In the Ardennes, the German 5th Panzer Army suffered a fatal blow as the Allied air forces entered the battle, frustrating their attempt to force their way across the Maas. In order to salvage this defeat, Hitler was ready to take a gamble, and he ordered Goering to dispatch air forces on New Year's Day 1945 to carry out air strikes on Allied airfields in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, aiming to destroy as many Allied planes as possible at the airfields.

In order to ensure the success of the air raid, the air raid operation was known only to a small number of senior commanders. The pilots who participated in the operation were only informed of the exact mission before they set off.

Thinking that they had air supremacy, the careless Allied forces were taken by surprise, and in just half an hour of air raids, 460 planes of various types were destroyed on the runway.

However, the German planes did not please them, and the anti-aircraft fire on the ground was far more fierce than expected, and the Allied fighters patrolling the air caused them a lot of casualties. Due to secrecy, the air defense units on the ground were not notified of the air raid, and when they saw a large group of planes flying from the west, they thought that the allied planes were preparing to carry out an air raid, and immediately opened fire to intercept them, shooting down quite a number of bombers who had completed the air raid and returned home.

In this air raid, the Allies lost 460 aircraft, the Germans lost 270 aircraft, and 211 pilots were killed. Judging by the numbers on the surface, it seems that the Germans emerged victorious. But in reality, although the Allies lost many planes, most of the pilots were unharmed, and as long as they waited for the new planes to arrive, they could take to the skies again. The loss of aircraft and experienced pilots by the Luftwaffe could not be replenished in the short term, so that after the war, the German air force almost lost the ability to take the initiative.

Seeing the counterattack on the Western Front, already facing defeat, Hitler had to turn his attention back to the Eastern Front again. In order to interrupt the Soviet army's preparations for the campaign, he ordered Schellner to make a harassment plan, hoping to cause chaos and damage to the Soviet army's preparations.

Receiving Hitler's order, Schellner, in order not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor, prepared to have the chief of staff and a group of staff officers draw up a battle plan codenamed "Snowflake": with the 5th Panzer Division and the 367th Infantry Division, launch an attack on the old border of East Prussia in order to shorten the line of defense near Lake Rospuda. Another of their goals was to attract Soviet tank reserves deployed in the area into battle in order to figure out where they could be deployed for air strikes or artillery strikes.

Only half an hour after the plan was submitted, Hitler agreed. He personally called Schellner and said: "Schellner, I have already seen your battle plan, and I agree!" Just do what you planned. Your troops must attack the Russians in the early hours of January 5. ”

"Understood, my Führer." Schellner replied respectfully: "I will bring you good news on January 5th." ”

In order to prevent detection by the Soviet army, Schellner's troop movements were carried out at night. He spent two days and nights deploying a grenadier regiment, a Leopard tank battalion, and a tank destroyer battalion of the 5th Panzer Division, as well as the 367th Infantry Division, on Heights 277 near Lake Rospoda.

In the early morning of January 5, after a short period of artillery preparation, the Germans rushed from Heights 277 to the Soviet positions at the northern end of Lake Rospuda, preparing to seize them and then continue their attack to the southeast.

When Bogolyubov received a report from the front, his first reaction was that the troops at the front must have made a mistake, and it was impossible for the Germans to attack from there. After reading the report, Rokossovsky asked rhetorically: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why do you think that it is impossible for the Germans to attack from that direction?" ”

"That's a good explanation." Bogolyubov replied: "The terrain next to Lake Rospuda is not conducive to the movement of armored clusters; Secondly, our troops planted thousands of anti-tank mines in that area, and the German armored forces simply could not pass through such a dense minefield. ”

"Nothing is impossible, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky waited for the other party to finish speaking, and then said slowly: "Don't forget, in Operation Bagration, the place where our army launched an attack is also the place where the Germans consider it the most unlikely to attack, so that we can successfully break through the enemy's defenses." ”

