"On the morning of the 26th of October, just as I was about to close my eyes and squint, the Chief of Staff Malenkov suddenly woke me up and informed me of an unexpected incident - our blocking force had run into a large force of the enemy! The news made me sleepy, and I got up with a grunt, and stood in front of the map before I even had time to put on my shoes......"

"How many enemies have come, and in which direction?" Ubolevich asked nervously.

However, to the surprise of Ubolevich, Malenkov's expression was a little strange and did not seem to take this sudden situation seriously. But soon he let Ubolevich know why.

"The number of enemies is not as large as expected, and according to reconnaissance intelligence, the number of the enemy does not exceed six regiments."

Ubolevich frowned and asked: "Could this be just the vanguard of the enemy?" ”

Malenkov said with a smile: "Probably not, the blocking force has carried out very detailed reconnaissance according to your requirements, and according to the feedback from Comrade Tukhachevsky's side, the enemy's main force is still storming Warsaw......"

Ubolevich touched his chin, a little puzzled by this sudden situation, in fact, since he entered the battlefield, every reaction of the Entente has been unexpected by him. Needless to say, Gaspar's troops are brain-dead, but how could Foch watch this thing being wiped out and not save it?

Yes, in Ubolevich's opinion, Foch sending two divisions to rescue Gaspar would be tantamount to seeing death at the time, and the reinforcements he left in the north could not be moved by two divisions, and even if one of them could not get Gaspar out, these two divisions would have to get in.

Could it be that Foch is so relieved? Or did Foch misjudge the situation on the battlefield?

It immediately occurred to Ubolevich that Foch probably did not know that he was a powerful man. It is quite possible that Foch only thought that he was a small group of harassers. The aim was to relieve Tukhachevsky. Only on the basis of this judgment. Foch would be so careless about the enemy, otherwise it would be impossible to explain his method of using troops.

And for Ubolevich, if Foch really thinks so, then he will probably have to quickly adjust the battle plan. Judging from the current situation, he could have taken advantage of more before Foch reacted, and it was not a dream to annihilate the three divisions of Gaspar and Seibert in one fell swoop!

Ubolevich was a very decisive man, and when the idea of eliminating Seibert came to him, it really couldn't be stopped. He stared at the map for a few minutes. Soon the phone was dialed to the troops besieging Gaspar.

"Stop attacking, yes! Stop the attack now! No one is allowed to attack without my orders! Why? Don't ask so much why, just obey! ”

Ubolevich, who hurriedly hung up the phone, wrote and drew on the map, and in a short time a bold battle plan was born.

"Keep the last stronghold of Gaspar and surround it firmly, you can attack, but you can't annihilate it!"

"Why?"

The officers found it inexplicable, and it was Ubolevich who had previously asked to take Gaspar in one fell swoop. And now that Gaspar has become a boiled duck, is it time to let him go?

"It's not about letting him go. Instead, use him for fishing! Ubolevich replied with a smile, "This morning, our blocking force was attacked by the enemy's relief force, which, according to reconnaissance, is not very large...... If we wipe out Gaspar right away, this force will immediately retreat, do you want to watch this piece of fat run away? ”

The officers immediately understood Ubolevich's intentions, and to be honest they were quite impressed, but at the same time they were not small.

Because Seibert's troops were still relatively large, Tukhachevsky had also tried to encircle and annihilate a large number of enemies, but it turned out to be too powerful. Now that the Baltic Front has fewer troops, can it eat this big piece of fat?

This is still one thing, and the second is that the enemy's relief force is still very close to Warsaw, and if they find that the situation is not good, they will probably immediately retreat, and whether they can surround it is a question.

In the end, because Seibert's troops were so close to the enemy's main force, even if they could surround it, the enemy's main force would react quickly, and at that time would they still "sit idly by" and watch Seibert be annihilated?

It should be said that these problems are relatively objective and cannot be avoided by Ubolevich, but Ubolevich believes that his troops are capable of dealing with them!

"The battle for the siege of Gaspar in Tongguò has fully demonstrated that the enemy's combat effectiveness is not so terrible, and the lessons of the previous Belarusian Front are not fully applicable to us. From actual combat, we can find that our firepower is stronger, and the soldiers are more adapted to positional warfare and stormy battles. It took only two days to annihilate almost five regiments of the enemy's troops! According to conservative estimates, we will not destroy Seibert's six regiments for more than three days! ”

Ubolevich glanced at his subordinates and said with confidence: "And the current situation is very favorable to us, the enemy does not know our reality, they underestimate our strength. Launching an attack at this time will definitely catch them by surprise! ”

After saying this, Ubolevich again sent a telegram to Li Xiaofeng, to the Military Commission, and to Tukhachevsky, informing him of the latest situation on the battlefield and proposing the idea of eliminating Seibert.

It has to be said that Ubolevich put forward this idea at this time, which surprised the Military Commission and the Politburo. Previously, based on the lessons of the Belarusian Front, the Military Commission and the Politburo went from one extreme to the other, before they were blindly optimistic, when the enemy was a paper tiger, and then they were blindly pessimistic, when the enemy was an invincible dragon.

