"Let's take care of ourselves first." Rokossovsky said: "If the troops of the Polish 1st Army cannot gain a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula River, it will be a fatal blow to the morale of the rebels in the city.
.”
"Although the first battalion to cross the river suffered huge losses, they just fell into a trap. Presumably there were not too many enemies hiding in the Lazienki Palace, otherwise they would not have allowed their remnants to escape to the river.
Join the second battalion crossing the river."
Malinin's guess was correct. Only a German company in the Lazienki Palace, equipped with eight MG42 general-purpose machine guns and six mortars, could inflict such huge damage to a battalion that appeared in the palace garden in a short period of time.
Loss.
Just two days ago, several traitors from the Krajov Army sneaked into the Lazienki Palace with a group of German troops and attacked the Liudov Army stationed here. After a fierce battle, except for a few people who escaped, the rest were not
Being beaten to death by the Germans meant becoming a prisoner of war.
After the German commander learned that his troops had occupied the Lazienki Palace, a bold idea suddenly came to his mind. He thought that the Lazienki Palace could be used to make a fuss, so he sent a traitor from the Krajov Army.
, pretending to be Krzysztov, the commander of the persecuted Liudov Army, crossed the river to the Soviet defense area, tried to trick some troops into coming over and annihilated them, thereby severely damaging the morale of the Soviet army.
What the German commander did not expect was that the Soviet army was so eager to cross the river that the fake Krzysztof he sent easily gained the trust of General Bellinger and defeated a battalion of troops in the shortest possible time.
was sent over. Due to the rush of time, the German company that was stationed in the Lazienki Palace could not wait for the arrival of the main force, so it hurriedly launched an attack on the first battalion, which exposed its intention.
Neither Rokossovsky nor Bellinger knew that the enemy planned to deploy a trap in the Lazienki Palace to attract more Soviet troops to enter, and then launch an encirclement and annihilation campaign, thereby severely damaging the Soviet army.
Morale. But the German captain in charge of commanding the troops saw hundreds of Polish troops approaching the palace. He was afraid that the other side would seize the palace and find a reliable foothold, so he couldn't wait to order his men to launch an attack. Such a sudden attack
, although they caught the first battalion off guard and even nearly annihilated the unit, their actions exposed their existence and alerted the Polish army who was about to cross the river.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky asked, staring at the map: "Which of our units is closest to the crossing point of the Polish First Army?"
Malinin pointed at the map and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, the 2nd Tank Army was originally operating in this area, but last week, they have been transferred to the Minsk-Mazowiecki area as a
The front reserve force, the force currently operating in this area, is Lieutenant General Gusev's 47th Army."
"I know that the defense of the 2nd Tank Army is replaced by Lieutenant General Gusev's 47th Army." Rokossovsky said impatiently: "I'm asking about our army that is now far away from where the Polish 1st Army crossed the river.
Troop, which one is it?"
Seeing Rokossovsky having a fit, Malinin quickly replied: "It's Colonel Derevyanko's 324th Infantry Division."
"Immediately arrange for the division to cross the river," Rokossovsky said: "At least one regiment must be sent to the other side. Without their assistance, I am worried that even if the Polish army captures the Lazienki Palace and Belvedere Palace, it may not be able to do so."
Can't stand firm."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Malinin knew very well that the Polish army's combat effectiveness was not strong and it did not have the ability to take charge of its own affairs. If it did not send troops to assist, the other party would not be able to gain a foothold on the left bank, so he nodded and said: "
I immediately contacted Lieutenant General Gusev and asked him to send troops of the 324th Division across the river to assist the Polish army in the battle."
The call was quickly connected, and Malinin said straight to the point: "General Gusev, the commander has an order!"
As soon as Gusev heard Rokossovsky's order, he straightened up quickly and said respectfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm listening, please give the order!"
"The commander ordered to immediately transfer a regiment from the 324th Infantry Division to cross the river to assist the Polish army to gain a foothold in the left bank area."
Gusev had already received reports about the Polish army gathering on the bank of the Vistula River. When he heard the news, he felt quite strange. The Polish army prepared to cross the river to the Vistula without even saying hello.
