The 31st Tank Regiment of the Red Army charged under the cover of artillery barrage, met only weak resistance along the way, broke into the dense area of anti-tank trenches, and during the battle, the tank of the commander of the 310th battalion, Captain Konstantin, was hit by infantry artillery, and he himself suffered serious wounds in the head, and the command was taken over by the deputy battalion commander, Captain Simonov. After an hour of fierce fighting, most of the battalion's tanks penetrated the anti-tank trenches hastily dug by the Japanese and began to assault the Japanese frontal positions.

The commander of the 1st Company of the 310th Battalion wrote in the battle log: "The numerous BT-2 and T-26 tanks of our regiment, accompanied by the cavalry in the charge, poured into the enemy positions, and the Japanese infantry guns and light mortars (grenadiers) immediately opened heavy fire. But under the concentrated fire and all-out onslaught of our troops, the enemy was either annihilated or forced to retreat......"

Later combat hero Dmitry. Lavrinenko also wrote in his diary: "After sunrise, all our tanks on the anticline of a hill were ready for the attack, and the order was clear: the enemy's positions must be broken through!" The platoon commander, Second Lieutenant Vasily, chose an ingenious assault route - which later turned out to be the weak point of the enemy's defenses. The first five BT-2s drove to the top of the mound without any interference, and the Japanese discovered our tracks, rifles and machine guns fired at us together, and then the infantry guns also joined in, and I saw with my own eyes a grenade hit the platoon commander Vasily's car, and with a loud bang, the tank was fine, but the platoon commander who came out of the warehouse to direct the battle fell in a pool of blood...... My eyes immediately turned red, what a good guy the platoon commander is, damn devil! Didn't even think about it. I turned the muzzle of the gun and blasted it over! ”

This shot was quite accurate. It's quite splendid, too. Lavrinenko accurately hit the ammunition stored on the Japanese position, and after the violent explosion, all the gunners on the two adjacent gun emplacements died.

And this was not the end, Lavrinenko became more and more courageous, using a short-stop method of fire, quickly and accurately destroying three Japanese infantry guns in the next five minutes.

The Japanese were completely blinded, and looking at the rumbling tank group, they scattered and fled. Either he was killed, or he was crushed into a pulp by Lavrinenko's tracks. When the tank group occupied the position, it began to continue to bombard the Japanese with weapons of various calibers to expand the breakthrough, and in Lavrinenko's words: "the ballistics are clearly visible, like an unforgettable picture......

Konev was so impressed by this tank assault that it resembled a cavalry charge, and he was so excited that he applauded Lavrinenko's accurate shooting like a child, and personally pinned a Red Banner medal to Lavrinenko's chest after the battle.

Of course, this assault left the Japanese with a tragic consequence - ruined miè! It was discovered when Lavrinenko's company overwhelmed the Japanese positions and stopped to clean up the battlefield. In this battle, at least one company of infantry artillery was annihilated by the enemy, and a company of defenders was also annihilated. The most important thing is to cut a big hole in the enemy's line of defense!

The memories of the Japanese veterans who experienced this battle are also quite bleak: "...... Violent metal grinding and deafening explosions. Realizing that the battle had broken out, the squad leader ran around, shouting for us to dig trenches for our lives, and just as we began to dig, Lucia's ghost beast's fighter jets whizzed over our heads at low altitude, followed by a kind of biplane critter, and constantly bullets and bombs flew over our heads, and the blast of the explosion swept us around, and just as the whole squadron was in chaos, I heard the roar of the engines - chariots! Lucia's chariot! ”

"Our defensive position was behind a hill that was not very tall, and I kept looking up the ridge, and Private Goro Asada, who was in charge of the forward guard, ran up to the squadron leader and reported what he had seen. Then we received the order: 'Prepare to meet the enemy tank!' ’。 We panicked and hid in the half-dug trench, trying to hide ourselves with branches, turf, and everything we could find. Of course, although we were a little flustered, we were not afraid, and at that time we all thought that the Imperial Japanese Army was invincible! ”

"But the reality is cruel, we hardly have any anti-tank weapons, no special anti-tank guns, no anti-tank guns, and no rocket-propelled grenades that were widely used by ghost animals in the United States...... All we had were rifles, grenades, and explosives packs, and the only thing we could count on was the infantry guns on another mound behind us......"

At this moment, several more comrades-in-arms appeared on the ridge, all pale and sweating, running towards us. This means that our front-line positions have completely collapsed...... Soon Lucia's chariots finally appeared on the ridge, about four or five, and they rushed towards us with full power, the tongues of fire from the on-board machine guns licking the fleeing infantry like greedy dragons, and the comrades who had not had time to jump into the trenches were knocked down one by one, and it might be my turn next. I remember a very stupid thought that crossed my mind - I was going to die! ”

"I was so ashamed that a great Japanese samurai was afraid of death, and I immediately forgot about this timidity, and held the rifle in my hand tightly, waiting for the squad leader's order. Lucia's chariots were terrifying, and their constant artillery and machine guns swept us away, which was undoubtedly devastating for recruits with no combat experience, and although the reckless Lucia Ghost Beast's tactics of shooting from start to time were stupid (inaccurate), the psychological impact it inflicted on people was enormous. Immediately I started to tremble again, but I knew I couldn't run, even though my feet weren't listening......"

