After Sokolsky left, Rokossovsky sat in his place and thought for a moment, feeling that although he had asked both the navy and the air force to strengthen patrols on the sea, they were limited in the area they could reconnoiter due to the speed of the warships. The air force was primarily responsible for the fact that the Germans had secretly approached the harbor and opened fire on the attacking troops.

He picked up the high-frequency phone on the table, dialed the Air Force command, and said in a stern tone to the officer on duty who answered the phone: "I'm Rokossovsky, looking for Vershinin to answer the phone." ”

When the officer on duty learned that it was Rokossovsky who called, he hurriedly said respectfully: "Comrade Marshal, please wait a moment, I will immediately ask Comrade Commander to answer the phone." ”

When Vershinin's voice came from the earpiece, Rokossovsky didn't bother to greet him, and went straight to the point: "General Vershinin, I want to ask you, which aviation division is patrolling over the bay today?" ”

"It's the 219th Bomber Aviation Division." After answering this question, Vershinin realized that something might have gone wrong, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade Marshal, is something wrong?" ”

"Since they were on patrol duty over the bay, why didn't they find the reappearance of enemy ships in Danzig Bay?" Rokossovsky said angrily: "Do you know that because of their negligence, it was several German ships that quietly entered the bay and shelled our troops attacking Tsopot, causing great losses to our troops. ”

"What, there are German warships in Danzig Bay?" Vershinin was taken aback by the unexpected news, and he quickly explained: "But in the reconnaissance report I received, the pilot said that there was no trace of the enemy ship on the sea. ”

"That's because they didn't search carefully enough." Due to the negligence of the pilots, which brought huge losses to the troops, Rokossovsky, in order to prevent the recurrence of this incident, specially emphasized to Vershinin: "For the pilots who participated in the patrol today, it is necessary to deal with them seriously, and their division commanders will not be able to run, so let him make a written examination." ”

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." In Vershinin's memory, Rokossovsky had never dealt with anyone so harshly, and he realized the seriousness of the problem and hurriedly said: "I resolutely obey your order, give the division commander a warning, and deal with the pilots in charge of patrols seriously." ”

Rokossovsky did not want to interfere too much in the affairs of the air force, so he did not ask Verchnin what to do with the pilots, but told them: "I think that the German ships will not leave Danzig Bay so quickly, so as soon as it is dawn tomorrow, you will immediately send bombers to bomb the enemy's ships and drive them away from Danzig Bay." ”

"Comrade Dean, please rest assured!" Vershinen hurriedly replied: "Early tomorrow morning, I will send a bomber division to bomb the German ships anchored in Danzig Bay, and never let a ship escape." ”

After Bogolyubov sent Sokolyubski back, he happened to hear the conversation between Rokossovsky and Vershinin, and he cautiously asked: "Comrade Marshal, since you are going to send planes to bomb the German ships in Danzig Bay, is it necessary to send out artillery again?" You must know that artillery and warships will not take advantage of each other. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I understand what you mean, it is indeed a bit of a loss to transfer artillery to the beach and bombard warships anchored in the harbor." Rokossovsky said helplessly: "But it is difficult to achieve any desired results by relying only on the air force to deal with the enemy's warships." Therefore, to deal with the enemy's ships, artillery is important. ”

"Comrade Marshal, isn't there still the Baltic Fleet?" Bogolyubov suggested to Rokossovsky: "If they can send ships to assist the Air Force in attacking enemy ships." ”

"From the present situation, the Germans were desperate to keep Tsopot, and therefore desperately ordered their ships to return to Danzig Bay. If we want to completely eliminate the German sea power in this area, we will have to do everything in our might. Rokossovsky said with a serious expression: "If we send out the air force, navy, and army artillery at the same time, we will be able to wipe out the German fleet in a three-dimensional offensive." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky mention the Baltic Fleet, Bogolyubov suddenly remembered something and asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, does General Tributz know about the return of German ships to Danzig Bay?" ”

Rokossovsky raised his eyebrows and asked rhetorically: "Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't you inform him about this?" ”

"Nope." Bogolyubov said with an innocent look: "I thought you called him. ”

"Okay, I'll call him now." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he picked up the high-frequency phone in front of him again and asked the operator to help him connect to the command of the Baltic Fleet.

Tributz was surprised to learn that it was Rokossovsky who was looking for him. Although the fleet was assigned to the command of the Second Belorussian Front, Rokossovsky never called him, and when he wanted to assign a task, he sent a telegram directly. He picked up the phone and said in a worried mood: "Hello, Comrade Marshal, I'm Tributs, do you have any instructions?" ”

"Hello, Comrade Admiral." Hearing that the person who answered the phone was Tributs, Rokossovsky said politely: "I am calling you because today German ships have appeared in Danzig Bay and are bombarding our troops attacking Tsopott with naval guns. I would like to ask you to dispatch your ships to-morrow to attack the German ships in Danzig Bay, in cooperation with the Air Force and Army Artillery. How, are there any difficulties? ”

"Comrade Marshal," Tributz could not help but be surprised to learn that German ships had appeared in Danzig Bay, but he controlled his emotions well and expressed his attitude to Rokossovsky: "I can dispatch two cruisers and three destroyers to Danzig Bay tomorrow to assist the air force in the operation." By the way, we also have a submarine active there, and I can get it to participate in this battle as well. ”

"Oh, you still have submarines around?"

"Yes, there's a submarine in that area for a blockade mission."

"Great, Comrade Admiral." Rokossovsky confirmed that the Baltic Fleet had a submarine operating near Danzig Bay, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly asked: "Can they get them to Danzig Bay overnight and attack the German ships at night?" ”