How about going to the left bank of the river? At this moment, when he received a call from Malinin, he naturally had to ask the question in his mind: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the Polish army is going to fight across the river, why don't they even say hello?"
"General Bellinger personally visited the front headquarters before arranging troops to cross the river. Their crossing operation was approved by Comrade Commander." Malinen continued: "But the troops who crossed the river first did not make progress.
It went well, but we suffered a lot of losses. The commander asked you to cross the river to help them gain a foothold on the other side."
After receiving the order, Gusev did not dare to neglect, and immediately brought Derevyanko to his headquarters and announced to him the combat order conveyed by Malinin. After introducing the task, Gusev asked with concern: "Comrade Colonel,
Which regiment do you plan to send to carry out this combat mission?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Denis's 772nd Regiment can perform this task." Derevyanko replied: "I believe that with their capabilities, they will be able to help friendly forces gain a foothold in the left bank area."
Lieutenant Colonel Denis led his 772nd Regiment across the river and arrived near the Lazienki Palace. He happened to encounter the demoralized Polish army. He grabbed one of the soldiers and asked: "Hey, where is your commander?"
place?"
The soldier glanced at him, pointed not far away, and said feebly: "Our leader is right there."
After Denis thanked the other party, he led the two soldiers in that direction.
A Polish Army second lieutenant came up to him and asked politely: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, which section do you belong to and what are you doing here?"
"This is Lieutenant Colonel Denis, commander of the 772nd Regiment of the 324th Infantry Division of the 47th Group Army. He is here to assist you in the battle." After identifying himself, Denis asked directly: "Where is your regimental commander?"
When the second lieutenant learned that Denis was bringing people to support him, a surprise expression appeared on his face: "It turns out that they are here to support our friendly forces. The regiment leader is nearby, I will take you there."
Soon, Lieutenant Colonel Denis followed the second lieutenant to a bungalow, where he met the commander of the Polish army.
Since this was a battlefield, Denis did not salute when he saw the other party. Instead, he nodded to the other party and casually identified himself. The commander of the Polish army saw a Soviet commander and quickly
He straightened his body and introduced his identity: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Petrie, commander of the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Polish Division."
After the two shook hands, Denis asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Petrie, I wonder how the situation is here?"
"Not very good, Comrade Denis." Petrie shook his head and said: "The Germans' firepower was very fierce. Half an hour ago, I sent the Second Battalion to launch a charge, but the enemy repulsed it, and the troops also
It cost a lot of casualties.”
Hearing what Petrie said, Denis immediately thought that the Polish soldiers he saw on his way here were all dejected. It must be because of the failure of the attack.
"Lieutenant Colonel Petrie, you have worked hard!" Denis said proactively: "Our regiment will be responsible for the next battle. You should take a good rest first."
A few minutes later, a battalion of the Denis Regiment launched an attack on the Lazienki Palace.
When the German army discovered that there were troops approaching the Lazienki Palace, they didn't take it seriously at all. In their minds, no matter how large the Polish army was, it was just superficial. As long as the machine guns and mortars fired, the opponent's attacking queue would be destroyed.
It would be completely disrupted. Not long ago, the Polish army that launched an attack on the palace was defeated under the combined attack of machine guns and mortars.
But when they saw clearly that the attacking army was not wearing Polish army uniforms, but Soviet army uniforms, they couldn't help but be surprised. They did not expect that the Soviet army would enter the battle just after repelling the Polish army's attack.
Since the German army did not expect that the Lazienki Palace would be attacked by a joint attack by the Soviet and Polish armies, they did not build any decent fortifications outside the palace. They only dug a trench and built several civil fire points.
The machine guns and mortars placed at the windows of the palace are their defense system.
Facing the German machine gun fire and mortar bombardment, this Soviet army fought very methodically. They did not huddle together and rush forward, but formed dispersed formations and relied on various concealments to approach the German positions.
.The fighting groups at the front threw grenades from time to time, used the smoke of explosions to block the sight of the Germans, and used short bursts to continuously approach the palace.
The Soviet commanders and fighters who participated in the war were all veterans. Their technical and tactical skills were very high and they fought very bravely. However, it was regrettable that the attack they launched ended in failure.
