Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Corps unexpectedly captured Romne and was convinced that the Chinese were approaching, sparking controversy over subsequent tactics.

Now it is certainly not possible to break through to Kharkov as originally planned. Without resolving the formidable threat that appears on the flanks, the main forces attacking Kharkov will be left passive. And Commander Frunze also gave an unforeseen order: resolutely defeat the Chinese troops coming from the Kiev direction and ensure the safety of the main forces in the Kharkov direction. Budyonny and his commander of the main division, Timoshenko, believed that all the information showed that the firepower of the Chinese army was stronger than that of the Red Army, and that it was very disadvantageous for the cavalry to hold the city, and they were ready to abandon Romne, not to confront the Chinese army head-on, but to take advantage of the high mobility of the cavalry, and break through the rear lines of communication of the Chinese army in search of fighters.

But Voroshilov, the military-political commissar, did not agree. He believed that Romny was extremely important and could not give up, and that he had to wait for the two infantry corps that were forcibly marching behind him to arrive before he could maneuver, "We also need supplies, the enemy occupies this place, which will cut off the communication of our army, and we have more than 20,000 people deep into the enemy's rear, if we do not get replenishment, how can the battle be fought?" What other fighters are you talking about? ”

The lawsuit went to Joseph, the representative of the Central Committee, who sided with Voroshilov, whom he had always trusted, "The 1st Army should hold out to Romny and wait for the infantry to arrive!" Gather the invaders under the inner city of Rom! ”

When Timoshenko's young and capable regimental commander Zhukov heard the news, he was shocked and said to the division commander, "How can you let the cavalry do the work of the infantry? The more heavily equipped the enemy, the greater the dependence on logistics, as long as our troops break through to the rear of the enemy, do not believe them without a headache. As long as they divide their forces, we have a chance! That's a problem. ”

"Carry out the order, don't make Ivan's mistake." Timoshenko sighed.

Ivan, the regimental commander under Timoshenko, was severely pursued by the central representatives for failing to carry out military orders in the Battle of Kursk and was shot. It was a very clever regiment commander, and he did not carry out the military order because he was afraid of war, but because he adopted a more flexible attitude, it was a pity that the officer who had a firm faith and a promising future......

The 3rd Chinese Division approached Romny head-on, and the political officer Voroshilov again interfered with Budyonny's command, believing that it was necessary to break through the enemy's advance before the main forces had arrived. Never wait for the enemy to attack the city. Budyonny had the same intention. Therefore, despite the opposition of his officers, he left two divisions to continue to build fortifications, and personally led two divisions to attack at night, and launched a night attack on the 3rd Division of the Chinese Army in two ways.

Fierce fighting began in the small town of Shetrakov, 12 kilometers south of Romne. It was already dark. The 1st Cavalry Division of the Red Army, which pounced on it from the left flank, crossed the river with water. Under the cover of the fire of the division's cavalry artillery battalion, a fierce assault was launched on the town of Shetrakov, and the narrow riverbed was illuminated as bright as day by the constantly rising flares of the Chinese army, and the rain of bullets from the water cut down the brave and fearless cavalry one by one like wheat harvesting. Increasingly dense shells rained down on the charging cavalry, and only a few lucky ones rushed to the embankment......

Zhukov, who had participated in the war against Germany, risked being sent to a court-martial, giving a signal to retreat, and the firepower of the Chinese army was too strong, definitely surpassing the German army! Lying under a willow tree on the east bank of the nameless river, Commander Zhukov observed the battle in despair, judging by the intensity of the artillery fire and the machine-gun flames, the enemy had placed at least 30 machine guns and no less than 20 artillery pieces in front of his attack! Letting the fighters storm such a dense net of fire is definitely a crime against the revolution! Now we can only hope for the team attacking from the flank, but I hope that my sacrifice can attract the opponent's firepower and create a chance for the friendly team!

But the truth ruthlessly shattered his wishes, and the troops attacking from the north also collapsed, suffering more casualties than his regiment. Another regiment, which had detoured from the western flank, was also intercepted by heavy Chinese fire......

The order of the division commander of Timoshenko came: stop the attack and choose the terrain on the spot to build a position......

The night raid on Shetrakov ended in the defeat of the Red Army. If General Budyonny had understood the firepower of the 1st Army, he would not have agreed to Voroshilov's Jianyì launching a strong attack.

