As the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions arrived near the fortification area, the strength of the troops commanded by Ponejelin was improved. Originally they could only defend, but after dawn the next day, they launched an attack on the German defense lines.
.
Facing the Soviet attack, the German army did not dare to show weakness. They mobilized two infantry regiments and one armored regiment. Under the cover of artillery fire, they launched a counterattack towards Ponejelin's troops, trying to push them back again.
Their attack further consolidates their defense.
The battlefield lasted until noon, and the two sides were still at a stalemate. Seeing that the situation of the battle had not reversed, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little anxious, and personally called Ponijelin to inquire about the situation on the battlefield.
But after Ponedelin told Sokov the current situation on the battlefield, Sokov couldn't help but fell silent. He has now invested four infantry divisions, several artillery regiments and tank brigades in this area.
, if they are unable to break the German siege and rescue the besieged cavalry army, then even sending more troops there will be of no avail.
When Ponedelin heard that Sokov remained silent, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, what do you think we should do next?"
Sokov quickly glanced at the map spread out in front of him, and then said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, Colonel Liugekov's 211th Infantry Division is your reserve force. I think we must break the situation in front of us as soon as possible."
If there is a stalemate, the best thing to do is to throw them into battle immediately to crush the enemy's stubborn resistance."
"But if the 211th Division is put into battle, I will not have any reserves in my hands." After listening to Sokov's order, Ponedelin said with some embarrassment: "If the 211th Division is put into battle, it will still be unable to defeat the enemy.
When the siege or even the attack fails and the enemy starts to counterattack, what kind of force do we use to stop them?"
After thinking for a moment, Sokov made a decisive decision: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I still have two infantry divisions and three infantry brigades in my hands. If the situation there is really unfavorable, I will consider
Put the remaining troops into battle."
Ponedelin has known Sokov for a long time, but he has never seen him act so recklessly, so he cautiously reminded: "Comrade Commander, have you ever thought about what would happen if our troops
If they are all exhausted, even if the cavalry army is rescued, it will not make much sense. And our group army will also be incorporated into the base camp reserve because of the total loss of troops. I am afraid that we will not be able to participate in new battles for a long time.
"
Sokov felt that what Ponedelin said was very reasonable. But the reason why he made such a decision was because he remembered that in real history, the cavalry army besieged in the fortified area was defeated by the
The 65th and 70th Group Armies were rescued. Our own troops had been fighting in the fortification area for several days, and these two troops should also appear. As soon as they appeared, the enemy, who was worried about being surrounded by counterattacks, would take the initiative to withdraw from the battle.
When Sokov was praying that the troops of the 65th and 70th Group Armies would appear soon, he suddenly heard the sound of cheers coming from the receiver. It seemed that people in the Ponejelin temporary command post were cheering loudly. He hurriedly
He asked loudly into the microphone: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what happened to you?"
After a brief silence, Ponedelin's excited voice came from the receiver: "Good news, Comrade Commander, it's good news, great news." Without waiting for Sokov to ask, he continued.
Said, "Colonel Ismailov just called and said that a large number of troops appeared on the right wing of their division. At first he thought they were German troops, but when he took a closer look, he found tanks leading the infantry charge in front.
It’s T-34 and IS-2 tanks.”
When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but feel ecstatic. However, in order to prevent Ponedelin from hearing that he was strange, he still tried his best to ask in a calm tone: "Have you confirmed which army is coming?"
"Colonel Ismailov said," Ponedelin continued to report: "The ones coming are the 4th and 40th Guards Divisions of the 65th Army, and they are led by a tank brigade in the attack."
"There are quite a lot of troops coming." Sokov breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "With the cooperation of friendly forces, I believe you will be able to break through the German encirclement soon and rescue the friendly forces trapped in the fortification area.
"
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Now that friendly troops appeared on the battlefield, Ponejelin suddenly felt confident: "With the cooperation of this new force, there shouldn't be much problem in breaking through the enemy's defense line.
