Red Moscow

In the evening, the pontoon bridge over the Narew River was finally erected.

At the same time, two enemy planes appeared in the air. They lowered their altitude and threw aerial bombs towards the pontoon bridge, trying to blow up the pontoon bridge that had just been erected.

The enemy plane that was the first to dive had its finger on the bomb button, and could only drop a little more to destroy the pontoon bridge by dropping bombs, preventing the Russians from transporting supplies from the right bank to the left bank of the Narew River.

But just as he was about to drop the bomb, countless black puffs of smoke bloomed around the plane, and then the plane shook violently, as if hit by hailstones, and there were crackling noises under the fuselage and under the wings. At the same time, the transparent plexiglass cover of the cockpit was instantly shattered by shrapnel dense like migratory locusts. The pilot immediately understood that he was hit by ground anti-aircraft fire. But this was his last consciousness. The next moment, he was sieved by countless shrapnel, and the plane fell headlong, hitting an orange fireball in the open space by the river.

The wingman pilot who followed saw that something was wrong and yanked the stick to pull the plane up into the clouds. Even so, black smoke came out from the engine. Fortunately, he was lucky, and flew back to the rear airport staggeringly while driving the bombed plane.

After driving away the German bombers, the convoy that had been waiting by the river for a long time began to cross the river. The first thing to cross the bridge was the truck pulling the artillery. This is what Sokov meant. There was a lack of artillery on the landing field on the left bank, and when the 120th Guards Division was carrying out a forced crossing, due to the weight of the ships, most of the artillery of the division artillery regiment remained in the right bank area.

The liaison officers of the 310th Artillery Regiment, who were waiting by the pontoon bridge, immediately greeted the artillery when they saw the artillery crossing the bridge, and guided the vehicles to the newly established artillery position.

Rokossovsky called Sokov: "Misha, how is the situation there?"

"The pontoon bridge has just been built, and the troops are crossing the river in an orderly manner."

"How many troops are there on the landing field on the left bank?"

"For the time being, only the 120th Guards Division of Major General Nikitin," Sokov replied: "Follow-up troops will cross the bridge one after another in the middle of the night."

"Misha! It's too slow, your speed is too slow!" After listening to Sokov's answer, Rokossovsky said with some displeasure: "Now there are too few troops on the left bank landing field. If the German army launches a large-scale attack at this moment Can they withstand an attack of such scale?"

Sokov, who was criticized by Rokossovsky, did not dare to refute the other party, so he could only follow the other party's meaning and say: "Don't worry, Comrade Marshal, the troops who want to reinforce the left bank have long been waiting on the bank, just waiting to be drawn." After the artillery convoy has passed, they will begin to cross the river."

"Why let the artillery cross the river first?" Rokossovsky questioned: "If there is no infantry cover, the artillery is a lamb to be slaughtered in front of the Germans. Once the enemy captures the artillery position without infantry cover, they You can turn the muzzle and bombard your right bank position, what kind of consequences will it bring, have you thought about it?"

"Comrade Marshal, you have misunderstood." Seeing that Rokossovsky had misunderstood himself, Sokov quickly explained to him: "The artillery currently crossing the river is the artillery regiment of the 120th Guards Division. During the forced crossing, the guns were left on the right bank because the ships could not carry heavy weapons. Now that the pontoon bridge has been erected, I decided to let the guns cross the bridge first, so that the artillery regiment of the 120th Guards Division could be ready for battle. Whenever the Germans attack the landing field, they can provide the necessary artillery support for the infantry at the first time."

Rokossovsky realized that he had misunderstood Sokov, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Misha, I just criticized you without understanding the situation. I hope you don't mind. Now General Batov is here. The landing field established on the left bank is being continuously counterattacked by the German army. If the enemy finds that the counterattack there is not effective, it is very likely to turn around and launch a strong attack on Luran Town. Then you will face great pressure."

