Early the next morning, Soviet bomber groups carried out a heavy bombardment of the Glaudenz fortress. The attacking forces of the 2nd Shock Army, taking advantage of the fact that the Germans could not observe during the bombardment, quickly moved into the starting position of the attack.

During the battle for the liberation of Erbin, the 8th Army of the Highly Meritorious Estonian Infantry was created, which became the main force in the assault on the fortress of Glaudenc. The army commander, Lieutenant General Pern, assured Fedyuninsky: "Comrade commander, please rest assured that our army will take the Glaudenz fortress in the shortest possible time." ”

But Fedyuninsky was obviously not as optimistic as Pern, and after waiting for the other party to finish speaking, he asked: "Is Colonel Aru here?" ”

Colonel Aru, who was the artillery chief of the infantry corps, heard that Fedyuninsky was looking for him, so he quickly took the microphone from Perern's hand and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Aru, do you have any instructions?" ”

Considering that some time ago, Colonel Aru, who commanded the artillery of the Infantry Corps, had been cooperating with the 48th Army in attacking Elbin from the south of the city, and would definitely have suffered certain losses, so he asked with concern: "How much artillery do you have at your disposal, and do you have enough ammunition?" ”

"Comrade commander," Aru quickly replied, hearing Fedyuninsky's question, "in the battles of some time ago, the 23rd and 779th artillery regiments suffered relatively heavy losses. Now the only one that can be put into battle is the 85th Artillery Regiment, which has 12 heavy howitzers and more than 40 other artillery pieces of various calibers. Ammunition, there are about ten shells left for each gun, I wonder if Comrade Commander can inform the logistics department and give us some more. ”

"Don't worry, Colonel Aru." Knowing the role that artillery could play in the battle to capture the fortress, Fedyuninsky said into the microphone: "I will immediately ask the logistics department to send you shells." ”

Having received Fedyuninsky's report on the lack of artillery shells in the troops, Rokossovsky called the head of logistics, Lieutenant General Lagunov, to his office and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Minister of Logistics, I would like to ask, can you speed up the transport?" Otherwise, our attacking troops may have to stop their offensive because of the lack of ammunition and supplies. ”

"Comrade Marshal, we also have difficulties." Lagunov said to Rokossovsky: "With the advance of our troops, the lines of communication are now very long, and the depth of the operational area of the Front has reached three hundred kilometers. And the warehouses of the logistics department of the front army where ammunition and various supplies are stored are far outside these areas.

Due to the severe damage to the roads, combined with the mud caused by the melting spring snow, which made it difficult for vehicles to pass, we had to replace the transportation of a large number of supplies with rail transportation. But as you know, our rails are not the same size as the European ones, so we had to build a transfer station at the junction of the two tracks......"

After patiently listening to Lagunov's complaints, Rokossovsky said: "Comrade Minister of Logistics, I admit that the problems you have mentioned are objective. But our armies will continue to attack, so the necessary ammunition and supplies must be replenished as they march. Therefore, we must do everything we can to improve the efficiency of transportation to ensure the needs of the troops on the front line. ”

Lagunov humbly asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I don't know if you have any good ideas? ”

"Comrade Minister of Logistics, I will only talk about some of my own ideas, and it is up to you to decide whether they can be implemented or not." Rokossovsky considered that in the next battle, a large number of tank troops will be used, and the consumption of fuel will be astronomical, if the traditional mode of transportation is still used, then it will not be long before the tanks on the other side will lie down due to lack of fuel: "For example, for the transportation of tank fuel, do you think it is possible to build an oil pipeline on the Vistula River to directly transport the fuel needed by the tank from one end of the river to the other?"

In addition, find a way to move the location of your logistics warehouse closer to the front line, which can effectively shorten the distance of transportation and improve transportation efficiency......" Rokossovsky said these words, Ragunov wrote down them one by one in his notebook.

While Rokossovsky and Lagunov were discussing how to improve logistics and transportation, the bombardment of the Glaudenz fortress had ended, and the artillery of the Estonian 8th Army began shelling the buildings that had survived the bombardment, trying to eliminate all the enemies hiding inside. The shells landed on the fortress buildings and exploded, raising clouds of smoke and forcing the German soldiers, who had been preparing to enter the firing positions, to take refuge in underground bunkers.

Chief of Staff Lucas stood in front of the lookout of the observation post, holding up his binoculars and looking at the fortress in the distance, which was shrouded in gunsmoke. After driving for a while, he turned to the commander of the army and said, "Comrade commander, I think now is the best time to attack. ”

"But, Comrade Chief of Staff, our shelling has not stopped." Listening to the rumbling artillery outside, Pern frowned and said, "Ordering the troops to attack now will cause unnecessary accidental injuries." ”

Lucas glanced at Aru beside him and said to Perne: "Comrade Commander, our artillery shells are limited, and the shelling will not last long. If we do not attack now, when the shells are exhausted and the Germans re-enter the position, we will attack again, and we will inevitably suffer even greater casualties. ”

"Well, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Aru nodded in agreement with Lucas, Pern began to give orders: "Order Major General Merry's 249th Division, with the cooperation of tank units, to immediately launch a fierce assault on the enemy's fortress." The 7th and 8th Infantry Divisions, as the second echelon, waited for General Merry's troops to break through the enemy's defenses before they went to expand their gains. ”

As soon as the tanks covering the infantry charge reached the edge of the fortress, they were blocked by the bricks and rubble all over the ground, so they could only stop where they were, and cover the infantry with artillery fire to continue to rush forward. And the infantry fighters, cautiously over the rubble more than half a man high, rushed towards the fortress.

As for the infantry corps' move to attack before the artillery fire stopped, Fedyuninsky, who was in the distant observation post, put down his binoculars and asked his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, do you think the 8th Infantry Corps will be able to take the fortress?" ”

"Comrade Commander, it's hard to say." The chief of staff said in an uncertain tone: "The Gloudenz Fortress has been operated by the Germans for more than ten years, and the fortifications inside can be described as extremely strong, and our bombardment and artillery bombardment will not destroy it at all. Although the defenders of the fortress had been partially wiped out by the troops of the 65th Army after leaving the fortress in order to meet the troops who broke through from the fortress, their strength at the moment was at least more than 10,000 people. With just one 8th Infantry Corps, I don't think it's realistic to capture this fortress. Therefore, we must bring in other units as soon as possible and concentrate our forces on launching a strong attack on the enemy. ”