Bogolyubov's face couldn't help but blush when he heard Rokossovsky say this, and he asked with some embarrassment: "Comrade Marshal, what are we going to do next?" ”

Rokossovsky stared at the map for a while, then pointed to the southern end of Lake Rospuda and said to Bogolyubov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately call the commander of the 3rd Army, Gorbatov, and order him to immediately mobilize anti-tank units and tank brigades and go to Volka, at the southern end of Lake Rospada, where he will resolutely block the German offensive. ”

"Understood," Bogolyubov knew that Rokossovsky's deployment was completely correct, and once the Germans broke through Volka, then they would be able to wedge into the defensive depth of the 3rd Army, so as soon as he received Rokossovsky's order, he hurriedly called Gorbatov, hoping that he could mobilize troops as soon as possible to block the German attack.

Without waiting for Gorbatov's reinforcements to arrive at the appointed position, Rokossovsky received a call from the General Staff. Antonov asked on the phone: "Comrade Marshal, what do you think is the intention of the German offensive this time?" ”

To Antonov's question, Rokossovsky smiled faintly, and then replied: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, their intention is very simple, that is, to sabotage the preparations for our ongoing campaign, hoping to achieve the goal of disrupting the operational plans of our troops. ”

"Comrade Stalin," Antonov, after listening to Rokossovsky's answer, covered the microphone and reported to Stalin, who was standing aside, "Marshal Rokossovsky believes that this is a harassment by the enemy in order to disrupt the preparations for the campaign of our army. ”

"Is that really the case?" Stalin, with his fist clenching the cigarette butt, pointed at Antonov and said: "You ask Rokossovsky, the Germans in the East Prussia region, will not launch a counter-assault like the Ardennes region?" ”

"Comrade Marshal," Antonov, who had received Stalin's face-to-face instruction, hurriedly let go of the hand covering the microphone and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, the Supreme Commander himself wants to know that this German offensive will not turn into an Ardennes counterattack on the Western Front, right?" ”

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," Rokossovsky guessed from the tone of Antonov's speech that Stalin must be standing next to him, and hurriedly replied: "No, the German army has already transferred a large number of troops in order to carry out a counterattack in the Ardennes, and even transferred a lot of troops from the Eastern Front, and if the fighting in the Ardennes area is not over, it is impossible for the enemy to increase the troops on the Eastern Front." ”

Stalin listened to Rokossovsky's answer and casually said: "I see!" He turned and walked out of the office.

When the German assault force reached Volka, it was stopped by the Soviet troops, who had long been waiting for their work. Old tanks and armored vehicles carrying troops became burning torches on the battlefield under the blow of Soviet anti-tank fire. And a tank brigade of the Soviet army, which appeared to the south, advanced west from Filippov, trying to drive the German assault forces into Lake Rospuda.

At this critical moment, the German Leopard tank battalion arrived, and they relied on the excellent performance of the Leopard tank to rush the Soviet tank brigade to pieces. However, the Germans soon discovered that the Soviet infantry had detoured to their rear, and if they continued to fight, they would inevitably fall into the encirclement of the Soviet army.

In order to avoid becoming the second of the 7th Panzer Division, the commander of the combat group hurriedly sent an urgent telegram to Schellna, reporting to him about the situation he was facing and begging him to agree to retreat on his own. Schellner, after a fierce ideological struggle, agreed to the commander's request to retreat.

Immediately after receiving approval for the retreat, the German commander ordered the Leopard Tank Battalion and a grenadier battalion to retreat first, leaving some old tanks and another grenadier regiment to break behind. and the Soviets in a mountainous part of Lake Rospuda in a fierce battle.

In order to resolve the battle as quickly as possible, Rokossovsky ordered the air force to dispatch bomber formations to bomb the retreating German troops. Don't look at the Leopard tanks when they are majestic and invincible against the T-34, but in the face of Soviet bombers, they can only flee for their lives.

The German infantry, which had lost the cover of tanks, suffered huge losses under the fierce attack of the Soviet troops, and many battalion and company commanders were killed in the battle. The German soldiers tried to recover the body of the commander, but had to abandon this attempt after paying more casualties.