The 1st Army is a rare unit with super firepower in the Chinese army, equipped with light machine guns to the squad, each infantry company has 9 light machine guns, each battalion has a machine gun company with 8 heavy machine guns and 4 60mm mortars, and each regiment also has a machine gun battalion equipped with 4 75mm assault guns, 8 81mm heavy mortars and 12 heavy machine guns! And each division also has an artillery regiment armed with 16 105mm howitzers or 24 75mm howitzers! Moreover, in terms of rifle firepower, the eight-round magazine semi-automatic rifle equipped by the Chinese army is the first rifle to achieve continuous firing and reduce the continuous pulling of the bolt by the soldier, although it has a high failure rate criticized by the troops! Its firepower density is more than three times that of the Russian-made Mosinagan rifle!

After dawn, the artillery of the Chinese army became even more arrogant, and the east bank of the creek guarded by Zhukov's team was blown into a sea of fire by grenades and mortar shells fired from the middle and south of the town of Shetrakov. Now it's not about attacking, it's about how to withdraw the troops that have been placed in the open field! Zhukov regretted that he did not retreat by night, and he sent several groups of messengers in a row to retreat to Timoshenge, "The enemy's firepower was too strong, and the troops suffered heavy casualties, so they could not continue to hold out." ”

The order to retreat was finally given at eleven o'clock in the morning, and the Chinese army did not launch a counterattack, but killed and wounded the opponent, especially the war horse, with superior firepower. In the battle of Shetrakov, the 3rd Division under the command of Brigadier General Kang Sisheng inflicted heavy losses on the 1st Cavalry Corps of the Red Army, killing and wounding more than 3,000 enemies, which greatly consumed the strength of this famous army.

Brigadier General Kang Sisheng's report to Major General Du Sanli said, "The enemy's attempt to take advantage of my unstable foothold to drive me out of Shetrakov has failed, and our division has suffered minor casualties, and requests for an attack on Romne." ”

Kang Sisheng, who had been under the leadership of Zhou Yi for a long time, was not implicated in the Xinning incident, and he served as the commander of the 2nd Division for a long time after the founding of the People's Republic of China. After the Shandong Campaign, he was transferred to the 1st Division as deputy brigade commander and chief of staff, and in 1917, the 1st Army was incorporated into the Expeditionary Force and served as the commander of the 3rd Division. The Battle of Shetrakov was written into military history and occupied a large part of the page. However, the risk of this battle was not worth mentioning, the 3rd Division suffered less than 200 casualties, and the victory was solid, but the gold content was not so high, and the Wehrmacht A and other units occupying favorable terrain relied on superior firepower to repel two cavalry divisions (the firepower of the force was much smaller than that of the infantry division). It's really not something to brag about. Even the units of the 3rd Division, which participated in the battle, also considered it purely "bullying". Compared to the bloody battles that the 3rd Division experienced later, it is simply pediatric.

Commander Du Sanli did not agree to Kang Sisheng's request to launch an attack. The 1st Cavalry Corps of the Red Army was so famous that he decided to attack after the arrival of two more divisions. In fact, if the 3rd Division had taken advantage of the situation to attack, it was likely to have taken Romne before the main force arrived. For at this time Budyonny was to take the two heavily wounded divisions and withdraw into the city. It is also necessary to reorganize the troops and boost morale. The Red Army was at its weakest, and Du Sanli's seemingly serious decision gave Budyonny 20 hours while the Red Army's 9th Infantry Corps had already entered Romne. Budyonny's number of guards has been doubled!

The Red Army's night attack on Setrakov was a wrong decision, and Du Sanli's weight was also a mistake. Afterwards, Xiong Xun severely criticized Du Sanli for not knowing how to be flexible, and also criticized Kang Sisheng for lacking the courage to make a decision on the spot, "For the general, you must know how to judge the situation!" Since you see that it is the best time to attack, you should have the courage to disobey! The victor is not to blame, that is not disobedience, but a wise decision to achieve victory. Xiong Xun taught Kang Sisheng like this.

Military command is like that, full of mistakes and regrets, and only a handful of talented commanders can improvise and seize the slightest smile from the goddess of victory to make a name for themselves.

