The German army, which was fighting against the 3rd Army and assaulting the 2nd Army, never dreamed that their flanks would be attacked unexpectedly, and the already precarious defense line collapsed in an instant. The two Soviet troops that broke through the German defense line took advantage of the victory to pursue and chased the German army for four or five kilometers. They did not stop pursuing until dark and turned to defense on the occupied positions.

Seeing the unprecedented success of the attack by the left wing of the Front Army, Rokossovsky could not help but be overjoyed. He repeatedly said to Subbotin and Bogolyubov: "Military Commissar and Chief of Staff, I really did not expect that today's offensive will be so successful." It went so smoothly. Except Misha's 48th Army wedged into the German defense at a depth of 28 to 30 kilometers, the rest of the troops also penetrated into the German defense at a depth of more than ten kilometers. This can be said to be an unprecedented victory. "

Bogolyubov said: "Yes, Comrade Marshal. At the beginning, I thought it was a waste for the Air Force to carry out high-density bombing of the enemy's positions. But now it seems that it is precisely because of our early intensive bombing that destroyed the German army. Those solid fortifications, thus reducing the resistance our army suffered during the offensive."

   "Today's fighting is fierce, and the ammunition consumption of the troops is very large. Especially Misha's troops, the remaining ammunition may be less than a base."

"Comrade Marshal, don't worry." Bogolyubov assured Rokossovsky: "I have already called the logistics department and asked them to give priority to the supply of the 48th Army. At this moment, the convoy transporting ammunition and supplies, Should have left."

Hearing what Bogolyubov said, Rokossovsky nodded slightly, and said, "I think you all know that no matter which unit Misha commands, they are the most outstanding on the battlefield and have achieved the greatest results. Therefore, after the battle is over, the sooner the ammunition and supplies that should be replenished to them are delivered, the better, so as not to affect their battle the next day."

  Whether it is Subbotin or Bogolyubov, they all know that Rokossovsky prefers Sokov. If there is anything good, he is the first thing that comes to mind. But everyone has no opinion on this. Who made the troops commanded by Sokov perform so well on the battlefield. Not to mention Rokossovsky, who has a close relationship, even if he changes any commander of the front army, he will prefer an excellent commander like Sokov.

  Rokossovsky called the director of the communications corps over and asked the other party: "Have you intercepted the German telegram?"

   "Yes, Comrade Marshal." The communications director nodded and said, "I just intercepted a telegram ordering the German troops in front of our army to retreat."

   "What, order the defenders in front of our army to retreat?" Rokossovsky couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the other party say this: "It's strange, why did the Germans issue such an order?"

Bogolyubov took the telegram from the director of the communications corps, read it carefully several times, and confirmed that the other party was correct, and then said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, it may be our powerful offensive today." , scared the Germans out of their wits. In order to avoid greater losses, they could only choose to abandon their existing positions and retreat."

Regarding Bogolyubov's analysis, Rokossovsky shook his head and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I disagree with your statement. If the battlefield is still in our country, facing our powerful Attack, the Germans chose to retreat, I think it is understandable, after all, once they fall into our encirclement, their logistical supplies will be cut off, and they may even be wiped out by our army. But we are fighting in East Prussia now, Germany The slogan people shouted was to fight to the last man, how could they retreat so easily, I think there might be something wrong with it.”

   "What's the problem?" Bogolyubov asked rhetorically.

"I can't figure it out for a while." Rokossovsky said: "But we can't take it lightly. Let's send scouts immediately to go deep into the enemy's rear overnight to find out whether their troops have retreated overnight. sign."

   "Understood." Bogolyubov nodded and said, "I will immediately arrange scouts to go deep into the enemy's rear to find out if the enemy has any conspiracy."

   At the same time, at the 48th Army Headquarters.

Sokov, who had just finished the divisional commanders meeting, said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although we fought smoothly today, we must not be complacent. You sent scouts overnight to go deep into the enemy's rear for reconnaissance. , Find out the enemy's deployment of troops, so that in tomorrow's battle, we can launch targeted attacks."