Sokov knew very well that his superior ordered him to set up a landing field in the direction of Luran Town in order to help Batov's troops share the pressure, so that the enemy could not concentrate all their forces and launch a comprehensive counterattack in Pultusk. As Rokossovsky said, once the German army finds that their offensive in the Puutusk area is ineffective, they will definitely choose other weak places as a new offensive direction, and Luran Town is undoubtedly the weakest direction. .

After thinking about this, Sokov said into the microphone: "Comrade Marshal, don't worry, I will send as many troops as possible to the landing field on the left bank in the shortest possible time, and establish a solid line of defense to resist the German attack." attack."

"Misha, I want to remind you." Out of love for Sokov, Rokossovsky waited for him to finish speaking, and added: "The area of ​​the landing field under your control is not large. If there are too many troops crowded together, once they are bombed or shelled by the German army, it may cause a lot of casualties."

Although Rokossovsky did not say it clearly, Sokov already guessed the other party's intention in his heart, which was to let himself expand the area of ​​​​the landing field, and quickly promised: "Comrade Marshal, please rest assured, after dawn, we will launch as soon as possible." The attack on the German army sought to expand the area of ​​​​the landing field."

After putting down the phone, Sokov discussed with Ponejielin and Sidolin how to expand the landing field: "Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, according to our original plan, before dawn, the 1st Guards and the 1st Guards The 6th Division is deployed on the landing field on the left bank. However, Comrade Marshal’s words are right. Our landing field on the left bank is too small. If so many troops are crowded in this small area, once they are bombed by the Germans Or shelling, I'm afraid the troops will suffer considerable losses."

Ponejielin agreed with Sokov's statement: "That's right, Comrade Commander, you are right. Concentrating so many troops on such a small landing field, seeing that our troops are The increased, but actually too dense formations were easy targets for German artillery and air force."

Sidolin stared at the map and said: "I think we can consider letting the 1st Guards Division develop to the northeast, as close as possible to the Puutusk area, so that it can echo with General Batov's 65th Army."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, your idea is good, but it will be difficult to implement." Pornegerin pointed to the map and said to Sidolin: "You may have forgotten that the area between us and the 65th Army, It is basically peatland, and it is difficult to use tanks. Simply using infantry to attack the enemy is tantamount to letting the commanders and fighters die."

Sokov has stayed in Russia for a long time, so he naturally knows that the so-called peatland is a swamp that has been drained of water. It is true that tank troops cannot be used on such land. But without the cooperation of the tanks, the infantry who approached the 65th Army would probably suffer great casualties.

Sidolin thought about it, and then proposed a plan: "Comrade Deputy Commander, can you see if this works. Let's send engineers to this area to pave roads and open up roads for tanks..."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, your idea is too unrealistic." Pornegerin interrupted without waiting for Sidolin to finish, and raised his own objection: "Once the German army finds that we are Bombing or shelling will definitely be used to stop us from laying the road, and the engineers who build the road will suffer heavy casualties. Even if the Germans do not come to stop us from building the road, there will be three It would be a huge project to pave such a long distance of more than ten kilometers, and it would be very difficult to complete it by manpower without the cooperation of special construction machinery."

The words of Ponegerin are tantamount to completely denying Sidolin's proposal. After patiently listening to the two people's arguments, Sokov said, "I think Comrade Deputy Commander is right. Building a road from Luran Town to Pultusk is wasteful and unnecessary. Instead of Sending engineers to spend so much time paving the road, it is better to let them use this time to build a few more pontoon bridges on the Narew River to increase the transportation capacity between the two banks."

"As for which direction we should develop in order to expand the area of ​​the landing site, this is how I think about it. Take a look." Sokov dragged the map on the table in front of him, then picked up a Red and blue pencils drew dotted lines on the map with the red end: "Developing to the northeast of Luran Town is no longer within our consideration. The only thing left is to go west and southwest."

"I think it should go west." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Sidolin rushed to say: "Now the main force of the enemy has been transferred to the Pultusk area, and the enemy in front of us is relatively weak, so Allowing us to quickly advance out further to the west."

