The actions deployed by Sokov greatly exceeded the expectations of the German army. According to their assumptions, the Soviet troops who established a landing site in Luran Town would definitely converge with the troops of the 65th Group Army to the north, connecting the two landing sites dozens of kilometers apart. If this strategic goal cannot be achieved, then develop westward and expand the defense depth of Luran Town.
But they soon discovered that they had made a huge error in judgment. The Soviet troops in Ruran Town did not develop north or west, but expanded the area of the landing site toward the southwest, and even built several pontoon bridges on the Narew River. With these pontoons, the soldiers, technical equipment and various materials needed for the landing site can continuously flow from the right bank to the left bank area.
Naturally, the German army would not let the Soviet troops at the Luran landing field grow bigger. They immediately dispatched an armored division and an infantry division to attack, trying to drive the Soviet troops away from the left bank area while their foothold was not stable.
Now that Sokov has occupied this area, he will naturally not let the Germans retake it. In addition to ordering the 1st, 6th and 120th Guards Divisions that occupied the landing site to carry out tenacious defense based on fortifications, he also sent several small teams deep into the enemy's rear to attack the enemy's communication lines, warehouses, military depots and headquarters, forcing the enemy to Instead of deploying some troops from the front to encircle and suppress these small units, we can disrupt the enemy's offensive steps and greatly reduce the pressure on frontal defense.
Rokossovsky, who was staying at the front headquarters, soon discovered a special phenomenon: Bartov called him every three days to ask for help, either asking the air force to provide air support to drive away German bombers that bombed the landing site, or Use artillery to intercept German ground troops attacking the landing site.
But Sokov never asked for help, so that he had the illusion that the Germans only attacked Batov's landing site and turned a blind eye to the landing site established by Sokov's troops in Ruran Town.
But he also knew in his heart that the so-called idea that the Germans would only attack the Puutusk landing site and not the Ruran landing site was just wishful thinking on his part. According to the intelligence he had obtained, the attack faced by Sokov's troops was not at all clear. Not much worse than Bartov.
In order to find out what was going on, Rokossovsky specifically called Sokov: "Misha, this is Rokossovsky."
"Hello, Comrade Marshal." Sokov was surprised to hear that it was Rokossovsky who called him. He asked tentatively: "What instructions do you have?"
"Misha, there's something I don't quite understand, and I want to ask you for advice."
"Comrade Marshal, I don't dare to ask for advice." Sokov said modestly: "If you want to know anything, please just ask. As long as I know the answer, I will definitely tell you everything."
"Your Luran landing site was attacked by the Germans every day, and as far as I know, the Germans used an armored division and an infantry division." Rokossovsky asked curiously: "You are facing such a formidable force. Not only were they able to block their fierce attacks, but they also never asked me for help. I want to ask, what is going on?"
When Sokov heard Rokossovsky's question, he couldn't help but be stunned, and asked with some confusion: "Comrade Marshal, is there anyone who often asks you for help?"
"That's right." For Rokossovsky, Sokov was not an outsider, so he had no scruples when speaking: "General Bartov fought the Germans at the landing site on the left bank of Narew. It was very difficult. From time to time, I would be asked to send out the air force to provide them with the necessary air cover, or the front artillery units to provide artillery support."
After Sokov figured out what was going on, he explained to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, this is what happened. In fact, it is very simple. In addition to fighting the German attack frontally, I also sent many The squad disguised themselves as Germans, went deep into the enemy's rear, attacked the enemy's transportation lines, and attacked their warehouses, military depots and headquarters, thereby disrupting their attack plan. In order to relieve their worries, the Germans did not wait to attack from the front. A considerable number of soldiers were mobilized from the combat troops to return to the rear to clear out our small detachments. As a result, their original combat plan was disrupted by us, and with the reduction of the forward troops, the defenders at the landing site were The pressure will naturally lessen.”
