in Tashkent.

45kp (room m-r.)

51kp (com.mr)

54 kn (com.mr)

The enemy resumed the offensive in the morning, but was thrown back by units of the 20th Cavalry Division. Dovator ordered the commander of this division, Colonel Stavenkov, who had arrived at the corps headquarters:

Cover the march of the main forces of the corps to the new concentration area. On my radio signal, break away from the enemy and retreat in the direction of Solnechnogorsk.

At 9 o'clock in the morning, the 50th Cavalry Division was already moving in regimental columns through Nudol to the crossing over the Istra reservoir, located not far from the village of Pyatnitsa. Parts of the 53rd Cavalry Division followed them.

After heavy fighting with units of the 2nd tank and 35th infantry divisions of the enemy at the turn of the Bolshaya Sestra river, units of the 20th cavalry division withdrew along the Teryaev Sloboda - Nudol highway and again blocked the enemy's path. The 103rd Gissar Red Banner and the Order of the Red Star Cavalry Regiment under the command of Major Dmitry Kalinovich and the 124th Red Banner Cavalry Regiment, where the commander was Major Vasily Prozorov, with the batteries of the 14th Red Banner Cavalry Artillery Division under the command of Zelekilomerova, Major Petra Kadnikovo, Vasilievsko-Soyminovo. The 22nd Baldzhuan Red Banner Cavalry Regiment under the command of Major Mikhail Sapunov was in the second echelon.

The division commander, Colonel Anatoly Stavenkov, returned to Pokrovsko-Zhukovo. The chief of staff reported to him that the 8th Guards Rifle Division, which was defending to the left, had left Novo-Petrovskoye and was conducting a heavy battle with large enemy forces, pushing the infantrymen onto the ice of the Istra reservoir. The patrols sent to the right to establish contact with Colonel Kuklin have not yet returned; radio communication also did not work.

At about 10 o'clock in the morning, the enemy intensified the artillery shelling and resumed the offensive. The squadrons met the enemy with fire. Enemy chains are laid. Mortars hit in frequent bursts. A wall of ruptures rose above the enemy's battle formations. The 111th motorized regiment, leaving up to two hundred corpses of soldiers and officers and four damaged tanks on the battlefield, hastily retreated to its original position.

After a failed frontal offensive, the Nazis undertook a roundabout maneuver. The enemy began to outflank our flank from the north. Five tanks with an infantry landing on their armor shot down the outpost, broke into Kadnikovo and marched in a column along the street, going into the rear of our artillery positions.

A soldier jumped out of the gates of a house and rushed across the rumbling cars. Sapper Viktonenko, clutching an anti-tank grenade in each hand, ran across the street, stopped a few steps from the lead tank. Almost merged into one two explosions thundered. The tank sagged and tilted, crushing the hero with its tracks.

The rest of the tanks began to carefully bypass the burning vehicle. Another tank was hit; he pushed into the fence and completely blocked the road. Then our batteries hit the accumulated cars together. Only two tanks managed to escape from the village.

The body of the Komsomol member Viktonenko was removed from under an enemy tank and buried in the square of the village of Kadnikovo.

Soon, the division received an order by radio to withdraw from the battle and retreat in the direction of the village of Pyatnitsa.

The main forces of the 3rd Cavalry Corps moved northeast all day. Artillery cannonade rang out ahead, the wind carried rifle and machine-gun fire. Colonel Kuklin's cavalrymen continued to hold their positions on the northern bank of the Istra reservoir. Behind, from the direction of Nudol, the rumble of battle was also heard - the division of Colonel Stavenkov covered the march-maneuver of the main cavalry forces.

Dovator drove forward and stopped at the edge of the forest, examining the passing shelves. The 50th Cavalry Division was in front. Pliev drove up, stopped next to the corps commander. Both silently looked at the well-known faces of the soldiers and officers tested in battle. Squadrons and batteries, which fought in the July days on the Mezha River, went on a raid along the enemy rear, and retreated to Moscow with heavy battles, stretched by.

Shaggy cloaks and scarlet headgear of officers, greatcoats and earflaps of soldiers flashed. Regimental banners floated by, covered with protective tarpaulins. Guns and machine-gun carts rumbled along the icy road.

In the battles in the Volokolamsk direction, the ranks of the horsemen were greatly thinned out. The regimental commanders Smirnov and Lasovsky, commissars Abashkin and Rud were seriously wounded. The squadron commanders Vikhovsky, Ivankin, Tkach, Kuranov, Lyuschenko, political instructors Borisaiko and Shumsky, who became famous in battles, were knocked out of action. Lieutenant Krasilnikov, secretary of the party organization of the regiment Sushkov, scout Krivorotko, machine gunner Akulov died of the hero's death. Many soldiers and officers gave their lives on the outskirts of their native Moscow.

In front of the corps commander were regiments that looked more like squadrons. But a stern, trained eye noticed that the columns on the march were going in an orderly, orderly manner. Commanders of the regiments dashingly fly up, reporting to Dovator. The soldiers are pulling up, equalizing the ranks, amicably responding to the general's greeting. Behind the squadrons and batteries are the foremen, the duty officers, as it should be according to the regulations. It can be seen from everything that well-disciplined units are marching, tightly welded together in battles and campaigns.

It was already about midnight when Dovator arrived at the corps headquarters. Lieutenant Colonel Kartavenko reported that the enemy had occupied Solnechnogorsk, its advanced units advanced to the Selishchevo-Obukhovo line.

The general sat down at the table, moved the map. Stepping softly with felt boots, the adjutant entered the room.

Comrade General, Colonel Kuklin and the commanders of the tank battalions have arrived.

Ask here.

The door opened to admit those who entered. The colonel, short in a gray bekesh with a hood over his shoulders, put his hand to the earflaps with a clear movement, and reported:

Comrade General, the 44th Cavalry Division, according to the order of the commander of the army, came under your command.

Dovator, standing up at the first words of the report, firmly shook the colonel's hand, and offered to sit down. Kuklin withdrew while the commanders of the tank battalions reported that their battalions were armed with new tanks in the regular number, and the crews were staffed with regular tankers who had already been in battles. At these words, Dovator's face brightened.

Report the situation, Comrade Colonel, - he turned to Kuklin.