Fighting Gaspar's troops, they felt that the risk was not small, and at this time Ubolevich was ready to fight in the fire, and in their opinion, Ubolevich was suspected of blind optimism and arrogance. According to their estimates, this battle is unbeatable, the risk is too great, and it should be closed now!

If it were according to the meaning of the Military Commission and the Politburo, this good opportunity would have been missed, but at a critical moment. The three changed the attitude of the Military Commission and the Politburo. contributed to this victory.

The first person is, of course, Li Xiaofeng. After learning of Ubolevich's combat intentions, he also immediately sent a telegram to the Military Commission and the Politburo, expressing his all-round and unconditional support for Ubolevich. Let's put it this way, a certain immortal almost helped Ubolevich to give the Politburo a package ticket and a military order. If the war is unfavorable, a certain immortal will have to help carry the black pot and clean up the mess.

At that time, such support was not easy, at least Ubolevich was quite grateful to Li Xiaofeng, and later in his memoirs he greatly helped a certain immortal to brush up on his achievements - he said that at that time without the full support of Comrade Andrei. This campaign was simply impossible, and at the most critical moment, Comrade Andrei made the most important and decisive statement!

And the second person to change the attitude of the Military Commissar and the Politburo was Tukhachevsky, the genius commander-in-chief, who immediately realized that this was a good opportunity after receiving Ubolevich's telegram, and if he was in Ubolevich's position, he would definitely have stabbed Seibert as well. Therefore, when he received a consultation from the Military Commission on the feasibility of Ubolevich's operational plan, he affirmed Ubolevich's plan.

However, Tukhachevsky's mere affirmation of Ubolevich's plan does not seem to be of great significance, after all, he has lost points on the battlefield in recent times. The Military Commission and the Politburo also did not trust and affirm him so much.

At that time, Tukhachevsky not only fully affirmed Ubolevich's plan, but also gave a very important guarantee to the Military Commission and the Politburo: "The Belarusian Front will guarantee to continue to hold on to Warsaw." At least three to five days, and if I can change my previous combat scenario, I will be able to hold out for a longer time! ”

Tukhachevsky's assurances were quite important, because the reason why the Military Commission and the Politburo did not appreciate Ubolevich's plan was mainly because they were afraid of the main forces of the Entente in Warsaw and feared that they would turn back and give Ubolevich a hard blow. Then it will be a repeat of the mistakes of the Belarusian Front.

And Tukhachevsky promised to hold out for three or five days, which was enough time for Ubolevich to eat Seibert's troops. Not only that, but Tukhachevsky also hinted that he would be able to do more if the military council could reverse its decision to hold Brest and transfer the Belarusian Front, which had previously withdrawn to Brest, back to Warsaw. In fact, Tukhachevsky simply said: "If I am given enough troops, I can completely stick the enemy to Warsaw!" ”

There was an essential difference between holding the Entente troops and holding on to Warsaw for only three or five days, and if the enemy could be attached, Ubolevich would be able to strike confidently and boldly against Seibert's troops. Even after eating Seibert's troops, he can leave the battlefield in no hurry, he can continue to threaten Warsaw, and maybe after gathering the forces of the three front armies, he can fight a war of annihilation in Warsaw!

Of course, this is just an idea, and this idea is very risky, and it takes luck to realize it, anyway, at that time, whether it was the Military Commission or the Politburo, it was more inclined to stick to the Brest line, after all, it was safer.

At this time, the third key figure also appeared, this person was the commander of the Ukrainian Front, Frunze, who had just arrived in Brest and was nervously arranging defenses. It was then that the Mentor consulted him for his opinion, hoping that he, who had always been a reliable people's military strategist, would make a judgment.

Since Tukhachevsky continued to make mistakes on the Polish battlefield, the most trusted military commander of the mentor was Frunze, and it can be said that if Frunze did not agree with Uborevich's opinion at that time, then there was no need to say anything, even if Li Xiaofeng and Tukhachevsky kept saying good things about Ubolevich.

So what did Frunze answer at the time?

Frunze didn't simply say yes or no, and he was quite cautious about this issue (if you don't carelessly, you have to lose your head!). He objectively analyzed the gains and losses of Ubolevich's battle plan and explained the advantages and disadvantages of the plan very bluntly. In his own words, this battle plan was risky, but if successful, the benefits were quite large, and it could turn the tide of the entire Polish battlefield in one fell swoop!

It seems that Frunze is talking nonsense, and the Politburo also consulted him only after grasping the relationship between uncertain benefits and risks, and as a result, he didn't say anything, isn't this nonsense!

Heaven and earth conscience, Frunze is really not a person, if he just said this nonsense. His performance in the battlefield battle is about to drop a notch. And the reason why he was able to take it up a notch. In addition to talking "nonsense", he also said a few other truthful words:

"In my personal opinion, it is not a good idea to hold back the imperialist army in Brest, our Red Army is not good at positional warfare, and in this respect the enemy is stronger. From the perspective of playing to our strengths and avoiding our weaknesses, it is far better for us to take the initiative to attack than to defend passively...... If I can regain the initiative on the battlefield, I will give priority to doing so......"

