Red Moscow

Chief of Staff Glebov understood what Batov was thinking. If the retreating Grossdeutschland and Brandenburg Divisions were to be dealt a head-on blow, the troops participating in the battle would definitely be Panov's Don River Tank Army. Has three tank brigades and one motorized infantry brigade. In normal times, such an army would definitely not be able to beat the two elite divisions of the German army, but now that the German army is eager to retreat, their strength will be greatly reduced. Using the tank army to hit them head-on will definitely beat them to pieces.

After the call was connected, Glebov said to Panov: "General Panov, the commander has a combat order for you."

Hearing that there was a combat mission, Panov hurriedly said solemnly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please give the order."

When Glebov explained the combat mission, Panov couldn't help but sweat on his forehead: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what does the commander mean to let our army fight against the German Panzer Army?"

"Don't you think so?" Glebov asked rhetorically.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Panov said with some embarrassment, "Although the Grossdeutschland Panzer Army does not belong to the SS division, their combat effectiveness is one of the best in the German Army. Let alone our tank army, I am afraid that even if the entire army group is dispatched If you come up, you may not be their opponent. If you ask us to stop them with one army, doesn't it mean that we are going to die?"

"General Panov, why did you become panicked?" Glebov said dissatisfiedly: "The German Panzer Army received an order to retreat. They are eager to rush to Königsberg. Even if they are attacked along the way, they will only consider How to break through, instead of staying and fighting with us. Therefore, your offensive will definitely achieve unexpected results."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I have an idea." Panov looked at the map in front of him and said, "If we can get the support of friendly forces when we attack from the front, and attack the German army from the rear, it will definitely plunge the German army into chaos. .Only in this case can our offense achieve the desired effect."

"Okay, General Panov, stop talking." Glebov raised his voice: "Comrade Commander has made overall arrangements for this matter. You just need to take the initiative to launch an attack when the German army appears. Remember. , you are not fighting alone."

After hanging up the phone, Glebov went back to the table and reported to Batov: "Comrade Commander, General Panov heard that the enemy they were going to deal with was the German Panzer Army. He seemed a little panicked and said: Relying on their tank army alone may not be able to complete the attack mission, and the assistance of friendly troops from the enemy's rear is needed."

"Comrade Commander, you have heard it all." Military Commissar Rajecki said: "General Panov's opinion is the same as mine. With only one tank army, it is necessary to deal with the German Panzer Army, even in the retreat. The enemy, their strength is also insufficient. I think we should accept General Sokov's suggestion and let his troops follow the enemy to pursue to divert the enemy's attention. Then General Panov's tank army will carry out an assault from the front , in order to achieve the effect of severely injuring or even annihilating the enemy."

Hearing that Rajetsky's thoughts were similar to Panov's, Glebov couldn't help being a little shaken. He tentatively asked Batov: "Comrade Commander, why don't we contact General Sokov and let his first When the enemy was retreating, the 48th Army launched an attack from behind to divert the enemy's attention, so that our frontal attack could achieve the desired results."

From the moment Batov declined Sokov, he had no intention of involving the 48th Army in this battle. Seeing that his two partners had reached an agreement at the moment, he said, "General Sokov's troops are too far away from us, so it doesn't make much sense to let them participate. If you really want to ask friendly troops for assistance, I think you can contact them." General Fejuninsky’s 2nd Assault Army, their combat area overlaps with ours in many places, if they are willing to participate in the battle, I think they can achieve good results this time.”

Seeing that Batov was determined not to let Sokov's 48th Army take a share, neither Rajetsky nor Glebov could continue to persuade them.

After a while, Glebov said: "Comrade Commander, since you have made up your mind, I will immediately call General Fejuninsky and ask for his assistance."

"I think it's okay." Batov nodded and said, "Chief of Staff, you should contact him now. I hope he can send more troops to participate in this attack."

After Fejuninsky answered Glebov's call, he stared at the map in front of him for a long time without speaking. His chief of staff came over and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, what did Chief of Staff Glebov say to you? I see that you seem to be preoccupied."

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Fejuninsky said to his chief of staff: "According to General Glebov's account, the German Panzer Army of the Greater German Army will pass through our combat area tonight and withdraw to Konigs. General Batov is going to send troops to deal a head-on blow to the retreating German army, and he hopes that after the battle starts, we can launch an attack from the enemy's rear to accelerate the collapse of the Germans."

The chief of staff looked in the direction of Fejuninsky's finger, and then said puzzledly: "Comrade Commander, why did General Batov not let the 48th Army attack, but why did he come to us?"

"Yeah, this is what I don't understand." Fejuninsky pointed to the map and said: "Although our combat areas overlap with General Batov's in many areas, if we want to intercept the Greater German Panzer Army in their When launching an attack from the enemy's rear, we must first enter some areas still controlled by the German army. If due to the stubborn resistance of the German army in these areas, our army cannot enter the attack position on time, then the frontal attack launched by the 65th Army will be There is a risk of being alone."

As soon as Feduninsky finished speaking, his chief of staff added: "On the contrary, although the 48th Army and the 65th Army are separated from us, two friendly armies are advancing very fast. Now they The distance to the nearest position is less than five kilometers. If the German army starts to retreat, Sokov's troops follow behind, wait until they are hit by the 65th Army, and then attack decisively, and they will definitely achieve good results. A move that we can all see, why can’t General Batov see it, what’s going on here?”

After thinking for a moment, Fejuninski realized the reason for the problem. However, he didn't say anything immediately, but asked himself the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, after the start of the battle to liberate East Prussia, which army has achieved the most results?"

Hearing Fejuninsky's question, the chief of staff replied without hesitation: "There is no need to ask, it must be General Sokov's 48th Army."

