Die yourself, but save a comrade. October 17, 1941 was a turning point in the battle of 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 Rifle Division, Colonel M.I. Ozimina. Dozens of "Junkers" bombarded artillery firing positions along the embankment railway Pokrovskoye - Martsevo. 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, Colonel General E. von Kleist, moved to Taganrog. Crushed by a mass of armored vehicles, the thinned regiments of the Stalingraders rolled back to the city, on the outskirts of which, in the village of Severny, units of the Taganrog garrison entered the battle. aerial reconnaissance Southern Front established an accumulation of up to a hundred tanks and two hundred vehicles in Troitskoye, twenty tanks on the highway near Sambek.
Over ninety tanks, having broken through the front of our units at Sambek, moved to the east. The 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. Fyodor Nikitich, who had just begun to form 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 parts of the Taganrog combat sector 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. Closest to the place of the breakthrough, in the area of the village of Kurlatskoye and the farms of Sadki, Buzina, Sedovsky, there were two light cavalry divisions and the 23rd rifle regiment of the 51st Order of Lenin of the Perekop Red Banner Division that had left the encirclement. 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, Salty barrow, Kurlatskoye at 15-30 to strike at the flank enemy in the direction of Koshkino station. The commander of the German corps, General of the Panzer Forces, Baron Eberhard August von Mackensen, who was watching the progress of the offensive from the crest of one of the Mius heights, pointed out to the division commanders standing with him a dark, moving mass, rolling down from the gentle western slopes kurgans Solyony and Armenian. Excellent Zeiss optics revealed to the generals a striking picture: thousands of horsemen raced along the backfield, stretching for several kilometers along the front, at intervals between squadrons and regiments.
Behind them hurried dozens of machine-gun carts and trotted artillery teams with limbers and light cannons. The commander of the motorized division "Leibstandarte" Adolf Hitler "Obergruppenführer SS Josef Dietrich, the Fuhrer's favorite and former bodyguard, familiarly slapped Mackensen on the shoulder: "- Baron, well, just like lancers in Poland!" Wincing, Mackensen ordered the commander of the thirteenth tank division to repel the attack and singled out to reinforce the battalion of the 36th tank regiment of Oberst Esser from the fourteenth division.General Duvert immediately deployed along the Pokrovskoye-Sambek highway, the 93rd motorized regiment of Oberstleutnant Stolz, following the column. Of the six regiments, the 179th Cavalry Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel I. I. Lobodin, was the most organized.
In a report to the political administration of the 9th Army, the military commissar of the 66th division, the battalion commissar Skakun noted: "On 10/17/41, the 179th command post covered the exit from the battle of the 31st Rifle Division in the Taganrog region. The regiment had not yet had time to dig in, when thirteen enemy tanks attacked it. But Comrade Forehead alone correctly positioned fire weapons, he himself was on the front line of fire and, by his personal example of courage and selflessness, inspired fighters and commanders to active fighting. As a result, the cavalry successfully repelled enemy attacks and inflicted significant losses on the Nazis. And most importantly, they diverted the enemy’s forces and means to themselves, thereby ensuring the exit of parts of the 31st Rifle Division from the battle. "But the report was silent on the fact that after that day only the second squadron of Captain Ya.G. Bondarenko remained combat-ready in the regiment.
The division commanders Vladimir Iosifovich Grigorovich and Nikolai Moiseevich Kirichenko could do nothing to help their horsemen, who were dying under massive fire. The crews of the 8th separate division of armored trains, Major I.A., hurried to the rescue. Sukhanov. Cruising on the stretch between the stations of Martsevo and Kosh-Kino, armored train No. 59 under the command of Captain A.D. Kharebava brought down the fire of four guns and sixteen machine guns on german tanks and motorized infantry, diverting them to themselves. In a fierce battle, the steel "fortress on wheels" perished, bombarded by twenty-seven dive bombers.
