With the support of the air force and artillery, the German panzer divisions that attacked the landing ground on the right bank of the Narev River were repulsed, and the main forces of the 70th Army also crossed the Narev River one after another, further expanding the area of the landing field. By order of the Front Command, they were to launch an attack on the Modlin fortress from this direction, from the north.

Zhukov, who was far away in Moscow, learned from the General Staff that Rokossovsky had mobilized troops to attack the Modlin Fortress, called him specifically and asked straight to the point: "Rokossovsky, are you going to capture the Modlin Fortress?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Rokossovsky replied respectfully: "Only by taking the fortress will the northern side of Warsaw not be threatened." ”

After Zhukov waited for him to finish, he said noncommittally: "Tell me about your plan." ”

"Due to the special terrain of the Modlin Fortress, if we attack from the front, we will not only suffer huge losses, but at the same time, we will not make much progress." Rokossovsky said into the microphone: "So I ordered the troops of the 70th Army, crossed the Narev River and established a landing ground in the right-bank area. My idea was to attack the fortress of Modlin from two directions at the same time, i.e., the 70th Army from the north and the 48th Army from the east, so that the Germans would not be able to take care of each other, so that we would have a great greater chance of taking the fortress. ”

Zhukov thought for a moment, and then said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, to the north of the Modlin Fortress is the rolling city wall connected to the beacon tower, and I am afraid that your actions will be under the surveillance of the German army, so I still advise you to attack the Modlin Fortress from the east. If there are not enough troops, I can suggest to the Supreme Commander himself that General Gusev's 47th Army be transferred to you. ”

Although Rokossovsky knew in his heart that attacking from the east would be within the blockade of German artillery, he thought that if he could have one more army group under his command, the situation would be more favorable to him in the next battle. Therefore, after a little thought, he resolutely agreed.

Two days later, the vanguard of the 47th Army and the main forces of the 48th Army entered the attack position.

In order to keep abreast of the situation on the battlefield, Rokossovsky arrived at the vanguard of the 47th Army with two staff officers two hours before the start of the shelling. In order to facilitate the command of the battle, he specially carried a telephone, through which he got in touch with Gusev and Romanenko after arriving at the battalion command post.

He said to the two generals on the phone: "I am currently at the front, and when the shelling of our army is over, if you see a red flare rising in the sky, it means an attack; If it's a green flare, the offense is canceled. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Two army commanders standing next to the telephone replied loudly.

After the shelling began, artillery and rocket artillery of various calibers opened fire on the fortresses occupied by the Germans. The German fortress was soon enveloped in smoke. When the commanders and fighters in the observation post saw this scene, they couldn't help but cheer.

But the good times were short-lived, and the Germans quickly fought back. Thousands of shells flew out of the fortified batteries and landed on the starting positions of the attacking troops, inflicting considerable casualties on the troops assembled there.

Rokossovsky, who was staying at the observation post, could not help frowning when he saw this situation, and he thought to himself: the German artillery fire is so powerful, how can we attack? If the enemy's artillery fire is not suppressed, then our troops will be wiped out by the artillery fire on the way to the attack.

Thinking of this, Rokossovsky made a decisive decision, he instructed the staff officer with a flare gun: "Comrade staff, you immediately go out and fire green flares, inform Gusev and Romanenko and let them stop shooting." ”

Although Gussev and Romanenko saw the flare to stop the attack, they called Rokossovsky to verify the matter for the sake of safety. When Rokossovsky heard the voices of the two, he said with certainty: "That's right, Comrade Commander, I did give the order to stop the offensive. The enemy's artillery fire has exceeded our imagination, and in order not to make our commanders and fighters make unnecessary sacrifices, I order the temporary cancellation of the offensive operation. ”

The offensive from the east was terminated by German artillery fire. The 70th Army in the north, still according to the original plan, launched an attack on the periphery of the Modlin fortress from the north. Since the enemy's artillery fire was concentrated in the east, the artillery fire used to intercept in the north was much weaker. The vanguard of the 181st Division smoothly approached the outer walls.

The huge stone wall was more than 20 meters high, and the commanders and fighters could not climb forward at all, so the commander of the vanguard regiment bombarded it with mortars. The shells hit the city walls, and only a few small craters were blown out.

Knowing that the outer wall was tall and strong, Vanya couldn't help frowning, and he said to the chief of staff with a wry smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I just heard that the inner wall of the fortress can withstand 700 kilograms of explosives, but I didn't expect this outer wall to look good." Tell me, what good way do we have to blow up the walls of the enemy? ”

When the chief of staff was in a dilemma, a soldier suddenly came in from outside and reported: "Division commander, chief of staff, the 3077th Guards Rocket Artillery Battalion has arrived, and it is currently parked outside." ”

After listening to the soldier's report, the chief of staff suddenly made a move and said to Vanya: "Comrade division commander, I have thought of a way, do you see if you can use rocket artillery to bombard the walls of the German army?" ”

Regarding the chief of staff's proposal, Vanya thought for a while, and finally shook his head and said: "I don't think it works, it's okay for rockets to destroy exposed targets, but if you want to bombard the city wall, the effect may not be ideal." ”

Although Vanya rejected his proposal, the chief of staff reluctantly said, "We might as well try." Seeing that the chief of staff was so resolute, Vanya finally nodded in agreement.

The two called in the commander of the rocket artillery battalion and told him what they thought. After hearing this, the battalion commander frowned and thought about it, and finally nodded and said: "Comrade two commanders, in fact, if the rocket artillery wants to destroy the city wall, it is also possible. But it had to be advanced to a distance of 400 meters from the city wall, and it was also necessary to raise the back of the launch vehicle and carry out a flat-fire ......"

Vanya continued to want to see the results of the battle, so he urged the battalion commander: "Comrade battalion commander, whatever you say, I will depend on you." I will send a company of soldiers to assist you. ”

After more than ten minutes, five or six rocket launchers arrived at a distance of 400 meters from the city wall, and they drove into the shallow pit dug by the infantry and fired a salvo at the wall in front of them. The whistling rockets smashed into the city wall, enveloping it in fire and smoke in an instant.

When the smoke cleared, the battered walls still stood ahead. Just as the commanders and fighters sighed, the crumbling city wall collapsed violently, revealing a gap more than 20 meters wide. Seeing that the city wall had been blown open a passable gap, both rocket artillery and infantry cheered excitedly.