The Soviet army learned of Reinhardt's dismissal from the intercepted telegram.
When Rokossovsky first heard about this incident, he specifically asked the Chief of Staff Bogolyubov who reported the incident: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is this news reliable?"
"Completely reliable, Comrade Marshal." Bogolyubov said excitedly: "This is a telegram sent by the German command to the troops in the East Prussian region. It specifically mentions the dismissal of Reinhardt and his chief of staff. It is absolutely
Can’t be wrong.”
Seeing that Bogolyubov was so sure, Rokossovsky knew in his heart that this must be true. He nodded and said happily: "Reinhard is indeed a strong enemy for us.
It is a good thing for us that he was relieved of his post. No matter how good the new German commander is, it will take at least a few days for the Germans to adapt. And we just took advantage of this rare opportunity to launch a new attack on the enemy.
Round of attacks.”
"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Bogolyubov agreed: "We have been fighting well during this period and have defeated the Germans in many areas. If their commander is dismissed, what will happen to the Germans?
If military morale is adversely affected, the battle in the next few days will go extremely smoothly."
Just as the Soviet army was rejoicing about Reinhardt's dismissal, General Hosbach's troops arrived at the flank of the 2nd Belorussian Front after a forced march of more than 200 kilometers. They were preparing to copy the Soviet army.
At the Battle of Den, a surprise attack was carried out on the Soviet army, forcing the Soviet army to withdraw from the area it currently occupied.
It was already early in the morning, and the unit opposite the German attack site was the 109th Infantry Brigade under the 48th Group Army. Because the brigade was located at the rear of the entire group army and farthest from the combat zone, the brigade commander Su
Major Khalev's vigilance was not high. Apart from placing some mobile sentries around the defense area, no special vigilance was carried out.
After the German 170th Infantry Division arrived in this area, it immediately sent out scouts to conduct reconnaissance, trying to figure out the Soviet defenses and choose a suitable area as a breakthrough. After more than an hour of reconnaissance, the German scouts were surprised to find that
The Soviet army's security force here is not strong. Although sentries and mobile sentries are arranged, these officers and soldiers do not seem to be too vigilant. Some people even sleep while hiding in corners.
When the German scouts reported the situation on the Soviet position to the division headquarters, the German division commander could not believe it. Because he knew very well that the troops on the opposite side were the 48th Group Army commanded by Sokov, his own friendly forces.
Being frightened by this army, how could their defense area be so lax? "Conspiracy, this must be a conspiracy." The German division commander thought smartly: "The other party must have been aware of his arrival and deliberately set a trap.
, wait for yourself to drill."
It was out of this consideration that after receiving the scout's report, the German division commander chose to stand still. At the same time, he also ordered the scout to continue conducting reconnaissance to find out whether there was an ambush or the like in the 48th Group Army's defense area.
of.
It wasn't until the second news from the scouts came that the Soviet troops' vigilance on the position was very lax and they did not notice the arrival of their troops at all. At this time, the German division commander finally understood that the Russians in front of him, although they were also Sokov
subordinates, but their vigilance was obviously not that high. If he ordered the troops to attack, he would definitely achieve good results. Although a lot of precious time had been wasted by this time, he felt that he could still take the risk.
, maybe you can achieve unexpected results.
In this way, with the help of moonlight, a regiment of the German 170th Infantry Division touched the front of the 109th Infantry Brigade position. After confirming again that the Soviet army had no defense, it launched an attack unexpectedly.
The officers and soldiers of the 109th Brigade would never have thought that the German army would launch a surprise attack on them at this time. The officers and soldiers who woke up from their sleep rushed out of the shelter with their guns in hand, trying to repel the sudden German attack. However, due to the sudden incident,
, the unprepared commanders and fighters rushed into the battle, and it was difficult to form a decent resistance, resulting in heavy casualties.
The sound of gunfire coming from outside woke Sukharev from his sleep. He sat up from the cot and shouted outside: "Come here, come here!"
Following his shout, a staff officer ran in from outside and asked respectfully: "Comrade Brigadier, do you have any instructions?"
