Already when Batov's 65th Army besieged the Glaudenz fortress, the defenders had the experience of defeating Soviet offensives several times. Don't look at the number of defenders in the fortress now, the number has been greatly reduced, but their defense is still very tenacious.

As soon as the troops of the 249th Division rushed into the fortress, they were killed and wounded by fire from all directions, and the fighters who rushed in front fell in pieces, and the rest hurriedly hid in the ruins next to them and fired back in the direction where the bullets flew.

A Soviet major could not help but be a little anxious when he saw that his fighters were suppressed by enemy fire, he stood up in the rain of bullets, half-turned and shouted at the fighters hiding behind the rubble: "Comrades, don't be frightened by the enemy's bullets, follow me, advance!" ”

Seeing the major taking the lead in rushing forward, many soldiers also stood up from their hiding places and bravely charged forward. But in battle, bravery alone is far from enough, and human flesh and blood cannot stop the enemy's bullets. The troops led by the major rushed forward less than twenty meters before they were killed and wounded by the intensive fire of the Germans.

The major who rushed to the front bore the brunt of the attack, and the rank on his epaulette made him the preferred target for German shooting. Seeing that the major and some of his comrades who rushed to the front fell under the enemy's dense fire, the fighters who were originally charging forward immediately dispersed and hid in the rubble that the German bullets could not reach.

Knowing that the offensive of the troops had been frustrated, Pern was a little anxious, and hurriedly said to the chief of staff, Lucas: "Chief of staff, it seems that the resistance of the German army is very stubborn, and the 249th Division alone cannot capture the fortress, so immediately put the 7th and 8th divisions into battle." ”

"No, Comrade Commander." As soon as he finished speaking, Lucas objected: "The gap opened by the 249th Division is too small, and if we put in two more divisions, tens of thousands of commanders and fighters will be crowded in the narrow breakthrough area." The enemy only needs one shell to kill and wound dozens of us. ”

"So what are we going to do?" Pern said a little impatiently: "Just watch the enemy and drive our troops out of the fortress?" ”

"The best thing to do now is to let the 249th Division hold on to the occupied area, and then order the artillery to provide them with artillery support." Lucas advised: "Destroy those strong fortifications and open a passage for the attacking infantry." ”

"No, no," Pern said, shaking his head at Lucas's proposal, "but our warriors are in the fortress, and if they open fire, they will be injured by mistake." ”

"Comrade Commander," Aru hesitated for a moment, then stood up and said, "I think the chief of staff's suggestion is still feasible. As long as we push the artillery near the fortress and shoot directly at the enemy's fortifications, we can effectively avoid accidentally injuring our own people. ”

"What, the artillery pushed near the fortress and fired straight fire?" As for the method Aru said, Pern frowned and asked, "Can this method work?" Don't destroy the enemy's fire, but let the enemy kill all our artillery. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Seeing Perne's worried look, Aru comforted him and said: "This method has been passed down from other units, and it is said to be the innovation of Marshal Rokossovsky, who called this 'bayonet on cannon', using powerful artillery to destroy enemy fortifications at close range. ”

"Since it is an innovation of the commander of the front army, I think it must still be very effective. Colonel Aru, you immediately transfer the artillery to the vicinity of the fortress. Hearing that this tactic was invented by Rokossovsky, Pern's attitude immediately made a 180-degree turn, and he instructed Aru: "As for the shells, I will ask General Fedyuninsky to send them to us as soon as possible." ”

When Aru called the artillery regiment, Pern continued to say to Lucas: "Chief of Staff, weren't those tanks that cooperated with the 249th Division's attack parked outside the fortress? Let them not be idle, immediately open fire on the exposed fire points inside the fortress, suppress the enemy's fire, and reduce the casualties of our troops. ”

Compared to the 2nd Shock Army, Batov's 65th Army went very smoothly. The German units stationed in the Hojnice area, who were given orders to prepare to attack the flanks of Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front in the south, turned a blind eye to the close 65th Army. According to their ideas, this force was besieging the Gloudenz fortress, how could there be extra forces to attack themselves?

But what they never dreamed of was that this unit, which they had neglected, would launch an attack on their own defense area early in the morning. The German commander was stunned at the sight of the Soviet tanks, armored vehicles and infantry that were being used in his positions like a tide, and he exclaimed: "The Russians are crazy, the Russians are crazy." Have they forgotten that behind them, there is a heavily defended fortress of Gloudenz? Aren't they afraid that the defenders of the fortress will cut off their rear? ”

At this point, however, it's too late to say anything. In front of the German defensive positions, there were no minefields, no barbed wire, only a few coherent trenches, where could they block the Soviet offensive. In less than half an hour, the two lines of German defense were broken through one after another.

Several German commanders who stayed at the front thought that their troops could support half a day in the face of the Soviet attack, but they were about to collapse at the touch of a button, and they did not even withstand half an hour, and the two lines of defense fell into the hands of the Soviet army one after another. Before these German commanders could get into their cars and flee, they were surrounded by Soviet soldiers who saw that the situation was not good, and they had to surrender obediently.

The captured officers, were immediately sent to Batov's command. After some interrogation, Batov reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, according to the confession of the German officer who has just been captured, the German high command intends to carry out a surprise attack on the flank of the 1st Front, which advanced to the Oder, with a strong force. Now that the build-up of troops is almost complete, they will launch an offensive to the south within a week. ”

After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he called the chief of staff, Bogolyubov, to him and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, according to the confessions of the German prisoners, they are basically ready to storm the flank of Marshal Zhukov's troops. In order to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise attack before Marshal Zhukov and them were ready, you immediately transferred the 330th and 369th Infantry Divisions, which were the reserves of the Front, to our left flank and prepared to reinforce friendly forces. ”