Out of a hundred crew members, six wounded soldiers miraculously survived. The remnants of the cavalry and the 31st division withdrew to the east, holding back armored divisions Wehrmacht. The climax was the twentieth of October. On this day, the 179th Cavalry Regiment repulsed six attacks by a motorized infantry battalion, supported by seventy tanks and fifty motorcycles with machine-gun sidecars. The horsemen of the second squadron destroyed more than 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 cavalry positions and surrounded the command post. In a fleeting unequal battle, almost all the headquarters commanders, signalmen and horsemen who were at the command post were killed. Only Lieutenant Colonel Lobodin with two lieutenants managed to escape from the ring. They rode to the farm Kopani, but there were already tanks and motorized infantry of the enemy. Then the regiment commander climbed into the attic of a suburban house and mowed down a dozen and a half soldiers with machine gun fire. The Nazis turned the tank around and set fire to the house with incendiary shells. But even from the clouds of smoke, mean short bursts were heard. When the flames engulfed the roof, Lobodin jumped into the yard. He received minor shrapnel wounds and severe burns, was covered in blood. On the burnt tunic, two orders of the Red Banner of War 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, a thunderstorm of the Basmachi, with a Mauser in the left and a saber in right hand rushed at the enemies surrounding the yard. In the crackle of the roaring flames, several shots sounded inaudibly. Three more soldiers who rushed to Lobodin fell.
Discarding the already unnecessary pistol, Ivan Ivanovich waved his saber. Backing away, machine gunners at close range, in long bursts, literally riddled the hero. Exhausted from the fear they experienced, they doused the body with gasoline and burned it. The remains were secretly buried local residents in the neighboring farm Sadki. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 5, 1942, I.I. Lobodin was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. Posthumously.
And if the feat of Lieutenant Colonel Lobodino I.I. is known and has already been 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 led the repulse of an incredible cavalry attack near the Koshkino station from the commander's T-4, fell ill with a 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 - across the endless, to the horizon, hundreds of saddled horses rush about and wildly, piercingly neigh, shying away from roaring tanks, whose sides and tracks are black with blood mixed with mud and scraps of soldier's uniforms ... Rostov-on- Don.
Discussions on the role of cavalry during the war years continue. Allegedly, our cavalry with swords flew naked on German tanks, and the Soviet marshals overestimated its importance before the war.
With drafts against tanks
In the historical discussion about the reassessment of military strategy at the beginning of the war in the 1990s, one could often hear the opinion that before the war the opinion of the so-called "horsemen" prevailed: Voroshilov, Budyonny, Shchadenko. Allegedly, they advocated that the number of cavalry units be increased. Yefim Shchadenko, in particular, said: “The war of engines, mechanization, aviation and chemistry were invented by military experts. For now, the main thing is the horse. decisive role in future war cavalry will play. Such quotes, taken out of context, like to be cited by those who like to play on the topic “with drafts against tanks” as evidence of the shortsightedness of the Soviet military command at the beginning of the war, however, if you look at the facts and documents, the picture appears completely different. The number of directorates of cavalry corps before the war decreased to 5, cavalry divisions - to 18 (4 of them were stationed on Far East), mountain cavalry divisions - up to 5 and Cossack (territorial) cavalry divisions - up to 2. After all the reductions, the Red cavalry met the war as part of 4 corps and 13 cavalry divisions. The total staff strength of the cavalry division was 8968 people and 7625 horses, the cavalry regiment, respectively, 1428 people and 1506 horses. Thus, the opinion that Stalin, Voroshilov and Budyonny wanted to win the war "on horseback" is a banal myth. 
