Red Moscow

Thousands of war horses galloped wildly at the same time, and the sound of trampling on the iron hooves was like rolling thunder, and even the ground trembled. The German soldiers knew that once the Soviet cavalry rushed up, the entire position would inevitably be shaken. The machine gunner stopped firing, but pulled the trigger to the end. The belt of 125 rounds of ammunition was fired in a few seconds, and the chain of ammunition that was frequently replaced At first some supplies were not available.

Under the intensive machine gun fire of the German army, cavalrymen kept falling off their horses, and horses kept falling over while running. While tripping other horses, they were drawn into the surrounding iron hooves together with the riders on horseback. But even so, the horses in the high-speed impact are constantly advancing.

In other seasons, it would not even take a minute for the horse to cover a distance of three to four hundred meters. But now is the season of ice and snow, and the thick snow seriously slows down the running speed of the horses, thus increasing the casualties of the cavalry.

But a few machine guns in the area, even if they caused a lot of casualties to the Soviet cavalry, they could not prevent the cavalry from crashing straight into the position. A war horse jumped over the trench. The cavalrymen lying on their horses had their sabers stretched downwards and gleamed coldly. The sharp blades cut across the chests and heads of the German soldiers in an instant, and the flying half of their bodies hit the back wall of the trench.

Where the cavalry passed, it took only a split second to kill hundreds of soldiers.

After piercing through the simple defensive positions of the German army, the cavalry turned around and attacked the German officers and soldiers who had already fallen into chaos.

Facing the rushing cavalry, the German officers and soldiers who had no time to shoot hid in the trenches to avoid the terrible sabers and horseshoes of the cavalry.

But the cavalry took advantage of the cowardice of the German army. Taking advantage of the time when the German officers and soldiers hid in the trenches and did not shoot, they rushed to the trenches, reined in their horses, and jumped into the trenches with their sabers in hand.

The German officers and soldiers hiding in the trenches did not expect the Soviet cavalry to be so ignorant of martial arts, they would go straight into the trenches with sabers and kill people. The soldiers without bayonets on their rifles fell into despair. Because they understand that any resistance in the current situation is futile.

The German troops stationed nearby learned that their friendly troops had been attacked by the Soviet army, and immediately rushed to support them, trying to repel the Soviet attack together with the defenders on the position.

As soon as Muzichenko led the soldiers to wipe out the enemies in the trenches, he got the news that the German reinforcements had arrived. He jumped out of the trenches, came to his horses, and shouted loudly: "Everyone listen to my password, get on your horses! "

When the cavalry who were still able to move got on their horses one after another, Muzichenko rode out with a bloody saber in his hand. He reined in his horse and stood tall, raised his knife and pointed in the direction of the enemy, and shouted vigorously: "Brothers of the Guards Cavalry Division, march towards the enemy ahead!"

The German infantry who rushed over in groups never dreamed that they would meet the Soviet cavalry head-on. For the German soldiers without fortification cover, facing the oncoming cavalry, what awaited them was the fate of being slaughtered.

The German commander shouted loudly: "Cavalry, Russian cavalry, prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!!"

Seeing the cavalry getting closer and closer, the soldiers who did not receive clear instructions could only choose to fight on their own. Some soldiers stood up and fired at the charging horses, while others lay down on the ground and shot.

After the German soldiers fired a few shots, the cavalry had already rushed to the front. Due to the hasty shooting, only a few bullets hit the horses, but when the high-speed horses were shot, they would throw the cavalry on their backs when they rolled over, and smashed into the ranks of German troops who couldn't dodge, smashing many soldiers. fell to the ground.

Although the emergence of machine guns, the cavalry gradually declined. But it is undeniable that in a field environment, cavalry has a great advantage over infantry who have no preset positions. The cavalry clung to their horses and stretched their bright sabers forward. With the cold light flashing, blood rained all over the sky as the blades passed by. The German officers and soldiers were hacked and knocked into the air in extreme fear. Under the high-speed impact of the horses, they were chopped down and trampled into flesh. The cavalry, like red-hot knives, cut through butter, cutting a bloody alley from the German queue.

The infantry standing in place and resisting is courting death. Can the soldiers lying on the ground escape unharmed? Obviously impossible, they were trampled into balls of meat sauce by the galloping horses.

