The German troops who were fighting against the 3rd Army and the 2nd Assault Army never dreamed that their flanks would be attacked unexpectedly. The already dangerous defense line collapsed in an instant. The two Soviet troops that broke through the German defense line pursued the victory and chased the German troops for four to five kilometers. They did not stop the pursuit until dark and switched to defense on the occupied positions.
Seeing the unprecedented success of the attack by the front's left wing troops, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be overjoyed. He repeatedly said to Subotin and Bogolyubov: "Military Commissar and Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect that today's attack would be so successful." It went so smoothly. Except for Mischa's 48th Group Army, which penetrated the German defense to a depth of 28 to 30 kilometers, the other units also penetrated into the German defense to a depth of more than ten kilometers. This can be said to be an unprecedented victory. "
Bogolyubov said: "Yes, Comrade Marshal. At first, I thought it was a waste for the air force to carry out high-density bombing of the enemy's positions. But now it seems that it was precisely because of our early intensive bombing that the German army was destroyed Those strong fortifications thus reduced the resistance our army encountered during the offensive."
"Today's fighting is fierce, and the troops' ammunition consumption is very large, especially for Misha's troops. I'm afraid there is less than a base of ammunition left."
"Comrade Marshal, don't worry." Bogolyubov assured Rokossovsky: "I have already informed the logistics department and asked them to give priority to supplying the 48th Group Army. At this moment, the convoys transporting ammunition and supplies are... Should have set off already.”
Hearing what Bogolyubov said, Rokossovsky nodded slightly and said, "You must all know that no matter which unit Misha commanded, it performed the most outstandingly on the battlefield and achieved the greatest results. . Therefore, after the battle, the ammunition and supplies that should be replenished to them should be delivered to them as early as possible, so as not to affect their battle on the next day."
Whether it is Suboting or Bogolyubov, they all know that Rokossovsky prefers Sokov. If there is anything good, he will be the first to think of him. But no one has any opinions on this. Who made the troops commanded by Sokov perform so well on the battlefield? Not to mention the close Rokossovsky, even if any front commander were replaced, he would still prefer an excellent commander like Sokov.
Rokossovsky called the director of the communications corps over and asked him: "Have any German telegrams been intercepted?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." The director of the communications corps nodded and said, "We just intercepted a telegram, ordering the German troops in front of our army to retreat."
"What, ordering the defenders in front of our army to retreat?" Rokossovsky couldn't help but be stunned when he heard what the other party said: "Strange, why would the Germans give such an order?"
Bogolyubov took the telegram from the director of the communications corps. After reading it carefully several times, he confirmed that the other party was correct. Then he said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, it may be our powerful offensive today." , scared the Germans out of their wits. In order to avoid suffering greater losses, they had no choice but to abandon their existing positions and retreat."
Regarding Bogolyubov's analysis, Rokossovsky shook his head and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't agree with your statement. If the battlefield is still in our country, facing such a powerful force like ours, Attack, I think it is understandable that the Germans choose to retreat. After all, once they are surrounded by us, their logistics supplies will be cut off, and they may even be completely annihilated by our army. But we are fighting in the East Prussia area now, and Germany The slogan shouted by people is to fight to the last man, how can they retreat easily, I think there may be a problem."
"What's the problem?" Bogolyubov asked rhetorically.
"I couldn't figure it out for a while." Rokossovsky said: "But we can't take it lightly. Let's do this. We will immediately send out reconnaissance personnel to go deep into the enemy's rear overnight to find out whether their troops have retreated overnight. sign."
"Understood." Bogolyubov nodded and said, "I will immediately arrange for reconnaissance personnel to go deep into the enemy's rear to find out whether the enemy has any conspiracy."
At the same time, at the 48th Army Headquarters.
Sokov, who had just finished the division commanders' meeting, said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although we fought well today, we cannot be complacent. You sent out scouts overnight to conduct reconnaissance deep into the enemy's rear. , to understand the enemy's troop deployment, so that in tomorrow's battle, we can launch targeted attacks."
