Red Moscow - Chapter 2117

  Chapter 2117

   As soon as it was dawn, the German artillery launched a fierce shelling towards the landing field of the 65th Army in the Puutusk area, and the position of the 4th Guards Division was suddenly shrouded in smoke.

  Major General Levchuk, the division commander who was sleeping in the corner of the division headquarters, was awakened by the huge explosion. He sat up suddenly from the camp bed and asked loudly, "What's going on, where is the sound of the artillery?"

   "Comrade Division Commander," a staff officer rushed in front of him and replied loudly: "Our division's defense area has been heavily shelled."

   "Bombardment?!" Levchuk hadn't fully woken up from his sleep. He asked in a daze, "Where did the bombardment take place?"

   "Needless to say, Comrade Commander." The staff officer said with a wry smile, "It must have been the Germans shelling us, and judging from the sound of the artillery, the enemy used quite a few artillery pieces."

   "Where is the Chief of Staff?"

   "He may be resting in his room." After the staff officer said this, before Levchuk asked again, he took the initiative to say: "I think he will rush to the division headquarters as soon as possible after hearing the gunfire."

  Levchuk nodded, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed the division artillery regiment: "I am division commander Levchuk, let your regiment commander answer the phone."

  The voice of the head of the artillery regiment quickly came from the receiver: ""Comrade commander, what instructions do you have? "

   "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Levchuk said angrily, "did you hear the gunfire outside?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." The head of the artillery regiment replied in an affirmative tone: "I heard it!"

   "Since I heard it, why don't you fight back?"

"Comrade Commander," hearing Levchuk questioning why he didn't let the artillery regiment fight back, the regimental commander said with a wry smile: "Our artillery regiment now only has 14 76.2mm cannons and 3 122mm howitzers. According to the German bombardment Judging by the scale, they have used at least five hundred artillery pieces, and most of them are heavy artillery pieces with a caliber above 150. As long as our regiment fires, it will be covered by their intensive artillery fire in less than two minutes. Once our The entire artillery army was wiped out..." At this point, the artillery chief stopped abruptly.

   "Go on, why not?!"

   "Comrade Commander, if the entire army of our regiment is wiped out, once the German artillery stops and the infantry attacks our positions under the cover of tanks, we will not be able to provide artillery support to the defenders."

  Levchuk felt that what the artillery regiment commander said made sense. If they were forced to fire at the enemy with such a disparity in strength, at best they would just listen to it, and then they would become victims of the powerful German artillery fire. So after thinking for a while, he said to the artillery regiment commander: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, order the artillery to take cover, and provide artillery support to the defenders after the enemy's ground attack begins."

  As soon as the phone was put down here, the chief of staff ran in panting and asked Levchuk, "Comrade commander, what's going on? Why did the Germans suddenly launch a violent shelling on our defense zone?"

"You ask me, who should I ask?" Levchuk said angrily: "Who knows what kind of madness the Germans have gone into. There was no movement at all two days ago, and today it is still before dawn. Intensive shelling was carried out in the defense zone."

"Comrade Commander, this matter is of great importance. I suggest reporting to the superior immediately." The division chief of staff said: "The main force of the landing field has been withdrawn to the right bank area, and now only we and Colonel Artyom's 40th Guards Division are left. With the strength of our two divisions alone, we cannot stop the enemy's attack at all."

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right." Regarding the statement made by the Chief of Staff, Levchuk nodded and echoed: "Our two divisions have been severely weakened after the early battles. Rather than saying two divisions, it would be more appropriate to say two regiments."

As soon as he got through to the Army Group Command, Levchuk heard Glebov's anxious voice from the receiver: "Is this General Levchuk? I am Chief of Staff Glebov. What's the matter with the sound?"

"Report to Comrade Chief of Staff." Levchuk replied respectfully: "Not long ago, our division's defense zone was hit by powerful German artillery fire. According to the judgment of the artillery regiment commander, the number of artillery used by the enemy will not be less than Five hundred doors."

   Hearing that the German army used 500 artillery pieces to carry out a violent shelling of the defense area of ​​the 4th Guards Division, Glebov couldn't help frowning. He covered the microphone with his hand, and reported to Batov who had just woken up from his sleep not long ago: "Comrade Commander, General Levchuk reported that the enemy used no less than five hundred artillery pieces to attack the Guards No. The positions of the 4th Division were heavily shelled."

