Red Moscow

The next day, Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Porenin reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I sent three reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance in the direction of Warsaw, but they were intercepted by German fighter jets. Two of them were intercepted by shot down, and the remaining one was injured, and insisted on flying back to the airport.”

Hearing Porenin's report, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be a little surprised. He tentatively asked: "General Porenin, were the reconnaissance planes intercepted by German fighter jets when they went to the German defense area for reconnaissance?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Porenin replied, "However, this is the first time that two reconnaissance planes have been lost at one time. I feel something is wrong, so I will report to you immediately."

"General Porenin, what do you think is wrong?" Rokossovsky asked back.

"Comrade Marshal, the situation is like this." Porenin said: "Our army's reconnaissance planes carried out reconnaissance in the city of Warsaw yesterday and the day before yesterday. Except for being hit by the German anti-aircraft fire, there was no enemy fighter jet at all. You know, since we launched Operation Bagration, the air supremacy on the battlefield has been firmly in the hands of our army."

Porenin's words aroused Rokossovsky's vigilance: "General Porenin, according to what you said, something must have happened in Warsaw. The Germans didn't want us to see it, so they dispatched Fighter, intercept the reconnaissance plane you sent?"

"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Porenin gave Rokossovsky an affirmative answer: "That's how I think about it."

After Porenin said this, he paused for a moment and asked Rokossovsky tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, do you think it is necessary for me to send a reconnaissance plane to Warsaw for aerial reconnaissance?"

"I think it is absolutely necessary." Rokossovsky recalled what Sokov said yesterday, and felt that the expected Warsaw uprising might break out, so he ordered Porenin: "Immediately send reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance on Warsaw. Remember, in order to prevent the reconnaissance plane from being attacked by German fighter jets again, you'd better send a fighter formation to escort it."

After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he immediately asked Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there any news from General Bellinger?"

"I've been waiting for his call." Ma Linin looked at Rokossovsky and asked in surprise, "What did General Porenin say on the phone just now?"

"He said that the three reconnaissance planes sent to Warsaw for reconnaissance were attacked by German fighter jets, and two of them were shot down." Rokossovsky replied, "The remaining one was also injured, and it took great difficulty to fly." Back to the airport. He felt that something might have happened in Warsaw, and the Germans didn't want us to see it, so they dispatched fighter jets to intercept our reconnaissance plane."

"What will happen?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, have you forgotten what Misha analyzed yesterday?" Rokossovsky said lightly: "If I guessed correctly, the underground organization in Warsaw may have launched an uprising. And the Germans Fearing that we would know about this, we stepped up air patrols to try to prevent our army's reconnaissance planes from entering the sky over Warsaw."

"I think what you said is very reasonable, Comrade Marshal." Regarding Rokossovsky's statement, Ma Linin echoed: "Our army is now advancing to Warsaw, if we know that the underground resistance organization in the city has launched an uprising , will definitely speed up the attack, and the German troops deployed near Warsaw will be in danger of being encircled. The Germans definitely don't want this to happen, so they have to blockade the situation in the city and keep our troops from knowing .”

"Well, you have the same idea as me." Rokossovsky told Malinin: "You contact General Bellinger now and ask how the connection between him and Krajov's army is progressing?"

Ma Linin knew that it was the critical moment to seize Warsaw. If the negotiations between Bellinger and Krajov's army reached a consensus, the Polish 1st Army could be used as the main force to attack Warsaw and join the insurgents in the city as soon as possible.

The call was quickly connected: "General Bellinger? This is Malinin, Comrade Commander, how is your meeting with the Krajov Army going?"

"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." Bellinger replied politely: "The negotiator of the Krajov Army is currently in the conference room of my headquarters. Comrade Marshal, do you have any new instructions?"

"General Bellinger, based on the intelligence analysis we have obtained so far, an uprising may have broken out in Warsaw." Eager to know what happened in Warsaw, Malinin asked bluntly: "Ask those representatives of the Krajov Army , do you know about this matter, and give us an accurate answer as soon as possible."

