After the German 7th Panzer Division, the Großdeutsche Division, and the 58th Infantry Division were encircled by the Soviets, Hans Reinhardt, the commander of Army Group Center, was taken aback when he heard the news, and he shouted hoarsely at his chief of staff: "This is impossible, this is impossible." How could the Russians see through our stratagem and set a trap for our elite troops on their left flank? ”

The chief of staff waited for Reinhardt to finish, shrugged his shoulders, and said helplessly: "Your Excellency, General, unfortunately, judging from the current situation, the Russians seem to have seen through our strategy and have taken targeted measures to deal with our 7th Panzer Division and the Großdeutschland Division......"

Reinhardt walked up and down the room with his hands behind his back, muttering, "How is this possible? You know, the commander of the Russian Front, Marshal Rokossovsky, who is still hospitalized in Moscow, and General Trubnnikov, who commanded the troops, is a mediocre person, how can he see through our clever deceptive tactics? ”

"Your Excellency," the chief of staff guessed the worst possible in his mind, thinking for a moment: "I think Rokossovsky may have returned to the front." Now he is commanding troops to fight against our army. ”

"What?!" Reinhardt stopped, looked at his chief of staff and said in disbelief: "Chief of staff, you mean that Rokossovsky has returned to his unit. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency." The chief of staff nodded and replied, "I think so." If it were for other Russian commanders, they would not have easily given up so many positions and wedged our troops into their defense zone for up to ten kilometers. ”

After such an analysis by the chief of staff, Reinhardt felt that there was some possibility. So he instructed the chief of staff: "Immediately send a message to General Karl Maus, commander of the 7th Panzer Division, and Major General Karl Lorenz, commander of the Greater German Division, and ask them to immediately organize their troops to break through the encirclement and break through the defensive line laid by the Russians in the shortest possible time." ”

After the chief of staff had finished recording the order, he found that Reinhardt did not mention the 58th Infantry Division, so he reminded him: "Your Excellency, what should the 58th Infantry Division do?" ”

Reinhardt walked up to the Chief of Staff and said to him: "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, if we want our two elite divisions to break out of the encirclement of the Russians, we must leave troops to contain the Russians, and the 58th Infantry Division will complete this task." ”

"Understood, Your Excellency." The chief of staff nodded, took the order he had just recorded, and went to the communication room to send a telegram to the besieged troops.

When Rokossovsky learned that there were more than 20,000 besieged German troops, as well as more than 200 tanks of various types, and more than 100 artillery pieces of various calibers, he gave an order to the artillery commander of the Front to concentrate as many artillery pieces as possible and shell the besieged areas of the German army.

After the order for bombardment was issued, more than 1,000 artillery pieces of various calibers shelled the defensive zone of the former 307th Infantry Division. Since each artillery regiment had the firing parameters of this position, their artillery fire was fierce and accurate. In the hour-and-a-half-long artillery bombardment, more than 80 German tanks and more than 50 artillery pieces were destroyed, and more than 7,000 casualties were inflicted.

No sooner had the bombardment of the Germans ended, the 239th, 256th and 327th Infantry Divisions of Fedyuninsky's 2nd Shock Army, under the guidance of the 122nd and 185th Tank Brigades, launched a fierce assault on the area where the 7th Panzergrenadier Regiment, the 42nd Anti-Tank Battalion and the 7th Reconnaissance Battalion of the German 7th Panzer Division were entrenched.

Volsky's troops of the 5th Guards Army attacked the Großdeutsche Division, trying to break through the enemy's hastily constructed fortifications and separate them from the other two German troops.

Grisa's 49th Army and Borkin's 50th Army were storming the weakest 58th Infantry Division, preparing to destroy them before concentrating their forces on the German Seventh Panzer Division and the Großdeutschland Division.

In his own headquarters, Rokossovsky learned about the changes in the situation on the battlefield according to the results reported by the various army groups. When he received a report from the Air Force that there were signs of troop movement in the enemy's fortified areas, he immediately called the commander of the Air Force, Vershinin, and ordered bluntly: "General Vershinin, immediately dispatch an aviation division to attack the moving troops in the German fortified area, so that they cannot rush over to support the besieged German troops." ”

After this order was given, he felt that it seemed that it was not enough, so he called the commander of the 3rd Army, Gorbatov, and asked: "Comrade General, is there any movement of the enemy there in you?" ”

"No, there is calm on the enemy's positions." When Gorbatov heard Rokossovsky's question, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, are you planning to let us attack and contain the enemy's forces?" ”

"That's right, that's how I thought about it." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "If my analysis is correct, then the enemy's forces on the right flank of our army are quite weak, and if you launch a feint, you will definitely attract the enemy's attention and make them think that we intend to turn to the offensive on the right flank." ”

Vershinin and Gorbatov were both resolute people, and as soon as they received Rokossovsky's order, they immediately went into action. The aviation division carried out indiscriminate bombardment of the moving German troops in the fortified area, causing them considerable casualties.

When Reinhardt learned that the reinforcements he had prepared were being bombed by the Soviet air force, he couldn't help but be ashamed and angry, and hurriedly called the air team, ordering them to immediately dispatch the Russian planes as soon as possible to provide necessary air support for the ground forces.

The planes of the air force had not yet taken off, and Reinhardt received another bad news: the Soviet troops deployed near the right flank of Augustov were moving towards the fortified area and seemed to be showing signs of an offensive.

Had the chief of staff not said to his face that Rokossovsky might have returned to the troops, Reinhardt might have had the reinforcements quickly rush back to the left flank of the Soviets and rescue the trapped three divisions. But he feared that Rokossovsky would engage in a two-pronged tactic, attacking from two directions at the same time, as Rokossovsky had done when he was in Belarus. Therefore, after careful consideration, he ordered the troops in the fortified area to stop advancing to the left flank of the Soviet army, but to return to the right flank area to prevent a possible attack by the Soviet army.