“…… Lucia's chariot ran over our trenches and began to sweep us through with fire, they were trying to crush us! Suddenly, I saw a chariot with a bright red on its tracks - it was stained red with blood! But I didn't realize it until after the battle. Now I can't remember exactly what happened next, it seems that our infantry artillery opened fire, and then there was a violent explosion, and anyway, the final battle was a mess. When the gunfire stopped. I'm already in the rear. The squadron leader said that I wrecked a combat vehicle. But I don't remember anything like that......"

Indeed, the Japanese army's comments on this battle after the war are inexplicable, and the official face lists a series of destroyed numbers, and the number of enemies destroyed can be accurate to three decimal places, as if the "Imperial Army" fought a great victory, but in fact, I really don't understand how these destroyed numbers are counted. Completely defeated, they completely lost control of the battlefield, and there was no way to count the so-called battle results.

In fact, the Japanese were trying to cover up their shame and boost their low morale. deliberately made up some bizarre stories, such as the one above, he didn't even know how to escape, and he still remembered the so-called results of a fart.

This assault operation, although there were many flaws and problems in the process, but on the whole, both Konev and Blyukhel were relatively satisfied, the coordination of tanks and cavalry was not bad, compared with the two-legged infantry, the four-legged cavalry entered the battlefield faster, and could keep up with the speed of the tank assault. And after occupying the position, the ability to immediately dismount and organize defense to ensure the results of the battle. This tactic seems ideal!

At least Timoshenko was overjoyed, and sent a telegram to Stalin and Voroshilov that evening, strongly demanding that each cavalry division be assigned at least one tank regiment, preferably two.

Stalin and Voroshilov were surprised by this request, but after asking them about the details of the battle, they were also optimistic about the future of cavalry and tanks. In a reply to Timoshenko, they said: "We should make full use of the opportunity of this battle, actively implement and improve the relevant tactics, and report to the Military Commission in detail after the war!" ”

But for the time being, let's move on to the battle, let's move on to the table of the later tank general, the current sergeant Arkhipov. In the initial breakthrough, his appearance was not brilliant, even mediocre, killing a few devil soldiers, probably destroying a machine gun, and leaving nothing left.

Even Arkhipov himself recalled after the battle: "There is not much worth mentioning in today's battle, and I can't remember what I did all day with my tank on the go......

On the second day, though, Arkhipov's table was much better:

"After returning to the station and falling asleep, I was called by the platoon commander in the early morning, first of all, it is necessary to replenish, after yesterday's consumption, we have used up all fuel and ammunition. However, the supply operation did not go well, and the devil's fighters and bombers took advantage of the opportunity of the air force nap to sneak up on us, and although it did not cause much damage, it greatly delayed our work efficiency, so much so that the regiment commander had to ask his superiors to delay the attack by an hour......"

"I raised the binoculars, observed the Japanese defense line from afar, I have to say that the devil soldiers have a strong ability to endure hardships and hard work, it only took one night, they cobbled together a line of defense, when the attack order was issued, the remaining 7 tanks in the company began to attack, our platoon of three tanks along a ridge forward, because the ground is very soft, our speed can not go up, can only move forward a little bit, it should be said that we are relatively lucky, did not fall into the mud pit and break down, The second platoon commander, Semenovich's car, was stuck in it and couldn't move, and the platoon could only stop and find a way to ......"

"At this moment, I faintly heard the roar of the engine, as if it was coming from the devil's side, and just when I was wondering, the devil's tank came out from behind the small dirt bag! This was the first time I had seen an enemy tank, and after a second of froze, I immediately ordered the gunner to fire! ”

"The first shot was obviously a ranging error, the shell fell in front of the enemy tank, and the mud was splashed, I quickly ordered to reload and shoot again, this time there was no problem with the range, but missed, just when we were about to launch the third round of attack, the devil also fired, but obviously, the devil's gunner was blind, and their shells flew over from a height of more than a meter above my head, how outrageous is this to hit so far away!"