"Damn, what are the Germans going to do? At this time, they bombarded the positions of the 4th Guards Division." Batov walked to the wall, looked up at the map hanging on it, and began to think about what he should do next. Do.

   Glebov let go of his hand covering the microphone and asked, "General Levchuk, in addition to shelling your division's defense area, what actions did the German army take against Colonel Artyom's 40th Guards Division defense area?"

   "I don't know much, Comrade Chief of Staff." Hearing Glebov's question, Levchuk hurriedly replied truthfully: "I haven't got any information about the 40th Guards Division yet."

   "General Levchuk, we already know the situation there." Glebov said into the microphone: "We will provide you with support as soon as possible."

After putting down the phone, Glebov walked behind Batov and said cautiously: "Comrade Commander, the two Guards divisions left at the landing site on the left bank were severely weakened in the early battle. If the German army The offensive is fierce, and I'm worried that they won't be able to defend at all. Look, do you want to immediately transfer the troops who withdrew to the Belovizh Forest two days ago to the left bank landing site?"

"Chief of Staff, even if we mobilize our troops now, I am afraid that these three divisions will not be able to reach the shore of Narew until the evening." Batov said with some annoyance: "But in this way, our original rest The plan fell through."

   "Comrade Commander, this matter is of great importance. Would you like to report it to the Front Army Command?" Glebov said, "I think we may need the cooperation of our friendly forces."

   "Cooperation of friendly forces?!" Hearing what Glebov said, Batov couldn't help being taken aback, and then asked, "You mean the 48th Army?"

"That's right, it's General Sokov's troops." Glebov said to Batov: "His troops are the closest to our landing field. If our position is attacked by the enemy, he will attack from the side and rear, and attack hard." Give the enemy a piece of ground, and the German attack plan can be completely disrupted."

At this moment, Batov remembered that Sokov once reminded himself that the enemy in the Narew River Basin was a bit abnormal, so he asked himself to strengthen his defenses, but he didn't know that he didn't listen to his words at all, and now that something went wrong, he was asked to deal with it Clean up the mess by yourself, I am afraid the other party will not be willing.

  Thinking of this, Batov said to Glebov: "Chief of Staff, you are right. This matter is of great importance, and you need to report it to the Front Army Command immediately to see what they mean."

The reason why Batov asked Glebov to report to the front army headquarters was because he considered that in the next battle, he might need Sokov's help to have a chance to hold the position. However, he was somewhat dissatisfied with Sokov two days ago. To be polite, if you go directly to the other party for help, you may run into trouble, so the best way is to report to the front army headquarters and ask them to come forward to negotiate this matter.

When Rokossovsky received a call from Batov and learned that the position established by the group army on the left bank of Narew was being heavily bombarded by the Germans, he couldn't help being surprised and asked quickly: "Comrade Batov, Where are the three divisions you transferred away now?"

"Where else can be, of course it's in the Belovizh Forest." Batov guessed what Rokossovsky would ask next, and said proactively: "Even if we urgently gather troops now, we should Wait until dark before the troops can reach the left bank area."

"Can the two Guards divisions you left on the left bank last that long?" Rokossovsky said with a serious expression, "If you lose the landing site on the left bank, do you know what the consequences will be?" ?”

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Batov replied embarrassingly: "Regardless of the hard work of our army commanders and fighters for more than a month, and the 48th Army, which also stayed on the left bank, will become a lone army and have to face at the same time. side attack."

   "It's good that you know." Rokossovsky heard the other party's subtext from Batov's words: "I hear what you mean, do you want Misha's troops to help you?"

"That's right, Comrade Marshal, you guessed it all." Batov heard Rokossovsky broke his mind, and said with some embarrassment: "General Sokov's landing site is the closest to the Pultusk landing site. If he is willing to send troops to attack the rear of the German army, then our troops on the left bank may hold out until reinforcements arrive."

"Okay, I will notify Misha and ask him to send troops to reinforce you." Rokossovsky said into the microphone: "Before the reinforcements arrive, you must find a way to take remedial measures and keep the landing site. understand?"