Kuklin, leaning over the map, briefly reported that his division, after three days of fighting, withdrew to the eastern bank of the Istra River, the regiments suffered significant losses, but were ready to perform any combat mission. The enemy has forward battalions of the 23rd and 106th Infantry Divisions; the Nazis had significantly fewer tanks. “Since the enemy's tank divisions remained somewhere behind, they are obviously putting themselves in order after the battles on the shores of the Volga reservoir near Klin,” thought Dovator. - The enemy occupied Solnechnogorsk late. At night, the Nazis do not conduct reconnaissance. "

Dovator stood up.

I decided to strike back at the enemy, - he spoke. “The Nazis are sure that tomorrow, or rather today,” he corrected himself, glancing at his watch, “they will already be on the outskirts of Moscow. The enemy is not yet aware of the approach of cavalry and tanks. Our blow will take him by surprise. We will win a day - two for the approach and deployment of front-line reserves ...

Kuklin involuntarily burst out:

This is great! .. Sorry, Comrade General, - he immediately caught himself.

The blow is delivered from the south-east by the 44th and 50th cavalry divisions with both tank battalions, ”Dovator continued. Kartavenko, as usual, quickly marked on the map. - The 53rd Cavalry Division must saddle the Leningradskoye Highway and the October Railway; with the approach of the battalions of the 8th Guards Rifle Division, transfer the defense to them and attack Solnechnogorsk from the east. The 20th Cavalry Division will form a corps reserve.

Liaison officers of the corps headquarters galloped to the unit with a combat order. The indefatigable instructors of the political department left, having received the task: during the rest of the night to gather the communists and, with their help, bring to each soldier a new combat mission and the importance of its successful completion for the entire course of the defense of the capital.

Under cover of night, the cavalry regiments returned to their starting position. Clanking tracks, tanks crawled, took up the firing positions of the battery. Ahead, lights flickered all night, the distant noise of engines was heard: enemy divisions were pulling up to Solnechnogorsk, preparing for a new decisive rush to Moscow.

On a frosty, cloudy morning on November 24, 1941, the 3rd Cavalry Corps launched a counterattack on the enemy.

The main blow was delivered by the 50th Cavalry Division. The right-flank 37th Cavalry Regiment, having advanced two kilometers, was detained by enemy infantry fire. The 47th Cavalry Regiment, advancing on the left flank of the division, also had a slight advance.

Then General Pliev brought in a reserve regiment with both tank battalions into battle. The dismounted squadrons rushed into Selishchevo. The enemy threw a battalion of infantry into a counterattack, but was crushed by cavalrymen, who for the first time went into the attack along with the new Ural T-34 tanks.

Squadrons of the 43rd Cavalry Regiment bypassed Martynovo from the north, where the enemy continued to offer stubborn resistance, and burst into the location of the Nazis. Hand grenades flew, soldiers rushed with bayonets. The head squadron of Captain Sakharov attacked the enemy on the move, following the tanks; other divisions followed suit. After fierce street fighting, the second battalion of the 240th German Infantry Regiment was defeated.

The cavalry strike was a complete surprise to the enemy. The fascist German command began hastily to pull up reserves from Solnechnogorsk. The Junkers appeared in the sky. The enemy brought into battle the main forces of the 23rd and 106th Infantry Divisions and about 50 tanks. Two enemy battalions with eight tanks attacked the left flank of the 50th Cavalry Division and began to enter the rear of the cavalrymen. General Pliev led the last remaining squadron in his reserve and, with the support of tanks, led him into a counterattack. The enemy was driven back. Our units began to go over to the defensive at the achieved line.

The 53rd Cavalry Division launched an offensive at about noon, advanced up to seven kilometers, captured a howitzer battery, about a hundred prisoners. But the enemy command pulled up the reserves, threw their bombers on the horsemen, and the brigade commander Melnik was forced to give the order to gain a foothold on the lines reached.

A sudden blow from the 3rd Cavalry Corps thwarted the offensive of a large enemy grouping from Solnechnogorsk towards Moscow. The Nazis were driven back, suffered significant losses and lost a whole day, which were used by the Soviet command. The head battalions of the 7th Guards Rifle Division began to disembark at the Povarovo station in order to take up defenses on the Leningradskoye Highway.

For two more days the cavalrymen held their positions. The enemy, having introduced the 2nd Panzer Division and large air forces into battle, made one attack after another, but all in vain. In these battles, the Nazis lost only seven hundred soldiers and officers, 22 tanks and three bombers in killed.

On November 26, the enemy managed to advance somewhat along the Leningradskoye Highway and wedge a wedge between the 53rd Cavalry Division and the battalions of the 7th Guards Rifle Division. Enemy tanks and motorized infantry captured Esipovo and Peshki.

The corps commander transferred the 50th Cavalry Division with both tank battalions to the right flank. By a blow from horsemen, tankmen and guards riflemen, the enemy grouping that had broken through was thrown back. In this battle, captain Kulagin and senior political instructor Kazakov fell the death of the brave, leading their soldiers to attack.

The Soviet command received three days of precious time as a result of a bold strike and staunch defense of cavalrymen and infantrymen. During this time, the front-line reserves took up defensive positions, covered the Leningradskoye Highway and again blocked the path to Moscow for the Nazi troops.

On the morning of November 27, good news came to the headquarters of the cavalry corps. By order No. 342 of 11/26/1941, the cavalry corps was awarded the rank of guards.

“... For the courage shown in battles against the German invaders, for the perseverance, courage and heroism of the personnel, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command transformed:

3rd Cavalry Corps - into the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps (corps commander Major General Dovator Lev Mikhailovich);

50th Cavalry Division - into the 3rd Guards Cavalry Division (division commander Major General Pliev Issa Aleksandrovich);

53rd Cavalry Division - into the 4th Guards Cavalry Division (division commander, brigade commander Melnik Kondrat Semenovich);

The indicated corps and divisions are awarded with guards banners "

The decisive days of the battle for Moscow came. Our country, the Soviet troops strained all their forces to contain the fierce onslaught of the enemy.

The fascist German command concentrated the 23rd and 106th Infantry and 2nd Panzer Divisions on the Leningradskoye Highway and categorically ordered them to break through to Moscow along the shortest route from the northwest. Parts of the 40th Motorized Corps managed to capture the city of Istra.

The troops of the 16th Army, under the onslaught of a numerically superior enemy with heavy defensive battles, retreated to the east.

