As the 284th Infantry Division and the Tank Brigade pressed forward, the hastily established defense line of the German army became precarious.
When the two infantry brigades were crossing the river, they also brought an artillery regiment across the river. After crossing the river, the artillery regiment did not choose a place to establish an artillery position, but followed the assault troops and pushed forward.
When it was discovered that the attacking troops in front were being stubbornly blocked by the Germans, the commander of the artillery regiment saw this and immediately ordered the artillery to build fortifications on the spot and fire towards the enemy's defense line. Use artillery fire to destroy the enemy's fortifications and open up a path for the infantry and tanks.
aisle.
At the beginning, the progress was very smooth. Whether it was the enemy's fortifications or tanks, as long as a shot of artillery shells blew over them, they would be instantly wiped out. But as they got closer to the friendly positions, the resistance the assault troops encountered became stronger.
When Ismailov's division was still five kilometers away from the preset position by the river, it encountered a frantic counterattack by the German armored forces and was unable to move forward at all.
But even so, the pressure on the 4th and 40th Guards Divisions was greatly relieved. The German army originally concentrated a large number of tanks and superior infantry and launched wave after wave of attacks on the preset positions by the river.
The attack put the positions of the two Guards Divisions in danger.
In order to eliminate the hidden danger from behind, the German army slowed down its attack on the two Guards divisions and deployed half of its troops to deal with Ismailov's troops. The two sides started a melee at the Puutusk landing site.
Levchuk saw the battle in the distance clearly through the telescope, and said with emotion: "The reinforcements sent by the friendly forces arrived in time. If they hadn't attracted the Germans, I think the Germans would have just launched another assault.
Our position cannot be maintained."
After putting down the telescope, he turned to Chief of Staff Platon and said: "Chief of Staff, immediately arrange for troops to repair fortifications and treat the wounded. We cannot waste the time that the friendly forces have finally bought for us."
While Platon was calling the troops below to assign tasks, he picked up the phone and called the army headquarters to report the situation to Batov.
Batov heard Levchuk's voice and asked impatiently: "General Levchuk, how is the situation there? Have you held your position?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the position is held." Before Ismailov's division arrived, Batov's artillery deployed on the right bank used direct fire to destroy some German tanks and alleviate the situation.
Levchuk planned to report the severe situation on the position to Batov: "In addition to the artillery fire from the right bank artillery destroying the attacking German tanks, the friendly reinforcements that have just arrived are currently fighting fiercely with the German occupation a few kilometers away.
This has greatly eased the situation here."
"Friendly troops?!" Bartov didn't understand what Levchuk meant for a moment, and was still asking: "Where did the friendly troops come from?"
"It came out from behind the enemy." Levchuk had not sent anyone to contact the enemy, so he naturally did not know which unit it was, so he could only refer to it as friendly forces in general: "I don't know this unit at the moment.
’s number.”
"It's the 284th Infantry Division under the Mischa 48th Group Army." When Rokossovsky just talked to Sokov on the phone, he had learned about the reinforcements, so he naturally knew the unit number and the name of the commander. At this moment, he met Ba
Tov looked confused and added next to him: "The division commander is Colonel Ismailov."
"Comrade Commander," Chief of Staff Glebov said from the side: "Since General Sokov has helped us so much, do you think we should call him to express our gratitude?"
Batov agreed with Glebov's proposal. If Sokov's reinforcements had not arrived in time, Levchuk's 4th Guards Division's defense line might have been breached.
But just when Bartov was about to reach for the phone, he was stopped by Rokossovsky: "Comrade Bartov, now is not the time to chat on the phone. You must first find a way to secure the landing site on the left bank. As for the expression
If you want to thank me, let’s wait until the German attack is completely repelled.”
After hearing what Rokossovsky said, Batov nodded and agreed: "Comrade Marshal, you are right. Our first priority at the moment is to secure the landing site on the left bank. As for expressing gratitude to General Sokov
Let’s wait until the battle is over to discuss the matter, I believe he can understand.”
"Don't worry, Bartov." Rokossovsky comforted him and said, "Even if he has any bad thoughts, I will help you explain. By the way, strengthen your anti-tank regiments and tanks.
