Red Moscow

  Chapter 2132 Attack from the left and defend from the right

  The German army may never have imagined that after the Soviet offensive began, the artillery fire from the Modlin Fortress they relied on did not arrive as scheduled. Facing the flood of Soviet commanders and fighters, the German commander was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He immediately called the commander of the Modlin Fortress, trying to get artillery support from the fortress.

   But regrettably, the commander of the fortress said in a heavy tone: "I have been attacked by the Russians frantically here, and they are crossing the river on the bridge that we have not yet had time."

  Modellin Fortress is a hexagonal red fortress surrounded by water and kept in touch with the outside world by several iron bridges. However, these bridges were blown up when the German army seized the fort from the Polish army in 1939. Since they have not been repaired for a long time, they can only rely on a few newly built bridges to communicate with the outside world.

  The Soviet troops attacking the fortress, under the cover of artillery fire and air force, had reached the periphery of the Modlin fortress, crossing the river and rushing towards the fortress one after another from the bridge that the German army had not had time to blow up.

  Don't see that the Soviet army couldn't enter the fortress before blowing down the walls of the fortress, but the situation is still not optimistic. In order to prevent the Soviet army from capturing the fortress, the defenders braved the bombing and shelling of the Soviet army and kept firing at the attacking Soviet army. The battle entered a stalemate.

The German commander in the triangle area knew very well that although relying on the 8,000 defenders in the fortress, even in the face of the attack of hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops, the risk of losing the defense was not great, but if he wanted them to provide for himself Artillery support is obviously impossible. If you want to block the attack of the Soviet army, you can only rely on yourself.

He stared at the map on the wall for a long time, and felt that if he wanted to hold his own defense zone, the best way was to blow up the reservoir dam on the Narew River, flooding the road for the Soviet army to attack with the water from the embankment. So as to keep their own defense zone.

  But when he proposed his plan to his subordinates, he was opposed by everyone including the chief of staff. The chief of staff said plausibly: "Your Excellency Commander, I don't think we can blow up the dam. Although the flood from the embankment can block the Russians' way forward, our defense zone will also become an isolated island under the siege of the flood."

The words of the chief of staff immediately aroused the agreement of most people. They agreed that if the dam of the reservoir was blown up, the flood that would break the embankment would indeed block the way for the Soviet army to attack, but many parts of their defense zone would be destroyed. Submerged, the remaining area becomes an isolated island. At that time, logistical supplies and other aspects will be greatly restricted.

  But the commander didn't listen to everyone's opinions at all. What he was thinking now was that as long as he could block the Soviet army's attack, it would be worth paying any price. So he said decisively: "Gentlemen, I admit that what you said is reasonable. But you have considered that if we don't blow up the reservoir dam, then with the current offensive momentum of the Russians, I am afraid that before dark, they will blow up the dam." We drive away from the triangle. By that time, won't the Russians be cheaper?"

  Commander's words silenced everyone. This is a dilemma. If we don’t blow up the reservoir, it is obviously inevitable for the Russians to seize the triangle; if we blow it up, we can block the Russian attack, but at least half of the original defense area in the triangle will be flooded. All troops can only retreat to the remaining areas for defense.

  After some deliberation, the chief of staff spoke first: "Your Excellency, I think you are right. In order to stop the Russian attack, we must make the necessary sacrifices."

   In this way, a consensus was reached at the officer meeting to immediately blow up the reservoir on the Narew River and use the rushing water to prevent the Russians from attacking.

  A company of the German army was stationed on the dam of the reservoir. After receiving the order to blow up the dam, they began to install explosives at key locations, arrange wires, and make final preparations before the blast.

  The small unit sent by the 109th Division arrived at this time. The company commander who led the team saw the enemy who was installing explosives on the reservoir dam through the binoculars, and turned to ask his deputy company commander: "Deputy company commander, the Germans are laying explosives, and it seems that they are preparing to blow up the reservoir dam. "

   "Company Commander, what should we do?" Seeing this, the deputy company commander couldn't help feeling a little anxious: "If the enemy blows up the dam, our attacking troops will be blocked by the flood."

