Red Moscow

The German 5th Jaeger Division, which suddenly entered the town of Pultusk, still caught the advancing 6th Guards Division by surprise. The German army quickly took control of the favorable terrain and started shooting wildly at the charging Soviet army. Many Soviet commanders were killed on the spot, and the troop system was disrupted. The commanders and fighters who lost their unified command were mixed together. They could only hide in the corner of the house or behind obstacles on the roadside, allowing the German bullets to fly overhead. Watching the shells fall and explode not far from him.

Division Commander Onu Priyanko learned that the attack of the 25th Guards Regiment, which was at the forefront, was frustrated, so he made a phone call to the regiment headquarters, and said directly to the staff officer who answered the phone: "I am Division Commander Onu Priyanko. Section, put your regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Milesyev, on the phone."

Hearing Alexey Milesyev's voice coming from the receiver, Onuprienko slapped the table and cursed angrily: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please explain to me, what is going on? How could your regiment's attack be stopped by the Germans?"

"Comrade Commander," Alexey explained to Onuprienko on the phone: "The Germans took some important buildings by surprise and blocked our attack road. If we force a charge, the troops will pay Heavy casualties."

After Onuprienko put down the phone, he said to his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I will be in charge of the work of the division. I will go to the 25th regiment to see how the situation is."

"Comrade Commander," seeing that Onuprienko was going to the 25th regiment, the chief of staff quickly asked, "Do we need to report the news of our offensive setback to the headquarters?"

Regarding the proposal of the Chief of Staff, Onu Priyanko only hesitated for a moment before making a decision. He knew that Sokov was paying attention to the battle in Pultusk Town, and even if he didn't report it, the other party could know about it through other channels: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately send the news of our attack's setback to Headquarters report."

On the surface, the chief of staff of the division was reporting the battle inside the town to the headquarters, but in fact he wanted to report that Onuprienko had gone to the front line. Now that the war is critical, he doesn't want the division commander to take risks. He knew very well in his heart that if he persuaded him directly, Onu Priyenko would not listen at all, but if he let Sokov know about it, he only needed one phone call to get Onu Priyenko to return to the division command immediately. department.

After the call was connected, the chief of staff heard that the person answering the phone on the opposite side was Sidolin, Chief of Staff of the Group Army, and said in a respectful manner: "Hello, General Sidolin, I am the chief of staff of the 6th Guards Division. An important situation needs to be reported to you."

"Oh, so it's the chief of staff of the division." Sidolin was about to call the 6th Guards Division to learn about their battle situation. Since the other party took the initiative to call, he asked logically, "How is the situation there?"

"It's not so good, Comrade General." The chief of staff of the division said, "At first our progress was very smooth, but the enemy seems to have suddenly increased their troops and seized some important buildings, blocking our army's advance path with firepower. The 25th Guards Regiment, which was the main offensive task, suffered a certain loss after being suddenly attacked by the German army, and the troops are currently suppressed by the enemy's firepower and cannot advance."

"Where is your teacher?" Sidolin asked sternly, "What is he doing?"

"The division commander has just gone to the regiment headquarters of the 25th Guards Regiment." The division chief of staff reported: "He said he wanted to see for himself the distribution of the enemy's firepower."

"What, Onu Prienko went to the front." Sukov heard the conversation between Sidolin and the division chief of staff, and couldn't help frowning: "Chief of staff, immediately call the 25th Guards Regiment and ask Onupriyenko returned to his headquarters as soon as possible. Tell him that he is the division commander, not the company commander or platoon commander. He does not need to go to the front line himself. Let him return to his division headquarters immediately. What should the front line do? To fight, he just needs to give orders."

Ponedelin next to him couldn't help laughing when he heard what Sokov said: "Comrade Commander, I think General Onuprienko is a bit like you. Whenever there is a war, he always likes to run to the front. Find out the situation on the battlefield as soon as possible.”

