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About the real strength of the KV in relation to German tanks and the heroism of the Russian soldier...

Events near Leningrad in August 1941 developed according to a very dramatic scenario. On the night of August 7–8, the German Army Group North launched an attack on Leningrad. The 41st Motorized Corps from the 4th Tank Group and the 38th Army Corps attacked settlements Ivanovskoe and Bolshoi Sabsk towards Kingisepp and Volosovo. Three days later, the enemy approached the Kingisepp-Leningrad highway. On August 13, German troops captured the Moloskovitsy station and cut the Kingisepp-Leningrad railway and highway. They also managed to cross the Luga River on the right flank of the front, and the city found itself between two fires. On August 14, all divisions of the 41st Motorized and 38th Army Corps, having entered the operational space, rushed to Leningrad. On August 16, Narva and Kingisepp were occupied.

On August 10, the 56th Motorized Corps attacked Soviet troops in the Luga area. On the same day, heavy fighting began in the Novgorod-Chudivo direction. The next day the Germans broke through to the Oredezh River. A threat loomed over the left flank of the troops defending the Luga sector. On August 13, the 34th and part of the forces of the 11th armies of the Northwestern Front in the area Staraya Russa and Lake Ilmen struck the rear of units of the 10th Army Corps. The German command began hastily transferring the 56th Motorized Corps, the SS Division "Totenkopf" and the 39th Motorized Corps, which had just been transferred to Army Group North from near Smolensk, to this direction.

On August 16, units of the 1st Army Corps captured the western part of Novgorod. There was a real threat of a breakthrough of German troops to Leningrad.

On August 18, the commander of the 3rd tank company of the 1st tank battalion of the 1st Red Banner Tank Division, Senior Lieutenant Zinovy ​​Kolobanov, was summoned to the division commander, General V.I. Baranov. The division headquarters was located in the basement of the cathedral, which is a landmark of Gatchina, which was then called Krasnogvardeysk. Kolobanov received the task personally from Baranov. Showing on the map three roads leading to Krasnogvardeysk from Luga, Volosovo and Kingisepp (via the Tallinn Highway - author’s note), the division commander ordered:

Block them and fight to the death!

The situation near Leningrad was such that the commander of the tank company took the order of the division commander literally.

Kolobanov’s company had five KV-1 tanks. Each tank was loaded with two rounds of armor-piercing shells. This time the crews took a minimal amount of high-explosive fragmentation shells. The main thing was not to miss the German tanks.

On the same day, Kolobanov advanced his company to meet the advancing enemy. The senior lieutenant sent two tanks - Lieutenant Sergeev and Junior Lieutenant Evdokimenko - to the Luga road (Kievskoye Highway - author's note). Two more KVs under the command of Lieutenant Lastochkin and Junior Lieutenant Degtyar headed to defend the road leading to Volosovo. The tank of the company commander himself was supposed to be ambushed near the road connecting the Tallinn highway with the road to Marienburg - the northern outskirts of Krasnogvardeysk.

Kolobanov conducted reconnaissance with the commanders of all crews, indicated the locations of the firing positions and ordered two shelters to be dug for each vehicle - the main one and a spare one, and then carefully camouflaged. The crews had to maintain contact with the company commander by radio.

For his KV Kolobanov determined the position in such a way that the fire sector had the longest, well-open section of the road. A little before reaching the Uchkhoz poultry farm, it turned almost 90 degrees and then went towards Marienburg. It was crossed by another dirt road, along which, apparently, local residents After haymaking, hay was removed from the fields. Unharvested haystacks could be seen all around; they stood not far from the position chosen by Kolobanov. On both sides of the road leading to Marienburg there were vast swamps. There was even a small lake with ducks swimming carelessly around it.

Digging a caponier for a tank like the KV is a very difficult task. In addition, the soil was strong. Only in the evening did they manage to hide the tank in a caponier that was open up to the tower. A reserve position was also equipped. After this, not only the tank itself, but even the traces of its tracks were carefully camouflaged.

Gunner-radio operator senior sergeant Pavel Kiselkov suggested going to an abandoned poultry farm and getting a goose, fortunately the people who worked on it, fearing the invasion of the invaders, left it, and the crew, exhausted by hard work, needed to reinforce their strength. Komroty agreed, ordering the radio operator to shoot the bird so that no one would hear:

Under no circumstances was it possible to unmask one’s position. Kiselkov carried out the order exactly; the goose was plucked and boiled in a tank bucket. After dinner, Kolobanov ordered everyone to rest.

As night approached, the military outpost arrived. The young lieutenant reported to Kolobanov. He ordered the infantry to be placed behind the tank, to the side, so that if something happened they would not get hit gunfire. The outpost positions also had to be well camouflaged...

Zinoviy Grigorievich Kolobanov was born in 1913 in the village of Arefene, Vachevsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province. Upon completion of eighth grade high school studied at a technical school. In 1932, according to the Komsomol recruitment, he was drafted into the Red Army. In 1936 he graduated with honors from the Oryol Armored School named after M.V. Frunze.

War was nothing new for 28-year-old senior lieutenant Kolobanov. As part of the 20th heavy tank brigade, as a company commander, he had the opportunity to participate in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939 - 1940. The brigade in which he served was the first to reach the Mannerheim line, and his company was at the forefront of the attack. It was then that Kolobanov burned in a tank for the first time. In the battle near Lake Vuoksa, he again pulled ahead with his company, and again had to be rescued from a burning car. The third time it burned during the raid on Vyborg. On the night of March 12-13, 1940, a peace treaty was signed between the USSR and Finland. Having learned about this, the soldiers of the two previously opposing armies rushed to meet each other for “fraternization”.

Unfortunately, this very “fraternization” cost Captain Kolobanov very dearly: he was demoted in rank and, deprived of all awards, was transferred to the reserve.1

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War Kolobanov was called up from the reserves to the 1st Tank Division, which was created on the basis of the 20th Heavy Tank Brigade, in which he fought during the war with the Finns. Since he already had combat experience, Kolobanov was awarded the rank of senior lieutenant and appointed commander of a company of KV heavy tanks. True, I had to forget about previous awards; I had to start all over again, with a clean slate.

Tankers received combat vehicles at the Kirov plant. Here, at the plant, tank crews were also formed in a separate training tank battalion. Each of them took part together with the workers in assembling their machine. The run-in distance was from the Kirov plant to Srednyaya Rogatka, after which the vehicles went to the front.2

In the battle near Ivanovsky, Kolobanov managed to distinguish himself - his crew destroyed a tank and an enemy gun. That is why, knowing about the solid combat experience of Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov, General V.I. Baranov entrusted him with such an important task - to block the path of German tanks to Krasnogvardeysk with his company.