The role of the cavalry
The cavalry corps of the Red Army turned out to be the most stable formations of the Red Army in 1941. They managed to survive the endless retreats and encirclements of the first year of the war. The cavalry was, first of all, the only means that made it possible to carry out deep envelopments and detours, as well as to make effective raids behind enemy lines. At the beginning of the war, in 1941–1942, cavalrymen played a crucial role in defensive and offensive operations, essentially taking on the role of the motorized infantry of the Red Army, since at that time the number and combat readiness of these formations in the Red Army was insignificant. Thus, before the appearance of motorized units and formations in the Red Army, the cavalry was the only maneuverable means of the operational level. In the second half of the war, from 1943, when the mechanization of the Red Army improved and the mechanisms of tank armies were adjusted, the cavalry began to play an important role in solving special tasks during offensive operations. The red cavalry in the second half of the war carried out a breakthrough deep into the enemy defenses, formed the outer front of the encirclement. In the case when the offensive was on highways of acceptable quality, the cavalry could not keep up with motorized formations, but during raids on dirt roads and impassable roads, the cavalry did not lag behind the motorized infantry. The advantages of cavalry include its independence from fuel. Its breakthroughs to great depths allowed the Red Army to save the forces of infantry and tankers, ensuring a high rate of advance of armies and fronts. The number of cavalry and tank units in the Red Army was practically the same. There were 6 tank armies in 1945, and seven cavalry corps. Most of both of them bore the rank of Guards by the end of the war. To put it figuratively, the tank armies were the sword of the Red Army, and the red cavalry was a sharp and long sword. Used in the Great Patriotic War and loved by the red commanders in the Civil carts. Ivan Yakushin, lieutenant, commander of an anti-tank platoon of the 24th Guards Cavalry Regiment of the 5th Guards Cavalry Division, recalled: “Carts were also used only as a means of transportation. During horse attacks, they really turned around and, as in civil war, spat, but it was infrequent. And as soon as the battle began, the machine gun was removed from the cart, the grooms of the horses were taken away, the cart also left, but the machine gun remained. 
Kushchevskaya attack
Cavalry Cossack units distinguished themselves in the war. The Kushchevskaya attack became famous in early August 1942, when the Cossack divisions were able to delay the German advance into the Caucasus. The Cossacks then decided to fight to the death. Standing in forest plantations near the village of Kushchevskaya, they were ready to attack and waited for the order. When the order was given, the Cossacks went on the attack. A third of the way to the German positions, the Cossacks walked silently, only the steppe air hissed from the swing of checkers. Then they switched to a trot, when the Germans became visible to the naked eye, they put the horses into a gallop. It was a real psychic attack. The Germans were in a hurry. Before that, they had heard a lot about the Cossacks, but near Kushchevskaya they saw them in all their glory. Here are just two opinions about the Cossacks. One - an Italian officer, the second - German soldier, for which the battle near Kushchevskaya was the last. “Some Cossacks stood in front of us. These are devils, not soldiers. And their horses are steel. We won't get out of here alive." “One memory of a Cossack attack terrifies me and makes me tremble. Nightmares haunt me at night. Cossacks are a whirlwind that sweeps away all obstacles and obstacles in its path. We are afraid of the Cossacks, as the retribution of the Almighty. 
Despite the clear advantage in weapons, the Germans faltered. The village of Kushchevskaya changed hands three times. According to the memoirs of the Cossack Mostovoy, German aviation also participated in the battle, but because of the hustle and bustle, in which a fierce hand-to-hand fight was already going on, it turned out to be practically useless - the Luftwaffe did not want to bomb its own. Airplanes circled over the battlefield at low level, obviously wanting to scare the Cossack horses, but it was useless - the Cossack horses were accustomed to the roar of engines. It is interesting to read the memoirs of the medical instructor of the cavalry squadron Zinaida Korzh (based on the book by S. Aleksievich “The war does not female face”): “After the Battle of Kushchev - it was the famous cavalry attack of the Kuban Cossacks - the corps was awarded the title of Guards. The fight was terrible. And for Olya and me, the most terrible, because we were still very afraid. Although I had already fought, I knew what it was, but when the cavalrymen went like an avalanche - the Circassians flutter, the sabers are drawn, the horses snore, and the horse, when it flies, it has such strength; and all this avalanche went to tanks, artillery, fascists - it was like in a nightmare. But there were many fascists, there were more of them, they were walking with machine guns, at the ready, they were walking next to the tanks - and they could not stand it, you understand, they could not stand this avalanche. They dropped their guns and ran." 
On foot
The cavalry found a use for itself at the end of the war. Konstantin Rokossovsky wrote about the use of the cavalry corps in the East Prussian operation: “Our cavalry corps N.S. Oslikovsky, breaking ahead, flew into Allenstein (Olshtyn), where several echelons with tanks and artillery had just arrived. With a dashing attack (of course, not in cavalry formation!), Having stunned the enemy with the fire of guns and machine guns, the cavalrymen captured the echelons. It is significant that Rokossovsky emphasizes that the cavalrymen attacked the tanks dismounting. This was the classic tactic of using cavalry against motorized units. When meeting with tank formations, the riders dismounted, and the horses were taken to a safe place by horse-drawn horses attached to each cavalry unit. Red cavalrymen entered the battle with tanks on foot. 
