In the evening, the pontoon bridge on the Narew River was finally erected.
At the same time, two enemy planes appeared in the sky. They lowered their altitude and threw bombs at the pontoon bridge, trying to blow up the newly erected pontoon bridge.
The enemy plane that was the first to dive had its finger on the bomb button. It could only lower the height a little more to destroy the pontoon bridge, making it impossible for the Russians to transport supplies from the right bank to the left bank of the Narew River.
But just as he was about to drop the bomb, countless black clouds of smoke bloomed around the plane. Then the plane shook violently, as if it was attacked by hailstones, and there was a loud crackle under the fuselage and under the wings. At the same time, the transparent plexiglass cover of the cockpit was instantly shattered by shrapnel as dense as locusts. The pilot immediately understood that he had been hit by ground anti-aircraft fire. But this was his last consciousness. The next moment, he was beaten into a sieve by countless shrapnel. The plane fell headlong and hit an orange-red fireball in the open space by the river.
The wingman pilot following behind realized something was wrong and pulled the control stick hard to pull the plane up into the clouds. Even so, black smoke came out of the engine. Fortunately, he was lucky and drove the shot plane back to the airport behind him.
After driving away the German bombers, the convoy that had been waiting by the river for a long time began to cross the river. The first to cross the bridge was the truck towing the artillery. This is what Sokov meant. The landing site on the left bank lacked artillery. When the 120th Guards Division carried out the forced crossing, most of the artillery of the division's artillery regiment stayed on the right bank due to the heavy load of the ships.
The liaison officer of the 310th Artillery Regiment waiting by the pontoon bridge saw the artillery successfully crossing the bridge, and immediately greeted them and guided these vehicles to the newly established artillery position.
Rokossovsky called Sokov: "Misha, how is the situation there?"
"The pontoon bridge has just been built and the troops are crossing the river in an orderly manner."
"How many troops are on the landing grounds on the left bank now?"
"For the time being, there is only the 120th Guards Division of Major General Nikitin," Sokov replied: "Following troops will cross the bridge one after another in the middle of the night."
"Misha! It's too slow, your speed is too slow!" After listening to Sokov's answer, Rokossovsky said with some displeasure: "There are too few troops at the landing site on the left bank now. If the German army launches a major attack at this moment, Can they withstand such a large-scale attack?"
Sokov, who was criticized by Rokossovsky, did not dare to refute the other party. He could only follow the other party's wishes and said: "Don't worry, Comrade Marshal, the troops who want to reinforce the left bank are already waiting on the shore, just waiting to be pulled." After the artillery convoy has passed, they will begin to cross the river."
"Why let the artillery cross the river first?" Rokossovsky questioned: "If there is no infantry cover, the artillery is a lamb to be slaughtered in front of the Germans. Once the enemy captures the artillery position without infantry cover, they I can turn the muzzle of the artillery to bombard your right bank position. Have you thought about what consequences that will bring?"
"Comrade Marshal, you have misunderstood." Seeing that Rokossovsky had misunderstood what he meant, Sokov quickly explained to him: "The artillery that is crossing the river now is the artillery regiment of the 120th Guards Division. During the day During the forced crossing battle, these artillery pieces were left on the right bank because the ships could not carry heavy weapons. Now that the pontoon bridge has been set up, I decided to let these artillery pieces cross the bridge first so that the artillery regiment of the 120th Guards Division could prepare for battle. No matter when the Germans launched an attack on the landing site, they could provide the necessary artillery support to the infantry at the first opportunity."
Rokossovsky realized that he had misunderstood Sokov, and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, Misha, I didn't understand the situation, so I criticized you indiscriminately. I hope you don't mind. Now General Bartov is here The landing site established on the left bank is being subjected to constant counterattacks by the German army. If the enemy finds that the counterattack there is ineffective, it is very likely that the enemy will change direction and launch a strong attack on Luran Town, and then you will face great pressure."