Fejuninsky nodded and continued to ask: "If according to the analysis of the two of us, they took advantage of the retreat of the German Panzer Army and sent elite troops to follow it, waiting for the enemy to be blocked by the 65th Army. At this time, what kind of results will be achieved if we launch an attack by surprise."

"As far as I know, the troops commanded by General Sokov have relatively strong combat effectiveness." The chief of staff said: "If they cooperate with the 65th Army to launch an attack on the Greater German Panzer Army, they will definitely achieve good results."

"That's right, that's true." Fejuninsky nodded and said, "If the Grossdeutschland Panzer Army is defeated, everyone will think it's the work of the 48th Army, and the 65th Army, which is the main offensive task, will be defeated." People ignore it. Do you think General Batov is so magnanimous that he can hand over such a great contribution to others?"

After Juninsky's analysis, the chief of staff suddenly realized: "Oh, I understand, it turned out that General Batov was afraid that General Sokov would take away his credit." After figuring out Batov's intentions, but What to do next, the chief of staff asked Fejuninsky, "Comrade commander, what should we do? Should we participate in the attack on the German Panzer Army?"

"Since General Batov has already issued an invitation to us, it is definitely inappropriate not to participate." Fejuninsky made a decisive decision: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you immediately transfer two divisions and order them to do a good job. Prepare for battle, and cooperate with friendly forces to attack the retreating enemy at night."

"However," the chief of staff said in embarrassment, "on the way to the attack area, there are still many German defense lines. If we don't pull out these nails as soon as possible, we will not be able to reach the designated position at all."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is how I think about it." Fejuninsky explained to the Chief of Staff: "Our troops are still advancing to the designated position, but at the same time I communicated with General Sokov and asked him to send troops to follow. The enemy moves and, if necessary, strikes from the rear of the German flank."

"But General Batov has given up on General Sokov," said the chief of staff worriedly, "Is it appropriate for us to invite him?"

"There is nothing inappropriate." Fejuninsky said confidently: "General Batov's decision not to invite General Sokov is his personal business. We invited General Sokov to participate in this attack because I feel that We need support from friendly forces."

After listening to Feduninsky's explanation, the chief of staff immediately realized: "Oh, comrade commander, I understand what you mean. I will call the chief of staff of the 48th Army, Sidolin, and ask them Cooperate with our actions at night."

Besides, after Sukov put down the phone, he has been a little absent-minded. He is thinking repeatedly whether Batov will choose to cooperate with him. But as time passed, he never received a call from Batov, and he felt that the matter was basically trivial.

Just when he was disappointed, he heard the high-frequency phone on the table rang, and when he wanted to reach out to pick it up, Sidolin had already picked up the microphone first: "Hello, this is the headquarters of the 48th Army, may I ask you Where is it?...What, is the 2nd Assault Army Command?! Hello, hello! I am Chief of Staff Sidolin..."

Hearing that the call was from the 2nd Assault Army, Sokov's face was full of surprise. He didn't understand that he didn't have a deep friendship with Fejuninsky. What was he doing calling himself at this time? ?

After finally waiting for Sidolin to put down the phone, Sokov asked urgently: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what did the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Assault Army say to you?"

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin said to Sokov with some excitement: "The chief of staff of the 2nd Assault Army told me that General Batov invited them to attack the retreating Panzer Army at night..."

Lunev couldn't help snorting when he heard this: "We took the initiative to inform General Batov about the news and route of the retreat of the German Panzer Army. If they want to invite friendly troops to join the battle, they should also invite us, not others. troops."

"Comrade Military Commissioner, don't worry." From Sidolin's happy smile, Sokov realized that there might be a turning point in this matter, so he interrupted Lunev, looking at Sidolin and said: " Chief of Staff, if you continue, I think it should be good news."

"Comrade commander, how do you know it's good news." Sidolin said proudly: "The chief of staff of the friendly army said that they need to pass through some areas occupied by the enemy if they want to enter the designated attack position. During the movement, if there is a battle with the enemy, I am afraid that we will not be able to attack the agreed attack position on time. Therefore, they hope that we can send troops to cooperate, and when the enemy starts to retreat, we will follow closely behind the enemy. When the 65th Army launches an attack from the front to the retreating troops At that time, we will launch an attack from the enemy's rear side and rear at the same time with the troops of the 2nd Assault Army, completely disrupting the enemy's marching ranks."

After listening to Sidolin, Ponederin couldn't help laughing: "I think General Fejuninsky's move is better. If they cooperate with the 65th Army to attack alone, they will definitely fight with the enemies along the way." , Maybe it is impossible to reach the designated combat location within the specified time, and General Batov's troops may fight alone. But with our participation in the battle, the chances of winning will be greatly improved. "

But Lunev still didn't understand. He asked Sokov puzzledly: "Misha, what did Comrade Deputy Commander say? Can you explain in more detail?"

Sokov explained: "Comrade Military Commissar, the situation is as follows. Although we are separated from the 65th Army by the 2nd Shock Army, due to the speed at which our two troops are advancing, the closest distance is now The position is less than five kilometers away. However, although the combat area of ​​Fejuninsky's troops is next to the 65th Army Group, and some areas even overlap, they have to walk at least ten kilometers, or even There is also a battle with the enemies along the way, and when they arrive at the battlefield, the battle is almost over."

"General Fejuninsky took the initiative to invite us to participate in the battle, which is tantamount to telling us that he may not be able to participate in this battle. The burden of destroying the enemy still falls on us and the 65th Army."

"We didn't get an invitation from General Batov, so he rashly joined the war. He won't be unhappy, right?"

"We are here to help the 2nd Assault Army, not to help them." Sokov said with a sneer, "Whether General Batov is satisfied is out of our consideration."