Warhill did not expect that the first battalion would suffer almost all casualties in such a short period of time. He quickly reported the situation here to Bellinger on the right bank through the walkie-talkie he carried.
Bellinger was dumbfounded when he received the report. He never dreamed that the so-called commander Krzysztof from Liudov would actually trick his troops into entering an ambush circle. In a short period of time, Within a few seconds, he lost a battalion.
"Comrade Commander," Korchicha said with a frown on the side: "If there is a problem with Krzysztof, what happened to the three people rescued by the troops before crossing the river? What they said can be compared with Krzysztof’s statement is spot on.”
Before Bellinger could speak, Zawadsky spoke first: "Comrade Chief of Staff, haven't you seen that this should be the enemy's conspiracy?"
"The enemy's conspiracy?" Korchicha frowned and asked, "What conspiracy?"
By this time, Bellinger also understood what was going on. He snorted coldly and said to Korchica: "Obviously, Krzysztof and those three people are in the same group. First, Krzysztof My husband crossed the river to join us and made up a series of lies to gain our trust.
Perhaps he was worried that we would be suspicious of him, so before crossing the river, he arranged for Muller and others to cooperate. Once they discover that our army is gathering on the bank of the Vistula River and there are signs of crossing the river, Muller and others will pretend to be fleeing and cross the river in front of our army. When they are rescued and we find that what was said is basically consistent with what Krzysztof said, we will completely eliminate all doubts about him and trust him unconditionally. "
"So that's it." After figuring out what was going on, Korchicha asked Bellinger tentatively: "Comrade Commander, since our troops crossing the river have failed, should we let them withdraw?"
"What, withdraw?!" Bellinger rejected Korchica's proposal without hesitation: "No, our task is to board the left bank to support the rebels who are fighting bloody battles with the German army in the city. How can we just retreat casually because of a small loss?"
Bellinger looked at the troops across the river and said to Korchica: "Tell Colonel Galitsky to let his troops continue to cross the river. I think there are still people in the first battalion in the case of a sudden attack." Returning to the river alive means that the number of enemies entrenched in the Lazienki Palace will not be too large, allowing them to find ways to seize the palace and use it as a starting point for their attack."
After hearing what Bellinger said, Korchica also had his own ideas. He said cautiously: "Comrade Commander, I personally think that even if we cannot capture the Lazienki Palace, it actually doesn't matter. We can control the nearby Belvedere Palace, where the terrain is relatively high, is conducive to us observing the movements in the city."
"I think it's okay." Bellinger did not object this time, but nodded and said: "Chief of Staff, then you inform Colonel Galitsky of this decision and ask him to seize the Lazienki Palace if he cannot. , turned to seize Belvedere Palace and find a way to gain a foothold on the Left Bank.”
When the Third Battalion boarded the returning wooden boat and prepared to start crossing the river, Bellinger received a call from Rokossovsky: "General Bellinger, what is the situation there, has your troops crossed the river? "
"Yes, Comrade Marshal, my troops have begun to cross the river."
"went well?"
Rokossovsky's casual question put Bellinger in a difficult position. He didn't know whether he should report to Rokossovsky that he had been deceived.
Seeing Bellinger's delay in speaking, Rokossovsky realized something was wrong and asked again: "General Bellinger, has something happened?"
"Well, Comrade Marshal, there is indeed a slight situation."
"What's the situation?"
"That's it, Comrade Marshal." An ugly daughter-in-law always wants to see her parents-in-law. Bellinger knew that he had been deceived and could only hide it for a while. Rokossovsky was able to learn about it through his own unique news channel. The camp was ambushed. After a brief ideological struggle, he decided to confess to Rokossovsky truthfully: "Didn't I bring a commander of Liudov's army named Krzysztov to see you?"
"Yes, you did bring Krzysztof to see me." Rokossovsky asked curiously: "What happened to him?"
"Comrade Marshal, this is a long story. Please listen to me and explain it slowly." Bellinger then started talking about the three people who claimed to be Liudov's army who were rescued from the river before the troops crossed the river. It was not until the first battalion was brought to Lazienki Palace by Krzysztof and others that they were suddenly attacked and the troops suffered almost all casualties.
