The Bettoni column belonged to 8. Italian Army , tasked with protecting the left flank of the German 6th Army as it advanced towards Stalingrad. The Italians, deployed south of the winding Don, occupied a front too extensive to be defended with the few forces they had. The Soviet 63rd Army had been probing its front for weak points for some time. On August 20 he attacked concentrating his efforts against the positions of the Sforzesca Division .
Since the division failed to stem the onslaught on its own, the 8th Army was left with no choice but to pawn its meager reserves. Among them was the Raggruppamento a Cavallo . It had been recently created from the 3rdCelere Division's broken off hippomobile units. Prince Amadeo Duca D´Aosta by converting it into a motorized division. They formed the Raggruppamento the Savoia Cavalleria regiments and Lancieri di Novara (with four squadrons of sabers and one of machine guns each) and the 3rd Horse Artillery Regiment (with three groups of two batteries of 75/27 guns). On the same August 20, he left for the front.
For the next two days their tasks—all cavalry-like—consisted of reconnoitering the terrain, locating the enemy's positions, blocking their advance as much as possible, and serving link between the defensive posts established by the Italian infantry in the few towns that dotted the steppe. In a harbinger of things to come, a squad of the Lancieri di Novara He charged on horseback, saber in hand, while another supported him on the ground with his firearms, to shake off the enemy pressure.
The command of the 8th Army, having gathered all the available reserves around the enemy penetration, decided to eliminate it on August 23 through a strong counterattack. The Savoia Cavalry , exploiting its cross-country mobility, moved to the extreme right of the deployment with the intention of capturing elevation 213.5 and penetrate deep into the Soviet rear. However, night fell before the riders could settle down. His commander, Colonel Alessandro Bettoni Cazzago, knew from his scouts that the northwest slope was occupied by a powerful enemy force. Not wanting to take any chances in the dark, he decided to camp in the positions reached, forming a square with the horses in the center. They would attack at dawn.
Isbuscenskij's Charge
Taking advantage of the still prevailing darkness, at dawn on August 24 the explorers resume their work. The Soviets had reinforced their positions overnight. To counter the enemy cavalry threat they added a third battalion to the left of the two already deployed on the hill. All three belonged to the 812th Rifle Regiment, part of the 304th Division. At 0330, almost by chance, the explorers came across the infantrymen entrenched among sunflowers. They react with intense fire from automatic weapons and mortars. The Italians respond with field pieces, anti-tank guns and machine guns located in their camp. Meanwhile, the squads prepare to maneuver.
The 4th Squadron reinforced with machine guns, advance frontally on foot to pin down the Soviets. Simultaneously, Colonel Bettoni orders Captain Francesco Saverio De Leone attack with your 2nd Squad against the left flank of the enemy position with maximum energy. De Leone and his riders, taking advantage of the undulations of the terrain to hide from the enemy's sight, come within charging distance. Forming a tight line supported by a machine gun platoon, the horsemen gallop forward trying to reach the enemy as quickly as possible. De Leone shouts his orders:"Sabre... in hand... charge!" Enraged, his men respond in unison:«Savoyaaa!» — The traditional cry of the Italian cavalry.
Opposite, the Soviets can hardly believe their eyes. A hundred or so riders rush at them like a shot. Their horses make the earth tremble by hitting it with a crash. Some defenders overcome terror and do not stop firing their rifles and machine guns until the last moment. Others huddle in newly dug foxholes. Some flee in terror. The first attackers fall. De Leone himself rolls on the ground as his trusty mount Ziguni collapses from enemy bullets. Another officer replaces him at the head of the squad. In a flash, horsemen and horses reach the defenders , hacking and trampling those who offer resistance. They have broken through the Soviet lines leaving behind a trail of men and animals, some dead, most wounded. Losses amount to half the squad.
Once outflanked, the defenders rally, turn around, and continue firing at the attackers. If they want to eliminate the threat, they have no choice but to repeat the charge, this time in the opposite direction, throwing hand grenades as they go. The maneuver has the expected effect. The battalion that forms the left flank of the Soviet line disbands . Completely demoralized, the infantry flee in all directions or allow themselves to be taken prisoner by the dismounted horsemen. Some even manage to convince them to help free their leg, trapped under the weight of their dead horse.
Colonel Bettoni, sensing that the enemy is weakening, decides todeal him the coup de grâce . He orders Captain Francesco Marchio to charge his 3rd Squadron against the battalions still holding out. The 1st Squadron, dismounted, provides covering fire. Eager to spring into action, the riders of 3rd Squadron charge forward in droves. Their captain leads them directly into the enemy in an almost frontal assault. He is unexpectedly joined by some senior officers, unable to stay out of the fight. This impetuous maneuver is decisive. The Soviets, considering the game lost, retreat in disorder. It's 06:30 in the morning.
Owner of the course, the Savoia Cavalleria takes stock. His 700 horsemen have defeated a force three times their number . They count 250 dead enemies and capture 300 prisoners (another as many will be delivered to the German 79th Infantry Division), as well as numerous weapons (including 4 cannons, 10 mortars and about 50 machine guns and machine guns). The price paid is reasonable:32 dead (3 of them officers), 52 wounded (5 officers) and 100 horses out of action. The regiment will be showered with decorations. In addition to a medaglia d'oro for military valor Collectively, its members share 2 gold medals posthumously, 54 silver, 50 bronze and 49 war crosses.
The regiment has demonstrated once again that, in the right circumstances and knowing how to choose the right moment, nothing could resist «the effect produced by the speed of the horse, the magnetism of the charge and the terror of cold steel", as the Cavalry Training Manual assured in 1907 British and would no doubt underwrite generations of riders throughout history. Althoughthe cavalry continued to charge sporadically until the end of the war , the circumstances that made it possible ended up disappearing, and with them a weapon that was present on the battlefield for five millennia, coming to dominate it in many periods.
It was the inexorable technological progress that condemned it to extinction. In the last third of the 19th century, the exponential increase in the rate of fire of firearms had substantially reduced their chances of deciding a confrontation through daring and speed. Even so, at the beginning of the 20th century it continued to play the transcendental role of marching at the forefront of armies to serve as their eyes and ears. The appearance of the internal combustion engine , applied to air and ground vehicles, ended up taking away this mission as well. Reluctant to leave the scene, during World War II he found his last stronghold in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, where the lack of roads, harsh winter weather, and rugged or forest- and swamp-covered terrain made horses highly mobile. that motor vehicles couldn't match.
With its disappearance, the war lost part of the halo of romanticism that enveloped it, if it ever had it for those who knew it closely.
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