Chapter 2118:

  Chapter 2118

  Since Levchuk came back to rescue his subordinates, how could he escape without them?

"No, Colonel Ryazanov." He yelled at Ryazanov, the commander of the 11th regiment, "You are my subordinate, since I brought people to rescue you, how could I leave you alone and escape? Stop talking nonsense, quickly gather your people, we must move quickly, and quickly break away from contact with the Germans."

   Ryazanov scratched the back of his head and said with a bitter face: "Comrade Commander, the German tanks are following so closely, it may not be easy for us to escape."

  Levchuk called the security battalion commander to the front and told him: "Major, let the security battalion take the company as a unit, and use alternate cover and continuous resistance to cover the retreat of the 11th regiment. Do you understand?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." The security battalion commander, who was still smoking from his submachine gun, said to Levchuk, "Even if our security battalion is wiped out, I will cover the 11th Regiment to retreat safely to the river. .”

   In this way, under the cover of the guard battalion, Levchuk and Ryazanov took the remnants of the 11th regiment and retreated towards the bank of the Narew River. On the way, Ryazanov also tentatively asked: "Comrade Commander, after we retreat to the river, should we immediately retreat to the opposite side of the river, or fight a blocking battle by the river?"

"Comrade Colonel, if we withdraw across the Narew River, we will think that the landing field occupied by our commanders and fighters has been given to the Germans in vain." Levchuk said with a serious expression: "We must rely on The position by the river, defended obstinately, and held out until reinforcements arrived."

   As soon as Levchuk and Ryazanov arrived at the position by the river, Colonel Onega, the political commissar, greeted him and asked Levchuk with concern: "Comrade commander, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." When Levchuk said this, he turned his head and looked in the direction he came from. The gunshots and explosions over there had become sparse, which meant that the guard battalion covering his retreat was already dead at this moment. It's more ominous than good. He sighed softly, and said, "It's a pity that the commanders and fighters of the guard battalion can be withdrawn."

"Comrade Commander," Chief of Staff Colonel Platon came over and said to Levchuk, "The 3rd Regiment and the 11th Regiment have entered the defensive position. You and the commanders and fighters of the 11th Regiment go to the back to rest first. We will leave this place to us." .”

   Hearing what Chief of Staff Platon said, Levchuk did not show any pretense, but nodded, and together with Ryazanov returned to the headquarters in the cliff by the river with the remaining commanders and fighters of the 11th Regiment.

   Seeing Levchuk come in, the commander of the communication company quickly raised his hand to salute, and asked respectfully: "Comrade commander, is there anything I can do for you?"

   "Can I get through to the headquarters?" Levchuk asked.

   "Yes, Comrade Commander, you can get through." The communications company commander asked tentatively: "Do you need me to get through now?"

   A few minutes later, Levchuk heard Batov's voice: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Major General Levchuk, commander of the 4th Guards Division."

   "General Levchuk," Batov said a little emotionally when he heard Levchuk's voice, "Where are you now?"

   "I'm in the reserve position on the left bank near the river."

   "What, you all withdrew to the reserve position by the river?" Batov asked with some displeasure, "Why did you retreat so quickly, and no one organized a decent resistance?"

"Comrade Commander," Levchuk heard the dissatisfaction in Batov's tone, and explained to him: "After the powerful artillery attack, the enemy dispatched a large number of tanks to cover their infantry and attack our army. The position launched a charge. As you know, there are no permanent reinforced concrete fortifications on our position. Most of the fortifications have been destroyed in the enemy's shelling, and they cannot stop the enemy's attack at all. The way of resistance is to retreat to the preset position by the river little by little."

   "How many troops do you have left?" Batov continued to ask.

"It is estimated that there are more than a thousand people." After Levchuk reported the number of troops, he did not wait for Batov to ask, and said: "Comrade commander, when will the superior send us reinforcements? You know, with our little force, we can't stop the enemy for a long time."

   "The reinforcements will arrive before dark." Batov said solemnly: "That is to say, you must do everything possible to persist until the reinforcements arrive after dark. Do you understand?"

