Although there were fortifications on both sides of the bridge, such rudimentary fortifications could only cope with the harassment of the guerrillas, and such fortifications were vulnerable to attack by large forces. If the troops continued to advance eastward, there would be no need to strengthen the fortifications here, but now that they have received orders from their superiors to move to defense on the spot, the construction of fortifications is the top priority at present.

Colonel Bratash waited for Shukin to finish speaking, then nodded, "Understood, Colonel Shukin, I'll go back and arrange the construction of the fortifications." After saying that, he raised his hand and saluted, turned around and walked towards the jeep parked not far away.

The driver saw his division commander sitting in the car, hugged him and said: "Comrade division commander, although you and Shu Jin are both colonels, you are the division commander, he is just a brigade commander, what qualifications does he have to give orders to you?" ”

Although Bratash knew in his heart that the driver was complaining about himself, in order to avoid causing contradictions between the two troops, he still said with a straight face: "Comrade corporal, don't forget, the superiors sent us to cooperate with the tank brigade in combat, not to mention that Colonel Shukin is the brigade commander, even if he is the regiment commander or even the battalion commander, I will obey his orders." Don't talk nonsense, let's drive. ”

After returning to the command of the infantry division, the chief of staff immediately greeted him and asked curiously: "Comrade division commander, have you figured out what is going on?" Why did the tank brigade let go of the grain convoys that we had captured? ”

"The release of the German grain convoy was an order personally given by Marshal Rokossovsky." Bratash said with a pale face: "Okay, stop talking nonsense, immediately notify the heads of the regiments to come to me for a meeting, I will assign tasks to them!" ”

Hearing Bratash say this, the chief of staff showed a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade division commander, are you preparing for the troops to capture Betuff overnight?" The reason why he asked this was because the troops had come all the way east, and they had hardly encountered any decent resistance along the way, and in his mind, the enemy troops in the city of Betulf were also vulnerable.

Unexpectedly, Bratash shook his head and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we will not attack, and for the time being, we will not attack Betuff." After a moment of silence, he continued: "Our first task is to strengthen the fortifications in this area and prevent a possible counterattack by the Germans. ”

"What, to prevent the Germans from counterattacking?" When the chief of staff heard Bratash say this, his eyes couldn't help but widen in surprise: "Comrade division commander, do you think that in the current situation, the Germans are still likely to launch a counteroffensive?" ”

"Chief of Staff, I see what you mean." Guessing what the chief of staff was thinking, Bratash explained to him: "The reason why we advanced so quickly in the first two days was simply because the enemy did not think that we would attack from the rear of their defense. They have come to their senses at this moment, and they will definitely carry out some counterattack actions in the future. In the course of advancing eastward, our division continued to retain troops to hold on to the areas that had been occupied, and the number of divisions had now been reduced by almost half. If we do not wait for the arrival of the large army, and then recklessly lose the attack, what awaits us will be the end of the total annihilation of the army. ”

Bratash's words sounded a wake-up call to the chief of staff, making him realize that he had carried away a bit and had forgotten that in the process of advancing eastward, in addition to casualties, he also left a lot of troops to defend the occupied areas, which led to a massive attrition of the troops. At this moment, he gave up the idea of continuing to advance towards Betov, but picked up the phone on the table and called several regiment commanders and asked them to immediately rush to the division headquarters for a meeting.

The regiment commanders, who received the call, thought that Bratash was going to assign a combat mission to themselves, and immediately rushed to the division headquarters. Unbeknownst to them, he heard Bratash say to them: "Comrades commanders, go back at once and organize all your subordinates and start building fortifications in the existing area......"

"What, build fortifications?" A lieutenant colonel named Shulka couldn't help but interject and asked: "Comrade division commander, aren't we on an offensive mission?" Why did you stop building fortifications? ”

Shulka's words resonated with the other two regiment commanders, and they also asked puzzledly: "Comrade division commander, since we have advanced here, although we are still dozens of kilometers away from Betuff, there are buses to travel, and it will only take two hours at most, and we will be able to reach the outskirts of Betuff." ”

Bratash did not speak, but asked the three regiment commanders under his command to say what was in their hearts before he spoke: "Comrades regiment commanders, I just want to remind you that it was an order from our superiors to stop advancing to the east and turn to the defense on the spot. For the order of the superiors, we can only carry it out unconditionally, and not talk about it here. Alright, it's not too early, you will all go to arrange the work of your respective troops. ”

The three regiment commanders all showed helpless expressions on their faces when they heard Bratash say this, and after they raised their hands and saluted, they turned around and were about to walk out of the headquarters, but they were stopped by Bratash: "Wait a minute, when you are building fortifications, remember to send a guard force to serve as a guard to prevent a surprise attack by the Germans." ”

"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." The regimental commanders replied one after another: "We will send a warning force in the direction where the enemy may appear." ”

When the regiment commanders had left, the chief of staff tentatively asked Bratash: "Comrade division commander, how long do you think we should hold out here?" ”

"It's hard to say." Bratash thought that when he first met Shukin, the other party had only put him in charge of building fortifications, and as for how long he would hold on here, he really hadn't mentioned it, so in the face of the chief of staff's question, he could only shake his head and replied with a wry smile: "The superior just ordered us to build fortifications here to resist the possible counter-assault of the German army." I don't really know how long I'm going to stay here. ”

"Comrade division commander, since we are going to defend here, I would like to make a suggestion to you." The chief of staff asked respectfully, "Is it okay?" ”

"Of course, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that the chief of staff was so polite to himself, Bratash's heart was really a little unaccustomed, and he said to the other party: "If you have anything, just say it, you don't need to be so polite in front of me." ”

"The location of the division headquarters, next to the road, as soon as the Germans break through the defenses of our troops, they can quickly rush along the road to the gate of the headquarters." "I suggest that the command should be moved to a safer place," the chief of staff said. ”

"A safe place?" If the chief of staff did not warn, Bratash really did not pay attention to his command and was in the most vulnerable position, so he humbly asked the chief of staff: "Then where do you think we should transfer the headquarters?" ”

The chief of staff pointed to a hill outside the window and said to Bratash: "Comrade division commander, I think the headquarters will be set up on the hill, so that even if it is attacked by the enemy, the troops acting as guards can rely on the terrain to resist and wait for reinforcements to arrive. ”

"Okay," Bratash carefully examined the terrain of the hill, and felt that it was indeed a good choice to set up the headquarters there, so he nodded in agreement with the chief of staff: "We must move the headquarters to the hill as soon as possible." ”