"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." After listening to Rokossovsky's deployment, Batov also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and he knew very well in his heart that with the strength of his own and Fedyuninsky's two forces, it would be quite difficult to continue to advance northward if he did not replenish troops and technical equipment. Knowing that on the way to the north, he could get cover from friendly forces on the left flank, he also put down the boulder in his heart and said confidently: "We will definitely be able to crush the German defenses in this area." ”

After listening to the replies of Batov and Fedyuninsky, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction, beckoned the two to sit down, and continued to say to them: "Comrade generals, I believe that you are capable of breaking through the enemy's defenses, but there is one thing that I feel necessary to remind you. ”

Batov and Fedyuninsky, who were sitting precariously, heard Rokossovsky say this, guessed that it must be a very important matter, and hurriedly said respectfully: "Comrade Marshal, please speak." ”

Although Rokossovsky was still a little uncomfortable with his close friends and subordinates, and spoke to himself with such a respectful attitude, but thinking of his current identity, he didn't say much, but directly said the current problem: "Due to the deceptive propaganda of Goebbels and the ** propaganda organization, our army was slandered and slandered, so that the residents of various towns and towns, as soon as they heard that our troops were approaching, they couldn't wait to pack up and flee from their homes with the old and the young. ”

"That's right, that's right." When Batov heard this, he couldn't help but nod his head and said with emotion: "On our way forward, it is often crowded with fleeing refugees, as well as the military supplies abandoned by Hitler's bandits when they fled, so that our army could not advance quickly along the road at all, and as a result, many fighters were missed in vain. ”

Fedyuninsky also smiled wryly and said: "We entered East Prussia and East Pomerania as liberators, and we were really a little helpless in the face of these refugees. If they just block the roads, we can barely cope, and if a large number of refugees pour out of the city while we attack it, it may cause our attack to have to be halted temporarily. ”

"In response to this problem, General Su Bojing, military commissar, and comrades from the Political Department of the Front Army have already begun to work on it." Seeing that the two of them were also at a loss, Rokossovsky guessed that they must have been tormented by this question, so he continued: "We are going to send comrades who know German to spread propaganda to the refugees who have fled, that we are liberators who have come to liberate them from the tyrannical rule of **, and that no one will harm them, and Goebbels's propaganda about them is a lie." Through the necessary political propaganda, we will give them a perceptual understanding of our army, which will be very helpful in prompting them to return to their homeland. ”

"Comrade Marshal," Rokossovsky had just finished speaking, and Fedyuninsky spoke again: "I just mentioned, what if we were attacking the city and a large number of refugees poured out of the city and interfered with the offensive of our troops? You know, we can't send political workers on the battlefield to do some propaganda work against them. ”

"Comrade Fedyuninsky, if you want to solve the problem you are worried about, the solution is also very simple." Rokossovsky said this, deliberately paused for a moment, and then said word by word: "Order your fighters to shoot at these refugees!" ”

"What?!" Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Fedyuninsky almost jumped straight from his seat: "Comrade Marshal, how can we shoot at the refugees?" So, what is the difference between us and the *** bandits who have failed miserably? Not only did Fedyuninsky not understand Rokossovsky's statement, but even Batov, who was sitting next to him, frowned.

Seeing that the expressions of the two were so solemn, Rokossovsky smiled and continued: "That's right, I asked you to shoot at the refugees, not to hurt people, but to expel them from the battlefield. Therefore, the soldier who fired the gun had to be made to raise the muzzle of the gun an inch too high, so that the bullet flew over the refugee's head. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky, both Batov and Fedyuninsky breathed a sigh of relief, in their minds, Rokossovsky was not such a cruel and unkind person, it turned out that he ordered to shoot at the fleeing refugees in order to drive the refugees off the battlefield as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary sacrifices.

"The question of refugees is over for the time being, and we will move on to the two fortresses of Danzig and Gdynia." Rokossovsky pointed to the map in front of him and said to the two army commanders: "Danzig is a fortified city with the most powerful firepower, and well-camouflaged forts put all terrain within range of their artillery. The ancient fortress walls surround the entire city, and outside the walls are modern fortified areas. The enemy has built permanent firing points of reinforced concrete and stone concrete on all commanding heights.

In order to prevent our capture by us, the enemy had a well-developed system of permanent fortifications and field positions, and the areas to the south and southeast close to the city were filled with lakes and swamps, which made it impossible for our mechanized troops to deploy, so that the capture of the city could only be carried out by infantry reinforced by artillery.

Gdynia was also a first-class fortress, and its fortifications close to the ground were also very strong. ……”

After presenting the situation in Danzig and Gdynia, Rokossovsky looked at the two army group commanders and asked: "Is there any more problem?" ”

After looking at each other, Batov and Fedyuninsky got up and said: "Comrade Marshal, according to the situation of the enemy and us on the map, the German army has deployed about 20 divisions from the enemy's forward positions to the area between Danzig and Gdynia, and we hope that the tank corps will be responsible for breaking through the enemy's forward positions, and then transfer the infantry to deal with those fortified areas with strong firepower and strong fortifications. ”

After listening to Batov's proposal, Rokossovsky stared at the map for a while, and felt that it was indeed not suitable to use tank troops in the heavily fortified area of the German army, so he nodded and said: "General Batov, I agree with your proposal, and I will transfer all the tank units belonging to the Front Army to this area as soon as possible to assist you in attacking to the north." ”

"Great, that's great." In the early stage, because the front of the offensive was too wide, and the area that Batov was responsible for was not a key combat area, except for the tank brigade under the 65th Army, the rest of the tank units were transferred to other combat areas.