Prohibition of Interference. Book 2. Tactical Level

Listening to me, Shcheglov grew darker and darker. It was felt that he wanted to object, but the Captain restrained himself. Nevertheless, after I stopped talking, he didn't answer right away.

“I have known you for a long time, Junior Lieutenant,” Shcheglov said at last, choosing his words carefully, “and you have never panicked without reason. But what you say… They won't believe it at the headquarters. You have too little evidence. Did Hauptmann see any tanks? He didn't see them. Have you seen the finished bridge or at least part of it? You haven't seen it! Everything else is just your guess. And even if I believe it's right, it doesn't change anything. No one is going to make decisions based on the fantasies of a captain and a junior lieutenant.”

I understood that Shcheglov was right, but I could not leave the situation as it was.

“Comrade Captain, can you make sure that the army headquarters at least listens to my report?”

“I don't know, Nagulin. I don't know! Who am I? Captain, commander of the reconnaissance company of the 300th Division. And there's a major general, the army commander! Do you think Feklenko will listen to my requests? Well, okay, let it not be Feklenko personally, but Chief of Staff Simvolokov, so he, too, is a major general. It is not certain that we will be allowed into the headquarters at all, and not limited to being questioned in the Special Department.”

“So we'll have to report at whatever level we can get to. Maybe we should talk to our head of the Special Department first?”

“To Gunko?” Shcheglov shook his head doubtfully, “I don't know. He's a normal guy, on the whole. And he knows his service, but he can hardly help us in such a case. It's the first time he's seen you. What if your assumption is wrong? That would be misinformation! He won't want to take that responsibility.”

It looked like I had only to rely on chance, but if it presented itself, I wasn't going to let it pass me by.

“Comrade Captain, I have a suggestion, but we can't carry out this plan ourselves, without help from above.”

* * *

Stalin stood up leisurely, left his desk, and walked around the office, clutching an unlit pipe in his hand. He stopped, cast a keen eye over the people assembled in the office, and spoke, pausing for a few moments between words:

“The commander of the Southern Front, General Tyulenev showed himself in the battles near Uman from the worst side. He knows neither how to attack, nor how to organize a competent withdrawal of troops. Tyulenev lost two armies where it would have been a disgrace to lose two regiments. I have already suggested to Comrade Budyonny to deal with this situation personally, and, as far as I know, an investigation has been conducted. I read the preliminary reports. Tyulenev tries to shift all responsibility for the loss of the armies to Army Commanders Ponedelin and Muzychenko, but there is an opinion that this is only an attempt at self-justification. What do you, comrades, think about this issue?”

“Let me say, Comrade Stalin,” the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs took the floor.

“I'm listening to you, Comrade Beria.”

“General Tyulenev undoubtedly made a number of miscalculations, which had grave consequences and cast doubt on his competence, as commander of the front. However, the investigation found no signs of treason in his actions. Tyulenev was seriously wounded in the battles near Dnepropetrovsk, and now the question of his evacuation to Moscow for treatment is being decided.”

“I know that, Comrade Beria. And what can you say about the role of Generals Muzychenko and Ponedelin in the deaths of the 6th and 12th Armies?”

“The Southern Front command entrusted Ponedelin to lead the breakthrough of encircled armies from the Uman battlefield. Without trying to absolve him of the blame for the failure of the operation, I am forced to clarify that the leadership of the Southern Front did not notify the encircled troops about the change in the situation and the fact that the 18th Army had left Pervomaysk. Therefore, the tasks that Ponedelin set for the strike groups, could not provide a real breakthrough of the encirclement ring, even if successfully accomplished.”

“But Muzychenko made it through. So there was an opportunity.”

“Lieutenant General Muzychenko did not have the task of leading his army out of the encirclement, Comrade Stalin. Ponedelin fully concentrated in his hands the leadership of the operation. Muzychenko was ordered to reach the Southern Front troops and coordinate their actions with the efforts of the encircled armies. He accomplished the first part of the task, even though our troops were no longer at Pervomaysk, and his column had to break through further. But there was nobody to coordinate efforts with – all strike groups of Ponedelin were defeated, and the commander of the 12th Army himself surrendered, and now the Germans are scattering this over the positions of our troops by planes,” Beria took a leaflet out of the folder and put it on the table.

