The next day, Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Polainin reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I sent three reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance in the direction of Warsaw, but they were intercepted by German fighter jets. Two of them were intercepted by German fighter jets.
It was shot down and the remaining aircraft was injured and flew back to the airport."
Hearing Polainin's report, Rokossovsky was a little surprised. He asked tentatively: "General Polainin, when reconnaissance planes went to the German defense zone for reconnaissance, were they intercepted by German fighter jets?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Polainin replied: "But this is the first time that two reconnaissance planes were lost at one time. I feel something is wrong, so I will report it to you immediately."
"General Polainin, what do you think is wrong?" Rokossovsky asked.
"Comrade Marshal, the situation is like this." Polainin said: "Our army's reconnaissance planes conducted reconnaissance in Warsaw yesterday and the day before yesterday. Except for being hit by German anti-aircraft fire, no enemy fighter planes were found at all.
You know, since we launched Operation Bagration, air superiority on the battlefield has been firmly in the hands of our army."
Polainin's words aroused Rokossovsky's alert: "General Polainin, according to you, something must have happened in Warsaw that the Germans did not want us to see, so they dispatched
Fighters, intercept the reconnaissance aircraft you sent?"
"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Polainin gave Rokossovsky an affirmative answer: "That's how I think about it."
After Polenin said this, he paused for a moment and asked Rokossovsky tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, do you think it is necessary for me to send a reconnaissance plane to Warsaw again to conduct aerial reconnaissance?"
"I think it is completely necessary." Rokossovsky recalled what Sokov said yesterday and felt that the expected Warsaw uprising might have broken out, so he ordered Polainin: "Send another reconnaissance plane to conduct reconnaissance on Warsaw immediately.
.Remember, in order to prevent the reconnaissance aircraft from being attacked by German fighter jets again, you'd better send a fighter formation to escort it."
After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he immediately asked Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there any news from General Bellinger?"
"I have been waiting for his call." Malinin looked at Rokossovsky and asked in surprise: "What did General Polainin say on the phone just now?"
"He said that the three reconnaissance planes sent to Warsaw were attacked by German fighter jets, and two of them were shot down." Rokossovsky replied: "The remaining one was also injured and managed to fly.
Back to the airport. He thought something might have happened in Warsaw, and the Germans didn’t want us to see it, so they sent out fighter jets to intercept our reconnaissance plane."
"What could it be?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, have you forgotten what Misha analyzed yesterday?" Rokossovsky said lightly: "If I guessed correctly, it may be the underground organization in Warsaw that launched the uprising. And the Germans
He was deeply afraid that we would know about this, so he stepped up air patrols in an attempt to prevent our reconnaissance planes from entering the skies over Warsaw."
"I think what you said is very reasonable, Comrade Marshal." Regarding Rokossovsky's statement, Malinen echoed: "Our army is now advancing towards Warsaw. If we know that the underground resistance organization in the city has launched an uprising,
, will definitely speed up the attack, and the German troops deployed near Warsaw will be in danger of being encircled. The Germans definitely don’t want this to happen, so they must blockade the situation in the city to prevent our troops from knowing
.”
"Well, you have the same idea as me." Rokossovsky told Malinin: "Now contact General Bellinger and ask him how the contact with the Krajov Army is progressing?"
Malinen knew that this was the critical moment to seize Warsaw. If Bellinger and the Krajow Army reached a consensus in their negotiations, the Polish 1st Army could be used as the main force to attack Warsaw and join the rebel army in the city as soon as possible.
The call was quickly connected: "General Bellinger? This is Malinen. Comrade Commander asked, how did your meeting with the Krajov Army go?"
"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." Bellinger replied politely: "The negotiator of the Krajov Army is in the conference room of my headquarters at the moment. Does Comrade Marshal have any new instructions?"
"General Bellinger, based on the intelligence analysis we have obtained so far, an uprising may have broken out in Warsaw." Malinen was eager to know what happened in Warsaw, so he asked directly: "Ask those representatives of the Krajov Army.
