The Japanese 1st Tank Wing arrived on the battlefield on the afternoon of the sixth day of the outbreak of the fighting, and the continuous air attacks of the Red Army made it very difficult for the 1st Tank Wing to assemble and march.

The 1st Tank Wing, which rushed to the battlefield, had a total of 75 tracked vehicles and 18 vehicles, with a strength of about 1,050 troops. The entire wing is subordinate to one squadron of light tanks and three squadrons of medium tanks, with the light tank squadron armed with Type 95 light tanks and the medium tank squadron armed with Type 89 medium tanks.

In terms of tank performance, the Japanese Army's Type 95 and Type 89 are almost the same as the BT-2 and T-26 equipped by the Red Army. But in terms of the number of tanks, it is simply incomparable, and the total number of tanks assigned to the infantry unit by the Japanese army does not exceed 150.

And the Red Army had 95 tanks in one tank regiment, and how many tank regiments did the Red Army participate in the war? Five! Coupled with the tanks assigned to the infantry, the total number is a complete explosion.

Of course, for the devils with a very low mechanization process, the addition of the 1st Tank Wing undoubtedly greatly enhanced the combat effectiveness of the 7th Division, and in the face of the siege of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division, this division actually fought vigorously.

For the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions, this is a shame. Especially for Konev, this result was unacceptable. Everyone is familiar with Konev in the Great Patriotic War, one of the troika of the Red Army, the Red Army general who played the best with infantry artillery. But Konev's early military career was not particularly smooth, at least not comparable to military geniuses like Tukhachevsky and Ubolevich who rose through helicopters.

Before and after the Civil War. Konev has been working in the political industry. Until after meeting Voroshilov. It was only with the latter's encouragement and advice that Konev "switched" to military command work. Under Voroshilov's care, Konev entered the senior commander's class at the Military Academy of the Red Army, and after completing his studies in 1927, he returned to his old unit.

However, Konev's luck was really bad, the leading big brothers of the Military Commission at that time were Trotsky and Tukhachevsky, especially the latter, who did not look down on Tukhachevsky, the "so-called talent" appreciated by his old enemy Voroshilov, especially since this talent had only been a political commissar before. Tukhachevsky naturally will not be interested in such a military commander who has become a monk halfway, let alone have a good impression.

In fact, Tukhachevsky not only had no good impression of Konev, but was also suspected of suppressing Konev, and after graduating from the senior command class, Konev was demoted and used, from the original division political commissar level to regiment commander. It took five years for Konev to regain his rank as a full-fledged division.

However, Konev was not discouraged at that time, he applied for admission to the Frunze Military Academy, the highest school of the Red Army, and this time it was Voroshilov's help that he was able to get his wish. At graduation. The school's assessment of Konev was: "You can become a qualified army commander." ”

Unfortunately, Konev did not become a military commander. Tukhachevsky still looked down on him, and after graduation, Konev was still only a division commander. Historically, Konev's real success had to wait until Tukhachevsky was purged, and then under the care of the old leader Voroshilov, he was smooth sailing.

I have to say that Tukhachevsky does have a military genius, but his handling of things is probably problematic, and if you think about it, even Yegorov, who was engaged in mechanization with him, stabbed him when the purge took place, which shows that this person is capable of pulling hatred.

Of course, we don't know whether Konev resents Tukhachevsky very much, because we can't see the historical record, but from Konev's later table, Tukhachevsky is blind, and this former political cadre is still very good at fighting.

For example, now, as the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, from the moment the battle began, Konev held back his strength to give the old leader Voroshilov a long face, hoping to repay the old leader's kindness with an excellent performance.

However, his troops were not so powerful, for the simple reason that the cavalry units were indeed outdated, and the Red Army's cavalry was also used in a problematic way, with light firepower and heavy mobility, and it was too impatient in offensive inputs, which was prone to heavy losses.

