Rudenko tried his best to dispel Rokossovsky's risky idea, but Rokossovsky had already made up his mind about something that he could change. After some attempts, Rudenko knew that he could not convince Rokossovsky, so he could only reluctantly say: "Okay, Comrade Marshal, since you want to inspect the skies over Warsaw, let me accompany you." ”

"Comrade Commander!" After listening to Rudenko's proposal, Terekin turned his head to look at Rokossovsky, and said with some embarrassment: "Isn't this okay?" We have no right to let General Rudenko accompany us on the adventure. ”

"Let him go with him." Rokossovsky observed what he said and saw that Rudenko seemed to have made up his mind, and if he did not agree to his visit, he would continue to persuade himself not to go to the skies over Warsaw, so he explained to Terekin with a smile: "If you don't let him go with him, I guess he will be restless." ”

In this way, amid the laughter of the crowd, the matter of flying to the skies over Warsaw to inspect was booked. Rudenko hurriedly picked up the phone and asked people to arrange the plane to be taken during the inspection, as well as the fighter planes to escort the escort.

Half an hour later, the special plane in which Rokossovsky, Terekin, and Rudenko were traveling took off from the field airfield and flew toward Warsaw City, escorting two groups of four-plane fighters. Although the city of Warsaw has basically fallen into the hands of the Soviet army, Rudenko still let the plane fly along the transport route for the sake of safety, after all, the transport plane has always been through this route to transport supplies to the troops in the city.

When the plane entered the city from the southwestern direction of Warsaw, Rokossovsky saw Warsaw through the porthole. To be precise, to the southwest of Warsaw, it was shrouded in smoke, with houses burning and shells exploding in some sections. When he saw this scene, he knew that there was still a battle going on in the city.

"Comrade Commander," Terekin asked Rokossovsky curiously, seeing the battlefield filled with gunpowder smoke below: "Hasn't the western part of Warsaw been occupied by our troops a long time ago?" Why is there still a fierce battle going on below. ”

"It seems that the Germans have drawn reinforcements from other directions in an attempt to regain Warsaw from our hands." At this, Rokossovsky turned his head to look at Rudenko, who was staring down with his face against the porthole, his eyebrows tightly knit, as if he was thinking about a mysterious question. Rokossovsky asked curiously: "General Rudenko, what are you thinking?" ”

"Comrade Marshal, look." Rudenko pointed down and said to Rokossovsky: "The enemy sent out armored forces and launched an attack on the fortified areas of our army. You must know that our troops in the south of the city are not equipped with any heavy weapons, and once the Germans break through the defensive line, then the airfield and railway station will fall into the hands of the enemy one after another. ”

"That's right," Rokossovsky agreed with Rudenko's statement, nodding his head and saying: "The Germans are not willing to lose Warsaw, and they will definitely gather superior forces and carry out a crazy counterattack on Warsaw." If you look at the city below, there are ruins everywhere, and there are many roadblocks on many streets, which makes it difficult for our troops to hold on to the southwest of the city to support them with technical equipment in a short period of time. Therefore, I would like you to send more aircraft to provide the necessary air support to the defenders holding on to this area. ”

"Don't worry," Rudenko said, still looking out of the window, "and when I return to the headquarters, I will order the aviation division to send out and bomb the German troops assembled in this area." ”

While Rokossovsky was flying over Warsaw, the commander of the 4th Guards Army, Glazunov, was also very busy, and when he handed over the defense along the Vistula to Batov's troops, he hastily transferred the 57th Guards Division of Major General Shemenkov to the southwest of the city to take over the defense from the defenders who had suffered heavy casualties.

After listening to Glazunov's deployment, Batov pondered for a moment and said: "Comrade commander, if I am not mistaken, the troops of the 57th Guards Division are not equipped with heavy weapons, and at this moment to transfer them to the southwest of the city, in the face of a powerful offensive of the enemy, it is bound to pay a huge price. ”

"Commander Batov," Glazunov said to Batov with a wry smile, "I also understand that it will definitely cost great sacrifices to let a light division without heavy weapons go to hold off the enemy's armored forces." But we can't do that, and it's our duty to concentrate all our forces on defending the city until we're completely handed over to you. ”

The last words of Glazunov, "This is our duty", made Batov shrug. He stood up and walked back and forth in the headquarters, and his mind began to think about how to help the 4th Guards Army.

