History 26/01/20 Kaa cavalry helped the red Army to defeat Hitler
Despite the fact that the Second World war was a battle of tanks and planes, horses were used not only as draught animals but also as combat. Tell how, where and with whom fought the Soviet cavalry in the great Patriotic war.
How many cavalry in the Soviet Union before the war
Before the war Stalin killed a lot of young officers who advocated mechanization. Survived and led the army during the second half of the 1930s, an elderly supporters cavalry, Civil war heroes like Voroshilov and Budyonny. Their “cavalry lobby” fought not for the rejection of mehanizacii, but for the preservation of the cavalry as one of the most important types of troops, along with tanks, in Soviet military doctrine.
in addition, the formation of new cavalry units contributed to the Cossack Stalin’s policy. Until 1936 at them as anti-Soviet element has been imposed many restrictions including the military service. But April 22, 1936, Cossacks were “forgiven” and allowed them to begin forming their own cavalry units. In the late 1930s it was created several cavalry divisions and corps. But in 1940 a course on the mechanization still won, and many of them were disbanded.
as a result, on 22 June 1941 in the composition of RRKA was 14 cavalry divisions (one individual) and 3 cavalry corps, just over 100,000 people. But soon after the war began, the Soviet leadership realized that crooked embedded mechanization sometimes only slows down an army and leads to large losses, therefore, were instructed on the formation of a 100 light cavalry divisions, which, among others, were created in the Cossack regions of the country. And he insisted on this bug.
In the letter, summarizing the experience of the first weeks of the war, he wrote that the experience of cavalry undervalued, and that it is necessary to return to the Red army. He proposed to create a multiKo dozen light cavalry divisions, numbering about three thousand people, which would have made dramatic raids in the rear of the Nazis.
the Cavalry early in the war
outset: the horse of a cavalryman in the Great Patriotic war is a means of transportation, not combat. The attack on the horse almost didn’t go, and especially against tanks.
I. A. Yakushin, Lieutenant, commander of the antitank platoon of the 24th guards cavalry regiment, 5th guards cavalry division, recalled: “Horses were used as means of transportation. There were, of course, and battles on horseback and saber attack, but it is rare. If a strong enemy sitting on a horse, can not cope with it, then the command is given to dismount, the grooms take the horses and go. And the horsemen are working as infantry”.
By the end of 1941 cavalry divisions in the red army was already 82. The first months of the war the cavalry division caught in a German encirclement and were annihilated on the territory of Belarus.
Interesting story 36 cavalry divisions. She was surrounded near the town of Navahrudak. The Cossacks captured were destroyed, but others of them were behind enemy lines and organized several guerrilla groups that fought against the Nazis for 3 years, lasted until the Soviet army, despite the punitive measures.
Bravely fought Cossacks cavalry and against the Romanian army in Soviet Bessarabia. After a desperate defense sector of the Soviet-Romanian border, the Cossack cavalry corps, Belov P. I. was able to retreat deep into the Ukraine and avoid the encirclement of Uman. Some historians, for example, A. V. Isaev, even claim that in the first months of the war, the old horse-drawn division was the most effective weapon — the cavalry retreated more independently and flexibly, allowing yourself to raids and counterattacks, and motorized divisions were stuck. Have proved cavalry and the battle of Moscow.
the Cavalry at the end of the war,
When the Soviet generals more or less understood how to fight the Germans, they started to use vsadnikain for breakouts and raids behind enemy lines.
the Important role played by the Soviet cavalry in the battles for Stalingrad. 81 cavalry division was completely destroyed Panzer corps of General Routh in Kotelnikovo, behind enemy lines. Cavalry sacrificed herself in order to slow down the German offensive on Stalingrad and not allow them to occupy the important railway junctions, which would give them the opportunity to advance on Stalingrad to be more flexible.
the Cavalry was involved in the breakthroughs during Drogowski-Rossoshansky operation at Voronezh. Then 7 cavalry corps, 6 nights first without stopping-passed 280 km, and then strong and fast blow broke through the German front, allowing the Soviet tanks to attack a deep line defense of the Nazis. Due to this situation, was defeated Hungarian army, and several Italian and German divisions freed from the enemy a vast territory.
the same desperate breakthroughs have made the Soviet cavalry and at Kursk in summer 1943. In 1943 the Soviet command completely changes the strategy of using cavalry, and begins to create a horse-mechanized units in which such fast-break front makes cavalry and tanks. This group “pierce” the front, and then extends this gap, so that it was less mobile Soviet troops, and hold it in reserve the enemy’s rear.
In this form 3 guards mechanized corps forced the Berezina river during “operation Bagration”, in which shock cavalry in General, played almost the key role. The same tactics was used during the Lvov-Sandomierz operation, when the cavalry played a crucial role in the conquest of Western Ukraine. The last major battle in which separated Soviet cavalry, was the mastery of Olsztyn in Prussia cavalry corps of Mamontov Orlikowski.
Alexander Artamonov
Source:
© Russian Seven
Read thealso a challenge: editor’s choice, “Russian Seven”thieves in law on the eve of the Olympics-80 преступностью5 fought against the uprisings of 1961 in the USSR: their sprovotsirovalis Black devil in Khakassia: the most mysterious place in Sibirica special about the men who are born only sinovialnaya article also Listen to the podcast “the Russian Seven”. Share: Comments Comments on the article “Kaa cavalry helped the red Army to defeat Hitler” Please log in to leave a comment! br>
Share on Tumblr
