Battalions Ask for Fire

The action of Yuri Bondarev's (1924 – 2020) novella "Battalions Request Fire" unfolds in Ukraine in 1943. Two battalions of the 85th Rifle Regiment are to cross the Dnieper and establish a foothold near the village of Novomikhailovka for the subsequent advancement of the division. The battalions were given the order: having fortified their position, and engaged in combat, to signal the division "we request fire," after which all divisional artillery was to strike the enemy. But during the offensive, the army commander ordered the divisional artillery to be redeployed to another direction, and "...the battalions to hold their ground to the death with their own firepower." The battalions, having entered an unequal fight behind German lines, vainly requested fire! Was the command's order that doomed men to certain death a mistake or a military maneuver aimed at bringing about a great victory?