Sokov knew very well that his superiors ordered him to build a landing field in the direction of Ruzhan Town in order to help Batov's troops share the pressure so that the enemy could not concentrate all its forces and launch a comprehensive counterattack in Puutusk. As Rokossovsky said, once the German army finds that their attack in the Puutusk area cannot be effective, they will definitely choose other weak places as a new direction of attack, and the town of Ruzhan is undoubtedly the weakest direction. .
After thinking about this, Sokov said into the microphone: "Comrade Marshal, don't worry, I will send as many troops as possible to the landing site on the left bank in the shortest possible time and establish a strong defense line to resist the German attack." attack."
"Misha, I want to remind you." Out of love for Sokov, Rokossovsky waited for him to finish and then added: "The landing area you control now is not large. If there are too many troops crowded together, they may cause considerable casualties if they are bombed or shelled by the Germans."
Although Rokossovsky did not say it clearly, Sokov had already guessed the other party’s intention, which was to expand the area of the landing site, and quickly assured him: “Comrade Marshal, please rest assured, we will launch the landing as soon as possible after daybreak. To attack the German army, strive to expand the area of the landing field.”
After putting down the phone, Sokov discussed with Ponedelin and Sidorin how to expand the landing site: "Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, according to our original plan, before dawn, the 1st and 1st Guardsmen will be The 6th Division is all deployed at the landing site on the left bank. However, Comrade Marshal is right. Our current landing site on the left bank is too small. If so many troops are crowded into this small area, then once they are bombed by the Germans Or shelling, I’m afraid the troops will suffer considerable losses.”
Regarding Sokov's statement, Ponedelin agreed: "Yes, Comrade Commander, you are right. With so many troops concentrated on such a small landing site, our troops are... The increased, but actually too dense formation made it easy for German artillery and air force to attack."
Sidorin stared at the map and said: "I think we can consider letting the 1st Guards Division develop northeastward, as close as possible to the Puutusk area, so that it can respond to General Batov's 65th Group Army."
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"Comrade Chief of Staff, your idea is good, but it is difficult to implement." Ponejelin pointed to the map and said to Sidorin: "You may have forgotten that this area between us and the 65th Group Army. It’s basically peatland, and it’s difficult to use tanks. Simply using infantry to attack the enemy is equivalent to asking the commanders and soldiers to die.”
Sokov has spent a long time in Russia and naturally knows that the so-called peatland is a swamp that has been drained of water. On such land, it is indeed impossible to use tank troops. But without the cooperation of tanks, the infantry approaching the 65th Group Army would probably suffer heavy casualties.
Sidorin thought for a while and then proposed a plan: "Comrade Deputy Commander, do you think this will work? We will send engineers to this area to lay roads and open up roads for tanks to travel on..."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, your idea is too unrealistic." Ponejelin interrupted Sidorin without waiting for him to finish speaking, and raised his own objection: "Once the German army discovers that we are We will definitely use bombing or artillery to stop us from laying roads, and the engineering troops building the roads will suffer heavy casualties. Even if the Germans don't stop us from building the roads, there will be three roads from Ruzhan to Puutusk. It will be a huge project to lay a road over such a long distance of more than ten kilometers. Without the cooperation of specialized engineering machinery, it is very difficult to complete it by manpower."
Ponijelin's words were tantamount to completely rejecting Sidorin's proposal. After patiently listening to the argument between the two, Sokov said: "I think Comrade Deputy Commander is right. Building a road from Ruzhan Town to Puutusk is a waste of people and money and is not necessary. Rather than Instead of sending engineers to spend so much time paving roads, it would be better to let them use this time to build a few more pontoon bridges on the Narew River to improve the transportation capacity between the two sides."
"As for which direction we should develop to expand the area of the landing site, this is what I think about. Come and see." Sokov dragged the map on the table in front of him, then picked up a The red and blue pencils used the red end to draw dotted lines on the map: "Developing to the northeast of Luran Town is no longer within the scope of our consideration. The only remaining directions are to the west and southwest."
"I think we should go west." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Sidorin rushed to say: "Now the enemy's main force has been transferred to the Puutusk area, and the enemy in front of us is relatively weak, so Allowing us to quickly move further to the west."
