MTL - Red Moscow-Chapter 2136

   Zhukov's first offensive campaign after taking office had an embarrassing ending.

  The two troops of Cuikov and Kolpakchi in the south advanced more than ten kilometers deep into the enemy's defense; while the offensives launched by the 65th and 70th Army Groups in the north to the Modlin Fortress ended in failure. The 48th Army under the command of Sokov captured the triangle from the enemy and became the only bright spot of the northern group.

  Batov received the news that the 48th Army had successfully occupied the triangle while convening a meeting of members of the headquarters. He was dumbfounded after hearing this, and murmured: "How could the Sokov 48th Army achieve its combat objectives, how could it possibly achieve its operational objectives?"

  The army chiefs present also had the same idea as Batov in their minds. From various indications, if you attack the triangle without occupying the Fortress of Modlin first, it is tantamount to letting the troops die. The artillery fire from the rear of the German defense zone and the cross-fire formed by the Fortress of Modlin are enough to make the attack The troops on the road were wiped out.

"Comrade Commander," after a long silence, it was Military Commissar Rajetsky who spoke first, and he said with a wry smile, "You think you should be very clear that General Sokov is the youngest general in our army. If I remember correctly, he seems to have just turned 26 this year. The reason why he can become a senior commander of our army at such a young age is probably related to his personal military command ability."

With Rajetsky's suggestion, Chief of Staff Glebov also echoed: "I agree with Comrade Military Commissar, General Sokov is an excellent commander, and the various tactics he used in battle can be It is said to be very novel. It is precisely because of these special tactics that our enemy has repeatedly suffered a lot. I think that his victory today is probably related to his use of this tactic."

   "Chief of Staff, be more specific." Batov waited for Glebov to finish speaking, and said in a low voice, "Tell me about the tactics he used to win this victory."

Batov's words made Glebov embarrassed: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, the notice we received only said that the 48th Army successfully completed the task of its superiors and captured the Mesopotamia from the Germans. The triangle area. As for what tactics they used in the battle, it is unknown."

   "Since you don't know, then ask." Batov gritted his teeth and said, "If the Front Army Command can't ask, you can ask Sidolin directly to see if you can get useful information from him."

   Glebov could hear that although Batov was very angry at the moment, he also wanted to find out what tactics Sokov's troops used in battle to successfully complete the combat mission assigned by their superiors.

Glebov thought in his heart that the Front Army Command must be very busy at this moment. If he called Chief of Staff Malinin and asked what tactics Sokov's troops used in the battle, he might not get an ideal answer. . The reason for this is that the other party is busy with work and has no time to explain in detail to himself; the second possibility is that the tactics Malinin used in Sukov's victory this time are also unknown, so it is better to ask the first one directly. The Chief of Staff of the 48th Army, Major General Sidolin, should be able to get the answers he wants from him.

After thinking about this, he said to Batov: "Comrade Commander, I will call General Sidolin now and ask him about the whole battle." Seeing that Batov nodded in agreement, he picked up the The phone in front of you.

  When Sidolin received the call from Glebov, he was still a little surprised. He said that his troops and the 65th Army had no coordinated combat mission. What was the other party calling him for? In order to find out what was going on, he tentatively asked: "Hi, General Glebov, what can I do?"

   "General Sidolin, I heard that you have successfully captured the triangle of the Mesopotamia." Glebov said with a smile: "On behalf of Commander Batov and Military Commissar Rajetsky, I congratulate you!"

   "Thank you! Thank you, General Glebov!"

   "General Sidolin, I actually called this because I wanted to ask you something."

   "Please tell me, what do you want to ask?"

   "We are studying your battle to seize the Triangle," Glebov said, "but no matter how we think about it, we find that to complete these tasks, we will inevitably pay a heavy price. Can you tell me about your battle?"

Faced with Glebov's request, Sidolin did not immediately agree, but covered the microphone and asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, General Glebov, chief of staff of the 65th Army, called. He wants to ask us The detailed process of seizing the triangle area. What should I do, can you tell him to scold me?"

Sokov thought for a while, and felt that his troops had nothing to keep secret in the battle to seize the triangle, so he nodded and said, "It's okay, he can answer whatever he asks. I hope they can learn from our battle today." Learned something useful."

After receiving Sokov's authorization, Sidolin removed his hand covering the microphone and said into the microphone: "General Glebov, since we are friendly forces, it is only natural to share the battle process with you. "Afterwards, he told Glebov everything that happened in the battle.

After making the phone call, Glebov told the commanders present what Sidolin said, and finally said: "This is the entire battle process of the 48th Army's capture of the Mesopotamia Triangle. I wonder if you can understand it from it." to what?"

  Panov, commander of the Don Tank Army, after listening to Glebov's narration, tapped his fingers on the table lightly, frowning and began to think.

  Glebov noticed his actions, so he called his name and asked, "General Panov, what do you think about this matter?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Panov said, looking up at Glebov, "If the superiors entrust our army with the task of capturing the triangle, I think my tank army will definitely go into battle, but what role can it play in battle? Not big."

Hearing what Panov said, Batov couldn't help raising his eyebrows, and then asked back: "General Panov, tell me your reason. Why do you say that your tank army can play a role in battle?" limited?"

"It's very simple, Comrade Commander." Panov shrugged his shoulders, tilted his head, and said with some helplessness: "The triangular area of ​​the Mesopotamia is not suitable for the use of armored forces. If we put our tank army into battle, I believe that the tanks that lead the infantry to charge will soon fall into the quagmire, and then not only will not be able to help the infantry, but will even become a burden to the infantry."

"You're right, it's really difficult to use tank troops in that area." Batov agreed with Panov, and then asked: "Do you think the tactics used by the friendly forces when they seized the triangle area, Is there anything we can learn from?"

