The main reason why the Soviet army's attack originally scheduled to be launched on January 20 was advanced to the 12th was to rescue the Allied forces that were being attacked in the Ardennes region from danger. Therefore, the offensive was launched this time
The size of the army is unprecedentedly powerful.
The first unit to launch the offensive was Marshal Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front. Their battle began 180 kilometers south of Warsaw. With the support of powerful artillery firepower, the Soviet troops at the Sandomierz landing site swarmed in
came out and rushed towards the German defense line. At the end of the first day of fighting, a fifty-kilometer-wide gap appeared in the German defense line. General Walter Nehring, commander of the German 24th Armored Corps, had to concentrate the remaining troops on
In the Kielce area, we are preparing to rely on the fortifications here to resist the Soviet attack.
Konev's troops are progressing smoothly, but on his right wing, the attack of the 1st Belarusian Front commanded by Marshal Zhukov is not so optimistic. The 8th Guards Army commanded by Chuikov uses the Magnushev Landing Field as the starting point for the attack and moves toward
The German army launched an attack. The German 173rd Infantry Division and the newly formed 337th People's Grenadier Division, which was stationed in this area, stubbornly blocked their attack, which frustrated Zhukov's plan to quickly wedge into the German defense.
In Poland and East Prussia, the troops of the Third Belarusian Front commanded by Chernyakhovsky, after replacing the original Baltic Front, followed the orders of the Supreme Command to launch an attack on the Inst River Basin, preparing to start from here
Rush to Königsberg.
But what was unexpected was that just before Chernyakhovsky's troops were about to launch an attack on the German army, several soldiers actually defected and revealed the Soviet attack plan to the Germans. The German commander had
After learning the news, he was shocked and quickly ordered the 3rd Armored Group Army and the 4th Group Army located at the front. Except for leaving a few observation posts on the first line of defense to monitor the movements of the Soviet troops, the rest of the troops were withdrawn to the second line of defense.
Line of defense.
The artillerymen of the Third Belarusian Front, who knew nothing about this, followed the original plan and carried out violent shelling on the German front-line positions when the attack time came. However, they never dreamed that the shells would fall into the air.
The one-man position did not cause any substantial losses to the German army at all.
After the artillery preparations were completed, the troops of the Third Front launched a charge towards the German position. However, as soon as they approached the German position, they were attacked with fierce firepower by the German officers and soldiers returning to the position of Binyi Hospital. The infantrymen who were attacking were beaten.
When they could no longer lift their heads, the tanks of the German 5th Armored Division arrived and launched a one-sided massacre of the Soviet commanders and soldiers who were suppressed in front of the position.
The mission of the 2nd Belorussian Front commanded by Rokossovsky was to seize the Danzig area and separate East Prussia from other areas of Germany.
The force responsible for the forward assault from the Puutusk landing site is the 48th Army commanded by Sokov. His left and right flanks are the 3rd Army and the 2nd Assault Army. Are the enemies facing the front in the town of Puutusk?
The 129th and 299th Infantry Divisions to the north, and part of the 5th Chasseur Division. The main force of the 5th Chasseur Division guarded the line south of the town of Puutusk, bordering the 35th Infantry Division. Behind them were
232nd Infantry Division and 592nd Volksgrenadier Division.
In order to ensure the success of the assault, Rokossovsky used the 65th and 70th armies and the 5th Guards Tank Army as the second echelon. He planned to put the two combined armies into battle on the second day of the battle.
The 5th Guards Tank Army will fight on the fifth day of the battle. By then, the main German resistance force has basically been defeated. By then, the Tank Army will be able to quickly advance westward and seize a series of roads along the Vistula River.
towns and reached the Baltic coast after capturing the Danzig area.
As a wartime marshal, Rokossovsky knew very well that if he wanted to quickly break through the German defenses, he must rely on powerful artillery firepower. In order to do this, he asked the front artillery commander Sokol
Ski, equipped with 240 artillery or mortars per kilometer.