, do you know about this matter and give us an accurate answer as soon as possible."
After Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to put down the phone, he knew from the other party's expression that the negotiations had no results yet, so he changed the topic in time: "Chief of Staff, how is the progress of our army?"
"Not ideal." Malinen replied: "Our front troops are fighting hard on the fortress leading to Praga, and they have to pay huge casualties every step forward. I think the Germans don't want us to go too early.
Being close to Warsaw, their resistance was particularly tenacious."
While Rokossovsky and Malinin were waiting for Bellinger's reply, something unexpected happened in Sokov. General Onuprienko, commander of the 6th Guards Division who lived in Sedelce, gave
The headquarters called and reported to Sokov: "My men have just rescued a downed reconnaissance pilot."
"Reconnaissance plane pilot?" When Sokov heard this, he felt that Onupriyenko was making a fuss. Since he was a pilot of the Air Force, he could just send someone to send him back to the army. There was no need to report him to him, so he said unhappily.
: "General Onupryenko, since he is a pilot of our army, if he is injured, send him to a nearby field hospital; if he is not injured, send him back to his original unit so that he can recover in the shortest possible time.
Return to the blue sky within a short period of time.”
But after Onupryenko pondered for a moment, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I originally thought so too, but after hearing how the pilot was shot down, I realized something was wrong, so I made a special call
Report to you."
"Feel something wrong?" Sokov asked: "General Onupriyenko, what do you think is wrong?"
"The pilot himself said that he has been flying over Warsaw for reconnaissance in the past few days. Apart from the ground anti-aircraft firepower in the city, he has never encountered an enemy fighter jet." Onuplienko explained to Sokov.
Said: "But today he and two other reconnaissance planes were ordered to conduct reconnaissance in Warsaw. As soon as they approached Warsaw, they were attacked by four German fighter jets. He and the other reconnaissance plane were shot down on the spot. When he parachuted, he saw
The remaining reconnaissance plane also flew in the direction of the airport, dragging a long black smoke trail."
Hearing this, Sokov realized something was wrong and quickly asked: "General Onupriyenko, you just said that the pilot you rescued has been to Warsaw for reconnaissance every day these days, but he only
You were hit by German ground anti-aircraft fire, but you never saw an enemy fighter plane?"
"Yes."
"They dispatched three reconnaissance planes today. After being intercepted by German fighter jets, two were shot down on the spot, and the remaining one was injured and fled back to the airport. Am I right, General Onupryenko?
"
"Exactly, Comrade Commander."
When Sokov heard this, he could already confirm in his heart that the Warsaw Uprising must have happened on time. In order to prevent the Soviet troops outside the city from noticing that an uprising had broken out in the city, the Germans in the city dispatched fighter jets to shoot over Warsaw.
Implement a blockade to ensure that the Soviet troops outside the city cannot understand what is happening in the city.
"General Onupryenko," Sokov said into the microphone: "You immediately send someone to send the pilot to the army headquarters. I want to know some details from him."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Onupriyenko replied very readily: "I will send the pilot to your army headquarters as soon as possible."
"Comrade Commander," when Sokov put down the phone, Sidorin came over and asked curiously: "What happened?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, Deputy Commander." Sokov said to Sidorin and Ponedelin: "What I analyzed yesterday should have happened."
Sokov's words made Sidorin and Ponedelin stunned for a moment, and then they understood what was going on. Ponedelin asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, how did you determine that in Warsaw?
What if an uprising broke out at this moment? You know, we have not received any intelligence related to Warsaw so far."
"Who said there was no information related to Warsaw?" Sokov said: "The report just given by General Onupriyenko did not contain such information."
Sidorin asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, he only said that he rescued a downed reconnaissance plane pilot, and did not say anything about Warsaw."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, we commanders should consider more details when formulating combat plans." Sokov saw that Sidorin did not detect any useful information from Onupryenko's words, so he
Explained to him: "General Onupryenko said that the pilot they rescued had flown aircraft into the skies over Warsaw in the past few days, but except for ground anti-aircraft firepower, he had never encountered any German troops.
fighter jet. But I happened to encounter him today, and he encountered two other reconnaissance planes together with him."
