Struggle in Soviet Russia

The penetration of the German army on the Soviet defense line and the rapid assault in the direction of Belei not only destroyed the originally fragile defense line of the Soviet army, but also brought a crisis to the forward command post of the front army.

Bere was less than 40 kilometers away from the Soviet front line. Such a short distance made the forward command post of the front army directly face the front line of the German offensive. Although Victor obtained relevant information when the Germans broke through the defense line. In less than an hour, the front army headquarters had no time to make any deployments.

This was a disaster, and Victor finally realized the embarrassment that the Western Front encountered in the battle on the border.

For today’s Victor, the worst problem is that, if it were at the beginning, he could directly retreat to the rear with the communication command center. The command center is equipped with its own trucks and is highly motorized, so he can retreat before the German army arrives. It should be no problem. But now, his communications command center is assigned to the command of the Western Front. How to retreat and how to retreat needs to be coordinated with the command, and he can no longer do whatever he wants like in the past.

In addition, it is a sensitive time now, and the front army command needs more information from the communications command center than usual. How could Timoshenko allow Victor to take the people to move on his own?

With fixed specifications and retreat procedures, everyone in the communication command center knows what they should do. Therefore, the speed of maintenance is very fast, but within ten minutes, all the equipment that should be packaged and the documents that must be burned have been processed. Alright, the command center consisting of nearly sixty people has already loaded eight trucks with people and equipment.

Compared with the communication command center, the front army command post has a much larger organization. Even if it is just an advancing command post, there are hundreds of people including the guards. The most important thing is that the command post cannot be in the face of threats. No matter what, if you leave directly, you will run away and you will be held accountable.

The command post must complete the basic defensive deployment before it can choose an opportunity to transfer while ensuring smooth communication.

Standing next to a truck, Victor looked anxiously smoking a cigarette. His team had been ready to go for half an hour, but the command side was still not ready. He really didn’t understand how those guys could do it. So calm, don't you know that the Germans are already on their way?

At his location, in the southwest, the sound of artillery fire can be clearly heard. It was the 134th division fighting the German army advancing to the outskirts of Bere, and the 134th division only retreated from the front line for rest half a month ago. The army's full force rate is less than 30%, and their defense will not last long.

Of course, the city defense forces stationed in the direction of Bere are the city defense forces in the Bere area, but the infantry division, composed of militiamen and students from military academies, not only lacks training, but also has backward equipment. They even have only two 45mm calibre in their hands. Artillery. Troops like this, who can guarantee their combat effectiveness?

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Timoshenko and his staff finally appeared. Victor did not see Comrade Bulganin in the crowd. It is estimated that the military comrade had already retreated first.

Soon, Victor received the order that the command headquarters would be transferred to Syczovka and merged with the headquarters of the front army assembled there. Immediately the convoy began to move slowly, heading towards the outskirts of the city.

When the convoy left the city and traveled less than seven kilometers, Timoshenko arranged for Victor to be called in. The commander asked him whether the communication command center was operating normally and could it be received. To the intelligence information from various intelligence stations.

Victor truthfully told him that in order to ensure the safety of intelligence stations and intelligence personnel in various places, he has issued a radio silence order to strictly prohibit communication within the intelligence network. Only when the situation is determined to stabilize, the intelligence network will resume operation— -The principles of the NKVD are different from those of the military. The principle of the military is that the command organization is the most important. Some troops can be sacrificed, but the safety of the command organization must be guaranteed. The NKVD’s intelligence network is the opposite. As the leader of the communications command center, Victor and his intelligence analysis team can be sacrificed at critical moments, but the security of the intelligence network must be guaranteed.

This kind of regulation is understandable. After all, for an intelligence network, if the person in charge is down, just another person will be responsible. But if the entire intelligence network is down, it will be very difficult to reorganize it. One thing.

Timoshenko could hear Victor’s resolute tone. On this issue, although he is a marshal and a commander of the Western Front, he cannot force Victor to re-open the communication network at this time. After all, once something goes wrong, he It is also unaffordable.

The headquarters continued to move east. This process was not very smooth. There were four air strikes by German fighters along the way. Although the loss was not large, it took a lot of time. By the time the large troops arrived at the Dnieper River Ferry, time was already It's almost noon.

