Chapter 2062 Crossing the river and establishing a landing site
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky and Malinin were chatting at the front headquarters in Lublin: "Do you still remember August 1941?"
Malinin was stunned for a moment when he heard what Rokossovsky said. Then he recalled those years, nodded and said: "Of course I remember, Comrade Marshal. I remember our 16th Army and Lukin's 1st
The 20th Army fought hard in Smolensk for nearly a month. Due to the disparity in strength and equipment between the enemy and ourselves, Marshal Timoshenko ordered us to withdraw from Smolensk."
"That's right." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "I still remember that some commanders asked me with red eyes: Comrade Commander, we just abandoned the city where countless commanders and soldiers died and handed it over.
To the Germans?
Although I felt extremely heavy at the time and was unwilling to leave this heroic city. But there was no way. At that time, our troops were limited, lacked a sufficient number of tanks and artillery, and did not receive air cover. If it delayed the enemy's advance, perhaps
It can be done, but it is impossible to block the enemy's fierce attack."
"I remember that the time when we received the order to retreat was August 1, exactly three years from today." Ma Lining said with emotion: "At the beginning, our army was on defense, but today it is on offense. We now have a strong air force,
It can provide air cover for our offensive forces; it has enough tanks and artillery to crush German resistance.
At that time, I was thinking, I will record this blood debt to the Germans, and when the time is right in the future, I will come back to them to repay this blood debt."
"Today may be the day when we repay our blood debt." Rokossovsky looked at Malinin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think so?"
"Comrade Marshal, our attack in the direction of Warsaw is not going smoothly now." Malinin reminded Rokossovsky: "In which direction do you still plan to strengthen the attack?"
"Due to the Krajov Army's information blockade on us, we can't figure out what is going on in Warsaw at all." Rokossovsky said to Malinin: "Even if we want to increase our offensive intensity, we can't do it for the time being.
The main force will be used in this direction."
Just when Ma Lining looked down at the map, preparing to find a suitable breakthrough, the phone on the table suddenly rang. He grabbed the phone and said: "I am Chief of Staff Ma Lining, where are you?... What, what did you say?
?...Repeat it again...Okay, I understand, I will tell Comrade Marshal."
Seeing that Malinin's expression suddenly became serious, Rokossovsky asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why are you so angry? How did I notice that your expression suddenly became serious?"
"Comrade Marshal, something happened." Malinin said to Rokossovsky with a straight face: "I just received a report from the 2nd Tank Army, saying that the commander of the army, General Bogdanov, was in the command room.
"Unfortunately, he was injured by a German artillery shell. He is temporarily unable to continue to direct the battle and needs to be sent to the rear for treatment immediately."
Malinin's words made Rokossovsky understand that Bogdanov's injury was not serious. He quickly ordered Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately arrange a plane to send Bogdanov to Moscow for treatment.
"
Malinin did not dare to neglect, and quickly picked up the phone to arrange for Bogdanov to be sent to the back for treatment. After finishing all this, he tentatively asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, what about the 2nd Tank Army?"
Who can I leave it to command?"
Rokossovsky thought for a while and replied: "For the time being, General Bogdanov's deputy will take over his duties. It will not be too late to replace him when we find a suitable candidate."
"Okay, Comrade Marshal, I will do as you say."
After a while, Malinen asked cautiously: "Then we will still launch an attack on Warsaw City?"
"Yes, the attack on Warsaw still needs to continue, but we are not pushing directly to Warsaw, but crossing the Vistula River from other areas, establishing a landing site on the other side, and using that as the starting point of the attack to launch an attack on Warsaw
attack."
"Then where do you plan to use the area to cross the river?" Malinen asked.
Rokossovsky pointed to the map and said to Malinin: "Forcible crossings must be carried out in the areas of Tatarchisko, Skurcha, Damiluv, and Domashev. Here, there are skins to the north.
The Litsa River and the Radomka River to the south cover the two flanks of the army. Since the two flanks are covered by these two rivers, our army can carry out the main assault through Magnushev. The current task is to cross the Vistula River
Seize a landing site on the right bank as far as the Varka-Radom railway line."