"
After Sokov put down the phone, he waved his fist excitedly. He knew in his heart that the most difficult stage was over, and the Germans had to choose to retreat in the face of the powerful Soviet offensive.
Sidorin just walked in from the outside and happened to see Sokov waving his fist. He knew that this was a sign of Sokov's happiness, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, what makes you so happy?"
, is there any progress with the deputy commander?"
He originally asked casually, after all, before he left the headquarters, he did not receive any good news from the fortification area. Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished asking, Sokov nodded vigorously and said, "That's right.
Comrade Chief of Staff, there is indeed good news, and it is great news."
"What great news?" Sidorin suddenly became interested and asked, "I wonder what the good news is?"
"Colonel Ismailov reported to the deputy commander that a large number of friendly troops appeared on their right wing." Sokov said: "After understanding, they were from the 4th and 40th Guards Divisions of the 65th Group Army.
force."
"Oh, friendly forces have finally appeared." When Sidorin heard the news, a relaxed expression appeared on his face: "With the help of friendly forces, we will soon be able to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors."
While the two were talking, the phone on the table suddenly rang. Sidorin stared at the phone and said tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you think this call is from Comrade Marshal?"
"Why is it the marshal calling?" Sokov asked puzzledly.
"The reason is very simple." Sidorin replied: "We have been fighting the enemy alone in the fortification area for several days, and now we finally have the friendly forces. I think Comrade Marshal called us to tell us the good news.
.” After saying that, he grabbed the microphone and put it to his ear.
After listening for a moment, he said excitedly to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, good news, good news, two infantry divisions under General Popov's 70th Group Army also appeared on the battlefield, and they are heading towards
The German right wing took a detour and prepared to encircle them."
"Who called?" Sokov heard the good news, and in order to find out the authenticity of the information, he asked tentatively: "Is it the deputy commander?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Unexpectedly, Sidorin shook his head and said, "It was the commander of the 70th Group Army, General Popov, who personally called."
Knowing that the call was from General Popov, the commander of the 70th Group Army, Sokov quickly walked over and took the microphone from Sidorin's hand, and said politely: "Hello, General Popov!"
"Hello, General Sokov!" Popov repeated what he just said on the phone again: "I have dispatched the 171st and 181st Infantry Divisions, with the cooperation of the tank troops, to carry out a detour from the north of the German army.
, prepare to cooperate with your troops to cut off their retreat..."
When Popov introduced his battle plan, Sokov stared at the map in front of him, wondering what benefits the other party would bring to his troops.
After Popov finished speaking, Sokov said: "General Popov, in order to destroy our cavalry army, the enemy used a large number of armored troops. If you want to encircle them, you must first find a way to destroy them.
of armored forces.”
After listening to Sokov's words, Popov was silent for more than a minute, and then said: "General Sokov, our army group has just broken through the German defenses after a fierce battle, and now there are not many tanks that can be put into the battlefield.
If you go by what you said, our encirclement plan seems difficult to realize."
"The Germans suffered a big loss in our Operation Bagration," Sokov said: "Once they find that something is wrong, they will definitely choose to retreat in time. It may not be easy to trap them.
However, even if the Germans can escape from our encirclement, they will probably suffer heavy casualties, which will cause these troops to lose their combat effectiveness in a short period of time, which will be very helpful for our next attack."
"You are right, General Sokov." Popov agreed with Sokov's statement: "As long as we can eliminate the effective strength of the Germans, it doesn't matter much even if we cannot encircle them.
"
In the ensuing battle, just as Sokov expected, the German army discovered that the troops of the 65th and 70th Army appeared on the battlefield. In order to avoid being encircled, they decisively chose to retreat towards Warsaw.
However, shortly after the enemy's retreat began, the 4th Guards Cavalry Corps, which had been staying in the fortification area without moving, began their actions. The commanders and soldiers of the cavalry army, who had been trapped in the fortification area for several days, watched friendly forces and German troops every day
They were fighting outside, but they couldn't go out to help, so they were suffocating in their hearts. At this moment, when they saw that the enemy was beginning to retreat, they decisively chose to attack.