Stalin picked up this piece of paper. A photograph in which General Ponedelin stood surrounded by German officers, framed by text, was printed on it.

“The Germans urge the Red Army men to surrender, Comrade Stalin, and they cite Ponedelin as an example. All the signs of betrayal are there. The commander of the 12th Army could not organize the breakthrough, delayed the decision to start it, and did not find the strength to complete his duty to the Soviet Motherland.”

Stalin looked at the leaflet for a while, then put it aside and looked around again.

“I think everything with Ponedelin is very clear, comrades. There is an opinion that the traitor should be tried and given a fair sentence according to the strictest wartime standards. Although he is a prisoner of war, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court can sentence him in absentia. This will be a good lesson for cowards and deserters running to the enemy.”

Beria nodded and made a note in his notebook.

“And what do you think, comrades, about the fate of the commander of the Sixth Army, General Muzychenko?”

“Allow me to speak now, Comrade Stalin,” Budyonny asked to speak, and, after waiting for the leader's approving nod, he continued, “Muzychenko did his job, and he did it well. He carried out the orders he received. His headquarters reached our troops in almost full force. He carried the banner of the Sixth Army out of the pocket. The breakthrough from the encirclement took place in an organized manner and caused serious damage to the enemy in manpower and equipment. I saw pictures of the defeated German unit that was chasing the headquarters column, there are plenty of other episodes, for which, in other circumstances, both the commander and many of his subordinates would have been rewarded. He did not decide on the direction and timing of the breakthrough of the main forces – so he should not be responsible for it.”

Stalin lifted his pipe to his lips thoughtfully and began to walk around the office again.

“There is one more important point, Comrade Stalin,” Beria spoke again, “Comrade Budyonny very correctly described the purely military part of the matter, but there is also a moral-political side to this problem. The breakthrough of the staff column, along with the banner and the commander, gives us the opportunity to re-form the Sixth Army, and we have every right to assert internationally that we lost only General Ponedelin's army in the pocket. A total of almost 15,000 men broke out of the encirclement near Uman. They can become the basis on which to recreate the army of Muzychenko.”

“I will support you in this matter, Comrade Beria," Stalin nodded, taking his seat at the table again. Invite Lieutenant-General Muzychenko to see me, and consider what else, except a show trial of the former commander Ponedelin, we can do to prevent cases of cowardice and treason in the leadership of our armies.”

* * *

The Hauptmann was immediately taken away for interrogation at headquarters, but we were also immediately spoken to because we had just returned from the near German rear. A representative of the army headquarters marked on the map what we managed to see at the Kremenchuk bridgehead.

“Here, here and here, we saw some pretty big dugouts,” I showed the officer. “Most likely, they are warehouses. What is stored in them, we couldn't find out – the task was different.”

The lieutenant colonel was nodding and marking, and Shcheglov was looking at me sideways, but did not interfere. He didn't see any dugouts himself, although I mentioned them a couple of times.

“There are temporary piers on the shore, which are apparently camouflaged and not used during the day. We saw such landing points in two places, here and here,” I pointed again on the map.

“The Germans built a pontoon bridge to this island. There is a continuous movement of equipment and troops through it.”

“Where did this data come from?” The Lieutenant Colonel took his eyes off the map and looked at me carefully. “You weren't there, Junior Lieutenant.”

“I was relatively close by when I grabbed Hauptmann's boat and heard the creaking of the boardwalk and the sound of truck engines, approaching from the west bank. You can check with the prisoner, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. He must know this bridge exists – he drove over it before he got on the boat.”

The staff officer nodded, made a note on the map and put a question mark next to it.

“Anything else, Junior Lieutenant?”

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we saw that the Germans have well established the crossing to the bridgehead of infantry units and even light artillery. They do this with boats and rafts, and do just fine without a bridge for this purpose. Nevertheless, the field interrogation of the prisoner showed that engineering units were accumulating on the west bank, as well as everything necessary to build a high-capacity pontoon crossing. Such a bridge can only be needed for tanks and other heavy equipment, which means that the Germans are preparing to move tank divisions to the Kremenchuk bridgehead… ”

“Junior Lieutenant,” the staff officer interrupted me, “so far these are just your fantasies. Do you have any proof of what you say?”