By November 29, the Nazis transferred the 5th tank and 35th infantry divisions to the eastern bank of the Istra River and reached Alabushev, threatening to close the encirclement around the cavalry corps.

In the second half of the day, the corps commander decided to start withdrawing the divisions from the battle, in order to go over to the defense again outside the enemy encirclement ring. To the staff officers who went to the division to transmit the combat order and monitor its implementation, Dovator said:

Tell the commanders and commissars of the units and let every soldier know this: the enemy slipped south of our location, ended up almost in our rear; we will strike to the east, break the enemy ring, and again go over to the defense with the front to the west. Do not leave the enemy not only a single weapon or machine gun, but not even a single wheel from the cart. I categorically demand: to take out to the rear all the wounded, as well as the bodies of those who died in battle, to betray them to the land with military honors. Commanders, communists, Komsomol members to be the first in a breakthrough, the last in a withdrawal! ..

The main brunt of the breakthrough fell on the part of the 20th Cavalry Division, which was defending on the left flank of the corps.

On the morning of November 30, enemy infantry and tanks renewed their attacks along the Leningradskoe highway. Two infantry regiments with tanks broke through to the rear of the division. The division was in a ring. Bombers continuously bombed the forest through which our units were retreating. Centuries-old trees, felled by the blast wave, impeded movement.

At noon, the 124th Cavalry Regiment, approaching the line of the Oktyabrskaya Railway, was met with fire from enemy tanks and submachine gunners who had broken through ahead. The regiment turned around and rushed in the direction of Chashnikovo, where it again took up defensive positions. His right-flank units established contact with the rifle battalions of Colonel Gryaznov's division.

Squadrons of the 22nd Cavalry Regiment, supported by the fire of the 14th Cavalry Artillery Division, located at the edge of the forest, launched an attack on Alabushevo, drove the Nazis out of the village, but were immediately attacked in the flank by two infantry battalions with 46 tanks. Enemy batteries fired on the village. One of the first shells was the divisional commander, Colonel Stavenkov. Lieutenant Colonel Tavliev took command of the division.

The squadrons retreated a kilometer and dug in at the edge of the forest, closing the flank with the units of the 124th cavalry regiment.

The enemy went on the attack several more times, trying to bring down the cavalry from its defensive line, but to no avail.

The 103rd Cavalry Regiment covered the breakthrough of the main forces of the division. The dismounted squadrons deployed along the railroad and highway and repulsed several infantry attacks. Having failed, the enemy began to bypass our battle formations in the forest. Fierce contractions ensued; the reserve squadron was involved in the battle, followed by special units: chemists, sappers, anti-aircraft gunners.

Three tanks with a landing of machine gunners bypassed the left flank of the regiment and rushed to the headquarters. Here was the Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner of the Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR, with which the regiment was awarded for the capture of the fortress of Gissar in 1921 and the defeat of the bands of the emir of Bukhara Seid Alim Khan. Nearby stood the Battle Banner with the Order of the Red Star from the All-Bukhara Central Executive Committee for the defeat in 1922 of the Basmak bands of Enver Pasha and Ibrahim Bek.

The regimental headquarters was guarded by eleven soldiers of the commandant platoon with two light machine guns and an anti-tank rifle. They entered the battle. Senior Sergeant Lukash knocked out the lead tank with a bunch of hand grenades, the second tank was set on fire by the armor-piercers, and the third was stuck in a snowdrift and was firing machine-gun fire.

The unequal battle lasted more than half an hour. All the defenders of the regimental banners, except for one - the wounded junior sergeant Stepan Onuprienko, were killed. Onuprienko, straining his last strength, inserted a disc into the machine gun and slashed at close range at the advancing Nazis. Leaving the dead and wounded in the snow, the enemies crawled behind the trees.

Almost losing consciousness Lance Sergeant Onuprienko got up, threw a grenade and, struck by the third bullet, fell, covering the sheathed Banners covered with snow with his body.

The cavalrymen who arrived in time for the shots threw the Nazis back and carefully raised the frozen body of the hero and two regimental shrines - Banners, defending which Stepan Onuprienko gave his life. Near the headquarters of the regiment were three knocked out enemy tanks, up to forty corpses of the Nazis were lying around.

With the onset of darkness, the enemy stopped attacks. Units of the 103rd Cavalry Regiment joined their division, which again took up defensive positions on the Leningradskoye Highway, in the village of Bolshiye Rzhavki.

Units of the 3rd Guards Cavalry Division, through the battle formations of which the cavalry divisions of the first echelon leaving the battle were withdrawing, found themselves deep behind enemy lines. During the day, the Nazis several times launched an attack on the horsemen, but were unsuccessful. As soon as it got dark, General Pliev led the division to a breakthrough. The vanguard regiment knocked down enemy screens with short strikes, paving the way for the main forces. By dawn, units of the division had emerged from the encirclement and concentrated in the village of Chornaya Gryaz, where they again went over to the defensive. The division included the 1st Special Cavalry Regiment, formed from the workers of Moscow.

Thus, the enemy's attempt to encircle and destroy the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps and break through in its defense zone towards Moscow failed. All parts of the corps in perfect order, with all military equipment escaped from the ring of three enemy divisions and again took up defenses on the near approaches to the capital.

From this line the horse guards did not retreat a single step!

The defensive period of the great battle near Moscow ended.

The enemy's "general" offensive against the capital of the Soviet Union failed. Instead of a lightning strike of three tank groups, in the steel "tongs" of which Hitler intended to pinch the Soviet troops defending Moscow, Army Group Center was forced to literally crawl towards Moscow. On the outflanking, outer flanks, the Nazis managed to advance a hundred kilometers in twenty days of the offensive, but our defenses were not broken anywhere.

By December 5, 1941, the enemy group, exhausted by heavy losses, began to go over to the defensive on the line Kalinin, Yakhroma, Kryukovo, Naro-Fominsk, west of Tula, Mordves, Mikhailov, Yelets.

At the most critical moment, when in a number of places the front line passed through the dachas of the Moscow region, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command issued an order for the transition of the Soviet Army to a decisive counteroffensive.