As Batov's old subordinate, Panov understood the opponent's character very well, so he didn't go around and say some irrelevant words, but truthfully said what was in his heart: "To be honest, I used to treat General Sokov so well. When he was young, he served as the commander of the group army, and was even awarded the rank of general. I was somewhat resistant. But from today's battle, I changed my view of him. Very suitable."

"General Panov, you are not the personnel director of the front army, so don't make any appraisals for the senior commanders of the friendly army." Batov interrupted Panov, and asked impatiently: "I asked The question is, what do you think of his tactics."

   "If I want to speak my heart, I just want to say, well done!" Panov said: "Only the tactics used by General Sokov can win the triangle from the hands of the Germans."

Seeing Batov frowned, Panov realized that he seemed to be talking nonsense again, and quickly added: "General Sokov divided the troops into two wings, and launched an attack on the German defense area at the same time. When he When it was discovered that the Germans had blown up the reservoir and used floods to flood the way forward of the troops, the measures taken were very rewarding. Let the left-wing troops advance in depth towards the enemy's defense; while the right-wing troops that may be attacked by floods, Then stop attacking and switch to defense on the spot.

  His tactic of attacking from the left and defending from the right successfully confused the enemy, making the enemy think that the right wing of the friendly army would not attack again, so he boldly transferred the main force of the right wing to the left wing to strengthen the defense there.

   And General Sokov's subordinates are also people who are good at grasping opportunities. When he found that the German troops in front of him had become empty, he decisively launched another attack. The Germans found out that they had been fooled and wanted to transfer the troops back, but found that it was too late. In this way, the friendly army successfully captured the weak right wing, and sent troops to support the left wing, forming a front and back attack on the enemy..."

After Batov waited for Panov to finish his long speech, he stood up and made a concluding speech: "Commanders, today is a day that makes us feel ashamed. This is the last battle between us and the 70th Army in the First Front Army sequence. The First World War could have been a good performance, and it could also leave a strong mark when compiling the first aspect of military history in the future.

   But what happened? Our two armies have hundreds of thousands of people, but they can't even take down the Modlin Fortress, which is defended by thousands of people. Shame, comrades, shame! Although I don't know what you think in your heart, anyway, I think it's quite embarrassing.

   A few days later, our group army, the 48th and 70th group armies will be officially placed under the command of the second front army, but so far, only the 48th group army of General Sokov can report to the second front army with their heads held high. As for us, we will become the object of ridicule..."

  Batov's words made all the commanders present bow their heads. Yes, there is no harm if there is no comparison. If the offensive operations participated by the three armies all end in failure, then the eldest brother, let alone the second brother, will be the same when he goes to the new army. But now it is the 65th and 70th armies that have lost the battle, while Sokov's 48th army has sprung up and achieved good results, which makes his army lose face.

   Just when the scene was embarrassing, the timely ringing of the phone on the table broke the silence.

   Glebov picked up the phone and listened to it for a moment, before he had a surprised expression on his face: "Hello, Comrade Marshal, have you returned to the Second Front Army yet?"

  Batov heard Glebov say this, and immediately realized that the person talking to him might be Rokossovsky, and quickly asked tentatively: "Chief of Staff, is this Comrade Marshal?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander, the call is indeed from Comrade Marshal." After speaking, Glebov handed the microphone to Batov.

   "Hello, Comrade Marshal." Batov took the microphone and said a little nervously, "Are you here to inform us of Gui Jian?"

"That's right, Batov, that's what I mean." Rokossovsky said with a smile on the phone: "I have been in the new army for half a month, but you guys haven't come to report for a long time. what is going on?"

"Comrade Marshal, we just finished our attack on Modlin Fortress today." Batov explained to Rokossovsky: "This is the battle plan you specified when you were still in office. After Marshal Zhukov took office, he will It's been implemented."

"Yes, yes, I remember this." Zhukov did not report the results of this battle to Rokossovsky, so he did not know how the operation was carried out: "Tell me, everything What kind of results have been achieved?"

Before answering this question, Batov took two deep breaths, and then replied with a heavy heart: "I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal, I may have disappointed you. Our army and the 70th army jointly launched an attack on Fortress Modlin, It ended in failure in the end.”

"The Modlin Fortress is surrounded by water, and there are only a few bridges to communicate with the outside world. It is indeed very difficult to capture this fortress." Rokossovsky said: "Because there are only a few bridges that maintain contact with the outside world Crossing the bridges, it is indeed very difficult for us to attack. But at the same time, we must also see that if we block these bridges, the Germans in the fortress will not be able to come out. As long as the siege lasts for a while, the Germans will run out of ammunition and food. At that time, if we launch an attack again, we may achieve unexpected results."

   "You are right, Comrade Marshal." Batov agreed with Rokossovsky's statement: "Marshal Zhukov also came to the same conclusion."

"Hey, if you can't win the Modlin Fortress, it will have a negative impact on the strategy to the north of Warsaw." Rokossovsky waited for Batov to finish speaking, and said with emotion: "Don't say anything else, just The triangle at the confluence of the Narew and Vistula rivers cannot be captured by our army..."

"Wait a minute, Comrade Marshal." Batov quickly interrupted Rokossovsky after hearing this, "You may not know that when our army and the 70th army attacked the fortress of Modlin, General Sokov's 48th Army also launched an attack on the triangle. Although our attack failed, General Sokov's troops managed to capture the area by eliminating the defenders of the triangle."

"What, Misha's 48th Army has successfully captured the Triangle?" Rokossovsky was taken aback by Batov's words: "If our army hadn't captured Modlin Fortress, Misha's troops would have How did you break through the German artillery blockade and successfully seize the triangle?"