"Comrade commander, you can rest assured about this." Sidolin replied with a smile: "During this afternoon's offensive, I sent a group of scouts disguised as Germans, and followed those routs back to the German defense zone." .I think they have started reconnaissance in the enemy's position at this moment, and I believe it will not be long before we can get definite information."

   Sokov, who was eager to know the intelligence behind the enemy, asked urgently: "Chief of Staff, when will the intelligence of the scouts come back?"

   "I'm afraid it will be early morning at the earliest." Sidolin said: "After all, they can't carry out reconnaissance operations until after dark. When the information comes back, it will be almost early morning."

Seeing Sokov frowning, Sidolin said confidently: "Comrade commander, even if we didn't send scouts, we don't have to worry about the enemies facing us. After the daytime battle, they were all defeated. Our army's offensive cannot prevent decent resistance at all."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, although we fought well during the day, we still found many problems in the summary meeting just now." Sokov said: "One of them is that because the war progressed too smoothly, many commanders and fighters have already emerged. The German army was indeed defeated by us during the daytime battle, but who can guarantee that they will not readjust their deployment tonight, or draw new forces from other places to strengthen the defense of the existing area? If we If you launch an attack rashly without even knowing the details of the enemy, I am afraid you will suffer a lot."

   "Okay, then I will ask the reconnaissance director to contact the scouts behind the enemy and ask them to report the situation behind the enemy as soon as possible."

  Although the director of reconnaissance received the call from Sidolin, he immediately ordered the telegraph operator to contact the scouts behind the enemy. But it takes time to reconnaissance the enemy's defense area, so Sokov and others waited in the headquarters until one o'clock in the morning before receiving the intelligence sent back by the scouts.

  After reading the information sent by the Director of Reconnaissance, Sokov couldn't help but look livid. He didn't expect the Germans to be so cunning, and they set up a trap for themselves, waiting for their troops to jump into it.

  Pornegelin and Sidolin couldn't help but turn pale with shock after reading the telegram. If the scouts hadn't fed back the intelligence behind the enemy in time, the troops would have suffered greatly in the attack after dawn. If the attacking force is defeated by the Germans, it will affect the morale and morale of friendly troops.

   Lunev saw the solemn expressions of the three, and he didn't know what happened. After he picked up the scout's information, he became even more panicked. He tentatively asked Sokov: "Misha, do you need to report such important information to the Marshal immediately?"

   "Well, I think it is necessary." Sokov raised his hand to look at the time, and couldn't help frowning: "It's so late, I don't know if the Marshal is asleep."

"I don't think he slept." Lunev said in a positive tone: "According to what I know about him, it is not uncommon for him to stay up for three or four nights in such a large-scale battle. You are now When the call came, he must still be working."

  Sokov knew in his heart that Rokossovsky must be surrounded by people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his every move would be reported in time. And Lunev, as the deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, must have read a lot of information about Rokossovsky and understood the other party's living habits and work and rest time. Since he said that Rokossovsky has not rested, it must be There is no rest. So Sokov called the director of the communications corps and told him to get through the phone of the front army headquarters. He planned to report the situation behind the enemy to Rokossovsky.

  After the call was connected, Rokossovsky did not rest. He learned that Sokov had something important to call for him, so he came over and took the call from the staff officer on duty: "Misha, this is Rokossovsky, what do you need?"

"Comrade Marshal," said Sokov, "I have just received a report from scouts sent to the enemy's rear that the Germans have withdrawn an armored division from the attacking front of the 65th and 70th armies and deployed it on the flank of our army's offensive line. .Analysed from their deployment, it should be prepared to take advantage of the advance of our army's troops to carry out an armored assault from our flank by surprise, cutting off the connection between our attacking troops and the rear."

   "Oh, the armored division that the enemy withdrew unexpectedly arrived at the flank of your attack line after dawn."

