Red Moscow

After the two came to the headquarters of the Front Army, they met Rokossovsky.

Rokossovsky stepped forward to shake hands with the two of them one by one, and said with a little apology: "I'm really sorry, I asked the two of you to come to me specially. How is it? Did the journey go smoothly?"

When Sokov heard Rokossovsky's question, he couldn't help laughing secretly. He thought that if the journey was not smooth, the plane might have crashed long ago, so he smiled and said, "It went very well, Comrade Marshal."

"Do you know why I called you here urgently?" Rokossovsky asked.

Sokov looked at Popov, who happened to be looking at him too, so he winked at him, indicating that he would answer Rokossovsky's question.

After understanding what Sokov meant, Popov nodded slightly, then turned to face Rokossovsky, and said seriously: "Comrade Marshal, according to our analysis, you are so eager to recruit us, it must be I want to attack the enemy in the triangle at the confluence of the Vistula and Narew rivers."

Rokossovsky originally thought that after he asked this question, Sokov must be the first to answer, but he didn't expect it to be Popov, and he couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face. But he quickly returned to normal, raised his chin at Popov, and said, "General Popov, you are right. According to the order of the headquarters, this triangle area occupied by the German army must be eradicated."

"Comrade Marshal, how do you plan to arrange our offensive?" After finishing his sentence, Popov took the initiative to mention the difficulties faced by his troops: "The troops of the 70th Army once launched an attack on this triangular area. But in the end it only took a lot of damage, expended a lot of ammunition, and failed to drive the enemy out of the area."

"Come here, General Popov." Malinin, who was standing by the wall, greeted Popov: "Let me give you a detailed introduction to the combat intention of the Front Army Command."

It took Malinin five minutes to explain the plan he had discussed with Rokossovsky to Sokov and Popov, and finally said: "How about it, can you take down the area occupied by the enemy?" ?"

"It's not easy to say, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov said with a serious expression: "All the roads we attacked this area are within the coverage of German artillery fire. If we force an attack, there may be heavy casualties. , but in the end it turned out to be nothing.”

"Misha, when the offensive starts tomorrow, I will personally go to the front to watch the battle." After hearing this, Rokossovsky said unexpectedly: "I will adjust the battle plan in a timely manner according to the changes in the battlefield situation. "

"Go to the front line to watch the battle?" Sokov couldn't help being taken aback: "Which area are you going to watch the battle?" When he said this, he secretly prayed in his heart, Rokossovsky had better not go to his own defense zone, you know, In addition to the area currently controlled, going outside is the German bombardment area. With Rokossovsky's character, he will definitely choose a position closer to the front. If something happens, I can't afford it. Responsibility: "Where do you plan to watch the battle?"

"I saw that the Luerran village two days ago was pretty good." Rokossovsky said, "I'm going to watch the progress of our troops in the observation post there."

Sokov scratched the back of his head and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, if you feel that the attack is not going well, how can you notify us if you want to adjust the battle plan?"

"This is how I think about it," Rokossovsky said. "When I go to your defense zone tomorrow, I will have a radio and a flare gun with me. If after the shelling is over, you see red flares rising in the sky— That's the shock; that's the green flare going up into the sky—the shock cancels. Got it?"

"Understood!" The two army commanders stood up and replied.

The rumble of more than 500 artillery pieces of various calibers broke the silence of the morning, and the Soviet artillery shelled the German positions at the confluence of the Vistula and Narew rivers for an hour and a half.

When the shelling stopped, there was no movement in the triangle area occupied by the German army, and there was silence in the direction of the Modlin Fortress. Sokov looked at the German positions shrouded in gunpowder smoke through the binoculars, wondering what the Germans were doing, were they lying on the bottom of trenches and trenches? Or had he been dazed by the shelling just now, and had taken refuge in the permanent firepower of the concrete?

Not long after the battlefield returned to silence, the rocket launchers in the distance opened fire. After the rockets drew arcs over the Vistula River, they disappeared in the middle of the enemy's positions, and then there was a terrible boom.

