Before the new forced crossing operation began, good news came. The river crossing equipment transported by the Army Group Headquarters arrived. The availability of specialized river crossing equipment means that the success rate of the river crossing operation has increased.
Seven or eight commanders and fighters of the 304th Division carried a small boat and rushed towards the Narew River quickly. After arriving at the river, they put the boat into the water, climbed in on hands and feet, and then paddled to the other side with their sculls.
Watching his troops begin to cross the river, the commander of the 304th Division who was watching the battle in the observation post began to calculate the distance between the right bank and the left bank. The distance between the two banks was about 600 meters. If the commanders and soldiers rowed faster, it would take at most two seconds to cross. ten minutes. As long as you board the left bank, you can develop into the depth of the enemy's defenses, find ways to capture a village or settlement, and establish a landing site centered there.
But for some reason, he suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart. He always felt that something was going to happen. The boats fighting for the crossing on the river looked like a bunch of living targets. His heart was beating wildly for no reason, and all the hairs on his body stood up. He immediately turned around and ordered the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, order the artillery regiment to closely monitor the movement on the other side. If anything is found to be amiss, fire immediately to provide fire coverage. "
But sometimes the more you worry about something, exactly what happens comes. As soon as his order was given, he heard the whistling sound of cannonballs piercing the air. Then the first cannonball landed among many ships, but it seemed that it did not hit the target. Only a black water column rushed high. Up and empty.
But this artillery shell was obviously just a test firing by the enemy's artillery. Then the river surface was exploded by the sudden artillery shell, and columns of water shot up into the sky. Some ships near the explosion point were overturned by the impact of the water column, and all the soldiers on board fell into the water. Some of the soldiers who fell into the water were washed away by the river, while others waved their arms and swam to nearby ships. Some ships were hit by cannonballs and blown to pieces, and the soldiers on board were blown to pieces.
However, this round of shelling came suddenly and disappeared quickly. The commander of the 304th Division saw that the ships that were all over the river were blown to pieces, and the burning wreckage was still floating on the shaking water, with billowing black smoke emitting, and they were turning sideways. The ship was sinking rapidly, and the blood-stained river was filled with ship fragments and corpses. The fallen soldiers were flopping around desperately in the cold river, like boiled dumplings. In just a few minutes, more than 30 wooden boats and more than 200 soldiers were lost.
The scene that happened before him made the division commander furious. He shouted at the chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, let the artillery regiment fire. Fire the artillery, and you must destroy the German artillery positions."
But the chief of staff said in embarrassment: "Comrade division commander, the German artillery fire time is too short, and our artillery cannot lock their position." The implication is that we do not know where the German artillery is and cannot use artillery fire. suppress.
When the infantry was crossing the river, they were hit by German artillery. Colonel Filipov, who stayed on the shore and commanded the tank unit, saw it. Seeing the ships being blown up and the soldiers on board dying one after another, Filipov was so anxious that he could do nothing. After all, the range of tank guns cannot be compared with that of artillery. Even if he knew the so-called location of the artillery positions, there was nothing he could do. Conduct artillery suppression.
After the German bombardment stopped, Filipov ordered his men through the car radio: "Everyone pay attention, everyone pay attention! Monitor the fire points on the other side with all your strength, and once discovered, immediately destroy them with tank guns. Repeat, once the fire points on the other side are discovered, Destroy it immediately!" Although he was unable to deal with the German artillery, there was still no problem in dealing with the firepower points on the other side.
Sure enough, when the ship was still 150 meters away from the river bank, the machine gun firepower on the other side opened fire. They strafed the Soviet commanders and fighters on the ship with intensive firepower.
Upon seeing this, Filipov immediately shouted into the microphone: "Everyone pay attention, everyone pay attention! I am the brigade commander, Colonel Filipov. I am ordering you to immediately use tank guns and machine guns to destroy the enemy on the other side." Firepower point. Repeat, immediately use tank guns and machine guns to eliminate the firepower point on the other side."
Under the attack of artillery and machine gun fire from the tank brigade, the exposed fire points on the other side were cleared one by one. Those German soldiers who were bombed or killed did not understand until their death. Since the Russians could directly destroy their own firepower points with artillery fire, why didn't they use it last time, causing them to lose so many troops in vain?