After waiting for Malinin to put down the phone, Rokossovsky knew from the other party's expression that the negotiation had not yet had any results, so he changed the topic in time: "Chief of Staff, how is the progress of our army?"

"Not ideal." Malinin replied: "The troops of our front army are rushing up to Praga, fighting hard, and paying heavy casualties every step forward. I think the Germans don't want us to prematurely Close to Warsaw, so their resistance was particularly tenacious."

While Rokossovsky and Malinin were waiting for Bellinger's reply, something unexpected happened to Sokov. General Onuprienko, the commander of the 6th Guards Division who lives in Siedlce, called the headquarters and reported to Sokov: "My men have just rescued a downed reconnaissance pilot. .”

"Pilot of the reconnaissance plane?" Sokov felt that Onuprienko was making a fuss when he heard it. Since he is a pilot of the Air Force, he should be sent back to the army. There is no need to report to himself, so he said a little displeased : "General Onu Priyanko, since he is a pilot of our army, if he is injured, send him to a nearby field hospital; if he is not injured, send him back to the original unit so that he can fly in the shortest Return to the blue sky within a short period of time."

But after a moment of contemplation, Onuprienko said to Sokov: "Comrade commander, I thought so too, but after listening to the process of the pilot being shot down, I realized that something was wrong, so I made a special phone call." report to you."

"Feel something wrong?" Sokov asked back: "General Onuprienko, what do you think is wrong?"

"I heard from the pilot himself that he has to fly over Warsaw for reconnaissance in the past few days. Except for the ground anti-aircraft fire in the city, he has never encountered enemy fighter jets." Onuprienko explained to Sokov Said: "But today he and two other reconnaissance planes were ordered to go to Warsaw for reconnaissance. As soon as they approached Warsaw, they were attacked by four German fighter jets. He and another reconnaissance plane were shot down on the spot. When he parachuted, he saw The remaining reconnaissance plane also flew towards the airport, dragging a long black smoke trail."

Hearing this, Sokov realized that something was wrong, and quickly asked: "General Onuprienko, you just said that the pilot rescued by you has been reconnaissance in Warsaw every day for the past few days, but only Hit by German ground anti-aircraft fire and never seen an enemy fighter?"

"Yes."

"They dispatched three reconnaissance planes today, but after they were intercepted by German fighter jets, two were shot down on the spot, and the remaining one was injured and fled back to the airport. Am I right, General Onu Prienko? "

"Exactly, Comrade Commander."

Hearing this, Sokov could confirm in his heart that the Warsaw Uprising must have happened on time, and the Germans in the city dispatched fighter jets to prevent the Soviet army outside the city from noticing that the uprising broke out in the city. A blockade was implemented to ensure that the Soviet troops outside the city had no idea what was going on inside the city.

"General Onuprienko," Sokov said into the microphone: "You immediately send someone to send the pilot to the Army Group Command. I would like to know some details from him."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Onuprienko replied very readily: "I will send the pilot to your army headquarters as soon as possible."

"Comrade Commander," when Sokov put down the phone, Sidolin leaned over and asked curiously, "Did something happen?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, Deputy Commander." Sokov said to Sidolin and Ponejielin: "The things I analyzed yesterday should have happened."

Sokov's words made Sidolin and Ponegerin stunned for a moment, and then they understood what was going on. Ponegerin asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, how did you judge that the Warsaw city What about the uprising at this moment? You know, we haven’t received any information related to Warsaw so far.”

"Who said that there is no information related to Warsaw." Sokov said: "In the report of General Onupriyenko just now, there may be information in this regard."

Sidolin asked puzzledly: "Comrade commander, he just said that he saved a pilot of a downed reconnaissance plane, but he didn't say anything about Warsaw."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, as commanders, we need to consider more details when formulating combat plans." Seeing that Sidolin did not perceive useful information from Onuprienko's words, Sokov decided to Explained to him: "General Onu Priyanko said that the pilot they rescued had driven the plane into the sky above Warsaw in the past few days, but he had never encountered the German army except for the anti-aircraft fire on the ground. The fighter jet. But today, it happened to be encountered, and with him, there were two other reconnaissance planes."