On December 6, the troops of the Western Front struck powerful blows on the flanks of the 3rd, 4th and 2nd German tank groups, which reached the close approaches to Moscow and Tula. The reserve 1st shock, 20th and 10th armies, concentrated in the Dmitrov, Yakhroma, Khimki area and south of Ryazan, went on the offensive and broke the stubborn enemy resistance. Following them, the troops of the 16th Army of Lieutenant General K.K.Rokossovsky began to strike at the enemy. The 7th and 8th Guards Rifle, 44th Cavalry Divisions and the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, having defeated the enemy's Kryukov grouping, captured Kryukov and exterminated the enemy garrison, which refused to lay down its arms. Colonel Chernyshev's 18th Infantry Division drove the Nazis out of Shemetov. General Beloborodov's 9th Guards Rifle Division captured the Nefedovo road junction.

Building on the success, the armies of the right wing of the Western Front defeated the 3rd and 4th tank groups and on December 6-10 advanced westward from 25 to 60 kilometers. The troops of the left wing continued to pursue the defeated 2nd enemy tank army. To the north, a counter-offensive was launched by the forces of the Kalinin Front, led by Lieutenant General I.S.Konev and tasked with routing the 9th German Army and liberating Kalinin. To the south, the troops of the right wing of the Southwestern Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union SK Timoshenko, member of the Military Council NS Khrushchev) dealt a strong blow to the 2nd German army in the Yelets area. The enemy units, which fell on these crushing blows, tried to continue the offensive for several days, but in the end they were forced to stop it.

The Soviet Army's counteroffensive unfolded on a huge front from Kalinin to Kastornoye.

Perish yourself, and help your comrade out. The seventeenth of October of the forty-first year was a turning point in the battle at Taganrog. At dawn, hundreds of guns and mortars opened heavy fire from the western bank of the Mius, plowing the trenches of the 31st Stalingrad Infantry Division of Colonel M.I. Ozimin. Dozens of "Junkers" bombarded artillery firing positions along the embankment of the Pokrovskoe-Martsevo railway. Then, from the captured bridgeheads near the villages of Troitskoye and Nikolaevka, columns of tanks and motorized infantry of the 3rd motorized corps of the tank army of Colonel-General E. von Kleist moved to Taganrog. Crushed by the mass of armored vehicles, the thinning regiments of the Stalingradites rolled back to the city, on the outskirts of which, in the village of Severny, units of the Taganrog garrison entered the battle. Air reconnaissance of the Southern Front established an accumulation of up to a hundred tanks and two hundred vehicles in Troitskoye, twenty tanks on the highway near Sambek.

More than ninety tanks, having broken through the front of our units at Sambek, were advancing east. First secretary of the regional party committee M.P. Bogdanov called Lieutenant General Remezov from Taganrog and demanded that the necessary measures be taken immediately to eliminate the breakthrough of enemy tank columns to Taganrog and Rostov. Fedor Nikitich, who had just begun the formation of the 56th Separate Army, intended for the defense of the Don capital, did not have any combat-ready troops in the Taganrog direction.

Then Remezov contacted the commander of the 9th Army, General Kharitonov, to whom all units of the Taganrog combat area were subordinate, conveyed to him the demand of the secretary of the regional committee and his request to prevent the defeat of the Stalingrad division. The closest to the place of breakthrough, in the area of ​​the village of Kurlatskoye and the hamlets Sadki, Buzina, Sedovsky, were two light cavalry divisions and the 23rd rifle regiment 51st Order of Lenin of the Perekop Red Banner Division. At noon, Fyodor Mikhailovich Kharitonov gave a combat order to the commanders of the 66th and 68th cavalry divisions, Colonels Grigorovich and Kirichenko: having subjugated the 23rd regiment, from the line - height 82.7, Soleny mound, Kurlatskoye at 15-30 to strike at the flank enemy in the direction of the station Koshkino. The commander of the German corps, general of tank forces, Baron Eberhard August von Mackensen, who was watching the advance from the crest of one of the Miuss heights, pointed to the division commanders standing with him to the dark, stirring mass that was rolling down from the gentle western slopes of the Solyony and Armenian mounds. The excellent Zeiss optics revealed to the generals a striking picture: thousands of horsemen were racing along the edge of the field, stretching for several kilometers along the front, with intervals between squadrons and regiments.

Dozens of machine-gun carts hurried after them, and artillery teams with limbs and light cannons marched at a trot. The commander of the motorized division "Leibstandarte" Adolf Hitler, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Joseph Dietrich, the favorite and former bodyguard of the Fuhrer, famously slapped Mackensen on the shoulder: "Baron, well, just like the lancers in Poland!" Grimacing, Mackensen ordered the commander of the thirteenth tank division to fight off to reinforce the battalion of the 36th Panzer Regiment of Oberst Esser from the 14th Division General Duvert immediately deployed along the Pokrovskoe-Sambek highway the 93rd motorized regiment of Oberstleutenant Stolz, which followed in a column. Of the six regiments, the 179th Cavalry Regiment of Lieutenant Colonel II Lobodin was the most organized.

In a report to the political department of the 9th Army, the military commissar of the 66th division, battalion commissar Skakun noted: “On 10/17/1941, the 179th command post was covering the exit from the battle of the 31st SD in the Taganrog region. The forehead alone correctly positioned the fire resources, he himself was on the front line of fire and by his personal example of courage and dedication inspired the soldiers and commanders to take active combat operations. As a result, the cavalrymen successfully repulsed enemy attacks, inflicted significant losses on the Nazis. on himself, thereby ensuring the withdrawal of units of the 31st SD from the battle. " But the watered report was silent that after that day, only the second squadron of Captain Ya.G. Bondarenko.

The division commanders Vladimir Iosifovich Grigorovich and Nikolai Moiseevich Kirichenko could do nothing to help their horsemen who were killed under massive fire. The crews of the 8th separate division of armored trains of Major I.A. Sukhanov. Cruising on the stretch between Martsevo and Kosh-kino stations, armored train No. 59 under the command of Captain A.D. Kharebava rained fire from four guns and sixteen machine guns on German tanks and motorized infantry, diverting them towards himself. In a fierce battle, the steel "fortress on wheels" was destroyed, bombarded by twenty-seven dive bombers.

Of the hundred crew members, six wounded soldiers miraculously survived. The remnants of the cavalry and the 31st division withdrew to the east, holding back the armored divisions of the Wehrmacht. The culmination was October 20th. On this day, the 179th Cavalry Regiment repulsed six attacks from a motorized infantry battalion, supported by seventy tanks and fifty motorcycles with machine-gun sidecars. The cavalry of the second squadron destroyed over thirty motorcycles along with the crews, knocked out four and burned three tanks, up to an infantry company.