   "Understood, Comrade Commander." Levchuk knew very well in his heart that according to the current situation of his division, it would be very difficult to hold on until the afternoon, let alone after dark. But in order not to disappoint Batov, he still bit the bullet and replied: "We will fight the German attack with all our strength and prevent them from approaching the Narew River."

  As soon as Levchuk put down the phone here, political commissar Onega walked in from the outside and said, "Comrade commander, the troops are ready for battle. Do you have anything to add?"

   "Comrade Commissar," Levchuk looked at Onega and asked, "I want to hear the truth from you. If the German army takes a strong offensive against our army's defense line, how long do you think we can last?"

   Facing Levchuk's question, Onega pondered for a long time, then stretched out **** and said: "Two hours, no more, this is already the limit of our army."

"What, you can only hold on for two hours?" Levchuk's head grew dizzy when he heard Onega say this: "How can this be done? You know, the command given us by the headquarters is to hold on until dark. Only then can the troops transferred from the landing field on the left bank return to us."

"There is nothing we can do about it." Onega said helplessly: "There are only more than a thousand people left in the whole division, and most of the commanders and fighters are wounded, and ammunition is seriously insufficient. In such a severe situation, Now, if we can stick to it for two hours, it is considered an extraordinary performance."

"You have to find a way, Comrade Political Commissar." Levchuk walked back and forth in the command post with his hands behind his back, and said in his mouth: "If the landing field on the left bank is lost before the reinforcements arrive, it means that our army will not be able to do so in the future." Huge sacrifices will be required to re-establish the landing fields on the left bank, and I absolutely cannot allow that to happen."

   "But we only have so few people now, and we simply don't have enough strength to resist the enemy's attack."

  Levchuk thought for a while, then turned to the communications company commander: "Comrade company commander, can you get through to the 40th Guards Division? I want to have a good chat with Colonel Artyom."

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." The communications company commander nodded and said, "I can help you get through the phone right now."

   But this time the phone call was not as easy as before. The other party was always busy and couldn't get in at all. The communications company commander could only regretfully say to Levchuk: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, the phone of the 40th Guards Division is temporarily unavailable. Who are they busy talking to right now?"

  The reason why the phone could not be connected was because Colonel Artyom, the commander of the division, was talking to Batov at the moment. Although the situation in the 4th Guards Division was not good, Batov was lucky and felt that the situation in the 40th Guards Division might be better.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he asked, Artyom began to pour bitterness on him: "Comrade commander, as soon as the enemy's shelling stopped, they dispatched several echelons of tanks and a large number of infantry to attack our division's defense area." A ferocious attack.

  Although we made a heroic resistance, due to the disparity in strength, the position of the 111th Regiment in the middle was broken through first, so that our army's defense line was cut by the enemy. In order to prevent the troops from falling into a tight siege, I could only order the three regiments to use alternate cover to retreat towards the preset position by the river, preparing to continue to resist the German attack here. "

Originally, when Levchuk said that the troops could not withstand the German attack and were forced to withdraw to the preset position by the river, Batov still had a little fantasy in his heart, thinking that the performance of Artyom's 40th Guards Division Should be better. Unexpectedly, after calling and asking, the situation of the two was similar, which meant that the situation at the left bank landing site was not optimistic.

   "Comrade Commander," Artyom added seeing that Batov was silent, "Our strength has been severely weakened. If we don't get reinforcements as soon as possible, we may not be able to hold the only position at the landing site."

Batov's intestines are regretful at the moment, not to mention Rokossovsky, even Sokov has reminded himself that the Germans have concentrated their forces on attacking Chuikov's 8th Guards Army during this period, while in Nare There is no movement in the Fuhe area, and there may be some conspiracy brewing. But I couldn't listen to these persuasions at all, and even felt that the other party was alarmist. I went my own way and transferred the main force of the left bank landing site to the right bank, which made the landing site precarious.

   "Don't worry, Colonel Artyom." Batov said into the microphone: "You are not fighting alone, I will send reinforcements to you. The reinforcements will be able to cross the Narew River by dark at the latest."