Just as Rokossovsky's troops were actively preparing for war, the enemy on the opposite side suddenly launched an artillery bombardment at the Soviet artillery position. After receiving this information, Bogolyubov realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly reported to Rokossovsky himself.
Kossovsky reported: "Comrade Marshal, something seems to be wrong."
The war was about to begin, and the strings in Rokossovsky's mind were tense. When he heard Bogolyubov say this, his heart couldn't help but asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened?"
"I just received a call from the artillery commander, General Sokolsky, saying that some of our artillery positions were suddenly shelled by the Germans."
"How's the situation?" Rokossovsky learned that the artillery position had been shelled, and couldn't help but frowned: "Has our artillery suffered a lot of losses?"
"Not big." Bogolyubov shook his head and said, "Only the artillery in some small positions was destroyed, and most of the artillery positions are still intact."
Knowing that the artillery losses were not significant, Rokossovsky couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but then he raised his own question: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me why the Germans chose to attack the enemy at this time.
Where are our artillery positions conducting shelling? Have they discovered our offensive intentions?"
"Comrade Marshal, our large-scale troop gathering must not be hidden from the German scouts." Bogolyubov said: "I just think the German artillery fire is very strange. It happens to be a few hours before our attack begins, and
They also directly shelled our artillery positions."
"Yes, this is indeed strange." Rokossovsky asked: "Does our intelligence service have any latest news?"
"No, Comrade Marshal." Bogolyubov shrugged, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "I guess they must have just learned about this. They must be more confused than us. How could the enemy do it at this time?"
Conduct artillery fire on our military positions."
Rokossovsky thought for a while, and then said to Bogolyubov: "Chief of Staff, call Misha. He has a lot of clever ideas, and he might be able to figure out what happened."
After Sokov received the call from Bogolyubov, he quickly thought about why the Germans took the initiative to bombard, and even the target of the bombardment was the Soviet artillery position. Could there be something wrong with it?
After some thinking, Sokov remembered a piece of information he had read, which seemed to mention that before the start of the Soviet Army's East Prussia Campaign, several deserters appeared in Chernyakhovsky's Third Front.
After they escaped to the German defense area, they reported the Soviet offensive plan to the German army, which alerted the German army, which was originally unprepared. In order to prevent being attacked by the Soviet army, they withdrew the main force from their positions.
, thus causing the artillery shells fired by the artillery of the Second Front to fall on the unmanned position.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said into the microphone: "I think you remember the Battle of Kursk?"
"Of course, of course I remember the Battle of Kursk." Bogolyubov nodded and said, "But what does this have to do with the German shelling of our positions?"
"Of course it is related." Sokov said: "Before the German army launched an attack on our army in Kursk, our army knew nothing about the German offensive plan. But a German engineer who was responsible for clearing a path in the minefield
After being captured, they revealed their attack plan to our army, which led Marshal Zhukov and Marshal Rokossovsky to make the decision to use powerful artillery fire to carry out a violent attack on the German army's assembly point."
Bogolyubov originally thought that what Sokov said had nothing to do with what happened tonight, but after hearing his words, he suddenly understood. He asked tentatively: "General Sokov, what if I
If you understand me correctly, you are saying that our attack plan has been leaked to the Germans?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone: "I can conclude that if someone is not captured, then there is a defection. Once these people who understand the attack plan fall,
In the hands of the Germans, the Germans will know that we are about to launch an attack on them. The reason why they are shelling our artillery positions now is to divert our attention and thus cover the withdrawal of their troops from being attacked by our army.
area."
After listening to Sokov's story, Bogolyubov felt that what he said was very reasonable, and quickly reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I have asked General Sokov. He thinks it should be our army
Some soldiers were captured by the Germans or defected, which led to the leakage of our army's offensive plan."
After finishing speaking, Bogolyubov felt that his expression was not clear enough, and quickly added: "He also said that when you and Marshal Zhukov were in Kursk, you concluded that the German army was going to attack based on the confessions of the German prisoners.
conclusion, and carried out artillery bombardment in advance of the area where the enemy was gathering."