This ferry is less than 30 kilometers away from Sicovka. There is a bridge connecting the east and west banks of the Dnieper River. Because there is a town on the east bank of the river called Upper Nilipoz, the name of the bridge is Upper Nilipoz. Bridge.

When the headquarters arrived at the Upper Nilipoz Bridge, the entire bridge had been blocked by refugees and retreating soldiers. Various livestock, pallets, and rickshaws squeezed the bridge with a width of less than four meters. , Women’s sobbing, children’s crying one after another, and men’s grumpy curses were sometimes mixed.

The guards responsible for guarding the bridge cannot maintain order at all. The inner guard who is in charge of the guards has even installed a bomb under the bridge and is ready to blow up the entire bridge at any time.

This is not the first time Victor has experienced such a scene. He is also very experienced in how to deal with such things.

Getting out of his car, Victor took a few guards and went directly to a Soviet ensign with a bandage on his arm. From his mouth, he learned that they had withdrawn from the direction of the Wuppi River and belonged to the 19th. Group army. Their troops were dispersed by German tanks. Before, a major regrouped them in the village of Old Salenovi and tried to rebuild a line of defense there, but was soon overtaken. The Germans broke up. So they went all the way east and got here.

According to the second lieutenant's estimate, the Germans should be behind, maybe ten minutes, at most half an hour, they will be here.

When he said this, the second lieutenant looked desperate. He didn't even want to cross the river. He sat down on the **** of the drainage ditch under the roadbed, staring blankly at the river in the ditch in a daze.

The situation was urgent, and Victor did not report the situation to the headquarters. He directly found the guards of the bridge and gave them an order as a national security major: throw all the carts and trolleys blocked on the bridge into the river; Organize civilians to cross the river first; set up soldier shelters at the bridgehead, gather all soldiers who are not seriously wounded, and dig foxholes on the extension line of the bridgehead on the west bank of the river to build positions; for all those who disrupt order and disobey orders , Soldiers can be shot on the spot.

With the order issued by Victor, the guard in charge of commanding the bridge guard unit is considered to be the backbone. Soon, the position of the bridge was erected with a machine gun fire point. Two unlucky ghosts who were beaten up because of the crowding were grabbed by the guards. Get out of the crowd and shoot directly on the bank of the river. With two gunshots, the bridge that was originally noisy like a vegetable market soon calmed down. Those who were crying did not dare to cry, only dared to choke softly, and those who cursed did not dare to curse, but dared to mutter quietly. .

Taking advantage of the aftermath of the murder, Tuas took a megaphone and walked onto the bridge. He squeezed into the crowd and ordered the soldiers in the crowd to retreat to the west bank of the river. At the same time, he ordered the accompanying soldiers to remove the carts and other things. , The coefficient is thrown into the river in order to clear the road.

On the west bank of the big river, Victor stood on a high ground, watching the situation on the bridge with a binoculars.

In the sight of the telescope, two guard soldiers were lifting a small cart and throwing it into the river. The owner of the cart was a burly woman. She grabbed a soldier's arm and pulled it back vigorously. The little car that tried to save her. During the tearing, a corporal inside guard drew a pistol behind the woman and shot her in the back of the head...

Victor's lips twitched, then he put down his binoculars, looked away expressionlessly, and looked towards the extension line of the west bank of the bridge, where the ensign with a bandage on his arm was directing hundreds of Soviet soldiers to dig out. Ping pit.

"They have no digging tools, and they lack weapons," a voice rang behind Victor. "If the German troops arrive, they may not be able to hold on for ten minutes, so you are doing useless work."

Victor looked back, and it was Sokolovsky, the chief of staff of the front.

"I know," after thinking about it, Victor nodded and said, "No one expects them to stop the Germans from advancing, I just need them to retreat from the bridge and give more space to the refugees."

Sokolovsky was stunned for a moment, and just wanted to ask: If this is the case, why not tell them directly, but then he thought that it must be impossible. These soldiers are now scared. You can let them continue to use what they have left. That little courage to fight, but can't let them leave the hope of life to others, and let them just wait for death. In that case, although some of them will accept it frankly, there will certainly be some restlessness or even mutiny.