For example, this time, when Konev personally went to the front line to supervise the battle and ordered the troops to break through the defense line of the enemy's 7th Division on the same day, he encountered a counterattack from the enemy's 1st Tank Wing. The charging cavalry crashed headlong into the smoky steel monster, and then was beaten to pieces by the enemy, and almost in a flash, Konev's charging group was defeated.

If it weren't for the unsatisfactory performance of the Type 89 tank, and if it weren't for the devils who didn't understand how to use the tank, it would not only be the charging group that would have been defeated, but the entire 1st Cavalry Division.

After repelling the counter-charge of the devils, Konev fell into deep thought, he saw the weakness of the cavalry troops, and as a military strategist, he had to start thinking about a question - does the cavalry still have a future?

On this issue, Konev is not as confident as the old stubborn of the first cavalry, he is good at thinking and summarizing, and he is getting closer and closer to the truth in actual combat - the cavalry is indeed not very useful!

So who will replace the role of cavalry? Konev naturally thought of the mechanization that Tukhachevsky had been working on, and although he had a personal grudge against Tukhachevsky, this did not mean that Konev would be blinded by hatred. And among the representatives of mechanization is Ubolevich, you must know that this is also the old leader of Konev, who fought under Ubolevich during the Civil War.

After the end of the civil war, during several training periods, he had in-depth study and exchanges with this old leader, and he still admired Ubolevich very much, so while the veterans of the other First Cavalry Group stubbornly resisted mechanization, Konev was quietly studying the theory of mechanized warfare.

Although Konev did not necessarily agree with these theories, he did not oppose them for the sake of opposing them, and now his appearance on the battlefield allowed him to gradually understand the ideas of Tukhachevsky and Ubolevich - mechanization is the trend, and it is the general trend.

For example, now, in the face of enemy trenches and tank counter-charges. The cavalry units were at a loss. If he also has tanks in his troops. It should be easier to surprise the enemy's front, right?

After the idea of needing tanks popped up in Konev's head, he couldn't hold it anymore, he was eager to try tank troops, but there were no tank regiments under the establishment of cavalry divisions, how could this be done?

It should be said that Konev's brain is still very flexible, and his troops do not have tanks, so they can borrow from friendly forces! Like what. He knew that the tank regiment of the 1st Motor Division of the First Mechanized Infantry Army had nothing to do at this time, and if he could bring this unit over, wouldn't there be tanks?

Konev immediately made a phone call to Timoshenko, and he bluntly told the other party what he thought and requested, which made the latter a little embarrassed. Why is Timoshenko embarrassed? Because Blyucher had just warned him to be careful of the enemy's tank forces, and what did he answer at that time?

"Vasily. Comrade Konstantinovich, my lad was well prepared, the mere tank units were completely insufficient to stop the heroic cavalry of the Red Army! ”

And now this is about to become the rhythm of being slapped in the face before the words are spoken, and Timoshenko is somewhat unable to hang on his face, and even feels that Konev is a little out of the road. Isn't it just that the casualties are a bit big? Where did the victory come from without casualties? A few more assaults will cost you the enemy!

Of course, these words are not suitable for words. And Timoshenko knows very well that Voroshilov has a good impression of Konev, and he belongs to the key talents promoted, otherwise he would not have specially transferred Konev, who was originally the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division in Minsk, to the 1st Cavalry Division.

Konev belonged to someone above, and although Timoshenko had a little opinion, he could bear it, and as for the borrowed soldier, he thought about it and felt that he could try it, because he found a good excuse:

"Vasily. Comrade Konstantinovich, the enemy's position is very strong, and it may not be efficient to break through only by the strength of cavalry, and I request that some tank units be sent to cooperate with us in the battle......"

Look at the art of Timoshenko's speech, his words not only avoided the embarrassment of being slapped in the face, but also placed the position of the tank under the cavalry, which is really difficult for him.

However, Blyukhel is not so easy to fool, even if he will not openly slap his face in order to take care of Timoshenko's face and affection, but he still has to ask clearly about the secondment of tanks.