The 41st Motorized Corps of Army Group North, advancing on Leningrad, bypassed Krasnogvardeysk. Only one of his divisions, the 8th Panzer, was supposed to support the advance of the 50th Army Corps and the 5th SS Division from Volosovo and Luga to Krasnogvardeysk. 6th Panzer Division in previous battles suffered heavy losses and by mid-August 1941 existed in fact only on paper, so participation in battles

I couldn’t mistake it for Krasnogvardeysk. The 1st Tank Division attacked Leningrad from Torosovo, towards Syaskelevo and further to the northern outskirts of Krasnogvardeysk - Marienburg. In the event of a breakthrough to Marienburg, units of this division could strike in the rear of the Soviet troops occupying the defense on the lines of the Krasnogvardeisky fortified area, and then, going out through the ancient Gatchina parks to the Kyiv highway, advance almost unhindered to Leningrad.

In the early morning of August 19, 1941, Kolobanov’s crew was awakened by the disgusting, intermittent roar of German dive bombers flying at high altitude towards Leningrad. After they passed, peace and quiet re-established itself near Voyskovitsy. The day started out clear. The sun was rising higher.

At about ten o'clock shots were heard from the left, from the side of the road going to Volosovo3. The senior lieutenant recognized the distant “voice” of the KV tank gun. A message came over the radio that one of the crews had entered into battle with German tanks. But everything was still calm for them. Kolobanov summoned the commander of the combat guard and ordered him to have his infantrymen open fire on the enemy only when the KV gun began to speak. For themselves, Kolobanov and Usov outlined two landmarks: No. 1 - two birch trees at the end of the intersection and No. 2 - the intersection itself. The landmarks were chosen in such a way as to destroy the leading enemy tanks right at the crossroads and prevent other vehicles from turning off the road leading to Marienburg.

Only in the second hour of the day did enemy vehicles appear on the road.

Prepare for battle! - Kolobanov commanded quietly.

Having slammed the hatches, the tankers instantly froze in their places. Immediately, the gun commander, senior sergeant Andrei Usov, reported that he saw three motorcycles with sidecars in his sights. The commander's order immediately followed:

Do not open fire! Skip the reconnaissance!

The German motorcyclists turned left and rushed towards Marienburg, without noticing the camouflaged KV lying in ambush. Fulfilling Kolobanov’s order, the infantrymen from the combat guard did not open fire on reconnaissance.

Now all the attention of the crew was focused on the tanks walking along the road. Kolobanov ordered the radio operator to report to battalion commander Captain I.B. Shpiller about the approach of a German tank column and again turned all his attention towards the road, onto which tanks painted dark gray were crawling out one after another. They walked at shortened distances, placing their left sides almost strictly at right angles to the KV gun, thereby representing ideal targets. The hatches were open, some of the Germans were sitting on the armor. The crew could even distinguish their faces, since the distance between the HF and the enemy column was small - only about one hundred and fifty meters.

At this time, battalion commander Shpiller contacted the company commander via radio. He asked sternly:

Kolobanov, why are you letting the Germans through?! Shpiller already knew about the morning battle in the Luga and Volosovo directions and about the advance of German tanks towards Kolobanov’s position, and he could not help but be disturbed by the rather prolonged silence of the KV tank company commander.

There was no time to respond to the battalion commander: the lead tank slowly drove into the intersection and came close to two birch trees - landmark No. 1, identified by the tank crews before the battle. Immediately Kolobanov was informed about the number of tanks in the column. There were 22 of them. And when seconds of movement remained before the landmark, the commander realized that he could no longer hesitate, and ordered Usov to open fire...

Senior Sergeant Usov was already an experienced soldier at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Drafted into the Red Army in 1938, he participated in the “liberation” campaign in Western Belarus as an assistant platoon commander of one of the artillery regiments, and fought on the Karelian Isthmus during the Soviet-Finnish War. After graduating from a special school for heavy tank gun commanders, he became a tank driver...4

The lead tank caught fire from the first shot. It was destroyed before it even managed to completely pass the intersection. The second shot, right at the intersection, destroyed the second tank. A traffic jam has formed. The column compressed like a spring, and now the intervals between the remaining tanks became completely minimal. Kolobanov ordered the fire to be transferred to the tail of the column in order to finally lock it on the road.

But this time Usov failed to hit the trailing tank with the first shot - the shell did not reach the target. The senior sergeant adjusted his aim and fired four more shots, destroying the last two in the tank column. The enemy was trapped.

At first, the Germans could not determine where the shooting was coming from and opened fire from their guns at the haystacks, which immediately caught fire. But they soon came to their senses and were able to discover the ambush. A tank duel began between one KV and eighteen German tanks. A hail of armor-piercing shells fell on Kolobanov’s car. One after another, they hammered at the 25-mm armor of the additional screens installed on the KV turret. There was no longer any trace left of the disguise. The tankers suffocated from the powder gases and became deaf from the numerous impacts of the blanks on the tank’s armor. The loader, who is also a junior mechanic-driver, Red Army soldier Nikolai Rodenkov, worked at a frantic pace, driving shell after shell into the cannon breech. Usov, without looking up from his sight, continued to fire at the enemy column.

Meanwhile, the commanders of other vehicles holding defenses on three more roads reported by radio about the situation in their defense sectors. From these reports, Kolobanov realized that there were fierce battles in other directions.

The Germans, realizing that they were trapped, tried to maneuver, but KV shells hit the tanks one after another. But numerous direct hits from enemy shells did not cause much harm to the Soviet vehicle. The KV's obvious superiority over German tanks in terms of fire power and armor thickness was evident5.

Infantry units moving behind the column came to the aid of the German tankers. Under the cover of fire from tank guns, for more effective shooting at the KV, the Germans rolled out anti-tank guns onto the road.

Kolobanov noticed the enemy’s preparations and ordered Usov to fire a high-explosive fragmentation shell at the anti-tank guns. The combat guard located behind the KV entered into battle with the German infantry.

Usov managed to destroy one anti-tank gun along with its crew, but the second one managed to fire several shots. One of them broke the panoramic periscope from which Kolobanov was observing the battlefield, and the other, hitting the tower, jammed it. Usov managed to destroy this gun, but the KV lost the ability to maneuver fire. Large additional rotations of the gun to the right and left could now only be done by turning the entire tank body. Essentially, the KV turned into a self-propelled artillery unit.

Nikolai Kiselkov climbed onto the armor and installed a spare periscope instead of the damaged one.6

Kolobanov ordered the senior mechanic-driver, petty officer Nikolai Nikiforov, to remove the tank from the caponier and take up a reserve firing position. In front of the Germans, the tank reversed out of its cover, drove to the side, stood in the bushes and again opened fire on the column. Now the driver-mechanic had to work hard. Following Usov's orders, he turned the HF in the right direction.

Finally, the last 22nd tank was destroyed.

During the battle, and it lasted more than an hour, Senior Sergeant A. Usov fired 98 shells at enemy tanks and anti-tank guns, all of which were armor-piercing shells7. Further observation showed that several German tanks were able to break through to the Voyskovitsy state farm from the south.

The battalion commander contacted the crew. Spiller asked in a loud voice:

Kolobanov, how are you? Are they burning?

They burn well, comrade battalion commander!

The senior lieutenant reported that the crew destroyed an enemy tank column of 22 combat vehicles. Its crew is no longer able to hold its position, since the ammunition is running out, there are no armor-piercing shells at all, and the tank itself has received serious damage.