  Hearing that the reinforcements would not arrive until dark, Artyom couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart. He secretly said that he had to wait for such a long time, and he didn't know whether his troops could last until dark under the strong German offensive. However, he also knew that no matter how difficult he raised at this moment, Batov would not be able to change the troops, so he could only smile wryly and say, "Comrade Commander, we will hold our ground with all our strength until the moment when the reinforcements arrive."

After Batov put down the phone, he looked at Glebov standing in front of him, and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that I was wrong this time. If I hadn't been stubborn, I would have transferred those three divisions to Let's go, the situation at the left bank landing site will not be as critical as it is now."

   "Comrade commander, you don't have to blame yourself." Glebov comforted him and said, "No one knows that such a huge conspiracy is hidden behind the German army standing still."

"Actually, Comrade Marshal reminded me last time that the German Air Force has suddenly stepped up patrols on the main roads from the west to the north of Warsaw to prevent our army's reconnaissance planes from approaching. There may be some conspiracy." On the other hand, Batov did not hide his true thoughts: "Also, when I spoke with General Sokov last time, he also reminded me that the German army was aggressively attacking Chuikov in the south, but there was no such thing as us here. There must be some conspiracy planned. But I was also obsessed with ghosts at the time, and I couldn't listen to the advice of the two of them..."

   "Comrade Commander, stop blaming yourself." Glebov said: "Although our army has suffered a lot of losses, the landing site on the left bank is still in our hands, and everything can be recovered."

   "So what do we do now?"

   "The director of artillery just called to report that two artillery regiments have moved to the bank of the Narew River." Glebov said: "If the troops on the left bank need it, they can provide artillery support at any time."

   Hearing what Glebov said, Batov suddenly regained his spirits. "The artillery has reached the Narew River. That's great. With their support, I believe that the landing site on the left bank will be preserved."

   "Comrade Commander," Glebov asked Batov, "how should we use these artillery units?"

   "Let them establish artillery positions by the river." Batov said without thinking: "Use direct-point shooting to destroy the tanks rushing towards our preset positions."

  The 65th Army was suddenly attacked by the Germans, and Sokov knew about it shortly after the shelling began. He hurriedly ordered people to call Bonejelin and Sidolin over to discuss countermeasures with them to see how to help the friendly army overcome the current difficulties.

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and expressed his true thoughts: "Now we only have three guard divisions on the left bank. No matter which division is deployed for reinforcements, it will weaken the overall landing field. Defensive force. Therefore, I think it is not advisable to send troops to reinforce."

But after hearing this, Ponegerin shook his head and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think your statement is incorrect. You know, the only troops that have established a landing field on the left bank are us and the 65th Army. If they We really lost the landing field on the left bank and were driven back to the right bank area by the Germans, then we will have to face attacks from several directions at the same time independently, do you think we will be able to stop the Germans at that time?"

Sokov didn't expect that Ponegerin also understood the truth of cold lips and teeth, so he couldn't help but looked up at him, and echoed: "I think Comrade Deputy Commander is right, if the 65th Army is lost at the Pultusk landing field, Then we will be a lone army, and then we will have to face attacks from several directions at the same time, and we will be exhausted."

  Pornegelin heard what Sokov meant, and his face showed joy: "Comrade Commander, so you plan to send troops to reinforce friendly troops?"

"Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander, we cannot just sit and watch our friendly forces being defeated by the enemy, so rescue is a must." Sokov said: "But before taking action, you must first ask the Front Command for instructions. As long as Comrade Marshal allows , I can immediately arrange to mobilize troops for reinforcements."

  Say Cao Cao, and Cao Cao will arrive. Sokov just said that he would report the matter to Rokossovsky, but the other party called in first: "Misha, this is Rokossovsky."

   "Hello, Comrade Marshal." Hearing Rokossovsky's voice, Sokov secretly rejoiced: "I have something to ask you for instructions."

   "Let's talk about your business later." Rokossovsky said, "I have something important to explain to you."

   "Please speak, Comrade Marshal."

"The landing field established by Batov's troops was under fierce attack by the German army at the moment. The troops had to retreat due to insufficient troops and equipment. Now they have retreated to the preset position by the river," Rokossovsky said. : "I hope you can help them and immediately send troops to reinforce them."

  (end of this chapter)