Seeing the crossing point selected by Rokossovsky, Malinin asked hesitantly: "Comrade Marshal, can our attack in this area be successful?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, there are always striking similarities in history." Rokossovsky stared at the map in front of him and said with his hands behind his back: "When we and Lukin received the order to evacuate Smolensk, we
When crossing the river, our group army headquarters successfully crossed the river; while Lukin was crossing the river, his subordinates were injured in a car accident to avoid German air strikes. Today, Bogdanov was injured in the battle, which is the same as Lukin's back then.
The injuries are so similar, which shows that our next river crossing operation will achieve the desired results."
Now that Rokossovsky had spoken to this extent, Malinin could not object even if he wanted to. He could only sigh softly and then asked: "Then which troops do you plan to let to carry out this river crossing?"
Where are the battle orders?"
Before Rokossovsky could speak, he took the initiative and said: "General Sokov's 48th Army is obviously not capable. They are still dozens of kilometers away from the Vistula River. Even if they start taking action now, wait until they advance.
I'm afraid a few days will have passed when we get to the shore, so it's obviously not appropriate."
"I plan to let Chuikov's 8th Guards Army carry out this glorious and arduous task of crossing the river." Rokossovsky said: "Now Chuikov's troops are only about ten kilometers away from the Vistula River. If you take a car
, it doesn’t take much time at all to reach the designated location.”
"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Malinin waited for Rokossovsky to finish and nodded, "I immediately contacted General Chuikov and ordered him to send people to conduct reconnaissance at our preset river crossing point, and at the same time prepare to cross the river.
The equipment needed.”
Chuikov received a call from Malinin and learned that his unit would be the first to cross the Vistula River. He was naturally overjoyed. He quickly replied: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell the Marshal that I will immediately
Send men to the banks of the Vistula River to conduct reconnaissance and find a suitable place to cross the river."
After accepting the task of crossing the river, Chuikov immediately called General Glazunov, commander of the 4th Guards Army, and said excitedly: "Comrade General, come to my headquarters immediately. I have something important to announce to you."
Ten minutes later, General Glazunov came to Chuikov's headquarters and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Commander, I wonder if you asked me to come here because of something important."
"Comrade General, come here." Chuikov called Glazunov to the map, pointed to the proposed crossing point, told him Rokossovsky's plan, and finally said: "The battle across the river is
I will leave the task to your army. What you have to do now is to send people to the river to conduct surveys to see where is a suitable place to cross the river. At the same time, you have to send guard troops to the river to serve as guards to ensure the success of the survey work.
It went smoothly.”
"Comrade Commander." Glazunov waited for Chuikov to finish and then asked tentatively: "If we choose a suitable place, when can we cross the river?"
"As long as the time is right, you can cross the river at any time." In order not to restrict General Glazunov's actions, Chuikov gave him great autonomy: "As long as you think it is appropriate, you can arrange troops to cross the river at any time without asking me for instructions.
"
"After crossing the river, in which direction should we attack?" Glazunov continued to ask.
"After you arrive at the other side, choose a suitable location to establish a defensive position and camouflage it." Chuikov said: "Because it is a sneak crossing, the troops arriving on the other side must be lightly armed and lack heavy weapons such as artillery and tanks.
, unable to launch an attack deep into the enemy's defenses."
After hearing what Chuikov said, Glazunov understood the other party's intention: "I understand, Comrade Commander. After my troops arrive on the other side, I will order them to hide themselves and wait until enough supplies have been transported to the other side."
, it’s not too late to launch an attack deep into the enemy’s defenses.”
Thanks to the concealment work of the 4th Guards Corps, they successfully boarded the river bank in Tatarchisko, Veliga, and Majewice before dawn. In order to avoid being discovered by the enemy, they occupied the area.
All were carefully disguised.
When he learned that part of Glazunov's 4th Guards Corps had successfully landed on the other side and established landing sites in some areas, Chuikov couldn't help but be overjoyed and quickly took people to the river to check.
But Chuikov put on makeup and came to the Vistula River, and unexpectedly found that it was a festival here, and Polish farmers in the villages near the river held a grand celebration.
Chuikov originally thought that his makeup would show flaws, but he did not expect that he would quickly blend into the crowd celebrating the festival. Even if he stood by the river and looked towards the other side, he would not attract anyone's special attention.