   "Yes, Comrade Marshal." Seeing that Rokossovsky did not reprimand him, Batov secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After putting down the phone, he said to Glebov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can we do something about the left bank landing site now?"

   "Under the current circumstances, it is certainly impossible to mobilize infantry to reinforce the left bank." Glebov said: "However, the artillery units we deployed on the right bank can provide artillery support for the defenders on the landing ground."

"That's fine." Batov picked up a pencil on the table, drew a dotted line on the periphery of the left bank landing site, and said to Glebov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, when the Germans start to attack the landing site, order the artillery to attack the landing site." The attacking enemy conducts blocking fire, and must build an insurmountable wall of fire in front of our army's position."

Don't look at Batov's understatement, but Glebov is very clear in his heart that to build such an insurmountable wall of fire in front of the defenders' positions, the shells consumed in every minute are measured in tons. As soon as the battle goes on, the shells hoarded by the artillery of the group army will be exhausted.

  After Batov finished speaking, seeing Glebov standing there in a daze, he couldn't help frowning slightly, and said with some displeasure: "Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't you hear what I said?"

   "Understood, Comrade Commander." Glebov nodded and said, "I am considering how to provide some necessary help to the troops on the left bank."

   "What about the artillery we deployed on the right bank?" Batov asked, "Can they complete the tasks I deployed?"

"I'm afraid it will be difficult." Glebov shook his head and said, "Since you ordered the troops on the left bank to be withdrawn across the river, the director of artillery has considered that if the artillerymen without infantry cover continue to stay by the Narew River, there may be The possibility of being attacked by the enemy, so he moved the artillery station to the east by fifteen kilometers. In other words, if the artillery was allowed to fire from the existing artillery position, it would only be able to pass the Narew River in a miserable manner, and it would not be possible at all. Raise an impenetrable barrage of fire before the defenders' positions."

"Immediately notify the director of artillery to move the artillery positions five to eight kilometers west." Batov said: "I think it will be too late for them to move their defenses at this moment. The German bombardment will stop soon. Once the German bombardment Stop, they will launch an attack on our left bank landing field, if the defenders do not have the cover of artillery fire, it will be difficult to defend the landing field."

   In this way, Glebov called the artillery director and asked the artillery to move westward for a distance of five to eight kilometers, and to build a new artillery position, ready to provide artillery support for the defenders on the left bank at any time.

  But before the artillery of the 65th Army began to move, the German army prepared for nearly an hour of artillery fire on the left bank landing site. Under the cover of dozens of tanks, they launched an attack on the Soviet positions that were still shrouded in gunpowder smoke.

  The two Guards divisions left at the landing site on the left bank had been weakened in the early battles, and their total strength was less than 5,000, of which there were only 4,000 combat personnel. Facing such a ferocious attack by the German army, although the commanders and fighters put up tenacious resistance, they had to abandon their positions and retreat to the river due to being outnumbered.

  Artyom's 40th Guards Division was the first to withdraw to the defensive position by the river, and began to strengthen the fortifications here, preparing to fight to the death. Levchuk's three guard regiments retreated step by step to the defensive position by the river by alternately covering and fighting step by step.

  However, the German army moved very fast, and soon bit the broken 11th Guards Regiment, preventing them from leaving the battlefield. They could only meet the German troops strengthened by tanks in the crude fortifications.

Levchuk learned that his broken troops were entangled by the Germans, and asked the chief of staff to continue to retreat with the main force of the 3rd Guards Regiment and the 8th Guards Regiment, and rushed to rescue the trapped 11th Guards with the guard battalion. group.

  But when Levchuk rushed to the place with the guard battalion, the 11th Guards Regiment was surrounded by the Germans, and the commanders and fighters were making their final resistance relying on the terrain. Seeing the division commander personally bring the guard battalion to the rescue, the morale of the remaining commanders and fighters of the 11th regiment was immediately high, and they bravely launched a countercharge to the enemy, tearing a hole in the enemy's encirclement, and jumped out from here.

   Seeing the head of the 11th Regiment with a bandage on his head coming to him, Levchuk said to him: "Comrade Colonel, you immediately take your people to the river, and I will stay to cover you."

  Hearing that the division commander wanted to leave cover, how could the regiment leader leave so easily, he quickly said: "Master, you should withdraw first, and I will leave the cover."

  (end of this chapter)