"Where are you going to withdraw your troops?" Glebov asked.
"Let's retreat to the Belovizh Forest." Batov said: "After all, we stayed there continuously and built a lot of defenses. The troops can also conduct one or two exercises during their spare time. .”
Naturally, Glebov would not object to Batov's arrangement. He then asked: "Our troops are going to withdraw to the Belovizh Forest. Do we need to report to the front headquarters?"
"There is no need." Bartov said carelessly: "Judging from the recent situation, there are still some enemies in the 48th Group Army who are still struggling to support themselves, and in the Puutusk area where we are located, they are basically invisible. What constitutes an organized unit? We use this period of time to withdraw the troops to rest and recuperate in order to better attack the enemy in the future. The reason why I did not report it was because I was worried that some people would object and insist that the main force of our group army stay at the landing site on the left bank. .”
In this way, without asking for instructions, Batov took the initiative and withdrew three relatively complete infantry divisions across the Narew River overnight, leaving only two troops at the landing site on the left bank. A greatly weakened infantry division. But Rokossovsky, their superior, knew nothing about all this.
The landing site established by Sokov's Department was only a dozen kilometers away from the landing site of Batov's Department. The retreat of the three infantry divisions must have alarmed the nearest 6th Guards Army.
After Onupriyenko received the report from Lieutenant Colonel Ma Daqiang, the commander of the 4th Guards Regiment, he felt that the other party might have made a mistake. In the current situation, how could the 65th Group Army withdraw its troops from the landing site on the left bank? ? "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, are you mistaken? You must know that two days ago we tried to launch an attack on the enemy in the triangle area. Although the 65th Group Army did not participate in the attack, their mission is the same as ours, which is to find ways to expand Our army is at the landing site on the left bank of the Narew River. How could we withdraw our troops at this time? You must have made a mistake."
"That's right, comrade division commander." Ma Daqiang said in a positive tone: "I saw this with my own eyes. If you don't believe it, you can come to my regiment headquarters in person, where you can clearly see the friendly forces approaching with a telescope. Cross the river.”
In order to find out what was going on, Onupryenko personally rushed to the headquarters of the 4th Guards Regiment. Here, he saw a large force passing through the pontoon bridge on the river and withdrawing to the right bank of the Narew River in an orderly manner.
"Commander, what is going on?" Ma Daqiang asked tentatively: "Why did the friendly forces suddenly abandon the landing site on the left bank and withdraw to the right bank area?"
Seeing this situation, Onupriyenko was also confused. He shook his head and said, "I don't know what is going on."
Ma Daqiang reminded Onupriyenko: "Comrade division commander, if the 65th Group Army really withdraws, it means that our right wing will be exposed to the enemy, which is very detrimental to us..."
"Stop talking, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Onupriyenko interrupted Ma Daqiang before he could finish his words: "Can the phone you have here be able to communicate with the army headquarters?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander."
"Get me through to the Army Group Headquarters immediately. I want to report what I see here to the commander."
A few minutes later, Sokov received a call from Onupriyenko and couldn't help being shocked: "What, General Onupriyenko, what are you talking about? The 65th Army on your right wing is retreating? You Do you know what is going on?" When he said this, he seemed very excited. He did not expect that Bartov would order the troops to withdraw from the landing site on the left bank without even saying hello in advance. In this way, he would The right wing may be exposed to the enemy.
"I understand, General Onupryenko." Sokov said solemnly: "Where are you now?"
Onupryenko was stunned for a moment before he thought clearly about Sokov's current location when he asked him, and quickly replied: "I am at the regiment headquarters of Lieutenant Colonel Madaqiang of the 4th Guards Regiment."
"You should return to your division headquarters immediately, and I will contact you after I find out what is going on."
After Sokov put down the phone, he quickly told Ponedelin and Sidorin about the situation reported by Onupryenko, and finally said: "Tell me, what happened to General Batov?" Why did you withdraw your troops from the landing site on the left bank without even saying hello?"