The brigade will arrive at the designated position soon. You are solely responsible for how to use these troops, and I will not ask."
Bartov couldn't help but be overjoyed after hearing this. When he said that reinforcements had arrived, he was still quite uneasy. After all, the marshal himself was in his headquarters. It was hard to say whose orders these troops took. Now that
Rokossovsky said that if he was given full command, he would have nothing to worry about.
Rokossovsky walked aside and called Sokov and said to him: "Misha, your reinforcements have arrived a few kilometers away from the 4th Guards Division, but they seem to have been attacked by the Germans.
The crazy counterattack made it difficult to move forward."
"Oh, Ismailov's attack was blocked?" Sokov couldn't help but be stunned after hearing this, but then he understood what Rokossovsky meant by saying this to him, and quickly said: "Comrade Marshal, I
I understand what you mean. Don't worry, this unit is not alone. I have placed two more infantry brigades behind it. Once we see that his situation is critical, the infantry brigades will attack in time to save them from danger.
Get rescued."
A smile appeared on Rokossovsky's face. Since Sokov had considered it so comprehensively, he was relieved: "Okay, Misha, since you have considered all the issues that should be considered, then I won't
Sorry to bother you. Wish you good luck!" After saying that, Sokov hung up the phone without waiting for him to finish.
Telekin, who heard his call, came over and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, were you talking to General Sokov just now?"
"Yes, Comrade Military Commissar." Rokossovsky nodded and said to Telekin: "The 4th Guards Division just reported that their reinforcements had an encounter with the Germans a few kilometers away from the position.
During the fierce battle, I was worried that the reinforcements would suffer, so I called Misha to ask. But what I didn’t expect was that he had already considered these issues and made corresponding preparations to prevent the worst case scenario."
When Ismailov's division approached the position of the 4th Guards Division, it encountered a crazy counterattack by the German army. Although the commanders and fighters fought tenaciously, due to the disparity in strength, Ismailov had to order the troops to adopt alternating
The tactics of covering and resisting step by step were used to retreat step by step to the starting point of the attack.
When the German army saw the Soviet army retreating, they immediately became excited and accelerated their attack. However, they did not just rush forward blindly, but sent troops to guard the two wings to avoid encountering the Soviet army.
ambush.
Fortunately, Sokov contacted Ismailov in time and asked directly: "Comrade Colonel, how is the situation there?"
"Not very good, Comrade Commander." Ismailov replied: "Originally, our division and tank brigade were progressing very smoothly, but when we arrived a few kilometers away from the friendly positions, we encountered a crazy counterattack by the German army.
We were at a disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment and were unable to stop the enemy, so we were forced to retreat."
"Comrade Colonel, don't worry." Sokov was worried that Ismailov would be confused when he saw the bad situation, and the retreat might turn into a rout, so he quickly told him: "I will send the infantry brigade to support immediately.
You guys, you must stabilize the troops and never turn the retreat into a rout, do you understand?"
Seeing that the situation on the battlefield was not favorable to him, Ismailov originally wanted to ask Sokov for help. Now that the other party mentioned it first, he felt much more at ease, and quickly assured Sokov: "Commander
Comrade Communist Party member, you can rest assured that I will firmly control the troops and it will never turn into a rout."
After finishing his call with Ismailov, Sokov realized that the situation at the Puutusk landing site was more responsible than he thought, and said to Ponedelin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, the infantry brigade will soon be
To fight the German army, there are several troops on the left bank, but there is no unified command. In order to avoid confusion, I would like to ask you to cross the river to command the troops. How about it, do you have any objections?"
"No." Ponejelin readily agreed to Sokov's arrangement. "The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, so I will not delay and immediately set off to the left bank to direct the battle."
After Ponejelin arrived in the left bank area, it took less than an hour to stabilize the troops and consolidate the original occupied area. He even launched a counterattack to defeat the enemy who was chasing Ismailov's division.
Return.
