Although the Kursk region is not large, the headquarters of several subordinate army groups are relatively scattered, and it took two hours after receiving the notice for all the commanders to arrive one after another.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Rokossovsky nodded at Malinin and signaled that the meeting could begin. Ma Linin, who understood his heart, stood up and said to the commanders sitting around the conference table: "Comrades, you have been summoned here today to convey the latest instructions from the base camp!" ”

Hearing that the latest instructions of the base camp were to be conveyed, the commanders of the army group sat up straight, turned their eyes to Malinin, and quietly waited for what he was going to say next.

Malinin walked to the map, picked up the baton, put his hands on his abdomen, and said to everyone: "Comrade commanders, since April, our troops on both sides have been intensifying preparations for the summer battle in the Kursk salient area.

Features from the activity of the enemy. As well as the information obtained by various means of reconnaissance, we are more and more convinced that if the German fascist army is to carry out a targeted offensive in the near future, it will be in the Kursk salient area. The shape of this area was well suited to the centripetal (to Kursk) assault from the root of the salient by the German command, which was their usual method. If successful, the enemy would be able to advance to the rear of the Central Front and the Voronezh Front and encircle nearly seven of our army groups defending the Kursk salient.

Our judgment is further confirmed by the fact that the enemy is constantly moving troops, especially tanks and artillery, from its depth to the area of the Orel salient. ”

When Ma Lining introduced the current situation of the enemy and us, the commanders of the group armies quickly recorded it in their notebooks, but they only glanced up at Ma Lining from time to time.

After Malinin's introduction, Rokossovsky stood up and said to his subordinates: "Comrades, in order to ensure the final victory of our army in the operation in the Kursk region. I asked Comrade Stalin not to take the initiative to attack the enemy head-on, but to adopt the tactics of active defense, relying on our well-developed defensive system, to deplete the living forces of the German army, and when they became exhausted, we would launch a full-scale counteroffensive.

…… On the right flank is the German Orel group, and I think the greatest danger is here, so it is necessary to build the densest group of forces here. I intend to deploy units of the 48th, 13th and 70th armies here, the front stretches 132 km from Gorodishe to Bryantsev. And on the left flank, on the 174-kilometer front from Bryantsev to Kolenevo, were defended by the troops of the 65th and 60th armies.

…… Because the battlefield situation is ever-changing, in the battle between the enemy and us, there will be areas of superiority and disadvantage, and in serious cases, there may suddenly be a situation on the battlefield where there is no one to defend at strategic points. Therefore, I decided to create the necessary reserves, the 2nd Tank Army was withdrawn to the 2nd echelon, and the 9th and 19th Tank Corps, the 17th Guards Infantry Army were put into the Front reserves, ready to allow them to occupy positions in the strip of the 13th Army if necessary. ”

After the meeting, most of the commanders of the army groups hurried back to their respective units, and Batov stayed, wanting to know a little inside information from Rokossovsky.

He sat down at the vacant seat next to Rokossovsky and asked curiously: "Comrade commander, do you really think that the Germans will attack from the roots of the Kursk arc?" ”

"Do you have any doubts, General Batov?" Rokossovsky didn't expect Batov to ask such a question, and asked rhetorically: "Let me ask you, if you were the commander of the German army and commanded the troops to launch an attack on the Central Front of the Soviet Union, did you plan to defeat only the Soviet army, or did you plan to completely annihilate the Soviet army?" ”

In response to Rokossovsky's question, Batov said without hesitation: "Needless to say, it is naturally total annihilation." Once I have eaten this powerful Soviet army, I can transfer the surplus forces to other lines of defense, so that the situation on other fronts will develop in the direction of our army. ”

"You're right." Rokossovsky knocked on the place where the Germans were likely to attack with a red and blue pencil, and said to Batov: "Look at the current situation of the enemy and the enemy, as long as their attack from the root of the arc is successful, our Central Front and Vatutin's Voronezh Front will fall into their encirclement." At that time, not to mention repelling the German attack, even self-preservation will become very difficult. Maybe another Kyiv-style tragedy will happen. ”

"No, Comrade Commander." As soon as Rokossovsky's words were finished, Military Commissar Ponomarenko said loudly: "Kyiv-style tragedy will never happen again." Our commanders and fighters have accumulated a great deal of experience in fighting the enemy in the course of several years of war, and our weapons and equipment have also been greatly improved compared with 41 years. Even if we encounter the most powerful enemies, we are confident that we can defeat them. ”

"That's right, Comrade Military Commissar." Rokossovsky originally said that casually, but he didn't expect Ponomarenko's reaction to be so big, so he could only follow his meaning and say: "I believe that our commanders and fighters are capable of achieving a great victory in the upcoming summer campaign." ”

"Comrade Commander, I still want to ask." Batov continued to ask, questioning: "Why didn't the enemy choose to attack Moscow, instead of attacking now from the Orel region, to the arc of Kursk, where we are heavily fortified?" ”

"If we do not completely clear our troops in the Kursk arc, the Germans will not easily attack Moscow." Rokossovsky pointed to the location of Moscow with his pen and said: "Once the German army rashly advances towards Moscow, the troops of our powerful Central Front can launch a powerful assault from their flank and rear, and with the cooperation of the Bryansk Front on the right flank of our army, they are fully capable of completely annihilating the German troops invading Moscow." ”

"I see." Batov nodded, and said with a look of sudden realization: "Comrade commander, I understand. In the coming summer campaign, regardless of which direction the Germans were preparing to attack, the first thing to do was to clear the defenders of the Kursk arc, who directly threatened them. ”

