Red Moscow

The next day the Germans stopped their operations along the Narew River and turned to attack Chuikov's forces on the Magnusev Landing Field. Although the troops Cuikov sent to Warsaw had already crossed the river and returned to the right bank area, due to various reasons, they had not yet returned to the army. Cuikov, whose strength was weakened, seemed a little powerless in the face of the German attack.

In desperation, Chuikov could only call Rokossovsky himself, hoping that he could restore the two divisions as soon as possible to enrich his own strength. If it was in the past, facing Chuikov's request, Rokossovsky would definitely agree without hesitation. After all, these two divisions belonged to the 8th Guards Army.

But the abnormal behavior of the German army today made Rokossovsky vigilant. He felt that the Germans must have some kind of conspiracy, otherwise they were hit by their own artillery fire in the Narew River area yesterday, and not only did they not take any retaliation today. The operation, and the focus of the offensive was shifted to the Magnusev landing field in the south, which is too unreasonable.

"Chuikov," Rokossovsky said thoughtfully, "I can't let the two divisions go back for the time being."

"What, we can't let them return to the construction?" Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Chuikov became a little anxious: "Why, Comrade Marshal? You know, my place is used for defense because these two divisions were taken away. The strength of the army has become weak, and now the German army is attacking frantically, if the troops are not restored as soon as possible to enrich the defense here, I am worried that the Magnusev landing field may fall.”

"Chuikov, there is a reason why I do not intend to return these two divisions." Rokossovsky explained to Chuikov: "Yesterday we launched an offensive in the Narev area, but due to enemy fire It was so ferocious that in the end the attack had to be called off."

Cuikov's defense area is south of Warsaw, hundreds of kilometers away from the Narew River Basin, so he naturally doesn't know what happened there. Hearing Rokossovsky's mention at this moment, he couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade Marshal, you did the right thing. Facing the powerful artillery fire of the German army, and when our army has no way to restrain them for the time being, should we give up the attack in time? Exactly right."

"I also thought about it at the time, so I stopped the attack in time and reported the matter to the Supreme Commander himself." Rokossovsky said: "According to the usual practice, after the German army was attacked by our army, Crazy retaliation will certainly be taken, but what is strange is that their operations in the Narev River area have completely stopped, and they have launched a fierce attack on the Magnushev landing site where you are holding on."

Chuikov was also an excellent commander. Hearing what Rokossovsky said, he immediately realized that something was wrong: "Comrade Marshal, the situation is not right. With the German virtues, he suffered such a big loss, and he did not take revenge." Strange. How could it have stopped operations at the Narew River and turned its attention to me?"

"Yes, we are studying whether the Germans are setting us a trap."

"Has the research produced any results?"

"According to the report of the Air Force, the German fighter group suddenly increased the air training for all the traffic in the west of Warsaw leading to the north, and our reconnaissance planes did not want to conduct reconnaissance as before." Rokossovsky was a little helpless Said: "It is precisely because we cannot obtain useful information in time, so we have no idea what the Germans will do next."

When Chuikov heard this, his brain began to think quickly, secretly wondering what the real purpose of the Germans was to do this? After thinking for a few minutes, he said, "Comrade Marshal, I have a bold guess."

"tell me the story."

"If the Germans really block the air above all the traffic arteries from the west to the north of Warsaw, it proves that they are about to have a major operation." Chuikov said cautiously: "Could they be attacking the Magnusev landing site openly?" , is actually gathering troops and preparing to take a larger-scale offensive operation to our army's landing site in the Narew River Basin?"

"What you said is very reasonable." Rokossovsky agreed with Chuikov's analysis: "There is indeed the possibility you said, and this is why I cannot let those two divisions return to the establishment for the time being. The reason. Once an unexpected battle occurs on the Narew River, they can rush to the nearest reinforcements, after all, our troops on the landing field were driven into the Narew River by the Germans."

"I understand, Comrade Marshal." After figuring out the situation, Chuikov said reasonablely: "Then according to your intention, these two divisions will not return to the construction for the time being, and they will stay near Praga. When there is a battle in the Narew River area, they can rush to reinforce it as soon as possible."

