Chapter 2076:
Chapter 2076
The sacrifice of the company commander inspired the courage of the soldiers. More people jumped out of the trenches and rushed towards the German tanks with cluster grenades, ready to destroy these steel giants and defeat the German attack.
A young soldier named Peter rushed towards a Leopard tank with two bundles of cluster grenades. He threw out the first bundle of cluster grenades, but due to insufficient power, the grenade exploded two or three meters away from the tank. Although the flying shrapnel jingled the tank body, it did not affect the driving of the tank at all. speed.
The tank crew found the young soldier and immediately shot him with a vehicle-mounted machine gun. Several sinful bullets hit Peter in the chest. With the last of his strength, he threw the second bundle of cluster grenades before he fell. The grenade drew an arc in the air and exploded when it fell under the tracks of the German tanks. The tanks whose tracks were blown off were immediately unable to move.
When the battle was in full swing, the chief of staff reported to Chuikov: "Good news, Comrade Commander, the 27th Guards Rifle Division commanded by Major General Glebov is crossing the river. Look, where are they placed?"
Chuikov's mind flashed the idea of deploying the division near the headquarters, but he quickly denied his idea and asked Beleyavsky instead: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think of the 57th Guards Division Can the two regiments hold off the German attack?"
Hearing what Chuikov said, Beleyavsky was taken aback for a moment, then understood what he meant, nodded quickly and said, "Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean. Don't look at the fierce German offensive, but with the guards The strength of the 57th Division can completely block the enemy's attack."
"Since the enemy's attack can be blocked, then deploy the 27th Guards Division to the landing field." Chuikov said to Beleyavsky: "There is more need for troops than here."
"But now the German offensive is very fierce." Although Bereevsky also understood in his heart that troops are needed more at the landing site, but now that the enemy is under the nose of the Army Group Command, he must find a way to drive them away, so he tried He asked, "Then how can we resolve the crisis here?"
Chuikov thought for a while and replied: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although the artillery on the right bank of the Vistula River cannot provide us with the necessary artillery support, the artillery on the landing field on the left bank can. They can be ordered to move towards the attacking enemy. Let's fire and resolve the crisis here."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Bereyevsky nodded, "I will immediately call the artillery unit and ask them to intercept the enemy attacking the headquarters."
After just a few minutes, hundreds of shells poured on the German tanks that were attacking the headquarters. Some of the tanks were destroyed on the spot, and the tanks that survived and continued to charge forward were also separated from the infantry who charged behind them.
Deployed three artillery regiments on the landing field, aiming at the German army that was trying to drive the Army Group Headquarters into the Vistula River and continued shelling for a quarter of an hour. At the same time, the air force sent by Rokossovsky also bombed these enemies.
Soon, Lieutenant General Porenin reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, our pilots observed a real scene of chaos on the left bank of the Vistula: burning tanks everywhere, destroyed Cannons and German infantry scrambling in panic. The German plot to drive Chuikov's headquarters into the Vistula failed."
"Good job." After praising Porenin, Rokossovsky asked curiously, "How is the current situation in Warsaw?"
"In order to defend Warsaw, the enemy dispatched a large number of fighter planes to compete with us for air supremacy on the battlefield." Porenin reported: "So far, our army's planes have suffered a lot, but they still haven't been able to recover from the Germans. Seize air supremacy."
Knowing that his air force failed to gain air supremacy over Warsaw, Rokossovsky was a little disappointed. But in order not to dampen Porenin's enthusiasm, he still pretended to be nonchalant and said: "Continue to fight, General Porenin. I believe that sooner or later, you will be able to completely control the air superiority over Warsaw."
When Rokossovsky put down the phone, Malinin came over and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, it seems that the situation at Chuikov's place is not very good, or let him withdraw the headquarters!"
