Red Moscow

  Chapter 2095

  The first thing Nikitin did after taking office as the acting division commander was to call commanders above the division, ri, and battalion level to the headquarters for a meeting. One is to publicly announce his new appointment; the other is to assign combat tasks to each regiment.

   Not many people know about the injury of the teacher. When the commanders who received the call came to the headquarters, they didn't see the shadow of the division commander, and they were somewhat surprised. They thought that since the division commander notified us to come to the meeting, why didn't he 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 question, they could only shrug their shoulders and spread their hands, indicating that they were also ignorant.

  The chief of staff of the division saw that all the people attending the meeting had arrived, so he slapped his hands hard twice. After everyone focused their eyes on himself, he said, "comrades, commanders, please be quiet, we are holding a meeting now!"

After the room became quiet, the division chief continued: "First of all, I would like to report a piece of unfortunate news. Our division commander, Colonel Terkov, was seriously injured by German shelling on his way back to the headquarters. Now it has been sent to the field hospital in the rear."

  The words of the chief of staff of the division were like sprinkling a handful of salt into a red-hot iron pot, and it exploded immediately. The commanders who came to the meeting never dreamed that their division commander would withdraw from the battle because of serious injuries. Without a teacher, how will the next battle be fought? And who will direct us?

   "Quiet, everyone, please be quiet!" The division chief patted the table vigorously, trying to calm everyone down. But the discussion was too intense, he yelled several times in a row, and everyone gradually quieted down.

   "Comrade Chief of Staff," asked the head of the 334 regiment, "Colonel Terkov is injured, so who will be the division commander?"

"I!" Before the division chief of staff could speak, Nikitin, who sat next to him and was ignored by everyone, stood up and announced loudly to the commanders present: "Colonel Terkov withdrew from the battle because of his injuries. Appoint me as acting division commander."

Hearing that Nikitin said that he was taking over the position of division commander, everyone was very calm. The other party was a combat advisor sent by the front army headquarters some time ago, and he knew the situation of the troops very well. It was undoubtedly appropriate for him to take over the position of division commander. , so neither makes sense.

Seeing that everyone did not express a different opinion, Nikitin went on to say: "The order given to our division by the Army Group Command is to expand the area of ​​​​the landing field on the premise of sticking to the existing positions. Now, the chief of staff will give everyone Announce the defensive area of ​​each regiment, and the next combat mission."

  The chief of staff of the division spent five minutes arranging the respective combat areas and corresponding combat tasks for each regiment. After assigning the task, he habitually asked, "Is there any problem?"

  As soon as he finished speaking, countless hands were raised, all wanting to ask him questions.

  The chief of staff of the division looked at the countless hands raised in front of him, searched for a moment, then stopped on the artillery commander, and then pointed at him with his hand: "Artillery commander, tell me what's wrong with you."

The commander of the artillery regiment put down his raised hand, got up and asked: "Comrade chief of staff, you should know that although most of the personnel of our artillery regiment have come, but because the ships used cannot carry heavy weapons, so the current regiment's Most of the artillery was left on the right bank, and the only ones we can use today are two 76.2mm cannons and eight mortars. I would like to ask when the superiors will be able to build a pontoon bridge over the river so that we can transport the artillery cross the river."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't worry." After Nikitin waited for the artillery commander to finish speaking, he comforted him and said, "About the question you raised, I once asked the commander, and he said that before dark at the latest, we can Complete the erection of the pontoon bridge on the river. Once the pontoon bridge is erected, all the artillery of various calibers of your regiment can be transported over."

After the commander of the artillery regiment sat down, the commander of the 336th regiment stood up again: "Comrade Acting Commander, if we want to hold on to the current position, we must build a lot of fortifications. But at present, the number of engineering shovels that our regiment can use is seriously insufficient. Can the teacher add some to us?"

   "Comrade Chief of Staff," Nikitin turned to ask the division chief of staff after listening to the request of the head of the 336th regiment, "Can the division provide the 336th regiment with shovels and engineering shovels for the construction of fortifications?"

"Comrade commander, there are no extra tools in the division." As soon as the division chief of staff finished speaking, Nikitin frowned, and quickly added: "However, I found a hardware store in the town. Should be able to find the tools we need."

Nikitin nodded after hearing this, and said to the head of the 336 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 tools that are handy."

   Speaking of fortifications, Nikitin thought of the shelling that had left him in awe a few hours ago. He quickly reminded everyone: "Commanders, we have established a landing field on the left bank of the Narew River, and the Germans will definitely try to drive us away, so the attack on us must be crazy.

   It has not been a day or two since everyone has fought against the Germans, and they should all understand their combat style. The tactics of the Germans are actually very rigid. It is nothing more than preparing for artillery fire first. After the shelling is over, the tanks attack, and the infantry then moves forward while outflanking. After approaching our position, the infantry was deployed to lure our army's firepower points to be exposed, and the vehicle-mounted machine guns of tanks and armored vehicles were used to suppress firepower, and the tank guns aimed directly at them to clear them.

   Now that time is running out, we certainly cannot build strong fortifications. Therefore, in each section, we must build a sufficient number of anti-gun holes to allow soldiers to hide when they are bombarded by the enemy. "

"Comrade Commander is right." As soon as Nikitin finished speaking, the Chief of Staff of the division added next to him: "I believe everyone still remembers the bombardment of us by the German army a few hours ago? , and even violent bombing will become commonplace, so when building fortifications, it is absolutely necessary to dig a sufficient number of artillery holes and air-raid shelters. With these facilities, our commanders and fighters can effectively minimize unnecessary casualties.”

