Red Moscow

Worthier did not expect that the first battalion would suffer almost all casualties in such a short period of time, so he quickly reported the situation here to Bellinger on the right bank through the telegraph machine he carried.

Bellinger was dumbfounded when he received the report. He never dreamed that the so-called commander from Liudov, Krzysztov, actually lured his troops into the ambush circle. Within, let yourself lose a battalion.

"Comrade Commander," Korcica frowned and said, "If that Krzysztov has a problem, what about the three people the troops rescued before crossing the river? What they said can be compared with Krzysztof's statement fits the bill."

Before Bellinger could speak, Zawacki said first, "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't you see that this should be an enemy conspiracy."

"The enemy's conspiracy?" Korcica frowned and asked, "What conspiracy?"

By this time, Bellinger also understood what was going on. He snorted coldly and said to Korcica: "Obviously, Krzysztof and those three people are in the same group. First Krzysztof Fu Duhe came to join us and fabricated a series of lies to gain our trust.

Maybe he was worried that we would be suspicious of him, so he arranged for Muller and others to cooperate before crossing the river. Once it is found that our army is gathering on the bank of the Vistula River and there are signs of crossing the river, Muller and others will pretend to be fleeing and cross the river in front of our army. When they are rescued ashore, and when we find that what Krzysztoff said is basically consistent with what he said, we will completely eliminate our doubts about him and trust him unconditionally. "

"So that's the case." After figuring out what was going on, Korcica asked Bellinger tentatively: "Comrade Commander, since our troops crossing the river have failed, should we let them withdraw?"

"What, withdraw?!" For Korcica's proposal, Bellinger rejected it without thinking: "No, our mission is to go to the left bank to support the rebels who are fighting bloody battles with the Germans in the city. How can you retreat casually because of a small loss?"

Bellinger looked at the troops across the river and said to Korcica: "Tell Colonel Galitsky to let his troops continue to cross the river. I think the troops of the 1st Battalion will be able to survive if they are suddenly attacked." Returning to the riverside alive means that the number of enemies entrenched in the Lazienki Palace is not too many, allowing them to find a way to capture the palace and use it as a starting point for attack.”

Hearing what Bellinger said, Korchica also had his own thoughts. He said cautiously: "Comrade Commander, I personally think that even if we can't capture the Lazienki Palace, it doesn't really matter. We can control the nearby Belvedere Palace, the terrain there is relatively high, which is good for us to observe the movements in the city."

"I think it's okay." Bellinger did not object this time, but nodded and said: "Chief of Staff, then you should inform Colonel Galitsky of this decision, and let him , turning to seize the Belvedere Palace, and find a way to gain a foothold on the left bank."

When the third battalion boarded the returning wooden boat and was about to start crossing the river, Bellinger received a call from Rokossovsky: "General Bellinger, how is the situation there, have your troops crossed the river? "

"Yes, Comrade Marshal, my troops have already begun to cross the river."

"went well?"

Rokossovsky's casual question made Bellinger embarrassed. He didn't know whether he should report to Rokossovsky that he had been deceived.

Seeing Bellinger's delay in speaking, Rokossovsky realized something was wrong, and asked again, "General Bellinger, is something wrong?"

"Well, Comrade Marshal, there is indeed a small situation."

"What little situation?"

"It's like this, Comrade Marshal." The ugly daughter-in-law always wants to see her in-laws. Bellinger knew that he had been deceived, so he could only hide it for a while. Rokossovsky was able to learn about it through his own unique information channel. Camp encounters things. After a brief ideological struggle, he decided to confess the truth to Rokossovsky: "Didn't I bring a commander of the Lyudov army named Krzysztov to you?"

"That's right, you did bring Krzysztov to meet me." Rokossovsky asked curiously, "What happened to him?"

