Red Moscow

The actions deployed by Sokov greatly exceeded the expectations of the German army. According to their vision, the Soviet army that established a landing field in Luran Town will definitely join the troops of the 65th Army to the north and connect the two landing fields tens of kilometers apart. If this strategic goal cannot be achieved, then develop westward and expand the defense depth of Luran Town.

But they soon discovered that their judgment had made a huge mistake. The Soviet army in Luran Town did not develop north or west, but expanded the area of ​​​​the landing field to the southwest, and even built several pontoon bridges on the Narew River. With these pontoons, the soldiers, technical equipment and various materials required for the landing site can be continuously met from the right bank to the left bank area.

Naturally, the German army would not let the Soviet army at the Luran landing site grow bigger, and immediately dispatched an armored division and an infantry division to attack, trying to drive them away from the left bank area while the Soviet army was not gaining a stable foothold.

Now that Sokov has already occupied this area, he will naturally not allow the Germans to recapture it. In addition to ordering the 1st, 6th, and 120th Guards Divisions occupying the landing field to rely on fortifications to carry out tenacious defenses, he also sent several small units deep behind the enemy to attack the enemy's communication lines, warehouses, military depots, and headquarters, forcing the enemy to stop. Instead of drawing part of the troops from the front to go back to encircle and suppress these small units, this disrupted the enemy's offensive steps and greatly reduced the pressure on the frontal defense.

Rokossovsky, who was staying at the Front Army Command, soon discovered a special phenomenon: Batov called himself for help every three days, either asking the Air Force to provide air support to drive away the German bombers that bombed the landing site, or Artillery was used to intercept the German ground troops attacking the landing site.

But Sokov never asked for help, so that he had an illusion that the Germans only attacked Batov's landing field, but turned a blind eye to the landing field established by Sokov's troops in Luran Town.

But he also knew in his heart that the idea that the so-called Germans only attacked the Pultusk landing field and not the Luran landing field was just his own wishful thinking. Not much worse than Bartov.

In order to find out what was going on, Rokossovsky specifically called Sokov: "Misha, this is Rokossovsky."

"Hello, Comrade Marshal." Sukov was surprised to hear that Rokossovsky was calling him, and he asked tentatively, "What instructions do you have?"

"Misha, I don't quite understand something, and I want to ask you for advice."

"Comrade Marshal, don't dare to ask for advice." Sokov said modestly: "If you want to know anything, please ask. As long as I know the answer, I will know everything without saying anything."

"Your Luran landing site has been attacked by the German army every day, and as far as I know, the German army has used an armored division and an infantry division." Rokossovsky asked curiously: "You are facing such a violent attack. Not only can they block their attack, but they have never asked me for help, I would like to ask, what is going on?"

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, and asked in a puzzled way: "Comrade Marshal, does anyone often ask you for help?"

"That's right." To Rokossovsky, Sokov was not an outsider, so he didn't have any scruples when he spoke: "General Batov fought the Germans at the landing site on the left bank of Narev. It is very difficult. From time to time, I will be asked to send the air force to provide them with the necessary air cover, or the artillery units of the front army to provide artillery support."

After Sokov figured out what was going on, he explained to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, it turned out to be this matter. It's actually very simple. In addition to fighting the German attack head-on, I also dispatched many The squad made up as Germans went deep into the enemy's rear, attacked the enemy's transportation lines, attacked their warehouses, military depots and headquarters, thus disrupting their offensive plan. In order to relieve their worries, the Germans did not wait to attack the enemy from the front We deployed a considerable number of soldiers from our combat troops and returned to the rear to wipe out our small units. As a result, their original combat plan was disrupted by us, and with the reduction of frontline troops, the defenders in the landing field The pressure is naturally lessened.”

Rokossovsky has never been very fond of the fact that a small group of factions went deep into the enemy's rear. He always felt that such small fights would not make a big difference, so he didn't bother to do it. But now after listening to Sokov's explanation, I realize that I may have a certain degree of deviation when thinking about the problem, and I must find a way to solve it.

