Red Moscow

But Rokossovsky and Malinen waited and waited for two full hours, but they still couldn't wait for General Bellinger's call. Seeing that the other party did not reply for a long time, Rokossovsky couldn't sit still. He told Ma Linin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you should call General Bellinger immediately and ask what is going on, why it took so long Time has not given us an answer."

Ma Linin nodded, grabbed the phone in front of him, and immediately ordered the communications soldier to help him connect to the headquarters of the Polish 1st Army. As soon as he heard Bellinger's voice, he couldn't wait to ask: "General Bellinger, how is your negotiation with the Krajov Army going, is it over?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Bellinger said in a low voice: "The negotiation is over."

"Since the negotiation is over," Ma Linin said with some displeasure, "then why didn't you report the details of the negotiation to the Front Army Command in a timely manner? Also, have you all figured out what happened in Warsaw?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I have already asked the representatives of the Krajov Army." Bellinger said hesitantly: "They said with certainty that everything in Warsaw was as usual, and there was no uprising at all. Let us not make random guesses."

"What, what did you say?" Ma Linin asked in surprise after hearing this: "That's what the Krajov army said?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, that's what they say."

Rokossovsky, who was standing aside, heard the conversation between Malinen and Bellinger, and he reached out to take the phone: "General Bellinger, do you think what the Krajov Army representative said is reliable? "

"This, this..." Bellinger was stopped by Rokossovsky's question. He hesitated for a long time, and then said slowly: "Comrade Marshal, what should I say? If I consider my own identity, I think You should believe what they said. But when they said this, their expressions flickered a little, and something big should have happened in Warsaw."

Speaking of this, Bellinger suddenly raised his voice: "Comrade Marshal, we should still have intelligence personnel in Warsaw. I think we can directly ask them for verification. Find out what happened."

"General Bellinger, I'm afraid I will disappoint you." Rokossovsky said regretfully: "Our underground organization in the city has been eliminated by the German army due to being betrayed by traitors. That is to say, our It is impossible to obtain any useful information from the city as before."

"Comrade Marshal, if we can't get news from the city, then this matter will be really difficult." Bellinger expressed his worries: "After negotiating with the Krajov Army today, I found that they They are full of hostility towards us. As you know, even if they don’t regard us as enemies, they will definitely not cooperate with us and provide us with any form of help.”

"I see, General Bellinger." Rokossovsky said slowly, "I will find a way to find out what happened in the city."

After finishing the call, Rokossowski came to the wall, looked up at the map hanging on it, and fell into deep thought. He wanted to find out what happened in Warsaw, whether it was like Soko As the husband analyzed, did an uprising really break out?

After an unknown period of time, Rokossovsky woke up from his contemplation. He turned to Malinin and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, we have two things to do now. Please record them."

Ma Linin quickly picked up a pen and paper, ready to record Rokossovsky's order.

"First, you call Porenin, the commander of the Air Force Group, and ask him to send more reconnaissance planes to Warsaw to perform reconnaissance missions. In order to prevent the reconnaissance planes from being attacked by enemy planes again, a sufficient number of fighter planes should be sent to escort them .”

"Second, get in touch with the Polish comrades in Lublin and ask them to come forward to find out what happened in Warsaw. I believe they can do this."

After recording what Rokossovsky said, Malinin raised his head and asked, "Comrade commander, is there anything else?"

Rokossovsky thought for a while and replied: "I plan to go to the 2nd Tank Army. They are now fighting near Warsaw. Maybe we can see something of concern in the area they occupy."

Two hours later, Rokossovsky's armored vehicle arrived at the area occupied by the 2nd Tank Army. Seeing Rokossovsky's arrival, Army Commander Bogdanov asked in surprise: "Comrade Marshal, why did you come to my defense zone?"

Rokossovsky did not immediately explain his purpose of coming, but said with a smile: "I just want to see how the battle at the front is going."