"What are you going to do?" Blyukhel asked in a deep voice.

Timoshenko immediately replied: "In the actual battle, we found that the impact efficiency of relying solely on cavalry is not high, and the casualties are relatively large, especially in the face of the counterattack of the enemy's armored forces, the firepower of the cavalry units in the assault is not strong enough...... We thought it was up to the tanks to tear through the enemy's lines, and then the more mobile cavalry quickly followed the high speed and advanced in depth......"

There seems to be some truth in this statement of Timoshenko, where the defense line is torn apart by tanks and then inserted at high speed with cavalry units that are more mobile than infantry. In Blyukher's view, this tactic is somewhat interesting, this tactic is actually the use of tanks as siege rams, and their so-called motorized infantry is extremely limited in the ability to accompany tank assaults in a field environment compared to the tank divisions of the First Mechanized Infantry Army. And the cavalry is different, it is more mobile, and it can surpass the tank for deep assault and sweep, and the tank plus cavalry seems to look quite beautiful?

After some thought, Blyukhel agreed to Timoshenko's request and ordered Rokossovsky to send a tank regiment to the 1st Cavalry Division to try this new tactic, and even said to Timoshenko with concern: "It is very good that you can actively think of ways in battle, especially new tactics of combining new tanks and cavalry." I'm looking forward to seeing this new tactic come into play! ”

Timoshenko breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, he also knew that Blyukhel was not easy to fool, and Blyukhel's qualifications and prestige were too high, so he was really annoyed, and he could only pinch his nose and admit it when he caught him and criticized him violently. And now, not only has it not been criticized, but it has also received a certain amount of praise, which is a good result!

So Timoshenko immediately replied: "The new tactics are not my achievements alone, mainly due to the summary and brainstorming of the battle from top to bottom of the 1st Cavalry Army, especially the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, Ivan. Comrade Stepanovich contributed greatly to this......"

Let's put it this way, the reason why Timoshenko agreed to Konev's request was that Konev had Voroshilov on his right. The main reason is that Konev came up with such a set of tactics for cavalry and tanks. This set of tactics can help Timoshengo save a lot of face. Naturally, Brother Mu Xinge doesn't have too many grievances.

Konev was also very happy, he got the tank troops he wanted, and he could also implement new tactics in an open and honest manner, to be honest, Onkenev was a little excited, and that night, he personally arranged tactics for the 31st Tank Regiment and the 1st Cavalry Regiment responsible for the assault mission the next day.

According to his arrangement, a large-scale breakthrough operation will be launched early tomorrow morning, and the 1st Artillery Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division, which has rushed to the battlefield, will first prepare for 20 minutes of firepower. After clearing the barbed wire and mines on the front line of the Japanese defense line, the 31st Tank Regiment was fully engaged in the battlefield, striving to break through the Japanese defense line in one fell swoop.

The whole set of tactics is actually very simple, and it can even be said to be too monotonous in World War II, but in this year, there are not many people who can play these two axes well, and even Konev himself is not particularly bottom-up. Because he has played with infantry artillery coordination, but riding tank artillery coordination is really a new topic. No one knows what trouble will come in!

Of course, Konev did not know. His new tactics inadvertently led to the first head-to-head confrontation between the armored forces of the Red Army and the Japanese armored forces, and this confrontation will go down in history!

When the sky was bright, Vasily. Sergeyevich. Arkhipov yawned, as a recruit who had never been on the battlefield, he almost didn't close his eyes this night, not nervous but excited, as a Communist Party member, to have the opportunity to go into battle to kill the enemy, to have the opportunity to get the honor of a soldier, this is really exciting!

As the commander of the car, the excited Arkhipov led the crew to maintain the machine overnight, almost completely maintained the engine and gearbox, and even wiped the 37mm guns on the BT-2 (because of the intervention of a certain immortal, the BT-2 and T-26 of the pure machine gun type were canceled) twice, using an idiom to describe the state of the Arkhipov crew, that is, to wait for the day.

