Although the troops of the 16th Army were able to get friendly forces from both flanks in the ensuing offensive, Rokossovsky believed that the hope of victory should not be pinned on outsiders, and everything should be left to himself. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Lobachev sat down next to Rokossovsky, looked around at the commanders sitting around the table, and then said: "Comrade commanders, in this offensive, the superiors will not give us any additional troops. If you have any ways to strengthen the strength of our army, you can talk about it here. ”

After Lobachev's words, the first to speak was Deputy Commander Zakharov: "I think that we can conscript local residents into the army, for example, those settlements and collective farms that we have liberated, and I believe that many people will want to join our troops." ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, I don't think this is appropriate." As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Linin objected: "These people you said have not undergone any military training, even if we recruit hundreds or thousands of people, it is just a bunch of meaningless numbers, what we need is people with real combat effectiveness." ”

After Lobachev and the others had expressed their attitudes, he turned his head and asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask, how did you replenish the troops before the two of us partnered?" ”

"In addition to the soldiers replenished by the superiors, there are two other ways." Rokossovsky stretched out two fingers and said: "First, as the deputy commander said, conscript local residents into the army; The second is to send people to set up checkpoints on the road to intercept and contain the sporadic troops retreating from the front line. ”

After Rokossovsky finished speaking, Lobachev said thoughtfully: "The first method, as the chief of staff has just said, is unrealistic. As for the second option, I don't think it's realistic, if we are still in a state of retreat, maybe there are small units that have been scattered and retreated from the front, but now that we are in a state of attack, such small forces are almost non-existent. So I think the two methods that the commander said are not advisable. ”

"Konstantin Konstantinovich!" Kazakov, who had not spoken all this time, suddenly called Rokossovsky's real name and patronymic name, and asked solemnly: "I remember that in the early days of the war, you once led your troops to bypass the German defense line and occupied Lublin by surprise. Isn't that the thing? ”

"That's right, it's true!" Rokossovsky replied in the affirmative: "At that time, I received an order from my superiors to carry out a centripetal assault on the Lublin area in conjunction with several other mechanized corps to crush the German offensive on our territory. Regrettably, however, after the capture of Lublin, the rest of the troops involved in the war were entangled in the Lutsk and Lviv regions, entangled by the enemy's heavy groups. ”

"Did your troops suffer heavy casualties at that time?" Kazakov then asked.

"It's not big, because we are a sneak attack, so when we seize the logistics base of the German army, there are almost no casualties......" Rokossovsky said this, a strange thought suddenly flashed in his mind, and he quickly stopped, looked at Kazakov and asked: "General Kazakov, you don't want to ask me how I replenish my troops in Lublin, which is deep behind enemy lines, right?" ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky had guessed his intentions, Kazakov replied with a smile: "That's right, Comrade Commander, I just wanted to ask you about it, I heard that you seem to have replenished several thousand experienced veterans there. ”

"Replenished behind enemy lines with thousands of veterans with combat experience?" When Lobachev heard this, he couldn't help but have a confused expression on his face: "Comrade commander, how did you do it?" ”

"Quite simply, not far from Lublin, there was a prisoner of war camp, and I sent people to rush there to rescue part of the captured comrades." Speaking of his glorious achievements in the past, the corners of Rokossovsky's mouth couldn't help but grin, "And when we were transferring, we also turned around and went north to rescue some comrades who were surrounded by the German army from the Brest Fortress." ”

At this time, Rokossovsky finally understood why Kazakov suddenly asked him about Lublin, and quickly turned his eyes to Malinin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are there any prisoner of war camps liberated by us nearby?" At the moment, he felt that if he could replenish the troops from the liberated prisoner of war camps, he would greatly alleviate the shortage of troops.

"Yes, there are several prisoner of war camps liberated by our troops in the Kozysk region." Malinin frowned and replied: "There are four or five thousand people in these prisoner of war camps, but I am worried about ......"

"Worried about what?" Rokossovsky saw that Malinin was about to speak and stopped, and said anxiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you want to say?" ”

"According to Order No. 270 issued by the High Command, these soldiers held in prisoner of war camps cannot be trusted." Ma Linin was embarrassed and said: "If we add them to the army, I am afraid that in the future the higher authorities will blame them." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." When Rokossovsky heard that it was not the famous Order No. 227, he suddenly felt much more at ease, and he said in a big way: "I think that these liberated fighters should be added to the troops, and if the superiors want to hold them accountable in the future, I will be responsible." ”

After saying this, he turned to Lobachev and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, I now entrust you with a most difficult task. You immediately organized a group of staff officers, political workers, and doctors from the headquarters to go to the prisoner of war camp and select a number of physically qualified people to be added to our combat units. ”

Lobachev did not immediately accept this order from Rokossovsky, but said hesitantly: "Comrade commander, will these prisoners of war agree to join our ranks?" ”

"Don't worry, my comrade military commissar." Rokossovsky confidently said: "As far as I know, these people were tortured during the fascist occupation, so they are ready to go to any dangerous place, knowing that it is a place where they can take revenge on the enemy, they will be willing to go." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say so surely, Lobachev also became confident, he stood up and said decisively: "Okay, comrade commander, I will go and select men, rush to the Kožysk region as soon as possible, select suitable people from the prisoner of war camps, and replenish our troops." With that, he walked briskly out of the headquarters and went outside to select the right men to carry out the order given by Rokossovsky.

Before dawn the next day, Lobachev took a dozen selected commanders and doctors of all ranks, escorted by a platoon of fighters, and headed towards the Kozysk region.