"I see that there are quite a few Germans on the dam." The company commander said: "If a strong attack is adopted, the troops will definitely suffer huge casualties. Moreover, when the Germans find that they cannot withstand it, they may jump over the wall in a hurry and blow up the dam directly." dam."

   "Should we report the situation here to the division headquarters?" The deputy company commander reminded: "Let the division commander also have an understanding of the situation here."

  The company commander quickly contacted Braginski through the radio he carried and reported the situation to him.

  Brazinski frowned when he learned that the Germans were planting explosives on the dam. He knew very well that once the Germans blow up the dam, the raging flood will swallow up many attacking troops, and the remaining troops will be blocked by the flood, unable to follow the original battle plan. Continue to attack the depths of the enemy's defenses.

   "Comrade Captain." Braginsky asked in a deep voice, "How long do you think it will take for the Germans to detonate these explosives?"

   "It's hard to say, Comrade Division Commander." The company commander replied cautiously: "Although the Germans are planting explosives at the moment, if they see something is wrong, they may detonate it in advance."

"I see, Captain." Braginsky said: "You continue to stay where you are and monitor, no one is allowed to act rashly without my order. Also, I will send troops to reinforce you so that you have enough strength , to seize the reservoir dam from the Germans."

  As soon as he put down the phone, he said to the communication staff officer next to him: "Call me the army headquarters immediately. I have something important and I need to report it to the commander immediately."

Soon, Sokov received a call from Braginsky: "Comrade Commander, this is Braginsky. The small troops I sent have arrived near the reservoir. Explosives are placed on the dam, and it seems that they are ready to blow up the dam at any time."

"We have long judged that when the Germans find that they cannot resist our army's attack, they may jump over the wall in a hurry and blow up the reservoir on the Narew River." Sokov asked: "Colonel Braginsky, What are your orders to your subordinates?"

   "I asked them to closely monitor the movements of the Germans. Without my order, no one is allowed to act rashly."

"You're doing the right thing, Colonel Braginski." Sokov was very satisfied with Braginsky's deployment, and he continued: "As long as your troops don't easily attack the reservoir, there will be no irritation. To the enemy, let them detonate the explosives planted on the dam in advance."

   "Then what should we do?" Braginsky asked: "Should we continue to push the German defense in depth according to the original combat plan?"

After staring at the map in front of him for a while, Sokov made a decisive decision: "Colonel Braginski, in order to prevent the Germans from blowing up the dam prematurely, I have decided to temporarily suspend your division's offensive. , and switch to defense on the spot."

   "Ah, stop the attack?" Braginsky asked with some surprise: "Comrade commander, why is this?"

"The reason is very simple." Sokov explained to the other party: "The Germans knew very well that if they did not receive artillery support from the Modlin Fortress, they would not be able to stop our army's attack at all. But if the bombing is premature Destroying the dam of the reservoir can certainly block our army's offensive footsteps, but at the same time it will also flood most of their defense areas, and their communication with the outside world will be interrupted by the flood. Therefore, it is not until the last moment , the Germans will not easily blow up the reservoir dam."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Braginsky immediately understood, and he quickly said: "I understand, Comrade Commander, I will immediately order the troops to stop attacking and turn to defense on the spot, so as not to stimulate the enemy and let them Chose to blow up the reservoir dam."

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin waited for Sokov to put down the phone, and asked tentatively, "The troops on the right stopped attacking and turned to defense on the spot. What about the troops on the left, should they be stopped too?"

"No, no, no," after hearing this, Sokov shook his head and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, not only can the 3rd Division attacking from the left not stop, but on the contrary, it has to intensify its attack and strive to occupy more of the enemy's territory." position."

Seeing Sidolin's bewildered expression, Ponegerin explained to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't know something. Our army's left wing is on a higher terrain. The effect is not great. If we adopt the tactics of attacking on the left and defending on the right, then the Germans will have to weigh whether it is necessary for them to blow up the reservoir dam. The influence of the left-wing troops is also not great."