After hearing this, Rokossovsky was silent for a moment, and then asked: "General Bellinger, what are your plans next? Will you cancel the crossing operation, or will you cross the river as originally planned to find the comrades of Liudov's army?" "
"Needless to say, Comrade Marshal." Bellinger, who suffered a big loss not long ago, said unwillingly: "If we stop crossing the river after suffering a slight setback, I am afraid it will have a negative impact on the morale of the troops. The influence. So I ordered Colonel Galitsky to continue to lead the troops across the river, find a way to capture the Lazienki Palace and eliminate the enemies entrenched inside."
"Sooner or later our army will cross the river and enter the west of Warsaw." Rokossovsky said on the phone: "So it is completely necessary to send people to occupy a place on the left bank and establish a landing site. But I think the location of the Lazienki Palace , not very suitable!”
"Oh?!" Bellinger asked curiously, "Why?"
"The terrain there is too low. As long as the Germans occupy the commanding heights nearby, they can suppress you with firepower." Rokossovsky explained to the other party: "When you attack, you are attacking like a sheep, and you are easily attacked. Fire strikes from all directions caused huge casualties to the troops."
"Then what should we do?"
Rokossovsky glanced at the map in front of him, and then said: "I think you can consider capturing the Belvedere Palace southwest of the Lazienki Palace. The terrain there is high. After occupying it, you can observe the surrounding terrain from a high position. "
"Comrade Marshal," Bellinger exclaimed excitedly after hearing what Rokossovsky said: "I also think about it this way. Occupying the Belvedere Palace on higher ground is very beneficial to our army's establishment of a landing site. of."
"General Bellinger, since you have considered all the issues that should be considered, you must think of various countermeasures in advance." Rokossovsky reminded the other party: "Lest you encounter any emergencies, and Caught off guard. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Bellinger replied: "We will prepare some countermeasures to prevent the tragedy of the First Battalion from happening again."
After ending the call with Rokossovsky, Korchicha asked Bellinger: "Comrade Commander, there are only a few dozen people left in the first battalion, and it doesn't make much sense to continue to stay on the left bank. Do you think so?" Withdraw them?"
"Cannot withdraw." Bellinger replied resolutely again: "It is precisely because of the heavy casualties of the first battalion that they cannot be allowed to withdraw. Otherwise, when the troops on the right bank saw the first unit to board the other side, only the troops on the other side would be left. With such a small number of people, their emotions will definitely be affected. In the next battle, they will become hesitant and hesitant, and it will be difficult to win the battle."
While Bellinger was urging the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Division to cross the river, Rokossovsky was talking to Malinin in the headquarters about Bellinger being fooled. After listening to this, Malinin smiled bitterly and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, I once said at that time that something was wrong with this Krzysztof, and suggested to you that he be arrested for interrogation. If If you really do what I want, maybe General Bellinger won’t suffer the loss of being dumb.”
But after listening to Malinin's words, Rokossovsky shook his head and said slowly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, even if you persuade me to detain Krzysztov now, I will refuse. Because none of us We don’t know the details of the other party. Whether he is really our comrade or an undercover agent sent by the enemy, we cannot act rashly against him, otherwise the enemy will make a big fuss about it, saying that as long as anyone escapes to our defense area, They will all be arrested by us. This will intensify the conflict between us and the rebels."
Malinin was silent for a long time, and finally had to admit that Rokossovsky's statement was correct. After all, today's rebels have no contact with their own side at all. Occasionally one or two people come over, and it is impossible to accurately judge whether the other party is one of their own or the enemy. If he really followed his suggestion and arrested people without explanation, it would probably chill the hearts of the rebels who were preparing to defect to the Soviet army.
Thinking of this, he nodded and said slowly: "Comrade Commander, you are right. You must be particularly cautious when dealing with these people from the west of Warsaw, otherwise it is easy to have adverse effects."
