Chapter 1624

While rokosovsky and malining were busy, I asked the director of intelligence to come to the Praga combat plan, to find out their combat intentions and find out what was helpful to me.

Just after I saw the battle plan, rokosovsky said in a timely manner: "Rita, you don't have to bear any burden. The reason why you command six battalions to cooperate with the third Polish division to march into the west of Warsaw is that you are unmatched in street fighting command. Both the staff headquarters and I believe that under your command, the troops will surely achieve the desired results. "

I can't help being silent because his words have already been said. On the issue of marching into Warsaw, Zhukov, rokosovsky and the headquarters of the general staff all adopted a decentralized approach. They not only did not ask us to report the battle plan, but also made every effort to attack pragar, trying to attract all the main forces of the German army in the east of Warsaw.

In the face of their trust, even though I knew that I could not achieve any ideal results in the end of the battle, I still insisted on answering rokosovsky: "marshal, please rest assured that I will do my best to cooperate with the Polish army to enter Warsaw."

In the next few days of fighting, the German resistance in Eastern Warsaw was crushed by our army, and some of the surviving troops retreated to the north to join their friends in that area; The other part, however, retreated to the visva River, ready to continue to resist by virtue of the buildings there.

Seeing that the fighter plane was mature, I decisively gave askarepov and Galitsky the order to attack, and asked them to attack the designated place immediately when the garrison in the east of the city was hit by our army and the overall defense was in chaos.

After the battle started, there were a large number of lyudov soldiers in the third division of Poland who broke through Warsaw. Under the guidance of these guides, the troops moved quickly along the predetermined route to the visva river. It was not until it was two or three hundred meters away from the river that it encountered the German tenacious defense.

The German troops were very brave. They hid in the window of the building, shooting and throwing grenades at the Polish soldiers running in the street, repelling their attacks again and again.

Galitsky, who was frustrated in the attack, called me. He said in a hurry: "Comrade deputy commander, I have been tenaciously resisted by the German army. There are many casualties in the army, but I still can't break through the enemy's defense. I ask the superior to provide artillery support."

"It's a mess." When Gusev heard that, he immediately said angrily, "our troops and the enemy are almost tied together. If we bombard that area, we can destroy the German buildings, but it is bound to cause a lot of casualties."

"Comrades commander," gushev's chief of staff said anxiously as soon as he finished, "comrades of the Polish army can't get close to the river without destroying the German defense. In order to win, it is worth the sacrifice. Don't hesitate. Please give the order to the artillery immediately

Instead of expressing his opinion, Gusev turned to me and waited for me to make up my mind.

I looked at the blocked area of the Polish army and knew that if they didn't break through here, they wouldn't be able to advance to alliance square on the visva river. After a brief thought, I gave Gusev an order: "Comrade General, immediately send an artillery battalion into the city to help the comrades of the Polish Army move forward."

"Comrade deputy commander," Gusev said with an expression of embarrassment when he heard my order, "if you want to destroy the German defense, it may not be enough to send only one artillery battalion."

"If the German defense zone is covered with artillery, this artillery is far from enough." Taking into account that Gusev and I spent a short time together and were not very clear about the theory of street fighting that I was proficient in, we specially explained to him: "as you have just said, if we use long-range artillery fire to cover this area, although it can destroy the enemy's defense, it is also easy to cause a lot of accidental injuries to our troops. The reason why I sent an artillery battalion into the war zone is to enable our artillery to carry out close fire, so that the artillery can use direct fire to destroy all the enemy's fire points beyond the range of the enemy's machine guns. "

After listening to my method, Gusev suddenly realized. When he asked the chief of staff to call the artillery, he casually asked me, "do you need to send an artillery to Mr. askarepov?"

"He followed me for so long. He should be very familiar with the skills of street fighting." I immediately denied Gusev's proposal, "if he doesn't call for help, he doesn't need to send artillery."

When the chief of staff came back from the phone call, I asked another important question: "chief of staff, how are the crossing equipment of the Polish Army going?"

"We have collected a large number of wooden boats, rafts and canoes, which are now stacked in the station controlled by the group army." The chief of staff respectfully reported to me: "as long as general askarepov's forces capture Warsaw east station and vilansk station, we can transport these crossing equipment to the visva river."

"Can I get in touch with general askarepov?" I asked as soon as the chief of staff finished.

"Yes," the chief of staff nodded. "Our telephone contact with general askarepov has always been smooth."

"Connect me with general askarepov," I immediately told the chief of staff, who said the line was clear. "I want to talk to him and ask how the troops are doing."

After I got through the phone, I couldn't take care of the greetings, so I asked directly, "what's the situation there, sir? When can you take the railway station?"

After recognizing that it was my voice, askarepov quickly reported: "Comrade deputy commander, the Germans are fighting very tenaciously. They stick to the buildings by the side of the road and shoot at us from a high position, which makes our army unable to move forward quickly."

"Where are your troops now?" I asked briefly.

"At the intersection of Marsa street and grokhovsky street," askarepov said in a loud voice over the phone, "the enemy here not only has a large number of fixed fire points, but also occupies a large number of buildings on both sides of the nearby street, blocking the way of our army with strong fire. If we're going to make a strong attack, I'll be careful that there won't be many people left when the troops rush to the visva river. "

I covered the microphone and asked the chief of staff, "chief of staff, which army is there near Martha street?"