Seeing Batov pacing around the room with his hands behind his back, Glazunov guessed that the other party might be thinking about himself, so he didn't speak, but just sat quietly in his position, his eyes moving with Batov's body.

After walking back and forth for a few minutes, Batov finally stopped, turned to Glazunov and said: "Comrade commander, at present the city is full of ruins and rubble, and it is impossible for our tanks to quickly move from the Vistula to the southwest of the city. So I have this thought, do you think it's okay? ”

Seeing that Batov's words were only halfway through, they came to an abrupt end, and Glazunov urged a little anxiously: "Commander Batov, don't hang my appetite, if there is any good way, just tell me quickly." ”

"Comrade Commander, come and see." Batov beckoned Glazunov to the map hanging on the wall, pointed to the southwest, and said: "Now the airfield, the railway station, and the stadium are under the control of our army, and these places are only seven or eight kilometers from the most fierce fighting in the southwest, and if we deploy artillery in the three areas mentioned above, and intercept them when the enemy attacks, I think we will greatly reduce the pressure on the defenders." ”

Although Glazunov felt that Batov was reasonable, he thought that the troops under his command were all lightly armed divisions and had no artillery at all, so he was embarrassed and said: "But, Commander Batov, where can we find artillery?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." After raising his hand and patting Glazunov on the shoulder twice, Batov said with a smile: "Although you don't have artillery, we do!" I can arrange for artillery units to be stationed in these areas as soon as possible. He turned to Glebov, who was immersed in reading the battle report, and said, "Chief of Staff, you immediately ask the artillery commander how many artillery units have entered the western city of Warsaw?" ”

Glebov nodded at Batov, then grabbed the phone in front of him, shook the handle a few times, picked up the microphone and put it to his ear, and said loudly into the microphone: "I am the chief of staff, General Glebov, immediately pick up the artillery commander for me......"

Soon after the 57th Guards Division took over the defense southwest of the city, the Germans launched a new offensive. The observation post of the division commander, Major General Shemenkov, was located in a small building that had been half destroyed only 500 meters from the front line, and he saw through his telescope a dozen German tanks in battle formation, rushing towards the defensive positions of the 174th Guards Regiment, behind which were German infantry lined up in skirmishers.

The political commissar of the division, who was standing beside Shemenkov, saw that the scale of the enemy's attack was not small, and said with some concern: "Comrade division commander, the 174th Guards Regiment has already lost one-third of its strength in the battle to defend the bridge. The Germans attacked with this stance, could they hold back? ”

Shemenkov put down the binoculars, walked to the telephone, shook the handle, and then picked up the microphone and put it to his ear. The voice of the commander of the 174th Guards Regiment soon came from the earpiece: "Hey, I'm the regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Razhov, where are you?" ”

"I am the division commander Shemenkov," Shemenkov asked in a solemn tone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I know that your regiment suffered heavy casualties in the battle to defend the bridge, and in the face of the menacing enemy, can your regiment stop it?" ”

After Shemenkov's words were finished, the other party was silent for a long time, and finally spoke: "Comrade division commander, I assure you that as long as there is still one commander and fighter of our 174th Guards Regiment alive, we do not feel that we will let the enemy pass through our positions. ”

Hearing Razhov's resounding answer, Shemenkov nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Well done, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I will wait here for your good news." ”

Since the 57th Guards Division had no heavy weapons, it was helpless against the rumbling German tanks, and it didn't take long for the German tanks to stop less than two hundred meters from the trenches and begin shelling the positions of the Guards Division. The shells exploded directly in the trenches, causing considerable casualties to the defenders, and the German infantry leaped past the tanks and gradually approached the trenches with a short leap.