But the forces were too unequal. The enemy outflanked the positions of the cavalrymen and surrounded the command post. In a fleeting unequal battle, almost all the headquarters commanders, signalmen and horse breeders who were on the command post were killed. Only Lieutenant Colonel Lobodin with two lieutenants managed to escape from the ring. They galloped to the Kopani farm, but there were already enemy tanks and motorized infantry. Then the regimental commander climbed into the attic of a suburban house and mowed down a dozen soldiers with machine gun fire. The Nazis turned the tank around and set fire to the house with incendiary shells. But even from the puffs of smoke, short short queues were heard. When the flames engulfed the roof, Lobodin jumped into the courtyard. He received minor shrapnel wounds and severe burns, and was covered in blood. On a burnt tunic, two orders of the Red Banner of Battle and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the Tajik Republic shone with a scarlet sheen. The commander, who began service in the division V.I. Chapaeva, the thunderstorm of the Basmachi, with a Mauser in his left and a saber in his right hand, rushed to the enemies surrounding the courtyard. Several shots sounded inaudibly in the crackling of the roaring flames. Three more soldiers who rushed to Lobodin fell.

Throwing away the already unnecessary pistol, Ivan Ivanovich brandished his sword. Backing away, the machine gunners point-blank, in long bursts, literally riddled the hero. Osatane from the endured fear, they doused the body with gasoline and burned. The remains were secretly buried by local residents in the neighboring Sadki farm. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 5, 1942 I.I. Lobodin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Posthumously.

And if the feat of Lieutenant Colonel Lobodino I.I. is known and already described in the literature, then one more fact, testifying to the tragedy and horror of these days on the Don land, is little known. ... The commander of the 13th Panzer Division, Major General Walter Duvert, who was in charge of repelling an incredible cavalry attack at the Koshkino station from the commander's T-4, fell ill nervous breakdown and was treated for a long time in a psychiatric clinic by the best doctors of the Reich. He was tormented by the same picture - hundreds of saddled horses rushing about an endless, to the horizon, field, and wildly, piercingly whinnying, shying away from roaring tanks, whose sides and tracks are black with blood mixed with dirt and scraps of soldiers' uniforms ... Rostov-on- Don.

"You can beg for everything! Money, fame, power, but not the Motherland ... Especially such as my Russia"

Polish artists are stronger than Goethe's Faust ...

Jerzy Kosak "Battle of Kutno" 1939
The author did not know anything about tanks, after a few years he learned something and rewrote the picture.


Jerzy Kosak "Battle of Kutno" 1943
Not much, however, he learned something.

The irony is that Kosak, as a Pole, repeated Goebbels's bullshit. At Kutno, indeed Polish cavalrymen fought German tanks with varying success - but by no means in horse ranks. The Polish cavalry division had quite serious means of reinforcement (artillery, armored vehicles).

Both pictures are enchantingly beautiful. But they have one common drawback. There are not enough NKVD fighters in the frame, who are treacherously shooting Polish heroes in the back of the head with German Walters.

Cavalry brigades were one of the most mobile combat arms in Rzecz Pospolita. By the beginning of World War II, Poland had deployed 30 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry and 2 mechanized brigades against 27 infantry, 6 tank and 8 motorized (including 4 "light") divisions of the Wehrmacht. Moreover, the Polish defensive concept was based precisely on counterattacks, for the application of which it was necessary to have a certain operational mobility.

By 1939, the Polish army had 38 cavalry regiments (26 - lancers, 3 light cavalry, 9 mounted archers), united in 11 brigades. Plus - the cavalry of the Border Guard Corps. In addition, already during the war, the National Cavalry Division, the Volkovysk Cavalry Reserve Brigade and the Zaza Cavalry Division were formed.

Each cavalry brigade of the Polish Army consisted of: 3-4 cavalry regiments, a cavalry artillery division, an armored division (a squadron of 13 reconnaissance tanks and a squadron of 7 armored cars), a squadron of cyclists, a sapper squadron, a communications squadron, an air defense battery, a platoon of motorcyclists and support services. Some brigades also included a rifle battalion - 3 companies of 3 platoons each, a company of heavy machine guns, a platoon of 81 mm mortars (2 pcs.). The three-regiment brigade without a rifle battalion (there were six of them) numbered 5075 people. personnel, with a battalion (one) - 6143. Four-regimental brigades without a battalion (two) - 6116, with a battalion - 7184 people.

In fact, the cavalry brigade was three times smaller than the infantry division. At the same time, the cavalrymen were better than the infantry, armed with machine guns and anti-tank guns. It is worth adding to this high level training, thanks to a longer service life (23 months) and the cultivation of traditions and a sense of their own elitism, praised by the media and artists. In September 1939, about 70 thousand cavalrymen stood up to defend Poland - 8% of all armed forces (the third largest branch of the armed forces after infantry and artillery).

The Polish cavalry brigade of three regiments had at its disposal (in brackets - for a four-regiment):
* Horses - 5194 (6291)
* Cars - 65 (66)
* Machine guns: manual arr. 1928 - 89 (107), light arr. 1908/15 and arr. 1908/18 - 10 (12), heavy arr. 1930 - 52 (64)
* Grenade launchers arr. 1930 or 1936 - 9 (9)
* Artillery: mortars cal. 81 mm - 2 (2), field gun mod. 1902/26 cal. 75 mm - 12 (16), anti-aircraft gun mod. 1936 cal. 40 mm - 2 (2), anti-tank gun mod. 1936 cal. 37 mm - 14 (18)
* Anti-tank rifles cal. 7.92 mm sample 1935 - 51-68 (64-78)
* Armored vehicles mod. 1934 or arr. 1929 - 8, reconnaissance tanks TKS or TK-3 - 13

Polish reconnaissance tank TK-3 (improved modification - TKS) was created on the basis of the British tankette Carden-Loyd Mk VI and appearance very similar to the Soviet T-27 tankette of the 1931 model, also produced under a British license (sold, by the way, to 16 countries of the world).