Although the cavalry army was the last to attack, their offensive force composed of tanks and cavalry quickly surpassed other infantry units that were chasing the enemy. The tanks of the cavalry army opening the way in front disrupted the German retreat queue.
.The cavalry following the tanks rushed into the chaotic German infantry formations and slaughtered the chaotic German officers and soldiers like chopping melons and vegetables, avenging their previous humiliation.
Although the German army left blocking troops along the way, trying to prevent the Soviet army from pursuing them, their resistance was insignificant in the face of the overwhelming Soviet army, and the remaining troops were quickly overwhelmed by the Soviet offensive troops.
The battle continued until dark. The German army, which had retreated nearly 30 kilometers towards Warsaw, finally entered one of their defensive positions, where they tenaciously blocked the pursuing Soviet army.
The cavalry corps, which was at the forefront of all the troops, launched an attack on the German position during the march, but without success, it withdrew from the battle in time, retreated two kilometers and selected a place to switch to defense.
Rokossovsky felt relieved when he learned that the 4th Guards Cavalry Corps had escaped, and that the 48th, 65th and 70th Group Armies had joined forces. He said to Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, now our right wing
The joining of the three armies means that our strength in the direction of Warsaw has been strengthened."
When Malinin heard this, he couldn't help but interjected and asked: "Comrade Commander, with this, plus the Polish 1st Army, our troops east of Warsaw have reached five armies. Do you think we can take the opportunity to attack Warsaw?"
Launch an attack?"
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Rokossovsky just shook his head slowly and said: "No, Comrade Chief of Staff, we cannot launch an attack on Warsaw now."
"Why?" Malinen asked puzzledly: "From the time we entered Poland until now, we have never had as many troops in any region as many as five armies."
"The attitude of the Warsaw Uprising Army is unclear now. Whether they are willing to accept our assistance is still unknown." Rokossovsky frowned and said: "So far, there is no significant person responsible for the Krajow Army.
People come to discuss cooperation with us. If we launch an attack on Warsaw regardless, we may end up being thankless in the end."
"Comrade Commander, I don't understand." Malinen said with a solemn expression: "Since the Allies cannot provide sufficient assistance to the Warsaw Uprising Army, why should they support them in launching an uprising?"
Hearing Malinin's question, Rokossovsky smiled lightly and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, there are only two reasons: First, they hope to occupy a moral high ground and express that the allies support the just cause of the Polish people.
, which will be of great help in preventing the expansion of our country's power in Eastern Europe in the future.
Second, they found that they were unable to prevent the Polish uprising at all. You must know that the Polish nation is known for its lack of strategic vision in history. They will act arbitrarily under any situation they think is feasible. Since the uprising cannot be stopped, then
It’s better to acquiesce in their actions.”
Malinen continued to ask: "In an uprising involving tens of thousands of people, didn't the allies send liaison officers to them?"
"According to the information we have now, this uprising does not have any liaisons with the Allies." Rokossovsky continued: "The preparations for the uprising of the Krajov Army were very hasty and whimsical. They hoped that,
Hitler is dead, and the German army will quickly withdraw from Poland with no intention of fighting. Therefore, the Krajow army did not even destroy many important bridges and roads, which allowed the German army to quickly mobilize forces in a short period of time, put out the uprising, and stop our army
Advance towards Warsaw.”
Malinen stared at the map and murmured: "So, in the end, the uprising in Warsaw will end in failure? And what we can do is stand on the right bank of the Vistula River and watch them being destroyed.
Are the Germans annihilated?”
"There is nothing we can do about this," Rokossovsky said helplessly: "After Chuikov's 8th Guards Army established a landing site on the left bank, it was attacked continuously by the Germans. The Germans tried to push us
All the troops rushed into the Vistula River, so that even now, Chuikov's troops are unable to leave the landing site and go north."