Rokossovsky stared at the map for a while, then looked up at Malinin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can we build a pontoon bridge on the Vistula River to reconnect the east and west parts of Warsaw?"
"This may be very difficult." Malinin immediately poured cold water on Rokossovsky: "The pontoon bridge set up by Chuikov's 8th Guards Army in the Magnushev area has been attacked by enemy planes many times. bombing, and it was repeatedly blown up. If our army builds a bridge in Warsaw at this moment, it will not only be bombers that destroy the bridge, but also artillery of various calibers. They will keep shooting at the river. Until the pontoon bridge we built is blown to pieces.”
In order to dispel Rokossovsky's absurd idea, Malinin continued: "Even if we set up the pontoon bridge where the enemy's artillery fire cannot reach it, they will still have a way to destroy the pontoon bridge."
"Is there any way to destroy the floating bridge?"
"For example, find a small boat and fill it with explosives." Malinen said: "Then let the boat go down the river, and then detonate it when it reaches the location of our pontoon, which will blow up our pontoon into several sections."
After Malinin finished speaking, Rokossovsky realized that it would be an arduous task to build a pontoon bridge connecting the two sides of Warsaw. In order to prevent the Soviet army from transporting troops and supplies into the city through the pontoon bridge, the Germans would definitely use any means necessary. Destroy it, and your troops will definitely be exhausted by then.
"You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff." After some careful consideration, Rokossovsky had to admit that Malinen was right. Building a pontoon bridge on the Vistula River in Warsaw is a big deal. It was a simple thing, but not so simple to implement, so he finally chose to give up: "Under the current circumstances, we can only transport soldiers and weapons and equipment to the left bank of the river through ships."
"Comrade Commander," Malinin waited for Rokossovsky to finish, hesitated for a moment, and finally summoned the courage to say: "Why don't we try to concentrate our efforts and launch a general attack on Warsaw? If we are lucky, we can launch a general attack on Warsaw from Germany. There shouldn’t be much problem liberating this city from human hands.”
"Chief of Staff, have you ever thought about what the situation would be like if we concentrated our troops and launched an attack on Warsaw? Not only did we fail to capture the city, but we inflicted heavy casualties on the troops, what would the situation be like?"
Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Malinen became anxious. If the attack on Warsaw failed and the troops suffered heavy casualties, then the Germans would definitely take the opportunity to launch a counterattack. By that time, the 1st Belarusian Front, whose strength has been greatly weakened, will not be able to stop the fierce German fortifications. Maybe some of the territory captured with bloodshed and sacrifice will be taken back by the Germans.
"I think," Malinen said with some hesitation, "Once our attack on Warsaw fails, the entire Belarusian Front Army may be divided by the enemy, and many troops will be surrounded. By then, our commanders and soldiers will bleed. The territory gained through sacrifice will be taken back by the Germans again."
"You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov agreed with Malinin's statement: "Our troops have been fighting non-stop since the beginning of Operation Bagration. Even if we enter After entering Poland, the fighting never stopped. After such a long period of fighting, our originally full-strength troops experienced varying degrees of attrition. Some troops even lost one-half of their troops. However, Not getting enough supplements.
Not only are our troops short of men, but our commanders and soldiers are already exhausted after three months of fighting. I don't think we can win with such a force when attacking Warsaw. "
"Are we just going to stay outside Warsaw?"
"That's not the case." Rokossovsky shook his head and continued: "When the time is right, we will officially launch an attack on Warsaw. I believe that by then, we will be able to take advantage of the Germans. Liberate Warsaw."
"I wonder when do you think it is the best time for us to attack Warsaw?" Malinen asked.
Rokossovsky mentally recalled the current status of each unit and the speed at which his superiors were replenishing troops, weapons and ammunition, and then said slowly: "I don't think we have the ability to launch an attack on Warsaw before October 20." Attack on the city."
"Ah, we didn't have the ability to launch an attack on Warsaw before October 20th?" Malinen said with some surprise: "We actually have to wait for more than a month. I just don't know if the rebels in Warsaw can persist until then. when."