"Comrade Marshal, this is a long story, please listen to me slowly." So Bellinger started from the rescue of three people who claimed to be Liudov's army from the river before the troops crossed the river. Until the first battalion was taken to Lazienki Palace by Krzysztov and others, it was suddenly attacked, and the troops were almost killed.

After listening, Rokossovsky was silent for a moment, and then asked: "General Bellinger, what are your plans next? Should you cancel the river crossing operation, or cross the river as originally planned to find comrades from the Liudov Army? "

"Needless to say, Comrade Marshal." Bellinger, who suffered a big loss not long ago, said unwillingly: "If you stop crossing the river after a small setback, I'm afraid it will have a negative impact on the morale of the troops. Therefore, I ordered Colonel Galitsky to continue to lead the troops across the river, find a way to take down the Lazienki Palace, and destroy the enemies entrenched inside."

"Sooner or later our army will cross the river and enter the west of Warsaw." Rokossowski said on the phone: "So it is absolutely necessary to send someone to occupy a place on the left bank and establish a landing site. But I think the location of the Lazienki Palace , is not very suitable!"

"Oh?!" Bellinger asked curiously, "Why?"

"The terrain there is too low. As long as the Germans occupy the nearby commanding heights, they can suppress you with firepower." Rokossovsky explained to the other party: "When you attack, it is a false attack, and it is easy to be attacked. The firepower strikes from all sides caused huge casualties to the troops."

"Then what should we do?"

Rokossovsky glanced at the map in front of him, and then said: "I think you can consider capturing the Belvedere Palace southwest of Lazienki Palace, where the terrain is high, and you can observe the surrounding terrain condescendingly after occupation. "

"Comrade Marshal," Bellinger exclaimed excitedly after hearing what Rokossovsky said, "I think so too. Occupying the higher-lying Belvedere Palace is very beneficial for our army to establish a landing field." of."

"General Bellinger, since you have considered all the issues that should be considered, you must think about various countermeasures in advance." Rokossovsky reminded the other party: "In order not to encounter any emergencies, and Caught off guard. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Bellinger replied: "We will prepare some countermeasures to prevent the tragedy of the First Battalion from happening again."

After finishing the call with Rokossovsky, Korcica asked Bellinger: "Comrade Commander, there are only a few dozen people left in the first battalion, and it doesn't make much sense to stay on the left bank. Do you think it's worth it?" Bring them back?"

"Can't withdraw." Bellinger replied firmly again: "It is precisely because of the heavy casualties of the first battalion that they cannot be allowed to withdraw. Otherwise, when the troops on the right bank saw the first troops to board the other bank, there would be only one left. With such a small number of people, their emotions will definitely be affected, and in the next battle, they will become hesitant and hesitant, and it will be difficult to win the battle."

While Bellinger was urging the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Division to cross the river, Rokossovsky was talking with Malinen at the headquarters about Bellinger's being fooled. After Malinin listened, he smiled wryly and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, I said at the time that this Krzysztov was not quite right, and suggested to you that he be arrested and interrogated. If I really did what I wanted, maybe General Bellinger won't suffer from being dumb."

But Rokossovsky shook his head after listening to Malinin's words, and said slowly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, even if you persuade me to detain Krzysztov now, I will refuse. Because none of us We also don't know the details of the other party. Whether he is really our comrade or an undercover agent sent by the enemy, we can't act rashly against him, otherwise the enemy will use it to make a big fuss, saying that as long as the person who escapes to our defense area, They will all be arrested by us. This will intensify the conflict between us and the rebel army.”

Ma Linin was silent for a long time, and finally had to admit that Rokossovsky's statement was not wrong. After all, today's insurgents don't communicate with their own side at all. Occasionally, one or two people come over, and it is impossible to accurately judge whether the other party is their own or the enemy. If he really followed his proposal and arrested people without any reason, it would probably chill the hearts of those rebels who were about to defect to the Soviet army.

Thinking of this, he nodded and said slowly: "Comrade Commander, you are right. You must be very cautious when dealing with these people from the west of Warsaw, otherwise it will easily bring bad influence."