Ponegerin did not express any opinion on this matter, but asked for Sokov's opinion: "Comrade commander, what do you think?"

"Developing westward, I don't think it's appropriate." Sokov knew what he said, and both of them would have doubts. Before they asked, he said: "Look at the map. Our landing field became a wedge wedged in the direction of the German army. In order to ensure the integrity of their defense line, the enemy will definitely attack us frantically and try to level their front line. At that time, the troops going out to the west, We are facing the fate of being cut off from the main force, so we can't take this risk, lest we ruin our vitality."

"So, you plan to let the troops develop to the southwest?" Pornejelin asked tentatively.

"That's right." Sokov nodded, and explained his reasons to the two: "Look, if our troops develop to the southwest, we can expand the area of ​​the landing field with the Narew River at our back. area without having to be attacked from several sides at the same time.”

"If we develop in the southwest direction, the area of ​​our landing field will indeed expand, but the defense depth will not be enough." Pornejelin frowned and said: "Insufficient defense depth, and the defense front is too wide, which will lead to the loss of our troops. Disperse. In this way, when the German army launches a fierce attack on us, the defense line may be breached."

Sokov also considered Ponejelin's concerns. He drew a line with a pencil at the position of the Narew River, and continued: "Comrade Deputy Commander, this is how I think about it. If we develop to the southwest and expand the area of ​​​​the landing field, then we can Set up a few more pontoon bridges on the river to transport more troops and technical equipment. You can accumulate more forces in a short period of time and take the initiative to attack the enemy's defensive zone to the west."

Sidolin asked with some surprise: "Comrade commander, didn't you just say that. Isn't our army suitable for developing westward? Why did your plan change in the blink of an eye?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't understand what I mean." Seeing Sidolin's confused look, Sokov explained to him: "If we only have one pontoon bridge on the Narew River with limited transportation capacity, if we want to If we develop to the west, we will not be able to transport more troops to the landing field on the left bank in a short time. But if we first develop to the southwest, expand the area of ​​​​the landing field, and build more pontoon bridges on the river, we can improve The speed of transportation of troops and technical equipment. Even if the troops are developing westward and the flanks are threatened by the German army, we can mobilize more troops in the shortest time to defuse the unfavorable situation.”

Ponegerin expressed support for Sokov's proposal: "I agree with Comrade Commander's opinion that the troops crossing the river will first develop in the southwest direction, and after expanding the landing field and building more pontoon bridges, it is also possible to develop westward. Not too late."

But Sidolin thought about the plan that Sokov said carefully, and felt that it made sense, so he nodded his head: "That's right, first expand the area of ​​​​the landing site, and then it will not be too late to develop westward."

After a short pause, he asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, in addition to the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions, do you plan to transfer those troops to the left bank landing site?"

"The 211th and 284th Infantry Divisions lost a lot of troops during the siege battle in the fortified area." Sokov said: "This time, let them stay as a reserve team, and transfer the 3rd and 109th Infantry Divisions to go. Stand by the Narew River. Wait until the area of ​​the landing site expands before crossing the river to the landing site."

"What about the artillery and tank units?" Sidolin then asked, "Should they stay on the right bank, or should they go to the landing site on the left bank?"

"The artillery remains in the right bank area." Sokov said: "As for the tank unit, first transfer a tank brigade to assist the infantry in combat, and the rest will stay in the right bank area for the time being. It will not be too late to cross the river when the time is right. .”

After quickly recording Sokov's order, Sidolin nodded and said, "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will pass your order to the troops below as soon as possible."

While Sidolin was on the phone, Ponejielin also reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think the German army will definitely send out the air force to carry out bombing in order to prevent us from expanding the landing field. If there is no air cover, our ground forces will No matter how strong the army is, I'm afraid it will suffer."

When Sokov heard this, he understood what Ponegerin wanted to express, and quickly said: "I will contact Comrade Marshal and ask General Porenin's air force to cooperate with our actions in the direction of the landing field."