After a day and night of fierce fighting, the battle on the east bank of Warsaw finally came to an end.

At dawn, the commander of the 48th Army, Romanenko, the commander of the 65th Army, Batov, and the commander of the 70th Army, which sent only one army to the war, called Rokossovsky and excitedly reported to him that his main forces had entered the city of Warsaw on the east bank of the Vistula.

After hearing the news, Rokossovsky was also very excited. Because he unknowingly, he has changed history, so that the city, which was liberated only in early 1945, returned to the hands of the Polish people ahead of schedule.

After congratulating the three commanders, he said to Terekin: "Comrade Military Commissar, please call the person in charge of the Polish National Liberation Committee and tell him that after our army liberated the city of Warsaw on the west bank of the Vistula, most of the cities on the east bank have basically fallen into the hands of our army. They were asked to prepare local cadres as soon as possible, ready to enter the city with the headquarters of the Front, but restore order there. ”

"I think the comrades of the committee, from the day we attacked the city of Warsaw, have been looking forward to such good news." Terekin replied with a smile: "Comrade commander, this matter is not clear on the phone, I think I should go back to Lublin and personally inform the comrades of the committee of the good news." ”

Rokossovsky thought that under the present circumstances, the role played by Terekin, a political cadre, on the battlefield was far from being comparable with that of a military cadre, so he immediately agreed to his request.

After Terekin left, Rokossovsky began to study the deployment in the city with Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think of the situation in Warsaw? ”

Malinin picked up a red and blue one, and compared it on the map with the paragraph without a pen tip: "Comrade commander, according to the analysis of the current situation, the enemy on the east bank, under the blows of our army, will gradually retreat to the north and join up with the enemy in the fortified area. To the west of Warsaw, the German counteroffensive was being carried out, and the casualties were very heavy due to the lack of heavy weapons of the troops holding there. I therefore propose: leave the troops of the 48th Army on the east bank to guard against a possible counterattack by the enemy retreating to the northern fortifications; The main forces of the 65th Army were transferred to the west bank of the Vistula River to strengthen the defense of the main city of Warsaw. ”

"The 65th Army will definitely be transferred to the west bank of the Vistula." As soon as Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish speaking, he immediately added: "But this is far from enough, we also need to transfer General Radzyevsky's 2nd Tank Army to the West Bank as soon as possible." ”

"Comrade Commander," Malinin carefully reminded Rokossovsky, "General Radzyevsky may not yet have the ability to command troops in street battles in the city. ”

Malinin's words reminded Rokossovsky that tanks are a magic weapon in the open field, but in street fighting, their role will be greatly reduced. He was silent for a moment, then asked: "How is Bogdanov's injury, when will he be able to return to combat duty?" ”

Regarding Rokossovsky's question, Malinin shook his head with a wry smile: "I'm sorry, comrade commander, I can only give you an accurate answer to your question after calling the field hospital." ”

"In order for the 2nd Tank Army to fully exert its combat effectiveness in street fighting, it must have a good commander to command, and this is something that Radzyevsky simply cannot do, so we must let General Bogdanov return to his combat post as soon as possible."

Malinin listened to Rokossovsky's voice-over that no matter whether Bogdanov's injuries healed or not, he must return to the 2nd Tank Army as soon as possible and command the troops to strengthen the defense of the main city of Warsaw. He nodded hurriedly and replied, "Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean. I will make a special call to General Bogdanov to have a good talk with him, hoping that he will return to his command post as soon as possible. ”

After talking about the command of the tank army, the next thing to discuss is who should command the troops in the main city of Warsaw. This time, before Malinin could speak, Rokossovsky preemptively said: "As I have just said, the 65th Army will enter the main city of Warsaw in the shortest possible time and take over the defense of the existing troops. Then the command of the troops should also be transferred, and I think it is okay for Batov to immediately take over from Glazunov. ”

"Comrade commander, isn't this too anxious?" Hearing that Rokossovsky planned to replace Glazunov now, he hurriedly persuaded: "I think it is inappropriate to know that the troops of the 65th Army have not yet passed through the bridge over the Vistula and entered the main city, and to change the command in a hurry at this time." ”

Rokossovsky, who had never been an arbitrarian person, heard the objections raised by his right-hand man, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?" ”

"According to our original plan, after the troops on the east bank enter the main city on the west bank one after another, the troops that fought in the city will be returned to their formation one after another." When Malinin said this, he also specially reminded Rokossovsky: "Since the main forces of the Eighth Guards Army have been transferred to Warsaw by us, the current situation with General Chuikov is not very good. I propose that the troops of the 65th Army enter the main city of Warsaw in batches and take over the defense areas occupied by our troops step by step from the troops of the Eighth Guards Army.

As for the command of the troops in the city, I suggest that Batov and Glazunov form a joint command to jointly negotiate and arrange for the change of troops and the withdrawal from the city. ”

Rokossovsky pondered the plan proposed by Malinin for a long time, and felt that it was indeed meritorious, so he nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, just follow the plan you said." Immediately inform Batov to enter the royal palace in the main city of Warsaw, form a joint command with Glazunov, coordinate the command of the two armies. ”

After saying this, Rokossovsky stood up, walked to the large map hanging on the wall, pointed to the city west of Warsaw and said: "Capture and hold Warsaw, and our army will gain a foothold on the west bank of the Vistula." After a short rest, we can continue our westward march to liberate more Polish cities until we have advanced the front to the German border. ”