As in other armies of that time, foot combat for cavalrymen was envisaged as a basic type of action. Horses were supposed to serve only as a vehicle due to the lack of mass production of cars. There were also not enough specialists - drivers, technicians, and so on. The shortage of gasoline was especially evident during the war. The commander of the Warsaw Armored Motorized Brigade (a regiment of horse archers, an infantry regiment, a mechanized artillery division, a reconnaissance division, an anti-tank battalion, a mechanized engineer battalion, a communications squadron, two separate tank squadrons, an air defense battery) Colonel Stefan Rovetskiy, how to remember the campaign with bitterness equipment due to lack of gasoline.

The top of the officer corps, and even more so - the Supreme Leader of the Armed Forces E. Rydz-Smigly, was confident in the high combat value of the cavalry and did not trust the concept of independent and lightning-fast warfare by tank units. The ghost of the “miracle on the Vistula” and the conviction that the next war would be fought in the east continued to stand in the way of a decisive modernization of the Polish army - accordingly, in the conditions of “off-road in the USSR,” cavalry would have an advantage over armored formations.

The statement "The Polish Army was so frightened that they attacked German tanks with cavalry" was created during WWII by German propaganda, which distributed the propaganda film "Kampfgeschwader Lützow" (1941) specially shot for this purpose. However, the beauty and senselessness of this action was picked up in Poland as well. Already in 1959, the film "Lotna" directed by Andrzej Wajda was shot (later he received an Oscar for all his work and the French Order of the Legion of Honor), which showed the never-before-taken attack of the Polish cavalry on the German tank forces. The Germans, creating this myth of their "stupid Poles", probably wanted, in addition to their technical omnipotence, to emphasize to the Western states that Poland was not worth fighting for. But the Poles themselves began to cultivate this legend, apparently to emphasize their courage and willingness to sacrifice themselves even in the face of a stronger and better armed enemy.

During the September 1939 campaign, the Polish side launched several cavalry attacks of various sizes.

Colored rectangles show the places of deployment of cavalry brigades at the beginning of the war, arrows - paths of movement, horsemen - places of attacks.

The most famous is the so-called battle at Kroyanty... The main confusion in the perception of this battle by the world community was introduced by Sir Winston Churchill, who wrote in his famous work "The Second World War": "12 brigades of the Polish cavalry courageously attacked hordes of tanks and armored vehicles, but could not harm them with their sabers and pikes." Also, one cannot discount the arrogant phrase in Heinz Guderian's memoirs "Memories of a Soldier": "The Polish Pomor Cavalry Brigade, due to ignorance of the design data and methods of action of our tanks, attacked them with cold weapons and suffered terrible losses."

The main character of the episode mentioned by Guderian was the Polish 18th Pomeranian Uhlan regiment. This regiment was formed on June 25, 1919 in Poznan under the name of the 4th Nadvislyansky Uhlan regiment, and from February 1920 it became the 18th Pomorsky regiment. On August 22, 1939, the regiment received an order for mobilization, which ended less than a week before the war, on August 25. After mobilization, the regiment consisted of 35 officers, more than 800 sub-officers and privates, 850 horses, two 37-mm Bofors anti-tank guns (according to the state there should have been twice as many), twelve 7.92-mm Maroshek anti-tank guns mod. 1935, twelve heavy machine guns and eighteen light machine guns. The novelties of the century of the "war of motors" were 2 motorcycles with sidecars and 2 radio stations. Soon the regiment was reinforced with a battery of the 11th cavalry artillery battalion. The battery consisted of 180 gunners, 248 horses, four 75-mm cannons with 1440 rounds of ammunition and two heavy machine guns.

The regiment of Pomor lancers met the morning of September 1, 1939 at the border and in the first half of the day fought a completely traditional defensive battle. In the second half of the day, the cavalrymen were ordered to launch a counterstrike and, taking advantage of the enemy's transition to the defense as a result of this blow, retreat back. For a counterattack, a maneuvering detachment was allocated (1st and 2nd squadrons and two platoons of the 3rd and 4th squadrons), he was supposed to go to the rear of the German infantry by 19.00, attack it, and then retreat to the line of fortifications in the area town of Rytel, occupied by the Polish infantry.

However, the roundabout maneuver led to unexpected results for both sides. The main outpost of the detachment found a battalion of German infantry, which was at a halt 300-400 m from the edge of the forest. The Poles decided to attack the enemy on horseback, using the effect of surprise. According to the old command "szable dlon!" ("Sabers out!") The lancers quickly and harmoniously drew their blades, which glittered in the red rays of the setting sun. The commander of the 18th regiment, Colonel Mastalezh, took part in the attack. Obeying the signal of the trumpet, the lancers rushed swiftly towards the enemy. The calculation on the surprise of the attack turned out to be correct: the Germans, who were not expecting an attack, rushed scattering across the field in panic. The cavalrymen mercilessly slashed the fleeing infantrymen with their sabers.

The triumph of the cavalry was interrupted by armored vehicles hitherto hidden in the forest. Leaving from behind the trees, they opened machine-gun fire. In addition to armored vehicles, flanking fire was also opened by one German gun. The Poles were now sweeping across the field under deadly fire. Having suffered heavy losses, the cavalrymen retreated behind the nearest wooded ridge. However, the losses in the cavalry attack were much less than one might imagine from the description of the battle. Three officers (including the regiment commander Colonel Mastalezh) and 23 lancers were killed, one officer and about 50 lancers were seriously wounded.

Most of the losses of the 18th Uhlan regiment on September 1, 1939, amounting to 60% of the people, seven machine guns and two anti-tank guns, the regiment suffered in a combined arms defensive battle. Guderian's words in this case have nothing to do with reality. The Polish cavalrymen did not attack the tanks, but themselves were attacked by armored vehicles in the process of cutting down a gaping battalion. In a similar situation, ordinary infantry or dismounted cavalry would have suffered quite comparable losses, especially since the horsemen were able to get out of the flank attack much faster than the infantry.