"Otherwise, let's call General Bartov directly." Sidorin said cautiously: "Let's see how he explains."
"No, you can't call General Batov directly." But Ponedelin was much more experienced than Sidorin in this kind of matter. He shook his head and said, "I think General Batov will do this this time." I’m afraid I didn’t get the consent of my superiors to retreat.”
Ponedelin's words shocked both Sokov and Sidorin: "What, General Batov ordered the troops to retreat without asking his superiors for instructions? This is unlikely."
Faced with the two men's doubts, Ponejelin said solemnly: "Although our landing site and the 65th Group Army's landing site on the left bank are more than ten kilometers apart, they are one unit. If any party wants to withdraw from the landing site on the left bank, the front army will The headquarters will definitely say hello to the other side. But now the troops of the 65th Group Army have begun to retreat, but we have not received any notification. Based on this, I guess that the retreat implemented by the 65th Group Army did not receive permission from the superiors. "
Although Ponedelin's statement sounded a bit alarmist, Sokov felt that he should check with Rokossovsky to see whether Batov's retreat was under orders or on his own initiative. Thinking of this, he called the director of the communications corps and told the other party: "Comrade director of the communications corps, immediately get on the phone at the front army headquarters. I want to speak to comrade marshal."
When Rokossovsky learned that Sokov wanted to talk to him, he immediately ordered someone to transfer the call to his office: "Hey, Misha, what do you want from me?"
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov was eager to find out what was going on, so he did not go around in circles, but asked directly: "Do you plan to abandon the landing site on the left bank of Narew?"
"Abandon the landing site on the left bank of the Narew River?" Rokossovsky asked confusedly: "That is the starting point for our attack on the German hinterland. Why should I give up?"
"But my subordinates just reported to me that General Batov's troops are withdrawing from the landing site on the left bank and moving to the right bank of the Narew River through the pontoon bridge."
"This is impossible." Rokossovsky heard this and couldn't help but interrupt Sokov: "Misha, your subordinates must have made a mistake. I did not give any order to General Batov to retreat. How could he have ordered his troops to abandon the landing site on the left bank and move to the right bank area?"
"Comrade Marshal, this is absolutely true." Sokov said: "My subordinate General Onuprienko, commander of the 6th Guards Division, reported to me that he was at the regiment headquarters of the 4th Guards Regiment. The telescope saw that the troops of the 65th Group Army were withdrawing to the right bank area in an orderly manner through the pontoon bridge."
Hearing this, Rokossovsky realized the seriousness of the problem. He quickly called Malinin and told the other party: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you should contact General Bartov immediately and ask him why he put the Troops withdraw across the Narew River."
"Comrade Commander, this is impossible." Malinin also had an expression of disbelief on his face: "General Bartov has never asked us for instructions. How could he withdraw his troops across the Narew River without permission? It must be true. Something went wrong.”
"It can't be wrong." Rokossovsky said seriously: "I believe Misha, he will not deceive me."
Seeing what Rokossovsky said, Malinin came to the side, picked up a phone and called the 65th Army Headquarters. After hearing Glebov's voice, Malinin did not exchange greetings, but asked directly: "Comrade Glebov, I heard that your troops are withdrawing from the Narew left bank landing site. Is this true?"
Hearing the call from Malinin, Glebov couldn't help but panic, but when he saw Batov sitting not far away, he suddenly felt confident: "Yes, General Malinin, our three divisions We are currently withdrawing from the left bank area and preparing to evacuate to the Belovizh Forest for rest and recuperation.”
After confirming that the 65th Army was retreating, Malinin quickly covered the microphone with his hand and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, Chief of Staff Glebov reported that they withdrew three divisions from the landing site and prepared Transferred to Belovizh Forest for rest."
"Nonsense, absolutely nonsense." Rokossovsky said into the phone: "Misha, I'll call you later." After saying that, he hung up the phone and walked to Malinin's side. He took the microphone in his hand.
