Successes on the battlefield in Belarus were frequent, and Rokossovsky's troops advanced rapidly to the west. Due to the rapid annihilation of the German forces in the areas east of Vitebsk, Bobruisk and Minsk, a gap of up to 400 kilometers appeared in the German defense line. According to the intelligence available to the Soviet troops, the German command did not have the strength to close this gap opened by the Soviets in the short term.

After repeated discussions with members of the Supreme High Command, Stalin felt that the First Belorussian Front should take advantage of this favorable situation and continue to expand its gains on the Belarusian battlefield. Therefore, he personally called Rokossovsky, and after explaining the decision of the Supreme High Command, he politely asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, what do you think of this order of the Supreme High Command?" ”

"Comrade Stalin," in fact, even if the Supreme High Command does not issue this order, Rokossovsky intends to adjust his deployment in a timely manner, take advantage of the current favorable situation, and continue to develop in depth the enemy's defense. At this moment, when he heard Stalin's question, he immediately replied decisively: "We resolutely fulfilled the tasks assigned to us by our superiors. ”

After the end of the phone call with Stalin, Rokossovsky called Malinin and Zakharkin in front of him, told them the new order of the Supreme Command, and finally asked: "What do you think about this order from the base camp?" ”

The first to speak was Deputy Commander Zakharkin, who hesitated for a moment and said: "I feel that after a series of victories, the morale of our commanders and fighters is very high, and they are fully capable of completing the combat mission assigned to us by the base camp. ”

Hearing his panacea-grained answer, Rokossovsky turned his head to look at Malinin again and asked, "Chief of Staff, do you have any opinions?" ”

"Comrade Commander, that's what I think." Malinin pushed the map in front of Rokossovsky and Zakharkin, and then said: "Without stopping the pursuit of the enemy, the 48th and 65th armies will carry out a centripetal assault in the direction of Baranovichi in order to encircle the German Baranovichi group and annihilate it." At the same time, let General Pliev's rapid cluster and General Firsovich's mechanized corps, take on the task of encircling enemy forces from the flanks in a roundabout way.

Next, we can use two parallel highways (the Slopim-Pruzane road and the Baranovichi-Brest road) to allow the two armies to continue to develop their results in the direction of Brest and, together with the left flank of our front, to make a far-reaching detour and encircle the fascist German Pinsk group. ”

"Not bad," after listening to Malinin's plan, Rokossovsky nodded in agreement, and then asked: "How are the troops on our left flank?" In the next battle, it is their turn to sing the leading role. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander, it's all ready." Malinin looked up at Rokossovsky and said: "The most elite of the left flank troops is General Chuikov's 8th Guards Army, they are the main force defending Stalingrad, I believe that in this battle, they will also have a good performance." ”

"Chief of Staff, you immediately gather all the commanders of the army groups on the left flank and assign them the next combat missions." After Rokossovsky finished his order, he suddenly thought of the Polish First Army, which was in the second echelon, and hurriedly added: "Don't forget to call General Behringer as well." ”

Two hours later, the commanders of the various army groups from the left flank arrived at the newly established front headquarters. After shaking hands with them one by one, Rokossovsky said with a smile: "Comrades, welcome to you!" ”

After the meeting began, Malinin stood up and said to everyone: "Comrades, at the beginning of the Belarusian campaign, the two flanks of our Front were divided by wide swamps; And now the Polesye swamp has been left far behind us, and the front of the front has been cut by almost half. You have been summoned here today in preparation for your advance. ”

As soon as Ma Lining's words were finished, the room suddenly became lively, and the commanders attending the meeting exchanged heads and began to discuss the orders they might accept. Rokossovsky looked at his men with a smile and did not interrupt them.

It took a while for the room to be calm again. Ma Linin briefed everyone on the current situation of the enemy and the enemy, and arranged the combat tasks of the various group armies, and finally said: "We ask Comrade Commander to say a few words. ”

"Comrades commanders, I think everyone knows very well that the Belarusian campaign we launched this time is progressing very smoothly, and the troops are advancing very quickly." After a brief briefing on the situation, Rokossovsky said solemnly: "Because of this, it also had some bad effects on our reconnaissance. Often, our scouts have just arrived at the reconnaissance sites, and our troops have already liberated these areas, so we can only judge and analyze the enemy's troop disposition on the basis of captured documents.

In order to carry out the combat orders of the base camp more effectively, I feel that our tactics should be appropriately adjusted in the next battles. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say that he was ready to adjust his tactics immediately aroused great interest in Chuikov, and he sat up straight and asked: "Comrade commander, I wonder how you plan to adjust your tactics?" ”

"According to the information we have, the position of the enemy's troops has not changed much in recent times, so I intend to send the advance guard battalion to carry out a tentative attack before the attack." When Rokossovsky said this, many commanders showed puzzled expressions on their faces, and hurriedly explained: "We can confirm through the battles of the avant-garde battalion whether the enemy has withdrawn the main forces to the deep area, leaving only the covering troops in front of us. If only small forces of the enemy remain in front of our troops, we will not have to spend on them in vain the ammunition that we use to break through the main line of defense. ”

"Yes, yes, comrade commander, you are so right." As soon as Rokossovsky's words fell, Chuikov slapped his hand on the table, and then said: "The enemy is very cunning, and they often engage in some deceptive actions on the position, so that our troops cannot accurately judge their strength. If we put the avant-garde battalion into an offensive battle, we can judge the area by the intensity of the enemy's resistance, whether the enemy has a heavy group or only a few containment forces. ”

"Comrade Commander, I have an idea." As soon as Chuikov finished speaking, Lieutenant General Gusev, the newly transferred commander of the 47th Army, asked Rokossovsky: "What if the enemy uses trickery and deliberately sends only a small number of troops to resist in the area where our avant-garde battalion is attacking, so that we have a wrong judgment?" ”

"Don't worry, General Gusev." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "I'll let the commander of the artillery of the Front, General Kazakov, introduce this matter to you." ”

Kazakov stood up and said to Gusev with a smile: "General Gusev, you don't have to worry, in fact, when the avant-garde battalion attacks, we will still provide them with the necessary artillery support, but it will not take as long as a large-scale attack. If the enemy is strong in this area, they will definitely return fire with artillery, so that we can roughly judge their size. ”

Next, the commanders of the various army groups raised some problems that they might encounter, and both Rokossovsky and Malinin patiently explained and explained to them.