Ponejelin did not express any opinion on this matter, but asked Sokov for his opinion: "Comrade Commander, I wonder what you think about it?"
"I don't think it's appropriate to develop westward." Sokov knew that both of them would have questions about his statement. Before they could ask, he took the initiative and said: "Look at the map. If you develop westward, it means Our landing site becomes a wedge in the direction of the German army. In order to ensure the integrity of their defense line, the enemy will definitely launch a crazy attack on us in an attempt to level their front. At that time, the troops moving forward to the west will We are facing the fate of being cut off from the main force, so we cannot take this risk, lest we ruin our vitality."
"So, do you plan to move the troops to the southwest?" Ponjelin asked tentatively.
"That's right." Sokov nodded and explained his reasons to the two of them: "Look, if our troops develop to the southwest, we can expand the landing site with the Narew River at our back. area, and we don’t have to be attacked from several directions at the same time.”
"If we develop to the southwest, the area of our landing site will indeed expand, but the defense depth will not be enough." Ponejelin frowned and said: "There is not enough defense depth, and the defense front is too wide, which will lead to the loss of our military strength. Disperse. In this way, when the German army launches a fierce attack on us, there is a possibility that the defense line will be breached."
Sokov also considered Ponedelin's concerns. He drew a line on the Narew River with a pencil and continued: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think about it this way. If we develop to the southwest and expand the area of the landing site, then we can Erect a few more pontoon bridges on the river to transport more troops and technical equipment. We can accumulate more power in a short period of time and proactively launch attacks on the enemy's defense zone to the west."
Sidorin asked with some surprise: "Comrade Commander, didn't you just say that our troops are not suitable for developing to the west? Why did your plan change in the blink of an eye?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't understand what I mean." Seeing Sidorin's confused look, Sokov explained to him: "If we only have a pontoon bridge on the Narew River and the transportation capacity is limited, if we want If we develop westward, we will not be able to transport more troops to the landing site on the left bank in a short period of time. But if we develop southwest first, expand the area of the landing site, and erect more pontoon bridges on the river, we can improve The speed of transportation of soldiers and technical equipment. Even if the flanks of the troops are threatened by the German army as they develop westward, we can mobilize more troops in the shortest time to resolve the unfavorable situation."
Ponejelin expressed support for Sokov's proposal: "I agree with Comrade Commander, the river crossing troops will first develop to the southwest. After the landing site is expanded and more pontoon bridges are built, it will also develop to the west. Not too late."
After Sidorin carefully thought about Sokov's plan, he felt that it made sense and nodded: "That's right. We should first expand the area of the landing site and then develop westward."
After a pause, he asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, in addition to the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions, which troops do you plan to transfer to the left bank landing site?"
"The 211th and 284th Infantry Divisions suffered severe troop attrition during the relief battle in the fortified area." Sokov said: "This time, they were asked to stay as reserves, and the 3rd and 109th Infantry Divisions were also transferred. Stand by the Narew River. Wait until the area of the landing site is expanded, and then cross the river to the landing site."
"What about the artillery and tank troops?" Sidorin then asked: "Should we continue to stay on the right bank, or should we let them go to the landing site on the left bank."
"The artillery continues to stay in the right bank area." Sokov said: "As for the tank troops, first transfer a tank brigade to assist the infantry operations, and the rest will stay in the right bank area for the time being. It will not be too late to cross the river when the time is right. .”
After Sidorin quickly recorded Sokov's order, he nodded and said: "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will pass your order to the troops below as soon as possible."
While Sidorin was on the phone, Ponedelin also reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think the German army will definitely send out the air force for bombing in order to prevent us from expanding the landing site. If there is no air cover, our ground forces will No matter how strong the army is, I’m afraid it will still suffer.”
When Sokov heard this, he understood what Ponedelin wanted to express, and said quickly: "I will contact Comrade Marshal and request General Polainin's air force to cooperate with our actions in the direction of the landing site."