With a light foot on the hand of "fast" Heinz, one of the real episodes that occurred at the very beginning of the Second World War became a persistent myth. Apparently Guderian had to demonstrate the all-destroying technical power of the valiant Wehrmacht. Well, at the same time, the backwardness of the opponents of the Millennium Reich. Guderian writes: "The Polish Pomeranian cavalry brigade, due to ignorance of the design data and methods of action of our tanks, attacked them with melee weapons and suffered monstrous losses."
His words are happily picked up by both sides. According to the German version, the Polish cavalry mistook the German tanks for mock-ups and boldly rushed with their bare heels on a saber saber on the tanks in cavalry formation. According to the Polish version, the cavalrymen in the tragic time for Greater Poland showed exceptional courage, going into an unequal battle against mechanical armored monsters, demonstrating a rare stupidity, a real chivalrous spirit.
In fact, everything was much more prosaic.
The battle near Kroyants, which took place on September 1, 1939, formed the basis of the story of a cavalry charge. Guderian's memoirs speak of a cavalry charge on 3 September. Historian A. Isaev describes the battle as follows: the Polish 18th Pomeranian Lancers Regiment in the morning of September 1, he fought a defensive battle. In the afternoon, the regiment was ordered to attack the German infantry from the rear and then retreat back. The maneuver detachment of the regiment (1st and 2nd squadrons and two platoons of the 3rd and 4th squadrons) was supposed to enter the infantry from the rear, and after the attack, retreat to the Polish fortifications in the town of Rytel.
The detachment discovered that the German battalion was located on a halt 300-400 m from the edge of the forest. It was decided to attack, using the effect of surprise. The commander of the 18th regiment, Colonel Mastalezh, took part in the attack. The cavalrymen merrily cut down with their sabers the infantrymen who were taken by surprise and fled, until German armored vehicles appeared from the forest, opening machine-gun fire. Also, one German gun entered the battle. The Poles were forced to retreat, having suffered heavy losses, half of the riders survived. According to modern data, after a cavalry attack, three officers (including the regiment commander) and 23 lancers were killed, one officer and about 50 lancers were wounded.
Thus, the cavalrymen did not attack the tanks, but cut down the gaping Fritzian infantrymen until they themselves were fired upon by armored vehicles, after which they had to tick.
But no one was interested in the facts. The myth turned out to be beneficial to both sides. So in the film by A. Wajda "Flying" in 1959 there is an episode with this insanely brave attack :-):
A fairly well-known Polish artist, Jerzy Kossak, painted an epic painting in 1939. "Battle of Kutno". As a creative intellectual, Jerzy didn’t know a damn thing about tanks in particular, and about the war in general, and had a very distant impression. Therefore, it delivers everything here - from firing a pistol at a triplex, German tankers surrendering under the mighty pressure of a lancer, and ending with a pike blow in the forehead to an unknown armored monster, clearly crawling out of the artist's hungover fantasies:
Apparently realizing that he got excited with the imperishable, in 1943 Kossak redrawn his masterpiece:
I must say right away that this did not help much:
But on the other hand, the battle was captured on an epic canvas. Although, to justify the Fritz artist, it must be said that this work was drawn by him for the magazine Der pimpf for October 1939. Some explanations - Der Pimpf is the magazine of the German youth organization Jungvolk (Hitler Youth for the smallest).
What is remarkable in turn this masterpiece? The one that drives the Polish lancers with pissed rags, attacks the Polish cavalry tank Neubaufahrzeug, A prototype of a Rheinmetall heavy tank according to the terms of reference dated 1933. 5 units were produced, two of non-armored steel, three quite combat vehicles. All battle tanks (let me remind you 3 pieces!) Fought in 1940 in Norway as part of the 40th tank battalion special purpose(Panzer-Abteilung z.b.V.40), 1 of them was lost in battle with the British on April 26, 1940 (according to other sources, 04/21/40). The other two were scrapped by the Hans for metal in 1942.
