The Germans were not willing to lose Warsaw, so they put together a few reinforcements and hurried towards the city of Warsaw.

The German troops staying in the city of Warsaw on the east bank of the Vistula River were mainly a powerful group of elite SS Viking Division, SS Skeleton Division, 19th Tank Division and two infantry divisions. These elite German troops did not show any timidity in the face of Soviet troops, which were several times outnumbered by them. On the contrary, they have performed remarkably both on defense and on the counter-attack.

Rokossovsky thought that in a day at most, the troops on the east bank, with the support of the 2nd Tank Army, would be able to successfully break through to the Vistula River. But unexpectedly, the resistance of the German army was unusually stubborn, their anti-tank men hid in the rubble, shooting at the tanks driving on the street, causing huge casualties to the Soviet tank troops, since Bogdanov was wounded, the deputy commander who took over his command Radzyevsky had limited ability and lacked experience in dealing with this complex situation, so that the troops suffered heavy casualties, but still did not achieve any desired results.

Having learned about this situation, Malinin suggested to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, our tank 2nd Army lost almost half of its tanks during these two days of fighting. Tanks are of limited use in street fighting, so it's up to you to decide if you want to stop the attack for a while, or if the infantry will take on the storm. ”

Rokossovsky also felt helpless against the stubborn resistance of the German army. Since many of the buildings in the city were still occupied by citizens living in Warsaw, he could not use the tactics of demolishing houses with rocket artillery to move forward, and sometimes he had to fill in a street with human lives, pushing forward little by little.

Rokossovsky stood up and walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, thinking about what could be done to eliminate the ghosts of the German soldiers. Malinin knew Rokossovsky's habit of not liking to be disturbed by others when considering problems, so he stood aside and quietly waited for him to make a decision.

After walking back and forth in the house for more than ten minutes, Rokossovsky finally stopped. Seeing this situation, Malinin's eyes couldn't help but light up, and he guessed that Rokossovsky must have thought of a good solution. Hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Comrade Commander, do you have any good ideas?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky, after much deliberation, finally made a decision, and said to Malinin: "order the tank units to rest on the spot, and the task of attacking the fortified will be carried out by artillery and infantry together. ”

"Artillery?" When Ma Linin heard this order, he also deliberately asked, according to his own understanding: "Do you want them to carry out intensive artillery bombardment of the enemy's positions before the attack?" ”

"No, the chief of staff can't fight like that." Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished asking his question, he was directly denied by Rokossovsky: "If there is an intensive shelling, it will inevitably hurt those residents who are still hiding in buildings." If you think about it, the family was hiding in the house, trembling and listening to the sound of gunfire coming from the window, when suddenly a shell broke through the window and blew everyone to the ground. Once this kind of thing spreads, will the attitude of the Poles towards our army change from neutrality to hostility? ”

"So what should we do?" Malinin asked anxiously.

Rokossovsky was about to give a detailed introduction to Malinin when he accidentally noticed the artillery commander, General Kazakov, walking in from outside, and beckoned to him: "Comrade Kazakov, come to me. ”

Kazakov came over and asked curiously: "Comrade commander, is there anything wrong with you?" ”

"It is like this, one of the guards corps of Batov's 65th Army and 70th Army, is advancing to the banks of the Vistula." Rokossovsky said to Kazakov: "The advance of our troops was very difficult due to the fierce resistance of the enemy. ”

"I know that." As soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, Kazakov continued: "Our artillery fire is not at all afraid to carry out artillery fire on the heavily defended area of the German army, so as not to injure the citizens of Warsaw in that area by mistake." And the tank units, in the process of advancing, were frequently attacked by German anti-tank fighters, and the losses were also very serious. ”

Seeing that Kazakov knew the current situation very well, Rokossovsky did not need to introduce the situation in the city to him, but directly ordered: "General Kazakov, you immediately send two or three artillery regiments, follow the infantry to advance into the city, and use the method of bayonets on the cannons to eliminate the German firing points at fixed points." ”

"Bayonets on cannons?!" Although Rokossovsky had used this tactic in previous battles, the scale was small and did not impress Kazakov, so he frowned and asked: "Comrade commander, what does this mean?" ”

Rokossovsky immediately picked up the notebook on the table, turned to the blank page, drew a schematic diagram on it with a pencil, and said to Kazakov: "General Kazakov, you see, our infantry will definitely be intercepted by German fire in the process of advancing forward, and then artillery will come in handy." You ordered the artillery to be deployed at a distance of 300 to 400 meters from the German firing point, to conduct direct fire, to clear the German firing point with artillery fire, and to cover the infantry assault. ”

Seeing that there was still a look of hesitation on Kazakov's face, he added: "General Kazakov, don't worry, with the cover of our infantry, the Germans will not be able to approach our artillery." And in addition to destroying the German firing points, if you encounter a counterattack by the German tanks, you can also use the artillery as an anti-tank gun to wipe out the enemy's tanks in the streets and relieve the pressure on our attacking forces. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's account, Kazakov thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "Understood, comrade commander, I know how to use bayonets on artillery to deal with those German strongholds and tanks." After speaking, he straightened up, raised his hand to his forehead, and asked solemnly: "Are you allowed to go to the army to assign tasks?" ”

"Yes." Rokossovsky immediately agreed to his request, and at the same time said: "General Kazakov, I will wait here for your good news. ”

Kazakov put his hand down, nodded, turned and strode out of the command.

As soon as Kazakov left, Malinin immediately came over and asked with concern: "Comrade commander, if we do this, will we be able to take the position on the east bank of the Vistula as soon as possible?" ”