A day later, the main force of the 1st Army galloped under the city of Romne, and General Xiong Xun caught up with the 1st Army in a command car, and after learning about the battle situation of Shetrakov and interrogating the prisoners, General Xiong Xun decided to attack Romne from the west and south with the 1st and 3rd Divisions, and detour to the east with the 2nd Division, so as to cut off the path of the Red Army's advance in the direction of Kharkov. Xiong Xun said to the commanders of the 1st Army, "Don't wait for the 5th Army, concentrate all your firepower and smash Romny away!" Doesn't the 1st Army call itself the first army in the world? This time it's up to you to brag or not. ”

General Xiong Xun, who was born in the Northern Army, had contempt for the 1st Army in his tone, and Du Sanli certainly heard it. If he could still argue with Xiong Xun during the period of Mengshan's army rectification or the period of Zhengjiazhuang base (Du Sanli's position was not much lower than Xiong Xun at that time), now he is not qualified. There is a two-level difference in military ranks, and this level is very difficult to cross, and the military exploits and positions are not the same. If the expeditionary force has achieved a group of generals, Xiong Xun is undoubtedly the most dazzling one......

"Please rest assured, Commander Xiong, not to mention a few cavalrymen who should have been eliminated a long time ago, it is an iron walnut, and the 1st Army is a steel hammer! Absolutely smash it open! ”

"I remind you," Xiong Xun looked at Du Sanli, who was a little excited, "The enemy's infantry has come up, of course it's good to have courage, but don't smash the sign of our Mengshan Army's Founding Troops!" I'll show you the way, don't bloom on all sides, we may not have an advantage in numbers, concentrate our forces and firepower, and choose two or three points for me to break through! If they are willing to break through, they will break through. ”

The Battle of Romny began on June 21, and in accordance with the battle plan approved by Commander Xiong Xun (although Xiong Xun stimulated Du Sanli, he still carefully reviewed the siege plan drawn up by the Operations Department of the 1st Army), the artillery and infantry were concentrated at narrow points, and after fierce fighting, the two lines of defense hastily arranged by the Red Army were broken through the next day and broke through into the city. Unlike Shetrakov's easy victory, the 9th Army of the Red Army, which took over the cavalry corps, showed the tenacity of the Chinese commanders, and the scheduled meeting time of the two divisions that had been put into the attack was repeatedly postponed, and every street and every house had to go through a desperate battle! For the first time, the 1st Army used flamethrowers, which proved to be particularly useful in street fighting, especially against Romne, whose buildings were mainly made of wood, and a single flame could drive out the recalcitrant Reds hiding in their houses or burn them to the ground. The massive use of flamethrowers caused the complete destruction of Romny, and the small town was not blown up, but burned.

Flamethrowers have been widely used in the theater of Western Europe, and their raw materials and technology are not too difficult. The Ordnance Industry Administration took out samples at the beginning of 1916, but because of the safety and range has not been satisfied, it was not until the summer of 1917 that the best finalization, the equipment of the troops has been until 1918, the 1st Army is one of the first three armies equipped with flamethrowers, since then there are more flamethrowers in the establishment, Romney is the first time that the flamethrowers of the Chinese army have been put into actual combat, although the 1st and 3rd divisions put into the attack have paid considerable casualties, and the flamethrowers have indeed achieved satisfactory results, Some front-line commanders have a lot of complaints about this weapon. Think it's too cruel. It should not be equipped and used.

On 24 June, General Budyonny, who commanded the Battle of Romne, ordered the troops to withdraw from Romne and move north, after the 1st Cavalry Corps, which had been heavily battered in the Battle of Schetrakov, had already been transferred from Romne. Their movement to the east was intercepted by the 2nd Division of the Chinese Army. The reckless attempt to break the Chinese defense line with a group of cavalry charges was again defeated. If Brigadier General Qiu Facai had known that the famous Russian general, who had become a formidable enemy of the Wehrmacht many years later, had almost died under his hands, Qiu Facai might have killed him on the battlefield regardless of a single shot.

Budyonny's decision to retreat was approved by Frunze. Although Budyonny waited for another infantry corps (11th Army) assigned to him, another Chinese army arrived on the battlefield, and after three days of bloody fighting, the 9th Infantry Corps suffered more than 4,000 casualties. Budyonny was even more frightened by the 5th Army's roundabout posture to the north, and his report to Frunze said that the enemy's firepower was extremely strong, and our troops were extremely passive in the decisive battle of the position, and it was urgent to strengthen the firepower. Unable to hold on to Romne, he decided to abandon the city, and after stretching the enemy's battle line, he was determined to look for an opportunity to surprise the enemy, and he was determined to drag the enemy to the left of Romny and prevent him from throwing it into Kharkiv......

