After Potapov returned to his headquarters, he called a meeting of several artillery commanders under his command to convey Sokov's order to them. According to his assumptions, when these commanders heard that the artillery preparations would stop after only a few minutes and let the troops launch a charge, everyone would be surprised.
Unexpectedly, after his order was conveyed, several artillery commanders accepted the task as normal, which surprised him: "Comrade commanders, don't you have any objections to such an order?"
"Comrade Director of Artillery," an artillery regiment commander said: "If our army commander is not General Sokov, we will definitely confirm this order with our superiors. But General Sokov is a special person, and he has some strange things. His clever thinking often makes the Germans dizzy. At the beginning, we were not used to his command style, but as time went by, we became accustomed to it. Everyone knew in their hearts that no matter what General Sokov ordered, Whatever the order is, all we have to do is obey it absolutely, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.”
"Okay, since everyone thinks the commander's order is correct, let's go back to our respective units to make preparations." Potapov raised his hand and looked at the time, "In one hour, we will attack the enemy's position Carry out artillery preparations."
After the artillery commanders left, the chief of staff smiled and said to Potapov: "Comrade Artillery Director, you have just joined our army not long ago, and you don't know the commander well. As time goes by, you will find that he is A person who is good at creating miracles. I dare not say anything about other troops in this offensive operation, but there is no area that our group army is responsible for attacking."
Seeing that his deputy also had such confidence in Sokov, Potapov couldn't help but sigh: I didn't expect that Sokov was so young, but the commanders of the army trusted him unconditionally, and felt that if they followed him, they would definitely be able to succeed. Win the battle.
An hour later, the shelling of the German positions began.
Since everyone knew that the Germans had withdrawn their troops from the front line, no matter how long they bombarded unmanned positions, the losses caused to them would not be great. Therefore, the artillery commander strictly followed Sokov's order and only bombarded the enemy's positions. Ten minutes later, it stopped decisively.
As soon as the shelling stopped and before the smoke cleared, the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions, who were waiting in the trenches, launched a charge towards the German positions. Behind the infantry soldiers, there were several propaganda vehicles with loudspeakers, playing exciting battle songs, making the attack more powerful, fearing that the enemies hiding in the second line of defense would not know that the Soviet army had launched an attack.
Sokov, who was standing in the observation post observing the battle situation, couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise when he saw this situation. He put down the telescope, turned around and asked Sidorin who was standing behind him: "Chief of Staff, what's going on? Why are there several propaganda vehicles behind the offensive force?"
"Comrade Commander, it was my idea." Hearing Victor's question, Sidorin replied with a smile: "I think such an attack will be so powerful that it will attract the attention of the Germans and force them to attack from the second line as soon as possible. Position returns to the front."
"It's nonsense, it's just nonsense." Sokov said to Sidorin: "We have never done this before, but today we arranged several propaganda vehicles behind the attacking troops, constantly playing battle songs and acting. It's a bit too much. If the Germans find out, our efforts will be in vain."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Ponejelin said from the side: "This is the result of discussions between the Chief of Staff and I. Arranging propaganda vehicles behind the offensive troops and playing various songs non-stop will not only confuse the enemy, but also At the same time, it can also boost the morale of our troops. Even if the Germans see it, they will not be suspicious."
Sokov felt that he might be too worried about this attack and not achieving the desired results, so he was so worried about gains and losses. Since Ponejelin and Sidorin have studied this matter, there must be no problem. The German troops far away on the second line of defense never dreamed that the Soviet army only prepared artillery fire for ten minutes before resolutely launching an attack and blinding them immediately. After a brief panic, the German commander immediately ordered his troops to return from the second line to the first line of defense to stop the Soviet attack.
The German officers and soldiers who received the order quickly returned to the forward position along several communication trenches, preparing to block the attacking Soviet army. But they soon discovered that they had been tricked. The troops who had been charging a moment ago amid the sound of loudspeakers suddenly disappeared from their sight.