Shpiller thanked the crew for the successful completion of the combat mission and reported that the tanks of Lieutenant Lastochkin and Junior Lieutenant Degtyar were already on the way to the Voyskovitsy state farm. Kolobanov ordered Nikiforov to join them. Having placed the remaining infantrymen from the combat guard on the armor (many of them were wounded), the KV with the landing party on the armor rushed to the breakthrough. The Germans did not get involved in a battle with the Russian tank, and the KV easily reached the outskirts of the state farm. Here Kolobanov met with the commanders of the approaching tanks.

From them he learned that in the battle on the Luga road, the crew of Lieutenant Fedor Sergeev destroyed eight German tanks, and the crew of Junior Lieutenant Maxim Evdokimenko - five. The junior lieutenant was killed in this battle, three members of his crew were wounded. Only the driver-mechanic Sidikov survived. The fifth German tank destroyed by the crew in this battle was attributed to the driver: Sidikov rammed it. The HF itself was disabled. The tanks of junior lieutenant Degtyar and lieutenant Lastochkin burned four enemy tanks each on that day.

Events near Leningrad in August 1941 developed according to a very dramatic scenario...

On August 18, the commander of the 3rd tank company of the 1st tank battalion of the 1st Red Banner Tank Division, Senior Lieutenant Zinovy ​​Kolobanov, was summoned to the division commander, General V.I. Baranov. The division headquarters was located in the basement of the cathedral, which is a landmark of Gatchina, which was then called Krasnogvardeysk. Kolobanov received the task personally from Baranov. Showing on the map three roads leading to Krasnogvardeysk from Luga, Volosovo and Kingisepp (via the Tallinn Highway - author’s note), the division commander ordered:

Block them and fight to the death!

The situation near Leningrad was such that the commander of the tank company took the order of the division commander literally.

Kolobanov’s company had five KV-1 tanks. Each tank was loaded with two rounds of armor-piercing shells. This time the crews took a minimal amount of high-explosive fragmentation shells. The main thing was not to miss the German tanks.

On the same day, Kolobanov advanced his company to meet the advancing enemy. The senior lieutenant sent two tanks - Lieutenant Sergeev and Junior Lieutenant Evdokimenko - to the Luga road (Kievskoye Highway - author's note). Two more KVs under the command of Lieutenant Lastochkin and Junior Lieutenant Degtyar headed to defend the road leading to Volosovo. The tank of the company commander himself was supposed to be ambushed near the road connecting the Tallinn highway with the road to Marienburg - the northern outskirts of Krasnogvardeysk.

Kolobanov conducted reconnaissance with the commanders of all crews, indicated the locations of the firing positions and ordered two shelters to be dug for each vehicle - the main one and a spare one, and then carefully camouflaged. The crews had to maintain contact with the company commander by radio.

For his KV Kolobanov determined the position in such a way that the fire sector had the longest, well-open section of the road. A little before reaching the Uchkhoz poultry farm, it turned almost 90 degrees and then went towards Marienburg. It was crossed by another dirt road, along which, apparently, local residents removed hay from the fields after haymaking. Unharvested haystacks could be seen all around; they stood not far from the position chosen by Kolobanov. On both sides of the road leading to Marienburg there were vast swamps. There was even a small lake with ducks swimming carelessly around it.

Digging a caponier for a tank like the KV is a very difficult task. In addition, the soil was strong. Only in the evening did they manage to hide the tank in a caponier that was open up to the tower. A reserve position was also equipped. After this, not only the tank itself, but even the traces of its tracks were carefully camouflaged.

Gunner-radio operator senior sergeant Pavel Kiselkov suggested going to an abandoned poultry farm and getting a goose, fortunately the people who worked on it, fearing the invasion of the invaders, left it, and the crew, exhausted by hard work, needed to reinforce their strength. Komroty agreed, ordering the radio operator to shoot the bird so that no one would hear:

Under no circumstances was it possible to unmask one’s position. Kiselkov carried out the order exactly; the goose was plucked and boiled in a tank bucket. After dinner, Kolobanov ordered everyone to rest.

As night approached, the military outpost arrived. The young lieutenant reported to Kolobanov. He ordered the infantry to be placed behind the tank, to the side, so that if something happened they would not come under gunfire. The outpost positions also had to be well camouflaged...

Zinoviy Grigorievich Kolobanov was born in 1913 in the village of Arefene, Vachevsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province. After finishing eight years of high school, he studied at a technical school. In 1932, according to the Komsomol recruitment, he was drafted into the Red Army. In 1936 he graduated with honors from the Oryol Armored School named after M.V. Frunze.

War was nothing new for 28-year-old senior lieutenant Kolobanov. As part of the 20th heavy tank brigade, as a company commander, he had the opportunity to participate in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939 - 1940. The brigade in which he served was the first to reach the Mannerheim line, and his company was at the forefront of the attack. It was then that Kolobanov burned in a tank for the first time. In the battle near Lake Vuoksa, he again pulled ahead with his company, and again had to be rescued from a burning car. The third time it burned during the raid on Vyborg. On the night of March 12-13, 1940, a peace treaty was signed between the USSR and Finland. Having learned about this, the soldiers of the two previously opposing armies rushed to meet each other for “fraternization”.

Unfortunately, this very “fraternization” cost Captain Kolobanov very dearly: he was demoted in rank and, deprived of all awards, was transferred to the reserve.1

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Kolobanov was called up from the reserves to the 1st Tank Division, which was created on the basis of the 20th Heavy Tank Brigade, in which he fought during the war with the Finns. Since he already had combat experience, Kolobanov was awarded the rank of senior lieutenant and appointed commander of a company of KV heavy tanks. True, I had to forget about previous awards; I had to start all over again, with a clean slate.

Tankers received combat vehicles at the Kirov plant. Here, at the plant, tank crews were also formed in a separate training tank battalion. Each of them took part together with the workers in assembling their machine. The run-in distance was from the Kirov plant to Srednyaya Rogatka, after which the vehicles went to the front.2

In the battle near Ivanovsky, Kolobanov managed to distinguish himself - his crew destroyed a tank and an enemy gun. That is why, knowing about the solid combat experience of Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov, General V.I. Baranov entrusted him with such an important task - to block the path of German tanks to Krasnogvardeysk with his company.

The 41st Motorized Corps of Army Group North, advancing on Leningrad, bypassed Krasnogvardeysk. Only one of his divisions, the 8th Panzer, was supposed to support the advance of the 50th Army Corps and the 5th SS Division from Volosovo and Luga to Krasnogvardeysk. The 6th Panzer Division suffered heavy losses in previous battles and by mid-August 1941 actually existed only on paper, so participation in battles

I couldn’t mistake it for Krasnogvardeysk. The 1st Tank Division attacked Leningrad from Torosovo, towards Syaskelevo and further to the northern outskirts of Krasnogvardeysk - Marienburg. In the event of a breakthrough to Marienburg, units of this division could strike in the rear of the Soviet troops occupying the defense on the lines of the Krasnogvardeisky fortified area, and then, going out through the ancient Gatchina parks to the Kyiv highway, advance almost unhindered to Leningrad.

