Marshal Rokossovskij also weakened the Soviet troops outside Praga by sending the 8th Guards Tank Corps, provisions, and a couple of infantry divisions to the 65th Army outside of Pułtusk. A direct result of this decision was that General Batov’s army, reinforced by two tank corps, took the initiative on October 19, and advanced towards Serock. The 47th Army also went on the offensive — but, due to its weakness, the opening battles against the IV SS-Panzer-Corps did not result in notable success. On the other hand, on October 21, after successfully throwing back a counterattack mounted by the 25th Panzer-Division — a unit from the Soviet 65th Army’s XX Army Corps seized Serock and, at the same time, made contact with the 70th Army outside Zegrze. The Germans made the decision to retake the lost terrain which led to the remainder of the 19th Panzer-Division, with the exception of the panzer-grenadier regiment, being incorporated into the XX Army-Corps commanded by Colonel Zugehör. This meant that IV SS-Panzer-Corps was reduced to the equivalent of a strong tank division.
The commander of the 9th Army, aware of the weakened state of Gille’s troop force, approved shortening the frontline in the event the attacks mounted by the two enemy armies let up. They continued without respite until October 19, but — due to the weakness of the combat forces on both sides — the fighting in this area was sluggish. On October 22, Rokossovskij narrowed the offensive front for the 47th Army by sending the Polish 1st Infantry Division towards the Wisła. But despite the persistent attacks, barricades of shell-fire and air bombardment, it was not until October 27 that the 3rd SS-Panzer-Regiment “Totenkopf,” respective the 5th SS-Panzer-Division “Wiking” left their up-until-then established positions and under the protection of their rearguard withdrew to the other side of the Bródnowski Canal (at its outflow in Narew, north of Łajsk). The Germans relinquished Wieliszew and Łajsk and took up new positions along the Dębe — Skrzeszew — Kałuszyn — Szybalin-farm line, east of Stara Olszewnica-Chotomów. Meanwhile, Colonel Zugehörs panzer-grenadier regiment (Polish reports show that this included the entire Panzer-grenadier-Regiment 73, along with parts of the 19th Panzer Division’s Panzergrenadier-Regiment 74) was marching away from Praga’s outskirts via the main road towards Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki. Not long behind them came the 1st Infantry Division, after having thrown back a series of counterattacks, and on October 28, it captured Legionowo. Further Soviet and Polish troop movements were halted at the above mentioned defence line.
On October 31, the 47th Army’s infantry, supported by tanks, renewed its attack against the enemy. According to the order issued by the commander of the front, the infantry was to advance to Nowy Dwór, with the final goal of forcing the IV SS-Panzer-Corps to cross over to the other side of the Wisła. The hardest fighting flared up in the vicinity of the Szybalin-farm and in the nearby village of Derlacz. The Soviet tanks were greeted with well-aimed fire from anti-tank guns, and the infantry was halted by mortar and artillery shelling. In the evening, a counterattack was launched with tracked assault guns throwing the Soviet attackers back to their original positions. The next day, the Germans learned that this failed attack was the last strained gasp of the Soviet’s depleted combat strength. After November 1, the exhausted 47th Army shifted to a defensive stance. Now, after almost three months of continuous fighting outside Warsaw, a relative calm reigned, disturbed only by isolated shelling by both sides. The front along the Wisła would remain dormant for over two months.
This marked the conclusion of one of the Second World War’s operationally most complicated battles. Warsaw had been transformed into a mass grave. According to official estimates, the 1st Belorussian Front between the days of August 1 and August 15 alone, suffered casualties of 166,808 dead and wounded. The 1st Polish Volunteer Army counted a further 13.272 dead, wounded, and missing. At the same time, troop losses in the 2nd and 9th Armies mounted to 91,595 killed, injured and captured. Of these, the 9th Army lost 36,373 soldiers: 27,422 in combat at the front, plus an additional 8,951 in Warsaw. One must keep in mind that these figures do not include combat losses incurred during the month of July, the second half of September, or in the battles fought during October in Praga’s northern suburbs.
Equally serious for both sides were their equipment losses. At the very least, a 9th Army report covering a period of only 5 days (August 18–22 ), claiming the destruction of 249 Soviet tanks between Wołomin and Wyszków, should be cited here to further illustrate the incredible extent of these losses. Even if they are exaggerated such reports nonetheless provide a picture of how bitter the fighting was in this theatre of the war. The report was sent two weeks after the conclusion of the large armoured battle carried out by the 2nd Panzer-Army “Gruppe von Saucken” wherein the Germans had destroyed more than 200 tanks. Similar information can be found in a report from the 5th SS-Panzer-Division “Wiking”. In this report SS-Panzer-Regiment 5, alone, claims that between the 4th and 5th of September 1944, they had destroyed or captured 151 tanks, 32 tracked assault guns, 176 guns, 94 machineguns and 5 aircraft!
The battle for Warsaw was an extremely lengthy one. That it turned out to be so was not solely the fault of Stalin holding back the assault on Praga while awaiting the crushing of the Uprising. This order was only applicable to the 47th Army’s left flank — the rest of the Soviet troops were to continue their attacks. Despite this, it took over a month for three infantry armies to advance the 45 kilometers from Mińsk Mazowieacki to Serock with the added support of tank corps and an air fleet. The most significant factor was the persistant resistance offered by the German troops, who succeeded in concentrating relatively small but highly motorised elite troops along the stretch facing Warsaw. The commander of Heeresgruppe “Mitte” skilfully manoeuvred his combat resources, constantly redeploying individual divisions from one zone of the front to another. However there can be no doubt that east Warsaw — had Stalin issued the order to storm the Praga district — would have been freed sometime between August 10 and 14, 1944; which is not to say, this would have meant the end of fighting for the city. The battle for Poland’s capital would have continued but the chances of saving the city would have been enormously increased. The storming wasn’t to take place until a month later, under completely different operational circumstances. The September attack on Praga was merely a support-attack which was primarily conducted to straighten-out the frontline. And even in this objective, due to the resistance mounted by the German troops, was not wholly achieved.
APPENDIX
2 : 1 · 1st Belorussian front
Commander of the Army: General K. K. Rokossovsky
Chief of Staff: Commandant General M. S. Mailinin??
Political Commissar: Lieutenant General N. A. Bulganin
The 3rd Army
Commanding Oficcer: Lieutenant-General A. V. Gorbatov
Political Commissar: Major General I. P. Konnov