In order to prevent what he was worried about from happening, Rokossovsky summoned the two tank brigade commanders, Katukov and Lemizov, to the headquarters of the army group, and after explaining his worries to the two, he humbly asked: "Do you two have any good suggestions?" ”

Katukov tilted his head and looked at the map on the table for a while, then pointed to the map and said: "Comrade commander, in order to avoid the situation you feared, I think it is necessary to send troops to make a detour from the two flanks of the reservoir. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"From where?" Rokossovsky asked curiously.

"Here, and here." Pointing on the map, Katukov confidently said: "With two clusters equipped with tanks, we made a detour from both sides of the reservoir. ”

"Will this work?" This time Lieutenant Colonel Lemizov, who raised the question, looked at Katukov and asked: "Comrade General, I would like to ask, how are our tanks going to pass over the Istrian River?" We're not armed with amphibious tanks, so we can't swim across the water. ”

Hearing Lemizov's concern, Katukov smiled, and then said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, have you forgotten that it is winter?" The Istrian River has long been frozen, and our tanks can pass through the ice at all. ”

Rokossovs had not yet figured out how to pass through this area, but at this moment, as soon as Katukov reminded him, he immediately made up his mind, so he directly began to give orders: "General Katukov, Lieutenant Colonel Lemizov." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky calling his name, Katukov and Lemizov hurriedly stood upright, straightened their backs and looked at their commander, waiting for him to give the battle order.

"General Katukov, I give two infantry brigades, forming a group of the left flank, passing through the lower reaches of the East;" After Rokossovsky gave Katukov the order, he turned his attention to Lemizov and continued: "Lieutenant Colonel Lemizov, I will give you a mixed regiment of cadets and an infantry brigade to form a right flank group, cross the Ist River from the upper reaches of the reservoir, detour back to the rear of the enemy, cut off their retreat......"

After Katukov and Lemizov, who had received the order, left, Rokossovsky called Malinin over and instructed him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our command must carry out the transfer as soon as possible. ”

"Transfer?" When Malinin heard Rokossovsky's order, he couldn't help but show a puzzled expression on his face, and he asked puzzledly: "Comrade commander, our position is quite safe now, why do we need to transfer?" ”

"It doesn't matter if it's safe or not." Seeing that Malinin did not understand what he meant, Rokossovsky deliberately explained to him: "Our command should be as close as possible to the vanguard, so that we can keep abreast of the latest battle situation. Do you understand? Without waiting for Malinin to speak, he continued, "Okay, let's pack up our things and prepare to move the headquarters forward." ”

As soon as the side was in full swing to pack up their things and prepare to transfer the headquarters, Zhukov's phone called, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, what are you doing?" ”

"Hello, Comrade General." Rokossovsky politely replied: "I am transferring the command." ”

"What, transfer command?" When Zhukov heard Rokossovsky say this, he was immediately taken aback and hurriedly asked: "Are you in any danger there?" ”

Rokossovsky smiled and replied: "Comrade General, you are wrong, I am safe here, the enemy is still far from my command. The reason why I want to transfer the headquarters is just to get closer to the vanguard so that I can keep abreast of the latest situation at the front. ”

"Well, you are doing the right thing," Zhukov immediately expressed his support for Rokossovsky's consideration, "the commander and the vanguard together, not only can they know the situation at the front in time, but also play a role in boosting morale." But you need to be more careful about your own safety. ”

Hearing Zhukov's reminder, Rokossovsky replied disappreciatively: "Don't worry, Comrade General, I will pay attention." After saying this, he paused for a moment, and then asked tentatively, "By the way, how is the 20th Army's attack on Sun Hill City going?" ”

"It's bad!" Zhukov replied with some gloom: "The Germans have built strong fortifications in the city of Mount Sol, and the offensive launched by General Vlasov's troops has failed. At present, they have captured only two settlements in the south of the city, where they are regrouping in preparation for another attack. ”

When Rokossovsky and Lobachev drove to catch up with the vanguard, Lobachev rejoiced: "Comrade commander, when Zhukov asked us to hand over the task of attacking Cumbre del Sol to General Vlasov's 20th Army, I still had a little emotion in my heart. But now it doesn't seem to be a bad thing for us. ”

"Why?" Rokossovsky asked casually.

"If you think about it, the 20th Army is a unit that has just been put into the battlefield by the Supreme Command, and they must be in a state of full strength." Lobachev said this, paused for a moment, and saw Rokossovsky nod in agreement before continuing: "None of them can capture such a city occupied by the Germans, and let our greatly weakened troops attack, I think it will be difficult to achieve any results except for increasing casualties." ”

Rokossovsky waited for Lobachev to finish speaking, then turned his head to look at him and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, at the moment the German defense in the Istrian direction is the weakest, if we can break into their depth as soon as possible, we can disrupt their defense system." In order to prevent the collapse of the battle line, they had to withdraw the troops of Kling and Solhill City to a new territory to establish a new defense against our powerful offensive. ”

After driving about sixty or seventy kilometers west along the road, the jeep suddenly stopped. Seeing that the driver stopped the car without getting his own order, Rokossovsky asked a little unhappily: "What's the matter, why did you stop?" ”

The driver pointed to the parked truck in front of him and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, you see, the car in front of you is blocking the road. If they don't move forward, I won't be able to move. ”

Lobachev ordered at one of the staff officers who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat: "Comrade staff, go to the front and see, what is going on, why are our vehicles parked on the road?" ”

The staff officer agreed, pushed the door open, jumped out, and ran quickly along the side of the road.