These remarks were tantamount to affirming the rationality of Ubolevich's active pursuit of war and indirectly applauding Ubolevich. Normally Frunze would have done enough to do this, but Frunze did much more. He continued:

"If the Central Committee is not very confident about the fighting ability of the comrades of the Belorussian Front, worried about their ability to hold on to Warsaw and stick to the enemy, I think it is necessary to give Comrade Tukhachevsky confidence that in the past he led the poorly equipped 15th Army was able to defeat the superior Kolchak, and today, after learning the lessons of the previous one, he still has the ability to turn decay into magic...... And if the Military Commissar deems it necessary, I will lead the Ukrainian Front to the aid of Warsaw, dragging the enemy at any cost! ”

Frunze was so powerful, especially the last statement, which completely dispelled the doubts of the Politburo. Frunze Gatu Khachevsky. The two most capable tiger generals in the Red Army can't carry an old Foch together?

With Frunze's assurances, the Politburo finally made up its mind. It was decided to abandon the previous battle plan of retreating to Belarus and instead make every effort to inflict heavy losses on the enemy in the Battle of Warsaw and gain the initiative in future battles.

Of course, the reason why the Politburo was so determined was that there was actually a fourth person who exerted its influence, and this person dispelled the last trace of doubt of the Politburo. Stalin assured the Central Committee and the Politburo at the time that his First Cavalry Corps would rush to Brest as quickly as possible, and that they would be able to fill the hole even if the Ukrainian Front were to be transferred.

However, the elders knew that it was not enough to fill the hole with a single First Cavalry Corps, so after understanding Ubolevich's battle plan, the Politburo immediately ordered the recruitment of soldiers again in Moscow and Petrograd and mobilized the masses of workers to join the army.

After this toss-up, the Bolsheviks from top to bottom have already been liberated, and if they really don't succeed, they will become benevolent. At the same time, Foch and the Entente armies did not realize that the crisis was coming, and as Ubolevich had previously guessed, they did underestimate the combat effectiveness and determination of the East Prussian People's Liberation Army and the East Prussian People's Liberation Army.

On the night of 27 October, Seibert and two divisions of men still tried to rescue Gaspar in the encirclement, but after the first attempt failed, he had to make a second attempt at Foch's behest of the force. However, Seibert did not know that in these two short days, there was a quarrel within the Bolsheviks specifically against him, let alone that he had been targeted by Ubolevich.

That night, he made contact with Gaspar again, and after confirming that he was still holding his ground, he sketched a map of the next day's attack. The general was ready to concentrate superior firepower to cut through the Red Army's lines in one fell swoop.

"We must be quick and decisive, break through the enemy's lines as fast as possible, and then bring Gaspar out, and then retreat immediately, without a moment's delay!"

Seibert's incessant indoctrination of his men with a quick and decisive fighting philosophy shows that the American general is not completely devoid of a sense of crisis, he may have realized that the situation on the battlefield is not quite right, and subconsciously wants to get out of danger as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, Ubolevich moved faster than him, and on the 28th, when it was dawn, Seibert had just ordered the artillery to prepare for artillery fire, when he suddenly saw a large column of smoke suddenly rise from a few kilometers away, and a few seconds later, with a sharp whistling sound, rockets fell on his position like hail.

The American GIs, who had just entered the front-line position and waited for their artillery to finish their artillery preparations, began to charge, suffered heavy losses in this sudden artillery bombardment. And Seibert's well-planned quick and decisive offensive was unceremoniously interrupted.

Soon the Red Army and the People's Liberation Army surrounded him from all directions, and in only four hours completely separated Seibert from the main forces of Warsaw. That's when Seibert realized that something was wrong!

Unlike Gaspar, who hesitated and twisted, Seibert immediately asked Foch for help, telling the old marshal that his troops were surrounded by the Red Bandits, who had a total advantage, and asked Foch to come and relieve him immediately!

To be honest, when Foch received this telegram, he wondered if the translator had made a mistake, and he felt that the truth of the matter should be that Seibert surrounded the Red Bandits, not that the Red Bandits surrounded Seibert. However, when the old man repeatedly questioned the translator and sent a telegram to Seibert, he realized that the truth of the matter was really very cruel!

"Careless! Careless! ”

The old man was so anxious that he went around the headquarters, and what left him speechless was that he had to pay the price for his previous carelessness.

"Draw troops from the Warsaw front, and, throw all the reserves into it, we must rescue Seibert and Gaspar!"

It should be said that Foch's reaction is not slow, but it is not easy to achieve, first of all, there are only two divisions left in his reserve, which is not enough, and it takes time to transfer the first-line offensive troops, and now he lacks time the most, because Seipert told him: "The attack of the red bandits is quite fierce, and my position is constantly being captured!" ”

Not only was the situation urgent with Seibert, but even the Air Force brought him bad news: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, according to our reconnaissance, the Red Bandits, who had previously retreated in the direction of Brest, are turning around and returning to Warsaw......" (To be continued......

PS: Bow and thank sstar_xh, the dog who made the ground fly, the dog who played with frogs and Comrade Juventus!