As the Polish army advanced towards the West Bug River, Chuikov's 8th Guards Army also pushed all the way to the West Bug River. In the face of such a rapid advance of Chuikov's troops, an operational staff officer in the command of the Front Army raised his objections to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I feel that the performance of the 8th Guards Army on the battlefield is a little wrong. ”

"Something is wrong?" Rokossovsky's eyebrows rose and he asked strangely: "Something is wrong, is it not good that our troops are going well?" ”

"Comrade Marshal, the troops of General Chuikov arrived at the Sibug River three days earlier than planned." The operational staff officer cautiously said: "The Germans, so to speak, did not put up any decent resistance, and began to retreat desperately to the rear, and I feared that the enemy might have some conspiracy." ”

"The enemy has a conspiracy?" When Ma Linin heard the words of the operational staff officer, he also asked with interest: "Comrade Captain, tell me your opinion, what will the enemy's conspiracy be?" ”

The operational staff officer glanced at Rokossovsky and Malinin with some nervousness, and seeing that neither of them meant to blame him, he boldly said: "During this time, Goebbels has been preaching on the radio that 'elastic defense' should be carried out on the Eastern Front, and I was worried about the enemy that the 8th Guards Army would face, so I took advantage of their high mobility and flexibility to adopt elastic defense tactics against our army. ”

The so-called "elastic defense" of the German army was to first withdraw troops in a planned manner, then transfer troops from other places to reinforce them, and then carry out counter-assaults on the attacking Soviet troops. This tactic of theirs once inflicted huge losses on the Soviet army. Therefore, when everyone listened to the views put forward by the operational staff officers, they all fell into silence.

Only Rokossovsky understood best in his heart that the German army had not carried out any large-scale counter-assault at all in the Belarusian campaign, and was almost always in a state of retreat. Therefore, he first broke his silence and said: "Don't be nervous, I don't think it is possible for the Germans to implement the tactics of 'elastic defense' against Chuikov and them. ”

After he finished speaking, seeing that everyone was still suspicious, he added: "In order to deal with this tactic of the German army, Chuikov also developed countermeasures. He turned his head to look at Kazakov on the side, smiled and said, "Comrade Artillery Commander, do you remember what happened a few days ago when you got angry at Chuikov?" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's rehash of the old story, Kazakov smiled a little embarrassedly and replied: "Comrade Marshal, it turns out that the tactics used by General Chuikov were correct, and my opinion at that time was wrong. ”

Malinin heard the conversation between Rokossovsky and Kazakov, and a confused expression appeared on his face: "Comrade Marshal, what are you talking about, you have confused me?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky smiled and explained to Malinin: "Didn't Chuikov develop a new tactic, that is, to use several vanguard battalions to carry out combat reconnaissance? Our artillery commander reproached him, saying why when carrying out combat reconnaissance, so many shells were used, and all of them were large-caliber shells?

Comrade Chuikov, on the other hand, patiently explained to him that the purpose of intensive artillery bombardment using large-caliber shells was to combine combat reconnaissance with a breakthrough of the enemy's entire defensive zone.

Of course, not everyone can immediately accept and understand the new methods that Chuikov and others have developed. Even our comrades of artillery commanders fully approved of this new tactic of Chuikov only after seeing the concrete results achieved after the battle began. ”

"Comrade Marshal, I have one more question." Orel on the side interjected and asked: "I heard that Chuikov asked the air force to bomb the artillery positions located in the depth of the German defenses, instead of bombing the forward positions of the German army as is customary. ”

"I think Chuikov is completely right to do this." Rokossovsky continued: "Our artillery knew the forward positions of the German army very well, and they could completely destroy and suppress everything there with artillery fire, but for the depth of the German defense, the results they achieved could not achieve the same effect as aviation. ”

Soon after the news of the arrival of the Polish army on the Sibug River, a battle report also came from Chuikov's headquarters that the 57th Guards Division and the 65th Tank Brigade of the group army had already crossed the Sibug River in the Gush region and entered Polish territory; Colonel Shugaev's 47th Guards Infantry Division also successfully crossed the river in the Gnasikhov area; Two divisions of the 28th Guards Infantry Corps also crossed the river in the Sverzhe area and gradually expanded the occupied landing grounds.

"Comrade Marshal, what shall we do?" After seeing these supposed exciting battle reports, Malinin asked Rokossovsky with some embarrassment: "Didn't you say that the troops of the Polish army should first step into Polish territory?" But now that Chuikov's main forces have crossed the Sibug River, we can't let them abandon their existing positions and retreat into the distance, right? ”

Rokossovsky walked back and forth in the house a few times with his hands behind his back, and finally stopped and said to Malinin: "Chief of Staff, call back to Chuikov and order him to continue to maintain the current pace of attack and advance to the depth of the enemy's defense. ”

"And what about General Behringer?" Malinin asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I've thought about it a long time ago." Rokossovsky pointed to the map and said to Malinin and the surrounding commanders: "In the area where the Polish army crosses the river, do not throw our troops for the time being, so as to give them the illusion that they are the first to reach the Sibug River." ”

"That's okay," Malinin stared at the map for a while, and found that the current crossing location of the 8th Guards Army was relatively far away from the Polish army, and even if he crossed the river first, he would not be discovered by the commanders and fighters of the Polish army, so he nodded and said: "Then I will send a telegram to Chuikov, asking him to try not to get close to the crossing place of the Polish army when he continues to develop in depth with the German army, so as not to cause unhappiness among friendly troops!" ”

For the sake of safety, Rokossovsky also took the initiative to propose: "The Polish army has already erected a pontoon bridge over the Sibug River, and I think I should go there myself to congratulate General Behringer and them." Congratulations to their troops, who, after five long years of waiting, have finally set foot on the territory of their homeland again. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's words, Military Commissar Terekin hurriedly said: "Comrade commander, I will also go with you, so that we can show that we attach great importance to their re-establishment on the territory of the motherland." ”