"Reporting to Comrade Stalin," Rokossovsky said on the phone: "My troops are advancing towards Warsaw. The 2nd Tank Army at the forefront is now no more than thirty kilometers away from Warsaw."
"Oh, your troops are less than thirty kilometers away from Warsaw?!" Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Stalin showed an expression of surprise: "So, if everything goes well, Poland will
General Gdanov's tank army may become the first unit of our army to enter Warsaw."
"Comrade Stalin, the situation is not as simple as you think." Rokossovsky said cautiously: "Unexpected changes have occurred in Warsaw. I am afraid that the time for our army to enter Warsaw will be delayed indefinitely.
Delayed."
Stalin asked with a confused look on his face: "Why?"
In order to let Stalin figure out what happened, Rokossovsky decided to tell him the whole story clearly: "Comrade Stalin, the situation is like this. We rescued an intelligence agent who escaped from Warsaw yesterday.
, from her, we obtained an order from the German high command, asking all Warsaw garrison to withdraw from Warsaw on August 3, which is the day after tomorrow."
"Dear Konstantin Konstantinovich!" Stalin called Rokossovsky's real and father's name and reminded him: "Perhaps the intelligence agent you rescued is a spy sent by the German army.
I want to use this false information to confuse you and mislead you into making wrong judgments."
"Comrade Stalin, I think this information should be true." If Sokov hadn't personally sent Agelina to the front army headquarters and vouched for her identity, Rokossovsky would have said this.
He was skeptical about the authenticity of the intelligence, but when he heard what Stalin said, he quickly explained: "This intelligence agent was rescued by Misha's subordinates, and Misha also knew the intelligence agent and assured me that this person was
Absolutely reliable.”
"Since it was Misha who vouched for it," Stalin heard that the intelligence agent who provided the information was someone Misha knew and vouched for. Stalin put down his doubts and continued to ask: "Constantin Konstantinovich,
Are you calling me just to report this information?"
"No, Comrade Stalin." Unexpectedly, Rokossovsky said: "I called you because of another important matter."
"Is there anything more important than the Germans' voluntary withdrawal from Warsaw?"
"Comrade Stalin, judging from the current situation, the Germans may have to cancel the order to evacuate Warsaw."
After hearing this, Stalin couldn't help but be surprised, and then asked: "Why?"
"An uprising may have broken out in Warsaw today," Rokossovsky said cautiously: "Once the news is confirmed, the Germans will definitely cancel the order to evacuate Warsaw and concentrate their efforts on destroying the rebels in the city first."
"Why do you say it's possible?" Stalin asked in confusion: "Don't you know whether there has been an uprising in the city or not?" Because he was angry, he involuntarily raised his voice when he spoke.
"Comrade Stalin, please listen to my explanation." Rokossovsky said: "Yesterday I had a meeting with representatives of the Krajow Army in Poland. After all, our next actions in Poland cannot be separated from
The Poles cooperated. But unfortunately, the other side showed hostility towards us. They even said that although they would not regard us as enemies, they would not regard them as friends, let alone have any situation with us.
cooperation.”
Stalin took the pipe out of his mouth, knocked the ashes heavily on the ashtray, and asked with some annoyance: "Did they really say that?"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin."
"What about the Warsaw Uprising and their connection?"
"There are various indications that the dominant force in the Warsaw uprising now should be the Krajow army loyal to the Polish exiled government in London." Rokossowski explained: "Because they are strict with us
All news was blocked, so that we still can’t figure out whether an uprising actually broke out in the city.”
"Then have you sent a reconnaissance plane to conduct reconnaissance over Warsaw?" Stalin picked up the cigarette box on the table, took out two cigarettes, crushed them, and filled the pipe with shredded tobacco while saying slowly: "Even if there is no way on the ground,
If you obtain effective intelligence, the Air Force's reconnaissance can also provide you with useful information."
"The reason why we judged that an uprising broke out in Warsaw was because three reconnaissance planes sent to Warsaw were shot down by German fighter jets that suddenly appeared." Rokossovsky said: "After we discovered this problem,
Immediately order the air force to dispatch again to conduct reconnaissance in Warsaw."