German tanks Nb.Fz. (Neubaufahrzeug) in the yard of the Rheinmetall AG plant in Düsseldorf, before being shipped to Norway 
German multi-turreted tank Neubaufahrzeug (Nb.Fz.) of the 40th Special Purpose Tank Battalion (Panzer-Abteilung z.b.V.40), on Oslo street. In the background, a small command vehicle Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen Sd.Kfz.265 (Kl.Pz.Bf.Wg.), created on the basis of the light tank Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.B.
Destroyed German heavy multi-turret tank Neubaufahrzeug (Nb.Fz.) of the 40th Special Purpose Tank Battalion (Panzer-Abteilung z.b.V.40) on the road in the Ringsaker area.
Accordingly, these "heavy" tanks in Poland could not be. And in general, there were no tanks from the German side in this battle, there were armored vehicles.
Here is such a mythical episode used in propaganda by both sides.
"You can beg for everything! Money, fame, power, but not the Motherland ... Especially one like my Russia"
Polish artists are stronger than Goethe's Faust...
Jerzy Kosak "Battle of Kutno" 1939
The author knew nothing about tanks, a few years later he learned something and rewrote the picture. 
Jerzy Kosak "Battle of Kutno" 1943
Not much, however, he learned something.
The irony is that Kosak, being a Pole, repeated Goebbels' nonsense. Near Kutno, indeed, Polish cavalry fought German tanks with varying success - but by no means on horseback. The Polish cavalry division had quite serious reinforcements (artillery, armored vehicles).
Both paintings are breathtakingly beautiful. But they have one common drawback. There are not enough NKVD soldiers in the frame, treacherously shooting Polish heroes in the back of the head with German Walthers, I
The cavalry brigades were one of the most mobile branches of the armed forces in the Rzhechi Commonwealth. By the beginning of World War II, Poland fielded 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 built precisely on counterattacks, for 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 cavalry archers), united in 11 brigades. Plus - the cavalry of the Border Protection Corps. In addition, already during the war, the Combined Cavalry Division, the Volkovysk Reserve Cavalry Brigade and the Zaza Cavalry Division were formed.
Each cavalry brigade of the Polish Army included: 3-4 cavalry regiments, division horse artillery, an armored division (a squadron of 13 reconnaissance tanks and a squadron of 7 armored cars), a cyclist squadron, an engineer 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, 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) consisted of 5075 people. personnel, with a battalion (one) - 6143. Four-regiment 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. To this must be added high level training, through a longer service life (23 months) and the cultivation of traditions and a sense of elitism, celebrated 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).
At the disposal of the Polish cavalry brigade of three regiments was (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 arr. 1935 - 51-68 (64-78)
* Armored vehicles arr. 1934 or arr. 1929 - 8, reconnaissance tanks TKS or TK-3 - 13
The Polish reconnaissance tank TK-3 (improved modification - TKS) was created on the basis of the British Carden-Loyd Mk VI tankette and in appearance is very similar to the Soviet T-27 tankette of the 1931 model, also produced under a British license (sold, by the way, in 16 countries of the world).
As in other armies of that time, foot combat for cavalrymen was envisaged as the basic type of action. The horses were to serve only vehicle due to the lack of mass production of cars. There were not enough specialists - drivers, technicians, and so on. Especially manifested during the war shortage of gasoline. The commander of the Warsaw Armored Motorized Brigade (a regiment of mounted archers, an infantry regiment, a mechanized artillery battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, an anti-tank battalion, a sapper mechanized battalion, a communications squadron, two separate tank squadrons, an air defense battery), Colonel Stefan Rowiecki bitterly recalled how he had to throw equipment due to lack of gasoline.
The top of the officer corps, and even more so - supreme chief 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 specter 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 conditions in the USSR”, the cavalry would have an advantage over armored formations.
The statement "The Polish Army was so scared that they attacked German tanks with cavalry" was created during WWII by German propaganda, which distributed the propaganda film "Kampfgeschwader Lützow" (1941) specially made for this purpose. However, the beauty and senselessness of this action was picked up in Poland. Already in 1959, the film "Lotna" directed by Andrzej Wajda (later received an Oscar for all his work and the French Order of the Legion of Honor) was filmed, showing a Polish cavalry attack on German tank troops that never took place. The Germans, creating this myth of their own about “stupid Poles”, probably wanted, in addition to their technical omnipotence, to emphasize to the Western states that it was not worth fighting for Poland. 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 campaign of 1939, several cavalry attacks of various sizes were launched from the Polish side.
