ЗАБЫТОЕ СРАЖЕНИЕ РАВНОЕ ПРОХОРОВКЕ — КАК ПАРАДНЫЙ КОРПУС СТАЛИНА СГОРЕЛ У БЕЛОРУССКОЙ РЕКИ

July 1941. Belarus. Two weeks of war—German tank groups had advanced five hundred kilometers from the border to Vitebsk. Timoshenko signed a directive—a counterattack. Two fresh mechanized corps from the Moscow District were sent against the German advance on Smolensk. The Seventh Mechanized Corps—a special one. A court corps. Its units marched in parades on Red Square. Yakov Dzhugashvili, Stalin's son, served in it. Now this corps was going to war. Less than a day to prepare. No reconnaissance. No aviation. The directive promised coordination with aviation—but there was no aviation. Colonel Vasiliev commanded the Fourteenth Tank Division. On July 6th, at ten in the morning—forward. Fifty kilometers in half a day. Then—the Chernogostnitsa River. The western bank, where the German Seventh Panzer Division had already taken up positions. Anti-tank guns were aimed at the crossings. German stormtroopers were over the river. The order was to cross the river immediately. The 27th Tank Regiment crossed the river. Without infantry, the motorized regiment remained on the east bank. Without proper artillery preparation. The Germans' fire was aimed. By evening, half the division had burned by the river. Senno fell. The units were surrounded near Vitebsk. Vasilyev withdrew through the forests until the end of July. Eight hundred and thirty-two Soviet tanks were the result of the operation. This was the Red Army's last attempt to launch a counterattack with tank units in 1941. After Senno, the mechanized corps were disbanded. The Germans lost a week. Smolensk gained time. This is the story of how a sound plan was dashed against a river that could not be crossed with the available resources. And about the parade corps that burned in the Belarusian fields. #tanks #belorussia #historyofwar