Rokossovsky stared at the map for a while, looked up at Malinin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can we build a pontoon bridge over the Vistula and reconnect the two parts of Warsaw?"

"I'm afraid it will be very difficult." Malinin immediately poured cold water on Rokossovsky: "The pontoon bridge erected by Chuikov's 8th Guards Army in the Magnusev area was repeatedly attacked by enemy planes. If our army builds a bridge in Warsaw at this moment, it will not only be bombers who destroy the bridge, but also artillery of various calibers. They will shoot at the river non-stop, Until the pontoon bridge we built was blown to pieces."

In order to dispel Rokossovsky's absurd idea, Ma Linin continued: "Even if we erect the pontoon bridge where the enemy's artillery can't hit, they still have a way to destroy the pontoon bridge."

"Is there any way to destroy the floating bridge?"

"For example, find a small boat filled with explosives." Ma Lining said: "Then let the boat go down the river and detonate it when it reaches our pontoon bridge, and it will blow up our pontoon bridge into several sections."

After Malinen finished speaking, Rokossovsky realized that it would be a difficult task to build a pontoon bridge connecting the two banks in Warsaw. In order to prevent the Soviet army from transporting troops and supplies into the city through the pontoon bridge, the Germans would definitely do whatever they could. Destroy it, and your troops will definitely be exhausted by then.

"You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff." After some careful consideration, Rokossovsky had to admit that Malinin was right. Building a pontoon bridge on the Vistula River in Warsaw was a matter of fact. It is a simple matter, but it is not so simple to implement, so he finally chose to give up: "Under the current situation, we still can only transport soldiers and weapons to the left bank of the river by boat."

"Comrade Commander," Malinin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, hesitated for a moment, and finally summoned up his courage to say, "Why don't we try to concentrate our forces and launch a general attack on Warsaw? Liberating the city from human hands should not be a big problem."

"Chief of Staff, have you ever thought about what the situation will be like if we gather our troops and launch an attack on Huasha, instead of taking the city and causing heavy casualties?"

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Malinin became anxious. If the attack on Warsaw fails and the troops suffer heavy casualties, the Germans will definitely take the opportunity to launch a counterattack. By that time, the Belarusian First Front Army, whose strength had been greatly weakened, would not be able to stop the ferocious fortifications of the Germans at all. Maybe some sites captured by bloody sacrifices would be taken back by the Germans again.

"I think," Malinin said with some hesitation, "once our attack on Warsaw fails, the entire First Belarusian Front Army may be divided by the enemy, and many troops will fall into encirclement. By then, our commanders and fighters will bleed The territory bought by the sacrifice will be taken back by the Germans again."

"You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov agreed with Malinin's statement: "Our troops have been fighting non-stop since Operation Bagration began. After entering the territory of Poland, the fighting has never stopped. After such a long period of fighting, our originally full-staffed troops have experienced varying degrees of attrition. Didn't get enough refills.

Not only are our troops short of soldiers, but the commanders and fighters have already become exhausted after three months of fighting. Using such troops to attack Warsaw, I don't think I can win with confidence. "

"Are we just going to stay outside Warsaw?"

"That's not the case." Rokossovsky shook his head and continued: "When the time is right, we will officially launch an attack on Warsaw. I believe that by then, we will be able to get rid of the Germans. Liberate Warsaw."

"I don't know when do you think is the best time for us to attack Warsaw?" Ma Linin asked.

Rokossovsky recalled the status quo of each unit in his heart, as well as the speed at which his superiors replenished soldiers, weapons and ammunition, and then said slowly: "I don't think we have the ability to launch an attack on Warsaw before October 20th. attack on the city."

"Ah, before October 20, we don't have the ability to launch an attack on Warsaw?" Ma Lining said with some surprise: "We have to wait for more than a month, but I don't know whether the rebel army in Warsaw can persist until then." when."