Ancient history

The fierce battle in Hushine... A dragon of heroes fights a division

The battle in the village of Husine was one of the last in 1939 in long-suffering Poland. From September 17, 1939, the country had also received the Soviet attack while fighting for survival against Hitler's Nazi hordes. The village in question is located 7 km north-east of Hrubiezów in the province of Lublin.

On September 23, 1939 the Soviet 8th Rifle Corps crossed the Bug River near Khrubiezov. The corps consisted of the 44th and the 81st Rifle Division (MT) , with the first under Brigadier General ('brigade commander' to be precise) Alexei Vinogradov . The Soviet division captured the city and continued to move westward. The Soviets did not expect serious resistance as what was left of the Polish army was still fighting the Germans and there were only improvised Polish units against them.

One such was encountered by the Soviet 44th MT in Husine. It was headed by the retired major Witold Ranjulewicz and consisted of a "march" - from remnants - of the 14th Ulan Regiment , a city of mounted policemen , part of a chemical warfare battalion which fought as infantry and an 81mm mortar unit . Against the Soviet forces, the Poles put up around 1,500 men in total.

Ranjulevic knew the war was lost and his aim was to save his men by leading them into Hungarian or Romanian territory. However, the Soviet advance cut off the Poles' way. Then the Polish commander attempted to slip between the Soviet forces. But the Soviets discovered the few Poles and attacked them in an open field. Immediately the Soviet infantry formed an attack formation and charged.

The Poles, desperate as they were, did not hesitate. After firing their mortars into firing positions, they counter-attacked on horseback! With terrible shouts the Polish hulans and policemen charged with swords! The Soviets instead of standing and simply mowing down the brave, having no hope, opponents simply panicked and fled in disgrace, being massacred by dozens by the Poles! It took the intervention of Soviet tanks to stop the panic and repel the brave Poles.

Soon the latter found themselves in an absolutely desperate situation. The few shells of their mortars were exhausted, they had no anti-tank weapons, and the opponents were simply several thousand... So those Poles who did not manage to escape were captured, leaving behind 18 dead against hundreds of Soviets. Another 139 Poles were injured.

After the battle the Soviets murdered at least 25 Polish prisoners in cold blood. After this "great victory" they continued west. However, the Divine Judgment did not forget the Soviet brigadier general who always led the 44th MT fought and was defeated by the Finns and was humiliated and executed by order of Stalin on January 11, 1940.