Just as the troops of the 3rd Polish Infantry Division were gathering towards the Vistula River, the soldiers on guard suddenly discovered a few black spots in the river. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be three people. They were heading towards the bank where they were. Swim over. The soldier did not dare to neglect and quickly reported the matter to his company commander. The company commander saw clearly the person swimming in the water and quickly reported it to the battalion commander. Soon, the division commander, Colonel Galitsky, received information that someone was swimming towards the right bank.
When he came to the shore, the three people in the water were only seventy or eighty meters away from the shore, and they could vaguely hear their paddling. Maybe it was because the distance swam was too long, and all three of them seemed a little out of their depth. One of them began to float and sink, and seemed to be sinking to the bottom soon.
Upon seeing this, Galitsky quickly ordered his men: "Send a boat to the river immediately to pick up the three of them."
The three people in the river were about to lose their support. When they saw the boat being put into the river, they suddenly became excited as if they had been given blood. They speeded up their paddling speed and swam towards the boat.
When the three people were rescued and climbed to the shore, Bellinger rushed to the shore with his chief of staff Korchica, military commissar Zawadsky and others.
Krzysztof, who came with Bellinger, saw the faces of the three people clearly and asked in surprise: "Damn it, Mueller, how could it be you? Why are you here?"
The man known as Muller looked up and saw Krzysztov squatting in front of him, and couldn't help being shocked: "Krzysztov, why is it you? Didn't you mean that all of you who went to the meeting were killed by Krzysztof? Were the soldiers killed?"
"That's right, when we arrived at the meeting place, we didn't see General Boer, but we were shot by a group of gunmen of unknown origin. Most of the people were killed on the spot. I was lucky enough to escape from the window." Krzysztof After the husband briefly talked about his experience, he asked: "Mueller, tell me quickly, why are you here?"
"When the news of your accident came, the brothers were immediately thrown into chaos. I don't know what happened and why the people from the Klajov Army attacked you." Muller said: "Cornell took more than 30 brothers with him. , went to find people from the Krajov Army to find out what was going on. Unexpectedly, they were ambushed as soon as they reached the halfway point. Cornel was robbed and beaten to death on the spot. Only a few of the brothers who went with him were The injured one fled back.
Not long after they came back, people from the Krajov Army rushed over and raided our station. At that time, a small group of more than 50 of us fought and retreated towards the Vistula River, because we knew that there was a 300-strong Liudov Guards at the Lazienki Palace and planned to join them. Finally, consider what to do next. "
"Then why didn't you join up with the troops at Lazienki Palace?" Bellinger couldn't help but interject after hearing this: "You still have to cross the river to the right bank in such an embarrassing manner?"
"Mr. General!" Muller said: "When we were approaching the Lazienki Palace, we encountered a German army. They had armored vehicles and machine guns. We were all lightly armed and were no match for them. We were quickly dispersed. The three of us finally escaped to the river, but seeing that there was nowhere to go, we had to risk swimming over to join the Russians... Oh, no, it was the Soviet army."
To be honest, Bellinger was still somewhat suspicious of Krzysztof who suddenly appeared. But when I heard what Mueller said, I felt that the two men did not appear at the same time, and they said roughly the same words. It seemed that I was being overly concerned. Thinking of this, he turned to the commander of the 3rd Division and said: "Colonel Galitsky, immediately send a battalion across the river and rush to the Lazienki Palace to join the comrades of the Liudov Guards there."
"Comrade General," Krzysztov said to Bellinger, "I am familiar with the terrain and am also familiar with the commander of Liudov's Guards who is stationed in the Lazienki Palace. I will accompany your advance troops across the river. Bar."
Seeing that Krzysztof volunteered, Bellinger didn't want to displease him, so he nodded in agreement: "Okay, Comrade Krzysztov, I'll trouble you. But the other side is too dangerous, so you have to Be careful."
"Comrade General, I have one more request." Seeing that Bellinger agreed to his request, Krzysztof continued: "I hope you can let Mueller and the other three cross the river with us, so that even if I die unfortunately Now, they can continue to serve as your guides."
Bellinger thought about his troops crossing the river. What was he most worried about? It’s just that no one is responding and I don’t know what direction to develop. Now that someone is willing to take the initiative to act as a guide, it is naturally a dream: "I think it is okay. I still say what I said, you must be more careful when you reach the other side of the river."
