Chapter 248
South of Bialystok, 20 km, on the banks of the Narew River.
The moving tanks, armored vehicles and sidecar motorcycles raised a cloud of dust. The soldiers on the motorcycles wore helmets, and the white skulls painted on the front of the helmets showed how special the troops they belonged to were.
The SS Death's Head Division received the order to advance westward along the Narew River, develop an offensive in the direction of Svisloch, and then turn the attack northward to attack Volkwissk and join forces with the 19th Armored Division attacking from the direction of the Neman River, thereby encircling the Soviet army group in the direction of Bialystok.
After the campaign was launched, the initial offensive went very smoothly. The main force of the Totenkopf Division successfully crossed the Narew River and advanced westward at a speed of nearly 20 kilometers per day. However, this smooth offensive situation lasted only two days, and then they encountered stubborn resistance from the Soviet defensive forces.
The 48th Army and part of the 9th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front were responsible for organizing the defense on the front line of the SS Division's attack. Although these two armies were also combined arms forces, they had suffered serious losses of tank vehicles in the previous stage of combat. During the intermission of the war, the front received relatively few tanks, so the number of armored forces that could be mobilized was pitifully small.
However, although the number of tanks that can be mobilized is not large, the two armies are equipped with a large number of artillery. In addition, they also have a powerful backup air force to provide air support. The strength comparison between the two sides is not that great.
At this time, the troops marching westward along the Narew River were the 3rd SS Panzer Regiment of the Death's Head Division. They received orders to attack Kusnina, 38 kilometers west of Svisloch, where there was a railway station. The reason for seizing this railway station was not only to cut off the railway line from Minsk, but also to control a bridge over the Narew River.
The soldiers of the SS Division fought bravely, and no matter how difficult the combat conditions were, it was difficult to make them lay down their arms and surrender. Of course, there was an unwritten rule within the Soviet military system that if the German SS were captured, they could be executed directly , and troops like the SS Division were the focus of the Soviet army's stranglehold.
Just as the German 3rd Armored Regiment was advancing rapidly towards Kusnina, the 6th Guards Division of the Soviet 48th Army had already launched a defense with the depot as the center. For the Germans, this battle was not easy to fight, because the Soviet 6th Guards Infantry Division was a hard nut to crack.
The battle started when the German army was still 6 kilometers away from the station. What was more troublesome for the German army was that... the first Soviet army to engage in the battle was a formation of four Il-2 fighter planes that swooped down from the air.
The fighting in the Kusnina direction was fierce, but for Yuri, his focus was not there. Perhaps for Moscow, the gains and losses of Bialystok were not very important. What Stalin needed was to take Warsaw and completely resolve the problem of the Polish government in exile.
At the same time as the fighting in the Kusnina direction began, the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts also launched their offensive against Warsaw.
Warsaw is a special city. The Vistula River runs through it, dividing it into two parts, the east bank of the river is called Praga, but people are more accustomed to calling it "Prague". The west bank of the river is the main part of the city. This means that if the Soviet army wants to capture the entire city, it must cross the Vistula River.
The offensive against Warsaw was first launched by the Second Guards Tank Army under the command of Bogdanov. Its powerful assault capability quickly broke through the German defenses from Demblin to Puławy, opening a gap nearly 20 kilometers wide. Later, the Ninth Guards Army under the command of Chuikov joined the battle, making the gap even wider.
In just one day, the Second Guards Tank Army, which launched the attack first, pushed the front line to the Vistula River. However, because the crossing on the river had been destroyed by the German army, the Soviet army turned to advance northward along the Vistula River, but was blocked by the German Goering Armored Division in the Garwolin area.
Just as the 2nd Guards Tank Army launched an offensive towards the Vistula River, the 9th Guards Army had already begun its offensive to the north. They quickly broke through the German Stockzek Line of Defense. In just two days, they advanced more than 100 kilometers, went directly around the rear of the Radzymin Line of Defense, and quickly broke through the fragile defense line of the German 73rd Infantry Division.
In the Radzymin area, the German 73rd Infantry Division was surrounded by the Soviet army and was completely wiped out in just two days. Even the division commander was captured by the Soviet army. The Soviet army cut off the road from Radzymin to Modlin.
