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Volume 3 Far East Story Chapter 441 Sparks Flying Cavalry Battle

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    11:50 on July 14, 1918, on the banks of the Domashka River, 20 kilometers south of Buzuluk town

    The commander of the 1st Brigade and 2nd Regiment of the 9th Special Cavalry Division (4th Cavalry Division) of the Southern Front of the Soviet Red Army, 24-year-old Pavel Semenovich Rybalko led the remaining 250 cavalrymen of the rearguard battalion.  He turned back to meet the 1st Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Regiment led by Dominik Mikhailovich Nedev, commander of the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Ural Cavalry Division of the Allied Forces chasing from behind.

    Brigadier Nedev is only 24 years old this year. At the age of 18, he joined the Don Cossack Cavalry Regiment with his cousin Nezhkov. He fought with the German and Austrian troops on the Eastern Front for more than three years and won the Order of St. George once a year on average.  , if it were not for the February Revolution and the October Revolution last year, this guy would have won the fourth St. George Medal to complete the Grand Slam.

    Brigadier Nedev personally led the main battalion of the first regiment in pursuit. He just wanted to hold down the pace and control the rhythm, so as not to alert the enemy. This guy planned to wait for the opponent to start crossing the river and then attack him halfway across the river.  Jonny, a cavalry brigade with only more than 3,000 men left, was beaten to the ground by him.

    Although Nedev only had the first regiment of the fifth brigade of the third cavalry division in his hands, and the artillery company and the brigade guard company remained in Buzuluk town to prepare for a battle across the river against the Soviet Red Army's infantry division, his cavalry  There are at least more than 2,200 troops left in the first regiment, and there is no suspense in defeating Budyonny's 3,000-man disabled cavalry brigade.

    At least that¡¯s what Nedev himself thinks. Although the equipment of the Allied Russian Cavalry Division is not as good as that of the Allied Chinese Cavalry Mixed Brigade, it is not a bit better than the White Guard cavalry and the Soviet Red Army cavalry.

    After his opponent discovered his whereabouts, Nedev knew that this battle must be fought. While asking the messenger to rush back to mobilize the brigade, he slowly directed a battalion in his hand to retreat a few hundred meters to seize the favorable terrain behind him, intending to defend first.  Then when the main force of the regiment comes up, the main force of his first regiment is still slowly strolling three kilometers behind the vanguard battalion to slow down its power. The brigade commander Nedev only has a 500-man cavalry vanguard battalion in his hands.

    The leader of Budyonny's regiment in the Soviet Red Army opposite, named Leiba Zi, was known as the brave cavalry general in the Soviet Army in Wang Geng's previous life. He rose from the commander of the tank group army to the marshal of the armored forces. Although this guy was born as a political commissar, he was also wise and brave.  The master, who was both capable, led a mere 250 cavalrymen back to fight back. The 200 cavalrymen in front ran with a relaxed attitude, while the 50 cavalrymen behind them dragged branches behind the horses' buttocks and raised dust to confuse the audience.  Large army.

    When Nedev saw the Russian Red Army cavalry who had turned back to fight, they lined up in company lines and shouted "Ula~~~" and rushed over waving their sabers. The dust was rising behind them. Look at the movement. There were at least one regiment or more of them. This guy  Not daring to be negligent and not to be too aggressive, he waited until the opponent's charging formation was within 1,000 meters before giving the order to open fire.

    The crash training course for battlefield commanders held by the Allied Forces Command in Chelyabinsk, east of the Ural Mountains, repeatedly emphasized the importance of leveraging strengths and avoiding weaknesses, using firepower, and bringing the enemy closer to attack only when one has a solid defensive position. Now,  The two armies were almost in a field battle. Their cavalry just retreated to a row of hills and dismounted, lying on the ground and hastily building a position. There were no bunkers or trenches, so they couldn't put them in before fighting.

    Of course, it is true that Rybalko used the 50 cavalrymen behind him who tied branches to mop the ground and raised dust. The empty city plan he sang did confuse Nedev, the commander of the opposing coalition forces. But Rybalko did not expect that  As a result, the enemy's machine guns and mortars opened fire even though they were 8 or 900 meters away. This was unexpected.

    The 3rd Ural Cavalry Division is a Russian cavalry division in the coalition. Each company is equipped with an m1918a3 air-cooled Browning heavy machine gun, each platoon is equipped with an m1917bra Browning squad machine gun, and each squad has three m1 Garans.  German semi-automatic mounted rifle.

    In addition, each platoon is equipped with a 2-gun 60mm platoon-affiliated mortar squad, and each battalion is equipped with an 8-gun 81mm caliber battalion-affiliated mortar platoon.

