After several anti-tank artillery regiments and tank brigades sent by the front army arrived at the Narev River, Rokossovsky said to the director of the armored forces Orliol: "Comrade director of the armored forces, from now on, you and these armored forces will Under Bartov's command. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Although Orliol's rank was similar to that of Bartov, since it was Rokossovsky's personal order, he naturally had to carry it out unconditionally. He turned to Batov and said seriously: "Please give the order, General Batov."
Batov was originally worried about whether the other party would be resistant to letting Orliol accept his command. After all, when Rokossovsky first became the commander of the 16th Group Army, Orliol was his director of armored forces and had seniority. Much older than myself. But now that he saw the other party happily agreeing to accept his command, the boulder in his heart finally fell to the ground.
"General Orliol," Batov said politely, "the specific combat deployment will be explained to you by my chief of staff, General Glebov."
Glebov took Orliol to the side and began to assign combat tasks to him. Although it was a bit far away, Rokossovsky could still hear some voices coming from: "...There is an infantry battalion under each tank brigade. I think they can carry out an attack on the German army with the cooperation of tanks. Counterattack..."
"Comrade Marshal." Bartov suddenly said to Rokossovsky: "It's a pity that the weather is bad today and the air force cannot attack. Otherwise, no matter how many German tanks there are, we will be able to defeat them."
Speaking of the weather, Rokossovsky looked a bit unhappy, because before he came here, he had asked the meteorological department that because the weather was too bad, the air force would not be able to dispatch even tomorrow, let alone today. "Batov, before I came here, I asked the meteorological department that this bad weather will last for several days, so you may not be able to receive support from the air force for a certain period of time. You must be mentally prepared."
Although Bartov had long known that he might not be able to receive support from the Air Force in the near future, he still felt a little disappointed when he heard Rokossovsky say it himself. However, in front of Rokossovsky, he still had to pretend to be fat: "Comrade Marshal, please rest assured that even without the support of the air force, we will definitely be able to defeat the enemy who attacks the landing site."
While Orliol was still gathering the two newly arrived anti-tank artillery regiments and three tank brigades, General Proshlyakov, the engineer of the front army, came to the river and, together with the director of the engineering corps of the 65th Group Army, More pontoon bridges were built across the river to allow armored troops to cross the river smoothly.
Several newly added pontoon bridges soon appeared on the Narew River. It was with the help of these pontoon bridges that the armored forces commanded by Orliol were able to quickly cross the Narew River and launch an attack on the Germans as soon as possible. counterattacked.
The Germans did not expect so many Soviet tanks to appear, and were caught off guard. Soon their attack on the riverside positions was contained, and they even had to choose to retreat under the powerful offensive of the Soviet troops. .
"Comrade Marshal," Bartov couldn't wait to report to Rokossovsky as soon as he received the information: "As the armored forces have entered the battle, the German attack on the preset positions by the river has been contained. Oliao General Er said he was regrouping his forces in preparation for a counterattack against the Germans."
"Good job." Rokossovsky learned that the attack organized by Orliol had contained the German attack at the Puutusk landing site. He nodded, then called the director of the communications corps and told the other party: : "Comrade Director, please help me get through to the 48th Group Army Headquarters. I have something to explain."
When the director of the communications corps arranged for the communications corps to connect the line, Telekin said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, I think the situation on the left bank can be improved. In addition to the armored forces commanded by Orly, Proshli The pontoon bridge built by General Yaakov also played a huge role."
"You are right, Comrade Military Commissar." Rokossovsky agreed with Kirov's statement: "If it weren't for the pontoon bridge built by Engineer Proshlyakov and the Director of Engineering of the 65th Group Army, , our armored forces were not able to cross the Narew River in such a short period of time. Our army was able to secure the landing site on the left bank, and engineers Proshlyakov and Orlyakov had a lot of credit."
At this time, the director of the communications corps told Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, the call from the 48th Army Headquarters has been connected."