The reason is very simple. During the first forcible crossing, long-range artillery was used to support the infantry crossing the river. When the Soviet commanders and fighters approached the German army, in order to avoid accidental damage, the artillery fire naturally had to be stopped. But this time the situation was different. What supported the infantry crossing the river were tank guns and machine guns. At a distance of 600 meters, the tank crews' performance in destroying targets was definitely more accurate than the artillery bombardment from a distance.
After learning that the river-crossing troops covered by the tank brigade had finally successfully reached the left bank, the soldiers rushed out of the wooden boat and rushed to the shore with the water flowing. Since the German troops on the shore were basically eliminated by the artillery fire and machine guns of the tank brigade, the landing troops easily occupied the German positions along the river.
Seeing his troops successfully landing on the island, the commander of the 304th Division relaxed his frown. He turned to the Chief of Staff and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our soldiers have successfully landed on the left bank. Have you seen this scene?" "
"I see, Comrade Division Commander." said the Chief of Staff: "Can we transfer the next two regiments up so that we can establish our landing site on the left bank as soon as possible?"
"Okay." After the division commander agreed to the chief of staff's proposal, he ordered the other party: "Report to the headquarters immediately and say that our division's troops have successfully landed on the left bank."
The chief of staff said hesitantly: "Comrade division commander, our troops have just arrived on the left bank and have not completely occupied the enemy's position. Isn't it appropriate to report the results at this moment? If something unexpected happens and the headquarters blames us, I'm afraid You will be criticized."
"At this point, I can't control that much." The division commander said stubbornly: "I asked you to report, just report. If anything goes wrong, I will be responsible for everything."
Hearing what the division commander said, the chief of staff could not say anything. He could only report the news that the troops of the 304th Division had boarded the left bank position to the Army Headquarters.
Seeing the battle report of the 304th Division, Batov showed a smile on his face. He said to Glebov: "Chief of Staff, the 304th Division fought well. It successfully crossed over in such a short period of time and boarded the We have reached the left bank and are currently engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy. I believe it won’t be long before they can establish a landing site on the left bank.”
Glebov asked Batov for instructions: "Then should we ask the 321st Division to speed up and catch up with the 304th Division as soon as possible to jointly consolidate the landing site on the left bank?"
"This is what it should be, Comrade Chief of Staff." After Batov agreed to Glebov's proposal, he specifically added: "By the way, let me inform the director of the engineering corps and ask him to erect a tank for tanks and equipment on the Narew River as soon as possible. The pontoon through which the cannon passed.”
As Batov's chief of staff, Glebov naturally understood that now that the German positions on the left bank had been captured, establishing a landing site was only the first step. Next, he would definitely face endless German counterattacks. If a pontoon bridge is not built on the river as soon as possible to transport the troops and weapons and equipment needed for the landing site, then the troops on the landing site on the left bank will become a lone army. Under the crazy counterattack of the German army, they will soon run out of ammunition and food. An absolute situation. In order to avoid such a tragedy, it is absolutely necessary to build a pontoon bridge to connect the two sides in time.
But when Glebov went to the side to make a phone call, Batov felt that he should tell Rokossovsky the good news, so he ordered someone to answer the phone at the front headquarters and reported the good news to Rokossovsky: "Commander Comrade Communist Party member, I have good news for you. My vanguard has successfully completed the forcible crossing in Puutusk and the area south of it, and established a landing site on the left bank of the Narew River."
"That's great, General Bartov, that's great." After listening to the other party's report, Rokossovsky was also happy with the results achieved by the 65th Group Army: "As long as your troops can defeat Naray If we gain a firm foothold on the left bank of the Fu River, the situation on the battlefield will become more favorable to our army."
After Bartov ended his phone call with Rokossovsky, he felt that he should go to the front to see it in person. First, it can grasp first-hand information on the battlefield in a timely manner, and second, it can boost morale.
But what he didn't expect was that as soon as he and Military Commissar Rajecki arrived at the observation post of the 304th Regiment, the German army launched a fierce shelling on the area occupied by the Soviet troops on the left bank.
As the bombardment unfolded, the density of the bombardment became more and more intense, and the shells fell in pieces on the positions on the left bank and exploded. Immediately afterwards, amid the roar of muffled thunder, the position on the other side was blown to pieces, and even Bartov's feet could feel the faint vibration. Even without a telescope, you can clearly see patches of orange-red explosions in the distance, and black smoke clouds rising from the flashing fireballs.