"No, we've been caught in a trap!" As soon as the thought came to the German commander's mind, the screams of shells piercing the air could be heard in the air. The next moment, the troops that were moving toward the front line along the communication trench were enveloped in firelight and gunpowder smoke.
The troops who were attacked by artillery suddenly fell into an embarrassing situation. Keep moving forward and endure the casualties under Soviet artillery fire; but retreat back, the soldiers running at the front and the soldiers behind will definitely be huddled together in the narrow traffic trench, and they will be under Soviet artillery fire. Pay a heavier price next time.
There is no way, going forward is death, retreating is also death. The only way is to return to the front line regardless of casualties and prevent the Soviet army from occupying the position.
After receiving the order, the German troops braved the fierce Soviet artillery fire and returned to their front-line positions. Nearly half of the officers and soldiers had fallen under the gunfire, and almost all the soldiers who arrived at the front-line positions were injured.
As the artillery fire weakened, the infantry who had stayed four hundred meters in front of the position launched another charge towards the German position. Taking advantage of the opportunity before the Germans had time to organize an effective defense, they quickly jumped into the trench and fought with the Germans inside. The officers and soldiers engaged in close combat and hand-to-hand combat.
Facing the influx of Soviet commanders and fighters, although the German officers and soldiers put up a tenacious resistance, the disparity in strength between the two sides caused the morale of the German army to be low. Therefore, the resistance lasted only a quarter of an hour before being completely destroyed by the Soviet army.
Just a few minutes later, a red flag was raised on the German position, reporting to the rear that it had occupied the German position.
"Great, this is simply great." Ponejelin clenched his fist, waved it vigorously, and said excitedly: "Our soldiers actually occupied the German position so quickly."
Seeing his men occupying the German position, Sokov also had a smile on his face. The German army originally deployed three divisions in the offensive area, but fell into its own trap and transferred two of the divisions to other areas. Now only part of the 129th Infantry Division is left holding the position. . No matter how experienced and powerful the officers and soldiers of the division were, they could not stop the strong attacks of the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidorin: "Let the signal troops send signals to the front, and let them leave part of their troops to consolidate their positions, while the rest of the troops continue to advance deeper into the German defenses."
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"Yes!" After Sidorin agreed, he asked Sokov for instructions: "Then should we extend the artillery fire and order the tank troops to attack at the same time?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, we must take advantage of the favorable opportunity when the enemy is in chaos to quickly expand the results." Sokov said to Sidorin: "Order the artillery fire to extend the fire and the tank troops to attack!"
When Sidorin gave orders to the troops, Sokov picked up the high-frequency phone put aside and dialed the front army headquarters: "I am Sokov, please let Comrade Marshal answer the phone."
"Misha, have your artillery started shelling?" Rokossovsky recognized Sokov's voice, and before he could speak, he said to himself: "If you want to destroy more German defenses, , you need to extend the bombardment time. Do you have enough artillery shells stored?"
Sokov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, smiled slightly, and then said: "Comrade Marshal, I was about to report to you that my troops have occupied the first line of defense of the German army. Now except for some remaining troops In addition to consolidating the occupied areas, the remaining troops are developing in depth."
"What, your troops have already captured the first line of defense of the German army?" Rokossovsky said with a face full of shock: "How could you have captured the first line of defense of the German army just how long ago the battle started? What? This is incredible."
"Comrade Marshal, how could I joke with you about such an important matter?" Sokov said in a positive tone: "Of course my report is true."
"Then tell me, how did you capture the enemy's position in such a short period of time?"
Sokov called Rokossovsky to report the results to him. Since he took the initiative to ask, he reported in detail the tactics he had formulated and how to implement them.
After hearing this, Rokossovsky said with a smile: "Misha, you have a lot of ideas, and the tactics you come up with can often stun the enemy, which is why you can achieve so many results so easily."