"It's not good, Comrade Commander." Bogdanov shook his head and said, "The German army has put up tenacious resistance. Every step forward of my troops has to pay the price in blood. Now our daily advance speed is Measured in meters."

Regarding the offensive situation of the 2nd Tank Army, Rokossovsky had already seen it from the battle reports they reported, but at this moment after listening to Bogdanov's report, he still couldn't help taking a breath.

After a pause, Rokossovsky asked, "General Bogdanov, where can you see the situation on the battlefield?"

"You can go to my observation post," Bogdanov said, "but my observation post is set on the high chimney of the factory, and you have to climb a long ladder."

Rokossovsky was eager to know the situation in Warsaw, and he didn't hesitate to climb the ladder at all, so he urged the other party: "Okay, General Bogdanov, don't talk, hurry up and lead the way, take me to Your observation post."

Unexpectedly, just as everyone walked out of the church where the headquarters was located, someone outside shouted loudly: "Alarm, air raid siren, hurry up and take cover."

Everyone looked up into the sky and saw three German dive bombers making strange noises and swooping towards the headquarters. Rokossovsky yelled: "No, it's a German bomber, hide, hide quickly."

When Bogdanov asked people to wear a Rokossovsky to hide, he shouted at the nearby anti-aircraft firepower point: "Prepare anti-aircraft guns, shoot down the enemy planes in the sky!"

The anti-aircraft guns on the ground had just started firing, and the bombs of the German bombers had already been dropped, and they exploded around the church, and a series of explosions sounded all around. The few bricks and stones that were blown away came in the deafening explosion, smashing the stained glass on the front of the church, and a few bricks that hit the wall bounced back, smashing several soldiers who hadn't had time to hide. Gotta yell.

Facing the anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground, the German bombers were not afraid at all. After dropping the bombs, they rose to a certain height, circled in the air, and then swooped down to continue the bombing.

Fortunately, the bombing by the enemy plane did not last long, and was driven away by the fighter jets that happened to pass by.

Rokossovsky came out of his hiding place, looked at the thick gunpowder smoke and blazing fire ahead, and heard the faint wailing in his buzzing ears. He looked quickly and found that the bell tower on the top of the church had been destroyed It was blown up, and the soldiers were busy running around. Bogdanov was holding a soldier whose leg was broken in half, and shouted loudly for the health worker.

After finally dealing with the bombing site, Bogdanov took Rokossovsky to the location of the chimney. But considering the limited area that can be carried above, only Bogdanov and Rokossovsky climbed up to the observation post on the chimney, and the rest stayed under the chimney to wait.

Rokossowski stands on a tall factory chimney, looking through a telescope at Warsaw in the distance. He clearly saw that the whole city was shrouded in smoke, houses were burning in some places, and bombs and shells exploded one after another. Judging from all aspects of the situation, fighting is going on in the city.

"Comrade Marshal," Bogdanov asked Rokossovsky in surprise when he saw this situation, "what's going on? How could there be a battle in Warsaw? Did you send a certain army to rushed into the city?"

"No." Rokossovsky shook his head and said, "If I'm not mistaken, there should be an uprising in Warsaw trying to seize the city."

"An uprising broke out in Warsaw?" Bogdanov said with a look of shock: "Comrade Marshal, what is going on? Why didn't we hear any news beforehand? Otherwise, we could speed up the attack and rush over to support them."

"General Bogdanov, it's useless. Others don't want our troops to enter the city at all, so they didn't even greet us in advance for such a big thing as launching an uprising." Rokossovsky said a little angrily: " I came here today to find out whether there was an uprising in the city of Warsaw. Although it cannot be confirmed at this time, it is definitely not our army that is fighting in the city at this moment."

"Comrade Marshal, why didn't the Poles prepare for our army to enter Warsaw?" Bogdanov asked puzzledly, "You know, they can completely liberate Warsaw only with our help."