"Oh, so that's the case, now I understand everything." Sidolin nodded after listening to Sukov's explanation, and said, "If our army only sends the left wing to attack, then the Germans will no longer be able to blow up the reservoir. Because the impact of the flood on the left wing troops was not that great at all."

   "Comrade Commander, even though I have said that, I am still a little worried." Ponegerin said.

   "What are you worried about?" Sokov asked.

"You think, if our troops on the right stopped attacking and went on the defensive right there," Pornedelin explained to Sokov: "The Germans might perceive our intentions and think that we stopped the offensive on the right flank, I was worried that they would blow up the reservoir dam and use water instead of soldiers to block our attack. They might leave some troops on the right flank to monitor the 109th Division, and then transfer the main force to the left flank. In this way, the 3rd The resistance encountered by the division when attacking is even greater."

   "Comrade Deputy Commander, what you said is very reasonable." Sokov agreed with Ponejielin's statement: "It is indeed possible that this situation will occur."

"Then what should we do?" Sidolin felt a little headache when he heard this: "The death of the commander of the 3rd Division had already had a negative impact on the morale of the troops. If the German army dispatched troops from other locations to strengthen , I fear that the division's offensive will end in failure."

"Chief of Staff, don't be so pessimistic." But after hearing this, Sokov said disapprovingly: "I stopped the attack of the 109th Division on the right wing, only temporarily. As long as the troops sent by Braginsky can successfully occupy the reservoir dam, then they can go into battle again."

"That's right." Pornegering echoed: "If the main force of the German army in front of the 109th Division is transferred to the left flank, when they attack again, they will be able to easily break through the enemy's defenses and successfully occupy the original area. target of capture."

After listening to Pornegerin's words, the worry on Sidolin's face finally disappeared, "Yeah, why didn't I think of this. The reason why we stopped Colonel Braginsky's attack now is because the Germans have Possibly blowing up the reservoir. But that would change again if his men took the reservoir from the Germans."

  After formulating a combat strategy in the triangle area, attacking from the left and defending from the right, the three of them chatted about the ongoing attack on Fortress Modlin. "Comrade Commander," Sidolin asked curiously, "Do you think we can take down Fortress Modlin?"

  Sokov replied without hesitation: "Fortress Modlin, we can definitely take it, but definitely not now."

"Why?"

"Although there are only a few thousand defenders in Modlin Fortress, and we have hundreds of thousands of troops for attacking, it does not mean that the initiative on the battlefield is in the hands of our army." Sokov said: "To You know, the Modlin Fortress is surrounded by water, and the defenders in the fortress only need to focus their defense on positions with bridges to make our army's attack difficult.

   On the other hand, our army has hundreds of thousands of troops, but due to terrain constraints, it is impossible to deploy at all, so the troops that can go into battle each time are at best one regiment. You also know that for a strong fortress like Modlin, what effect can a mere regiment have, it can only increase casualties. This refueling tactic is a loss-making business. "

   "So, our army won't be able to take down Modlin Fortress at all in the near future, right?" Sidolin asked cautiously.

"That's right, that's true." Sokov nodded and gave the other party an affirmative answer: "Unless we lay siege to the fortress and cut off their connection with the outside world. Wait until their supplies are exhausted before launching an attack." to minimize casualties.”

"The siege is indeed a good idea." Ponegerin once again echoed Sokov's opinion: "The Modlin Fortress, like the Brest Fortress, is surrounded by rivers and can only communicate with the outside world through a few bridges on the river." Keep in touch. As long as our troops block the roads, the Germans will not be able to bring supplies of ammunition into the fortresses and wounded from the fortresses. In this case, the enemy will have to give up resistance because of the shortage of supplies."

"I think the Germans must have stored a sufficient amount of ammunition and supplies inside the fortress," Sokov said of the difficulties faced in besieging the fortress. every attack."

   "Comrade Commander, your call." A communications staff not far away reported to Sokov, "It's Marshal Zhukov."

   Knowing that it was Zhukov's call, Sokov didn't dare to be negligent, and quickly took the phone: "Hello, Comrade Marshal, I'm Sokov. Do you have any instructions?"

  (end of this chapter)