"Also," the division chief of staff wanted to announce the adjournment of the meeting, but suddenly thought of something, and continued: "Minefields and barbed wire are indispensable. If you don't have these two things in front of your positions, the Germans The night attack squad sent by the people can easily touch your position."

The words of the chief of staff of the division reminded many commanders. The head of the 339 regiment nodded and said: "The chief of staff is right. Each of our regiments has a position of two to three kilometers wide. If there are no barbed wire and minefields in front of the positions , How many sentries do you need to send out when you are on duty at night to be able to see it?"

"At that time when we crossed the river, we didn't carry the necessary supplies except the ammunition we carried with us." The head of the 336 regiment said: "If we really want to arrange minefields and barbed wire, I'm afraid we can only wait until the pontoon bridge is erected. Before that, we can only think of a way to strengthen the defense in front of the position, so as to prevent the enemy from touching our position quietly."

   Then, many commanders raised many questions to Nikitin and the division chief of staff, and they all got answers and solutions one by one. After the headquarters became quiet again, the division chief of staff looked at Nikitin questioningly, wanting to see if he had anything to say. But seeing him shake his head slightly at himself, he announced loudly: "The meeting is over, commanders and comrades. 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 it is not easy to be a good division commander."

After hearing this, the chief of staff of the division just smiled, and then said: "Comrade commander, you have never served as a division commander before, and you may feel that you don't know how to get started at the beginning. But after a period of time, after you get used to this job, you will be able to do it." I found out that it is not difficult to be a good teacher.”

Hearing the tongue-twister 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 want to successfully complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors." , It is quite difficult to expand the landing field while consolidating the existing area."

"Yes, Comrade 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 they are not brought 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. I just hope that after the pontoon bridge on the river is erected, it can be delivered as soon as possible. "

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Nikitin expressed his worries, "As long as the pontoon bridge is not built properly, I will never feel at ease. No, I will immediately call Comrade Commander and ask him if the pontoon bridge is in the end. When will it be erected?"

After the call from the headquarters was connected, Nikitin recognized that the person answering the phone was Sidolin, and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, I am Nikitin, acting commander of the 120th Guards Infantry Division. .”

   "Yes, General Nikitin, I know what position you are in now." Sidolin said on the other end of the phone: "You are calling at this time, is there anything important?"

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Nikitin explained to Sidolin: "Comrade Commander has assigned a difficult task to our division, requiring us to expand the area of ​​​​the landing field on the basis of consolidating the existing defense line. But now we find that to accomplish this task, we will face many problems."

   "General Nikitin, what is the problem?"

"The first is the problem of artillery." Nikitin said: "Because the ships used by our division during the forced crossing cannot carry heavy weapons, most of the artillery of the division's artillery regiment is now left in the right bank area. When our positions were attacked, the artillery regiments lacking artillery could not provide the necessary artillery support for the infantry."

"General Nikitin, I told you before." Malinin said expressionlessly into the microphone: "We are nervously building a pontoon bridge on the Narew River. We were able to transport Luran Town via the pontoon bridge."

   "I don't know how long it will take to complete the construction of the floating bridge."

Sidolin raised his hand to look at the time and said, "If everything goes well, the construction of the pontoon bridge will be completed in about one and a half hours. Of course, the time I'm talking about is when there is no external interference. If the Germans shelled or bombed the location where we erected the pontoon bridge, the time for the bridge to be erected would 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?" Sidolin asked.

   "Also, we plan to lay minefields and barbed wire in front of the positions." Nikitin said, "But we don't have any of these things at the moment. I wonder if the headquarters can add some to us?"

Regarding this request made by Nikitin, Sidolin thinks it is very reasonable. If barbed wire and minefields are not erected in front of the position, then the enemy can easily rush to the front of the position when attacking: "This is no problem, it is still with artillery." Same, once the pontoon bridge is erected, it will be sent to you immediately.”

  After Sidolin finished talking with Nikitin, he reported to Sokov who had just walked in.

  After listening, Sokov couldn't help nodding. He was worried that after Nikitin acted as the commander of the 120th Guards Division, he would not know how to carry out the next step of work, but judging from the current situation, the other party's work was carried out pretty well.

  Although there are artillery, mines, barbed wire, etc. that the 120th Guards Division urgently needs on the right bank, if the pontoon bridge has not been erected, it is still very difficult to transport these things to the left bank. Thinking of this, he looked at Sidolin and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, how long will it take for our pontoon bridge to be erected?"

"Before General Nikitin called, I had contacted the director of the engineering corps." Sidolin replied: "He told me that if there is no accident, it will take another forty minutes at most to complete the erection of the pontoon bridge. Just now I told General Nikitin on the phone that it will take an hour and a half, just to prevent any accidents."

"Is the air defense force deployed?" Sokov reminded Sidolin: "Don't let the enemy plane fly to bomb us when we just start crossing the river. If we blow up the bridge, we will be wasting our time. "

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Sidolin said to Sokov: "Two anti-aircraft artillery regiments have reached the Narew River and have built air defenses. One of the regiments will Go to the left bank of the Narew River and set up anti-aircraft positions. As long as we have anti-aircraft positions on both banks, we don't have to worry about the bombing by German planes."

"After the pontoon bridge is erected, let the anti-aircraft artillery regiment cross the river first." Sokov told Sidolin: "As long as the anti-aircraft artillery regiment has established an air defense position on the left bank, then we don't have to worry about the enemy's aircraft anymore. The anti-aircraft artillery fire on both sides of the strait can prevent these incoming enemy planes from coming back.”

  (end of this chapter)