"What about your Magnusev landing site?" Rokossovsky asked, "Can you hold it?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." Chuikov assured Rokossovsky: "We will rely on our existing forces to resist the German attack tenaciously, and we will never let them drive our army into the Vistula River."

Besides, since the cancellation of the attack on the first day, Sokov was worried that the German army would retaliate against his defense zone, so he gave orders to several division commanders at the left bank landing ground to let the troops enter the position in turn to guard against the Germans. attack.

But until the evening, the enemy on the opposite side must have remained silent, which made Sokov very puzzled. Sidolin also asked in puzzlement: "Comrade commander, what is going on? The enemy was beaten up by us yesterday. According to their virtue, they must retaliate. Why are they so calm today?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said to Sidolin: "It's a bit too abnormal for them not to take any action. I think there may be some conspiracy hidden in it."

When the two were talking, Ponegerin sat beside him in silence. He was also thinking about what Sokov said. It was a bit abnormal that the enemy did not launch a retaliatory attack on the landing field on the left bank. But what is the purpose of the Germans in doing this? But he couldn't think of it.

The phone on the table rang, and Sokov was relatively close to the phone, so he grabbed the receiver and stuck it to his ear: "I'm Sokov, who are you?"

"Hello, General Sokov." Batov's voice came from the receiver: "I'm Batov."

"So it's General Batov." Sokov said with a smile, "Do you have anything to do with me?"

"It's like this, General Sokov." Batov briefly explained the purpose of his visit: "Yesterday, your army and General Popov's 70th Army were preparing to attack the German triangle. Later, because the enemy's artillery fire was too heavy, The offensive operation has been cancelled. I called you just to ask, did the enemy take any retaliatory actions against you today?"

"No, General Batov." Sokov shook his head and said, "We are discussing why the Germans didn't launch an attack on our landing field today. Is there any conspiracy hidden in it?"

"Conspiracy? General Batov, do you think the Germans have any other conspiracies?" Batov said with some disdain: "Don't you think that the enemy not only suffered heavy losses after attacking for such a long time, but also the officers and soldiers They also became so exhausted that they simply didn't have the energy to attack us on any scale."

For Batov's statement, Sokov really couldn't refute it. After all, he didn't see any movement from the Germans today. He hastily covered the receiver with his hand, turned to Sidolin who was standing aside, and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, call the Front Army Command to see if there is any abnormal situation."

"A special abnormal situation?" Sidolin asked in confusion: "Comrade commander, what is an abnormal situation?"

"I want you to ask the front army headquarters to see what the enemy is doing in other areas. Do you understand?"

"clear!"

Hearing what Sidolin said, Sokov nodded and let go of his hand covering the microphone: "General Batov, what you said does exist, but the probability is so small that it can be ignored. I always believe that the German There must be some terrible conspiracy brewing in the Narew valley because of the inaction today."

Unexpectedly, Batov laughed loudly after hearing this: "General Sokov, you are so humorous. The Germans are like this, what else can you do, you are too neurotic."

Seeing that Batov underestimated the enemy, Sokov couldn't argue with him anymore, so he could only say politely: "General Batov, I strongly suggest that you raise your troops' vigilance and prepare for the German attack. So as not to be caught off guard by the Germans."

When Sokov put down the phone, Sidolin just finished calling. He came to the table and said to Sokov and Ponedelin: "Comrade commanders, there seems to be something wrong."

"What's wrong?" asked Pornegering.

"That's right, Chief of Staff Malinin told me," replied Sidolin, "although the Germans did not take any action on our part, they concentrated their superior forces and carried out an attack on General Chuikov's Magnushev landing site." Strong attack, now the battle has fallen into a stalemate."

"What, the Germans are attacking the Magnusev landing site?" Sidolin's words surprised both Sokov and Ponejielin. They hurried to the wall, looked up at the map hanging on it, and carefully Think about the intention of the German army to do this.