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, allow me to report,” Shcheglov intervened.

“I'm listening to you.”

“We have only preliminary observations. We were performing another task and could not be distracted by anything else. To get evidence of the Germans preparing a crossing for tanks, additional reconnaissance is needed.”

“So do the reconnaissance, Captain. You're in command of the reconnaissance company, so you're in charge.”

“The problem is that even if we find evidence of Junior Lieutenant Nagulin's words, the army won't have time to do anything. With the equipment that the Germans have already deployed to build the crossing, they will manage to build the bridge in a few days, if not a day, and then they will move the tanks to the bridgehead in one night.”

“Captain, you seem to have caught your subordinate's fantasies,” grinned the Lieutenant Colonel, but he continued to look at us very carefully. “I don't understand what you want from me yet.”

“Ten minutes of your time, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. We are ready to lay out a plan for a reconnaissance and sabotage raid, but we're going to need artillery support.”

“Don't you have an artillery regiment in your division, Captain? Why do you turn to a representative of the army headquarters for this?”

“Because only Army HQ has howitzers that can reach the targets we need and suppress them reliably. I'm talking about B-4, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel.”

* * *

“Well, Vitaly Nikolayevich, has the Special Department interrogated the German prisoner?” The commander of the 38th Army turned to the Chief of Staff who entered the room.

“That's right, Nikolai Vladimirovich, and not only him. The scouts from the 300th Division who took the Hauptmann also saw something. Lieutenant Colonel Semenov interviewed them and mapped the data and the latest changes in the situation. Here, take a look.”

Major General Feklenko leaned over the map unfolded on the table by the Chief of Staff.

“Guderian still advanced,” the army commander stated grimly, looking at the blue arrows of German Panzer Group strikes stretching from the north, “It is now obvious that he wants to encircle the entire Southwestern Front. But I see that his advance has slowed down, so let's hope his tanks don't stab us in the back.”

“Our troops are entrenched in the area of Nizhyn and Romny,” replied the Chief of Staff without much confidence in his voice, “and from the east the Bryansk front of Eryomenko strikes against the Germans who have broken through. We will hold them, Comrade Commander of the Army.”

“All right, Vitaly Nikolayevich, let's get back to the business of our army. What do we have here? A bridge from the west bank to Ulitochnyi Island?”

“That's right. At night the scouts heard sounds characteristic of vehicles crossing the pontoon bridge, and the German prisoner confirmed this information. This bridge is light, tanks will not pass through, and there is no crossing from the island to our shore yet either.”

“Do you know the exact coordinates of the bridge?”

“The prisoner was unable to specify them. He was being transported at night by truck, and the scout who managed to get relatively close did not see the crossing at all, he heard only the sound of engines.”

“That's bad. What about the weather? Will the aviation be able to work? The bridge must be destroyed as soon as possible.”

“The weather is no good, Nikolai Vladimirovich. Low clouds and rain. Aviators don't expect improvement for another couple of days.”

“We're like blind men,” Feklenko grumbled unhappily, “at least the scouts brought this Hauptmann, the map was updated at once. Is he from the 125th Infantry Division, by the way? So they're moving them from Uman to us too.”

“The Germans keep increasing the number of infantry on the bridgehead. The scouts also saw light artillery. It was being moved by boats from Ulitochnyi Island.”

“Well, we're getting stronger too,” Feklenko objected, “We did get some reserves, though it was a little late. We will not be able to eliminate the bridgehead, but now, if the Germans hit us with their infantry toward Guderian, we will hold them off. We must hold them.”

“And if they move tanks?” cautiously asked the chief of staff.

“How? Without a bridge, it is possible, of course, to deliver a few tanks to the bridgehead, but on the scale of the proposed offensive it is not serious.”

“The scouts insist that the Germans are preparing to build a large bridge. They have no proof, just vague premonitions, but during the interrogation the prisoner confirmed that he saw numerous engineer units on the west bank and a significant accumulation of pontoons and construction materials that could be used to build a crossing.”