Due to the limited number of boats, the first battalion to cross the river was the First Battalion. There are more than 500 people in the battalion. The battalion commander, Captain Tomasz, was a platoon leader in the Polish army before the war. He became a prisoner of the Soviet army shortly after the war broke out. After staying in a prisoner of war camp for three years, he took the initiative to join the newly formed Polish army. Because of his outstanding military exploits, he was promoted to battalion commander as an exception.
Before the troops set off, Colonel Galitsky told him: "Captain, your battalion is the vanguard of the entire division. After arriving on the other side, you must rendezvous with the Liudov Guards who are stationed in the Lazienki Palace as soon as possible, and With their help, we will consolidate the defensive positions of Lazienki Palace to support the main force in crossing the river, do you understand?"
"Understood, Colonel." Tomash replied: "Please rest assured that our battalion will control the Lazienki Palace as soon as possible and support the main force to cross the river."
The ship entered the river, and the officers and soldiers boarded it. It took almost half an hour for the ship to dock on the left bank of the Vistula River. After all the officers and soldiers of the first battalion disembarked, someone immediately rowed a boat to the right bank to prepare for the new troops to cross the river.
When Krzysztof and others who were accompanying the first battalion saw that the first battalion had completed its assembly, they said to Tomash: "Comrade Captain, please come with me, and I will take you to Lazienki Palace."
After walking along the road for more than ten minutes, everyone saw a palace in front of them. Krzysztof pointed to the location of the palace and said to Tomas: "Comrade Captain, have you seen that palace? That is the Lazienki Palace we are going to."
But when the troops were still two or three hundred meters away from the Lazienki Palace, Krzysztof said to Tomash: "Comrade Captain, please wait here with your people while I go in and communicate with the people inside." , lest they see the troops coming and there would be any misunderstanding."
Regarding Krzysztof's statement, Tomash nodded and said: "Comrade Krzysztov, you are right. A large group of us entering the palace directly may cause misunderstandings among the troops inside." , then please go and get in touch with them first, and it won’t be too late for us to enter the palace.”
When Krzysztof, Muller and others were walking towards the palace, Captain Sally, the company commander, walked up to Tomash and said jokingly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, tell me, are there any people in the palace?" Are there countless guns pointed at us? What if they just wait for Krzysztof and the others to open fire on us as soon as they enter the palace?"
"Don't talk nonsense," Tomash glared at Sally and said dissatisfiedly: "Krzysztov is our comrade, and the Liudov Guards in the palace are also our allies. How could they move towards Shall we shoot?"
I saw Krzysztof coming to the entrance of the palace. The originally closed door opened, and a young man wearing casual clothes and holding a weapon walked out of it. He talked with Krzysztov for a few seconds. After saying this, he invited them into the palace and then closed the palace door.
Seeing Krzysztof entering the palace, Tomas pouted in that direction and said, "Captain, did you see that? The guards of the palace were wearing civilian clothes, and they were obviously members of Liudov's Guards. Comrade, how can they do anything against us?"
After waiting for a while, Tomash did not see Krzysztof and others coming out of the palace. On the contrary, several windows on the second floor of the palace were opened, and figures could be vaguely seen moving inside. At this moment, an ominous premonition suddenly surged in Thomas's heart: "Captain Sally, I think something is wrong. Let the troops disperse and hide."
But before Sally could convey Tomash's order to the soldiers, a strange scream came from the air. "No, it's a shelling!" Hearing this sound, Tomash's expression suddenly changed and he shouted loudly: "Hide, hide quickly."
But it was already too late. Groups of artillery shells drew an arc and hit the troops staying in the open space. Amidst the explosions, screams could be heard from the team.
When mortars bombarded the ranks of the first battalion, three general-purpose machine guns sticking out of the window began firing wildly. Although the distance of two hundred meters is a bit far for shooting with a rifle, it is the best range for the German mg42 machine gun. Some soldiers who were lucky enough to escape the shelling and did not have time to lie down fell under machine gun fire.
