When the troops launched an attack on Sedrce, Rokossovsky was not at the command post because he received an order from the Supreme Command to contact Polish troops.
After the German army occupied Poland, a large number of guerrilla groups were active on Polish soil, including the Liudov Guards, Liudov Army, Krajow Army, and Peasant Battalion. There were also mixed guerrillas led by Soviet commanders who were trapped behind enemy lines after the Soviet-German war broke out.
Although these guerrillas belonged to different forces, they chose to unite in order to fight against the German invaders. And launched a three-year guerrilla war in the rear of the German army.
Facing the incoming Soviet troops, most guerrillas behaved in a friendly manner. In order to drive away the German invaders as soon as possible, as the Polish 1st Army advanced, not only a large number of Liudov Guards, Liudov Army and other resistance forces were reorganized, but even ordinary residents in the liberated cities also enthusiastically Joining the army enabled the army to grow rapidly in a short period of time.
Rokossovsky took several staff members and met with representatives of the 7th Division of the Krajov Army in the forest west of Lublin. The officers of the Krajow Army who came to meet were dressed in crisp Polish military uniforms and behaved extremely arrogantly.
But Rokossovsky did not pay attention to these details. He politely asked the leading lieutenant colonel: "Comrade lieutenant colonel..."
Unexpectedly, his words were interrupted by the lieutenant colonel of the Klajov Army sitting opposite: "Mr. Marshal, the term comrade is never used in our army. I am Lieutenant Colonel Slutsky, deputy commander of the 7th Division. You may call me Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, or Mr. Slutsky.”
"Okay, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." Rokossovsky said helplessly: "First of all, thank you for participating in today's meeting. Next, we will discuss matters of cooperation with you after our army enters Poland."
"Mr. Marshal." Slutsky rudely interrupted Rokossovsky again: "Let me make it clear to you that we are the Krajov Army, not some messy Liudov Army or peasant camp. Subject to the orders of the Polish Crown in London and its plenipotentiaries, other agencies and personnel have no right to issue any orders to us."
Rokossovsky did not expect that the other party would say such a thing. After sneering, he asked: "We are clearing out the German invaders in Poland. I hope to get your help."
"This is impossible, Mr. Marshal." Slutsky said coldly: "If we buy shares in the European Liudov Army or the Peasant Battalion, we may cooperate with you in fighting, but we will not." Seeing Rokossov Ski's face turned livid and he added, "Of course, we will not take up arms against the Soviet army, but we also don't want to have any contact with you. This is what we want to make clear to you."
When he saw the Krajov army marching away, Rokossovsky was so angry that he slapped his face hard on the table and cursed: "These damn guys have no manners at all."
At this moment, a communications staff officer walked over quickly and handed a telegram he had just received to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, this is the telegram we just received. Sedelce has already Occupied by our army."
When he learned that the troops had occupied Sedelce, Rokossovsky felt much better. When he received the telegram, he smiled and said: "Major General Guttmann did a good job. He actually relied on just one tank." The army took Sedelce."
"Comrade Marshal," the communications staff officer heard what Rokossovsky said and quickly explained: "The troops attacking Sedelce are not only the 11th Guards Tank Corps of Major General Guttmann, but also the 48th Group Army. Two Guards Infantry Divisions."
"Oh, Misha's 48th Army also participated in the war?" Rokossovsky said with some surprise: "I thought they would stand still and switch to defense on the spot."
The meeting with the Krajov Army broke up, and Rokossovsky immediately returned to the front army headquarters, wanting to know more details about the liberation of Sedelce.
Malinin was reading the new battle report. When he saw Rokossovsky walking in, he quickly put his things on the table, walked up to him quickly, and asked with concern: "Comrade Marshal, you are back! Today's meeting How are the negotiations going?"
"Not very good." Rokossovsky shook his head, recounted the details of his meeting with the Krajov army today to Malinin, and finally said: "I really didn't expect that these guys would be so rude. If I had known they were like this, I would not have met them."