In the early morning of August 19, 1941, Kolobanov’s crew was awakened by the disgusting, intermittent roar of German dive bombers flying at high altitude towards Leningrad. After they passed, peace and quiet re-established itself near Voyskovitsy. The day started out clear. The sun was rising higher.

At about ten o'clock shots were heard from the left, from the side of the road going to Volosovo3. The senior lieutenant recognized the distant “voice” of the KV tank gun. A message came over the radio that one of the crews had entered into battle with German tanks. But everything was still calm for them. Kolobanov summoned the commander of the combat guard and ordered him to have his infantrymen open fire on the enemy only when the KV gun began to speak. For themselves, Kolobanov and Usov outlined two landmarks: No. 1 - two birch trees at the end of the intersection and No. 2 - the intersection itself. The landmarks were chosen in such a way as to destroy the leading enemy tanks right at the crossroads and prevent other vehicles from turning off the road leading to Marienburg.

Only in the second hour of the day did enemy vehicles appear on the road.

Prepare for battle! - Kolobanov commanded quietly.

Having slammed the hatches, the tankers instantly froze in their places. Immediately, the gun commander, senior sergeant Andrei Usov, reported that he saw three motorcycles with sidecars in his sights. The commander's order immediately followed:

Do not open fire! Skip the reconnaissance!

The German motorcyclists turned left and rushed towards Marienburg, without noticing the camouflaged KV lying in ambush. Fulfilling Kolobanov’s order, the infantrymen from the combat guard did not open fire on reconnaissance.

Now all the attention of the crew was focused on the tanks walking along the road. Kolobanov ordered the radio operator to report to battalion commander Captain I.B. Shpiller about the approach of a German tank column and again turned all his attention towards the road, onto which tanks painted dark gray were crawling out one after another. They walked at shortened distances, placing their left sides almost strictly at right angles to the KV gun, thereby representing ideal targets. The hatches were open, some of the Germans were sitting on the armor. The crew could even distinguish their faces, since the distance between the HF and the enemy column was small - only about one hundred and fifty meters.

At this time, battalion commander Shpiller contacted the company commander via radio. He asked sternly:

Kolobanov, why are you letting the Germans through?! Shpiller already knew about the morning battle in the Luga and Volosovo directions and about the advance of German tanks towards Kolobanov’s position, and he could not help but be disturbed by the rather prolonged silence of the KV tank company commander.

There was no time to respond to the battalion commander: the lead tank slowly drove into the intersection and came close to two birch trees - landmark No. 1, identified by the tank crews before the battle. Immediately Kolobanov was informed about the number of tanks in the column. There were 22 of them. And when seconds of movement remained before the landmark, the commander realized that he could no longer hesitate, and ordered Usov to open fire...

Senior Sergeant Usov was already an experienced soldier at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Drafted into the Red Army in 1938, he participated in the “liberation” campaign in Western Belarus as an assistant platoon commander of one of the artillery regiments, and fought on the Karelian Isthmus during the Soviet-Finnish War. After graduating from a special school for heavy tank gun commanders, he became a tank driver...4

The lead tank caught fire from the first shot. It was destroyed before it even managed to completely pass the intersection. The second shot, right at the intersection, destroyed the second tank. A traffic jam has formed. The column compressed like a spring, and now the intervals between the remaining tanks became completely minimal. Kolobanov ordered the fire to be transferred to the tail of the column in order to finally lock it on the road.

But this time Usov failed to hit the trailing tank with the first shot - the shell did not reach the target. The senior sergeant adjusted his aim and fired four more shots, destroying the last two in the tank column. The enemy was trapped.

At first, the Germans could not determine where the shooting was coming from and opened fire from their guns at the haystacks, which immediately caught fire. But they soon came to their senses and were able to discover the ambush. A tank duel began between one KV and eighteen German tanks. A hail of armor-piercing shells fell on Kolobanov’s car. One after another, they hammered at the 25-mm armor of the additional screens installed on the KV turret. There was no longer any trace left of the disguise. The tankers suffocated from the powder gases and became deaf from the numerous impacts of the blanks on the tank’s armor. The loader, who is also a junior mechanic-driver, Red Army soldier Nikolai Rodenkov, worked at a frantic pace, driving shell after shell into the cannon breech. Usov, without looking up from his sight, continued to fire at the enemy column.

Meanwhile, the commanders of other vehicles holding defenses on three more roads reported by radio about the situation in their defense sectors. From these reports, Kolobanov realized that there were fierce battles in other directions.

The Germans, realizing that they were trapped, tried to maneuver, but KV shells hit the tanks one after another. But numerous direct hits from enemy shells did not cause much harm to the Soviet vehicle. The KV's obvious superiority over German tanks in terms of fire power and armor thickness was evident5.

Infantry units moving behind the column came to the aid of the German tankers. Under the cover of fire from tank guns, for more effective shooting at the KV, the Germans rolled out anti-tank guns onto the road.

Kolobanov noticed the enemy’s preparations and ordered Usov to fire a high-explosive fragmentation shell at the anti-tank guns. The combat guard located behind the KV entered into battle with the German infantry.

Usov managed to destroy one anti-tank gun along with its crew, but the second one managed to fire several shots. One of them broke the panoramic periscope from which Kolobanov was observing the battlefield, and the other, hitting the tower, jammed it. Usov managed to destroy this gun, but the KV lost the ability to maneuver fire. Large additional rotations of the gun to the right and left could now only be done by turning the entire tank body. Essentially, the KV turned into a self-propelled artillery unit.

Nikolai Kiselkov climbed onto the armor and installed a spare periscope instead of the damaged one.6

Kolobanov ordered the senior mechanic-driver, petty officer Nikolai Nikiforov, to remove the tank from the caponier and take up a reserve firing position. In front of the Germans, the tank reversed out of its cover, drove to the side, stood in the bushes and again opened fire on the column. Now the driver-mechanic had to work hard. Following Usov's orders, he turned the HF in the right direction.

Finally, the last 22nd tank was destroyed.

During the battle, which lasted more than an hour, senior sergeant A. Usov fired 98 shells at enemy tanks and anti-tank guns, all of which were armor-piercing shells7. Further observation showed that several German tanks were able to break through to the Voyskovitsy state farm from the south.

The battalion commander contacted the crew. Spiller asked in a loud voice:

Kolobanov, how are you? Are they burning?

They burn well, comrade battalion commander!

The senior lieutenant reported that the crew destroyed an enemy tank column of 22 combat vehicles. Its crew is no longer able to hold its position, since the ammunition is running out, there are no armor-piercing shells at all, and the tank itself has received serious damage.

Shpiller thanked the crew for the successful completion of the combat mission and reported that the tanks of Lieutenant Lastochkin and Junior Lieutenant Degtyar were already on the way to the Voyskovitsy state farm. Kolobanov ordered Nikiforov to join them. Having placed the remaining infantrymen from the combat guard on the armor (many of them were wounded), the KV with the landing party on the armor rushed to the breakthrough. The Germans did not get involved in a battle with the Russian tank, and the KV easily reached the outskirts of the state farm. Here Kolobanov met with the commanders of the approaching tanks.