After Stalin filled up his tobacco, he picked up the match again: "How is the reconnaissance going?"
"There is smoke everywhere in the city, and many buildings have collapsed. Judging from the air force reconnaissance situation, fighting should be breaking out in Warsaw."
Stalin struck a match, lit the cigarette, took a puff, and asked: "Even if the Klajov army is unwilling to cooperate with our army, then you can ask General Bellinger to come forward. You know, he is a Polish. Klajov army
Just because the Yov Army resisted the Soviets does not mean that they will also resist the Poles."
Rokossovsky was silent for a moment, reorganized the vocabulary in his mind, and then said: "Comrade Stalin, I sent General Bellinger to contact the Krajow Army, but the representative sent by the other party did not communicate with the Polish 1st Army at all.
There were signs of cooperation between the army groups. Even when General Bellinger asked whether an uprising had broken out in Warsaw, these people pretended not to know anything and just ignored it."
When Stalin heard this, he had no interest in continuing to smoke. He put down his pipe, picked up the map on the table, and looked at it carefully. After a while, he asked again: "Comrade Rokossovsky, who is from Poland?"
If the comrades have established a new government in Lublin, do you think you should ask them to come forward and find out what happened in Warsaw?"
Rokossovsky turned his head and glanced at Malinin not far away. Seeing that the other party had put down the phone, he cast an inquiring look at the other party, wondering if he had contacted the Polish comrades in Lublin and asked them to come forward to investigate.
The situation in Warsaw. When Malinin saw Rokossovsky looking towards him, he immediately understood and nodded slightly, indicating that he had contacted his Polish comrades.
"Comrade Stalin and Chief of Staff Malinin have just contacted the Polish comrades in Lublin and are preparing for them to come forward to investigate what happened in Warsaw."
"Well, that's okay." Stalin put the pipe in his mouth again and asked, "What are your plans next?"
"This is what I think about, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky said: "Order the troops of the 2nd Tank Army to continue to advance towards Warsaw, and at the same time transfer one or two more troops from the army to strengthen them, and strive to enter Warsaw as soon as possible.
Downtown.”
But Rokossovsky's statement was rejected by Stalin: "No, we can't do this."
This time it was Rokossovsky's turn to be at a loss. He asked puzzledly: "Why?"
"The reason is very simple." Stalin said: "You just said that the Krajow army leading the uprising in Warsaw is loyal to the Polish government in exile in London. If our army forcibly invades Warsaw, they do not want to hand over the city.
Give us, or even join forces with the Germans to deal with us, what should you do?"
Rokossovsky had also considered the situation mentioned by Stalin. To be fair, ever since he confirmed that the Krajow Army secretly staged an uprising in Warsaw without telling him, he had considered ordering the troops to stop the attack.
Rest and recuperate on the spot, and wait until the rebels and German troops in Warsaw are exhausted from fighting before launching an attack on the city.
However, ideas are ideas, and the attack must still be carried out before getting permission from the Supreme Command. At this moment, hearing Stalin ask himself this, he hesitated for a moment and said: "Comrade Stalin, do you plan to order us to stop the attack and wait where we are?
"
Seeing that Rokossovsky had guessed what he was thinking, Stalin nodded slightly and said: "Rather than throwing the severely damaged and exhausted troops into battle at this moment, and then entering the city and clashing with the Polish army, it is better to
Stop and rest outside the city of Warsaw. After you have replenished enough troops, weapons and ammunition, it will not be too late to launch an attack on the city."
Rokossovsky, who understood deeply, quickly said: "Comrade Stalin, since the beginning of the Bagration operation, the right wing of our front has advanced more than 600 kilometers. This has cost us a lot of strength and blood. In order to seize the solid ground
Warsaw, which is fortified and defended by a large number of enemy troops, will need time to replenish and train the troops and enable the logistics organization to catch up. But even so, we will make every effort in those days to support the insurrectionists and bring our forces with them
United.”
"That's right, dear Konstantin Konstantinovich!" Seeing that Rokossovsky understood his intention, Stalin nodded again and said with satisfaction: "Our troops have been through this for more than a month.