……

……

Not long after Batov left, Malinin received a call from Maksimenko, who was now commanding the men in Svoboda to create a new front command. When Malinin heard that it was his voice, he immediately asked with a smile: "General Maksimenko, do you have any good news to tell us?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Maksimenko replied in a serious manner: "We have already established a new command in Svoboda, and you can move the old command in the Yerets region at any time." ”

After Malinin put down the phone, he asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade commander, General Maksimenko called and said that the new front headquarters has been built and can be moved there later. I wonder if we're going to move now, or if we're going to do it after dark? ”

"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff, wait for me to make a phone call first." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he picked up the phone on the table and called the commander of the 16th Army of the Air Force, Rudenko: "Hey, Comrade Rudenko? I'm Rokossovsky. Our headquarters is about to move to the settlement of Svoboda, but there are German planes circling in the sky, can you send fighter planes to provide us with air cover? ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." When Rudenko heard what was going on, he immediately replied: "I will immediately send a squadron of fighter planes to drive the German planes away from Yeretz so that you can safely carry out the transfer." ”

"Thank you, Comrade Rudenko." After Rokossovsky hung up the phone, he said to Malinin: "General Rudenko said that he would send a squadron of fighters as soon as possible to patrol the skies over Yeletz and drive away all those annoying German planes. After our planes have gained air supremacy, our headquarters will begin to move. ”

Rokossovsky's words gave Malinin a wake-up call. He said euphemistically: "Comrade commander, in the upcoming summer operation, the number of troops on both sides of the enemy and us who will be engaged in the battle will be calculated in hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, and if our army cannot grasp the air supremacy on the battlefield, then the probability of victory will be greatly reduced. ”

"Chief of Staff, I see what you mean." Rokossovsky knew that Malinin said this because when he surrounded Paulus's Sixth Army, he used a large number of air forces to destroy the German defenses and attack the German troops, which greatly reduced the casualties of his own troops during the attack. Therefore, he said confidently: "I assure you that after the start of the summer operation, we will have absolutely no less aircraft than when we destroyed Paulus's Sixth Army." ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky understood his intentions, Malinin grinned and went off to his work.

The squadron of fighter planes sent by Rudenko soon reached the skies above Yeletz and engaged in a battle with the German bombers that were staying in the airspace. In just a few minutes of fighting, one German bomber was shot down, two flew were damaged, and the rest turned around and fled back to their lines.

Seeing that the German planes in the sky above Yeletz had been driven away by his own fighters, Rokossovsky was relieved and boldly ordered the command to move immediately.

The first thing he did when he arrived at the new command was to call Maksimenko to himself and instruct him: "Comrade Chief of the Signal Corps, please immediately establish contact with the commanders of the armies, as well as the troops of your neighbors, and tell them about the new location of the headquarters of our front." ”

As soon as Maksimenko had finished establishing contact with his neighbors and subordinate troops, Vatutin's phone called, and he asked Rokossovsky curiously: "Comrade Rokossovsky, when I was in Moscow, I wanted to have a good talk with you, but Comrade Stalin left you behind. Since I was in a hurry to get back to the army, I didn't wait for you. ”

After listening to Vatutin's nagging and babbling a lot of words, Rokossovsky asked lightly: "Comrade Vatutin, do you have anything important to say to me?" ”

Vatutin was silent for a long time, and then asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I want to ask you, do you really think that if our army preemptively attacks the German army, it will be defeated?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Vatutin." In response to Vatutin's question, Rokossovsky replied without hesitation: "In addition to the German army's perfect defense system, the overall technical and tactical level of the German army is also much higher than that of our army. If our army takes the initiative to attack, in the end, even if we lose our troops and generals, we will not be able to achieve any results, but will lose our precious strength in vain. And if the Germans launch a sudden counterattack at such a time, then what awaits our army will be the end of the total annihilation. ”

When Vatutin was still in a meeting in Stalin's office, he agreed with Rokossovsky's statement very much, but he never forgot the idea of taking the initiative to attack the German army. At this moment, after listening to Rokossovsky's words, his mind was shaken, he hesitated again and again, and finally said: "So, the primary task of our army at present is to establish a solid and perfect defense system in the current defensive zone, so as to prepare for resisting the German attack?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Vatutin, exactly what you say." Seeing that Vatutin no longer insisted on taking the initiative to attack, Rokossovsky's heart was much more reassured, so that he did not worry that he would be attacked from the direction of Belgorod, because Vatutin's troops could block the enemy from that direction: "We must build a strong fortress, build a perfect defensive system, and consume a large number of attacking German troops. By the time they become exhausted, our troops will be able to move on to a full-scale counteroffensive. ”

Since Vatutin agrees with Rokossovsky's analysis, what he is concerned about next is what kind of results the Soviet army can achieve in the upcoming summer operation: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I take the liberty of asking you: what kind of results do you think we will achieve after defeating the German offensive in the Kursk arc. ”

Rokossovsky, naturally, could not immediately tell Vatutin what he knew, and could only say vaguely: "According to my judgment, my troops, after launching a counteroffensive, should be able to recover the Orel region and drive the enemy farther west; And your troops, if they can get the support of the steppe military district, maybe after repelling the German attack, you can also take advantage of the victory to pursue and capture Belgorod and Kharkov in one fell swoop. ”

"Yes, can you take Kharkov?" When Vatujing heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and even said, "Great, this is really good." Comrade Rokossovsky, I now very much hope that what you predicted will come true. ”