Red Moscow

After returning to his headquarters, Potapov called a meeting of several artillery commanders under him to convey Sokov's orders to them. According to his vision, when these commanders heard that the artillery preparations were only going to stop for a few minutes and let the troops charge, it would definitely cause everyone to be surprised.

Unexpectedly, after his order was conveyed, several artillery commanders accepted the task as usual, which surprised him: "comrades commanders, don't you have any objection to such an order?"

"Comrade Chief of Artillery," said an artillery regiment commander, "if the commander of our army group was not General Sokov, we would definitely confirm this order to our superiors. But General Sokov is a special person, and some of his strange He often beat the Germans dizzy. At the beginning, we were not used to his command style, but after a long time, we got used to it. Everyone knew in their hearts that no matter what General Sokov ordered What order, what we have to do is to obey absolutely, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.”

"Okay, since everyone thinks that the commander's order is correct, let's go back to our respective troops and make preparations." Potapov raised his hand and looked at the time, "In an hour, we will make preparations for the enemy's position." Prepare for artillery fire."

After the artillery commanders left, the chief of staff smiled and said to Potapov: "Comrade artillery chief, you have just come to our army and you don't know the commander well. After a long time, you will find that he is A man who is good at creating miracles. I dare not say anything about other troops in this offensive, but there is no area that our army is responsible for attacking. It cannot be taken down."

Seeing that his deputy also had such confidence in Sokov, Potapov couldn't help feeling: I never expected that Sokov was so young, but the commanders of the army all trusted him unconditionally, and felt that following him would definitely lead to success. win the battle.

An hour later, the shelling of German positions began.

Since we all know that the Germans withdrew their troops from the front line, no matter how long they bombarded unmanned positions, they would not suffer much damage. Therefore, the artillery commander strictly followed Sokov's order and only bombarded the enemy's positions. After ten minutes, he stopped decisively.

As soon as the shelling stopped, before the smoke cleared, the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions, which were on standby in the trenches, charged towards the German positions. Behind the infantry soldiers, there were several propaganda vehicles with loudspeakers, playing passionate battle songs, making the momentum of the attack louder, fearing that the enemy hiding in the second line of defense would not know that the Soviet army had launched an attack.

Sokov, who was standing in the observation post observing the battle situation, couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise when he saw this situation. He put down the binoculars, turned around and asked Sidolin who was standing behind him: "Chief of Staff, what's going on, why are there a few propaganda vehicles behind the attacking troops?"

"It was my idea, Comrade Commander." Hearing Victor's question, Sidolin replied with a smile: "I think such an offensive is so powerful that it can attract the attention of the Germans and force them to attack from the second line as soon as possible." Return to the forward position."

"Nonsense, it's just nonsense." Sokov said to Sidolin: "We have never done this before, but today we arranged a few propaganda vehicles behind the attacking troops, playing battle songs and acting It's a bit too much. If the Germans find out, then our efforts will be in vain."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Ponegelin said next to him: "This is the result of my discussion with the chief of staff. Arrange propaganda vehicles behind the attacking troops and play various songs non-stop. Not only can it confuse the enemy, At the same time, it can also boost the morale of our army. Even if the Germans see it, they will not be suspicious."

Sokov felt that he might be too worried about this attack and not achieve the desired effect, so he was so concerned about gains and losses. Since this matter has been studied by Pornegerin and Sidolin, there must be no problem. The German army, far away on the second line of defense, never dreamed that the Soviet army resolutely launched an attack after only ten minutes of artillery preparation, and they were confused in one fell swoop. After a brief panic, the German commander immediately ordered his troops to return from the second line to the first line of defense to stop the Soviet attack.

The German officers and soldiers who received the order quickly returned to the forward position along several traffic trenches, preparing to block the attacking Soviet army. But they soon discovered that they had been tricked. The troop that was charging just now amidst the sound of the tweeter suddenly disappeared from his field of vision.

"No, it's a trick!" As soon as this idea came to the German commander's mind, there was a shrill sound of shells piercing the air. The next moment, the troops who were turning towards the front line along the traffic trench were shrouded in flames and gunpowder smoke.

The troops that had been bombarded suddenly fell into an embarrassing situation. Keep going, you have to endure the casualties under the Soviet artillery fire; and retreat, the soldiers running at the front and the soldiers behind will definitely huddle together in the narrow traffic trench, and will be killed by the Soviet artillery fire at that time. pay a heavier price.

No way, forward is death, backward is also dead. The only way is to return to the first-line position regardless of casualties and prevent the Soviet army from occupying the position.

When the German troops who received the order returned to their front-line positions despite the fierce Soviet artillery fire, nearly half of the officers and soldiers fell under the artillery fire, and almost all the soldiers who arrived at the front-line positions were injured.

As the artillery fire weakened, the infantry who had stayed 400 meters away from the front of the position charged again towards the German position. They quickly jumped into the trench before the German army had time to organize an effective defense, and the German army inside The officers and soldiers launched melee and hand-to-hand combat.

Facing the flood of Soviet commanders and fighters, although the German officers and soldiers put up a tenacious resistance, the disparity in strength between the two sides made the morale of the German army low. Therefore, the resistance lasted only a quarter of an hour before being completely destroyed by the Soviet army.

Just a few minutes later, a red flag was hoisted over the German position, reporting to the rear that he had occupied the German position.

"It's great, it's simply great." Pornegerin clenched his fist, waved it fiercely, and said excitedly, "Our soldiers actually occupied the German position so quickly."

Seeing his subordinates occupying the German positions, Sokov also had a smile on his face. The German army originally deployed three divisions in the offensive area, but because they fell into their own trap, they transferred two of the divisions to other areas. Now the remaining troops holding the position are part of the 129th Infantry Division. . No matter how rich the combat experience and combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers of the division are, they cannot stop the strong attacks of the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidolin: "Let the signal soldiers signal to the front, let them leave some troops to consolidate their positions, and the rest of the troops continue to advance deep into the German defense."