Near the village of Mokraya The 1st and 3rd squadrons of the 19th Volyn Uhlan regiment (Ostrog) of the Volyn cavalry brigade attacked in horse formation (and, by the way, with pikes) units of the German 4th Panzer Division standing near the forest, which were just regrouping. Due to the surprise effect, the enemy did not offer strong resistance and left positions in panic. Captain Anthony Skiba commanded the attack. The general outline is as follows - the Volyn lancers in this area guarded the southern wing of the Lodz army and held back the onslaught of the 16th Panzer Corps of the Wehrmacht on Warsaw. The battle of Mokra lasted the whole day, the Germans launched five attacks. The Polish division of horse artillery with the support of aviation, armored train No. 53 "Brave" and anti-tank guns of the 12th Podolsk lancers regiment (Byalokrynitsa) managed to knock out 170 pieces of enemy equipment, including 80 tanks (4th german division in total there were 324 tanks and 101 armored personnel carriers), however, most of them were repaired in a few days. The Volyn brigade lost 182 people in the battle killed, about 300 wounded, about 500 horses, 5 cannons and 4 anti-tank guns. The enemy lost several hundred killed and wounded, about 200 Nazis were captured. 108 officers and fighters of the brigade were awarded the Orders of Virtuti Militari and the Cross of the Fighters. The Battle of Mokra proved the effectiveness of using cavalrymen on foot, provided they were supported by aviation and artillery. The brigade held back the onslaught on the capital and made it possible to carry out additional mobilization. The 4th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht was unable to continue the offensive for two more days.

In the Krulevo forests in the area of ​​Yanov and Khinovolga, the Small Patrol of the 11th Legion Lancers Regiment (Tsekhanov) from the Mazovian Brigade under the command of Second Lieutenant Vladislav Kosakovsky conducted reconnaissance, during which he stumbled upon a German cavalry unit of the 3rd Army. Kosakovsky recalled: “at the end of our trip, in one clearing we saw a small detachment of German cavalry. They did not see us, but they stood in our way. He asked his own - are we going to attack? The answer was the drawing of the sabers from the scabbard. Unnoticed, turning in a wide line, we jumped out of the forest with great speed. The surprise was complete, but the Germans met the attack in the face, only our strength was greater. We swept through them. I remember that Corporal Yutskevich ran into some German's lance. We rushed in our direction, the Germans in theirs. We were all not quite ourselves from emotions and fear. Then there were the positions of our infantry. " According to the Polish Wikipedia, the Poles lost 20 people killed, 11 wounded, the Germans - 17 killed, 25 wounded.

Under Brochów part of the 17th Uhlan regiment (Leszno) from the Wielkopolska brigade launched an attack on the German positions. It did not come to the battle in the equestrian formation, since the purpose of this offensive in the open field was a psychological effect. The direct attack on the enemy began after dismounting.

Under Gaivka Denbovskaya one platoon of the 4th squadron of the 17th lancers' regiment with a horse attack forced a small German detachment to leave their positions.

Under Vulka Venglova a battle took place, in terms of the intensity of passions not inferior to the famous battle of Kroyanty.

The 14th Yazlovets Lancers Regiment (Lvov) was considered in Poland to be a cavalry regiment with the longest continuous history (created in February 1918 in the Kuban, took an active part in battles with the Reds). The regiment as part of the Podolsk brigade was included in the Poznan army. The conditions of this attack were as follows - the regiment had fought its way through enemy positions to the capital for the last three days, but again stumbled upon the Germans (the total number is estimated at 2,300 soldiers and 37 tanks). The regiment commander, Colonel E. Godlevsky, hoping for the effect of surprise, made a decision to make a cavalry attack through the positions of the Nazis vacationing in Pushcha Kampinos. Lancers were without heavy weapons, but a small unit of the 9th Malopolsk Uhlans of the regiment of the same cavalry brigade (Terebovlya) nailed to them. The attack was led by the commander of the 3rd squadron of the 14th regiment, Lieutenant Mariann Walitsky, who died from wounds after the battle.

At the same time, the lancers did not take into account that German machine guns were installed in the neighboring village of Mosciski, and artillery and tanks were hidden behind the houses, which fired at the advancing cavalrymen. The Poles managed to break through the dense artillery-machine-gun-tank fire of the enemy, having lost 105 people killed and 100 wounded (20% of the regiment's personnel at that time). A large number were also taken prisoner, they were promised release for bravery, but the Nazis did not keep their promises - those who confessed to their participation in the cavalry attack were shot. During the battle, a horse fell under the wounded corporal Felix Mazyarsky, who was holding the regiment's banner. At the last moment, Corporal Mieczyslaw Cech picked up the banner and joined his own. For this, General J. Rummel awarded him with his own Order of Virtuti Militari. The entire attack lasted 18 minutes. The Germans lost 52 killed and 70 wounded.

The Italian war correspondent Mario Appelius, who saw the attack, wrote about it: “Suddenly a heroic detachment of cavalrymen numbering several hundred horses galloped out of the thickets. They approached with a flying banner. All the German machine guns fell silent, only the guns fired. Their fire created a dense barrier 300 meters from the German positions. Polish cavalrymen were advancing at full speed, like in medieval paintings! At the head the commander galloped with a raised saber. The distance between the group of Polish cavalry and the wall of German fire was seen to decrease. It was madness to continue this attack towards death. But the Poles broke through. " This poetic description of the suicidal attack of the mad heroes has spread all over the world. But the participants in the battle themselves describe it not so romantically. Lieutenant F. Potvorovsky wrote: “Everything happened so quickly that it is difficult to determine the order. The enemy's fire is getting closer ... More and more horses without riders ... A German non-commissioned officer shoots at me from a parabellum from behind a potato patch, after my shot he falls. On the right, under the trees, a German tank follows us as if on a walk. My horse fell to its front legs. Managed to pick it up. We were heading towards the forest. There, having already jumped over the moat, the horse fell. A second later I was already sitting on another, a lot of them were circling in the forest. With a group of lancers we make our way from the forest to the highway ... ".

As a result of this breakthrough, the 14th Cavalry Regiment became the first division of the Poznan army, which made its way to the encircled Warsaw, and took an active part in the defense of the capital. After three weeks of fighting, 14 officers, 29 sub-officers and 388 lancers remained in the regiment with 280 horses. In general, the regiment lost in the September campaign in killed 12 officers and about 250 privates. His fighters were marked with 4 gold and 26 silver crosses of the Virtuti Militari, 47 Crosses of the Fighting. During the September campaign of 1939, in particular for the battle at Vulka Venglova, the regiment was re-presented for the award of the Virtuti Militari cross (the first received from the hands of Pilsudski for the Polish-Ukrainian and Soviet-Polish wars). Since this award was not presented twice, the regiment received the right to place the inscription "Awarded for extraordinary courage in the 1939 campaign in Poland" on the banner ribbons.

Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari, 1st class.