The Army Commander thought about it.

“Well, okay, even so… What will they move over the bridge? Heavy artillery? They don't have any tanks here, not even on the west bank. As long as there was flying weather, air reconnaissance did not report enemy tank units.”

“I don't know, Nikolai Vladimirovich,” said the chief of staff, “But I can say one thing: if the Germans are going to build a bridge, it means they will have something to move over it.”

“You and me, Vitaly Nikolaevich, seem to be reading the tea-leaves,” the Army Commander shook his head.

“Lieutenant Colonel Semenov reported to me that a proposal was received from the scouts of the 300th Division. They want to go back to where they took the Hauptmann, but with other goals.”

“So let them operate. Such an operation does not require approval in the army headquarters,” Feklenko was surprised.

“They want to go on a raid for a few days and take a portable radio transmitter with them. They will sit on the bank of the river or on one of the small islands, and keep watch. If the Germans start building the crossing, they will report the exact coordinates of the bridge and offer to hit it with howitzers of special power. But to correct the fire they need to establish cooperation with the artillery regiment of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, and no one will talk to them there without your order.”

“It's a big risk,” Feklenko hesitated, “To reach the Dnieper, the artillerymen would have to pull the B-4 howitzers almost to the very front line. As soon as they open fire, the Germans will start a counter-battery fight, and the artillerymen will have to shoot for a long time – it is not easy to hit at such a distance, even with the help of a spotter.”

“The commander of a separate reconnaissance company of the 300th Division, Captain Shcheglov, states that if Junior Lieutenant Nagulin corrects the fire, hits will follow quickly.”

“Is that so?” Sarcasm was clearly audible in the voice of the Army Commander. “And who is this Nagulin? A great artilleryman who went to serve in the intelligence service for some reason?”

“That's how I reacted when I heard about the plan, too,” the chief of staff shrugged. “But then… Anyway, just in case, I asked the Special Department what they had on this Nagulin.”

“And?” Feklenko was interested.

“He and Captain Shcheglov came to us from Lieutenant-General Muzychenko's Sixth Army; they broke out of the pocket as part of the staff column. There are no details, but it seems this Nagulin showed himself very well there. And, according to the officers of the Special Department, it was he who captured the Hauptmann by attacking the boat carrying the officer and by cutting off the guards.”

“Well, if he's so good, let the Captain write up a presentation to the award for him – he honestly deserves it. But that doesn't answer my question.”

“That's not all, Comrade Commander. A secret order came from the front's Special Department. I was introduced to it. The Junior Lieutenant, it turns out, is not so simple. Our Special Department officers were instructed to keep an eye on him, but not to touch him. It is specifically stated that Nagulin should not be hindered in his initiatives. Within reasonable limits, of course. He seems to have distinguished himself quite a bit there, near Uman. It was something that impressed even high NKVD officials. Many men from the Sixth Army arrived with the last reinforcements to the 300th Division. Major Gunko asked them some neat questions about Nagulin. Everyone claims that he is a great marksman, just phenomenal. And he hits with the same accuracy from any weapon, including anti-aircraft guns. They say Nagulin shot down several planes before their eyes.”

“Well, you can't believe all these stories unconditionally…” said Feklenko thoughtfully. “But it looks like he's really not an ordinary fighter. And I will not hide the fact that you, Vitaly Nikolayevich, have puzzled me quite a bit with this bridge for tanks. All right, Comrade Chief of Staff, prepare the order, I'll sign it. Let the scouts act, they will have howitzers of special power.”

Chapter 5

I slept the rest of the day off after returning to the division. Shcheglov and the rest of the raid participants were also able to rest, but it seems that I was the only one who managed to sleep for so long. Apparently, my comrades tried not to bother me, remembering my injury, even if it was necessary.

It was late in the evening when the Captain woke me up after all.

“Junior Lieutenant,” he said softly, touching my shoulder, “You and I are called to the division commander. Be ready in ten minutes.”

When we entered the staff dugout and Shcheglov reported our arrival, Colonel Kuznetsov nodded silently and pointed us to a bench by a large table, on which the maps were laid out.