Just when Rokossovsky wanted to ask Sokov about how to carry out sabotage operations behind enemy lines, Malinin on the side called him in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, your phone number."

"Wait a minute," Rokossovsky said, waving his hand at Marinin, "Don't you see that I'm on the phone with Misha?"

"It's Comrade Stalin calling."

Hearing that it was a call from Stalin, Rokossovsky did not dare to neglect, quickly hung up the phone with Sokov, walked over to take the microphone in Malinin's hand: "Hello, Comrade Stalin, this is Rokosovsky Kosovsky."

"Hello, dear Konstantin Konstantinovich!" Stalin smiled and called Rokossovsky's real name and father's name, and asked, "Did you talk to Misha just now?"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky reported the content of the call between himself and Sokov to the other party without waiting for Stalin to ask again.

After hearing this, Stalin said thoughtfully: "Comrade Rokossovsky, maybe we all ignore the importance of guerrilla warfare in enemy-occupied areas, and always feel that to destroy the enemy, we should use the regular army to compete with them face to face. These tactics of Xiao Xiaosha seem ordinary, but in actual combat, they played an unexpected role."

"That's right, Comrade Stalin, I think so too." Rokossovsky said to Stalin, "I was just about to discuss this matter with him, when your call came in."

"Dear Konstantin Konstantinovich, I am calling you today for another matter." Stalin said on the phone: "It is about the Warsaw Uprising."

"About the Warsaw Uprising?" Rokossovsky asked curiously, "Comrade Stalin, why did you suddenly bring this up?"

"The government-in-exile in London not only sent me a telegram asking for help, but even sent a delegation to visit Moscow in two days." Stalin said on the phone: "In a word, I hope that we can provide assistance for Warsaw. The insurgents provide necessary help."

Hearing what Stalin said, Rokossovsky couldn't help but sneered: "To whom do we provide help? It has been more than a month since the outbreak of the uprising, but the Krajov Army, as the leader of the uprising, has We have never had any contact with us, so that the situation in Warsaw is still unknown to us..."

Stalin did not interrupt Rokossovsky, but listened quietly. He took off the pipe dangling from his mouth, knocked the ash inside into the ashtray, and then refilled the shredded tobacco leisurely.

After he lit the end of his pipe and took a deep breath, he asked, "Comrade Rokossovsky, do you think the First Belarusian Front is capable of launching a campaign in the near future to liberate Warsaw from the Germans?" ?”

"I'm afraid this can't be done." Hearing Stalin's question, Rokossovsky said with some embarrassment: "We don't know anything about the situation in Warsaw. How can we help those insurgents? Also, The several group armies under me are now fighting the enemy in different areas, and they can't escape at all, so I think it is obviously inappropriate to launch a new offensive campaign in a short period of time."

After getting a negative answer from Rokossovsky, Stalin pondered for a moment, and then said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I hope you can do your best to help the insurgents to alleviate their difficulties. As for how to help the insurgents Or, it’s up to you to decide, I won’t interfere with you lightly.”

Now that Stalin had reached this point, what else could Rokossovsky say, he could only bite the bullet and reply: "Well, Comrade Stalin, I will do my best."

After finishing the call with Stalin, Rokossovsky fell into deep thought. He began to think that although the situation in Warsaw is still unknown, it is obviously impossible not to provide assistance to the rebels. Thinking of this, he called Ma Linin to him and said to him: "Chief of Staff, Comrade Stalin asked us to provide assistance to the insurgents in Warsaw. Tell me, what should we do?"

After listening to Rokossovsky's question, Ma Linin thought for a while, and then replied: "The situation in Warsaw is unknown now, and it is obviously inappropriate to rashly take large-scale military operations. I think we should start from two aspects at the same time." .”

"The two aspects?" asked Rokossovsky.