When the cavalry led by Muzichenko passed through the German ranks, only one-third of the soldiers could stand, and the rest were either trampled to death by horseshoes, or died under the sabers of the Soviet cavalry .

Seeing the Soviet cavalry who pierced through the formation, they turned around and rushed over again. The German officers and soldiers who were killed and wounded completely lost their fighting spirit. They scattered and fled to different places.

Seeing that the enemy had fled, the cavalry pursued and hacked for a while. Seeing that the enemy had fled far, Muzichenko ordered the pursuit to stop. When he issued such an order, it was not because he intended to let the enemy go, nor was he merciful, but because it was too dangerous to fight on horseback in the dark.

When his subordinates counted the results and reported to Muzichenko, he never dreamed that his first battle after his comeback would go so smoothly. The battle lasted only half an hour before it ended in victory for one's own side. On his own side, 379 people were sacrificed and 137 people were injured. And killed 632 German soldiers, captured 193 people, and seized a large amount of weapons and equipment.

After leaving a battalion to stick to the occupied position, Muzichenko took the remaining troops and returned to the location of the cavalry army headquarters, preparing to report the results of the battle to Selivanov.

It was too dark for Selivanov to observe the progress of the battle. Seeing Muzichenko walking in covered in blood at this moment, he hastily stepped forward and asked with concern: "Old chief, are you injured?"

"Comrade Commander, please don't call me that." Hearing Selivanov call himself this, Muzichenko quickly corrected him and said, "I am your subordinate now, and others will have bad associations when they hear it. "

"Okay." Selivanov followed suit and immediately changed his address: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, are you injured?"

"No, I have German blood all over me." Muzichenko shook his head and replied, "We have successfully occupied the German position, and I came back here to report to you."

"Oh, the position has been taken down." Selivanov asked in surprise: "How is the result?"

"According to statistics," Muzichenko replied: "A total of 632 enemies were killed, 193 were captured, and a large amount of weapons and ammunition were also seized. However, our army sacrificed 379 people and injured 137 people..."

Selivanov didn't care about his own casualties, he just needed to know how many enemies the 66th Cavalry Division had wiped out so that he could report the results to Sokov.

After Muzichenko's report was over, Selivanov connected the phone of the Army Group Command.

As soon as he heard someone talking, he said triumphantly: "Hello, I am Major General Selivanov, commander of the 5th Guards Cavalry Corps, can General Sokov or General Smirnov answer the phone? "

Sokov happened to be standing not far away, and reached out to take the phone in the staff officer's hand: "I'm Sokov, hello, General Selivanov."

"Hello, General Sokov." Selivanov said triumphantly, "I am honored to report an exciting piece of good news to you."

Although Sokov guessed that the other party would report the record of the 66th Cavalry Division, out of politeness, he asked politely: "General Selivanov, do you have any good news for me?"

"General Sokov, the situation is as follows." Selivanov reported to Sokov: "During the just-concluded battle, the 66th Cavalry Division under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Muzichenko successfully defeated our All frontal enemies eliminated and captured 825 German soldiers, and a large amount of weapons and ammunition were also seized.”

"Great job, General Selivanov." After listening to the other party's report, Sokov said with a smile: "I will record the results of the 66th Cavalry Division, and when this encirclement and annihilation battle is over, I will Give them rewards for their merits."

"Thank you, General Sokov." Selivanov said gratefully: "On behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 66th Cavalry Division, thank you!"

After a pause, Sokov asked tentatively: "General Selivanov, when will your other three cavalry divisions arrive at the designated positions?"

The reason why he asks this is because the number of cavalry is too small now. If it is used for offense, it may not be enough for the Germans to bite their teeth. Therefore, he hopes that the entire cavalry army can reach the designated position so that it can be used in battle. greater effect.

"It's dark and the road is difficult to walk." Selivanov explained to Sokov: "By noon today at the latest, all the troops of the Cavalry Army will be able to reach the designated position."

However, Selivanov never dreamed that the 13th Cavalry Division, which he was on the way to transfer, would encounter the German army and a fierce exchange of fire took place.

Under the cover of artillery fire, the 13th Cavalry Division easily broke through the first line of defense of the German army, followed the fleeing enemy, and rushed towards the second line of defense.

