The 19th Army Corps and 20th Army Corps had both committed their main forces to tonight's attack. Aside from the mechanized units, which had not joined the battle because they would cause too much commotion, all other infantry units would take part in this offensive.
Behind the attacking infantry stood the artillery. Cannon after cannon had raised its barrel, with shells piled beside the guns. The artillerymen hugged themselves and huddled beneath the cannons to shelter from the Cold Wind, shivering from the cold. The guns would not fire when the infantry attack first began. Only if the surprise attack failed and turned into a frontal assault would they come into play.
At the same time, the Russian 21st Army Corps and 22nd Army Corps had likewise dispatched nearly all their forces for this attack. Lieutenant General Zhukov's orders were very simple: give it everything they had, break through the enemy's defenses in one stroke, and drown the enemy beneath their absolute superiority in numbers.
Indeed, for the Russians, their advantage in manpower was already their greatest advantage—and their only one. Once several German Army Groups launched another fierce offensive next spring, if the Russians suffered grievous losses again, whether they would still retain a numerical advantage would be hard to say.
More than a hundred thousand Russian soldiers, led by junior and mid-ranking officers, clutched their rifles, bent low, and staggered step by step toward the Polish and White Army lines. The Cold Wind at night was even more piercing, blowing over them as though it could freeze their very souls solid. Even warm clothing could not withstand it. The cold wind seemed able to worm its way through every gap. Much less most Russian soldiers, who did not even have warm clothing, forcing them to face the threat