"Number one, we can drop arms, ammunition, food and medicine to the rebels in the city, so that they can keep fighting the Germans."

"What about the second point?"

"Secondly, some troops from the Polish 1st Army can be transferred to cross the river and enter the west of Warsaw." Ma Linin said cautiously: "In any case, they are all Polish soldiers, and they are more likely to be accepted by the citizens of Warsaw. There is a chance to get in touch with the leader of the rebel army in the city."

"Let me add two points." Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish, and immediately added: "One is to order the anti-aircraft artillery units of the front army to attack the enemy planes appearing in the sky, so that they cannot deal with the uprising in the city. Second, the artillery used fire to suppress the German artillery positions so that they could not bombard the insurgents' defense areas unscrupulously."

After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Ma Linin asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, how should we take action?"

"The airdrop to the rebel army in the city, I think it will start tonight." After organizing the words in his mind, Rokossovsky continued: "As for the matter of letting the Polish 1st Army cross the river to fight , I think it’s better to call General Bellinger to discuss it.”

After Bellinger received the call from Malining, he knew that there must be something important, so he rushed over in the shortest possible time. Seeing Rokossovsky and Malinin, he asked urgently: "Comrade Marshal, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are so eager to call me over, is there anything important?"

"That's right, General Bellinger." Malinen said: "After researching with the commander, I feel that launching a campaign to liberate Warsaw in a short period of time is obviously not yet ripe. After all, the troops have fought for such a long time. The loss of men and armaments was enormous, and it was impossible to launch a campaign until new supplies were available.

Although the battle cannot be launched for the time being, we have done nothing to the insurgents who are fighting the German army in Warsaw. Therefore, we plan to drop weapons, ammunition, food and medicine to the city from tonight to support them in continuing to fight the enemy. "

"It would be really great if we could do this." Bellinger immediately smiled when he heard Malining say this: "You know, the rebel army in the city fought the Germans for more than a month, and in terms of weapons, ammunition, food and The consumption is huge, and if we can get airdrops from our army, it will give them the ability to continue fighting."

"There is one more thing. I plan to let you mobilize some troops to sneak across the Vistula River, get in touch with the rebel army in the west of the city, and cooperate with our troops to enter the west of Warsaw."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm afraid this is not easy to handle." Bellinger said with some embarrassment: "According to our scout report, the Germans have blocked all the bridges connecting the two sides of the Vistula River in order to prevent our troops from entering Warsaw." It was blown up. It might not be easy to get to the other side of the river."

"General Bellinger, you don't have to worry about this." Ma Lining said: "We will prepare enough crossing equipment for you to cross a certain number of troops across the river. As long as they can establish contact with the rebel army, then they can be on the other side of the river." Stand firm and prepare for the arrival of large forces into Warsaw."

Knowing that his troops could enter Warsaw first, Bellinger couldn't help being overjoyed. He nodded quickly and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, I will arrange the troops to cross the river when I go back. As long as I have enough equipment for crossing the river, I can Send them all to the other side in the shortest possible time."

Seeing that Bellinger agreed to send troops across the river, Rokossovsky finally let go of his worries. However, he still reminded Bellinger: "General Bellinger, it is best for your troops to cross the river to be in the size of four or five battalions, and arrange a regiment-level commander to command these troops. Finally, troops without a unified command will fall into a chaotic state of fighting independently.

Before the battle starts, you have to consider the time and place of landing, the artillery support and air support plan, the mutual coordination with the insurgents, and so on. Among them, the communication with the insurgents is the most important. After all, they are familiar with the terrain and can help your troops gain a firm foothold on the opposite bank as soon as possible. "

"Comrade Marshal, you can rest assured about this." Bellinger waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and said carelessly: "Before we cross the river to fight, we must negotiate with the rebels and make sure that they are controlled by them. Cross the river in the area. After gathering a certain amount of troops, we will use that as the starting point of the attack to launch an attack on the stronghold occupied by the German army."