Rokossovsky took the microphone and said: "Misha, our counterattack on the left bank has been effective. The enemy's attack has been contained and even started to retreat in some areas. If you want to take any action, I will I feel like I can take action.”
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov has been paying attention to the news on the left bank. He heard that the counterattack has begun in the direction of the Puutusk landing field, and he was naturally happy. However, he also knew that his attack just now aroused the vigilance of the German army. At this moment, in There must be a considerable number of troops in front of Ponijelin. If he launches an attack rashly, he may bring the war on his side into a stalemate. It was out of this consideration that he told Rokossovsky: "I think we have to wait a little longer before my troops can go into battle."
Rokossovsky called Sokov at this time, simply because he wanted the troops sent by the 48th Army to the left bank to act together so that the German troops could not look at each other, thus speeding up the counterattack. But he didn't expect that his proposal would be rejected by Sokov. He asked with some displeasure: "Misha, what are you waiting for? Wait until the enemies are driven out of the Puutusk landing site, and then you can attack the enemy again." Launch an attack?"
"No, Comrade Marshal." Sokov heard the anger in Rokossovsky's tone and explained to him: "In order to prevent us from approaching friendly forces again, the German army deployed a large number of troops in front of us. If we attack now, the war will definitely fall into a stalemate, and not only will we not be able to support friendly forces, but our own troops may also suffer considerable losses."
In order to prevent Rokossovsky from having an attack, he continued: "Although I don't plan to send the troops to attack at this moment, we can make them look like they are attacking so that the enemy can't figure out what we are going to do. This can contain their forces, which can also help reduce some pressure on friendly forces."
After listening to Sokov's words, Rokossovsky thought about it and thought what he said was very interesting, so he nodded, "Misha, your idea is right. The Germans have already suffered a loss once. Don't dare to take risks again. Even if you really stand still, as long as you show preparations to attack, the Germans will have to use a considerable number of troops to guard against you. As a result, the number of troops used to fight in other directions will be reduced. , creating favorable conditions for us to recapture the entire landing site."
In the next two days of fighting, the main force of the 65th Group Army, which returned to the left bank of the Narew River, with the support of armored units, launched wave after wave of attacks against the enemies occupying the landing site, and finally drove out all the enemies. own landing site.
On the third day of the battle, as the weather improved, a large number of Soviet fighter planes appeared over the battlefield and carried out intensive bombing of German artillery positions, armored units and infantry on the ground, causing huge casualties to the Germans.
Seeing the Puutusk landing site expanding little by little, Rokossovsky made a new decision. He called General Popov, commander of the 70th Group Army: "General Popov, The 65th Group Army fought the Germans at the Puutusk landing site for three days. In addition to recovering the lost positions, it also expanded the area of the landing site a lot. But unfortunately, the troops suffered a lot of casualties in the battle. It is difficult to effectively defend such a large landing site, so I plan to transfer your 70th Army over and work with Batov to expand this landing site."
When Popov heard what Rokossovsky said, he couldn't help but smile: "Comrade Marshal, we have been waiting for a day. You know, since the battle in the attack triangle was cancelled, the commanders and soldiers were very worried. I feel uncomfortable. I feel that I finally got a chance to fight face to face with the Germans, but it was canceled for no reason..."
"General Popov, the cancellation of the battle plan to attack the triangle area is not inexplicable." Rokossovsky interrupted Popov after hearing what Popov said, and corrected him: "It was because of the enemy's artillery fire at that time. The path forward of the attacking troops is blocked. If we insist on attacking the enemy positions in the triangle area according to combat opportunities, the attacking troops will inevitably suffer heavy losses."
Rokossovsky raised his hand to look at the time and continued: "Your troops must enter the Puutusk landing site before three o'clock in the afternoon. How about it? Can it be done?"
After hearing what Rokossovsky said, Popov hurriedly checked the time and found that there were less than two hours left before the deadline mentioned by the other party. He hurriedly replied: "Comrade Marshal, all troops must be There may be some problems entering the landing site on the left bank before three o'clock, but I think there will be no problem if one or two divisions are stationed."