  Sokov couldn't help being taken aback when Rokossovsky said this, and then asked back: "Comrade Marshal, did you know that the Germans have adjusted their troop deployment?"

"When it was just dark, we intercepted a German telegram, which ordered the troops to retreat." Rokossovsky explained: "In order to find out what was going on with the German retreat, I specifically ordered the chief of staff We have sent a powerful reconnaissance team to go deep into the enemy's rear to conduct reconnaissance. Unfortunately, the reconnaissance team we have sent has not heard anything so far. I really did not expect that the Germans would ambush the withdrawn troops in your attack flank the route."

"Comrade Marshal, you know that our army has a very limited number of artillery and tank units." Sokov expressed his concerns to Rokossovsky: "If our troops attack the enemy in the front , the German armored division launched an attack from the flank, I am afraid it will cause us a lot of casualties."

"Misha, don't worry, the German armored units pose no threat to you." Rokossovsky comforted Sokov and said, "Tell me the location of the German armored units. When the day dawns, I will The air force will be sent to bomb that area. No matter how powerful the German tanks are on the ground, if they encounter our planes, they will only be passively beaten."

   "That's really great." Sokov couldn't help being overjoyed when he heard that Rokossovsky planned to send the air force to deal with the German tanks. You must know that today's tanks basically have no air defense function. Even if they are powerful in land battles, they will only end up being blown into a pile of scrap metal when encountering Soviet aircraft. "As long as we get air support from the Air Force, our next battle will be much easier."

   "Misha, what is the casualty situation of your troops?" Rokossovsky then asked a question he cared about: "After dawn, can you maintain yesterday's offensive posture?"

  Sokov knew very well that yesterday's battle went smoothly because the German army was blinded by the violent bombing and shelling. After a night of rest, many troops have re-adjusted their deployment and are ready to deal with it. It is basically impossible to achieve the victory like yesterday. At this moment, Rokossovsky asked about the casualties of his troops, Sokov quickly replied: "The casualties of each division exceeded one-third, but the morale of the commanders and fighters is high. I think that in the battle after dawn, , They will still be as brave and fearless as yesterday, and their performance will make up for the lack of our troops."

"Well said, Misha." Rokossovsky felt comfortable listening to Sokov's words. He nodded and said, "I believe that you will still achieve similar gains in today's daytime battle." Such a brilliant result yesterday."

After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Ponejielin and others: "comrades, commanders, I have good news for you. Comrade Marshal personally promised me that after dawn, the air force will be dispatched to bomb the German armored division. Also That is, we no longer had to worry about German armor attacking from our flanks as the troops moved forward."

"Comrade Commander, although Comrade Marshal has made a promise, we still have no way of knowing the effect of the bombing." Ponejielin waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and put forward his own thoughts to him: "Just to be on the safe side In the battle after dawn, I suggest slowing down the attack speed, and wait until the friendly fronts on the left and right flanks are leveled with us, and then we will rush into the depths of the enemy's defense without worrying that our flanks will be attacked by the Germans."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, I don't think your statement is correct." But as soon as Ponegerin finished speaking, Sidolin retorted; "Judging from yesterday's battlefield performance, whether it is the 3rd Army or the assault The 2nd Army, their attack speed is not satisfactory. If in the daytime battle, it is very unwise for us to slow down and wait for the friendly forces to catch up."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff," Sidolin's words aroused Lunev's curiosity, and he asked tentatively, "Can you tell me what you think?"

"The reason is very simple." Sidolin explained to Lunev: "If we deliberately slow down the attack speed, it will undoubtedly be beneficial to the enemy in front of us. Because they will have enough time to strengthen their defenses and adjust their attack speed." Troop deployment. By the time the friendly forces on the two flanks arrive, the frontal enemy has already taken advantage of our delay to strengthen their defenses. If we want to effectively break through their defenses, I'm afraid we will pay even greater casualties."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff." Lunev continued to ask: "Then tell me, what should we do?"