Rajecki had seen such a spectacular scene before, and he was shocked by the fierce artillery fire. After a while, he came back to his senses, grabbed Bubatov's arm, and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's artillery fire is so fierce, our troops on the left bank must have suffered a lot of casualties. I think, It’s better to withdraw the troops first, and then launch the attack after preparations are in place.”
"No, we can't retreat." Batov said firmly: "As soon as the German artillery fire stops, they will launch an attack on the position by the river. If our army retreats at this time, doesn't it mean that we will hand over the position to them in vain? No, convoys are absolutely not allowed now, and the troops must do everything possible to transport as many people and equipment as possible to the left bank."
"But, Comrade Commander." The commander of the 304th Division said bitterly: "Comrade Commander, our entire division is now on the left bank, and is currently under fierce bombardment by the German army. If we don't retreat as soon as possible, when the bombardment is over, we may not be able to escape. There are not many people left.”
"Comrade Colonel." Batov stared at the division commander and said expressionlessly: "Although the German army is conducting fierce shelling on the positions on the left bank, as long as the commanders and soldiers hide in the fortifications, casualties can be minimized. . And if you choose to retreat now, everyone will be eager to leave that dangerous area. In this case, the retreat may turn into a rout. Even if some commanders and soldiers can retreat to the right bank, the morale and morale of the army will be completely destroyed. This will This means that our operation to forcibly cross the Narew River ended in failure."
Originally, Rajecki saw that the artillery fire on the other side was fierce, and the commanders and fighters staying on that side would suffer casualties every minute, he couldn't help but have the same idea as the commander of the 304th Division. But after listening to Bartov's words, he immediately changed his mind and felt that the troops could not be allowed to retreat under artillery fire, otherwise the retreat would turn into a rout, resulting in heavy casualties for the troops. The plan to forcefully cross the Narew River and establish a landing site failed. And ended.
After thinking about this, he said earnestly to the commander of the 304th Division: "Comrade Colonel, I think the commander is right. Although the German army is constantly bombarding the direction of our army, as long as our commanders and soldiers continue to stay in the trenches, , it is not an easy task for the enemy to retake the riverside position."
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Although Bartov and Rajecki had already said this, the commander of the 304th Division was unwilling to do so. After all, his troops were being shelled by the Germans on the other side at the moment, and casualties occurred every minute. If not as soon as possible, If we evacuate, I'm afraid the entire division will be wiped out.
Bartov saw his scruples, patted him on the shoulder and said to him: "Don't worry, Colonel. I'm here to make a statement to you. As long as your division persists in retreating, then when the battle is over, you No matter how many troops you lose, I will replenish you. If you lose a regiment, I will replenish you a regiment. If the entire division is lost, as long as you are still there, I will replace the 304th Infantry Division in the shortest possible time. Rebuild. How about it, comrade colonel, do you believe what I say?"
After pondering for a long time, the commander of the 304th Division slowly nodded in agreement: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will obey your order and let the troops continue to stay on the left bank position and continue to perform the task of holding the landing site."
"That's right, Comrade Colonel." Batov was still very satisfied with his answer. He nodded and said: "In many cases, we have to take the overall situation into consideration and exchange for greater victory with minimal sacrifice. Don’t worry, when this battle is over, your division will receive the honor that belongs to you.”
Hearing that Bartov mentioned honor, the colonel couldn't help but make a small calculation in his mind. If your troops achieve good results in the following battles, they may receive medals and be awarded the honors they deserve. After thinking this, the colonel was completely relieved. He turned around and ordered his chief of staff: "Get in touch with the three regiment commanders on the left bank and tell them to stay in the fortifications honestly. No one is allowed to retreat without my order." One step at a time, we must hold on to our current position like nails.”
"Yes, comrade division commander." The chief of staff replied in a loud voice this time: "I will immediately convey your order to the regiments on the other side and ask them to stay in the fortifications peacefully. , no one is allowed to leave the position without permission."
Rajecki walked up to the colonel, raised his hand and patted him gently on the shoulder, and said approvingly: "Well done, comrade colonel, you made the right decision. I believe in the commanders and fighters on the other side. After I understand what's going on, I will also agree with the decision you made."