"General Glebov, where is Batov?" Rokossovsky was furious when he learned that Batov and others had ordered three divisions to withdraw from the landing site on the left bank without asking for permission, so he spoke His tone was particularly stern.
Glebov naturally heard the dissatisfaction in Rokossovsky's tone, and quickly covered the phone and said to Bartov: "Comrade Commander, it's the marshal who called. He seems to be very unhappy."
When Bartov picked up the phone, he heard Rokossovsky's angry voice coming from the receiver: "Batov, please explain to me, who gave you the courage to do this without asking for permission?" Under such circumstances, will the troops be withdrawn from the landing site on the left bank without authorization?"
Rokossovsky's reaction had long been expected by Bartov, but he was confident that as long as he explained it properly, the other party would calm down no matter how angry he was.
"Comrade Marshal, please calm down!" Batov said with a smile: "I know that withdrawing the troops from the left bank area without asking for your instructions will make you angry, but can you listen to my explanation?"
Bartov was Rokossovsky's most valued subordinate. Hearing what he said now, he couldn't get angry any more. He could only say casually: "Okay, tell me, I want to hear why you didn't go through with it." After asking for instructions, we retreated the troops to the right bank area of Narew without authorization."
"Comrade Marshal, this is it." Batov explained: "According to my recent observations, the enemy in front of our army has been greatly weakened after many failed attacks, and is unable to attack us anymore. In In this case, it would be a waste for me to place five more divisions at the landing site on the left bank, and it would also put a huge pressure on the logistics organization.
After careful consideration, I felt that three of the divisions could be withdrawn to the Belovizh Forest. There are the fortifications we built in the early stage there. When the withdrawn troops are resting there, they can also use the terrain there to practice offensive operations. "
Hearing Bartov's explanation, Rokossovsky felt that it made some sense, but he still asked: "Even so, why didn't you report to the front army headquarters in advance about such a big thing as evacuating the troops?"
"Comrade Marshal, I know that many people think that the enemy may launch an attack on our landing site again. If I propose a retreat in such a matter, I will definitely attract a lot of opposition." Bartov said: "In order to avoid this situation, After repeated thinking, I thought it would be better to wait until the troops retreated to the Belovizh Forest before reporting to the Front Army Headquarters. Even if someone wanted to object by then, they would have nothing to say after seeing that my troops had already withdrawn to the forest area. It’s okay to say it.”
Although Rokossovsky was dissatisfied with Bartov's approach of killing first and playing second, in this case, he could only let it go. He could not let the troops who had retreated return to the landing site on the left bank. "Batov, your starting point is good, but your approach is inappropriate. For example, you and the 48th Group Army are neighboring troops. Why didn't you communicate with them in advance about your retreat? When the friendly forces saw your retreat, they Not understanding the situation will affect the morale of the military, do you understand?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal." Hearing Rokossovsky mention the 48th Army, Bartov realized that he had not thought carefully about the problem and actually forgot to notify Sokov. The retreat of his troops would definitely be destroyed by the other party's subordinates. He could only apologize and said: "I didn't consider this well. I will call General Bartov later and inform him of this matter."
"Forget it, let me call Misha." Rokossovsky said: "If the enemy attacks your landing site again, can your remaining troops stop them?"
"I think there should be no problem, Comrade Marshal." Bartov said confidently: "Anyway, there are still two divisions at the landing site. With their strength, they can completely block the German attack."
Rokossovsky put down the phone and asked Malinen: "How is the situation in Chuikov? Are the Germans still attacking?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the German offensive is very fierce." Malinen nodded and said: "I think the Germans are indeed planning to focus their attack on the Magnushev landing site. In order to prevent Chuikov's troops from being The Germans are rushing into the Vistula River, and I suggest that the two Guards Divisions be returned to their posts as soon as possible."
The German army made little movement in the Narew River Basin to the north, but increased its offensive efforts at the Magnushev landing site in the south. At this moment, Rokossovsky had doubts about his judgment: Could it really be me? Misjudgment? The German offensive focused on the Magnushev landing site instead of several landing sites in the Narew River basin?