After Lobachev departed, Rokossovsky asked Malinin, who had just answered the phone: "Chief of staff, have our troops reached the vicinity of Duminich?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." In response to Rokossovsky's question, Malinin immediately gave an affirmative answer: "The troops of the 323rd Infantry Division, two hours ago, had successfully reached the offensive area on the east bank of the city of Duminich and were ready to launch an offensive against the Germans at any time. ”

"Has the enemy discovered their whereabouts?" Rokossovsky then asked.

"I don't think so." Ma Linin replied in an uncertain tone: "After all, their main forces are all pinned down by us near the settlement, and they still think that we will fight a defensive battle here regardless of the cost." ”

"Very well, as long as the enemy has this delusion, I believe that our attack on Duminich will be successful." When Rokossovsky said this, he raised his hand and looked at his watch, and then ordered Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the time is almost up, let them attack!" ”

The troops in the vicinity of Duminich, having received an order to attack from the headquarters of the army group, formed a scattered formation in battalions and quietly approached the city.

As a snowstorm was falling at the moment, the German sentries were lazy in the warm barracks, and did not find a force of several thousand men, approaching the city under the cover of the heavy snow.

The reason why Rokossovsky put the 323rd Infantry Division in charge of attacking Duminich was because there were many commanders and fighters in this division, all of whom were locals and familiar with the city. Originally, the Soviet army was familiar with the terrain, and the German sentries were so paralyzed and careless that most of the troops entered the city and were not yet discovered.

When the vanguard approached the German headquarters in the center of the city, a German officer living in a civilian house was idle, standing in front of the window looking at the snow, and accidentally looked down to find a large group of soldiers in white camouflage uniforms, holding guns against the wall and advancing forward. He hurriedly grabbed the pistol placed on the table, pushed open the window, and shouted loudly as he shot downwards: "Enemy attack! Enemy Attack!! ”

Although the German officer was shot dead after only two unlucky Soviet soldiers were killed, it alarmed nearby enemies, and the silence of the city was broken by the sound of a cacophony of sirens.

Although the Germans were putting up desperate resistance, the Germans' stubborn resistance only delayed the fall of the city, as the Soviets, who had the numerical superiority and had succeeded in seizing most of the favorable terrain in the city. After more than two hundred casualties, the remaining German soldiers fled the city.

Rokossovsky was overjoyed when he learned that Duminich had been occupied, and hurriedly asked the division commander: "Comrade Colonel, have the enemy's logistics warehouses been occupied?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Hearing Rokossovsky's question, the division commander replied with some hesitation: "We have already occupied all the warehouses in the city. ”

Because he was too excited, Rokossovsky did not hear the hesitation in the division commander's tone, and he continued to ask: "How is it, in the enemy's warehouses, there are a lot of weapons and ammunition, right?" ”

"Comrade commander," replied the division commander with a sad face, "in the warehouses we occupied, only a few hundred boxes of shells and some military supplies were found, no guns and bullets were found. ”

"What, what did you say?" Rokossovsky was simply stunned when he heard the division commander's answer, and he asked in an incredulous tone: "Didn't you say that Duminich was a supply base for the German army, why didn't you even have guns and ammunition?" ”

"Comrade Commander, I don't know either." The division commander replied with a smile: "When I first got this report, I couldn't believe it was true. I also personally went to several warehouses to check, and unfortunately, there really wasn't anything in the warehouse. "The troops in the vicinity of Duminich, having received the order to attack from the headquarters of the army group, formed a straggler formation in battalions and quietly approached the city.

As a snowstorm was falling at the moment, the German sentries were lazy in the warm barracks, and did not find a force of several thousand men, approaching the city under the cover of the heavy snow.

The reason why Rokossovsky put the 323rd Infantry Division in charge of attacking Duminich was because there were many commanders and fighters in this division, all of whom were locals and familiar with the city. Originally, the Soviet army was familiar with the terrain, and the German sentries were so paralyzed and careless that most of the troops entered the city and were not yet discovered.

When the vanguard approached the German headquarters in the center of the city, a German officer living in a civilian house was idle, standing in front of the window looking at the snow, and accidentally looked down to find a large group of soldiers in white camouflage uniforms, holding guns against the wall and advancing forward. He hurriedly grabbed the pistol placed on the table, pushed open the window, and shouted loudly as he shot downwards: "Enemy attack! Enemy Attack!! ”

Although the German officer was shot dead after only two unlucky Soviet soldiers were killed, it alarmed nearby enemies, and the silence of the city was broken by the sound of a cacophony of sirens.

Although the Germans were putting up desperate resistance, the Germans' stubborn resistance only delayed the fall of the city, as the Soviets, who had the numerical superiority and had succeeded in seizing most of the favorable terrain in the city. After more than two hundred casualties, the remaining German soldiers fled the city.

Rokossovsky was overjoyed when he learned that Duminich had been occupied, and hurriedly asked the division commander: "Comrade Colonel, have the enemy's logistics warehouses been occupied?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Hearing Rokossovsky's question, the division commander replied with some hesitation: "We have already occupied all the warehouses in the city. ”

Because he was too excited, Rokossovsky did not hear the hesitation in the division commander's tone, and he continued to ask: "How is it, in the enemy's warehouses, there are a lot of weapons and ammunition, right?" ”

"Comrade commander," replied the division commander with a sad face, "in the warehouses we occupied, only a few hundred boxes of shells and some military supplies were found, no guns and bullets were found. ”

"What, what did you say?" Rokossovsky was simply stunned when he heard the division commander's answer, and he asked in an incredulous tone: "Didn't you say that Duminich was a supply base for the German army, why didn't you even have guns and ammunition?" ”

"Comrade Commander, I don't know either." The division commander replied with a smile: "When I first got this report, I couldn't believe it was true. I also personally went to several warehouses to check, and unfortunately, there really wasn't anything in the warehouse. ”