It is only more than 200 kilometers from Shepetovka to Kiev, and in peacetime, it takes only about four hours to reach the destination. However, after the outbreak of war, the time it took for vehicles to travel on this road was greatly extended. On the one hand, after the bombardment of the road, there are potholes everywhere, and the speed of the vehicle cannot be increased; Second, they kept encountering troops heading to the front along the way, and had to temporarily park their cars on the side of the road to make way for the moving tanks and trucks towing artillery.

By the time they arrived in Kyiv, it was already dawn.

As soon as the convoy entered the city, Rokossovsky noticed something unusual: the streets that had once been crowded with people were deserted, with few pedestrians to be seen, except for patrols and the occasional brisk walk by residents. Behind the fortifications made of sandbags and logs at the intersection are melancholy-looking warriors on guard.

Seeing Rokossovsky and their convoy coming, fighters on duty immediately came over and checked their documents. After confirming that it was correct, the barricades on the road were removed and they were allowed to pass. Guided by the fighters, Rokossovsky's convoy passed through Kiev and reached Brovare on the eastern bank, where it found the headquarters of the Front.

The headquarters of the Front was located in a large four-story hotel, the entrance to its gate was covered with a huge camouflage net, and on both sides of the gate were freshly built sandbag fortifications, and the machine gunners standing next to the Degtyalev light machine gun scanned everyone approaching the gate with a wary eye.

The gas car stopped more than 20 meters from the gate, and Rokossovsky said to Felip, who was sitting in the passenger seat: "Captain, you guys are waiting for me here!" ”

"Comrade Commander," Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Felip immediately turned his head and asked, "Don't you need me to go in with you?" ”

"No need, Comrade Captain." Rokossovsky pointed his hand at the mouth of the heavily guarded headquarters and said, "I estimate that even if you follow me, you will be stopped by the guards at the door." Forget it, you better stay in the city and wait for me. With that, he pushed the door open and got out of the car and strode towards the door.

As soon as Rokossovsky entered the building, he was stopped by a second lieutenant, who, after saluting him, politely asked: "Comrade General, who are you and what are you doing here?" ”

"Hello, Comrade Second Lieutenant." Rokossovsky took out his ID and handed it over, and at the same time said politely: "I am Major General Rokossovsky, commander of the Ninth Mechanized Army, and I was ordered to report to the headquarters. ”

The second lieutenant took the certificate, opened it and examined it carefully, then looked up and asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, I don't know who notified you to come to the headquarters?" ”

"The new Chief of Staff of the Front, Major General Tupikov." Rokossovsky replied: "It was he who ordered me to come here to report." ”

"Comrade General, please wait a moment, I'll make a call." After the second lieutenant finished speaking, he nodded at Rokossovsky, then took his ID, walked to a nearby sentry box, picked up the phone inside, and began to dial.

While waiting for the second lieutenant to call, Rokossovsky looked with interest at the Degtyalev light machine gun mounted on a sandbag, which was a light machine gun that the Soviet Army introduced in order to change the inconvenience of heavy machine guns that were only suitable for static positional warfare in the past, which were inconvenient to use in mobile combat and offensive, and could closely follow the infantry to carry out inter-march fire support. And in the Great Patriotic War, this light machine gun accompanied the Soviet army to participate in every major military operation and was praised by the fighters.

At this moment, the second lieutenant, who had finished making the call, ran back to Rokossovsky, respectfully returned the documents in his hand to him, and said: "Comrade General, please go directly to the second floor, Comrade Chief of Staff will send someone to pick you up." ”

Rokossovsky took his papers, thanked the ensign, and walked briskly through the gate into the building. He walked up the stairs to the second floor, where he was met by a major standing there, looking anxiously downstairs.

When the major saw Rokossovsky, he raised his hand and saluted, and then politely asked: "Is it General Rokossovsky?" After receiving confirmation, he added, "It was Chief of Staff Tupikov who sent me to pick you up." ”

"Thank you, Comrade Major." After Rokossovsky raised his hand and returned the salute, he also politely said to the major: "Please take me to Comrade Chief of Staff." ”

"Please wait a minute, Comrade General." After listening to Rokossovsky's words, the major did not immediately take him to Tupikov's office, but stretched out his hand and said in a businesslike tone: "Please show your documents." ”

Hearing the major say this, Rokossovsky was stunned for a moment, but cooperatively took out his military ID card from his pocket and handed it to the major. After the major took it, he repeatedly compared the above photo with Rokossovsky, and then a smile appeared on his face: "Comrade General, that's right, it's you. After speaking, he handed back his papers, "Please come with me, and I will take you to the chief of staff." ”

Coming to the door of a room where soldiers were standing guard, the major stopped, turned to Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade General, the chief of staff is inside, please come in." ”

Rokossovsky, after thanking the major, walked into the room. He thought that Major General Tupikov was the only one in the room, but when he walked in, he saw that in the whole brightly lit room, there was a long conference table in the middle of the room, and the table was full of spread out maps, various documents, and a few telephones. And Kirponos, the headquarters of the Front, was pacing slowly around the table with his hands behind his back. Another political worker, wearing the rank of divisional political commissar, was sitting at the table, looking down at something.