Then there was another silence.

Just as Sokov looked into the sky to see if there was a signal flare rising, the German artillery, which had been silent for a long time, finally fired back. The area they bombarded was exactly where the Soviet attacking forces were concentrating.

Although Sokov is not an artilleryman, but after staying on the battlefield for several years, he has long been able to judge from the sound of the cannon what kind of artillery the German army is using. He heard the sound of the fort's heavy artillery in the sound of the artillery, and he couldn't help but worry about the troops who were about to attack. He quickly picked up the receiver and said loudly, "This is Sokov, let General Nikitin answer the phone."

The call was connected quickly, and Sokov said into the microphone: "General Nikitin, the enemy is bombarding the area where your divisions are assembled with heavy artillery fire, let the commanders and fighters take cover, and do not be exposed to the enemy's artillery fire. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Nikitin said on the other end of the phone, "I will pass on your order."

"By the way," Sokov asked just as Nikitin was about to hang up the phone: "How is Comrade Marshal?"

"He has been staying in the observation post. It is safe there." Nikitin reported again in order to reassure Sokov: "I sent a special company to guard the surrounding area. Even if there is a small German army If they touch it in, they will never get close to Comrade Marshal."

"Very good, General Nikitin." Sokov was very satisfied with Nikitin's arrangement. He nodded and said approvingly, "Good job!"

And Rokossovsky, who was staying in the observation post at the moment, turned his head and said to the two staff officers he had called: "Comrades staff, look, the enemy fired cannons of various calibers, from fortress heavy artillery to ordinary guns. There are mortars and six-barreled rocket launchers. The enemy is so generous with shells, which shows that it is still powerful. Faced with such fierce enemy fire, how can we attack? Isn’t that letting the soldiers die in vain?”

"Comrade Marshal," a staff officer asked tentatively, "Then what should we do?"

"As long as the enemy's artillery is not suppressed, there is no way to talk about destroying the triangle area controlled by the enemy. We don't have enough means at hand to suppress such fierce enemy artillery fire. It is obviously not obvious to launch an attack again, and It is not worth wasting our precious vitality.” Rokossovsky said to the chief of staff: “Comrade staff, go outside and fire a green flare to tell the attacking troops to cancel the attack.”

The staff officer agreed, and walked out of the observation post with a flare gun, ready to send a signal to the troops on standby to cancel the attack.

After the staff officer left, Rokossovsky ordered people to connect to the headquarters of Sokov and Popov respectively. Hearing the voices of the two people from the radio, Rokossovsky said: "Comrades, two commanders, I now declare that the offensive operations on the triangle area will be stopped."

Hearing that the offensive was to be cancelled, both Sokov and Popov breathed a sigh of relief, and replied in unison: "Understood, Comrade Marshal! The original offensive order is cancelled, and our troops will remain on standby. "

"That's right, your respective troops stay in the original defense zone and hold on to the existing position." Rokossovsky said into the microphone: "What should I do next, whether to attack or defend, I will respond in the shortest possible time. You will be notified."

Rokossovsky returned to the Front Army Command, and after greeting Malinin, he called the director of the Communication Corps and told him, "Get me to Moscow immediately. I have important information to report."

While the director of the communications corps was on the phone, Malinin tentatively asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, so our attack on the triangle has to be cancelled?"

"Yes, my Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky agreed with Malinin's statement, and explained his reasons: "The German artillery fire was too violent, and our offensive troops were forced to attack from the moment they left the trenches." From that moment on, we were within the range of the German artillery fire. This means that if we cannot suppress the German artillery fire, then our commanders and fighters will continue to fall under the intensive German artillery fire during the attack .”

"Comrade Commander, your decision is correct," Malinin said, "We cannot waste our precious troops on this senseless attack."

"Comrade Marshal," the director of the communications corps came forward and reported to Rokossovsky: "The Supreme Commander himself is on the phone, and his phone cannot be connected for the time being. But Comrade Poskrebyshev said, wait for the Supreme Commander himself After the phone call, the matter will be reported."