The chief of staff looked at his notebook and then replied, "at present, a regiment of the 397th infantry division is in the north section of Marsa street. Their task is to move westward to capture zumbuji in the North Prague district. It is said that one of the German troops is gathering in a nearby forest area."

"Give the task of seizing zongbuji to other troops." I pointed to the position where askarepov was blocked, and told the chief of staff, "let the 397th infantry division get close to general askarepov immediately, and at the same time send another artillery battalion to strengthen the assault force's ability."

After listening to a series of my orders, the chief of staff turned his eyes to Gusev. After seeing Gusev nodding his head, he quickly walked to the telephone and sent the order to the troops below.

I let go of the microphone and said to askarepov, "Comrade division commander, I have sent troops to reinforce you. They are a infantry regiment and an artillery battalion. As soon as the artillery arrives, you must open the road leading to the visva River in the shortest time and successfully capture the two railway stations. Do you understand? "

"I see, comrade deputy commander." Askarepov assured me on the phone: "as soon as the reinforcements and artillery arrive, no matter how many enemies there are in front of us, we will wipe them out completely and cleanly."

After I put down the phone, Gusev tentatively asked, "Comrade deputy commander, can you really destroy the German defense effectively by using artillery to fire close to you?"

"There is no doubt about that." In response to Gusev's query, I solemnly replied: "according to the information I have, Warsaw city was savagely bombed and shelled by the German army in 1949, and most of the urban areas were destroyed. At present, the buildings in this area that our army is attacking are all brick and concrete structures newly built in the past two years, which can not withstand the close attack of our artillery. I believe that with the participation of artillery, the enemy's defense will soon be broken through. "

The German troops who prevented Galitsky and askarepov's troops from advancing towards the visva river may never have dreamed that our troops would adopt the tactic of "bayonet on cannon", and the buildings on which they hid collapsed one after another in the direct fire of our army.

Those who survived either waved the white flag to surrender or dropped their weapons and fled north along the visva River in an attempt to escape Warsaw, then to the north of modlin to join the defenders there.

After the Polish Army successfully arrived at the alliance square, Galitsky called me to report the good news: "Comrade deputy commander, my troops have successfully arrived at the visva river. As soon as the crossing equipment arrives, my troops will be able to cross the river into the west side of Warsaw and join the rebel forces who are staying there. "

"Don't worry, comrade colonel." Since I had not received the report of general askarepov's war, I answered with a little lack of confidence: "as soon as the railway station is taken down, our train carrying river crossing equipment can enter Warsaw. You can use this time to give the troops a good rest, and then get ready to cross the river

I put down the phone and first said to Gusev and the chief of staff, "Colonel Galitsky's forces have successfully broken through the German defense and reached the alliance square on the visva river. Now I want to know what's going on with general askarepov. Have they taken the train station? "

Hearing my question, the chief of staff quickly replied, "I have just spoken with the frontier. At present, the troops of the 397th division are fighting for Warsaw east station; And commander askarepov is directing two battalions to attack vilansk station. "

Although the chief of staff said it lightly, I knew in my heart that the fighting must have been very fierce. After a pause, I asked, "chief of staff, when do you think general askarepov will be able to take the railway station?"

"I estimate it will be more than two hours at the earliest." The chief of staff was deeply afraid of my anger and explained to me: "the buildings of the railway station are all stone buildings, which can carry heavy artillery bombardment. Therefore, the battle between general askarepov and them will not end in a short time."

I raised my hand, looked at my watch, then shook my head and said, "every minute is precious on the battlefield. We have no right to let the Polish soldiers wait for hours by the river. Well, comrade chief of staff, you immediately order the train on standby to leave and deliver the river crossing equipment to the Polish army as soon as possible. "“ But Comrade deputy commander, the two railway stations on the river visva are still in the hands of the enemy. " The chief of staff said to me anxiously, "if we rush to transport the materials, we will suffer unnecessary losses."“ Comrade chief of staff, "I pointed to the map and said to him," you can order the train to stop here, and then let other troops send these equipment to the Polish army in other ways. "“ Well, comrade deputy commander, since you insist like this, I will obey the order. " The chief of staff said helplessly, "I will immediately send a guard regiment to the place you designated to receive the river crossing equipment and send them to the visva river." The battle for the railway station is far more cruel than I imagined. The 397th division rushed into Warsaw east station and occupied the waiting hall, the control room and most of the platforms. But before they got a firm foothold, they were driven out of the station under the tenacious counterattack of the German army, and even the commander was seriously injured. The battle to capture vilansk station is still extremely fierce. Although askarepov ordered the artillery to blow down the building of the station, the German army hid in the ruins and continued to make the final resistance. Instead of blocking our attack route with intensive firepower, they used short firing to eliminate every target that appeared in their field of vision. After more than an hour of fighting, the troops under askarepov's command made no decent progress at all except leaving a pile of soldiers' remains in front of the station. After hearing that the attack on the railway station was frustrated, Gusev immediately put forward a suggestion to me: "Comrade deputy commander, we can't fight like this any more. If we fight again, our troops will be consumed in these two places, and there will be no troops to cooperate with the Polish army in crossing the river."“ Yes, yes, "the chief of staff echoed," there are not many enemies in these two stations anyway. We just need to send troops to monitor them. We don't need to spend our precious troops here. "