But his mobile ace, the 1st Army, had already broken his muscles and bones, and the cost of looking for an opportunity to maneuver and assault had shrunk. Moreover, Xiong Xun didn't give him a chance. According to Xiong Xun's order, the 2nd Chinese Army under the city of Romny did not pursue the retreating Red Army to the north, but moved in the direction of Kharkov under the cover of the 1st Army, which had suffered considerable casualties, and with the 5th Army as the lead.

The Battle of Romne once again demonstrated the spirituality of the command of the Bear Commander. Instead of pursuing the Red Army retreating north (Du Sanli and Guo Haichang both strongly demanded to pursue it with victory), he put on a posture of advancing eastward and fiercely defeated Budyonny's army. In this way, the initiative once again fell into the hands of the Chinese army, and Frunze, who was fighting a bloody battle with the Russian-Chinese coalition forces in Kharkiv, strictly ordered Budyonny to contain the Chinese army on the Western Front (Romny was northwest of Kharkiv) and not allow him to join the Kharkov front. Budyonny had to overtake the Chinese with a reinvigorated cavalry force (one cavalry division under the 11th Army was transferred to the 1st Cavalry Corps), and ordered his five infantry divisions (three of which had suffered heavy casualties) to turn around and attack the 1st Army retreating eastward.

This is exactly what Xiong Xun wants to see. On June 27, Xiong Xun took advantage of the superior road mobility and firepower of the 1st Army to kill Budyonny unexpectedly, recaptured Romne and inflicted heavy losses on the 11th Army of the Red Army, completely defeating Budyonny's infantry corps. The 1st Cavalry Army, which was entangled with the 5th Army, immediately did nothing, and the more than 20,000 cavalry could not stop the Chinese army, which had an absolute superiority in strength and firepower.

With the defeat of Budyonny's troops on the battlefield of Romny, the battle of Kharkov was a foregone conclusion, and Trotsky, who rushed from Kazan to the Kharkov front line at the urging of Ulyanov's telegram, took over the command of the battle from Joseph, and Trotsky, whose military attainments were much higher than Joseph's, studied the situation, and it was impossible to capture Kharkov under the condition that two infantry corps of the Chinese army joined the Kharkov front and two more corps would come to reinforce him. On the evening of 30 June, the commander-in-chief of the Red Army, Trotsky, gave the order for a general retreat of the whole army. This order was strongly opposed by Joseph, who was also a member of the Political Bureau, believing that the Red Army still had absolute superiority in forces on the Kharkov battlefield and opposed the retreat. But Trotsky, who held military power and was given supreme military command by Ulyanov, was unmoved, and the two quarreled and became sworn enemies in politics.

The Battle of Kharkiv (known in the history of the Wehrmacht as the Battle of Kharkov-Romne) came to an end, the battle did not last long, but the casualties on both sides were not small, the total casualties of the Russian-Chinese coalition army were 115,000 (including 23,000 casualties of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, of which the 11th Army, which took over the defense of the main position northeast of Kharkiv, suffered more than 7,800 casualties). The casualties of the Red Army are unknown, and there is a serious difference between Shi Dashou and Denikin's estimates, Shi Dashou is expected to be about 150,000 (Kharkiv direction), and Denikin believes that at least 200,000 Red Army troops were killed. In the decades after the war, Fang declassified 172,000 people, which is much smaller than the heavy casualties in Kursk.

But the significance of the Battle of Kharkov is extraordinary. This battle basically stabilized the southern territory of Great Russia, which had just been established, and gave Denikin and others time to reinvigorate their armaments and stabilize their rule, and the balance of power between the two sides took a big step towards equilibrium!

This is a situation that Beijing aspires to emerge. In his report to Long Qian, Chief Situ Jun, who had closely followed the situation in the Russian war, pointed out that the victory in Kharkov was decided by Romne. The victory in the Battle of Romne showed that our army had an advantage over the Red Army in tactical equipment, and all we had to do was to maintain this superiority.

The Central Committee of the Buenos Aires Party painfully admits that their main opponents are not Kolchak and Denikin, but the Chinese army, which is progressing rapidly! More than ten years ago. The victory of the Japanese in Manchuria cast a huge shadow over the Russians. Now the explanation of the military strength of New China is logical, and there are sufficient reasons why the Chinese Defense Forces can defeat the Red Army neatly, and they can defeat the Japanese Army, and the Russian Army, which was once a defeated general under Japan, is naturally not an opponent. Western military circles, which are concerned about the battle of Kharkov, believe. Far superior to the Red Army in terms of command, training and equipment! As long as the Chinese are willing (presumably depending on the attitude of the United States, Britain and France). They can fight all the way to Petersburg!