The colored rectangles show the places of deployment of the cavalry brigades at the beginning of the war, the arrows show the paths of movement, the riders show the places of attacks.
The most famous is the so-called battle near Kroyants. 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 the memoirs of Heinz Guderian “Memoirs of a Soldier”: “The Polish Pomeranian cavalry brigade, due to ignorance of the constructive data and methods of action of our tanks, attacked them with edged weapons and suffered monstrous losses.”
The main character of the episode mentioned by Guderian was the Polish 18th Pomeranian Lancers Regiment. This regiment was formed on June 25, 1919 in Poznań under the name of the 4th Nadvislansky Lancers, and from February 1920 became the 18th Pomeranian. On August 22, 1939, the regiment received an order to mobilize, 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 Pomeranian 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 afternoon, the cavalrymen were ordered to launch a counterattack and, taking advantage of the enemy's transition to the defense as a result of this strike, retreat back. For the counterattack, a maneuver detachment was allocated (1st and 2nd squadrons and two platoons of the 3rd and 4th squadrons), it 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 the town of Rytel, occupied by the Polish infantry.
However, the roundabout maneuver led to unexpected results for both sides. The head outpost of the detachment discovered a battalion of German infantry, which was on 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 uhlans quickly and smoothly unsheathed their blades, shining in the red rays of the setting sun. The commander of the 18th regiment, Colonel Mastalezh, participated in the attack. Obeying the signal of the trumpet, the uhlans swiftly rushed at the enemy. The calculation for the suddenness of the attack turned out to be correct: the Germans, who did not expect an attack, rushed in a panic across the field. The cavalry mercilessly cut down the fleeing foot soldiers with their sabers.
The triumph of the cavalry was interrupted by armored vehicles hitherto hidden in the forest. Riding out from behind the trees, they opened machine-gun fire. In addition to armored vehicles, flank fire was also opened by one German gun. Now the Poles were rushing across the field under deadly fire. Having suffered heavy losses, the cavalry retreated behind the nearest wooded ridge. However, the casualties in the cavalry charge were far less than might be imagined from the description of the battle. Three officers (including the commander of the regiment, Colonel Mastalezh) and 23 lancers were killed, one officer and about 50 lancers were seriously wounded.
Most of the losses of the 18th Lancers on September 1, 1939, which amounted to up 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 do not have this case nothing to do with reality. The Polish cavalrymen did not attack the tanks, but were themselves 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 cavalry could get out of the flank attack much faster than the infantry.
Under the village of Wet The 1st and 3rd squadrons of the 19th Volyn Uhlan Regiment (Ostrog) of the Volyn Cavalry Brigade attacked units of the German 4th Panzer Division standing near the forest, which were just regrouping. Due to the effect of surprise, the enemy did not put up strong resistance and left the position in a panic. Captain Anthony Skiba commanded the attack. The general outline is as follows - the Volyn uhlans in this area guarded the southern wing of the Lodz army and held back the onslaught of the 16th tank corps Wehrmacht to Warsaw. The battle of Mokra lasted all day, the Germans made five attacks. The Polish horse artillery division, with the support of aviation, armored train No. 53 "Brave" and anti-tank guns of the 12th Podolsky Lancers Regiment (Bialokrynitsa), managed to knock out 170 enemy vehicles, including 80 tanks (the 4th German division totaled 324 tanks in total and 101 armored personnel carriers), however, most of them were repaired after a few days. The Volyn brigade lost in the battle 182 people 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 Virtuti Military Order and the Combatant's Cross. 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 another two days.
In the Krulje forests in the area of Yanov and Khinovolga, the Small Patrol of the 11th Legion Lancers Regiment (Tsekhanov) from the Mazovets Brigade under the command of Lieutenant Vladislav Kosakovsky conducted reconnaissance, during which he came across a unit of the German cavalry of the 3rd Army. Kosakovsky recalled: “at the end of our trip, in one clearing we saw a small detachment of German cavalry. They didn't see us, but they were standing in our way. I asked my people - are we attacking? The answer was drawing sabers from their scabbards. Unnoticed, turning in a wide line, we jumped out of the forest at high speed. The surprise was complete, but the Germans met the attack in the face, only our strength was greater. We raced through them. I remember that Corporal Yutskevich stumbled upon the pike of some German. We rushed in our direction, the Germans in theirs. We were all out of our depths with emotion and fear. Next 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.
