"Within a week, I would like to be replenished with troops and technical equipment." Rokossovsky was deeply afraid that his proposal would be rejected by Antonov, and he deliberately emphasized: "You must know that the troops of the Front have suffered very serious losses after a long battle, and even if we only replenish a part of our troops and technical equipment, we can speed up the offensive." ”

Perhaps it was Rokossovsky's last words that moved Antonov's heart, and he nodded and said: "Understood, Comrade Marshal, I immediately go to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief himself for instructions, and if he agrees with your proposal, we will supplement you accordingly within the time you wish." ”

After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he called Bogolyubov in and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately send reconnaissance personnel to conduct reconnaissance in the Danzig area. Seeing the surprised look on the other side's face, he added, "We will soon launch an attack on Danzig, but so far we have a blind eye to the situation of the German army in this area, and we will suffer a loss in this battle." ”

"I will immediately inform the Minister of Intelligence, General Vinogradov, that he will send competent scouts to reconnoiter the Danzig area." After saying this, Bogolyubov asked Rokossovsky with some hesitation: "However, Comrade Marshal, with our existing forces and technical equipment, I am afraid that it will still be difficult to rush quickly to the Danzig area. ”

Rokossovsky turned his head to look at his chief of staff and said to him: "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I just made a phone call to Antonov and asked him to give us the necessary replenishment within a week. If we receive this supplement, we can give priority to the troops who are the main attackers, so that they can rush quickly to Danzig. As he said this, Rokossovsky wondered in his heart: if the enemy in East Prussia and East Pomerania was completely eliminated by mid-April, would his troops be able to take part in the Battle of Berlin?

Bogolyubov saw that Rokossovsky was distracted, and he couldn't guess what he was thinking, so he hurriedly said: "Comrade Marshal, I will go to General Vinogradov and ask him to send scouts as soon as possible to conduct a detailed reconnaissance of the German defense in the Danzig area." ”

After Bogolyubov walked out of the room, Rokossovsky came to the wall and looked up at the map hanging on the wall. Since the active direction of his troops had changed from west to north, he paid little attention to the situation in the Berlin direction, and devoted his main energies to thinking about how to destroy the enemy in East Prussia and East Pomerania. At this moment, he once again fixed his eyes on the location of Berlin, and estimated in his heart when Zhukov's troops would reach the outskirts of Berlin with his help.

His gaze lingered for a long time on the position of Berlin, and he felt infinite regret that he could not command the troops of the First Front to seize Berlin, and he even thought that if his superiors did not replenish himself, perhaps on the day when the Germans announced their unconditional surrender, his troops would remain in East Prussia and East Pomerania to attack the German troops deployed on the Baltic coast.

Thinking that the army that finally captured Berlin was originally under his own command, but was assigned to Zhukov's command by the Supreme Command, Rokossovsky's heart felt extremely lost. Just as he was about to turn away, he stumbled upon a familiar place name "Elbe" above Berlin.

After seeing this ground, Rokossovsky couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and secretly said in his heart: I really didn't expect that the troops that met with the American army at the Elbe River were actually commanded by themselves. Rokossovsky couldn't remember the exact date of the Elbe meeting, but he knew that it was late April, and he looked at the "Elbe" on the map and began to think about whether he should go to the Elbe in late April to witness the great meeting of the Soviet and American armies.

"Comrade Marshal," Rokossovsky was staring at the map on the wall in a daze, when a communications staff officer walked in from outside the door and said to him respectfully: "There is your call, on the second line, it was Marshal Zhukov calling. ”

Hearing that Zhukov was calling for him, Rokossovsky's face showed a look of surprise, but he still walked quickly to the table, picked up the microphone and put it to his ear, and then pressed a button, and heard Zhukov's voice coming out of the earpiece: "Is it Konstantin Konstantinovich?" I'm Zhukov! ”

"It's me, Comrade Marshal." Don't look at the fact that both of them are marshals now, but Zhukov's qualifications and positions are higher than his own, so Rokossovsky asked respectfully: "Do you have any instructions?" ”

"That's right, Koschika." Zhukov called Rokossovsky by his nickname and said enthusiastically: "The Supreme Commander himself called me half an hour ago and asked when my troops would be able to attack? I told him that the 1st Guards Tank Army, which is currently deployed on your left flank, is ready for battle and ready for battle at any time. ”

Don't look at the other day, when Katukov contacted Rokossovsky, he once said that the troops were ready for battle, but he was under the command of Zhukov, and before receiving the offensive order from his superiors, even if the friendly troops on the right flank fought to the death with the enemy, he could only choose to watch from the sidelines.

However, this time Zhukov said the words, and the nature was completely different, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade Marshal, I don't know when you can let the 1st Guards Tank Army go into battle?" ”

"They will enter the starting position one after another in the early hours of this morning, and they will be able to attack the enemy in front of them early tomorrow morning." After Zhukov finished talking about the time when the troops might attack, he specially reminded Rokossovsky: "You get in touch with Katukov as soon as possible, and as for when to launch the offensive, it is up to you to decide." Until you finish the enemy in East Pomerania, his troops will remain under your command. But I need to remind you once again that this unit is on temporary loan to you, so as soon as the campaign is over, you must let them return to the building, and you must not detain it for any reason. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." From Zhukov's tone, Rokossovsky heard that he was planning to officially hand over this unit to himself this time, but he was still worried that he would borrow Jingzhou like Liu Bei, and if he didn't pay it back, he hurriedly replied: "Don't worry, Comrade Marshal, as soon as we get rid of the enemy in East Pomerania, I will let Katukov's troops return as soon as possible, and it will not affect you to launch the Battle of Berlin." ”

"It would be great if that was the case." After Zhukov waited for Rokossovsky to finish, he politely said: "I wish you good health!" After saying that, he hung up the phone directly.

"Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff!" As soon as Rokossovsky hung up the phone, he immediately shouted out the door: "Please come to me." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's shout, Bogolyubov immediately ran in from outside the door and asked respectfully: "Comrade Marshal, what instructions do you have?" ”

"I just received a call from Marshal Zhukov that from now on, General Katukov's 1st Guards Tank Army will officially be placed under our command." Rokossovsky was afraid of long nights and dreams, so he hurriedly instructed Bogolyubov: "You immediately contact Katukov to discuss the matter of attacking Danzig." ”

"Comrade Marshal, there won't be any more accidents, right?" Bogolyubov asked with some hesitation: "Some time ago, I said that Katukov's troops would be assigned to us, but there has been no movement, this time there will be no empty joy, right?" ”