"Comrade Commander," seeing Rokossovsky's silence, Malinin asked tentatively: "What should we do with General Chuikov's two divisions? Let them continue to stand by where they are, or should we rush back to the Magnushev landing site for reinforcements?" ?”
Rokossovsky turned to look at Malinin and asked noncommittally: "How do you think we should arrange the whereabouts of these two Guards divisions?"
"Although there are various signs that there must be some conspiracy brewing behind the German army's aggressive attack on the Magnushev landing site." Malinin said to Rokossovsky: "But the current critical situation of Chuikov's troops is entirely due to the redeployment. The two Guards Divisions were removed, which resulted in the weakening of the defensive strength of the landing site. Therefore, I think the top priority is to quickly return these two Guards Divisions to strengthen the defensive strength of the Magnushev Landing Site."
"So, you mean to have the two divisions return to their original positions as soon as possible?" Rokossovsky asked rhetorically: "But if these two divisions have just left their current positions, the enemy will be in the Narew River Basin. We have launched a new round of attack, so don’t we have no reserves that we can use?”
"Comrade Commander, I think you seem to have entered into a misunderstanding." Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Malinin said with a smile: "Have you forgotten that the troops in the Narew River Basin are not only Baja?" General Tov's 65th Army, General Sokov's 48th Army, and General Popov's 70th Army. If the Germans really take a large-scale action there, I think they have enough troops to deal with it. enemy."
Rokossovsky raised his hand and slapped himself hard on the forehead, and said angrily: "Hutu, I am really Hutu. I just thought of leaving these two Guards Divisions as reserves, ready to go at any time. Reinforce the troops in the Narew River Basin. But they forgot that we now have three armies deployed in the area. No, if we add the 47th Army, there will be four armies, which is enough to deal with any size of German attack."
He paused for a moment and ordered Malinin: "Chief of Staff, call the two Guards Division commanders immediately and inform them to return to the Magnushev landing site as soon as possible to strengthen the defense there."
Of course, as Rokossovsky's chief of staff, Malinin naturally had to inform Chuikov about such a major event as the two Guards Divisions returning to the Magnushev landing site for construction, so that the other party would be well aware of it.
Chuikov was overjoyed when he learned that his troops were returning to the army. He said repeatedly: "Great, this is great." But within two minutes of being happy, he remembered that Rokossovsky was late two days ago. The reason why the troops were not allowed to return to the army was asked tentatively, "General Malinin, Comrade Marshal, didn't you say that these two Guards Divisions should be left as reserve forces to prepare for timely deployment when problems arise in the Narew River Basin?" Are you going to provide reinforcements? Why did you suddenly change your mind?"
"General Chuikov, you are right. You kept your troops for the past two days and did not allow them to return to the army. The reason is that if the troops in the Narew River Basin encounter any danger, they can be sent for reinforcements." Malinen said: "But after repeated consideration, Comrade Marshal felt that you also need these two Guards Divisions there, so he changed his mind and asked them to return to the army immediately."
"So that's it." Chuikov was dubious about Malinin's far-fetched explanation, but he couldn't say anything else. Anyway, the return of the two Guards Divisions would strengthen the defense of the Magnushev landing site: "I understand. , Comrade Chief of Staff."
After putting down the phone, Malinin asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, I am thinking about something. Now General Batov has transferred all the troops that have withdrawn from the left bank to the Belovizh Forest. Once the German army attacks They launch an attack on the landing site. With their remaining strength, can they stop it?"
"I think it's very embarrassing." Rokossovsky said truthfully: "Batov left two severely weakened infantry divisions at the landing site on the left bank. If the German army launches a violent attack on them, I'm afraid they won't be able to support them at all. How long."
"What should we do?" Malinen asked tentatively: "How about I ask General Bartov to move the troops back to the left bank?"
"I don't think this matter is urgent for the time being." Rokossovsky knew very well that Bartov's troops were in the process of retreating. If they were rashly given an order to terminate the retreat and return to their original station, it would probably lead to the appearance of troops. confusion.
After all, similar things happened during the Moscow Defense War. At that time, Rokossovsky asked the Chief of General Staff Shaposhnikov for instructions and withdrew the troops of his 16th Army to the Instra Reservoir area. But when Zhukov, the commander of the Western Front, learned of the incident, he directly ordered someone to send a telegram to Rokossovsky, ordering him in stern words to immediately lead his troops back to the original defense area.
Since many troops turned off their communication equipment during the transfer process, the army headquarters was unable to contact them. Rokossovsky could only send a large number of communication troops to contact the troops whose communication was interrupted and order them to return. The original residence.
But when these troops rushed back to their original defense area, they found that the place had been occupied by the Germans. In order to fulfill the orders of their superiors, the troops attacked the enemy regardless of their fatigue. Most of the attacks failed, and even those that succeeded did so at a heavy price.
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As Rokossovsky's chief of staff, Malinin naturally remembered this period of history. He nodded and said: "I understand, Comrade Commander, let Batov's troops withdraw to the Belovizh Forest first. , it won’t be too late to transfer them back after the landing site on the left bank of the Narew River is in danger.”
The Germans knew about Batov's transfer of troops that day, but they were worried that it was a Soviet conspiracy and did not dare to act rashly. It was not until he received a report from a scout that all Russian troops withdrawing from the left bank had entered the Belovizh Forest more than 100 kilometers away that the German commander felt relieved.
The strength of the Puutusk landing site has become weak, and on the German position opposite the Soviet army, large forces are quietly gathering, preparing to launch a surprise attack at the right time to drive all the Soviet troops in the landing site into Nare River.
Late at night two days later, the German commander issued an offensive order to several of his division commanders: In the early morning of the next day, after powerful artillery fire bombarded the areas controlled by the Soviet army, each unit launched an attack under the cover of tanks. Within half a day, the area occupied by the Soviet army was retaken.