"The enemy's artillery skills are terrible, and we are naturally happy, the gunner quickly stuffed a shell into the chamber, and after aiming slightly, with a boom, the shell flew out...... The moment I fired the gun, I had a feeling that this shot was there! And the result was the same, a puff of smoke came out of the devil's tank, and the surviving devil soldiers clumsily crawled out of the tank, and immediately the platoon commander solved them with machine guns. ”

"We move on. That's when it happened. Car No. 3 next to me suddenly caught fire for some reason. The whole tank quickly burned, could it be that it was hit by a devil? But I don't see any devils firing tanks and artillery, huh? What's going on? ”

"It was so miserable, Reeve jumped out of the tank with a body of flames, and after rolling on the ground a few times failed to extinguish the flames, he screamed and died, as for the other two comrades in the car, unfortunately they didn't even have a chance to jump out, and burned to ashes with car No. 3...... After the battle. The cause of the fire was found, the engine cylinder explosion ignited the oil circuit, and finally spread all the way to the fuel tank, and exploded in an instant, the only thing that could make us better was that the two comrades in the commander and gunner positions died when the explosion occurred, thank God, they were not burned alive! ”

When writing this, even Arkhipov could not help but complain: "From the very beginning of the battle, the biggest enemy of our tank forces was not the enemy's tanks and anti-tank guns, but the poor reliability of our own tanks. The suspension and running gear of the BT-2 were completely exposed and were too vulnerable to artillery fire. Even shrapnel from mortars can break them. As for the T-26, its balanced suspension is also not so reliable, and its cross-country performance is not ideal. As for the engine and gearbox, there are frequent problems, the freestyle engine sold to us by the Yankees is a garbage product, and when starting the tank, we need to open the hood and hold a fire extinguisher, and fires and breakdowns occur from time to time during off-road battles...... Quite a few times, only half or even a third of our tanks make it to the battlefield. ”

After complaining, he continued to return to the battle itself, when Arkhipov continued to advance, taking advantage of the wreckage of the destroyed Japanese tank, slowly detoured to the other side, and as soon as he poked out of the front of the car, Arkhipov saw a Type 89 medium tank about a hundred meters away from him was parked there to shoot.

Naturally, Arkhipov, who was sent to the door, was not polite, and it took only ten seconds to solve it neatly: the first shell hit it with fire, and the second shell simply "bombarded" its turret.

Immediately afterwards, Arkhipov repeated his old tricks, and once again with the help of the cover of the martyred Type 89 tank, he successfully evaded the siege of the two Japanese tanks, and after going around in a circle, with the help of his comrades, he used the short stop to shoot, and knocked out another eight or nine. As for the remaining one, it turned around and ran away when the situation was not good, but it was exploded by Arkhipov and his comrades at the same time, and it was directly blown into a parts state.

During this day's fighting, Arkhipov single-handedly destroyed three tanks, cooperated in the destruction of one tank, and destroyed two bunkers and three machine-gun fire points, for which he also won the Order of the Red Banner and the opportunity to enter the Armored Forces Command College.

However, in the battle of this day, it was not the tank units of the Red Army that destroyed the most enemy tanks, and the tanks on that day were not the best anti-tank weapons, and the real tank killers were the S11 helicopters with rocket nests mounted.

A ghost soldier named Jiro Yoshida recorded this massacre scene: "Strange enemy planes hovering in the air continued to spray tongues of fire, and after a rain of bullets, the heads of their comrades were cut off as if they had been cut by a sickle, and their bodies were still in a shooting posture, and even the machine guns continued to scream for a while. After a while, the headless corpse slowly collapsed with blood in the blood...... A group of chariots not far away was also hit, and the members rolled out wrapped in flames, howling and struggling for a while and fell to the ground and did not move...... More and more chariots are hit, as if they have been cut by a sharp scalpel, either they catch fire or explode, and the billowing smoke can be seen for several kilometers, this is simply purgatory on earth! ”

In the end, the devil's tank group had just emerged, and was beheaded by the Red Army's tankmen and helicopters, and had to retreat immediately and go on the defensive. That is to say, on the seventh day of the outbreak of the battle, the 1st Cavalry Division finally showed signs of repulsing the enemy's 7th Division, while the 2nd Cavalry Division, which had no tanks to cooperate with the operation on the same day, was still struggling painfully.

The commander of the division, Baghramyan, recalled: "We were firmly pinned by the enemy, and the cavalry in the charge was as fragile as pieces of paper under the sweep of the enemy's machine guns and heavy artillery...... We suffered heavy casualties, and it was only when the air force arrived on the battlefield that the heavy enemy fire was temporarily suppressed, which gave the lads who fell from their horses on the battlefield a chance to escape......"

And when Bagla Miyan learned that the 1st Cavalry Division had made good progress and achieved the greatest result since the beginning of the war, he was jealous and regretful, why didn't he think of borrowing a tank envoy? With the help of tanks, his troops would definitely be no worse than the 1st Cavalry Division!

In the afternoon of the same day, Baghramyan personally stormed Timoshenko's command post and strongly demanded the same treatment as the 1st Cavalry Division. But this time Rokossovsky is not so easy to speak, his troops are not ATMs, and supporting the 1st Cavalry Division is enough to save face, and besides, he has also made progress on his side, so why should he transfer valuable armored troops to the battlefield and give them to his sworn opponents to brush up their achievements?

Timoshenko was so angry that he complained to Stalin and Voroshilov on the same day: "Some comrades treated the tanks as their own private property and stubbornly refused to share them, which led to heavy casualties ...... the 2nd Cavalry Division" (to be continued......

PS: Bow and thank you to the Frost Magister, hzwangdd, Instant Kill Potato and Comrade Juventus!