"Comrade Marshal." After Sokov reported the situation of his troops, he asked tentatively: "Is the progress of other troops going smoothly?"
"Except for you, the rest of the participating troops are still preparing artillery fire on the German positions. What results can be achieved?" Rokossovsky said: "If there are such new results, remember to report to me in time."
"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Sokov replied readily: "I will report to you as soon as there are any new results."
After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he smiled and said to Bogolyubov and Subbotin: "I didn't expect that while other troops were still preparing for artillery fire on the German positions, Mischa's troops had already captured The first line of defense for the German army."
"What, General Sokov's troops have captured the first line of defense of the German army?" Bogolyubov asked in surprise: "Comrade Marshal, are you telling the truth?"
"Of course it's true." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "He knew in advance that the German army had withdrawn its main force to the second line of defense. Before the attack began, he only ordered the artillery to bombard the first line of defense for ten minutes. So the troops launched a charge. When the Germans saw that our troops launched an attack, they immediately panicked and quickly sent the troops of the second line of defense to the front. They were hit by powerful artillery fire from our army halfway, resulting in heavy casualties... "
After listening to Rokossovsky's story, Subboting said with emotion: "Comrade Marshal, it was indeed a wise decision for you to insist on transferring the 48th Army over. Judging from the results they have achieved so far, even if If our army is not progressing smoothly in other areas, they can also achieve good results."
Bogolyubov said: "Comrade Military Commissar, I just called the Chief of Staff of the Third Front to learn about the situation there."
Subbotin asked: "How are they progressing?"
"It's not good." Bogolyubov shook his head and said: "Their artillery preparations for the attack were all on unoccupied open space. When they launched the attack, the German troops who had retreated to the second line of defense returned through the communication trenches. We took position and repelled their attack with intensive firepower."
"It seems that the enemy's resistance is more tenacious than we imagined." Rokossovsky stared at the map in front of him and said with a serious expression: "I am worried that after the artillery preparations of other troops are completed, they will be attacked during the attack. Due to the crazy resistance of the German army, our troops will pay huge casualties."
"Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky pointed at Bogolyubov with his hand and said: "Call the Air Force Commander and ask him to prepare for the fighter planes to take off. Once the attack of other units is frustrated, Their air force is required to dispatch to provide necessary air support to these troops."
"Comrade Marshal, I have made an agreement with General Polainin a long time ago. Once the artillery preparations are over and the infantry launches an attack on the enemy's defense line, his air force formation will immediately take off to provide necessary air support for our ground forces. "
"That's good, that's good." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "As long as the air force can actively cooperate with the ground forces in combat, I believe that no matter how strong the enemy's defense line is, it will be broken through by our troops. "
"Comrade Marshal, our mission is to occupy the Danzig area and control the outlet of the Baltic Sea. The mission of the Third Front is to capture Königsberg." Bogolyubov asked Rokossovsky tentatively: "What do you think? Which of us can achieve the combat objectives assigned to us by our superiors earlier?"
Regarding Bogolyubov's question, Rokossovsky did not give a clear answer: "The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. It's really hard to say. Maybe our army is far ahead and something suddenly happens. If something unexpected happens, the friendly forces will be the first to achieve their combat objectives."
"What unexpected thing will happen?" Bogolyubov obviously did not agree with Rokossovsky's statement. He also walked to the wall, looked at the map hanging on the wall, and said: "But No matter how I look at it, I don’t think our army’s progress will be surpassed by friendly forces.”
"Never underestimate the enemy. You must know that a arrogant army will be defeated." After Rokossovsky said this, he gave another instruction: "Okay, now you contact the commanders of the other two group armies and see. How is the situation there? When can we launch an attack on the German positions?"
"Okay, I will immediately call the two army commanders to find out what the situation is like there." Bogolyubov said confidently: "I believe that when they learn about the results achieved by General Sokov's troops, It can also elevate the mood, greatly improve the morale of the troops, and break through the German defensive positions in front of them in the shortest possible time.”