From them he learned that in the battle on the Luga road, the crew of Lieutenant Fedor Sergeev destroyed eight German tanks, and the crew of Junior Lieutenant Maxim Evdokimenko - five. The junior lieutenant was killed in this battle, three members of his crew were wounded. Only the driver-mechanic Sidikov survived. The fifth German tank destroyed by the crew in this battle was attributed to the driver: Sidikov rammed it. The HF itself was disabled. The tanks of junior lieutenant Degtyar and lieutenant Lastochkin burned four enemy tanks each on that day.

Since the 1920s, France has been at the forefront of world tank construction: it was the first to build tanks with projectile-proof armor, and the first to organize them into tank divisions. In May 1940, the time came to test the combat effectiveness of the French tank forces in practice. Such an opportunity already presented itself during the battles for Belgium.

Cavalry without horses

When planning the movement of troops to Belgium according to the Diehl plan, the Allied command decided that the most vulnerable area was the area between the cities of Wavre and Namur. Here, between the Dyle and Meuse rivers, lies the Gembloux plateau - flat, dry, convenient for tank operations. To cover this gap, the French command sent here the 1st Cavalry Corps of the 1st Army under the command of Lieutenant General Rene Priou. The general recently turned 61 years old, he studied at the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, and ended the First World War as commander of the 5th Dragoon Regiment. From February 1939, Priou served as Inspector General of the Cavalry.

The commander of the 1st Cavalry Corps is Lieutenant General René-Jacques-Adolphe Priou.
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Priu's corps was called cavalry only by tradition and consisted of two light mechanized divisions. Initially, they were cavalry, but in the early 30s, on the initiative of the cavalry inspector General Flavigny, some of the cavalry divisions began to be reorganized into light mechanized ones - DLM (Division Legere Mecanisee). They were reinforced with tanks and armored vehicles, horses were replaced with Renault UE and Lorraine cars and armored personnel carriers.

The first such formation was the 4th Cavalry Division. Back in the early 30s, it became an experimental training ground for testing the interaction of cavalry with tanks, and in July 1935 it was renamed the 1st Light Mechanized Division. Such a division of the 1935 model should have included:

• reconnaissance regiment of two motorcycle squadrons and two squadrons of armored vehicles (AMD - Automitrailleuse de Découverte);
• a combat brigade consisting of two regiments, each with two squadrons of cavalry tanks - cannon AMC (Auto-mitrailleuse de Combat) or machine gun AMR (Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance);
• a motorized brigade, consisting of two motorized dragoon regiments of two battalions each (one regiment had to be transported on tracked transporters, the other on regular trucks);
• motorized artillery regiment.

The re-equipment of the 4th Cavalry Division proceeded slowly: the cavalry wanted to equip its combat brigade only with the Somua S35 medium tanks, but due to their shortage it was necessary to use the light Hotchkiss H35 tanks. As a result, there were fewer tanks in the formation than planned, but the equipment of vehicles increased.

Medium tank"Somua" S35 from the exhibition of the museum in Aberdeen (USA).
sfw.so

The motorized brigade was reduced to one motorized dragoon regiment of three battalions, equipped with Lorraine and Laffley tracked tractors. Squadrons of AMR machine gun tanks were transferred to a motorized dragoon regiment, and combat regiments, in addition to the S35, were equipped with H35 light vehicles. Over time, they were replaced by medium tanks, but this replacement was not completed before the start of the war. The reconnaissance regiment was armed with powerful Panar-178 armored vehicles with a 25-mm anti-tank gun.

German soldiers inspect a Panhard-178 (AMD-35) cannon armored vehicle abandoned near Le Panne (Dunkirque area).
waralbum.ru

In 1936, General Flavigny took command of his creation, the 1st Light Mechanized Division. In 1937, the creation of a second similar division began under the command of General Altmaier on the basis of the 5th Cavalry Division. The 3rd Light Mechanized Division began to form already during the “Phantom War” in February 1940 - this unit was another step in the mechanization of the cavalry, as its AMR machine gun tanks were replaced by the latest Hotchkiss H39 vehicles.

Note that until the end of the 30s, “real” cavalry divisions (DC - Divisions de Cavalerie) remained in the French army. In the summer of 1939, on the initiative of the cavalry inspector, supported by General Gamelin, their reorganization began under a new staff. It was decided that in open ground cavalry was powerless against modern infantry weapons and too vulnerable to air attack. The new light cavalry divisions (DLC - Division Legere de Cavalerie) were to be used in mountainous or wooded areas, where horses provided them with the best cross-country ability. First of all, such areas were the Ardennes and the Swiss border, where new formations developed.

The light cavalry division consisted of two brigades - light motorized and cavalry; the first had a dragoon (tank) regiment and a regiment of armored cars, the second was partially motorized, but still had about 1,200 horses. Initially, the dragoon regiment was also planned to be equipped with the Somua S35 medium tanks, but due to their slow production, the light Hotchkiss H35 tanks began to enter service - well armored, but relatively slow-moving and with a weak 37-mm cannon 18 calibers long.

The Hotchkiss H35 light tank is the main vehicle of the Priu cavalry corps.
waralbum.ru

Composition of the Priu body

The Prieu Cavalry Corps was formed in September 1939 from the 1st and 2nd Light Mechanized Divisions. But in March 1940, the 1st Division was transferred as a motorized reinforcement to the left flank 7th Army, and in its place Priou received the newly formed 3rd DLM. The 4th DLM was never formed; at the end of May, part of it was transferred to the 4th Armored (Cuirassier) Division of the reserve, and the other part was sent to the 7th Army as the “De Langle Group”.

The light mechanized division turned out to be a very successful combat formation - more mobile than the heavy tank division (DCr - Division Cuirassée), and at the same time more balanced. It is believed that the first two divisions were the best prepared, although the actions of the 1st DLM in Holland as part of the 7th Army showed that this was not the case. At the same time, the 3rd DLM that replaced it began to form only during the war; the personnel of this unit were recruited mainly from reservists, and officers were allocated from other mechanized divisions.

Light French tank AMR-35.
militaryimages.net

By May 1940, each light mechanized division consisted of three motorized infantry battalions, about 10,400 soldiers and 3,400 vehicles. The amount of equipment they contained varied greatly:

2ndDLM:

• light tanks "Hotchkiss" H35 - 84;
• light machine gun tanks AMR33 and AMR35 ZT1 – 67;
• 105 mm field guns – 12;

3rdDLM:

• medium tanks "Somua" S35 - 88;
• light tanks "Hotchkiss" H39 - 129 (60 of them with a 37-mm long-barreled gun of 38 calibers);
• light tanks "Hotchkiss" H35 - 22;
• cannon armored vehicles "Panar-178" - 40;
• 105 mm field guns – 12;
• 75-mm field guns (model 1897) – 24;
• 47-mm anti-tank guns SA37 L/53 – 8;
• 25-mm anti-tank guns SA34/37 L/72 – 12;
• 25-mm anti-aircraft guns "Hotchkiss" - 6.