Seeing Ponegelin expose his old background, Sokov smiled, and said a little embarrassedly: "I am sitting in my command post, and I can only rely on the battle reports from the front to understand the situation on the battlefield. I think I can’t grasp the specific situation on the battlefield in time, so I will go to the front twice from time to time. But the places I go are usually safer, not as dangerous as the places where General Onuprienko goes.”

Sidolin, who was on the phone, raised his head and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I just called the regiment headquarters of the 25th Guards Regiment, and the chief of staff of the regiment who answered the phone told me that Onu Priyan General Ko and the head of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Milesyev, went to the front for inspection."

"Damn it, what's going on with Onuprienko?" Sokov said angrily after hearing this, "Don't stay in your own command post honestly, and even go to the front line command post in person." Frontier, doesn't he know that if something happens to him, the entire 6th Guards Division will fall into chaos because of the loss of unified command? Chief of staff, immediately ask the staff of the regiment to arrest Onu Prienko General and Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Milesyev back."

Sidolin nodded, and said into the microphone: "Comrade Commander has an order, immediately send someone to retrieve General Onuprienko and Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Milesyev, and we must not let They stay in dangerous places."

While Sidolin was on the phone, Sokov said to Pornedelin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I have a bold idea."

"Bold idea?" Ponejielin looked at Sukov and asked with great interest, "I don't know how bold it is?"

Sokov grinned, and then said: "Now the attack of the 1st Guards Division is going smoothly. I plan to let the 3rd Infantry Division rush to the south of Pultusk through the passage opened by them, and attack the Germans. attack."

"Before our army has fully occupied the town of Puutusk, let a force pass through the passage opened by the friendly army, rush to the south of the town, and launch an attack on the enemy."

Regarding Sokov's statement, Ponegerin expressed doubts: "Is this possible? It won't cause unnecessary confusion, right?"

"If we control the rhythm, I think what you are worried about will not happen." Sokov continued: "I want the 1st Guards Division to turn directly and attack the enemy in the south of the position. But carefully Thinking about it, this is inappropriate, and it will disrupt their offensive rhythm. It should not be a big problem to send a force to the south of the town through the gap they opened, and attack the enemies there."

"Comrade Commander, although your proposal is a bit risky, I think it's worth the risk." Ponederin said to Sokov, "Is it necessary to prepare for artillery fire before the attack of the 3rd Infantry Division begins?"

"Of course." Sokov nodded, and replied: "As we said in advance, we should launch artillery strikes on the German 5th Division first, so that they can no longer deploy troops to reinforce the town. If we do this, we can also give The Germans gave the illusion that we fired on the 5th Jaeger Division after we discovered they were adding troops to the town."

"Okay, I'll call General Potapov." Ponedelin raised his hand and glanced at the time: "I'll let him bombard the enemy's position in a quarter of an hour."

When Ponegerin called, Sokov was not idle either. He picked up the phone on the table and ordered the messenger to connect to the headquarters of the 1st Guards Division: "General Tolstikov? I'm Sokov!"

"Hello, Comrade Commander." Hearing the call from Sokov himself, Tolstikov couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He thought the other party was asking when the town could be captured, so he quickly explained: "The commanders and fighters of our division are fighting tenaciously in the town, but I really haven't given you an accurate answer when we will be able to occupy the entire town. After all, our division is not the only one responsible for the offensive mission."

"You're right, General Tolstikov." Sokov said, "Your division played very well. If I had given the task of attacking the town to your division alone, maybe you would have Take the whole town down."

From Sokov's tone of voice, Tolstikov heard that the battle to capture the town was not going well, and asked quickly: "Comrade Commander, did the attack by the 6th Guards Division not go well? "

"At the beginning of their attack, it went well." Sokov replied cautiously: "But the enemy suddenly increased their troops into the town, seized many important buildings, and blocked their advance with powerful firepower. The road, which led to the setback of the attack of the 25th Guards Regiment, which was the main attack."

"Comrade Commander," Tolstikov asked tentatively after hearing this, "Do I need to send troops to assist them? If we attack from two directions at the same time, we may be able to crush the resistance of the German army."

