The first thing Nikitin did after taking office as acting division commander was to summon commanders at the battalion level and above in the division to the headquarters for a meeting. First, he publicly announced his new appointment; second, he assigned combat tasks to each regiment.
Not many people knew about the division commander's injury. When the commanders who received the call came to the headquarters, they did not see the division commander's shadow, and they were somewhat surprised. They thought that since it was the division commander who informed us of the meeting, he
Why don't you show up?
In order to find out what was going on, everyone asked each other privately what was going on. The people who were asked were also confused. Facing Pao Ze's inquiry, they could only shrug and spread their hands.
Showing that he is equally ignorant.
When the division chief of staff saw that everyone attending the meeting had arrived, he clapped his hands twice. After everyone focused their attention on him, he said: "Comrade commanders, please be quiet. We are in a meeting now!"
After the room became quiet, the division chief of staff continued: "First of all, I want to report some unfortunate news to everyone. On his way back to the headquarters, our division commander, Colonel Terkov, was shelled by the Germans and was seriously injured.
Now he has been sent to the field hospital in the rear."
The words of the division chief of staff were like sprinkling a handful of salt into a red-hot iron pot, which exploded immediately. The commanders who came to attend the meeting never dreamed that their division commander actually withdrew from the battle because he was seriously injured. No more
Commander, how should we fight the next battle? And who will command us?
"Quiet, everyone, please be quiet!" The division chief of staff slammed the table hard, trying to quiet everyone down. But the discussion was too intense, so he shouted several times before everyone gradually became quiet.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," the head of the 334th Regiment asked: "Colonel Terkov is injured, then who will be the division commander?"
"Me!" Before the chief of staff of the division could speak, Nikitin, who was sitting next to him and was ignored by everyone, stood up and announced loudly to the commanders present: "Colonel Terkov has withdrawn from the battle because he was injured. Army Commander
Appoint me as acting division commander."
Everyone was very calm when they heard Nikitin say that he had taken over the position of division commander. He was a combat consultant sent by the front army headquarters some time ago. He knew the situation of the troops very well. It was undoubtedly appropriate for him to take over the position of division commander.
, so no one made any sense.
Seeing that no one expressed different opinions, Nikitin continued: "The order given to our division by the Army Group Headquarters is to expand the area of the landing site while adhering to the existing positions. Now, the Chief of Staff will give everyone
Announce the defensive areas of each regiment and the next combat mission."
The division chief of staff spent five minutes arranging each regiment's respective combat areas and corresponding combat tasks. After assigning the tasks, he habitually asked: "Any questions?"
As soon as he finished speaking, countless hands were raised, all wanting to ask him questions.
The division chief of staff looked at the countless hands raised in front of him, searched for a moment, and then stopped at the artillery regiment commander. Then he pointed at him with his hand: "Artillery regiment commander, tell me what problems you have."
The commander of the artillery regiment put down his raised hand, stood up and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you should know that although most of the personnel of our artillery regiment have come over, because the ships used cannot carry heavy weapons, the current number of our regiment's
Most of the artillery has been left on the right bank. The only artillery we can use now is two 76.2mm cannons and eight mortars. I would like to ask when the superiors will set up a pontoon bridge on the river so that we can transport the artillery.
Cross the river."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't be anxious." After Nikitin waited for the artillery regiment commander to finish speaking, he comforted him and said: "In response to the question you raised, I once asked the commander, and he said that it would be done before dark at the latest.
Complete the erection of the pontoon bridge on the river. Once the pontoon bridge is completed, all the artillery of various calibers in your regiment can be transported over."
After the artillery regiment commander sat down, the 336th regiment commander stood up again: "Comrade Acting Division Commander, if we want to hold on to the current position, we must build a large number of fortifications. However, the number of engineer shovels currently available to our regiment is seriously insufficient. I don't know.
Can the teacher give us a supplement?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Nikitin turned to ask the division chief of staff after hearing the request from the commander of the 336th Regiment: "Can the division provide the 336th Regiment with shovels and engineer shovels for building fortifications?"