Near Brochow part of the 17th Lancers Regiment (Leshno) from the Greater Poland Brigade launched an attack on German positions. It did not come to a battle in the equestrian formation, since the purpose of this offensive in an open field was a psychological effect. The direct attack on the enemy began after dismounting.
Near Hayovka Denbovskaya one platoon of the 4th squadron of the 17th uhlan regiment forced a small German detachment to leave their positions with a cavalry attack.
Under Vulka Venglova a battle took place, in intensity of passions not inferior to the famous battle of Kroyants.
The 14th Yazlovets Lancers Regiment (Lvov) was considered in Poland the cavalry regiment with the longest continuous history (created in February 1918 in the Kuban, took an active part in the 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 been making its way through enemy positions to the capital for the last three days, but again stumbled upon the Germans ( total estimated at 2,300 soldiers and 37 tanks). The commander of the regiment, Colonel E. Godlevsky, hoping for the effect of surprise, decided to break through with a cavalry attack through the positions of the Nazis resting in Pushcha Kampinoska. The lancers were without heavy weapons, but a small unit of the 9th Little Poland Lancers 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 Marianne 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 Mościski, 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, losing 105 people killed and 100 wounded (20% of the regiment's personnel at that time). A large number were also captured, they were promised release for bravery, but the Nazis did not keep their promise - 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 banner of the regiment. At the last moment, Corporal Mechislav Cech picked up the banner and joined his own. For this, General Yu. Rummel awarded him 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 developing banner. All German machine guns fell silent, only the guns fired. Their fire created a dense barrier 300 meters from the German positions. The Polish cavalry advanced at full speed, like in medieval paintings! At the head rode the commander with a raised saber. It could be seen how the distance between the group of Polish cavalrymen and the wall of German fire was decreasing. It was crazy to continue this attack towards death. But the Poles broke through. This poetic description of the suicidal attack of mad heroes has circled 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 fire is getting closer… More and more horses without riders… From behind a potato patch, a German non-commissioned officer shoots at me from a parabellum, after my shot he falls. To the right, under the trees, a German tank follows us, as if on a walk. My horse fell on its front legs. Managed to pick it up. We were heading towards the forest. There, having already jumped the ditch, the horse fell. A second later he was already sitting on another, there were a lot of them circling 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 unit of the Poznan army, which made its way to the surrounded Warsaw, and took an active part in the defense of the capital. After three weeks of fighting, the regiment was left with 14 officers, 29 sub-officers and 388 lancers with 280 horses. In general, the regiment lost 12 officers and about 250 privates in the September campaign. His fighters were awarded 4 gold and 26 silver Virtuti Military Crosses, 47 Fighting Crosses. For the September campaign of 1939, in particular for the battle near Vulka Venglova, the regiment was repeatedly presented for the award of the Virtuti Military Cross (the first one 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 "Distinguished for extraordinary courage in the 1939 campaign in Poland" on the ribbons of the banner.
Cross of the Order of Virtuti Military First Class.
On the same day near Lomyanka reconnaissance of the 6th horse artillery division made its way to Warsaw with a horse attack.
Under Kamenka Strumilova The 3rd squadron of the 1st cavalry division from the formation of Colonel K. Galitsky pierced the encirclement of the 4th light division of the Wehrmacht (later it became the 9th tank division).
Not far from Lublin, units of the Novogrudok Cavalry Brigade attacked German positions on foot near the village of Krasnobrod. The headquarters of the German 8th Infantry Division retreated from the village. In pursuit of him, they rushed in equestrian formation under the command of Lieutenant Tadeusz Gerletsky, lancers of the 1st squadron of the 25th Greater Poland lancers regiment (Pruzhany). The German squadron of the East Prussian heavy cavalry rushed to intercept. The Poles moved forward, putting up peaks. The Germans accepted the challenge. Their commander cut down several lancers and rushed to Gerletsky. Togo was saved by platoon commander Mikolayevsky, who at the last moment hacked to death a German officer. The victory remained in this battle for the lancers, 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, who were saved by the composure of Corporal Mikolaevsky, who managed to bring the remnants of the unit to a safe place. However, the Poles managed to capture the village and capture the headquarters of the 8th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. German losses in mounted combat were 47 killed and 30 wounded.
