Before the attack began, the troops completed the establishment of the observation post in strict accordance with Rokossovsky's regulations.
According to the regulations, the division commander's observation post is 500 to 1,000 meters away from the troops' attack starting position, the corps commander's observation post is 2 kilometers away from the troops' attack starting position, and the group army commander's observation post is 3 kilometers away from the troops' attack starting position.
There was still an hour before the attack started, so Sokov arrived at his observation post early, where he prepared to observe how the troops passed through the swamp.
Also staying at the observation post with Sokov was Colonel Belkin. As the attack time approached, he couldn't help but become nervous. He tentatively asked Sokov: "Misha, what do you think of our attack today?"
Will it be successful?"
"Bergin, didn't I tell you before," Sokov turned to look at Belkin and said: "The troops of the front army occupied the starting position as early as mid-June. They ensured that they would defeat the enemy in both breakthrough directions.
Our advantage is that our troops are 3 to 4 times that of the enemy, and our artillery and tanks are 4 to 6 times that of the enemy. In addition to having a powerful and fast group that can encircle the enemy's troops, there are also more than 2,000 aircraft to provide cover and support for our attack.
support."
In various documents of later generations, the time of Bagration's launch was recorded as June 22, which was the third anniversary of Operation Barbarossa. But Sokov, who was on the scene, knew this time
Not accurate.
The first to attack were the guerrillas behind the German army. From the night of June 19 to the morning of June 20, they mobilized 143,000 people, including 150 guerrilla brigades and 49 independent guerrilla battalions. They were in the center
Various common targets were attacked in the rear areas of the Army Group: railway hubs, bridges, repair stations, warehouses and communication facilities, etc.
On the first night alone, they carried out at least 9,600 attacks with improvised explosive devices, paralyzing the entire railway network from the front lines to Minsk and other western locations, and damaging more than 1,000 transportation nodes.
On the second night, they expanded their results with 2,500 blasts, which cut off the logistics traffic of the German Army Group Center for more than 24 hours.
The second phase of the offensive began from the night of June 21st to the morning of June 22nd. The Soviet aviation force carried out violent bombing of targets in the rear of the German army. The focus was on the weak links in its transportation and logistics network. At the same time, the Soviet reconnaissance battalions also launched attacks under careful coordination.
attack.
It is precisely because the Soviet army invested aviation and elite reconnaissance troops, and the battle was quite fierce, that the German defenders believed that this marked the beginning of the Soviet army's general offensive. Therefore, traditionally, German historical materials and almost all German based
English-language history books with narrative construction all regard June 22 as the beginning of "Operation Bagration."
In fact, the Soviet army's official offensive did not start until the morning of June 23, because it was not until this time that the main force of the Soviet army officially joined the battle.
In order to relieve Belkin's nervousness while waiting, Sokov began to chat with him: "Berkin, you must know that this time we are using troops from four front armies to deal with four German armies. At least from
On paper, we have the advantage over the military."
"Four front armies versus four group armies?" Belkin asked curiously: "Which four front armies versus which four group armies?"
"The 1st Belorussian Front commanded by General Rokossovsky versus the German 2nd Army commanded by General Varta Weiss."
"The 2nd Belorussian Front commanded by General Zakharov versus the 9th Army commanded by General Hans Jordan."
"The 3rd Belorussian Front commanded by General Chernyakhovsky versus the 4th Army of General Kurt von Tipelskich."
"The 1st Baltic Front commanded by General Bagramyan versus the 3rd Panzer Army under General Georg Hans Reinhardt."
"This 'Operation Bagration' is different from the past. It will no longer be a series of unrelated frontal attacks, but will focus on multiple fronts to attack specific important targets.
For example, in the north, Bagramyan's troops and Chernyakhovsky's troops will cooperate to launch a centripetal attack against the German 3rd Armored Army. At the same time, Chernyakhovsky and Zaharo
The husband will also do the same to the German 4th Army.
On the other hand, at the southernmost point, our 1st Belarusian Front, under the command of General Rokossovsky, will undertake multiple tasks. First, use two armies to contain the German 2nd Army, and then use the right flank of the front to
Concentrate our efforts on attacking the German 9th Army, and finally prepare the left wing to launch the second phase of the assault on Army Group North Ukraine in East Galicia."