Seeing that Rokossovsky had not assigned a combat mission for himself, Bellinger couldn't help but be a little anxious, he stood up and asked excitedly: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask what is the task of our Polish First Army?" ”

When Behringer entered, it was just in time for the meeting to begin, and although most of the commanders who attended the meeting did not know each other, no one inquired privately in order not to spoil the records of the meeting. At this moment, when he stood up and asked Rokossovsky in Russian, which he was not very proficient in, everyone focused on him.

"Comrade commanders," Rokossovsky introduced Behringer to the crowd before answering Behringer's question: "Let me introduce to you, this is General Behringer, commander of the Polish First Army. The troops under his command will also participate in the battle in the following days. ”

After saying this, Rokossovsky turned to Behringer and said: "Comrade General, after our study, your troops will not participate in the battle for the time being. ”

"Why is that, Comrade General?" Hearing that he was not allowed to participate in the battle, Bellinger was a little anxious, "Always let us stay in the second echelon, and the commanders and fighters have opinions." ”

"General Behringer, it's not that you won't be allowed to fight." Rokossovsky continued: "But it will have to wait a little longer, according to our plan, when our troops advance to the Polish border, you will be the main force of the offensive. And it will also be the first unit to cross the Polish border. ”

After hearing Rokossovsky's promise to make his troops the first to set foot on Polish soil, Behringer finally sat down contentedly. Whether or not he participated in the rest of the battles was irrelevant to him compared to returning to Poland with his troops.

Before the end of the meeting, Rokossovsky once again exhorted everyone: "Comrades commanders, I would like to remind you once again that when the combat reconnaissance of the vanguard battalion has begun, and it is confirmed that the enemy's main forces are still in the old place, you should put all the troops and weapons you plan to use into battle, without pausing to clarify the tasks. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Several army commanders replied in unison.

…………

The offensive on the left flank began on July 18, and after the combat reconnaissance of the avant-garde battalion, it was discovered that the enemy had a heavy group of troops in the area of Radoshina, so Rokossovsky decided to concentrate his forces and launch an offensive in this area.

After the battle began, more than an hour of artillery preparation shrouded the enemy's positions in gunsmoke. As soon as the shelling was over, the infantry, guided by tanks, launched a charge against the enemy's position. The enemy saw that the Soviets were attacking in a big way, and immediately intercepted the attacking troops with long-range artillery fire.

"See," Rokossovsky, who was in the observation post, said to Chuikov, "the enemy has a heavy presence in front of you, immediately mobilize all your forces to destroy him." ”

"Based on the sound of artillery outside, it can be judged that the enemy's artillery strength is not weak." Chuikov asked thoughtfully: "Comrade commander, I wonder if you can provide us with the necessary air support?" ”

"Don't worry, even if you don't say it, I'll arrange it." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he picked up the phone on the table, dialed the front command, and Malinin, who answered the phone, said: "Chief of staff, call General Polenin of the 6th Army of the Air Force and order him to send the Air Force to the area of operations of Chuikov to participate in the battle. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Malinin hurriedly replied: "I will call General Porenin and ask him to send a bomber formation to bomb the German defensive positions." ”

Due to the field airfield of the 6th Army of the Air Force, it was not far from the area where the battle took place. Just half an hour later, twenty Soviet bombers appeared in the air, and they came to the sky above the German artillery positions and began to dive and drop bombs, preparing to destroy the enemy's artillery positions in one fell swoop.

As the enemy's artillery fire weakened, the ground troops, who were charging forward, managed to storm the first line of German trenches and fought with them here for positions.

However, the Germans were not willing to let their defense line be broken by the Soviets in this way, and Moder sent a large number of fighters to drive away the Soviet bombers on the battlefield, trying to control the air supremacy of the battlefield in his own hands. The Soviet bombers were too weak in air combat, and in the face of German fighters rushing to the battlefield one after another, they did not have much self-defense ability at all, and soon four or five planes were shot down, and the rest also turned around and returned to field airfields.

Although the air supremacy over the battlefield temporarily fell into the hands of the German army, Rokossovsky did not panic at all, the attacking troops were now entangled with the German army, and the Luftwaffe was afraid of accidental injury, and absolutely did not dare to drop bombs and strafe at will. So Rokossovsky picked up the phone and instructed Kazakov: "Comrade Artillery Commander, immediately order our artillery to bombard the second line of defense of the German army, so that they cannot organize forces to carry out a counterattack on our troops. ”

"But Comrade Commander," said Kazakov, knowing that the air supremacy of the battlefield was in the hands of the Germans at the moment, said worriedly, "if we strike at the enemy's positions with artillery fire, I am afraid that we will be bombed by enemy aircraft." ”

"Don't worry, General Kazakov." Rokossovsky comforted him and said: "I will order Rudenko to send a group of fighters to cooperate with General Porenin's air force to knock the enemy's planes into a sloppy one." ”