"Comrade Marshal, we have just obtained a piece of information. The authenticity cannot be determined yet."
"What information?" Rokossovsky asked.
Malinen picked up the piece of paper just placed on the table and said to Rokossovsky: "According to the reports of our intelligence agents in Warsaw, the citizens of Warsaw may take military action against the German army in the near future to cope with our situation." The army captured the city of Warsaw.”
If Rokossovsky had seen this information before his talks with the Krajow Army, he would have been overjoyed, so that he could plan how to cooperate with the rebel army in Warsaw and annihilate the German army in the city. But now he frowned and asked Malinen: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how reliable is this situation?"
Malinen thought for a while and replied: "The intelligence was sent by our army's intelligence personnel lurking in the city. I think the accuracy is very high. Now our army has occupied Sedelce, which is only 90 kilometers away from Warsaw. It will take a day or two to reach just outside Warsaw.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, if this information is completely true, I would like to ask." Rokossovsky asked with a serious expression: "The people leading this uprising are Liudov Army, Liudov Guards The army and the peasant camp, or the Krajow army?”
"Comrade Marshal, I don't know." Malinen said with some embarrassment: "And this intelligence only said that the citizens of Warsaw will take military action against the German army in the near future, but when will the action be taken and how large-scale the military action will be. There was no mention of it at all, so I had no idea whether the underground organization leading this uprising was close to our army, or whether it was loyal to the Polish government in exile in London."
"Forget it, let's discuss this again when there is some movement in Warsaw." Rokossovsky put the information on the table, looked at Malinen and asked: "During my absence, is there anything special? Did something happen?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Malinen replied: "I just received a call from Poland. They have just established the Polish National Liberation Committee in Lublin to handle all affairs in Poland."
After hearing this, Rokossovsky smiled bitterly, "There is an exiled Polish government in London, and now a new government has been established in Lublin. I don't know who will have the final say about Poland in the future."
Malinen was really stumped by this question. He thought for a long time before he said: "Comrade Marshal, I think that after we have completely defeated the German invaders, the people who can walk the talk on Polish soil should be the people who just founded Lublin today." new government because it was they who led the Polish people to drive the German invaders out of the country."
"By the way, Comrade Marshal, there is one more thing I forgot to report to you."
"whats the matter?"
"Before you come back, I received a notice from the Supreme Command. From now on, Lieutenant General Gorbatov's 3rd Army and General Luchinsky's 28th Army will be assigned to the base camp reserve. That is to say, , the only troops on our right wing are General Batov’s 65th Army and General Sokov’s 48th Army.”
"So, our troops on the right wing have been greatly weakened."
"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Malinin said with a serious expression: "When Operation Bagration began, the four armies on the right wing were the first to attack. After more than a month of fighting, they were all affected to varying degrees. To weaken it. Now that two of the armies are removed, our right wing will face a serious shortage of troops."
"Whether it was the 48th Group Army or the 65th Group Army, when they advanced westward and swept all obstacles along the way, they exceeded the tasks we assigned them, but they also made huge sacrifices." Rokossovsky stared. Looking at the map, he said: "In other words, if you want them to continue to participate in the battle, you must give them a period of rest and replenish their troops, weapons and ammunition before launching a new attack."
"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Malinin, as Rokossovsky's old partner, naturally understood the other party's intention, nodded and said: "I immediately called the two group army commanders and asked them to temporarily stop their offensive operations. Switch to defense on the spot and seize the time to rest."
As soon as Sokov saw off Bulganin and Khrushchev, he received a call from Malinin: "Is it Comrade Sokov? I'm Malinin."
"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Although Sokov had guessed that the other party might have informed him to stop the attack, he still asked specifically: "I wonder what your instructions are?"
"According to the order of Comrade Marshal." Malinen said: "From now on, you and General Batov's 65th Group Army will stop attacking the German army, switch to defense on the spot, and seize the time to rest and reorganize the troops. Wait for the troops given to you by your superiors After the replenishment of weapons and ammunition arrives, we can launch a new attack on the enemy."