Hearing Bogolyubov mention Kursk, Rokossovsky couldn't help but fell into deep thought. After he and Zhukov interrogated the German prisoners, they learned that the enemy would launch an attack on his defense area in a few hours.
After some discussion, it was decided to carry out intensive artillery strikes on areas where German troops might gather.
Regrettably, because the specific area where the German troops were gathering was unclear, the powerful artillery strike did not achieve the desired effect. Although it caused a lot of casualties to the German troops, it only delayed their launch for a few hours.
The attack did not completely disrupt their offensive deployment.
Perhaps to confirm the correctness of Sokov's conjecture, an intelligence staff officer came over and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, we have just received a report that some planned assembly areas have also been shelled to varying degrees.
Fortunately, our troops have not started to gather yet, otherwise we would definitely have to pay a lot of casualties."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," the staff report convinced Rokossovsky that Sokov's analysis was correct. He quickly ordered Bogolyubov: "While our offensive is still a few hours away, send out troops immediately.
Reconnaissance personnel conducted reconnaissance on the German positions to see if they had withdrawn from the first line of defense."
"Okay, Comrade Marshal, I will make arrangements immediately."
Just as Bogolyubov was arranging manpower to conduct reconnaissance of the German positions, Sokov also called Sidorin to him and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation has changed. The Germans may have noticed us.
According to my estimate, they will withdraw the first-line troops to the second line. When we prepare for artillery fire, the artillery shells will fall on the empty position."
Sidorin and Sokov had been partners for more than a year or two, so they naturally understood what the other party meant, and nodded quickly and said: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will immediately arrange manpower to conduct reconnaissance on the German positions and find out the details.
Case."
Two hours later, that is, an hour before the artillery preparations before the attack began, Sidorin received intelligence from the frontline scouts.
After seeing the contents of the telegram, Sidorin said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, your judgment is correct. After verification by the scouts, the enemies in front of us have indeed withdrawn from the front-line positions and are hiding in their
The second line position is ready to avoid our artillery fire."
Potapov, who had just arrived not long ago, heard what Sidorin said and immediately asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, what should our artillery do, please give instructions?"
"If we continue to shell the front-line positions according to the original plan, it will be a waste of artillery shells." Sokov said thoughtfully: "I think it is okay. First, shell the German front-line positions for ten minutes, then stop the shelling and let our
The infantry charges."
"What, after ten minutes of shelling, let the infantry charge?" Potapov was shocked when he heard what Sokov said: "Comrade Commander, ten minutes of shelling will not have any effect at all, and it will not even affect the enemy's fortifications.
We can't even destroy a few of them, so a hasty attack will probably cost the attacking troops a lot of casualties."
"Misha!" Ponedelin said to Potapov with a smile: "Don't be impatient and listen patiently to what the commander has to say. The tactics he used completely subverted our old military common sense."
Hearing what Ponejelin said, Potapov could only remain silent and listened patiently to Sokov's continued words: "When the enemy sees that our army has launched an attack, they will definitely move their troops back from the second line of defense.
At this time, our artillery can carry out violent shelling on the moving enemy, which can cause huge casualties to the enemy. After the shelling for a period of time, the artillery stopped near the German position
If the infantry charges again, they can easily break through the enemy's defense line."
What Sokov said was indeed a very strange theory for Potapov, who had just left the German prisoner of war camp for a short time. He saw the expressions of the people around him, and seemed to be interested in Sokov's
I had long been accustomed to this tactic, so he smiled bitterly and said: "I really didn't expect that after staying in a prisoner of war camp for a few years, I couldn't keep up with the situation. It seems that if there is a chance, I will still apply to study at the Frunze Military Academy
study."
"Misha, you don't have to be so inferior." Ponejelin explained to him: "Among so many group army commanders, only our commander likes to be unique in combat. In fact, the tactics used by other commanders are
It's still the same tactics we are familiar with. Of course, using the old tactics will make the battle smooth and smooth, without worrying about making any mistakes, but the results that can be achieved are very limited. The commander's tactics are not only unique, but they can often achieve success.
Unexpected effects, wait until you stay for a long time, and you will get used to it.”
This chapter has been completed!