In total, Priu's cavalry corps had 478 tanks (including 411 cannon tanks) and 80 cannon armored vehicles. Half of the tanks (236 units) had 47 mm or long-barreled 37 mm guns, capable of fighting almost any armored vehicle of that time.

"Hotchkiss" H39 with a 38-caliber gun - the best French light tank. Photos of the exhibition tank museum in Saumur, France.

Enemy: 16th Motorized Corps of the Wehrmacht

While Priu's divisions were advancing to the intended line of defense, the vanguard of the 6th was coming towards them. German army- 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions, united under the command of Lieutenant General Erich Hoepner into the 16th Motorized Corps. Moving to the left with a large lag was the 20th Motorized Division, whose task was to cover Hoepner's flank from possible counterattacks from Namur.

The general course of hostilities in northeastern Belgium from May 10 to May 17, 1940.
D. M. Projector. War in Europe. 1939–1941

On May 11, both tank divisions crossed the Albert Canal and overthrew units of the 2nd and 3rd Belgian Army Corps near Tirlemont. On the night of May 11-12, the Belgians retreated to the line of the Dyle River, where the allied forces were planned to exit - the 1st French Army of General Georges Blanchard and the British Expeditionary Force of General John Gort.

IN 3rd Panzer Division General Horst Stumpf included two tank regiments (5th and 6th), united into the 3rd tank brigade under the command of Colonel Kühn. In addition, the division included the 3rd motorized infantry brigade (3rd motorized infantry regiment and 3rd motorcycle battalion), 75th artillery regiment, 39th anti-tank fighter division, 3rd reconnaissance battalion, 39th engineer battalion, 39th Signal Battalion and 83rd Supply Detachment.

The German light tank Pz.I is the most popular vehicle in the 16th Motorized Corps.
tank2.ru

In total, the 3rd Panzer Division had:

• command tanks - 27;
• light machine gun tanks Pz.I – 117;
• light tanks Pz.II – 129;
• medium tanks Pz.III – 42;
• medium support tanks Pz.IV – 26;
• armored vehicles - 56 (including 23 vehicles with a 20-mm cannon).

German light tank Pz.II is the main cannon tank of the 16th Motorized Corps.
Osprey Publishing

4th Panzer Division Major General Johann Shtever had two tank regiments (35th and 36th), united in the 5th tank brigade. In addition, the division included the 4th motorized infantry brigade (12th and 33rd motorized infantry regiments, as well as the 34th motorcycle battalion, 103rd artillery regiment, 49th anti-tank fighter division, 7th reconnaissance battalion , 79th Engineer Battalion, 79th Signal Battalion and 84th Supply Detachment.The 4th Tank Division consisted of:

• command tanks - 10;
• light machine gun tanks Pz.I – 135;
• light tanks Pz.II – 105;
• medium tanks Pz.III – 40;
• medium support tanks Pz.IV – 24.

Each German tank division had a serious artillery component:

• 150 mm howitzers – 12;
• 105 mm howitzers – 14;
• 75 mm infantry guns - 24;
• 88-mm anti-aircraft guns – 9;
• 37 mm anti-tank guns – 51;
• 20-mm anti-aircraft guns – 24.

In addition, the divisions were assigned two anti-tank fighter divisions (12 37-mm anti-tank guns in each).

So, both divisions of the 16th Tank Corps had 655 vehicles, including 50 “fours”, 82 “threes”, 234 “twos”, 252 machine-gun “ones” and 37 command tanks, which also had only machine-gun armament (some historians put the figure at 632 tanks). Of these vehicles, only 366 were cannon, and only medium-sized German vehicles could fight the bulk of enemy tanks, and even then not all of them - the S35 with its sloped 36-mm hull armor and 56-mm turret was too tough for the German 37-mm cannon only from short distances. At the same time, the 47-mm French cannon penetrated the armor of medium German tanks at a distance of over 2 km.

Some researchers, describing the battle on the Gembloux plateau, claim the superiority of Hoepner's 16th Panzer Corps over Priou's cavalry corps in terms of the number and quality of tanks. Outwardly, this was indeed the case (the Germans had 655 tanks against 478 French), but 40% of them were machine-gun Pz.I, capable of fighting only infantry. For 366 German cannon tanks, there were 411 French cannon vehicles, and the 20-mm cannons of the German “twos” could only cause damage to the French AMR machine-gun tanks.

The Germans had 132 units of equipment capable of effectively fighting enemy tanks (“troikas” and “fours”), while the French had almost twice as many - 236 vehicles, even not counting the Renault and Hotchkiss with short-barreled 37-mm guns.

Commander of the 16th Panzer Corps, Lieutenant General Erich Hoepner.
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146–1971–068–10 / CC-BY-SA 3.0

True, the German tank division had noticeably more anti-tank weapons: up to one and a half hundred 37-mm guns, and most importantly, 18 heavy 88-mm mechanically-propelled anti-aircraft guns, capable of destroying any tank in its visibility zone. And this is against 40 anti-tank guns in the entire Priu body! However, due to the rapid advance of the Germans most of their artillery lagged behind and did not take part in the first stage of the battle. In fact, on May 12–13, 1940, near the town of Annu, northeast of the city of Gembloux, a real battle vehicles: tanks against tanks.

May 12: counter battle

The 3rd Light Mechanized Division was the first to come into contact with the enemy. Its section east of Gembloux was divided into two sectors: in the north there were 44 tanks and 40 armored vehicles; in the south - 196 medium and light tanks, as well as the bulk of the artillery. The first line of defense was in the area of ​​Annu and the village of Kreen. The 2nd Division was supposed to take positions on the right flank of the 3rd from Crehan to the banks of the Meuse, but by this time it was only advancing to the intended line with its advanced detachments - three infantry battalions and 67 AMR light tanks. The natural dividing line between the divisions was the hilly watershed ridge that stretched from Anna through Crehen and Meerdorp. Thus, the direction of the German attack was completely obvious: along the water barriers through the “corridor” formed by the Meen and Grand Gette rivers and leading directly to Gemble.

Early in the morning of May 12, the “Eberbach Panzer Group” (the vanguard of the 4th German Panzer Division) reached the town of Annu in the very center of the line that Priou’s troops were supposed to occupy. Here the Germans encountered reconnaissance patrols of the 3rd Light Mechanized Division. A little north of Anna, French tanks, machine gunners and motorcyclists occupied Crehen.

From 9 a.m. to noon, tank and anti-tank artillery of both sides engaged in a fierce exchange of gunfire. The French tried to counterattack with the advance detachments of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, but light German Pz.II tanks reached the very center of Annu. 21 light Hotchkiss H35s took part in the new counterattack, but they were unlucky - they came under fire from German Pz.III and Pz.IV. The thick armor did not help the French: in close street battles at a distance of a hundred meters, it was easily penetrated by 37-mm German cannons, while short-barreled French guns were powerless against medium German tanks. As a result, the French lost 11 Hotchkisses, the Germans lost 5 vehicles. The remaining French tanks left the city. After a short battle, the French retreated to the west - to the Wavre-Gembloux line (part of the pre-planned "Diele Position"). It was here that the main battle broke out on May 13–14.