"Comrade division commander, there are no extra tools in the division." As soon as the division chief of staff finished saying this, he saw Nikitin frown and quickly added: "But I found a hardware store in the town.
We should be able to find the tools we need."
After hearing this, Nikitin nodded and said to the leader of the 336th regiment: "Comrade Colonel, there is a hardware store in the town, and you should be able to find the tools you need in it. After the meeting is over, you can send someone to that store.
Look for the tools that come handy.”
Speaking of building fortifications, Nikitin thought of the shelling a few hours ago that left him frightened. He quickly reminded everyone: "Comrade commanders, we have established a landing site on the left bank of the Narew River. The Germans must
They will try to drive us away, so their attack on us must be crazy.
Everyone has been fighting with the Germans for more than a day or two, and they should all understand their fighting style. The German tactics are actually very rigid. They are nothing more than preparing for artillery fire first, and after the artillery fire is over, the tanks attack, and the infantry then moves forward. At the same time,
Carry out a flanking outflank. After approaching our position, deploy the infantry to lure our army's fire points to be exposed, use the on-board machine guns of tanks and armored vehicles to suppress fire, and use direct-aimed fire from tank guns to clear them out.
Now that time is running out, we will definitely not be able to build strong fortifications, so a sufficient number of bombproof holes must be built in each area to allow soldiers to take shelter when they are bombarded by the enemy."
"Comrade division commander is right." As soon as Nikitin finished speaking, the division chief of staff added next to him: "The German army shelled us a few hours ago. I believe everyone still remembers it? Such shelling will happen in the future.
, and even violent bombing will become commonplace, so when building fortifications, it is completely necessary to dig a sufficient number of anti-gun holes and air-raid shelters. With these facilities, our commanders and fighters can effectively attack when they are bombarded.
to reduce unnecessary casualties."
"Also," the chief of staff of the division originally wanted to announce the adjournment of the meeting, but suddenly thought of another thing, he continued: "Minefields and barbed wire are indispensable. If these two things are not placed in front of your positions, Germany will
The night attack team sent by the enemy can easily reach your position."
The words of the division chief of staff reminded many commanders. The head of the 339th regiment nodded and said: "The chief of staff is right. The positions of each of our regiments are two to three kilometers wide. If there are no barbed wire fences and minefields in front of the positions,
, how many sentries need to be sent out on duty at night to be able to see through."
"At that time, when we crossed the river, except for the ammunition, we did not carry the necessary materials." The leader of the 336th Regiment said: "If we really want to lay out minefields and barbed wire, I'm afraid we can only wait until the pontoon bridge is erected.
Before that, we can only think of ways to strengthen the defense in front of the position to prevent the enemy from quietly touching our position."
Then, many commanders asked Nikitin and the division chief of staff a lot of questions, and they all got answers and solutions one by one. After the headquarters became quiet again, the division chief of staff looked at him with questioning eyes.
I looked at Nikitin to see if he had anything more to say. But when he saw him shaking his head slightly at me, he announced loudly: "The meeting is over, comrades commanders. You can go back to your troops."
"
After all the commanders who participated in the meeting left, Nikitin said to the division chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff, I really didn't expect that being a division commander is not easy."
The division chief of staff just smiled faintly after hearing this, and then said: "Comrade division commander, you have never held the position of division commander before, and you may feel that you don't know how to get started at first. But as long as you get used to this job after a while, you will
I discovered that being a good teacher is actually not that difficult.”
Hearing the tongue-twisting reply from the division chief of staff, Nikitin grinned silently, and then said: "Comrade chief of staff, judging from the results of today's meeting, we must successfully complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors.
, it is still quite difficult to consolidate the existing area and expand the landing site at the same time.”
"Yes, comrade division commander, there are many difficulties." The chief of staff of the division nodded and said: "First of all, most of the artillery of the artillery regiment is now left in the right bank area. If it is not transported over as soon as possible, when we fight, even
Unable to provide effective artillery support for infantry.
Secondly, we don’t have any commonly used materials such as mines and barbed wire at the moment. We just hope that they can be delivered as soon as possible after the pontoon bridge on the river is completed.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Nikitin expressed his worries, "As long as the pontoon bridge is not built, I will never feel at ease. No, I want to call Comrade Commander immediately and ask him about the fate of the pontoon bridge.