After repelling the enemy, Ponejelin called Ismailov and several brigade commanders to his temporary headquarters and said to them: "Comrade Commander, I think after these few hours of fighting, you have discovered that
There is a problem. That is that the enemy is more powerful than we imagined."
"Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander." Ismailov said with a red face: "The attack went very well at the beginning. I thought the enemy was not vulnerable at all, so I commanded the troops to rush directly to the friendly positions. Who?
The closer we were to the friendly positions, the stronger the resistance we encountered, so that in the end we tried our best but could not move forward at all."
"Colonel Ismailov, the Germans released smoke grenades some time ago, intending to launch a powerful offensive at the Magnushev landing site in the south. However, the Narew River Basin where we are located did not move, thus giving us an illusion.
, thinking that the enemy's next main attack direction would be at the Magnushev landing site established by General Chuikov, and thus relaxed their vigilance.
When the Germans saw that their plot had succeeded, they used the troops they had already assembled to launch a fierce attack on General Bartov's Puutusk landing site. Since they had been preparing for such a long time, the number of troops they used was naturally not small.
Let alone one of your divisions, I think even if our entire group army is pulled out, it may not be an easy task to smoothly rush over and join forces with friendly forces."
"Comrade Deputy Commander," as soon as Ponedelin finished speaking, Sukhalev, commander of the 109th Infantry Brigade, asked: "Then what should we do next?"
"Under the current circumstances, it is obviously unrealistic to continue the attack." Ponejelin said thoughtfully: "So we must focus on holding on to the current position."
"But the task assigned to us by our superiors is to rush over to rescue friendly forces." Ismailov asked tentatively: "If we just stop here and don't move, will the commander blame us?"
"Comrade Colonel," Ponedelin looked up at Ismailov and said, "Even if we have to carry out the mission of rescuing friendly troops, the prerequisite is to save ourselves first. Think about it, if we attack the enemy desperately,
If we are surrounded by German troops or even annihilated by the enemy, who will rescue the friendly troops next?"
Sukharev said cautiously: "If the superiors blame..."
Before Sukharev could finish speaking, Ponedelin raised his hand and interrupted what he was saying: "This is not something you need to worry about. If the superiors really want to blame, I will bear all the responsibilities."
Although Ponedelin's words were so rude, Ismailov couldn't help but said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, if the friendly troops lose their positions because we don't go to reinforce them, the consequences will be disastrous.
It’s serious. I’m worried that even Comrade Commander will be implicated.”
"Comrade Colonel, our rescue can only relieve the pressure on the friendly forces and has a limited effect on driving away the enemies occupying the landing site." Ponedelin said to Ismailov and everyone: "I will come.
Previously, I heard the conversation between the commander and the marshal. In addition to the reinforcements we sent, anti-tank artillery regiments and tank brigades were also mobilized from the troops directly under the front army to carry out assaults on the enemies on the left bank. In addition, Bator
General Hu's main force is on its way back and will reach the left bank by dark at the latest.
If you still want to send troops to rescue, it is best to wait until the direct troops of the front army and Batov's main force arrive and launch a counterattack against the German army. By then, the German army's attention will be occupied by friendly forces.
Attracted, the strength of the enemy we have to face will be greatly weakened. If we launch an attack at this time, we can achieve good results."
After listening to Ponejelin's analysis, everyone nodded with relief and returned to their own troops. They took the time to reinforce the fortifications and treat the wounded. Those seriously injured who could not be treated were sent back to the field hospital on the right bank by car.
Ponejelin, who stayed at the headquarters, was not idle either. He stared at the map, recalling the intelligence reported to him by the commanders, and pondering what tactics to adopt in the next attack to achieve the best results.
Achieve huge results with very few casualties.
The phone on the table rang, and it was Sokov calling: "Comrade Deputy Commander, how is the situation on the left bank? Is the situation stable?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the situation has been stabilized." Ponyjelin replied: "Given that the enemy is much stronger than us, it is obviously unrealistic to continue to launch new attacks. I suggest that the troops temporarily
Switch to defense and wait until there is a fundamental change in the strength of the enemy and ourselves at the Puutusk landing site before launching a new attack."
This chapter has been completed!