"Misha," Belkin said after Sokov's words came to an end, "Although I think General Rokossovsky is the most talented commander, he has to take care of three directions at the same time.
I’m still worried about whether he has the ability to achieve the goals he envisioned.”
Sokov raised his hand and looked at the time. Seeing that there was still some time before the artillery fire was ready, he took out a pen and paper, drew a schematic diagram on it and showed it to Belkin: "Berkin, in order for you to prepare for Operation Bagration more
For intuitive understanding, I will draw a schematic diagram for you."
"Look, after the battle begins, it will be the right wing of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front that will deal with the German 3rd Armored Group."
"The left wing of the 3rd Belorussian Front and the 2nd Belorussian Front against the German 4th Army."
"The right wing of the 1st Belorussian Front is facing the German 9th Army."
"The Central Group of the 1st Belarusian Front faced the German 2nd Army."
"The left wing of the 1st Belorussian Front clashed with the German North Ukrainian Group in the subsequent battle."
"Misha, I understand everything you said." Belkin said with some anxiety: "But the key deployment situation of the German troops, have you figured it out?"
Since Operation Bagration was about to start soon, there was no question of whether or not to leak the secrets. Sokov simply told Belkin all the information he had learned during this period: "In our main offensive
In this direction, the 38 divisions under the German 3rd Armored Group, 4th Group Army and 9th Group Army are scattered across a frontal defense line of nearly 1,000 kilometers. On average, each division has a frontal defense of more than 27 kilometers.
The problem of overstretching the front is serious enough, and what makes it worse is that the German army basically has no decent campaign reserves. For example, Jordan's 9th Army only has one 707th Security Division as a reserve. Similarly, the 707th Security Division is a reserve force.
The 3rd Armored Army can only mobilize one 95th Infantry Division in an emergency. Tipelskirch's 4th Army has no reserves at all, while Weiss's 2nd Army only has the 4th Cavalry Brigade and the Hungarian 1st Cavalry Division.
As a reserve team.
The reserve force of their Central Army Group, which is responsible for assisting in the defense of this vast area, only includes the 20th Armored Division, which suffered heavy losses in the previous spring battle and is still resting, the 14th Infantry Division, and the 14th Infantry Division that has not yet been completed.
The 60th Panzergrenadier Division was formed."
"Misha, if the Germans really do not have any strategic reserves as you said, then their ability to conduct follow-up operations will not be strong, and our chance of success in Operation Bagration is very high." Bel.
After Jin breathed a sigh of relief, he asked Sokov tentatively: "By the way, how long will your troops prepare for artillery fire before launching an attack on the enemy's position?"
"Belgin, you have been partnering with me for a long time, and you should know my style." Sokov said: "Every time the Germans are bombarded on their position, they will temporarily withdraw their troops to the second line, causing the enemy's front line to be attacked.
The artillery fire preparations of the position fell on the unmanned trenches, resulting in an astonishing waste of ammunition. In order to avoid wasting a large amount of artillery shells and not causing any casualties to the enemy, my troops spent a very long time preparing the artillery fire before the attack.
short."
"General Bagramyan's troops have adopted a new tactic in the past two days." Sokov went on to say: "He carried out bold exploratory attacks on a battalion scale. If the Germans had abandoned their positions,
That's great, the main operations can be started immediately; if the scouts find that the German troops are still on the position, they can indicate the direction of the artillery through the radio and use intensive artillery fire to destroy the enemy."
Belkin suddenly laughed when he heard this. Seeing Sokov looking at him blankly, he took the initiative and said: "Misha, no matter how well you study in the military academy, all you have mastered is what is in the books.
Things. You must go through the baptism of war and personally command troops in combat before you can become an excellent commander. Look, this tactic of friendly forces using reconnaissance battalions to fight is not in the books. This is the result of experience.
A new type of tactic developed through repeated practice.”
"By the way, the offensive campaign is about to begin. I wonder where General Rokossovsky is now?"
"He was in the 28th Army under Luchinsky's command," said Sokov. "In addition to him, there were also military commissar General Teretin, artillery commander General Kazakov and armored forces commander General Orel.
Went to the 28th Army."
"Also, Marshal Zhukov, the representative of the base camp, had strongly advocated carrying out the main assault from the Dnieper River landing site of the 3rd Army, so he went there."