Seeing his men falling one after another, Sally couldn't help but blood rushing to his head. He raised his pistol, fired two shots in the air, and shouted at the soldiers behind him: "Brothers, follow me! Rush into the palace and destroy the enemies inside." Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished shouting, a bullet penetrated his forehead and flew out from the back of his head with blood foam.
The tactician who had just gotten up from the ground suddenly panicked when he saw his company commander was shot in the head by a sniper. No one dared to rush towards the palace, but instead lay on the ground again to avoid the flying shells and bullets.
Tomash, who was hiding behind a statue, shouted to the radio operator not far away: "Hurry up and call the division headquarters, saying that we have been led into a trap by Krzysztof, and the troops have suffered a lot of casualties."
When the radio operator started calling, the troops waiting on the right bank of the river to cross the river also heard the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of Lazienki Palace. Bellinger frowned and said to Korchica: "Chief of Staff, did you hear the gunfire from the other side?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Korchica nodded and said, "I heard it!"
"Don't you think it's strange? Krzysztof took a battalion to the Lazienki Palace to join forces with the Liudov Guards who were stationed there." Bellinger said with a solemn expression: "Why are there guns and artillery? Where is the sound? Did they have a misunderstanding?"
"Probably not." Korchica said: "With Krzysztov and his men from Liudov's army leading the way, there should be no misunderstanding between the troops staying in the palace and the first battalion."
As soon as he finished speaking, Colonel Galitsky hurried over and said repeatedly: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander, something happened! Something happened!!"
When Bellinger saw this, he couldn't help being frightened and asked hurriedly: "What happened?"
"Captain Tomash reported that as soon as their troops approached the Lazienki Palace, they were attacked by the defenders inside." Colonel Galitsky said: "Now the first battalion has suffered larger casualties."
"What?" Bellinger was shocked and asked, "Is there some misunderstanding?"
"It's not a misunderstanding." Colonel Galitsky shook his head and said: "According to Captain Tomash's report, this was obviously a premeditated action, and it happened after Krzysztof and others entered the palace. He was seriously I suspect that they fell into a trap set by the enemy."
Bellinger's face turned livid. When Krzysztof appeared, he felt a little strange. After all, this man appeared too unexpectedly. Although he took the other party to see Sokov, he just wanted to find out the other party's details. After receiving the order to cross the river, he also wanted to keep Krzysztof by his side to monitor. But the three people rescued from the river dispelled their suspicions. Now that I think about it, those three people were also arranged in advance to appear before the troops crossed the river in order to better conceal Krzysztof's true identity.
After figuring out what was going on, he knew that if the first battalion continued to stay on the left bank, the whole army would probably be wiped out. He quickly ordered Colonel Galitsky: "Colonel, immediately order the second battalion to cross the river and go to meet the enemy." One battalion retreats.”
"The second battalion is boarding the ship. It will take half an hour at the fastest to reach the other side." Colonel Galitsky asked Bellinger for instructions: "Comrade Commander, would you like to ask the first battalion to retreat to the river first? This will make it easier for the second battalion." The battalion’s support?”
"I think it's okay." Bellinger knew that if the battalion continued to stay near the Lazienki Palace, it would be a lamb to be slaughtered. Only by choosing to retreat and finding a suitable place to establish a blocking position can we save more lives. He decisively ordered: "Immediately order the first battalion to withdraw from the battle and retreat to the riverside position."
After receiving the order to retreat, Tomash immediately asked the soldiers to withdraw to the river. But at this moment, the number of machine guns on the window had increased to five, and the dark red muzzle flames were like the scythe of death, constantly waving towards the retreating soldiers. In just a while, another seventy or eighty soldiers fell in a pool of blood. middle.
Some soldiers saw that their retreat route was blocked by intensive machine gun fire. If they forced their way through, there would be only one way to die. They simply lay down among the corpses and pretended to be dead, waiting for the enemy's machine gun fire to stop before they could find an opportunity to escape from the danger. .
When Captain Warhill, commander of the second battalion, led his troops onto the left bank, Thomas stumbled to the river with the remaining soldiers. After the two met, Warhill quickly put his troops on alert, and then asked Thomas with concern: "Tomash, what are the casualties in your battalion?"
Tomash turned his head and glanced at the forty or fifty soldiers behind him, and said to Vohir with a wry smile: "Vohir, all the people alive in our battalion are here."