"Comrade Commander, you can rest assured on this." Sidorin replied with a smile: "During the attack this afternoon, I sent a group of scouts disguised as Germans and followed the broken troops back to the German defense area. . I think they are already conducting reconnaissance on the enemy’s positions at this moment, and I believe it won’t be long before we can get exact information.”
Sokov, who was eager to know the intelligence behind the enemy's rear, asked with some urgency: "Chief of Staff, when will the intelligence from the scouts be sent back?"
"I'm afraid they will have to wait until early morning at the earliest." Sidorin said: "After all, they have to wait until after dark before they can carry out reconnaissance operations. It will be almost early morning when the intelligence feedback comes back."
Seeing Sokov's frown, Sidorin said confidently: "Comrade Commander, in fact, even if we don't send scouts, we don't have to worry about the enemies in front. After a day's battle, they were all defeated. Facing the Our army’s offensive cannot stop any decent resistance.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, although we fought well during the day, we still found many problems at the summary meeting just now." Sokov said: "One of them is that because the war is progressing too smoothly, many commanders and fighters have already produced The German army was indeed defeated by us in the daytime battle, but who can guarantee that they will not readjust their deployment tonight, or transfer fresh troops from other places to strengthen the defense of existing areas? What if we Without even knowing the details of the enemy, if we rush to attack rashly, we will probably suffer big losses."
"Okay, then I will ask the director of the reconnaissance department to contact the scouts behind enemy lines and ask them to report the situation behind enemy lines as soon as possible."
Although the director of the reconnaissance department immediately ordered the telegraph operator to contact the scouts behind enemy lines after receiving Sidorin's call. However, it takes time to conduct reconnaissance of the enemy's defense area, so Sokov and others waited in the headquarters until one o'clock in the morning before receiving the intelligence from the scouts.
After reading the intelligence sent by the director of the reconnaissance department, Sokov couldn't help but look livid. He didn't expect the Germans to be so cunning and actually laid a trap for himself, waiting for his troops to jump into it.
After reading the telegram, Ponejelin and Sidorin couldn't help but be shocked. If the scouts had not promptly fed back the intelligence behind the enemy lines, the troops would have suffered heavy losses in the attack after dawn. If the attacking force is defeated by the Germans, it will affect the morale and morale of the friendly forces.
Seeing the solemn expressions of the three of them, Lunev didn't know what had happened. After he picked up the scout's information, he became even more panicked. He asked Sokov tentatively: "Misha, do you need to report such important information to the marshal immediately?"
"Well, I think it's necessary." Sokov raised his hand to look at the time and frowned: "It's so late, I don't know if the Marshal is asleep."
"I think he probably didn't sleep." Lunev said in a positive tone: "Based on what I know about him, it is common for him to stay up all night for three or four nights in such a large-scale war. Now you are going to fight After the call, he must still be working."
Sokov knew in his heart that there must be people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs around Rokossovsky, and his every move would be reported in a timely manner. As the deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lunev must have read a lot of information about Rokossovsky and knew about his living habits and work and rest time. Since he said that Rokossovsky had not rested yet, he must have There is no rest. So Sokov called the director of the communications corps and told him to get through the phone of the front army headquarters. He planned to report the situation behind enemy lines to Rokossovsky.
After the call was connected, Rokossovsky had not rested yet. He learned that Sokov had something important to ask of him, so he came over and took the phone from the staff officer on duty: "Misha, this is Rokossovsky, what can I do for you?"
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov said, "I have just received a report from the scouts sent behind enemy lines. The German army withdrew an armored division from the attack front of the 65th and 70th Group Armies and deployed it on the flank of our army's attack route. . Judging from their deployment, they should be preparing to take advantage of our group army's troops to advance and launch an armored assault from our flanks unexpectedly to cut off the connection between our attacking troops and the rear."