“I don't know what your German was saying, but Army HQ got very nervous,” said the Colonel. “The Army Commander approved your initiative. I have received orders to give you every assistance in organizing a new reconnaissance raid, more profound than the previous one. Three divisions of B-4 howitzers of special power are involved in the operation. Tomorrow at dawn, go to the artillerymen to establish cooperation. You've been given a new type of radio transmitter from the army depot and an instructor to train your radio operators, Captain. You're going on a mission tomorrow night. By the morning I need a plan of the operation – the place of crossing the front line, the route of movement through the German rear, the time of communication sessions, in general, everything that is required in such cases. If you need divisional artillery assistance or demonstrative action in any area, indicate that, too. Any questions?”

“Negative,” Shcheglov replied, with a brief glance at me. “Permission to go prepare the operation plan, Comrade Colonel.”

“Go,”said the division commander, “I advise you to treat this case with the utmost care. You've made such a mess that if your raid turns out to be a flop…”

“We will approach the case with the utmost care!” the Captain answered clearly.

“Dismissed.”

* * *

In the end, I went alone to the artillerymen. Shcheglov was completely unnecessary there, and he had more than enough to do to organize the raid – in planning the operation we asked for so many things that Colonel Kuznetsov took off his cap and thoughtfully scratched the back of his head, as he read our suggestions, but, apparently, the order from the army headquarters was unambiguous, and Kuznetsov did not refuse us.

An artillery lieutenant met me and escorted me to Lieutenant Colonel Tsaitiuni. The commander of the artillery regiment listened to my report and grinned.

“Why didn't your captain come, Junior Lieutenant?” the Caucasian accent in the Lieutenant Colonel's speech was clearly audible, “I would have told him a lot of interesting things about artillery. He wants B-4, doesn't he? This is not a 45mm cannon, it cannot be rolled into position manually. Do you see what's happening to the weather? The ground is muddy. And I am ordered to get into position to fire on the Dnieper! That means forward to the front line. What if the Germans come forward? We'll all stay there, we won't even have time to pull the howitzers back from these positions.”

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I can't discuss orders coming from the army headquarters – it's not my level,” I answered neutrally. “Captain Shcheglov is preparing a group for a raid behind enemy lines, so he could not come in person. And I'm the one who will be correcting your fire with the radio, that's why I'm here.”

“Have you ever worked as a spotter, Junior Lieutenant?”

“I haven't,” I answered honestly, “but I have theoretical training.”

“Well, then you'll correct us…”

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have very good eyesight and trained hearing. I am also good at math, which is why I was assigned this task. I can give targeting in rectangular coordinates with sufficient accuracy, but, there is another option. If you let me work directly with the gun crews, we can greatly increase the accuracy of fire and reduce the number of sighting shots.”

“How's that, Junior Lieutenant?”

“I myself can calculate sight, level, and deflection settings, as well as topographic range with adjustments for ballistic and meteorological conditions and derivation. Having in mind the required type of charge, of course.”

“So…" Tsaitiuni hemmed, "You know clever words, but you're talking obvious nonsense. How can you calculate all this from an observation post in close proximity to the target?”

“If I know the exact coordinates of each howitzer, I can. Moreover, if you let me see the tables of individual corrections for each howitzer, let me make excerpts from them, and check the internal condition of the barrels, the accuracy of firing will be even higher.”

“I don't believe it! This is just sickening nonsense, Junior Lieutenant! I don't know what you told your captain, and he told the division commander, and the division commander told the Army Commander, but if the operation is planned on the basis of this verbiage… I will not put the howitzers of special power under fire from German field artillery for the sake of these nonsense!”

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, allow me to make a little demonstration. A day ago I visited the German rear, and there our group discovered, among other things, one very promising dugout, which for all intents and purposes looked like a field ammunition or fuel depot. It was at night and we didn't get a good look at it, but I made a mark on the map and remembered the coordinates. If you let me work with the crew of one of the B-4s, I will calculate all the necessary data for firing and report to the gunners. You have a telephone connection to the front line, and we can have someone at the nearest regimental observation post to look in the right direction. The warehouse is eight and a half kilometers from the first line of German trenches, but if it stores ammunition or fuel, the result of the hit should be quite visible from the regimental observation post.”