"Comrade Commander, do you think there is such a possibility?" But Ponejelin expressed a different opinion: "It is precisely because our army's reconnaissance planes frequently enter the sky over Warsaw, and the ground's anti-aircraft firepower is powerless against them. Therefore, the German commander requested the assistance of the Air Force to prevent our army's reconnaissance plane from entering the sky over Warsaw to carry out reconnaissance."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, what you said makes a lot of sense." If Sokov didn't come from later generations and understand the real history, maybe he would have the same idea as Ponegerin, but at this moment he needs to put forward his point of view clearly My own opinion: "I think the appearance of enemy fighter jets over Warsaw may be an uprising broke out in the city. The Germans used this method to block the news in order to prevent our army from knowing about it.

Think about it, the troops of our front army are approaching Warsaw step by step. If they knew that an uprising broke out in the city, they would definitely find a way to contact the insurgents and take joint actions to attack the German troops in the city. At that time, the German army will either be driven out of the city, or it will be wiped out by our army. "

After hearing Sokov's analysis, the two felt that it made sense. After looking at each other, Sidolin asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you think this matter needs to be reported to the Front Army Command immediately?"

Regarding Sidolin's proposal, Sokov thought in his heart that if he did not report the matter to Rokossovsky, then according to historical records, Rokossovsky would wait until the uprising was about to fail before returning from the Polish friendly army. There I learned what happened in Warsaw. If I report it myself, will it affect the official history?

Just when Sokov was in a dilemma, he suddenly heard Ponejielin ask himself: "Comrade commander, how do you think about it, do we need to report the results of the analysis to the front army headquarters?"

Ponegerin's words woke up Sokov from his contemplation. Sokov stared at him for a while, and finally made a decision: he came to this time, and many things have gone wrong. Even if he told Rokossovsky about the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, it would not be a big deal. At best, Warsaw could be liberated a few months earlier.

After thinking about this, he personally called the Front Army Command, hoping to tell Rokossovsky his thoughts. It was Malinin who answered the phone. He recognized Sokov's voice and asked with a smile, "Comrade Sokov, what do you want?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front," Sokov said bluntly, not wanting to waste time in circles, "my subordinate rescued a pilot of our reconnaissance plane who was shot down in the Siedlce area. There are some unusual phenomena, so I called to report to you."

Ma Linin was just arguing with Rokossovsky whether Sokov would notice the abnormality in the direction of Warsaw. Seeing that Sokov took the initiative to mention that he had discovered an unusual imagination, he quickly turned to Rokossovs who was aside. Key gestured for him to listen to his conversation with Sokov through the extension.

"Comrade Sokov," seeing Rokossovsky picking up another microphone and sticking it to his ear, Malinin continued to ask, "Tell me what's wrong?"

Hearing Malinin's question, Sokov told Malinin exactly what the pilots rescued by his subordinates said, as well as some so-called "analysis", and finally said: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, this is just my speculation. After all, German fighter jets suddenly appeared in the sky over Warsaw, which is a bit too abnormal."

As soon as he finished speaking, Rokossovsky's voice came from the earphone: "Misha, before you called, Malinin and I were discussing this matter. According to the speculation of the two of us, there should be The uprising you mentioned happened, and the Germans sent fighter jets to patrol over Warsaw in order to prevent leaks of information, preventing our reconnaissance planes from entering Warsaw, thus achieving the effect of information shielding."

"Comrade Marshal," Sokov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and asked cautiously, "Then what should we do next?"

"Don't take any action for the time being." Rokossovsky said unexpectedly: "The uprising broke out in Warsaw is just our guess, and the specific situation is still unknown. I think we should wait. Let's see if General Bellinger can surprise us."