On the same day near Lomianka a cavalry attack made its way to Warsaw reconnaissance of the 6th cavalry artillery battalion.

Under Kamenka Strumilova The 3rd squadron of the 1st cavalry division from the compound of Colonel K. Galitsky with a horse attack penetrated the encirclement of the 4th light division of the Wehrmacht (later became the 9th tank division).

Not far from Lublin, units of the Novogrudok cavalry brigade on foot attacked German positions near the village of Krasnobrod... The headquarters of the German 8th Infantry Division retreated from the village. In pursuit of him and rushed in horse ranks under the command of Lieutenant Tadeusz Gerletskiy lancers of the 1st squadron of the 25th Great Poland lancers regiment (Pruzhany). A German squadron of the East Prussian heavy cavalry rushed to intercept. The Poles moved forward, putting out their spades. The Germans accepted the challenge. Their commander killed several lancers and rushed to Gerletsky. Togo was rescued by platoon Mikolaevsky, who at the last moment hacked to death a German officer. Victory remained in this battle for the uhlans, but, pursuing the retreating Prussians, they came under flank fire from enemy machine guns standing on a hill. Many died, including Gerletsky. As a result, only 30 lancers and 25 horses survived from the squadron, which were saved by the cold-bloodedness of Corporal Mikolaevsky, who managed to withdraw the remnants of the unit to a safe place. Nevertheless, the Poles managed to capture the village and capture the headquarters of the 8th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. German losses in equestrian combat amounted to 47 killed and 30 wounded.

In September 1939, there was also a case of a cavalry attack by the Polish cavalry on Soviet troops, namely, on soldiers of the 8th rifle corps of the Red Army in the Grubieszow area. In the village of Gusino Soviet units surrounded the Polish infantry unit. About 500 cavalrymen from the reserve squadron of the 14th Uhlan regiment, the equestrian division of the state police from Warsaw and divisional cavalry tried to get through to it. They attacked the left wing of the Red Army, who began to retreat with losses. However, Soviet armored vehicles entered the battle, and then the infantry inflicted significant losses on the Poles. The cavalrymen were surrounded and surrendered.

On the Russian site "I remember" you can find the memories of tanker Ivan Vladimirovich Maslov. In 1939 he took part in the Liberation campaign of the Red Army in Western Belarus as a senior driver-mechanic of the 1st company of the 139th separate tank battalion. Here is what he says: “At the end of the summer of 1939, we were transferred to the border with Western Belarus, and soon gave the go-ahead - "Forward!". No special battles took place there, but I had to witness and take part in repelling the attack of the Polish cavalry on our tank battalion. And this is not an anecdote. And when the Polish cavalrymen "lava" with sabers baldly went to our tanks, we thought, were they, these Polish lancers or hussars, completely fucked up? They were quickly suppressed and shot. The Poles threw away their horses and weapons, and scattered - some were taken prisoner to us, and some ran to their home, to the west. And then the captured Poles told us that before the attack they were told that the Russians have all the tanks made of plywood and they do not pose any danger ... "

The story raises serious doubts - such an attack is not mentioned in Polish sources. Apparently, this is a retelling of the story of the battle at Gusin, which, however, is not in Belarus ...

The 27th Uhlan regiment, by order of the commander of the Novogrudok cavalry brigade Vladislav Anders, made two horse attacks on the German infantry battalion, which was defending the village of Morancy... The attacks ended in failure, the commanders of the 1st and 2nd squadrons, the commander of a platoon of lancers and a platoon of heavy machine guns, 20 lancers were killed. Another 50 were injured. After the battle, negotiations took place, after which the Germans retreated from the village. The next day, German infantry attacked the Lancers with the support of tanks and artillery, scattering the Poles through the surrounding forests. This was the last horse attack of the September campaign ...

Deserve special mention raids of the Polish cavalry on the territory of the Reich undertaken by some units of the Podlaska and Suwalki Cavalry Brigades.

The first raid has already taken place September 2 with the aim of capturing prisoners and reconnaissance. Two squadrons of lancers invaded Germany, had a battle with the forest guards and local self-defense forces and captured in the border village of languages, then retreating to Polish territory.

V night from 2 to 3 September a night raid took place by the forces of the 10th Uhlan regiment, separate units of the 5th Zasyavsky lancers and the 9th mounted archers of the regiments (with the support of a platoon of tankettes and a battery of horse artillery). The Poles stumbled upon strong resistance from the Germans, but managed to capture two villages, where they took many prisoners and heavy enemy weapons. In view of the increasing artillery fire from the Germans, it was decided to retreat.

In the evening of September 3 about 100 cavalrymen of the 3rd Mazovian Shvolezher regiment made a foot raid on the Prussian village of Tsimokhi, where the Wehrmacht sapper company was located. Two prisoners were captured, weapons and ammunition, along the way destroyed railroad station and a forestry department. The Poles lost one killed and one wounded. At the same time, the Germans argued that there were no military units in the village, but only a military gendarmerie post, while the Poles fired at and threw grenades at private houses and a customs post, as a result of which 3 civilians were killed.

The last raid took place in night from 3 to 4 September, when one platoon from the 2nd Grokhovsky lancers of the regiment went deep into German territory, led by a border guard, but did not meet enemy forces, returned back. According to some sources, seven lancers under the command of Second Lieutenant Gyusky attacked a forest guard post 7 km from the border, but, having come under strong return fire, retreated.

Considering the positive result in obtaining intelligence during such raids, the command of the Independent Task Force "Narev" decided to do more. A raid was planned for September 4 East Prussia concentrated forces of two cavalry brigades. But after receiving an order from the High Command of the Polish Army to retreat from this idea, it had to be abandoned. Raids on the territory of the Reich were not of strategic importance, but were used for propaganda purposes.

The last cavalry attack on the territory of Poland took place in 1947 in the battle of the 1st Warsaw cavalry division of the Polish People's Army with units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army near the town of Khreschaty.

What kind of battle is depicted in the above picture is not exactly known. From 9 to 18 September 1939, a number of battles took place near the town of Kutno, better known as the "Battle of the Bzura" (named after the tributary of the Vistula River). Polish armies"Poznan" and "Pomorie" with the 8th and 10th armies of the Wehrmacht. It is believed that this is a highly romanticized version of the battle of the 14th regiment of the Yazlovets lancers near Vulka Venglova.