Rokossovsky was also dissatisfied with Chuikov's arbitrarily moving the headquarters of the Army Group to the left bank. But now that they have crossed the river, if they move back, it will definitely have a negative impact on the morale and morale of the troops. So he shook his head and said: "It's late, Comrade Chief of Staff. Since Chuikov has already crossed the river, he cannot return to the right bank of the Vistula until we take Warsaw, otherwise it will damage the morale and morale of the troops." will have adverse effects.”
"Don't look at Chuikov's current strength on the left bank. It has reached five or six infantry divisions, several artillery regiments and two tank brigades." Bridges were built across the river, resulting in shortages of ammunition and supplies for troops on the left bank."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, we must find a way to improve this situation so that Chuikov's troops can gain a firm foothold as soon as possible." Rokossovsky told Malinin, "I think I will immediately find a way to deploy three anti-aircraft artillery divisions and deploy them in the Along the banks of the Vistula River, the cover engineer troops built a pontoon bridge on the Vistula River. As long as there is a pontoon bridge, the two sides of the Vistula River can establish a close connection, and Chuikov will not have to worry about his troops lacking ammunition and supplies."
"Comrade Commander, two days ago Sokov proposed to allow his troops to participate in the crossing operation." Ma Linin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and asked puzzledly, "Why didn't you agree to his request?"
"The reason is very simple." Rokossovsky said: "The first is the problem of supplies. If Misha's troops want to gain a foothold on the left bank, they need at least 20,000 to 30,000 people. Now we can't even supply Chuikov's troops. , Another 20,000 to 30,000 people will be a huge burden on our logistics."
"Secondly, and the most critical factor." Rokossovsky recalled the conversation between himself and Zhukov, and said to Ma Linin: "Now we can judge that an uprising took place in Warsaw. But who led the uprising, How is the progress today, even if we ask the Polish comrades to come forward, we still haven't got any useful information.
Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't deny that with Misha's ability, he really led 20,000 to 30,000 troops across the river, and he was able to capture the west side of Warsaw by surprise. But after taking the city, how will he get along with the rebels in the city? If it is the comrades of the Liudov Army and the Liudov Guards, maybe the two sides can continue to cooperate in fighting to wipe out the remaining German troops in the city.
But if the leaders who control the rebel army are from the Krajov army, once they find that our army has entered the city, who can guarantee that they will not take measures to cooperate with the Germans in order to transfer the control of the city to the government-in-exile in London? . If this happens, the troops entering the city will be in danger, and there is even the possibility of annihilation. "
"But our troops are still fighting to the east of Warsaw." Ma Linin asked puzzledly: "Aren't you worried that they will also encounter the situation you are worried about?"
"I'm not worried about this." Rokossowski said: "The troops attacking the east of Warsaw, whether it is the 2nd Tank Army or the 1st Polish Army, are behind them the main force of our front. Even if they After entering the city, we faced the uncooperative Krajov army, and with our strong strength, the other party did not dare to make any inappropriate moves."
After listening to Rokossovsky's analysis, Ma Linin said with emotion: "If the rebel army in Warsaw can take the initiative to get in touch with us, then now will be the best time to capture Warsaw. How long will it take?"
Rokossovsky was silent for a moment, and then he said: "If the German army really put out the uprising in the city, then the difficulty for us to capture the city will increase exponentially. According to my judgment, it will not be earlier than ten February."
After hearing this, Ma Linin couldn't help being surprised. Now that August has just entered, and there are still four months before November, Rokossovsky actually feels that the powerful Belarusian First Front Army cannot be liberated before December. This city proves that he is not optimistic about the war that is happening in front of him.
"General Chuikov's 8th Guards Division is now at the landing site on the left bank." Malinin said a little unwillingly: "If we really complete the erection of the pontoon bridge on the Vistula River, we can continuously send more soldiers and weapons to the battlefield." Crossing the river, isn't it possible to advance the time for the liberation of Warsaw?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, under the current circumstances, you still don't have too much hope for Chuikov's troops." Rokossovsky pointed to the map in front of him and said to Ma Linin: "Look, the surrounding area of the landing field he established They are all rivers, if the German army concentrates heavily to guard a few crossings, it will be difficult for him to advance towards Warsaw.”