"That's unnecessary." Sokov said, "I didn't call you to ask you to reinforce the 6th Guards Division. I believe they are capable of destroying the enemies entrenched in the town. I have another matter. I want to inform you, and I hope you can fully cooperate." Although Tolstikov didn't know what Sokov would say next, he replied very simply: "Please tell me, Comrade Commander, as long as I can If I do, I will fully cooperate.”

"That's right, General Tolstikov. I'm going to send General Kirillov's 3rd Infantry Division through the passage opened by your division to the south of the town of Pultusk to the south of the town of Pultusk. The German 5th Jaeger Division is attacking. I hope you can provide some assistance to the friendly forces as they pass through."

Knowing that a friendly army was going to pass through his combat area and go south of the town of Pultusk to attack the German troops standing there, it would be impossible for Tolstikov to say that he would not be disappointed. But since Sokov had given the order, no matter how unwilling he was, he could only choose to obey.

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Tolstikov said: "I will send someone to respond and assist the friendly forces to pass through the combat area of ​​our division smoothly." Seeing that Tolstikov promised so readily, Soko Husband's heart suddenly felt at ease. He continued: "In a quarter of an hour, our artillery will start shelling the German positions south of the town, and then the 3rd Infantry Division will enter the town. I hope you send someone to guide them through the engagement area."

After getting a positive answer from Tolstikov, Sokov called Kirillov again. After hearing Kirillov's voice, Sokov asked bluntly: "General Kirillov, are your troops ready for battle?"

When Kirilov heard Sokov's question, he couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart, wondering if things had changed, and the commander didn't plan to let his troops perform combat missions anymore? Thinking of this, he tentatively asked, "Comrade Commander, what happened?"

"The situation on the battlefield has changed a little bit." Sokov said: "The enemy's 5th Jager Division suddenly increased its troops to the town. In order not to let their actions affect our next battle, I plan to let you Enter the battlefield in advance."

"No problem," Kirillov felt more at ease when he realized that he was just advancing his attack time, he nodded with relief, and then said: "Our division has made all preparations for battle and can go into battle at any time. "

"In another quarter of an hour, the army artillery will start shelling the enemy." Sokov said: "As soon as the shelling starts, you will lead the troops into the town of Pultusk. Tolstiko of the 1st Guards Division General Husband will send someone to pick you up and guide you through the town smoothly, and go out near the German position in the south of the town."

While the Artillery and the 3rd Infantry Division were making final preparations before the attack, Onuprienko and Alexei Milesiev were hiding behind a pile of rubble, raising their binoculars to check the front. Condition.

As Onupriyenko estimated, the Germans did not seem to have occupied a favorable position, but they seemed very panicked. Although the firepower composed of machine guns and submachine guns was fierce, they were shooting wildly aimlessly.

Onuprienko put down the binoculars in his hand and turned to look at Alexei beside him: "Comrade commander," after all the battalions participating in the attack returned to the trenches, Petrovsky asked the commander: " This is what you said, the defense line that cannot be broken through?"

Seeing that Alexei remained silent, Onuprienko calmly gave an order: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I will give you one hour to reorganize the offensive. After two hours, all the areas we are responsible for must be occupied."

Alexei blushed when he heard Onuprienko say this, and replied with some embarrassment: "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will immediately regroup the troops and attack the enemy again in an hour. But... ..."

"But what?" Onuprienko said: "Are you worried about the lack of troops in your hands? You don't have to worry about this. I will send the 4th Guards Regiment to assist you. The 1st Guards Division played well. If they control the area they are in charge of before us, it is estimated that Division Commander Tolstikov will be proud of it when he comes to the headquarters for a meeting in the future."

Onuprienko's words aroused the fighting spirit in Alexei's heart: "Comrade commander, whoever can take the area in charge first is related to the honor of the army. Don't worry, I will never let the friendly army take the lead." In front of us, we will complete the combat tasks assigned by our superiors."