Rokossovsky's decision opened up new ideas for several army commanders. They thought to themselves: hundreds of prisoners of war could be found in the farms and factories occupied by their own troops. However, some time ago, these rescued prisoners of war were sent to the rear for screening in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it is said that their final destination was Siberia, which is bitterly cold all year round.

Thinking that these prisoners of war, who had suffered a lot and had rich combat experience, after being rescued, did not have the opportunity to return to their familiar homeland, but were sent to the strange Siberia, where they felt a little wasted when they were dying.

The first to speak was Fedyuninsky: "Comrade Marshal is right, many of these prisoners of war rescued from farms and factories were captured at the beginning of the war, and they were all veterans with extensive combat experience. The years of prisoner of war made them suffer from the Germans, and their hearts were filled with hatred for the Germans. Once they are re-armed, they will definitely be able to form combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time and become an elite division. ”

Originally, there was no one who had the greatest scruples about the commander of the 49th Army, Lieutenant General Grischen, and after Fedyuninsky finished speaking, he also immediately expressed his opinion, "Many divisions of our group army originally had only 5,000 people, but after this period of fighting, they have been sharply reduced to 25,000 to 3,000 people, and their combat effectiveness has also been greatly reduced. If we can replenish the troops from these prisoners of war, I think it will be very helpful for our overall combat strength to improve. ”

And Batov has long been accustomed to Rokossovsky's mode of thinking, and among the rescued prisoners of war, although he sent most of them to the rear for screening according to the orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he still quietly left a part to enrich his troops. Now, after hearing Rokossovsky's decision to integrate all the healthy prisoners of war into the army, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, we can replenish the troops with rescued prisoners of war, so where should we collect weapons and equip them?" ”

Batov's words reminded everyone: yes, the shortage of soldiers in the army can be replenished from the rescued prisoners of war, but where should the weapons that arm them come from?

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Rokossovsky said slowly: "Comrade commanders, although the supplies to us from the rear are very small and slow, it is not difficult to arm these rescued fighters. We have captured so many cities and fortresses in East Prussia, can't we arm the soldiers with captured weapons? ”

"It's a good idea to arm our fighters with German weapons." Batov nodded and said: "But I propose to group the fighters who use German-made weapons together, so that the logistics troops can accurately deliver the ammunition to the place when they are replenished." ”

After discussing the issue of replenishing the troops, Rokossovsky turned his gaze to Sokolisky, who was sitting on the side: "Comrade Artillery Commander, from tomorrow our front units will fight on two fronts at the same time, tell me, how should our artillery be distributed?" ”

"Comrade Marshal," hearing Rokossovsky's question, Sokolsky, the commander of the artillery of the Front, stood up and said with a solemn expression: "Since the direction of the attack during this period of time was concentrated in the East Prussian region, our artillery was successively transferred to these directions. In order to slow down our offensive, the Germans had already destroyed most of the roads in East Prussia, and it would take a long time to relocate the artillery that was already in place to a new operational direction. ”

"Since this is the case, then the artillery will remain in the existing area for the time being." After waiting for Sokolisky to finish speaking, Rokossovsky said to the commanders of the army group present: "Comrades, you have already understood the specific situation, and in the next offensive, you can only rely on the artillery of your army. Of course, this time will not be too long, and we will move the main artillery forces of the front as soon as possible to the East Pomeranian region.

Next, I began to deploy the operational areas of the armies: Fedyuninsky's 2nd Shock Army, which, having handed over Erbin to Gusev's 48th Army, immediately moved westward to take over Batov's defensive area. After completing the handover of the defensive sector, you continue your offensive northward, capturing the area of the Vistula River defended by the enemy, and storming the fortress of Glaudenz, which has a large garrison; Batov's 65th Army, which attacked north on Fedyuninsky's left flank; A little further to the left, is Lieutenant General Grischen's 49th Army; Finally, Popov's 70th Army advanced to the northwest from the existing area ......"

Rokossovsky gave the order that all the troops, with the exception of the 70th Army, were to readjust their existing starting positions. In order to avoid unnecessary confusion before the attack, several army group commanders asked Bogolyubov about the specific arrangements for the order of troop movements.

Rokossovsky sat on the sidelines and did not speak, quietly listening to the discussion. When silence regained again, he asked, "How is it, comrades commanders, will you be able to attack the frontal enemy on time tomorrow?" ”

"No problem!" "Attack in time!" Hearing Rokossovsky's question, several commanders immediately replied with a rambling voice.

Seeing that everyone had no questions to ask, Rokossovsky waved at them and announced: "Alright, this is the end of today's meeting, let's all go back to our respective units to prepare." ”

After the meeting, but after the commanders of the army groups participating in the meeting had left, Rokossovsky remembered something important, so he called the commander of the armored forces of the front Cherniavsky and asked: "Comrade General, some time ago I gave an order to find the missing Shura and his crew, and to reorganize the tank company that died north of Erbin, with Shura as the company commander. I wonder how things are going? ”

"Comrade Marshal, I was about to report to you." Cherniavsky replied: "After repeated searches, we learned that Shura and his crew were saved by the units of the Third Belorussian Front, and now they are in the operational sequence of the Third Front. If you still insist on your original opinion, I can arrange for someone to bring Shura and his crew back. ”

"Forget it. Now that they have gone to the Third Front, there is no need to force it anymore. Rokossovsky's mind was now focused on the new campaign that was about to begin, and he was unwilling to negotiate with the Third Front for the sake of a tank soldier, so he waved his hand and said disapprerovingly: "The order I gave is officially canceled." ”