In the battle, soldiers, weapons and ammunition are consumed a lot, and they are urgently needed to be replenished. Moreover, we can also use the period of replenishing soldiers and equipment to let the commanders and soldiers take a good rest for a period of time, so that they can have more energy to face the next battle.
stage of battle."
After ending the call with Stalin, Rokossovsky put down the phone and said to Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how did your Polish friends reply to you?"
Malinen shrugged and said with a wry smile: "How else can I reply? Just tell me that they will send someone to Warsaw as soon as possible to investigate what happened."
"How many days will it take to give us a satisfactory answer?"
"I didn't say the specific time," Ma Lining said hesitantly, "but I think it won't be more than a week at most. With this week, our troops can take a good rest and replenish soldiers and weapons and equipment in a timely manner.
"
"By the way, Comrade Chief of Staff, I heard that Comrade Khrushchev directly gave Misha 50,000 new soldiers. Is that true?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Malinin nodded and gave an affirmative reply: "General Bulganin took Khrushchev to the 48th Group Army Headquarters, and then Comrade Khrushchev took him
The 50,000 new soldiers recruited were all added to General Sokov's troops. Several army commanders still have opinions on this matter."
"What's the use of their opinions?" Rokossovsky said with a sneer: "If they had the ability, they would ask Comrade Khrushchev to recruit tens of thousands of new soldiers for them."
"Comrade Marshal," Malinin reminded Rokossovsky: "General Sokov's troops have added so many new soldiers at once. Not only will the combat effectiveness of the troops be diluted, but the front's logistics department will not be able to produce so many weapons.
Arm these newly added warriors."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think you don't have to worry about weapons." Rokossovsky said to Malinin: "I believe that with Mischa's ability, he will be able to get the weapons that the troops urgently need."
"I can't do it!" At the same time, in the headquarters of the 48th Group Army, Sokov was complaining to Ponedelin: "I am not a god, how can I conjure up equipment that can arm 50,000 people?
.”
"Comrade Commander, Colonel Belkin has returned to the weapons and equipment department." Sidorin reminded Sokov: "You can get in touch with him to see if he has any way to provide weapons for our new recruits."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think this matter is very difficult." Sokov shook his head and said: "Bergin has not been at the Weapons and Equipment Department for a long time, and he has not mastered the basics at all. Let him help us get weapons capable of arming us."
Weapons and equipment for tens of thousands of people, that is simply a fantasy. Let’s stop this matter and don’t mention it again in the future.”
"Then what should we do?" Ponjelin said with a wry smile: "There are not enough weapons to arm the soldiers, so we can't let these recruits carry wooden sticks to attack the enemy's defense line, right? If we do that, and let them
It makes no difference if they go to die."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, I will never let my men die." Sokov said: "So the three of us must actively use our brains to find ways to arm the newly added soldiers."
The three of them frowned and thought for a moment, then Sidorin slapped his hand on the table and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, I have thought of a good idea."
"Oh, what's a good idea? Come on, tell me."
"You just said that it is impossible for soldiers to carry wooden sticks to attack." Sidorin said proudly: "When we distribute weapons to the attacking recruits, we can use the method of separating men and guns."
"How to separate men and guns?" Ponejelin asked with some surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you mean, why can't I understand you?"
When Sokov heard what Sidorin said, he immediately thought of the scene in the movie "At the Gate" where Vasily and others received weapons by the river. He smiled bitterly and said to Ponedelin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff, what do you mean?"
When weapons are distributed, one soldier holds a gun and another holds bullets. When they charge, the soldier in front falls, and the soldier behind picks up his weapon and charges."
After saying this, he looked at Sidorin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, am I right?"
"That's right, Comrade Commander." Sidorin nodded and said, "That's how I think about it."
"Nonsense, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are just making nonsense." Sokov said angrily: "With guns but no bullets, when our soldiers charged, the guns in his hands were no more than wooden sticks. They did not pose any threat to the Germans.
It did not pose any threat, but instead caused more casualties to our attacking troops."