On the same day that the Soviet 2nd Tank Army engaged in a fierce battle with the German Hermann Goering Division on the Vistula River line, a large-scale uprising launched by the Polish National Army under the command of the Polish government in exile broke out in Warsaw.
…
Garvorin, temporary headquarters of the 1st Belorussian Front.
Yuri looked expressionlessly at a document in his hand. The document came from General Skakowski, commander-in-chief of the Warsaw Uprising United Forces. In the document, he expressed his hope to get assistance from the Soviet Red Army.
Skakowski was a pure soldier. He did not consider any doctrine or line. He only thought about how to fight the Germans. The troops he commanded belonged neither to the Polish government in exile nor to the Polish People's Congress, but to an armed force composed of various anti-German organizations.
In this letter, Skakowski proposed that the aid needed included food and weapons and ammunition. In addition, he also expressed the hope that the Soviet army could speed up the offensive, liberate Warsaw as soon as possible, and repel or annihilate the German troops in Warsaw.
Putting the letter down, Yuri picked up another letter at hand.
The letter came from the so-called General Command of the Warsaw Uprising, and the writer was Mandal, the commander-in-chief of the Warsaw Uprising forces of the National Army.
Compared to Skakowski's letter, this one was much longer. Mandal first talked about the scale of the Warsaw Uprising in his letter. In his words, the uprising involved 100,000 people and was a massive armed uprising. At the same time, Mandal also claimed that the insurgents under his command were capable of seizing the main streets and buildings in Warsaw and controlling at least half of the city within the next two days.
At the end of the letter, Mandal also stated that they had reached an agreement with Britain and the United States. These two countries would provide food for their rebels, but weapons and ammunition would need to be provided by the Soviet army.
Yuri only believed half of the contents of Mandal's letter. He believed that Britain and the United States would definitely provide food aid to the rebellious National Army, and he also believed that the National Army would definitely need weapons assistance from the Soviet Red Army, but he would never believe that the scale of the National Army's uprising could reach 100,000 people.
If nothing unexpected happens, the scale of the national army's uprising will not exceed 50,000 people at most, and this is if they include the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled.
Throwing the letter aside, Yuri stood up and walked to the big table with the map. He stood next to Rokossovsky, who was frowning. He glanced at him and said, "Don't look so worried, Konstantin. You know, things like this are not up to you and me to decide."
The general's father was a Pole, so he was also considered a Pole, but the sad thing was that Moscow considered him a Pole, while those Poles did not think so, not even the people of the Polish Patriotic League.
However, as the First Belorussian Front advanced rapidly towards Warsaw, the Polish government-in-exile remembered Comrade Rokossovsky. As the commander-in-chief of the Polish National Army uprising, Mandal's first letter was not written to Yuri, but to Rokossovsky.
Fortunately, Rokossovsky was not stupid. He did not accept the letter, but handed the letter and the messenger to the front military commissar Bulganin. Otherwise, just this letter would be enough to make him very angry.
"Besides, you are only the commander of the front, and I am the representative of the headquarters who came to coordinate the war zone." Seeing that his brows showed no sign of relaxing, Yuri patted his shoulder and continued, "Even if Comrade Bulganin doesn't deal with this matter, I should be responsible for solving it. You don't need to think so much. You just need to think about how to get rid of the German troops outside Warsaw as soon as possible."
The large-scale uprising of the Polish National Army in Warsaw not only caused trouble for the Soviet army politically, but also caused considerable difficulties militarily. At least, as the commander of the First Belorussian Front, Rokossovsky was already somewhat uneasy.
Yuri also knew that his consolation would not have much effect on Rokossovsky . Before the war in Warsaw was officially resolved, he would have to struggle for a while. He just hoped that his command ability would not be affected by his mood.
Yuri took out a cigarette from his pocket, smoked one and handed it to Rokossovsky. He turned around and went back to the table. He picked up the two letters and handed them to Arseni who was standing at the door. He said, "Tell the signalman to send them to Moscow and ask Comrade Stalin for his comments."