Tanks of the 1st battalion of the 35th German tank regiment tried to pursue the enemy and reached the city of Tins, where they destroyed four Hotchkiss, but were forced to return because they were left without motorized infantry escort. By nightfall there was silence at the positions. As a result of the battle, each side considered that the enemy’s losses were significantly higher than its own.

Battle of Annu May 12–14, 1940.
Ernest R. May. Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France

May 13: difficult success for the Germans

The morning of this day was quiet, only towards 9 o’clock a German reconnaissance plane appeared in the sky. After this, as stated in the memoirs of Priu himself, “the battle began with renewed vigor along the entire front from Tirlemont to Guy”. By this time, the main forces of the German 16th Panzer and French Cavalry Corps had arrived here; south of Anna, the lagging units of the 3rd German Panzer Division deployed. Both sides gathered all their tank forces for the battle. A large-scale outbreak has flared up tank battle– it was counter, as both sides tried to attack.

The actions of Hoepner's tank divisions were supported by nearly two hundred dive bombers of the 8th Air Corps of the 2nd Air Fleet. French air support was weaker and consisted mainly of fighter cover. But Priu had superiority in artillery: he managed to bring up his 75- and 105-mm guns, which opened effective fire on German positions and advancing tanks. As one of the German tank crews, Captain Ernst von Jungenfeld, wrote a year and a half later, the French artillery literally gave the Germans "volcano of fire", the density and efficiency of which resembled worst times First World War. At the same time, the artillery of the German tank divisions lagged behind; the bulk of it had not yet managed to reach the battlefield.

The French were the first to launch an offensive on this day - six S35s from the 2nd Light Mechanized Division, which had not previously participated in the battle, attacked the southern flank of the 4th Panzer Division. Alas, the Germans managed to deploy 88-mm guns here and met the enemy with fire. At 9 o'clock in the morning, after an attack by dive bombers, German tanks attacked the village of Gendrenouille in the center of the French position (in the zone of the 3rd Light Mechanized Division), concentrating on a narrow five-kilometer front a large number of tanks.

The French tank crews suffered significant losses from the attack by dive bombers, but did not flinch. Moreover, they decided to counterattack the enemy - but not head-on, but from the flank. Deploying north of Gendrenouille, two squadrons of Somois tanks from the fresh 1st Cavalry Regiment of the 3rd Light Mechanized Division (42 combat vehicles) launched a flank attack on the unfolding battle formations of the 4th Panzer Division.

This blow thwarted German plans and turned the battle into a counter battle. According to French data, about 50 German tanks were destroyed. True, by evening only 16 combat-ready vehicles remained of the two French squadrons - the rest either died or required lengthy repairs. The tank of the commander of one of the platoons left the battle, having used up all the shells and having traces of 29 hits, but did not receive serious damage.

The squadron of S35 medium tanks of the 2nd Light Mechanized Division operated especially successfully on the right flank - in Crehen, through which the Germans tried to bypass French positions from the south. Here, Lieutenant Lociski's platoon was able to destroy 4 German tanks, a battery of anti-tank guns and several trucks. It turned out that German tanks were powerless against medium French tanks - their 37 mm cannons could penetrate the Somois armor only from a very short distance, while the French 47 mm cannons hit German vehicles at any distance.

Pz.III from the 4th Panzer Division overcomes a stone fence blown up by sappers. The photo was taken on May 13, 1940 in the Annu area.
Thomas L. Jentz. Panzertruppen

In the town of Tins, a couple of kilometers west of Annou, the French again managed to stop the German advance. The tank of the commander of the 35th Tank Regiment, Colonel Eberbach (who later became the commander of the 4th Tank Division), was also destroyed here. By the end of the day, the S35s had destroyed several more German tanks, but by the evening the French were forced to leave Tines and Crehan under pressure from approaching German infantry. French tanks and infantry retreated 5 km to the west, to the second line of defense (Meerdorp, Zhandrenouil and Zhandren), covered by the Or-Zhosh River.

Already at 8 o'clock in the evening the Germans tried to attack in the direction of Meerdorp, but their artillery preparation turned out to be very weak and only warned the enemy. A firefight between tanks at a long distance (about a kilometer) had no effect, although the Germans noted hits from the short-barreled 75-mm cannons of their Pz.IV. German tanks passed north of Meerdorp, the French first met them with fire from tank and anti-tank guns, and then counterattacked on the flank with the Somua squadron. The report of the 35th German Tank Regiment stated:

“...11 enemy tanks came out of Meerdorp and attacked the motorized infantry. The 1st Battalion immediately turned around and opened fire on the enemy tanks from a distance of 400 to 600 meters. Eight enemy tanks remained motionless, three more managed to escape.”

On the contrary, French sources write about the success of this attack and that French medium tanks turned out to be completely invulnerable to German vehicles: they left the battle with from two to four dozen direct hits from 20- and 37-mm shells, but without breaking through the armor.

However, the Germans learned quickly. Immediately after the battle, instructions appeared prohibiting light German Pz.IIs from engaging in battle with enemy medium tanks. The S35 was to be destroyed primarily by 88mm anti-aircraft guns and 105mm direct fire howitzers, as well as medium tanks and anti-tank guns.

Late in the evening the Germans went on the offensive again. On the southern flank of the 3rd Light Mechanized Division, the 2nd Cuirassier Regiment, already battered the day before, was forced to defend against units of the 3rd Panzer Division with its last forces - ten surviving Somuas and the same number of Hotchkisses. As a result, by midnight the 3rd Division had to retreat another 2-3 km, taking up defense at the Zhosh-Ramily line. The 2nd Light Mechanized Division retreated much further, on the night of 13/14 May, moving south from Perve beyond the Belgian anti-tank ditch prepared for the Dyle line. Only then did the Germans pause their advance, awaiting the arrival of the rear with ammunition and fuel. It was still 15 km from here to Gembloux.

To be continued

Literature:

1. D. M. Projector. War in Europe. 1939–1941 M.: Voenizdat, 1963
2. Ernest R. May. Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France. New York, Hill & Wang, 2000
3. Thomas L. Jentz. Panzertruppen. The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force. 1933–1942. Schiffer Military History, Atglen PA, 1996
4. Jonathan F. Keiler. The 1940 Battle of Gembloux (http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/the-1940-battle-of-gembloux/)

Since World War I, tanks have been one of the most effective weapons of war. Their first use by the British at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 opened new era- with tank wedges and lightning-fast blitzkriegs.

Battle of Cambrai (1917)

After failures using small tank formations, the British command decided to carry out an offensive using a large number of tanks. Since the tanks had previously failed to live up to expectations, many considered them useless. One British officer noted: "The infantry thinks that the tanks have not justified themselves. Even the tank crews are discouraged."

According to the British command, the upcoming offensive was supposed to begin without traditional artillery preparation. For the first time in history, tanks had to break through enemy defenses themselves.
The offensive at Cambrai was supposed to take the German command by surprise. The operation was prepared in strict secrecy. Tanks were transported to the front in the evening. The British constantly fired machine guns and mortars to drown out the roar of tank engines.

