After determining the strategy of defending the north and attacking the south, the next thing to discuss was how to quietly drive the 47th Army of tens of thousands into Warsaw without being detected by the enemy.

When this question was raised, Rokossovsky said only one sentence: "Commanders of armies, let us all share your own opinions." He sat back in his place, picked up his teacup and began to drink his tea.

The commander of the 47th Army, Gusev, stood up and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, if the movement of troops is not detected by the Germans, the best way is to quietly drive the troops into the city of Warsaw, under the cover of night. ”

"No, no," said Batov, who was in charge of the defense of Warsaw, objected: "The movement of large forces at night not only takes a long time, but also tends to cause confusion. I suggest that the movement of troops should take place during the day. ”

"How can you move troops during the day?" Gusev immediately refuted this statement of Batov: "This is easy to detect by the Germans." As soon as they find out that we are thinking of gathering troops in Warsaw, then they will take appropriate defensive measures and move the armored forces in the direction of our upcoming attack, so that the next battle will not be easy to fight. ”

"General Gusev, don't worry." Rudenko, who was attending the meeting as an observer, saw that the two were about to have an argument, so he hurriedly stood up and expressed his opinion: "Our air force has basically mastered air supremacy along the Vistula River, and during the period when you are moving troops, I can send fighter planes to patrol the air and drive away or destroy the German reconnaissance planes." To ensure that the movement of our troops will not be detected by the Germans. ”

"Since General Rudenko has made a guarantee, then the transfer of troops will be carried out during the day." Malinin announced the decision after a few words of deliberation with Rokossovsky in a low voice. After a slight pause, he said to the commander of the 48th Army, Romanenko: "General Romanenko, in order not to let the enemy in the fortress of Modlin detect the movement of the 47th Army, you must also make a feint to confuse the enemy, understand?" ”

"Understood." Romanenko hurriedly got up from his seat: "We will make a feint in the area east of the fortress of Modlin in order to confuse the enemy so that they will not be able to detect that the troops of the 47th Army have left for Warsaw. ”

Seeing that several army commanders had expressed their attitudes, Chuikov also stood up and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, no matter where the troops of the 47th Army attack, we will actively cooperate. The troops of our army group will use counter-assault methods to contain the main German forces attacking the landing site, so as to ensure the sortie of friendly forces from the direction of Warsaw. ”

Rokossovsky was very satisfied with Chuikov's statement, and after praising the other side a few words, he talked about his own views on the issue of the coordination of various arms of the troops participating in the battle. Finally, I asked again: "Do you have any questions?" ”

The leaders of the group armies present at the meeting all thought quickly, and the front army command seemed to have taken into account all the issues that should be considered, and which troops were in what positions and what combat missions they were carrying out. After making sure that there were no problems, everyone shook their heads at the same time and replied in unison, "No problems." ”

"Since there is no problem, let's dismiss the meeting and go back to our respective troops." Rokossovsky waved at the commanders of the army group, signaling that they could leave, but at the same time said: "Chuikov and Gusev stay." ”

When the people in the house were almost gone, Chuikov and Gusev came to Rokossovsky and waited for his orders. Rokossovsky glanced up at the two of them, stretched out his hand and gestured to the empty seat at the table: "Sit down." ”

After the two sat down, Rokossovsky pushed the map on the table in front of them and said: "Comrade two commanders, the German army currently attacking the front of the Magnushev landing field has as many as five armored divisions and two infantry divisions, and your responsibility is not light. How's it going, have you figured out how exactly this battle should be fought? ”

Gusev thought for a moment, and then replied: "Comrade Marshal, in front of the Magnushev landing field, there are the most elite skeleton divisions, Viking divisions and Goering divisions of the German army. Therefore, I intend to give priority to the German 73rd Infantry Division, which is the weakest overall combat effectiveness. ”

"Comrade Chuikov." After waiting for Gusev to finish, Rokossovsky turned his gaze to Chuikov and asked noncommittally: "What do you think?" ”

"Comrade Marshal, please look here." Chuikov stood up and pointed to the southwest of Warsaw on the map: "According to the latest information we have, the German Skeleton Division is stationed in the southwest of Warsaw, and if General Gusev's troops attack the German 73rd Infantry Division, their flanks will be vulnerable to attacks by the Skeleton Division. You know, at the beginning of 1943, the Skeleton Division once routed our 4th Guards Infantry Corps, and now it will be easier to defeat a few of our ordinary infantry divisions. ”

Rokossovsky nodded in agreement with Chuikov's statement, and then asked: "Comrade Chuikov, since you have seen the predicament faced by the 47th Army, do you have any good way to resolve this crisis?" ”

"In our previous battles, we fought first against a weak enemy, and then against a strong enemy." Chuikov said unexpectedly: "We can change the way of playing here, first against a strong enemy, and then against a weak enemy." If General Gusev's troops were to strike first at the Skeleton Division, then the 73rd Infantry Division would not dare to act rashly, and after we had inflicted heavy losses on the Skeleton Division, we would turn around and go to the opponent's 73rd Division, and the situation on the battlefield would become extremely favorable to us. ”

Rokossovsky felt that Chuikov's idea did have a certain degree of operability, and when he was about to talk about his own views, Gusev had already preemptively said: "No, General Chuikov, I don't think this kind of play is appropriate. Even if, as you said, the weaker 73rd Division is unable to support the Skeleton Division, have you ever considered what we should do if our army is unable to eat the enemy in the short term, and the battle is at a stalemate? ”

"General Gusev, you're too worried." Ma Linin interjected: "Compared with last year, the strength of our army has been greatly improved, we now not only have a powerful air force, but also a powerful artillery and armored force, with their cooperation, you should have no problem to defeat the skeleton division." ”