Rokossovsky was wondering where Tupikov was, when a commander came up to him, took the initiative to extend his hand to him, and introduced himself: "You are Comrade Rokossovsky, right?" I am Tupikov, Chief of Staff of the Front, and we used to talk on the phone last night. ”

Rokossovsky immediately heard the commander's voice, which was exactly the same as the one he heard on the phone last night, and he quickly shook the other man's hand, shook it lightly, and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff. ”

"It's not a good road." After Tupikov said something casually, he guided Rokossovsky to the conference table, pointed to the political workers sitting at the table and said: "Let me introduce to you, this is Comrade Rykov, the new military commissar and divisional political commissar of the Front. ”

"Hello, General Rokossovsky! Nice to see you here. Rykov stood up first, shook hands with Rokossovsky, and said with a smile: "You are good!" Your troops fought well, and the Germans launched a continuous assault on Shepetovka for more than half a month, as a result of which until now they remain on the outskirts of the city and cannot advance. ”

"Rokossovsky, you're here!" Kirponos stopped, turned to look at Rokossovsky, and asked somewhat nonchalantly: "Did you see the troops we sent to the front along the way?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Rokossovsky turned to Kirponos and replied respectfully: "On the way here, I saw a steady stream of troops, heading towards the front again. At this point, he suddenly stopped, hesitating whether to express his feelings.

Seeing Rokossovsky's expression of wanting to speak and stopping, Kirponos said a little impatiently: "Rokossovsky, if you have any ideas, just say it, even if you say it wrong, I won't blame you." ”

After hearing Kirponos say this, Rokossovsky continued: "According to my observations, many of the troops that have been transferred to the front line should have been newly formed. Judging from their new uniforms and weaponry, they are all new recruits. ”

"That's right, due to the tight fighting on the front line, we sent them to the front line as soon as we completed the formation of the troops." Tupikov took up the topic of Rokossovsky and said: "Although these recruits have no military training and no combat experience, one more person is more strength, and sending them to the front can change the balance of forces between the enemy and us." ”

Rokossovsky did not agree with Tupikov's words, but in this situation, he could not raise any objections, so he could only remain silent.

"By the way, Comrade Rokossovsky, I heard a message that I don't know if it's true or not." Rykov, who was sitting at the table, suddenly spoke: "I happened to see you here today, so I want to check with you." ”

Hearing Rykov say this, Rokossovsky's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he secretly muttered in his heart: "Could it be that the execution of the storekeeper has happened?" ”

Rykov's next words confirmed Rokossovsky's guess. I heard him say: "I heard that when you took over the command of Shepetovka, you shot and killed one of the warehouse managers because he was unwilling to hand over the power of his troops. Is there such a thing? ”

Although it is July, it is the hottest season in Russia; Rykov said this with a smile on his face, but Rokossovsky felt as if he was in a huge ice cellar and began to tremble slightly.

"Why don't you speak, Comrade General." Rykov continued to ask with a smile on his face: "I don't know if it's true, or if it's a rumor spread by German spies." ”

"That's right, Comrade Military Commissar." At such a time, Rokossovsky could no longer evade, he thought that he was about to be transferred to a new post in the Western Front, and even if he had made any mistakes before, the leadership of the Southwestern Front would not deal with him. So, gritting his teeth, he replied decisively, "I did shoot a warehouse manager in public at a meeting who disobeyed my orders," and then he told him what had happened, and when he had finished speaking, his eyes wandered back and forth between Kirponos and Rykov to hear how they were going to punish him.

Rykov and Kirponos looked at each other, then stood up, leaned forward slightly with both hands, and said to Rokossovsky with a smile: "Okay, comrade general, it's all figured out." The so-called fact that you shot one of our political workers who was in charge of the warehouse without authorization, after our investigation, was a rumor spread by German spies in an attempt to shake the hearts of our troops. We will explain this in detail when we report to the General Staff. After saying this, he turned his head to Kirponos and asked, "What is your opinion, Comrade Commander?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, I completely agree with your opinion, so let's report as you say." After agreeing with Rykov, Kirponos added: "Had it not been for Comrade Rokossovsky's decisive action and timely consolidation of the defenders of Shepetovka, perhaps the location of the main warehouse of our army would have fallen into the hands of the Germans." If so many supplies fell into the hands of the Germans, I am sure everyone would know what would happen. ”

"Thank you," Rokossovsky waited for Rykov and Kirponos to finish, bowed deeply to the two, thanked them for their tolerance and accommodation, and said sincerely: "Thank you!" ”

At this time, Tupikov walked up to Kirponos with a piece of paper and said to him: "Comrade commander, I have just received a call from the commander of the Sixth Army, General Muzychenko, who said that the troops are in danger of being surrounded by the Germans and asks you to allow them to retreat. ”

"I won't allow it." Hearing Tupikov say this, Kirponos replied loudly: "You call him and order him to immediately organize one or two divisions of troops to carry out a counter-assault on the enemy, and must break the enemy's encirclement attempts." ”

When Kirponos gave the order, Rokossovsky found that he did not ask Tupikov whether the divisions had the ability to carry out a counterattack. At this time, Rokossovsky had the feeling in his heart that the commander of the Front did not want to face the facts. He also thought that as long as the order to counterattack was given to the troops, the enemy who attacked head-on would be repulsed, without considering in the slightest how many troops who were struggling to support the enemy's onslaught would be lost by such an order.

Although Rokossovsky knew in his heart that all the cities to the west would be lost one after another under the continuous attacks of the German army, and Kiev would fall in two months. But at the moment he could not say anything, and he was not qualified to say anything, so he could only choose to remain silent and quietly watch the course of the war develop according to the original history.

Seeing that Rokossovsky was standing there and not speaking, Rykov walked up to him and said softly: "Comrade General, you will soon be transferred to the Western Front, but the situation there is not good. The Germans are approaching Smolensk, where we are expected to engage in a fierce battle with the Germans. (To be continued.) )