A total of 476 tanks took part in the offensive. The German divisions were defeated and suffered heavy losses. The well-fortified Hindenburg Line was penetrated to great depths. However, during the German counter-offensive, British troops were forced to retreat. Using the remaining 73 tanks, the British managed to prevent a more serious defeat.

Battle of Dubno-Lutsk-Brody (1941)

In the first days of the war, a large-scale tank battle took place in Western Ukraine. The most powerful group of the Wehrmacht - "Center" - was advancing to the north, to Minsk and further to Moscow. The not so strong Army Group South was advancing on Kyiv. But in this direction there was the most powerful group of the Red Army - the Southwestern Front.

Already on the evening of June 22, the troops of this front received orders to encircle and destroy the advancing enemy group with powerful concentric attacks from mechanized corps, and by the end of June 24 to capture the Lublin region (Poland). It sounds fantastic, but this is if you don’t know the strength of the parties: 3,128 Soviet and 728 German tanks fought in a gigantic oncoming tank battle.

The battle lasted a week: from June 23 to 30. The actions of the mechanized corps were reduced to isolated counterattacks in different directions. The German command, through competent leadership, was able to repel a counterattack and defeat the armies of the Southwestern Front. The defeat was complete: Soviet troops lost 2,648 tanks (85%), the Germans lost about 260 vehicles.

Battle of El Alamein (1942)

Battle of El Alamein - key episode Anglo-German confrontation in North Africa. The Germans sought to cut the Allies' most important strategic highway, the Suez Canal, and were eager for Middle Eastern oil, which the Axis countries needed. The main battle of the entire campaign took place at El Alamein. As part of this battle, one of the largest tank battles in World War II took place.

The Italo-German force numbered about 500 tanks, half of which were rather weak Italian tanks. The British armored units had over 1000 tanks, among which were powerful American tanks - 170 Grants and 250 Shermans.

The qualitative and quantitative superiority of the British was partly compensated by the military genius of the commander of the Italian-German troops - the famous “desert fox” Rommel.

Despite the British numerical superiority in manpower, tanks and aircraft, the British were never able to break through Rommel's defenses. The Germans even managed to counterattack, but the British superiority in numbers was so impressive that the German strike force of 90 tanks was simply destroyed in the oncoming battle.

Rommel, inferior to the enemy in armored vehicles, made extensive use of anti-tank artillery, among which were captured Soviet 76-mm guns, which had proven themselves to be excellent. Only under the pressure of the enemy’s enormous numerical superiority, having lost almost all of its equipment, did the German army begin an organized retreat.

After El Alamein, the Germans had just over 30 tanks left. The total losses of the Italo-German troops in equipment amounted to 320 tanks. The losses of the British tank forces amounted to approximately 500 vehicles, many of which were repaired and returned to service, since the battlefield was ultimately theirs.

Battle of Prokhorovka (1943)

The tank battle near Prokhorovka took place on July 12, 1943 as part of Battle of Kursk. According to official Soviet data, 800 Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns and 700 German ones took part in it on both sides.

The Germans lost 350 units of armored vehicles, ours - 300. But the trick is that the Soviet tanks that participated in the battle were counted, and the German ones were those that were generally in the entire German group on the southern flank of the Kursk Bulge.

According to new, updated data, 311 German tanks and self-propelled guns of the 2nd SS Tank Corps took part in the tank battle near Prokhorovka against 597 Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army (commander Rotmistrov). The SS lost about 70 (22%), and the guards lost 343 (57%) armored vehicles.

Neither side managed to achieve its goals: the Germans failed to break through the Soviet defenses and enter the operational space, and the Soviet troops failed to encircle the enemy group.

A government commission was created to investigate the reasons for the large losses of Soviet tanks. In the commission's report fighting Soviet troops near Prokhorovka are called “an example of an unsuccessful operation.” General Rotmistrov was going to be put on trial, but by that time the general situation had developed favorably, and everything worked out.

Battle of the Golan Heights (1973)

The major tank battle after 1945 took place during the so-called Yom Kippur War. The war received this name because it began with a surprise attack by the Arabs during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur (Judgment Day).

Egypt and Syria sought to regain territory lost after the devastating defeat in the Six-Day War (1967). Egypt and Syria were helped (financially and sometimes with impressive troops) by many Islamic countries - from Morocco to Pakistan. And not only Islamic ones: distant Cuba sent 3,000 soldiers, including tank crews, to Syria.

On the Golan Heights, 180 Israeli tanks faced approximately 1,300 Syrian tanks. The heights were a critical strategic position for Israel: if Israeli defenses in the Golan were breached, Syrian troops would be in the very center of the country within hours.

For several days, two Israeli tank brigades, suffering heavy losses, defended the Golan Heights from superior forces enemy. The most fierce battles took place in the “Valley of Tears”; the Israeli brigade lost from 73 to 98 tanks out of 105. The Syrians lost about 350 tanks and 200 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.

The situation began to change radically after the reservists began to arrive. Syrian troops were stopped and then driven back to their original positions. Israeli troops launched an offensive against Damascus.

Since its introduction, the tank has been and remains the main threat on the battlefield. Tanks became a tool of blitzkrieg and a weapon of victory in World War II, a decisive trump card in the Iran-Iraq war; even equipped with the most modern means The American army cannot do without the support of tanks to destroy enemy personnel. the site has selected the seven largest tank battles from the moment these armored vehicles first appeared on the battlefield until today.

Battle of Cambrai

The irretrievable losses in Allied tanks amounted to 179 vehicles, and even more tanks failed due to technical reasons.

Battle of Annu

During the two-day battle, the 3rd French Light Mechanized Division lost 105 tanks, while German losses amounted to 164 vehicles. At the same time, German aviation had complete air supremacy.

Raseiniai tank battle

One of the episodes of this battle became legendary - the Soviet KV tank was able to hold off the advance of an entire tank group for 48 hours. For a long time, the Germans could not control a single tank; they tried to shoot it with an anti-aircraft gun, which was soon destroyed, and to blow up the tank, but all in vain. As a result, they had to use a tactical trick: the KV was surrounded by 50 German tanks and began to fire from three directions in order to divert his attention. At this time, an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun was secretly installed in the rear of the KV. She hit the tank 12 times, and three shells pierced the armor, destroying it.

Battle of Brody

Therefore, in the battle for Dubno - Lutsk - Brody, Soviet troops were defeated, losing more than 800 tanks. The Germans were missing about 200 tanks.

Battle of the Valley of Tears

All that Israel had was a couple of hundred tanks and excellent training, as well as courage and high stamina in battle, the latter the Arabs never had. Illiterate soldiers could leave the tank even after a shell hit it without penetrating the armor, and it was very difficult for the Arabs to cope even with simple Soviet sights.

Battle of the Kharhi Valley

The battle lasted about two days, from January 6 to 8, during which time the battlefield turned into a real quagmire, and the opponents became so close that it became risky to use aviation. The result of the battle was the victory of Iraq, whose troops destroyed or captured 214 Iranian tanks.

Battle of Prokhorovka