Speaking of this, Rokossovsky remembered the battle in Smolensk in the past, took a sip of tea, and continued: "When we defended Smolensk, we controlled two soldiers on the Dnieper River. Even though the German army had the advantage in numbers and equipment, it still took more than two months to completely occupy Smolensk. After my troops left Smolensk, they were in Yartsevo again. The area has persisted for a long time, just using the ferry on the river to prevent the enemy from advancing."
After listening to Rokossovsky's narration, Ma Linin nodded silently, because he had already become his chief of staff during the period mentioned by the other party, so he naturally knew everything that happened at that time.
"You're right, Comrade Commander." Malinin nodded and said, "Back then we relied on the crossing of the Dnieper River to stop the German army from attacking Smolensk for two months. It seems that Chuikov's troops now , will also be blocked by several rivers near the landing site, and will not be able to advance quickly to Warsaw."
"What we can do now is to use up the active forces of the German army at the Magnusev landing site east of Warsaw and south of Warsaw at the same time, and buy time for other troops to rest." Rokossovsky said confidently: "Wait By the time the main force of the front army has finished its rest and replenishment, the German army near Warsaw has already become exhausted, and at this time we put the new force into the battlefield, and we can obtain unexpected results.”
"That's right." Ma Linin agreed with Rokossovsky's statement: "In order to prevent our army from entering Warsaw, the German army must concentrate heavily on the fight. After a month or two, they fought well. When we were exhausted and the casualties were heavy, we had completed our replenishment of troops, and we were able to replace the troops that are still fighting the Germans today, and deal a heavy blow to the enemy."
But Ma Linin quickly thought of another question: "Comrade Commander, I'm thinking about one thing. Tell me, how will the uprising in Warsaw end in the end?"
Hearing Malinin's question, Rokossovsky smiled wryly and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am not optimistic about the uprising in Warsaw. How should I put it? First, the rebel army is fighting alone without any support; secondly , They have not undergone strict military training. To deal with the well-equipped and experienced German army is tantamount to seeking their own death. Even in the early days of the uprising, they caught the Germans by surprise, but when the Germans reacted and did not After the deployment of heavy troops, their destruction is only a matter of time."
"One more thing." Ma Linin continued to ask: "Why was the intelligence system we deployed in Warsaw completely destroyed by the German army, and the Germans didn't know anything about the Warsaw Uprising?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, to tell you the truth, this is also something that confuses me." Rokossovsky frowned and said: "If there is an uprising in Warsaw, there will definitely be a lot of people involved, even if they do it well. No matter how concealed it is, it won't keep the wind out. Since the Germans can destroy our underground intelligence organization, they can naturally detect the unusual movements in Warsaw.
But the current situation is that our strict underground intelligence system has been destroyed, and the military preparations for the Warsaw Uprising did not make the Germans have the slightest suspicion. There must be something wrong with it. "
"Is there such a possibility?" Seeing that Rokossovsky couldn't ask the answer he wanted, Ma Linin began to analyze: "The person in charge of leading the Warsaw Uprising, in order to prevent his prior preparations from being When the Germans noticed it, they deliberately informed the Germans and reported our underground intelligence organization in Warsaw to divert the attention of the Germans.”
After listening to Malinin's analysis, Rokossovsky couldn't help taking a breath: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if things are really as you have analyzed, it would be too terrible. If I guessed correctly, this This kind of thing can only be done by the Krajov Army. Although they do not take hostile actions against us on the surface, they always regard us as their enemy in their bones, and it is not surprising to do such a thing.”
"If, what I'm talking about is if." Ma Linin said: "Comrade Commander, if it's really like your analysis, we will liberate Warsaw around December, and when we enter the city, we will encounter this kind of Krayo Husband, how should we deal with it?"
"You can try to cooperate with them again." Rokossovsky said without hesitation: "If they still refuse to cooperate, then drive them out of the city and drive them to the Germans."
(end of this chapter)
