In the thirties of the last century, many countries still retained cavalry units, among which the Polish cavalry was more famous. Some people joked that when the German army blitzed Poland at the beginning of World War II, the country's cavalry weapons were backward, and they actually used sabers to cut tanks. In fact, no one would be so stupid when it really started, and the Polish cavalry units were not short of modern weapons in addition to the sabers and cavalry guns that were normally equipped.
Polish cavalry
On September 1, 1941, German troops invaded Poland and World War II broke out. At this time, the largest number of Polish cavalry units was cavalry brigades, each of which had three to four cavalry regiments, a light tank company, an armored car company, an infantry battalion, and a company equipped with 75 mm field guns. Each regiment was attached to four cavalry companies, a heavy machine gun company and an anti-tank platoon.
TKS tank
In addition to sabre guns, machine guns, and field guns, the weapons used by the Polish cavalry also included TKS ultralight tanks weighing 2.6 tons, armored vehicles, anti-tank guns, 40-mm anti-aircraft guns, and 37-mm anti-tank guns. Unlike other cavalry, the Polish cavalry units at the beginning of World War II still had hundreds of spears per brigade, and although this cold weapon was mostly ceremonial in nature, it was also used in actual combat.
At 7 a.m. on September 23, 1939, in Krasnobrd, southeastern Poland, Polish cavalry units fought a major battle with the 8th Division of the German 14th Army. The Polish army included the elite 25th Grand Polish Lancer Regiment, which was armed with hundreds of spears, and the battle was a curtain call for the lancers. In the face of the advanced weapons of the German army, although the Polish cavalry suffered heavy casualties, after a bloody battle, they successfully broke through to the division headquarters of the German 8th Division, captured the division commander Rudolf Lich Elpach and 100 German soldiers, and rescued more than 40 Polish prisoners.
Under the heavy blows of the German blitzkrieg, the Polish cavalry was finally crushed and withdrew from the stage of history.