The battle continued until the morning of January 6, when the German combat group, which was attacking in the direction of Lake Rospoda, with only half of its soldiers and a third of its tanks, successfully withdrew to the 277 heights. It was announced that the German army's harassment campaign against the Soviet army ended in a crushing defeat.

After defeating the German offensive, Rokossovsky knew that Stalin was far away in Moscow and was anxious to know the outcome of the battle, so he called the General Staff, reported to Antonov, and hoped that he would convey the final results to Stalin.

Although the enemy's offensive was stopped, it also sounded the alarm to the commanders and fighters of the Second Belorussian Front, although the Germans were losing ground one after another, they did not completely lose the ability to counterattack, and if they were taken lightly, they would suffer a heavy loss.

Early the next morning, Rokossovsky received a notice from Antonov that he should immediately return to Moscow by plane to convene an urgent military meeting.

By the time Rokossovsky arrived in Moscow, it was already evening, but the building where Stalin worked was still brightly lit. When he came to Stalin's office, he found that in addition to himself, the meeting was attended by Zhukov, Konev, Chernyakhovsky and several other commanders of the Front. Seeing these familiar faces, he immediately guessed that the topic of today's meeting must be related to the "Oder-Vistula Campaign."

Sure enough, after Stalin announced the start of the meeting, General Staff Antonov briefed everyone on the strength and deployment of German troops along the Oder and Vistula rivers.

After Stalin waited for Antonov to finish speaking, he looked at him and asked: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, according to the plan, when should our army launch an attack on the German army?" ”

Antonov hurriedly put down his baton, faced Stalin, and replied respectfully: "It's January 20." ”

Stalin lit his pipe, took a puff, and then said to the crowd: "President Roosevelt has called me and said that the situation of the Allies in the Ardennes is still very serious, and I hope that our army will launch an offensive as soon as possible." In order to contain the strength of the German army and improve the situation of the British and American troops in the Ardennes, I intend to formally carry out the 'Oder-Vistula Campaign' eight days in advance, that is, on January 12. ”

Zhukov's face immediately showed an expression of embarrassment on Stalin's decision, and he quickly turned his head to look at Rokossovsky, who was sitting next to him, and saw that the latter was sitting there expressionlessly, looking at his nose and nose, and as if he did not seem to express any opinion, he preemptively said: "Comrade Stalin, if we want to launch an attack on January 12, our troops are not fully prepared, and I am afraid that it will be ...... then."

Without waiting for Zhukov to finish speaking, Stalin raised his hand to stop him and said: "Comrade Zhukov, we are not fully prepared for the offensive, so are the Germans ready?" We are going to take the Germans by surprise while their attention is on the west. ”

Seeing that Stalin had already set the tone, Zhukov knew that it would be in vain for him to say anything, so he could only say helplessly: "Since this is the case, then I want to return to the army as soon as possible and prepare for the attack in advance." ”

"When the meeting is over, you all return to your respective units to complete the preparations for the attack." After Stalin finished explaining these words, he pointed at Rokossovsky with his hand and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky stays, I want to have a good talk with you." ”

As soon as the meeting was over, several front commanders got up one after another, and after bidding farewell to Stalin, hurriedly returned to their respective units. Stalin looked at Rokossovsky, who was standing straight at the table, and hurriedly raised his hand and pressed it down: "Please sit down, Comrade Rokossovsky." ”

After Rokossovsky sat down, Stalin got up and walked behind him to stand still, and asked with a smile on his face: "Comrade Rokossovsky, your judgment is very accurate, thinking that it is possible for the German army to counterattack in the Ardennes area, and they really carried out a counteroffensive there and crushed the British and American troops; In yesterday's battle, you said that the enemy was only a harassing attack, but sure enough, it was just a harassing attack. So can you tell us about the campaign we launched ahead of schedule and achieve the desired results? ”