"What's going on outside?" Sukharev asked dissatisfiedly: "Where is the sound of gunfire?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the staff officer replied: "Listening to the sound, the gunfire came from the positions of the 1st and 2nd Battalions. It seems that they were suddenly attacked by the Germans."
"Nonsense." Sukhalev interrupted the staff officer: "The Germans have been defeated by us a long time ago. How can there be any Germans forming an organized unit? Did they fall from the sky? Send people to conduct reconnaissance immediately.
, and then report to me after you figure it out."
Just as the staff left the headquarters, the brigade chief of staff hurriedly walked in from outside and reported to Sukhalev: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the situation seems not good. There was intensive gunfire from the positions of the first and second battalions.
, won’t it be the Germans who sneak attack us?”
When Sukharev heard this, he felt that what the Chief of Staff said made sense. There would be no inexplicable gunshots coming from the positions of the 1st and 2nd Battalions. Something must have happened. He quickly ordered the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, call me immediately.
The battalion commanders of the first and second battalions called and asked them what happened."
The chief of staff agreed, picked up the phone on the table and called the first and second battalions. But unfortunately, the calls of these two battalions could not be reached. At this time, Sukhalev was as stupid as ever.
, and also knew that there was a problem with the positions of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, so much so that even communications were interrupted.
"Chief of Staff, please contact the commanders of the 3rd and 4th Battalions immediately." Sukharev gritted his teeth and said, "Tell them that the positions of the 1st and 2nd Battalions have been attacked by the enemy, and ask them to prepare for reinforcements."
While the chief of staff was giving orders to the troops, Sukhalev picked up another phone and called the army headquarters. He planned to report the attack on his troops to Sokov and Xi as soon as possible.
Dolin reports.
In fact, not long after the battle here started, Sidorin, who was on duty, heard the sound of gunfire coming from here. He realized that something was wrong, and quickly sent someone to invite Sokov and Lunev to the headquarters.
Research possible scenarios with them.
At this moment, Sukharev called. As soon as he heard Sidorin's voice, he said urgently: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's bad, our brigade's position was suddenly attacked by the German army.
There is a fierce battle going on now.”
"What, your position was attacked by the German army." Sidorin asked in surprise: "What kind of force is the enemy?"
"It's not clear yet." Sukhalev replied: "The two battalions that were attacked have lost contact with the brigade headquarters, but I have sent people to contact them. I believe it won't take long to find out what happened.
Something happened."
"See clearly, you were attacked by the German army." After Sidorin said this, he began to talk to himself: "Strange, where did the enemy appear from? I remember that there seemed to be no success nearby.
Where did the organized German troops come from to attack your enemies?"
Sokov hurriedly walked into the headquarters and asked loudly to Sidorin who was still on the phone: "Chief of Staff, what happened? Why did I hear the sound of gunfire in the distance? And
The location seems to be in the defense area where the 109th Infantry Brigade is located."
"Comrade Commander, you are right, the defense area of the 109th Brigade is under attack by the enemy." Sidorin reported to Sokov: "I am on the phone with the brigade commander, Major Sukhalev. Due to the incident
Suddenly, the troops under attack lost contact again, and he was temporarily unclear about the enemy's strength."
"Ask him to immediately dispatch troops to reinforce the area under attack." Sokov said: "In addition, you should seize the time to contact nearby troops to help the 109th Brigade."
"Major Sukhalev, did you hear the commander's order?" Sidorin said into the microphone: "You immediately send troops to reinforce the area under attack, and more reinforcements will rush over to support you. Do you understand?
?”
"Understood." Sukhalev replied loudly on the other end of the phone: "Chief of Staff and Commander, please rest assured that I will personally command the troops to reinforce the area under attack."
After Sidorin put down the phone, he looked at the map in front of him and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the troops closest to the 109th Brigade are Lieutenant Colonel Victor's 122nd Infantry Brigade and Colonel Liugekov.
211th Infantry Division."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, we currently don't know the size of the enemy attacking the 109th Brigade position, so we cannot rush all the troops into the battle." Sokov thought for a while and said to Sidorin: "You
Let Lieutenant Colonel Victor send two battalions, and Colonel Liugekov send a regiment of troops to support Sukhalev and the others."