When can it be erected?"
After the call from the headquarters was connected, Nikitin recognized that the person who answered the phone was Sidorin, and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, I am Nikitin, acting commander of the 120th Guards Rifle Division.
.”
"Yes, General Nikitin, I know the position you hold now." Sidorin said on the other end of the phone: "You are calling at this time. Do you have anything important to do?"
"It's like this, Comrade Chief of Staff." Nikitin explained to Sidorin: "Comrade Commander has assigned our division a difficult task, requiring us to expand the area of the landing site on the basis of consolidating the existing defense line.
But now we find that we will face many problems in order to complete this task."
"General Nikitin, I wonder what the problem is?"
"The first is the problem of artillery." Nikitin said: "Since the ships used by our division during the forced crossing cannot carry heavy weapons, most of the artillery of the division's artillery regiment are now left in the right bank area, causing the enemy to move towards
When our position launched an attack, the artillery regiment lacking artillery was unable to provide necessary artillery support to the infantry."
"General Nikitin, I once told you." Malinin said expressionlessly into the microphone: "We are nervously building a pontoon bridge on the Narew River. As long as the pontoon bridge is completed, the artillery you left on the right bank will be
Being able to transport Luran Town via the pontoon bridge."
"I don't know how long it will take to complete the construction of the pontoon bridge."
Sidorin raised his hand and looked at the time and said: "If everything goes well, the construction of the pontoon bridge will be completed in about an hour and a half. Of course, the time I am talking about is without interference from external forces.
If the German army shells or bombs the location where we build the pontoon bridge, the time for building the bridge will definitely be extended."
"I understand, I understand." Nikitin said reasonably: "The enemy's shelling and bombing will seriously affect the construction speed of the engineering troops."
"Is there anything else?" Sidorin asked.
"Also, we plan to lay minefields and pull up barbed wire in front of the position." Nikitin said: "But we don't have any of these things at the moment. I wonder if the command can give us some supplements?"
Regarding Nikitin's request, Sidorin felt that it was very reasonable. If barbed wire and minefields were not set up in front of the position, the enemy could easily rush to the position when attacking: "This is no problem. It's still the same as artillery.
Same, once the pontoon bridge is completed, it will be sent to you immediately."
After Sidorin ended the call with Nikitin, he reported to Sokov who had just walked in.
After listening to this, Sokov couldn't help but nodded repeatedly. He was originally worried that Nikitin would not know how to carry out the next step of work after acting as commander of the 120th Guards Division, but judging from the current situation, the other party's work was carried out very well.
not bad.
Although there are artillery, mines, barbed wire, etc. urgently needed by the 120th Guards Division on the right bank, it will still be very difficult to transport these things to the left bank if the pontoon bridge has not been erected. Thinking of this, he looked at Sidorin and asked
He said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I wonder how long it will take for our pontoon bridge to be erected?"
"Before General Nikitin called, I had contacted the director of the Engineering Corps." Sidorin replied: "He told me that if nothing happens, the erection of the pontoon bridge can be completed in up to forty minutes.
.I just told General Nikitin on the phone that it would take another hour and a half, just to prevent any accidents from happening."
"Have the air defense units been deployed in place?" Sokov reminded Sidorin: "We must not have enemy planes fly in and bomb us when we first start crossing the river. If the bridge is blown up for us, our work will be in vain.
"
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Sidorin said to Sokov: "Two anti-aircraft artillery regiments have arrived at the Narew River and have built anti-aircraft fortifications. One of the regiments will set up the pontoon bridge.
Go to the left bank of the Narew River to establish air defense positions. As long as we set up air defense positions on both sides, we don’t have to worry about German planes coming to bomb."
"After the pontoon bridge is set up, let the anti-aircraft artillery regiment cross the river first." Sokov told Sidorin: "As long as the anti-aircraft artillery regiment establishes an air defense position on the left bank, then we no longer have to worry about enemy aircraft.
The anti-aircraft fire on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will make it impossible for these invading enemy planes to come back."