Rokossovsky had never been too fond of sending a small group deep behind enemy lines. He always felt that such petty fights would not lead to success, so he did not bother to do it. But now after listening to Sokov's explanation, I realized that I might have been biased to a certain extent when thinking about the problem, and I had to find a way to solve it.
Just when Rokossovsky wanted to ask Sokov for advice on how to carry out sabotage operations behind enemy lines, Malinin called to him in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, your phone number."
"Wait a moment," Rokossovsky waved to Malinin and said, "Don't you see that I am on the phone with Misha?"
"It's Comrade Stalin calling."
Hearing that the call was from Stalin, Rokossovsky did not dare to neglect, quickly hung up the phone with Sokov, walked over and took the microphone from Malinin: "Hello, Comrade Stalin, this is Rokossovsky. Kossovsky.”
"Hello, dear Konstantin Konstantinovich!" Stalin smiled and called Rokossovsky by his birth and father's names, and asked: "Were you talking to little Misha just now?"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky did not wait for Stalin to ask again, then reported the contents of the call between himself and Sokov to the other party.
After listening to this, Stalin said thoughtfully: "Comrade Rokossovsky, maybe we all ignore the importance of guerrilla warfare in enemy-occupied areas, and always feel that in order to destroy the enemy, we should use regular troops to compete with them face to face. These tactics of Xiao Misha seem ordinary, but in actual combat, they play an unexpected role."
"Yes, Comrade Stalin, I think so too." Rokossovsky said to Stalin: "I was just about to discuss this matter with him when your call came in."
"Dear Konstantin Konstantinovich, I called you today about another matter." Stalin said on the phone: "It is about the Warsaw Uprising."
"The Warsaw Uprising?" Rokossovsky asked curiously: "Comrade Stalin, why did you suddenly mention this matter?"
"The exiled government in London not only sent me a telegram asking for help, but even sent a delegation to visit Moscow in two days." Stalin said on the phone: "In a word, I hope we can help the people of Warsaw. The rebel army provides necessary help."
Hearing what Stalin said, Rokossovsky couldn't help but sneered: "To provide help, who do we provide help? More than a month has passed since the outbreak of the uprising, but the Klajov Army, as the leader of the uprising, has They have never had any situational contact with us, so the situation in Warsaw is still unknown to us..."
Stalin did not interrupt Rokossovsky, but listened quietly. He took off the pipe from his mouth, knocked the ash inside into the ashtray, and then slowly filled it with tobacco.
After he lit the end of his pipe and took a deep breath, he asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, do you think the 1st Belarusian Front has the ability to launch a campaign in the near future to liberate Warsaw from the Germans?" ?”
"I'm afraid this can't be done." After hearing Stalin's question, Rokossovsky said with some embarrassment: "We know nothing about the situation in Warsaw. How can we provide help to the rebels? Also, Several armies under my command are currently fighting the enemy in different areas and cannot escape at all, so I feel that it is obviously inappropriate to launch a new offensive campaign in a short period of time."
After receiving Rokossovsky's negative answer, Stalin thought for a moment and then said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I hope you can do your best to help the uprising to alleviate their difficulties. As for how to help the uprising You have the final say, I won't interfere with you easily."
Now that Stalin had spoken to this extent, what else could Rokossovsky say? He could only bite the bullet and reply: "Okay, Comrade Stalin, I will do my best."
After ending the call with Stalin, Rokossovsky fell into deep thought. He began to consider that although the situation in Warsaw was still unknown, it was obviously impossible not to provide assistance to the rebels. Thinking of this, he called Malinen to him and said to him: "Chief of Staff, Comrade Stalin asked us to provide assistance to the rebels in Warsaw. Tell me, what should we do?"
After listening to Rokossovsky's question, Malinen thought for a while, and then replied: "The situation in Warsaw is unclear now, and it is obviously inappropriate to take large-scale military actions rashly. I think we should start from two aspects at the same time." .”
"What two aspects?" Rokossovsky asked.