However, Chuikov still found that in some places in the empty left bank area, shovels throwing away earth could be seen waving. It was obvious that trenches were being dug here. Chuikov thought to himself: "Who is digging the trenches? Is it the Germans or the Germans?"
The local Polish population at the gunpoint of the Germans?”
After Chuikov returned to his headquarters, he immediately convened a meeting with the commanders of all armies and divisions to discuss the attack on the other side of the Vistula River: "Comrade commanders, judging from the current situation, the enemy did not expect us at all.
The Vistula River was to be forcibly crossed, and the enemy was not found to be making particularly active defense preparations.
However, an earthen dam extending along the left bank of the Vistula blocked our view, preventing us from observing the river bank in depth. We also could not see the enemy's powerful fortifications. All circumstances showed that the assault we were about to carry out was necessary.
The element of suddenness.”
"Comrade Commander," a division commander stood up and asked curiously: "I heard that part of the troops of the 4th Guards Corps has successfully landed on the other side. I wonder when our division can cross the Vistula River?
"
"Don't be anxious, Comrade Colonel." Chuikov looked at the familiar division commander and said: "Although the 4th Guards Army has established a defensive zone in the left bank area, it is far from enough to establish a landing site. We still need to seize the time.
Build a pontoon bridge to transport the tanks and artillery urgently needed by the troops on the other side.
Also, next we will divide assault areas and dividing lines for each participating force, and allocate strengthened weapons. You will send a reconnaissance team to observe the enemy's situation on the left bank and find out the enemy's strength and defense facilities.
Let me emphasize one final point: all operations must be carried out covertly, and our troops must not be exposed in the area. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" the commanders present agreed in unison.
"Very good." Chuikov nodded and turned to look at the director of the engineering corps: "General Tkachenko, I would like to ask how long it will take your engineering corps to erect a channel on the Vistula River for tanks to pass through.
The pontoon?”
General Tkachenko thought for a moment, then stretched out two fingers and said: "Comrade Commander, I think it will take two days at the earliest."
"What, it takes two days?" After hearing Tkachenko's reply, Chuikov became anxious: "Two days is too long, I can give you ten hours at most."
This time it was General Tkachenko's turn to complain: "Comrade Commander, I checked the area where the pontoon bridge is to be built. Although the water flow is gentle, the river is nearly one kilometer wide. To build a bridge on such a wide river, it can be
I think two days is relatively fast for the pontoon bridge that allows tanks and artillery to pass through."
After the meeting, Chuikov called Rokossovsky and reported what he had said at the meeting.
After hearing this, Rokossovsky said: "General Chuikov, you must be prepared to start forcibly crossing the Vistula River in the area of Masejevice and Stenysha in about two days in order to seize a landing site.
.It is best to report the forced transfer plan briefly in code before 14:00 on August 3."
Chuikov waited for Rokossovsky to finish and quickly added: "I understand, Comrade Marshal. But I ask you to allow me to force a crossing at the mouth of the Veliga River and Podwebrze so that I can have skin on both wings of the landing site."
The Litsa River and the Radomka River serve as barriers. I can start the forced crossing early tomorrow morning instead of two days later, because all our preparations are in place. If we start the forced crossing as early as possible, we have a greater chance of success."
Rokossovsky said: "You lack artillery and river crossing equipment. The front army can allocate some to you, but it cannot be done within two days. The headquarters of the Supreme Command attaches great importance to the forced crossing of the Vistula River and requires us to maximize our
to ensure the completion of this complex task.”
Chuikov said: "I understand this. But my first consideration is the suddenness of the action. As for strengthening the weapons, I think that if the enemy is surprised, the existing equipment can also be used to deal with it. Please allow the forced crossing to begin tomorrow morning.
"
Rokossovsky thought for a while and then said: "Okay! I agree. However, please consider and weigh it in detail, and finally report your brief plan to me. Please inform commanders at all levels about the forced crossing.
Soldiers and commanders with meritorious service in the battle on the Vistula River will be rewarded until they are awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union."
Chuikov said: "We must do it! Starting tomorrow morning, I will report a brief plan to you immediately."