In an observation post 200 meters away, the regimental commander Razhov saw this situation and hurriedly shouted at the signal soldiers: "Give me the commander of the second battalion." As soon as the phone was called, he said loudly: "Comrade Major, immediately send fighters to blow up the enemy's tanks, otherwise our positions will not be able to hold." ”

The battalion commander, who received the call, immediately replied without hesitation: "Understood, comrade regiment commander, I will immediately send someone to blow up the enemy's tank." But we have limited ammo right now, can you find a way to add a little bit to us? ”

"Hell, how am I going to give you ammo at this time." Lanov said angrily: "You hold on first, I will find a way to replenish your ammunition." ”

As soon as he put down the phone, Lanov shouted at the regimental chief of staff: "Chief of staff, find a way to replenish the second battalion with some ammunition, move quickly, if they run out of ammunition, they will have to fight with the Germans with bayonets." Our bayonets can't deal with enemy tanks, and even Samson the Hercules can't take out enemy tanks. ”

The commander of the second battalion first ordered people to suppress the charging German infantry with firepower, and organized more than a dozen double demolition teams, carrying cluster grenades, to blow up the German tanks parked 200 meters away. Although many of the Demomen fell under German guns as they advanced, they managed to blow up two German tanks.

In order to evade the Soviet demomen, the German tanks restarted and retreated two hundred meters back, stopping here to carry out a new artillery attack on the Soviets to cover their infantry attack.

The commander of the second battalion, who commanded the battle in the trenches, found that the ammunition of the troops was insufficient, so he could only shout at the top of his voice: "Save ammunition, put the enemy close before fighting." ”

Running out of ammunition, the Germans quickly rushed into the trenches and engaged the Soviet commanders and fighters in a hand-to-hand battle. Seeing that the situation at the front was critical, the regimental commander Razhov personally led the staff officers of the regiment and also threw himself into battle to prevent the position from being broken through by the enemy.

The division commander Shemenkov had been watching the situation at the front, and when he saw the Demomen falling under the enemy's guns one after another in order to blow up the enemy's tanks, his heart was dripping blood, and he thought bitterly: "If there were one or two anti-tanks, our sacrifice might have been much smaller." ”

The political commissar of the division saw that the enemy's infantry rushed into the trench and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the commanders and fighters, and he couldn't help but be a little anxious, and he hurriedly said to Shemenkov: "Comrade division commander, it seems that the 174th Guards Regiment can't stop it, I think it's better to transfer the 176th Guards Regiment to reinforcements, right?" ”

The reason why Shemenkov had only one regiment of the 174th Guards Regiment at the front was because he found it impossible to deploy more troops there. Although the situation at the front is very critical, if another regiment is to be transferred, it will not be able to be used at all, and not only will it not help Razhov, but it will only increase casualties.

Just as Shemenkov was in a dilemma, the roar of aircraft engines was heard in the air. He looked up and saw countless four-plane formations flying towards him. "Comrade division commander, look," the political commissar shouted excitedly, looking at the sky, "it's our plane, our plane." The Air Force is here to support us! ”

After flying over Shemenkov's observation post, the Soviet flying formation lowered its altitude and dived down towards the German tanks and infantry in front of the position. In a short time, countless fire balls rose in front of the Soviet position, and then there was an earth-shattering explosion, and the German tanks, which were still firing wildly, were shrouded in gunsmoke.

"Well done, Air Force brethren!" Seeing this scene, Shemenkov could not help but burst into tears, he took off his military hat, held it high above his head, waved it desperately, and shouted: "You are all good. That's it, beat the Germans hard and let them all finish. ”

The bombardment of the Soviet army frightened the Germans who rushed into the trenches. Seeing that his retreat had been cut off, his colleagues who tried to escape back were either killed by bombs or killed by airborne machine guns, and where else did they dare to continue fighting, they hurriedly threw away their weapons and raised their hands to surrender to the Soviet troops.

As soon as the battle at the front ended, Shemenkov received a call from the corps commander Glazunov: "Comrade division commander, do you still have Germans there?" ”

"There was not a single living German except for the captives." The repulsion of the German attack with the support of the Air Force made Shemenkov's mood cheerful: "I believe that they will not appear in front of our positions again for several hours." ”

"Very good, comrade division commander, you have done a good job." After saying this, Glazunov continued to say to Shemenkov: "After dark, the 65th Infantry Corps, led by General Samarsky of the 19th Army, will go to take over your defense. You must not lose an inch of your land until they arrive, and this is the curtain call of our 4th Guards Army in Warsaw, and nothing can be missed. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." After Shemenkov waited for Grazuev to finish speaking, he immediately expressed his attitude to him: "Please rest assured, we will hand over the defense area to the 19th Infantry Army inch by inch. ”