Seeing that the staff officer was far away, Rokossovsky also pushed the door and got out of the car, walked to the middle of the road and looked ahead. I saw that in front of my jeep, there were at least twenty trucks blocked. These covered trucks were full of heavily armed commanders and fighters. Through the open tarpaulin at the back of the car, Rokossovsky saw that the fighters were all sitting straight in the car, and none of them got out of the car without permission and did not look around without receiving orders from the commander.

"Comrade Commander, what the hell is going on here?" Lobachev couldn't sit still in the car, he got out of the car and walked to Rokossovsky's side, looked ahead, and asked curiously: "There are a bunch of people in front, what are they looking at?" ”

"I don't know," Rokossovsky said, shaking his head, "I'll know what's going on when the staff officer returns." ”

After five or six minutes, the staff officer, who had gone to the front to inquire about the situation, came back at a trot. He came to a stop in front of Rokossovsky and Lobachev and reported: "Comrade commander, it has been figured out that the Germans have laid mines on the roads in order to hinder the advance of our troops. There was a truck in front that accidentally hit a mine, and the fighters on the truck wounded seven people and killed five. At the moment, our sappers are demining in front. ”

"When will the demining work be completed?" Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, then asked the staff officer.

"It's hard to say," the staff officer said, shaking his head: "According to the analysis of the engineer comrades, the German minelaying area is at least two kilometers long, and anti-demolition devices for mines are also installed, and we have just had sappers hit mines during demining......"

Before the staff officer could finish his words, there was a sudden rumbling sound in front of him, followed by a puff of black smoke. Rokossovsky saw that the soldiers who were originally standing on the road in front of him were lying on the ground, and he knew in his heart that another engineer must have died while clearing mines. He gritted his back molars and ordered the staff officer: "Go and call me the head of the engineering unit." After receiving the order, the staff officer did not dare to slack off, and rushed all the way to the front to find the person in charge of the engineering unit.

"Comrade Commander, what should I do?" Lobachev looked at the back of the departing staff officer and asked worriedly: "If the mines on the road are not cleared, our troops will not be able to move forward quickly." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissar, we will have a way to get through this minefield." Rokossovsky gritted his teeth and said: "But first we have to find out what mines the enemy has planted on the road. ”

A captain, led by a staff officer, came to Rokossovsky and them. Through his report, Rokossovsky knew that he was the commander of the engineer company, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade Captain, what mines did the enemy lay on the road ahead?" ”

"Judging by the mines we have discharged, almost all of them are infantry mines, mixed with a small number of anti-tank mines." The commander of the engineer company replied with some nervousness: "Because the area of mines planted by the Germans is too wide, it may be difficult for us to complete all the mines in a short time." ”

"Comrade Captain, according to your personal experience, how many anti-tank mines are there on this road?" As soon as Rokossovsky and other engineer company commanders finished speaking, they immediately asked impatiently: "I hope you can give an approximate number." ”

The staff officer agreed, pushed the door open, jumped out, and ran quickly along the side of the road.

Seeing that the staff officer was far away, Rokossovsky also pushed the door and got out of the car, walked to the middle of the road and looked ahead. I saw that in front of my jeep, there were at least twenty trucks blocked. These covered trucks were full of heavily armed commanders and fighters. Through the open tarpaulin at the back of the car, Rokossovsky saw that the fighters were all sitting straight in the car, and none of them got out of the car without permission and did not look around without receiving orders from the commander.

"Comrade Commander, what the hell is going on here?" Lobachev couldn't sit still in the car, he got out of the car and walked to Rokossovsky's side, looked ahead, and asked curiously: "There are a bunch of people in front, what are they looking at?" ”

"I don't know," Rokossovsky said, shaking his head, "I'll know what's going on when the staff officer returns." ”

After five or six minutes, the staff officer, who had gone to the front to inquire about the situation, came back at a trot. He came to a stop in front of Rokossovsky and Lobachev and reported: "Comrade commander, it has been figured out that the Germans have laid mines on the roads in order to hinder the advance of our troops. There was a truck in front that accidentally hit a mine, and the fighters on the truck wounded seven people and killed five. At the moment, our sappers are demining in front. ”

"When will the demining work be completed?" Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, then asked the staff officer.

"It's hard to say," the staff officer said, shaking his head: "According to the analysis of the engineer comrades, the German minelaying area is at least two kilometers long, and anti-demolition devices for mines are also installed, and we have just had sappers hit mines during demining......"

Before the staff officer could finish his words, there was a sudden rumbling sound in front of him, followed by a puff of black smoke. Rokossovsky saw that the soldiers who were originally standing on the road in front of him were lying on the ground, and he knew in his heart that another engineer must have died while clearing mines. He gritted his back molars and ordered the staff officer: "Go and call me the head of the engineering unit." After receiving the order, the staff officer did not dare to slack off, and rushed all the way to the front to find the person in charge of the engineering unit.

"Comrade Commander, what should I do?" Lobachev looked at the back of the departing staff officer and asked worriedly: "If the mines on the road are not cleared, our troops will not be able to move forward quickly." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissar, we will have a way to get through this minefield." Rokossovsky gritted his teeth and said: "But first we have to find out what mines the enemy has planted on the road. ”

A captain, led by a staff officer, came to Rokossovsky and them. Through his report, Rokossovsky knew that he was the commander of the engineer company, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade Captain, what mines did the enemy lay on the road ahead?" ”

"Judging by the mines we have discharged, almost all of them are infantry mines, mixed with a small number of anti-tank mines." The commander of the engineer company replied with some nervousness: "Because the area of mines planted by the Germans is too wide, it may be difficult for us to complete all the mines in a short time." ”

"Comrade Captain, according to your personal experience, how many anti-tank mines are there on this road?" As soon as Rokossovsky and other engineer company commanders finished speaking, they immediately asked impatiently: "I hope you can give an approximate number." ”