But that may not be the case. The army was built from Mengshan Mountain. Post-war summing up is a must-do homework, and commanders at all levels must make a detailed summary to their superiors, regardless of whether they win or lose a battle. There have been those who have lost a battle and have been praised for summing up well, and those who have won a battle have been punished for having a perfunctory summarization. The Expeditionary Force's campaign in Kharkov was actually two battles: the Kharkov defense and the Romny offensive and defense. The commander of the former was Admiral Shi Dashou. The latter is General Xiong Xun, and the two battlefields are actually independent, with only strategic cooperation and no tactical coordination. General Shi Dashou frankly reviewed and believed that the Kharkov defensive battle was not fought well, especially the 11th Army, which hastily took over the position, which exposed that the army had many problems in the defensive war. Qu Zhiyong, commander of the 11th Army, was also very painful, and after the war, he reported to the group army and the headquarters of the expeditionary force a report on applying for punishment. After the war, the commander of the 32nd division of the army was demoted, indicating the attitude of the headquarters of the expeditionary force.

Shi Dashou believed that the combat strength of the Red Army was stronger than that of the Russian army, especially after the establishment of the political committee system, the control of the troops was strengthened, and a battalion could be engaged in three consecutive attacks, and some companies still charged desperately after losing more than half of them. According to the confessions of the captives, the military discipline of the Red Army was extremely harsh, and the political officers had a great deal of power and could even veto the decisions of the military commanders. The political officers were all members of the Cloth Party, brave to dedicate themselves, extremely brave on the battlefield, and had a kind of religious fanaticism, which is very worthy of our attention.

The Battle of Romny was a complete victory. This battle once again proved that the three five-pointed gold stars on the bear medal are full of gold. However, Xiong Xun himself was dissatisfied with the Battle of Romny, and he predicted the prospects of the Russian Civil War in his comprehensive report to the Headquarters of the Expeditionary Force and the General Staff, and Xiong Xun did not think that the Battle of Kharkov had changed the balance of forces between the two sides, and if the balance of forces between the South (referring to Great Russia) and the North (referring to the Bombaine regime) was to be achieved, the Expeditionary Force still needed to win a heavy victory, and it was necessary to destroy the elite army of 3.5 million Cloth Party, so the Expeditionary Force not only could not be weakened, but also needed to be further strengthened. Next, the casualties of the 1st Army in the Battle of Romny were analyzed, and it was lamented that most of the casualties came from recruits, and that a veteran who had fought three battles and survived the role was more than five recruits! Therefore, Jianyì mobilized more troops to come to Russia to "practice", actual combat is always stronger than training, and the Battle of Romne once again proved the decline of cavalry, even if we have Outer Mongolia and Tangnu Ulianghai, there is no need to develop cavalry. As far as army battlefield communications and reconnaissance are concerned, the war horse will also be replaced by small reconnaissance cars, which have proven to be very effective means of transport, and have repeatedly proven their strategic value in Romania and Romne, but the mechanical wear and tear on the battlefield is too great, after the Romani Civil War, the army lost 50% of its cars, partly from machine guns and artillery fire, it would be better if the cars were loaded with a layer of steel plates...... Here, for the first time, Xiong Xun proposed the concept of an armored car, although the idea was still vague. Xiong Xun also put forward specific suggestions for the reliability and movement of military vehicles, he has seen the wreckage of German tanks destroyed in northern Ukraine, and is very interested in steel tracks, and built a batch of domestic trial production of cars equipped with tracks, so that he can be sure of the muddy roads through Guò.

Xiong Xun also made a long analysis of tactical issues, believing that sports warfare is the basic principle that we must adhere to, and street warfare is the most undesirable combat method for the attacking side! Street fighting must be avoided as much as possible. As far as the Battle of Romny is concerned, it would have been much better if the 1st Army had cut off the external ties of Romny and forced the Red Army to take the initiative to seek battle or break out. This is the essence of a good commander, who can always find his own shortcomings in arranging troops rather than being satisfied with the results of victory, and those generals who only pay attention to the results will inevitably lag behind the development of the shape and even be eliminated. (To be continued......)