At half past four, when the whistle blew to get up, Arkhipov almost immediately "fled" from the bed, and if it had not been for the company commander forcing him to lie in bed, he would have wanted to spend the night on the tank. After swallowing his breakfast, Arkhipov returned to his beloved tank once again, and when he touched the big iron lump, an unprecedented pride came over Arkhipov's heart.

Arkhipov's crew set off, and just as the artillerymen were pouring bullets on the Japanese position, his car quickly ran over the vast steppe, and rushed to the front of the company with an indomitable momentum.

On the one hand, Arkhipov signaled the driver to move quickly, and on the other hand, he used a telescope to observe the situation of the devil's position on the opposite side, the shelling effect was good, the barbed wire was knocked down in rows, and the Japanese trenches and fortifications were also crumbling, through the piercing explosion, Arkhipov seemed to hear the devil screaming.

Ten minutes later, the shelling came to an end, and the devil's position was already full of smoke, and it was faintly possible to see some devil soldiers crawling out from under the dirt or shouting loudly. Arkhipov didn't particularly care about this, he didn't have any psychological burden to kill devils, and he was even a little impatient.

When the tank assault group of the Red Army approached about 400 meters in front of the position of the Japanese Seventh Division, the devil finally moved, and a Type 92 heavy machine gun began to splash bullets in the well-concealed civil engineering fortifications, and Arkhipov could hear the clanging sound of bullets hitting the tank armor from time to time, but he did not mean to cover the hatch, as a commander, he must have a comprehensive understanding of the battlefield environment, and after closing the hatch, the vision was extremely limited. Arkhipov didn't want to get headlong into an anti-tank trench or be detoured from the side by the devil's infantry.

A qualified commander should bravely lean out of his upper body, observe the situation on the battlefield at all times, and command his crew to cooperate with his comrades to eliminate the enemy in front of him. Arkhipov never considered himself cowardly, so in the face of Japanese firepower, he opened the cabin without fear to direct the battle.

"Attention, there is a Japanese machine-gun fire point in the direction of two o'clock, Nikolai knocked it out!"

"Attention, there is an enemy movement in the direction of ten o'clock, it's an explosives bag, it's an explosives bag, shoot! Fast! Shoot! ”

"Slow down, slow down, we're too protruding, pay attention to cover the platoon commander!"

Arkhipov constantly issued one command after another, and from time to time turned around to observe the platoon commander's signal, to say from the heart, he felt that the platoon commander's sincerity was not easy, because in addition to the platoon commander's car had a radio, the other tanks in the platoon could only observe the platoon commander's flag signal, and this was too easy to make mistakes, and too exposed, if the Japanese killed the platoon commander who leaned out half of his body waving the flag, then the entire platoon of tanks would be at a loss.

In fact, Arkhipov had already noticed that the platoon commander of the 2nd platoon had already been shot and fell, and the 2nd platoon was already in chaos. Arkhipov could only pray that his platoon commander would have better luck, and other than that, he would try his best to suppress the Japanese firepower and not let these damn mongrels have a chance to threaten the platoon commander's safety.

In the rear of the battlefield, Konev, Timoshenko, and Blyukher, who were holding binoculars, also saw this scene, and several tank platoons were thrown into confusion because their commanders were knocked out, which fully demonstrated that the tank units of the Red Army should immediately begin to solve the problems of communications and command.

In his post-war report, Blyukhel wrote: "It is absolutely necessary that every tank should be equipped with a radio, and it is sad that we have a large number of good commanders and commanders who died in this battle!" (Want to know more about "The Soldiers in 1917"?) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner, select Add Friends to add an official account, search for "Qidianzhongwenwang", follow the official account, and never miss every update! (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you koyy, Juventus, hzwangdd, spike potato, guerrillas, dog playing with frogs, Admiral Hood, plane wanted and sweet potato comrades in the melon field!