In September 1939, there was also a case of a mounted attack by the Polish cavalry on Soviet troops, namely, on the soldiers of the 8th Rifle Corps of the Red Army in the Grubeshov area. In the village of Gusin the Polish infantry unit was surrounded by Soviet units. About 500 cavalrymen from the reserve squadron of the 14th Lancers, the cavalry division of the state police from Warsaw and the divisional cavalry tried to break through to him. 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 capitulated.
On the Russian site "I remember" you can find the memoirs of the tanker Ivan Vladimirovich Maslov. In 1939, he took part in the Liberation Campaign of the Red Army in Western Belarus as a senior driver 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 they gave the go-ahead” - “Forward!”. No special battles took place there, but I had to become a witness and participant in the reflection of the attack of the Polish cavalry on our tank battalion. And this is not a joke. And when the Polish cavalrymen with naked sabers attacked our tanks, we thought, are they, these Polish lancers or hussars, completely crazy? They were quickly suppressed and shot at. The Poles abandoned their horses and weapons, and dispersed - some were captured by 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 had all the tanks made of plywood and they did not pose any danger ... "
The story is very doubtful - such an attack is not mentioned in Polish sources. Apparently, this is a retelling of the story about the battle near Gusin, which, however, is not located in Belarus ...
The 27th Lancers, on the orders of the commander of the Novogrudok Cavalry Brigade, Vladislav Anders, made two horseback attacks on the German infantry battalion defending village Moranci. 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 wounded. After the battle, negotiations took place, after which the Germans retreated from the village. The next day, German infantry attacked the lancers supported by tanks and artillery, scattering the Poles through the surrounding forests. This was the last horse attack of the September campaign...
Worthy of special mention raids of the Polish cavalry on the territory of the Reich undertaken by some units of the Podlasie and Suvalka cavalry brigades.
The first raid has already taken place. September 2 for the purpose of capturing prisoners and reconnaissance. Two squadrons of lancers invaded Germany, had a fight with the forest guards and local self-defense forces and captured in the border village of languages, then retreated to Polish territory.
AT night from 2 to 3 September a night raid took place by the forces of the 10th Lancers Regiment, separate units of the 5th Zasyavsky Lancers and the 9th Mounted Riflemen of the regiments (with the support of a platoon of tankettes and a battery of horse artillery). The Poles ran into strong German resistance, but managed to capture two villages, where they took many prisoners and heavy enemy weapons. In view of the intensifying German artillery fire, it was decided to retreat.
On the evening of September 3 about 100 cavalrymen of the 3rd Mazovian schvolezher regiment made a foot raid on the Prussian village of Tsimokhi, where a company of Wehrmacht sappers was located. Two prisoners, weapons and ammunition were captured, along the way the railway station and the forest guard department were destroyed. The Poles lost one killed and one wounded. At the same time, the Germans claimed that there were no military units in the village, but only a military gendarmerie post, while the Poles fired on 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 Grochovsky Lancers of the regiment went deep into German territory, led by a border guard guide, but without meeting enemy forces, returned back. According to some sources, seven lancers under the command of Lieutenant Giuskoy attacked a forest guard post 7 km from the border, but, having fallen under heavy return fire, retreated.
Given the positive result in obtaining intelligence during such raids, the command of the Independent Task Force "Narev" decided on more. A raid was scheduled for 4 September East Prussia concentrated forces of two cavalry brigades. But after receiving an order from the High Command of the Polish Army to retreat, this idea had to be abandoned. The 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 division of the cavalry of the Polish People's Army with units of the Ukrainian rebel army near the city of Khreshchataya.
What kind of battle is depicted in the above picture is not exactly known. From September 9 to September 18, 1939, a series of battles took place near the city of Kutno, better known as the “battle of the Bzura” (named after the tributary of the Vistula River), which were fought by the Polish armies “Poznan” and “Pomorye” from the 8th and 10th and armies of the Wehrmacht. There is an opinion that this is a highly romanticized version of the battle of the 14th regiment of the Yazlovets Lancers near Vulka Venglova.