"Comrade Commander, do you think there is such a possibility?" But Ponejelin expressed a different view: "It is precisely because our military's reconnaissance planes frequently enter the sky above Warsaw, and ground anti-aircraft firepower is powerless against them.
, so the German commander requested the air force’s assistance to prevent our reconnaissance planes from entering the skies over Warsaw to conduct reconnaissance.”
"Comrade Deputy Commander, what you say makes sense." If Sokov had not come from later generations and understood the real history, he might have had the same idea as Ponejelin, but at this moment he needed to put forward his point of view clearly.
My own opinion: "I think the appearance of enemy fighter jets over Warsaw may mean that an uprising broke out in the city. The Germans used this method to block the news in order to prevent our army from knowing about it.
Think about it, our front troops are approaching the city of Warsaw step by step. If they know that an uprising has broken out in the city, they will definitely find a way to contact the insurgents and take joint actions to carry out a pincer attack on the German troops in the city. By then
The German troops will either be driven out of the city or completely wiped out by our troops."
After hearing Sokov's analysis, the two felt that it made some sense. After looking at each other, Sidorin asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you think this matter needs to be reported to the front army headquarters immediately?"
Regarding Sidorin's proposal, Sokov thought in his mind that if he did not report the matter to Rokossovsky, then according to historical records, Rokossovsky would have to wait until the uprising was about to fail before withdrawing from the Polish friendly forces.
There I learned about what happened in Warsaw. If I reported it, would it affect the official history?
Just when Sokov was in a dilemma, he suddenly heard Ponedelin ask himself: "Comrade Commander, how do you think about it? Do we need to report the results of the analysis to the front army headquarters?"
Ponejelin's words woke Sokov out of his thoughts. Sokov stared at him for a long time, and finally made a decision: By coming to this time, he has already caused many things to go wrong. Even if he took Warsaw
The outbreak of the uprising told Rokossovsky that it was not a big deal. At best, Warsaw could be liberated a few months in advance.
After thinking about this, he personally called the front army headquarters, hoping to tell Rokossovsky his thoughts. The person who answered the phone was Malinin. After he heard Sokov's voice, he asked with a smile: "
Comrade Sokov, what can I do for you?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Sokov said bluntly without intending to waste time in circles: "My men rescued a downed pilot of our reconnaissance aircraft in the Sedelce area. From his words, I realized that
There are some unusual phenomena, so I called to report to you."
Malinin was arguing with Rokossovsky just now about whether Sokov would notice something unusual in the direction of Warsaw. At this moment, when Sokov took the initiative to mention that he had discovered an unusual imagination, he quickly asked Rokossovsky aside.
Key gestured to him to listen to the conversation between him and Sokov through the extension.
"Comrade Sokov," seeing Rokossovsky pick up another microphone and put it to his ear, Malinin continued to ask: "Tell me what's wrong?"
After hearing Malinin's question, Sokov told Malinin exactly what the pilots he had rescued and some of his so-called "analyses" said, and finally said: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, this is just my speculation.
, after all, the German fighter jets suddenly appeared in the sky over Warsaw, which is a bit too abnormal."
As soon as he finished speaking, Rokossovsky's voice came from the earphone: "Misha, before you called, Malinin and I were discussing this matter. According to our two people's speculations, there should be
The uprising you mentioned happened. In order to prevent the leakage of information, the Germans sent fighter jets to patrol the skies over Warsaw to prevent our reconnaissance planes from entering Warsaw, thus achieving the effect of information shielding."
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov asked carefully after Rokossovsky finished speaking: "Then what should we do next?"
"Don't take any action for the time being." Rokossovsky said unexpectedly: "Now that an uprising broke out in Warsaw, it is just a guess on our part. The specific situation is still unknown. I think we should wait a little longer.
Let’s see if General Bellinger can give us a surprise.”