"Ah, I only send this small amount of troops, is it enough?"
"Of course it's enough." Sokov nodded and said: "The main forces of our army are now near Elbin and Letzen, and the troops at the headquarters are relatively empty. If you don't panic before you know the details of the enemy,
Put all the troops into battle in a panic. If the enemy takes the opportunity to attack the empty areas, our army's situation will become extremely dangerous."
"Do I need to report to Comrade Marshal?" Sidorin asked tentatively.
"Of course." Sokov said with certainty: "We currently have no idea where the enemies who attacked our army came from and how many troops they have. So I need the help of Comrade Marshal. Let's see.
Can you get any useful information from the intelligence department of the Front Army Headquarters?"
Sokov picked up the phone and called the front army headquarters. Before he could speak, Lunev, wearing a military coat, walked in from outside. He rubbed his eyes as he walked and asked: "Misha, what's going on? Something happened here."
What happened?"
Just as Sokov was about to explain to him, he heard a voice coming from the receiver: "This is the duty room of the Front Army Headquarters. Where are you?"
"I am Sokov, the commander of the 48th Group Army." Sokov did not bother to explain to Lunev what happened, and directly said to the person on duty: "If there is something important, please report it to the marshal or the chief of staff.
Can you call me?"
When the duty officer learned that Sokov was in an emergency, he quickly woke up Bogolyubov, who was on the night shift, regardless of the time: "Comrade Chief of Staff, General Sokov, commander of the 48th Group Army, called.
He said he has important information to report to you or Comrade Marshal."
Bogolyubov raised his hand to look at the time, and murmured in a low voice: "What time is it, and I called you. If you have anything to do, we can't wait until dawn to talk about it." Although he felt a little unhappy, he still picked up the phone.
Microphone: "I am Bogolyubov."
"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov said anxiously: "Not long ago, our 122nd Infantry Brigade was suddenly attacked by the German army."
"What, your rear guard was suddenly attacked by the German army?" Bogolyubov asked with a shocked face: "Is this true? How many troops do the Germans have?"
"Of course it's true." Sokov replied: "As for how many troops they have, we haven't figured it out yet. However, the 109th Brigade that was attacked has lost contact with the brigade headquarters, so we can't
Obtain urgently needed first-hand information. I am calling you just to ask, from the intercepted German intelligence, whether there is any mention of any German troops that will appear near the defense area of our army group in the near future? "
"No, General Sokov." Bogolyubov said seriously: "I can tell you responsibly that there is no intelligence showing that any enemy troops have approached our defense area."
Seeing that Bogolyubov didn't know the origin of the German troops, Sokov couldn't help but be confused: "Since you haven't obtained relevant information, where did the Germans come from? It's not like they were withdrawing from other areas.
Did you come down?"
"This is unlikely." Bogolyubov stared at the map in front of him, and after seeing clearly the distribution of enemy and friendly situations on it, he said: "General Sokov, even if German troops withdraw, they will not pass through your defense area.
Ah. I am also very confused about the fact that the enemies who attacked you came from somewhere."
"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I think something is wrong with the situation." Sokov said to Bogolyubov: "Would you like to report this matter to the Marshal immediately so that he can be aware of it?"
"Okay, General Sokov, since you request so, I will immediately send someone to ask for the marshal." Bogolyubov said into the microphone: "At the same time, we will try to find out what happened.
"
"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I'm waiting for your news."
After Sokov put down the phone, he said to the confused Lunev in front of him: "Comrade Military Commissar, the situation is like this. The defense area of the 109th Infantry Brigade of Major Sukhalev was suddenly attacked by the German army. The enemy's
The attack was so sudden and so powerful that Sukhalev lost contact with his troops who were under attack."
"Misha, do you know where the enemy came from?" Lunev asked in a panic: "They won't come to us, will they?" His worry was not unnecessary. Now the group army's
The main forces are near Elbing and Lezen. Although there are two infantry brigades and one infantry division around the headquarters, the troops are too scattered. If the enemy breaks through the defense line of the 109th Infantry Brigade, they can quickly rush to the headquarters.