"First, we can airdrop weapons, ammunition, food and medicine to the insurgents in the city. With these things, they can continue to fight the Germans."
"What about the second point?"
"Second, we can allow the Polish 1st Army to mobilize some troops to cross the river and enter the west of Warsaw." Malinen said cautiously: "In any case, they are Polish soldiers, and they are more likely to be accepted by the citizens of Warsaw. They may be able to There is a chance to contact the rebel leaders in the city."
"Let me add two points." Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish and immediately added: "The first is to order the anti-aircraft artillery units of the front army to attack enemy planes that appear in the sky so that they cannot respond to the uprising in the city. The army carried out air strikes. The second was to use artillery to suppress the German artillery positions with firepower so that they could not bombard the rebel defense areas unscrupulously."
After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Malinin asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, how should we take action?"
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"I think the airdrop to the rebels in the city will start tonight." Rokossovsky organized the vocabulary in his mind and continued: "As for the Polish 1st Army crossing the river, , I think it’s better to call General Bellinger to discuss it before we discuss it.”
After Bellinger received Malinen's call, he knew there must be something important and rushed over as soon as possible. Seeing Rokossovsky and Malinin, he asked with some urgency: "Comrade Marshal, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are so anxious to call me over. Is there anything important?"
"That's right, General Bellinger." Malinen said: "After research, the commander and I felt that it was obviously not yet mature to launch a campaign to liberate Warsaw in a short period of time. After all, the troops have been fighting for such a long time. The losses in soldiers and weapons and equipment were huge, and it was impossible to launch a campaign until new reinforcements were obtained.
Although we cannot launch a campaign for the time being, we do nothing against the rebels fighting the Germans in Warsaw. Therefore, we plan to air-drop weapons, ammunition, food and medicine to the city starting tonight to support them in continuing to fight the enemy. "
"It would be great if we could do this." Bellinger beamed when he heard what Malinen said: "You know, the rebels in the city fought the Germans for more than a month. In terms of weapons, ammunition, food and food, The consumption is huge, and if they can get airdrops from our army, they will be able to continue fighting."
"One more thing is that I plan to let you allocate part of your troops to cross the Vistula River secretly, get in touch with the rebels in the west of the city, and cooperate with our troops to enter the west of Warsaw."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm afraid this is not easy to handle." Bellinger said with some embarrassment: "According to our scouts' report, in order to prevent our troops from entering Warsaw, the Germans have destroyed all the bridges connecting the two sides of the Vistula River. It was blown up. It may not be easy to get to the other side of the river."
"General Bellinger, you don't have to worry about this." Malinen said: "We will prepare enough river crossing equipment for you to cross the river with a certain number of troops. As long as they can establish contact with the rebels, they will be able to cross the river on the other side. Stand firm and prepare to welcome the large force into Warsaw."
Bellinger was overjoyed to learn that his troops could enter Warsaw with priority. He nodded quickly and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, I will arrange the crossing troops when I get back. As long as I have enough river crossing equipment, I can Send them all to the other side in the shortest possible time.”
Seeing that Bellinger agreed to send troops to cross the river, Rokossovsky finally felt relieved. However, he still reminded Bellinger: "General Bellinger, your troops fighting across the river should preferably be in the size of four or five battalions, and arrange a regiment-level commander to uniformly command these troops. In order to avoid having to wait until the battle starts. In the end, troops without unified command will fall into a chaotic state of fighting independently.
Before the battle begins, you must consider issues such as the time and location of landing, artillery support and air support plans, coordination with the insurgents, etc. Among them, communication with the insurgents is the most important. After all, they are familiar with the terrain and can help your troops gain a foothold on the other side as soon as possible. "
"Comrade Marshal, you can rest assured on this." Bellinger waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking and then said carelessly: "Before we cross the river to fight, we must negotiate with the rebels and ensure that they are in the territory they control. Cross the river in the area. After gathering a certain amount of troops, we will use that as the starting point for the attack and launch an attack on the strongholds occupied by the German army."