After Sokov put down the phone and conveyed the contents of Malinin's notice to the members of the headquarters, cheers suddenly erupted. After all, in the battle that lasted for more than forty days, everyone's nerves were highly tense, and no one had a full night's sleep. Now the troops have stopped attacking and switched to defense on the spot. Although there is still a lot of work to do every day, at least It's time to take a break.
Sure enough, Sokov then announced: "During the rest period, the members of the headquarters adopt a shift system. Everyone is divided into four groups, and each group's working time is eight hours. When the time is up, new groups will arrive. Take over from them. That way, everyone gets enough rest."
As soon as Sokov finished making arrangements, there was another round of cheers as expected.
Ponedelin said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, didn't Colonel Malyshev go to take over the troops? I wonder when he will come back?"
If Ponedelin did not remind him, Sokov almost forgot about it, and quickly turned to Sidorin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, did Colonel Malyshev call back?"
"Not yet, Comrade Commander." Sidorin said to Sokov: "I have been waiting for his call, but unfortunately, he has not called back yet."
"A full 50,000 soldiers," Ponejelin said: "We now have six infantry divisions and three infantry brigades. I wonder how you plan to distribute them?"
Sokov began to silently calculate in his mind how to distribute the 50,000 soldiers given to him by Khrushchev. After he calculated the results, he said to Ponejelin and Sidorin: "Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff, I plan to distribute it like this: three infantry brigades, each with two thousand men; six infantry divisions, each with The division is assigned 6,000 men. What do you think?"
Sidorin calculated on his fingers for a while, then raised his head and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, that's not right. Each infantry brigade is allocated two thousand people, here it is six thousand people; each of the six infantry divisions is allocated six thousand people , that’s 36,000 people. The total adds up to 42,000 people, where are the 8,000 people left?”
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov explained to Sidorin: "Although Comrade Khrushchev said there were fifty thousand people, when Colonel Malyshev received the troops, it was still unknown how many people there were, so We must leave some mobile numbers. Even if it is the full 50,000 people, the extra 8,000 people can be added to the direct troops of the group army."
"I agree with Comrade Commander's distribution method." Ponejelin said: "Although each division has suffered very serious attrition in these more than forty days of fighting, the remaining strength is still close to half. If each division With another 6,000 men added, the number of infantry divisions after completion of supplies will reach tens of thousands."
"After replenishing the troops, the number of each division has reached tens of thousands." Sidorin said: "But I wonder if the logistics force can provide a sufficient amount of weapons and equipment?"
"I guess it's a bit overwhelming." Sokov said: "If we only add 10,000 or 20,000 people, the weapons and ammunition in stock can be allocated to them. But now the new number of troops is 50,000, where can we find so many weapons? equipment. Therefore, in a short period of time, a considerable number of commanders and combatants may be without weapons."
"Comrade Commander, do we need to contact the front army headquarters immediately?" Ponejelin asked tentatively: "Please ask them to provide us with a sufficient amount of weapons and ammunition?"
"Not for the time being, Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov thought for a moment, and realized that under the current circumstances, the fewer people who knew about Khrushchev's private delivery of 50,000 new soldiers to him, the better. In order to avoid other friendly forces coming to compete for soldiers, a considerable part of the troops may have to be sent out.
"I have another question." After Sidorin waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he raised his concerns: "Now the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions have gone out to the Sedelce area. If they are given additional The new recruits have no weapons and have to march dozens of kilometers from Brest to their destination. What should they do if they are attacked by the Germans on the way?"
"That's right." Sidorin's words also reminded Ponyjelin. He nodded and said: "Twelve thousand recruits without weapons and no combat experience, if they are attacked by the German army during the march, , it will definitely fall into chaos, and may even be defeated by the enemy, and by then we may lose these newly added troops."