"General Bogdanov, this is a long story." Rokossovsky explained the ins and outs of this matter to Bogdanov in detail, and finally said: "Do you understand?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal, I have fully understood." Bogdanov nodded and said, "I really didn't expect that they rejected our kind offer, and would rather use a group of rabble to confront the Germans than It would be unreasonable to accept our help."

Rokossovsky had already seen what he wanted to see, and when he turned to go down the chimney, Bogdanov stopped him and asked: "Comrade Marshal, what should we do? It is to help the uprising in the city." What about the army, or not to help?"

"If they ask for help, we can help them to a certain extent." Rokossovsky said cautiously: "But if they don't ask us for help, we can ignore them."

Rokossowski returned to his headquarters, and Malinin hurried forward to report to him: "Comrade Marshal, the Polish comrades have replied to me, saying that they will immediately send people to Warsaw to find out what happened in the city." matter."

"Is there a report from the Air Force?" Rokossovsky thought that even if he sent someone to set off now, he might have to wait a day or two before he could learn about the situation in Warsaw. If you want to know what happened in the city in the shortest time, the most reliable way is the air force's reconnaissance: "Did the reconnaissance plane sent by General Porenin figure out what happened in Warsaw?"

"Comrade Marshal, this is exactly what I am going to report to you." Malinin continued: "General Bogdanov called and said that smoke and flames can be seen everywhere in Warsaw, and it seems that a battle is going on."

"It seems that the matter is very clear." Rokossovsky waited for Malinen to finish speaking, and said with a sneer: "The underground resistance organization in Warsaw did launch an uprising trying to drive out the Germans, but from the way they blocked the news Judging from this, the person leading the uprising should be the Krajov army loyal to the government-in-exile."

"Comrade Marshal, if this uprising is really led by the Krajov army, it means that our army's hope of cooperating with them has been completely shattered." Ma Linin said: "I don't know if these insurgents will leave us. Victory?"

"I feel bad enough." Rokossovsky shook his head and said, "I just came back from the 2nd Tank Army, and General Bogdanov told me that they encountered tenacious resistance from the Germans. Furthermore, we have to pay a lot of casualties. Our well-equipped regular army fought very hard after encountering the German army. Do you think that a group of insurgents who lack sufficient military training and no combat experience can defeat those who are so armed? Enemy of the teeth?"

"This is definitely not possible." Ma Linin reminded Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, this matter is of great importance. I think it should be reported to the Supreme Command immediately and listen to their opinions."

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff, you reminded him much more." Rokossovsky also felt that the matter was of great importance and he had to report it to the Supreme Command immediately, so he asked the communications corps to connect to the Kremlin switchboard.

Hearing the voice of the female operator coming from the receiver, Rokossovsky said politely: "Hello, Comrade Operator, I am Marshal Rokossovsky, Commander of the First Belarusian Front, please transfer me Comrade Stalin's office."

Knowing that it was Rokossovsky's call, the operator did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly said: "Hello, Comrade Marshal! I will immediately transfer the phone line to Comrade Poskrebyshev's office for you."

Not long after, Rokossovsky heard Poskrebyshev's voice coming from the receiver: "I'm Poskrebyshev, who are you?"

"Hello, Comrade Poskrebyshev." Rokossovsky said politely: "I am Rokossovsky. I have something important to report to Comrade Stalin immediately. Can you help me?" Would you like to transfer the call in?"

"Comrade Marshal, please wait a moment." Poskrebyshev said cautiously: "I will ask Comrade Stalin first, and if he is willing to answer your call, I will transfer it for you."

Although the waiting time was only one or two minutes, to Rokossovsky, it seemed as long as a month. After finally hearing Stalin's voice coming from the receiver, he hurriedly said, "Hello, Comrade Stalin, I'm Rokossovsky."

"Oh, it turned out to be our Liberator of Belarus." Stalin said in a good mood: "I really didn't expect you to call me. Tell me quickly, have we achieved any results?".