Don't look at the encircled German army, there are only three divisions, but two of them are the elite of the German army, even if the Soviet army takes a group army against a division, it is not easy to destroy them in a short time.

After seeing the battle report sent by Fedyuninsky, Rokossovsky said to the military commissar Subotin and chief of staff Bogolyubov who were surrounded around: "Comrade two commanders, during Operation Barbarossa, this 7th Panzer Division was subordinate to the 3rd Panzer Army of the 3rd Panzer Group of Army Group Center, and in this area, the 5th Tank Division of our army was completely annihilated at the cost of losing half of its tanks. Now that the day of revenge has come, even if we pay a big price, we will completely annihilate this elite German division and avenge our fallen comrades. ……”

Bogolyubov recorded what Rokossovsky said one by one, then raised his head and said: "Comrade Marshal, I will convey what you said to General Fedyuninsky and order him to completely annihilate this German division at all costs." ”

After listening to this, Rokossovsky nodded and said: "I know that it is very difficult to completely annihilate this army. Once this force is wiped out by us, it will be much easier for our army to attack in East Prussia in the future. ”

After receiving the telegram from Bogolyubov, Fedyuninsky consulted with his chief of staff for a while, and felt that in order to complete the tasks deployed by Rokossovsky, it was necessary to increase the investment of troops. Therefore, he decisively threw the 147th and 191st Infantry Divisions, as well as two Guards Tank Regiments and three Guards Rocket Artillery Battalions, into the attack on the 7th Panzer Division.

The fighting on the left flank of the Second Belorussian Front lasted all day, and by dark the three German divisions that had been surrounded were compressed into a narrow strip of land no more than three kilometers from east to west and less than five kilometers from north to south.

Stalin, who was far away in Moscow, learned through the report of the General Staff that Rokossovsky's troops were encircling and annihilating three German divisions, and he also called Rokossovsky and asked with concern: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I heard that three German divisions have fallen into your encirclement, including the 7th Panzer Division and the Greater German Division?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky nodded and replied in the affirmative: "The enemy's troops are already surrounded by our troops, and it is only a matter of time before they are annihilated." ”

After listening to this, Stalin asked slowly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I wonder how many days it will take you to annihilate this enemy?" ”

Rokossovsky pondered Stalin's question for a long time before he replied: "Since our army is not very strong in strength and ammunition, I think it will take at least five to seven days to completely annihilate these three German divisions." ”

"Five to seven days?" Hearing Rokossovsky's reply, Stalin could not help frowning, and he asked tentatively: "In two weeks there will be the October Revolution Day, and it is customary for us to hold a grand military parade on this day." I hope that at the parade there will be heroic units that annihilate the 7th Panzer Division and the Großdeutsch Division. ”

Stalin's words embarrassed Rokossovsky. He knows that for Russians who value honor, being able to become a heroic unit at the parade is the dream of every soldier. If this opportunity is missed, some people will not be able to die even if they are sacrificed.

Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and said to Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, we will order the troops to speed up the offensive and strive to completely destroy this enemy within three or four days." ”

Putting down the phone, Rokossovsky sat down at his desk, staring at a map on the table, thinking about what should be done to speed up the attack. After a long period of consideration, he raised his head and said to Bogolyubov: "Chief of Staff, immediately send a telegram to General Volsky, ordering him to dispatch the 994th Bombardment Regiment to bomb the defensive depth of the Greater German Division. At the same time, the 5th Guards Mechanized Army was used to carry out a centripetal assault on the defense area of the flintlock regiment......"

The besieged German troops, facing attacks from all sides, put up stubborn resistance. They had expected that as twilight fell, the Soviet offensive would gradually slow down. While they were having dinner, the bomber regiment belonging to the 5th Guards Tank Army flew over the defense area of the Greater German Division and bombed their positions. The officers and men of the Great German Division, who were so angry that they were looking for a place to hide from the air raids, greeted the female relatives of Rokossovsky's family in the most vicious language in their hearts.

Finally, when the Soviet bombardment was over, and before they could continue their interrupted dinner, the Soviets launched another fierce ground offensive, and the German soldiers, driven by officers at all levels, swore and swore into their defensive positions, preparing to resist the Soviet attack.

After a whole night of fierce fighting, although the Germans successfully contained the Soviet offensive, the area under their control was still greatly reduced. The remnants of the three divisions were crammed into a narrow area of no more than four kilometers from north to south and two kilometers from east to west.

At this time of the battle, the Germans were tired, and the attacking Soviet troops were a little overwhelmed. Rokossovsky decisively ordered the troops to temporarily stop the offensive and build new fortifications near the German-controlled area.

Faced with Rokossovsky's decision, Deputy Commander Trubnnikov asked puzzledly: "Comrade Marshal, I don't understand, the enemy is now under siege by our army, why we don't annihilate them all at once, but stop the offensive and go on the defensive on the spot." ”

In response to Trubnikov's question, Rokossovsky chuckled and asked rhetorically: "Comrade Deputy Commander, do you think that if we continue to attack, we will be able to completely annihilate these besieged German troops in a day or two?" ”

Trubnikov thought for a moment, and finally shook his head and said: "The remnants of the German army are concentrated in this small area, so that their resistance has not only not weakened, but has become stronger. If we force an attack, the casualties of the troops will be indispensable. ”

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander, you are quite right in your analysis." Regarding Trubnikov's analysis, Rokossovsky nodded with a smile and said: "Let's surround them first, let our fighters rest for a while, and wait for their physical strength to recover before launching a new attack on the enemy." ”