"Okay, then you can station two divisions first." Rokossovsky reminded the other party: "General Popov, let me remind you that every minute on the battlefield is precious. If it is due to action The delay gave the Germans time to strengthen their defenses, which could increase troop casualties."
"Comrade Marshal, I understand. I will send the troops out immediately." Popov said on the other end of the phone: "My troops will enter the position on the left bank of the Narew River in the shortest possible time."
As soon as the call with Popov ended, Glebov called Rokossovsky over there: "Comrade Marshal, your phone number." Before Rokossovsky could ask who was calling. , he took the initiative and said, "It's Chief of Staff Malinen calling."
Rokossovsky knew very well that if there was nothing important, Malinin would not call him at the headquarters of the 65th Army. He quickly took the phone and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what's the matter? "
"Comrade Commander." Malinin said on the phone: "Since the Puutusk landing site has been retaken, I plan to formulate a new combat plan and let you know first."
"Let me know what you think about it."
"My basic idea is: to carry out the main assault from the Puutusk landing site on the Narew River, bypassing Warsaw from the north; and from the Magnushev and Pulawi landing sites, from the south of Warsaw towards Poznan A far-reaching assault, with the intention of concentrating our forces in accordance with this idea.”
Hearing what Malinin said, Rokossovsky remembered that yesterday, the 69th Army commanded by General Kolpacchi successfully crossed the Vistula River and established a landing site in the Pulawi area on the left bank. He stared at the map for a while and felt that Malinen's plan was very good. The north and south routes bypassed Warsaw, which was heavily guarded by the German army, and made deep detours towards the German defenses from both wings. As long as the German army's retreat route was cut off, then Warsaw's The situation for the German army will become difficult.
After Malinin finished talking about his plan, he did not hear Rokossovsky speak. He thought that the other party did not agree with his opinion, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, what do you think of my new campaign plan?"
"Very good, very good." Rokossovsky looked away from the map, stood up straight and said, "I just looked at the map. Your plan is very good. It can be reported to the General Staff immediately. Let’s see what they mean.”
"Well, I will immediately report the plan to the Chief of General Staff, Comrade Antonov, to see what he thinks of our plan."
Bartov, who was standing not far away, vaguely heard some of the contents of the call between Rokossovsky and Malinin, but he knew that it was top secret. Before the battle plan was officially announced, he could not know too much, so he deliberately kept it secret. He moved his body to the side.
When Popov called Rokossovsky, he reported that his two infantry divisions had successfully crossed the Narew River and entered the Puutusk landing site on the left bank.
"General Popov," Rokossovsky said on the phone: "You immediately appoint a commander to unified command the troops of these two divisions, and under the guidance of friendly forces, launch an attack on the area where the German troops are entrenched. Attack. You know, General Bartov's troops have been fighting the Germans on the landing site for three days. The commanders and fighters have become exhausted, but your troops are a new force. I hope that their joining can Completely crushing the last resistance of the Germans."
"Comrade Marshal, don't worry." Popov assured Rokossovsky: "I will order the troops to enter the battle as soon as possible to help the friendly forces destroy the German resistance."
As soon as the phone was put down, Malinin's call came in. He said excitedly to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, good news, good news. The combat plan we reported has been approved by the General Staff According to my understanding of Antonov, he must have reported the matter to the Supreme Commander himself and obtained formal permission before notifying me of the result."
"The General Staff has agreed to our battle plan, which is very good." Rokossovsky said into the microphone: "After the fighting here in Batov comes to an end, we will convene a meeting with the commanders of each group army. Let’s work together to formulate the campaign plan and refine some details that we haven’t considered.”
"Comrade Commander." Malinen said: "The war in the south of Warsaw has stabilized. Can you please invite Commanders Chuikov and Korpakci first and let them provide some of their own opinions on this combat plan? ?”
"Just call Chuikov over." Rokossovsky said: "I plan to go to Korpakchi's 69th Army in the near future, so don't call him yet."