After Belkin heard this, he fell silent, and then said to Sokov: "I think there seems to be a private rivalry between Marshal Zhukov and General Rokossovsky. They each went to a separate unit, probably because they wanted to
Show the opponent that the troops you are optimistic about will be the first to break through the enemy's defenses."
When Sokov heard what Bergin said, he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Bergin, according to your statement, neither Marshal Zhukov nor General Rokossovsky thinks highly of me, so neither of them can
Show up at my headquarters."
At four o'clock in the morning, artillery preparations before the attack began.
Belkin raised his hand to look at the time, and then asked Sokov: "Misha, I wonder how long this artillery fire will be prepared to last?"
"The artillery preparations on the offensive front of the 3rd and 28th Group Armies, according to the plan of the front army headquarters, last for two hours." Sokov said: "As for the artillery preparation time here, General Rokossovsky
I was once authorized to decide the time of the bombardment based on specific circumstances."
"Actually, I think your artillery bombardment doesn't make much sense anymore." Belkin said: "Look, the enemies on the high ground across the swamp were basically frightened by your engineers with mines, and then bombarded those enemies with artillery fire.
On the high ground, it is simply a waste of artillery shells. It is better to directly order the hovercraft carrying infantry to launch an attack."
"The shelling is completely necessary, Belkin." Sokov said to Belkin with a smile: "First, let the enemy have the illusion that we will conduct shelling in this direction for a long time, so that they can
The second line of defense felt confident and bold to stay longer. As for the second point, the engineers had laid mines everywhere in the past few days to deal with the Germans, so much so that they couldn't figure out where the mines were. The artillery preparations at this time,
This will clear some of the landmines and reduce the losses our army may suffer."
While Sokov and Belkin were chatting and laughing in the observation post, Marshal Zhukov was also talking to Rokossovsky: "Koschka, I heard the artillery fire coming from the direction of the 48th Army. It seems to be relatively sparse. This
What happened to Misha?”
"Comrade Marshal, there is something I forgot to tell you." Rokossovsky waited for Zhukov to finish and said with a smile: "A few days ago, Misha carried out a large-scale mine relocation operation and ordered the engineers to start
The mines laid by the enemy were discovered and buried near the enemy's high ground. The mines were used not only to block the German army's roads up and down the mountain, but also to cut off other people's telephone lines. Those communication soldiers who came to repair the lines were buried in the enemy's high ground.
The mines under the power poles exploded into pieces. In this way, the Germans were so frustrated by Sokov's mine tactics that they voluntarily abandoned some high ground."
"This Misha has so many tricks up his sleeve." Zhukov then asked: "Then their front and the high ground are occupied by the German army?"
"The German army originally occupied 17 highlands on the edge of the swamp. After being squeezed by Misha mine tactics, there are now only 5 left, and there are not many defenders on them, only about one platoon."
When Zhukov heard this, his eyes almost dropped to the ground: "Koschka, what are you talking about? There are actually five platoons of German troops in front of Mischa's troops?"
"Theoretically, this is true, Comrade Marshal." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "With the Germans' small strength, it would be a waste to shell them. Mischa only needs to send a regiment of troops through the swamp.
You can easily seize the German defensive positions and command your troops to quickly push into the depth of the enemy's defenses."
"Oh, why didn't I ask you about the specific situation beforehand?" Zhukov said with some annoyance: "If I had known that the situation across the Drukj River Swamp was like this, I would have gone directly to Misha's headquarters."
Rokossovsky laughed after hearing this: "Comrade Marshal, actually I also wanted to go to Misha's army, but considering that you have a good relationship with him, I thought you would go there, so I had no choice but to come here."
28th Army. I didn’t expect that I knew you had chosen the 3rd Army only after I notified General Luchinsky. Alas, it’s such a pity that the honor of breaking through the enemy’s defense line was missed in vain.”
Not only Rokossovsky regretted it, but Zhukov was also upset. The area where Sokov's troops were originally thought to be located had a large number of swamps including the Druk River. If an attack was launched, the terrain would be
Delayed infantry, especially tanks, in crossing the river might become the last force to make a breakthrough. So he chose the 3rd Army, which had the highest chance of breakthrough, but unexpectedly he made a mistake.