It turned out that the German army had placed many wooden fences with barbed wire in front of the proposed defense line. If the commanders and soldiers wanted to rush into the German position, they had to remove these wooden fences blocking the way. But when they moved the wooden fences, they had to move the wooden fences.
If they did not slow down, the officers and soldiers would inevitably become the target of German shooting.
The battalion commander who led the charge was carried down from the battlefield covered in blood. Facing Denis who came to visit him, he said with shame: "I'm sorry, comrade commander, I betrayed your trust. I couldn't
He led the troops into the palace and caused such heavy losses to the troops."
"Comrade Major," Denis said, holding the opponent's hand and comforting him: "You have performed your duties as a soldier very well. Although you have withdrawn from the battle now, we will continue to fight until we capture the Lazienki Palace.
Position." After saying that, he stood up and told the health worker standing next to the stretcher, "Send the major to the river and arrange a boat to take him back to the other side."
After the health workers and stretcher bearers carried the battalion commander away, Denis said to Petrie: "Comrade Petrie, the enemy's firepower is too strong, and we don't have heavy weapons. If we just attack blindly, even if we capture the palace, we may not be able to capture the palace."
Our troops will be depleted."
Originally, when the Soviet army entered the battle, Petrie was secretly happy. He thought that taking the palace would not be a big problem. But now that he saw that the Soviet army's attack failed, and Denis was not optimistic about the next attack, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
: "Lieutenant Colonel Denis, tell me, what should we do?"
"We have to find a way to bring in some artillery," Denis said. "As long as we use artillery to destroy the enemy's firepower points, our attack will go smoothly."
Petrie glanced in the direction of Lazienki Palace and couldn't help but frowned: "Lieutenant Colonel Denis, the buildings in the palace are very strong. I'm afraid ordinary artillery cannot destroy it. But if we use heavy artillery, wait until we get it
When we got down to the palace, the place was in ruins."
"No, no, no, Lieutenant Colonel Petrie." Denis shook his head and said, "You have misunderstood. The shelling I am talking about is not the artillery coverage you know, but the clear targeting of the German firepower points."
"What, use artillery to clear out German firepower points?" Petrie asked with some confusion: "Lieutenant Colonel Denis, I don't quite understand what you mean. Can you explain it in more detail?"
"This is a 'bayonet on a cannon' tactic invented by General Sokov," Denis explained to Petrie with a smile: "It is to let the gunner use direct shooting to destroy the enemy's firepower points. This method of play
, the damage to buildings is much better than the fire coverage style. Moreover, it can also carry out precise strikes based on the enemy's exposed fire points."
It was the first time for Petrie to hear such a fighting method, and he had a shocked expression on his face: "You can actually destroy the enemy's firepower like this?"
As soon as the two discussed the new combat plan, they received a call from Derevyanko from the other side. He recognized that the person who answered the phone was Denis, so he asked straight to the point: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what's the situation over there?"
So, have you captured the Lazienki Palace?"
"Reporting to Comrade Division Commander," Denis replied: "Unfortunately, the first attack we launched failed. The enemy hid in a strong building and blocked the path of our attack with powerful firepower. If they are not destroyed,
If we want to capture the Lazienki Palace, our army will probably suffer huge casualties."
"Lieutenant Colonel Denis," after listening to Denis's report, Derevyanko said to him earnestly: "Whether we can capture the Lazienki Palace and gain a foothold on the left bank is directly related to whether our army can quickly
To liberate Warsaw, I sincerely hope that you will not betray the trust placed in you by your superiors."
Although Derevyanko's voice was not loud, these words hit Denis's heart like a heavy hammer. He immediately straightened his body and replied with a resolute expression: "Comrade Commander, please rest assured that our regiment will definitely
We will capture the Lazienki Palace as soon as possible. But I hope you can support us with some artillery to provide necessary artillery support for our offensive forces."
Regarding Denis's request, Derevyanko thought for a while and then replied: "I will ask the division's artillery regiment to send a company across the river to provide you with direct artillery support."
After ending the call, Denis said to Petrie: "Comrade Petrie, our division commander said that the key to liberating Warsaw as soon as possible is whether we can quickly capture the Lazienki Palace and gain a foothold on the left bank."
This chapter has been completed!