The cavalry originally charged closely behind the extended artillery fire, but they did not expect the German army to be defeated too quickly. Some cavalry rushed directly into the area where the artillery fire extended, causing a certain degree of accidental injury.

Although the German commander on the second-line position was confused by this method of warfare, he knew better in his heart that once the position was breached, it would immediately turn into an uncontrollable collapse. The officers who reacted immediately rushed into the civil firepower point, yelling desperately with their voices changed due to panic, and drove the demoralized machine gunners to the front of the machine guns, ordering them to shoot at the cavalry rushing.

Just as the cavalry approached the position, dense gunshots sounded from the German position not far away. The seven MG-42 machine guns in the trench roared, and several fire whips swept across. Under their ferocious firepower, the cavalry who were barely close to the edge of the position were hit head-on, and they were immediately turned on their backs.

For the preset positions of machine guns, the cavalry who charged were also slaughtered like the infantry they had ravaged. The cavalry reacted extremely quickly. Seeing that the situation was not good, they immediately pulled up their horses and ran away. Although in the rain of bullets, horses were constantly shot and fell down, or cavalrymen on horseback were shot and fell off their horses, but they still escaped the range of fire extremely quickly by relying on their speed that had not slowed down.

The commander of the 13th Cavalry Division realized that he could not break through the second line of defense of the German army with his own strength, so he ordered someone to send a telegram to Selivanov, reporting everything that happened here to the other party in detail.

"What, you were stopped by the German defense line?" Selivanov asked in surprise after listening to the report: "Is there no way to get around it?"

"There is no way, Comrade Commander." The commander of the 13th Cavalry Division replied: "The enemy's position is blocking our only way. If we force a breakthrough, our division may suffer huge casualties."

Hearing what the commander of the 13th Cavalry Division said, Selivanov couldn't help but fell into deep thought. Based on his understanding of the troops, it was not a big problem for the 13th Cavalry Division to break through the German positions. But if we attack regardless of casualties, by the time the enemy's defense line is broken through, the 13th Cavalry Division may have lost its combat effectiveness.

Thinking of this, he said into the microphone: "Mr. Comrade, I have to think about this matter. After I think about it, I will call you."

After putting down the phone, he called the chief of staff in front of him, explained the difficulties that the 13th Cavalry Division is facing now, and finally asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me, what can we do to cover the 13th Cavalry Division?" How about breaking through the blocking of the German army and rushing over to join us?"

"Comrade Commander, this is not easy." After hearing this, the chief of staff said in embarrassment: "The key is that when the troops are marching, in order to prevent the targets from being exposed, they have adopted radio silence, so it is temporarily impossible to know their status." The specific situation." His implication is that if you know where these troops are, you will know which troops to send for reinforcements.

The situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly, and Selivanov knew very well that if the 13th Cavalry Division wanted to break through the enemy's defenses until dawn, it would probably cost them even more. Therefore, he planned to call Sokov and see him Whether it has the ability to rescue the 13th Cavalry Division.

Sokov learned that the 13th Cavalry Division was blocked by the German army, and he couldn't help but feel anxious. He quickly told Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately contact the troops below to see which troops are closest to there, and order them to go to the army." reinforce."

After some inquiries, Smirnov reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I have already asked. The closest to there is the 219th Tank Brigade, and the brigade commander is Colonel Timofevich."

When Sokov heard Timofeyitch's name, he couldn't help showing a curious look on his face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is he Colonel Timofevich who belongs to the 1st Mechanized Army?"

"That's right, it's him." After Smirnov gave an affirmative answer, he suddenly thought of a question and hurriedly asked, "Comrade Commander, do you know him?"

"Yes, of course I know him." Sokov explained to Smirnov triumphantly: "Don't forget, after capturing Klemenchug, the superior assigned the 1st Mechanized Army to me. Commander, I know the regiment-level and above cadres of the army, so it is not surprising."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, time is running out now. You should immediately contact Colonel Timofeyitch and order him to lead the troops to rescue the 13th Cavalry Division. You must break through the German defenses in the shortest possible time and cover the 13th Cavalry Division to attack us. Close here."

"No problem." Smirnov said confidently: "I believe that as long as the 219th Tank Brigade goes out, it will be able to break through the German defenses and rush there to join forces with the 13th Cavalry Division."