"Since this is the case, let's wait patiently." Rokossovsky said: "While waiting for the phone call, we can discuss the next move."

"Comrade Commander, I happen to have some information, and I think it is necessary to report to you."

"What information?" Rokossovsky asked.

"General Porenin of the Air Force reported that when the reconnaissance plane he sent was flying west of Warsaw, it was attacked by German fighter jets. Two of them were shot down, and one reconnaissance plane that flew back by luck had bullet marks on its fuselage. Tired." Malinen said: "The pilot reported to Porenin that German fighter planes were patrolling all the lines of communication west of Warsaw leading to the north, as if trying to cover up something."

Rokossovsky looked down at the map in front of him and found the location Malinin had mentioned. After looking at it for a while, he raised his head and asked Malinin, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?"

"According to my analysis, the Germans suddenly strengthened the air patrol on all lines of communication west of Warsaw leading to the north. It should be to cover up something." Ma Linin said cautiously: "Due to the lack of favorable intelligence support, we don't know whether the enemy is Should we send more troops to the north, or transfer troops from the north to the south?"

Regardless of whether the German army moved its troops from the south to the north or from the north to the south, it meant that they would take large-scale military operations in a certain direction. It is a pity that no scouts have gone deep into the west of Warsaw, and the reconnaissance planes performing reconnaissance missions in the air were driven away by German fighter planes, so that the mobilization of the enemy's troops can only be analyzed.

Before Rokossovsky and Malinin could analyze the results, the high-frequency phone on the desk rang.

It was Stalin who called, and as soon as he heard Rokossovsky's voice, he asked with a smile: "How is it, Konstantin Konstantinovich, what about the Vistula and Narew rivers?" Has the Interchange attack begun?"

Hearing Stalin's question, Rokossovsky couldn't help hesitating for a moment, and finally he mustered up the courage to say: "I'm sorry, Comrade Stalin, maybe I brought you bad news. I have ordered the termination of the attack on the triangle area." gone."

"What, the offensive has been terminated?" Stalin's smile froze on his face, and his tone became serious unconsciously: "Why? Why should it be stopped?"

"Comrade Stalin, please listen to my explanation." Rokossovsky knew very well that compared with before the war, Stalin's personality had changed a lot. At least in many matters, he was willing to listen to the parties. Explain, so as to avoid making some low-level mistakes. In order to obtain Stalin's consent to stop his offensive, Rokossovsky described the situation at that time in detail, and finally said: "Letting our troops attack in areas covered by enemy artillery fire is tantamount to letting them Going to die, I don't want to see these precious vitality wasted in vain, that's why I gave the order to stop the attack."

After hearing this, Stalin was silent for a long time, and when Rokossovsky was waiting a little anxiously, he finally spoke: "Konstantin Konstantinovich, you did the right thing. Under the circumstances of German artillery fire, it is entirely correct to take the initiative to stop this futile attack."

Rokosovsky basically thought that Stalin would be furious, but he was quite surprised that the other party would say such reasonable words. He asked cautiously: "Comrade Stalin, what should we do next?"

"I agree with your arrangement, cancel the offensive of the troops, and stick to the original defensive position, so as not to give the Germans an opportunity." Stalin said on the phone: "Although this offensive has been cancelled, it does not mean that We will not launch a new offensive. Therefore, while holding the existing defense zone, the troops also need to actively prepare for the battle and prepare for the new offensive campaign."

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky quickly replied: "I will implement your intentions to the grassroots units, so that all commanders and fighters will be ready for a new offensive while holding on to their existing positions. "

"Yes, that's exactly what it should be." Stalin said slowly, "Konstantin Konstantinovich, I wish you good luck and hope to hear about your victory sooner."

After putting down the phone, Rokossovsky said to Malinin with a sigh of relief: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the Supreme Commander himself agrees with our decision to terminate the offensive, let the troops defend the existing area, and start preparing for a new offensive. Battle."