    After Negev's cavalry battalion dismounted, crane guns and mortars were quickly set up on the hillside. Of course, Negev did not rush to open fire on all fronts. He only ordered the two heavy machine guns of the second and third companies on the left and right wings to open fire. In addition, the fourth company in the middle  Six platoon mortars opened fire. The first company was arranged by Nedev to serve as a reserve on the reverse slope of the hillside. The battalion's 81mm caliber mortars deployed on the reverse slope of the hillside, but did not fire.

    Even if there are only 2 Browning heavy machine guns and 6 platoon mortars firing on the temporary position of the coalition forces, it is not the 250-man Soviet Red Army cavalry in Rybalcon opposite who are only equipped with Mosin-Nagant mounted rifles.  The Red Army cavalry that could compete with them and put on a charging posture were mowed down by Browning heavy machine guns 800 meters away. The continuous rain of mortar shells that hit Rybalko's charging queue was even more difficult.  It was a mess.

    Fortunately, Rybalko has rich combat experience. After the opponent's heavy machine gun fired, he ordered to turn to the west. If the running cavalry brakes, the consequences will be very terrible, so they usually avoid it temporarily.If the enemy is too sharp, they can only turn to the flanks. However, when a beautiful arc draws westward and waits for Rybalko's cavalry to go back and run 1 kilometer away, there are only more than 150 cavalrymen left in the 250-man cavalry, and a whole company is left.  The cavalry was thrown on the battlefield.

    This also depends on the fact that Rybalko's troops are well-trained. It is really not that easy for the general cavalry to turn such a beautiful arc without affecting the formation of the troops rushing behind. Rybalko himself is still lucky and unscathed.  For heavy machine guns, shooting at a distance of 800 to 1,000 meters is still only a coverage type of area shooting, and precise point shooting is not possible.

    When Rybalko charged, the formation was actually very thin, with only two rows at the front and back. The cavalry and cavalry were separated by more than 3 meters on the left and right. The entire row was almost 400 meters wide. Waiting for this guy to command the troops, they could avoid the machine guns and mortars of the coalition forces.  When the artillery ran 1,200 meters away to regroup.

    After discovering that he had been deceived by the opponent's empty city strategy of tying branches behind the horse's buttocks, the coalition commander Nedev couldn't help but yelled in anger, "Nima, I thought you had a whole cavalry brigade coming back. If I had known you only had more than 200 cavalry, I would have used them."  Is this like facing a formidable enemy?

    Of course, Nedev was angry. Seeing that the opponent was basically out of the optimal shooting range of the machine gun and platoon mortar, the guy still ordered to stop shooting. But soon, through the telescope, he could see that the opponent had more than one remaining person.  Behind the company's cavalry, there was a dusty atmosphere and the sound of horse hooves. The main force of Budyonny's cavalry brigade finally came back.

    This forced Nedev to give up the idea of ??sending two cavalry companies to attack and eat the more than 150 cavalrymen left in front of the opponent. Then he heard the deafening sound of horse hooves behind his position. The commander of the fifth brigade turned around and looked,  I couldn't help but feel certain in my heart that the main force of my first regiment a kilometer away had already rushed over. Damn, who is afraid of who now!

    The reason why the cavalry led by Rybalko suffered such a big loss when more than 100 cavalry were knocked down by the opponent in one encounter was not because they underestimated the enemy, but because they were confused by the restrained and reserved performance of the Buzuluk garrison. At that time, the two sides were in Buzuluk.  During the artillery suppression battle, Budyonny sent a cavalry battalion to press forward, but the enemy's machine guns did not fire at all at a position of 1,000 meters. Therefore, Rybalko boldly led the rearguard battalion to charge an extra 200 meters, hoping to explore the coalition cavalry.  of reality.

    Unexpectedly, the opponent was killing a chicken with a knife. In a blink of an eye, the bullets from the Browning heavy machine gun swept over him like water, and the six 60mm mortars poured out at least six rounds of shells in 2 minutes.  Underestimating the power of a 1.5kg mortar grenade explosion, the explosion power of each shell after landing is equivalent to at least 3-4 Mills grenades, with a killing radius of more than 10 meters.

    When Rybalko and his 150 cavalry were in shock, hesitating about how to advance or retreat, Budyonny led the main force of the cavalry brigade back. The galloping momentum of nearly 3,000 Soviet Red Army cavalry suddenly stabilized the situation on the battlefield.

    After Budyonny led the army to the battlefield, he was in charge. Timoshenko led two battalions of a regiment to hold down the left wing, and Tyulenev led the other two battalions to hold down the right wing. Budyonny personally  The three battalions leading the 2nd Regiment met the rest of Rybalko's troops in the center.
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