"Yes!" Sidolin agreed, and then asked Sokov for instructions: "Then should we let the artillery fire extend and at the same time order the tank troops to attack?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, we must take advantage of the favorable opportunity when the enemy is in chaos, and quickly expand the results of the battle." Sokov said to Sidolin: "Order the artillery fire to extend the fire, and the tank troops to attack!"

When Sidolin gave orders to the troops, Sokov picked up the high-frequency phone that was put aside and dialed the front army headquarters: "I am Sokov, please let Comrade Marshal answer the phone."

"Misha, have your artillery started shelling?" Rokossovsky recognized Sokov's voice, and before he could speak, he said to himself, "If you want to destroy more German fortifications, , you need to prolong the bombardment. Do you have enough shells in stock?"

Sokov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, smiled slightly, and then said: "Comrade Marshal, I am planning to report to you that my troops have occupied the first line of defense of the German army. Now only some troops left Apart from consolidating the occupied areas, the rest of the troops are developing in depth."

"What, your troops have taken down the first line of defense of the German army?" Rokossovsky said with a face full of shock: "How long after the battle started, how could you take down the first line of defense of the German army?" What? It's just unbelievable."

"Comrade Marshal, how can I joke with you about such an important matter." Sokov said in a positive tone: "My report is naturally true."

"Then tell me, how did you take down the enemy's position in such a short period of time?"

Sokov called Rokossovsky to report the results of the battle to him. Since he took the initiative to ask, he reported in detail the tactics he formulated and how to implement them.

After hearing this, Rokossovsky said with a smile, "Misha, you have a lot of ideas, and the tactics you come up with can often knock the enemy dizzy, and that's why it's so easy to get so many victories."

"Comrade Marshal." Sokov asked tentatively after reporting the situation of his troops, "Is the progress of other troops going well?"

"Except for you, the rest of the participating troops are still preparing for artillery fire on the German positions. What results can there be?" Rokossovsky said: "If there are such new results, remember to report to me in time."

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Sokov replied readily, "Once there are any new results, I will report to you as soon as possible."

After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he smiled and said to Bogolyubov and Subbotin: "I really didn't expect that when other troops were preparing for artillery fire on the German positions, Misha's troops had already captured the German positions." The first line of defense of the German army."

"What, General Sokov's troops have captured the first line of defense of the German army?" Bogolyubov asked in surprise: "Comrade Marshal, are you telling the truth?"

"Of course it is true." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "He knew in advance that the German army had withdrawn the main force to the second line of defense. Before the offensive began, he only ordered the artillery to shell the first line of defense for ten minutes. Let the troops launch a charge. When the Germans saw our troops launching an attack, they immediately panicked, and hurriedly sent the second line of defense troops to the front, but were hit by powerful artillery fire from our army halfway, resulting in heavy casualties... "

After listening to Rokossovsky's narration, Subbotin said with emotion: "Comrade Marshal, it was indeed a wise decision for you to insist on transferring the 48th Army. Judging from the results they have achieved so far, even if Our army’s progress in other areas is not going well, and they can also achieve good results.”

Bogolyubov said: "Comrade Military Commissar, I just called the Chief of Staff of the Third Front to find out what's going on there."

Subbotin asked, "How are they doing?"

"It's not very good." Bogolyubov shook his head and said, "The artillery preparations for their attack were all hit in an open space where there was no one. When they launched an attack, the German troops who retreated to the second line of defense returned through the traffic trench. took the position and repelled their attack with intensive firepower."

"It seems that the enemy's resistance is more tenacious than we imagined." Rokossovsky stared at the map in front of him, and said with a serious expression: "I am worried that after the artillery preparations of other troops are over, they will be attacked. With the crazy resistance of the German army, our troops will suffer heavy casualties."

"Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky said, pointing at Bogolyubov, "you call the air force commander and ask him to prepare the fighter planes for launch. Once the attack of other troops is frustrated, we will Their air force is needed to provide the necessary air support to these forces."

"Comrade Marshal, I have already made an agreement with General Porenin that once the artillery preparations are over and the infantry attacks the enemy's defenses, his air force formation will immediately lift off to provide the necessary air support for our ground forces. "

"That's good, that's good." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "As long as the air force can actively cooperate with the ground troops in operations, I believe that no matter how strong the enemy's defenses are, our troops will break through them. "

"Comrade Marshal, our task is to occupy the Danzig area and control the outlet of the Baltic Sea. The task of the Third Front is to occupy Königsberg." Bogolyubov tentatively asked Rokossovsky: "What do you think?" Which of us can achieve the combat objectives entrusted to us by our superiors earlier?"

Rokossovsky did not give a clear answer to Bogolyubov's question: "The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. It is really hard to say. Maybe our army is far ahead. Anything unexpected, then the friendly army is the first to achieve the combat objective."

"What unexpected things will happen?" Bogolyubov obviously did not agree with Rokossovsky's statement. He also walked to the wall, looked at the map hanging on the wall, and said, "But No matter how I look at it, I don’t think our army’s progress will be surpassed by friendly troops.”

"Don't underestimate the enemy. You must know that a proud soldier will be defeated." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he ordered another sentence: "Okay, now you can contact the commanders of the other two armies and see How is the situation there? When can we launch an attack on the German positions."

"Okay, I'll call the two army commanders immediately to find out what's going on there." Bogolyubov said confidently: "I believe that when they learn about the results of General Sokov's troops, It can also raise the mood, greatly improve the morale of the troops, and in the shortest time, break through the German defensive positions in front of them."