"Oh, the enemy's withdrawn armored division actually reached the flank of your attack route after dawn."
When Sokov heard what Rokossovsky said, he couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked: "Comrade Marshal, did you already know that the Germans have adjusted their troop deployment?"
"We intercepted a German telegram just before dark, which ordered the troops to retreat." Rokossovsky explained: "In order to find out what was going on with the Germans' retreat, I specifically ordered the Chief of Staff We sent a capable reconnaissance team to conduct reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines. But unfortunately, the reconnaissance team we sent has no news so far. I really didn’t expect that the Germans actually ambush the withdrawn troops in your attack Route flanks.”
"Comrade Marshal, you know that the number of artillery and tank units in our group army is very limited." Sokov expressed his concerns to Rokossovsky: "If our troops launch an attack on the enemy in front, , the German armored divisions attacking from the flanks may cause us a lot of casualties."
"Misha, don't worry, the German armored forces do not pose any threat to you." Rokossovsky comforted Sokov and said: "Tell me the location of the German armored forces. When daybreak, I will The air force will be dispatched to bomb that area. No matter how powerful the German tanks are on the ground, if they encounter our aircraft, they will only be passively beaten."
"That's great." Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard that Rokossovsky planned to send the air force to deal with the German tanks. You know, today's tanks basically have no air defense function. No matter how powerful they are in land battles, if they encounter Soviet aircraft, they will only end up being blown into a pile of scrap metal. "As long as we get air support from the Air Force, our next battle will be much easier to fight."
"Misha, what are the casualties of your troops?" Rokossovsky then asked a question he was concerned about: "Can we maintain yesterday's offensive posture after dawn?"
Sokov knew very well that the reason why yesterday's battle went smoothly was entirely because the German army was overwhelmed by the fierce bombing and artillery fire. After a night's rest, many troops had readjusted their deployment and were ready to respond. It is basically impossible to achieve a victory like yesterday. At this moment, Rokossovsky asked about the casualties of his troops. Sokov quickly replied: "The casualties of each division exceeded one-third, but the morale of the officers and soldiers is high. I think in the battle after dawn , they will still be as brave and fearless as yesterday, and their performance will make up for the lack of our troops."
"Well said, Misha." Sokov's words made Rokossovsky feel comfortable. He nodded and said, "I believe that you will achieve something like this in today's daytime battle." What a glorious victory yesterday.”
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Ponejelin and others: "Comrades, commanders, let me tell you good news. Comrade Marshal personally promised me that after daybreak, the air force will be dispatched to bomb the German armored divisions." That is to say, we no longer have to worry about German armor attacking from our flanks as our troops advance."
"Comrade Commander, although Comrade Marshal has made a promise, we still don't know the effect of the bombing." After Ponedelin waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he proposed his own idea to him: "For the sake of safety , in the battle after dawn, I suggest slowing down the attack speed, and after the friendly forces on the left and right flanks have leveled up with us, we can then rush deep into the enemy's defenses without worrying that our flanks will be attacked by the Germans."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, I think your statement is incorrect." But as soon as Ponedelin finished speaking, Sidorin retorted; "Judging from yesterday's battlefield performance, whether it is the 3rd Army or the Assault The 2nd Army's attack speed is not satisfactory. It would be very unwise for us to slow down and wait for friendly forces to catch up during the daytime battle."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sidorin's words aroused Lunev's curiosity, and he asked tentatively: "Can you tell me what you think?"
"The reason is very simple." Sidorin explained to Lunev: "If we deliberately slow down the attack speed, it will undoubtedly be beneficial to the enemies in front of us. Because they will have enough time to strengthen their defenses and adjust Deploy troops. By the time the friendly forces on both wings arrive, the enemy on the front has already taken advantage of our delay to strengthen their defenses. If we want to effectively break through their defenses, I'm afraid we will pay greater casualties."
"Comrade Chief of Staff." Lunev continued to ask: "Then tell me, what should we do?"