"It's really strange." Sokov said: "How could the Germans attack the Magnusev landing field inexplicably?"

"I think this is normal." Ponejelin said: "The 8th Guards Army sent two Guards divisions into Warsaw, and because of supply problems, they had to cross the nearby river and retreat to the right bank of the Vistula River. I Thinking of this situation, the Germans are also very clear in their hearts. The reason why they will attack General Chuikov's defense area is that I guess they want to take advantage of the weak strength of the landing field defense before the return of the two guard divisions. Capture the landing field from the hands of our friendly forces."

After listening to Pornedelin's analysis, Sidolin nodded and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think what you said is very reasonable. The Germans chose to attack the Magnusev Landing Field at this time, and they must have considered here. Our troops are weak, launching an attack at this moment has the highest success rate of driving our army down the river."

Although the two reached an agreement, Sokov didn't think so. He shook his head and expressed his thoughts: "Do you think that this approach of the Germans is too obvious, telling us that they are unable to launch a counterattack in the Narew River Basin, and can only continue to fight back in the Narew River Basin?" Magnushev Landing continues their fight."

"Is there something wrong?" asked Sidolin.

"Of course, even if the Germans really want to drive General Chuikov's troops from the Magnusev landing site into the Vistula River, they will continue to launch small-scale harassment operations against our army in the Narew River Basin, making us The army couldn't figure out their true intentions."

Hearing this, Ponedelin heard Sukov's intentions, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, according to your speculation, the offensive behavior taken by the Germans at the Magnusev landing site was nothing more than a This kind of feint attack, the purpose of which is to divert the attention of our army, thinking that they will concentrate their forces to attack the Magnusev landing site, forcing our army to transfer more troops to this area, thereby weakening the troops in other areas?"

Sokov gave Ponegerin a thumbs up and agreed with his guess: "Your analysis is correct. Judging from the current situation, the Germans really want our army to shift its attention to the horses." Gnushev landed on the field so they could move on to the next step."

"Comrade Commander," interposed Sidolin, "I don't understand what the Germans are trying to do?"

"I have a bold guess." Sokov waited for Sidolin to finish, and continued: "The Germans may take large-scale military operations in the Narew River Basin next, and the target of their attack is us. Army and General Batov's 65th Army."

"No way." Regarding Sokov's statement, Sidolin expressed doubts: "If the German army wants to attack us and General Batov, then before the attack, they will definitely mobilize troops on a large scale. But by the time So far, we have not received any relevant information."

"We didn't get any information, which just shows that the Germans have done a good job of keeping secrets." Sokov already had an idea in his mind at the moment, and he carefully said to Pornegerin and Sidolin: "Maybe the Germans The Germans have strengthened their defenses, preventing our army's scouts from going deep into the enemy's rear to conduct effective reconnaissance, thus making it impossible to understand the real movements of the Germans in a timely manner."

At the same time, Batov was talking to his chief of staff Glebov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I just spoke to General Sokov and told him that the Germans on our front have been greatly weakened and the officers and soldiers have changed. He was exhausted and unable to launch a new attack on us, but he didn’t believe it, and stubbornly believed that the reason why the Germans didn’t take action today might be some kind of conspiracy.” After speaking, he burst out laughing.

Looking at the enthusiastic Batov, Glebov naturally did not disappoint him, but said along his lines: "Comrade commander, you are right. The Germans have suffered from our army for so long. Attack, the strength has long been weakened, and there is no ability to attack us at all. Then what should we do next?"

Batov thought for a while, and then told Glebov to say: "Chief of Staff, we now have five divisions in the landing field on the left bank, which has put a huge pressure on our army's logistics. Now I order, in addition to leaving the The first two divisions continued to stay outside the landing site on the left bank, and the other three divisions withdrew to the right bank to rest."

"Do I need to ask the Front Army Command for instructions?"

"No need." Batov shook his head and said, "I am the commander of the group army. I can take charge of all affairs within the group army, and there is no need to ask the higher authorities for instructions."