Knowing that friendly forces were approaching from all directions, Vamko feared that they would not understand the enemy's situation and would recklessly crash into it and suffer unnecessary losses. Therefore, as soon as he gave his troops the order to suspend the offensive, he sent telegrams to the headquarters of the army group and the front army, reporting to them the latest enemy situation.

After receiving the telegram, the commander of the group army, General Gusev, simply read it, handed it to his chief of staff, and ordered: "Report the situation immediately to Comrade Marshal." ”

"Comrade Commander," the chief of staff deliberately reminded Gusev, seeing that Gusev did not seem to be planning to take any measures, "the 81st Infantry Division has only a few thousand men, and it lacks heavy weapons, and I am afraid that if I do not send people to support them, I am afraid of ......."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I know what you're worried about!" Gusev didn't wait for the chief of staff to finish speaking, and then interrupted his later words: "You are worried that Colonel Vamko's troops will be wiped out by superior German troops. But the current situation, it's not that I don't want to help him, but I can't do it, and now that the main forces of the group army are concentrated near the fortress of Thorn, where are the troops that can be drawn out to help them? ”

The chief of staff knew that what Gusev said was the truth, and just a dozen hours ago, the headquarters of the army group had been attacked by German troops, and if it had not been for the timely arrival of the vanguard of the cavalry corps, the headquarters might have been chased away by the Germans by now. Thinking of this, the chief of staff did not delay any longer, but dialed the phone of the front headquarters and reported the contents of the telegram sent by the 81st Infantry Division to Bogolyubov.

After waiting for the other party to finish speaking, Bogolyubov continued: "Comrade General, we have also received a telegram from Colonel Vamko, and the marshal is studying how to encircle and annihilate this group of enemies. ”

Bogolyubov's words aroused the interest of the chief of staff, and he hurriedly asked: "I would like to ask, what are the tasks of our army group?" According to his thoughts, if this enemy was to be encircled, the 48th Army would have to use at least a few infantry divisions and an equal number of tank brigades. It is helpful to understand the intentions of the leaders of the front armies first, which will help them formulate combat missions.

"Except for the 81st Infantry Division of Vamko, your army group does not need to send troops to participate in this encirclement and annihilation battle." Bogolyubov said on the phone: "Comrade Marshal said that the first task of your army group at the moment is to quickly take control of the fortress of Thorn and send the main forces to pursue the breakthrough. According to the information we have intercepted, the number of German troops who broke through was no less than 30,000, and the pressure on the 71st and 136th Infantry Divisions in the task of blocking them was not light. ”

"Understood, Comrade General." As soon as the chief of staff waited for Bogolyubov to finish speaking, he immediately stated: "I will immediately report to Comrade Commander to concentrate superior forces to seize the fortress of Thorn, as well as destroy the defenders of those fortresses that have broken through." ”

While the chief of staff reported the situation to the front command, Gusev was on the phone with several division commanders who had captured the fortress of Thorn to find out about their progress. Seeing that the chief of staff had ended the call with his superiors, he also put down the phone and asked, "Does Chief of Staff Bogolyubov have any explanation?" ”

"Comrade commander," the chief of staff hurriedly replied, hearing Gusev's inquiry, "General Bogolyubov said that the command of the Front is studying the matter of encircling and destroying this group of enemies. Taking into account the actual situation of our group army, there is no need to send additional troops to participate in this encirclement and annihilation operation, except for the 81st Infantry Division of Varmko. ”

When Gusev heard his chief of staff say this, he felt a little uncomfortable, saying that he wanted to encircle and annihilate so many enemies in the defense zone of our group army, and we actually became bystanders. However, he hid these grievances deep in his heart, and continued to ask: "What is the order given to us by the front command?" ”

"Order us to quickly occupy the fortress of Thorn, and send the main force as soon as possible to pursue and destroy the defenders of the fortress who broke through." Speaking of this, the chief of staff's tone became solemn: "Our 71st and 136th infantry divisions, which are responsible for blocking the attack, are currently under tremendous pressure, and if we don't send reinforcements, I'm afraid they won't be able to withstand it." ”

Don't look at the fortified German troops have been breaking through for two days, but Gusev has not figured out what kind of troops the enemy is until now. Therefore, hearing the chief of staff say this, Gusev said with some displeasure: "Chief of staff, send a report to the division commanders of these two divisions, saying that we will occupy the fortress of Thorn, and it will take another one or two days, let them hold on, and we must not let go of the main force of the German army." ”

"Comrade Commander," seeing Gusev's disapproving look, the chief of staff hurriedly reminded him: "General Bogolyubov said that the number of German troops breaking through is about 30,000, and our troops with the task of blocking only two divisions, and they are all lightly armed divisions that are not fully manned, and there are no heavy weapons, if they do not support them as soon as possible, the Germans will really succeed in breaking through." ”

"What, thirty thousand?" Gusev, who had struck a match and was about to light a cigarette, heard the chief of staff say this, his hand trembled violently, and the flames brushed his face, so painful that he immediately threw the match on the ground. He looked at the Chief of Staff, gasped and said, "Chief of Staff, do you think this may be true?" ”

"I think it's possible."

"It can't be." Gusev waved his hand vigorously, and then walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, and said excitedly: "According to the information we have in advance, the German defenders in the fortress are only more than 30,000 people. In the past two days of our battles in the fortress, you have also seen that there are at least tens of thousands of stubborn enemies, and if there are really 30,000 people who break through, where did those Germans who are holding the fortress come from? ”

"Comrade commander, maybe there are only one or two thousand enemies in the fortress." After the chief of staff waited for Gusev to finish speaking, he said cautiously: "It's just that they occupy the dangerous terrain and have a large number of heavy weapons, so that our attacking troops have created a false impression that the defenders in the fortress are thousands or even tens of thousands. ”

Hearing the chief of staff say this, Gusev stopped, looked at him and asked cautiously: "Chief of staff, do you mean that there are one or two thousand troops left in the fortress to contain us?" ”

"There is a possibility ......"

Before the chief of staff could finish speaking, Gusev raised his hand to interrupt his words, "If the Germans only have a small number of troops left to contain us, then in order to cover the breakthrough of the main force, they will create all kinds of illusions in the defensive deployment of the fortress to mislead us, making us think that the breakthrough force is only a small part, and the main force is still fighting with us in the fortress." ”

Seeing that Gusev seemed to have figured it out, the chief of staff secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked: "Comrade commander, then what should we do next?" ”

After Gusev knew that the number of defenders in the fortress might not be large, his mind immediately changed, he looked at the chief of staff and ordered: "Chief of staff, leave two infantry divisions, a tank brigade and several artillery regiments to continue to attack the fortress, the main force of the group army must pass through the fortress before this evening, go after the fleeing enemy troops, and absolutely not let them escape from our encirclement." ”