"Comrade Zhukov," Rokossovsky, who was annoyed by the lack of troops for Zhukov's tough attitude, also retorted to him for the first time: "I know the order you have given, but our troops are limited, and we cannot attack Klin and Sun Hill City at the same time. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoIf we were to throw all these troops into battle and lose them all in a counterattack with no chance of victory, what strength should we use to resist the next German attack? ”

Zhukov didn't expect Rokossovsky to dare to refute himself, and after a moment of silence, he ordered with a tough attitude: "General Rokossovsky, you are also an old soldier, remember that the orders of your superiors can only be carried out, and doubts are not allowed." If, after an hour, I see your troops standing still, you will be removed from your post as commander of the army. ”

Rokossovsky put down the phone and sat down at the table and smoked a cigarette. Both Malinin and Lobachev heard what Zhukov said on the phone, and after looking at each other, Lobachev took the initiative to ask Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, what should we do now, let all those troops who are not moving into battle?" ”

Hearing his military commissar say this, Rokossovsky looked up at him, as if talking to himself and as if he was confiding: "I first met Zhukov in 1924, before the two of us went to study at the Leningrad Higher Cavalry School, we were both commanders of cavalry regiments, I am from Transbaikal, he is from Ukraine.

Zhukov was more willing to spend time than anyone else in military knowledge, and as long as he was not in class, he would definitely stay in his room, lying on a map spread out on the floor, simulating the situation of a battle between the enemy and the enemy. I saw early on that that his future career and position would surpass all of us.

We met again in Minsk in the early 30s, when I was the commander of a cavalry division in the cavalry corps of Marshal Timoshenko, and Zhukov was a regiment commander under me. No one expected that he would rise so quickly, before the outbreak of the war, he was the rank of general, and he was still the chief of the General Staff of the Red Army; And I was just a major general, first commanding a cavalry corps, and later a mechanized corps. ”

Speaking of this, Rokossovsky stood up, threw the half-smoked cigarette in his hand on the ground, crushed it with his toes, and continued: "Zhukov has been able to get to this point today because of his extraordinary talent, energy, and self-confidence. Comrade Chief of Staff," he decisively ordered Malinin, "to give the commander of the unit an order to carry out a feint attack on the enemy in front of him, and to relieve the pressure on our cavalry in the capture of the city of Cumbre del Sol." ”

"What, take a feint?" When Malinin heard Rokossovsky say this, he couldn't help but be taken aback again, and he cautiously reminded: "Comrade commander, Comrade General has just been angry, are you sure that we will not provoke him again by doing this?" ”

"Chief of Staff, the specific situation should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis." Rokossovsky patiently said to Malinin: "We have limited forces at the moment, so when carrying out the orders given by the superiors, we must make appropriate adjustments. Do you understand? ”

Although Malinin did not fully understand Rokossovsky's explanation, he habitually replied: "Understood, comrade commander, I understand." ”

"Now that you understand, let's go and understand." Rokossovsky waved at him and emphatically said: "Remember, it is a feint against the enemy, not a fight with the enemy. ”

At the same time, the cavalry division, commanded by Priev, had managed to capture the settlements of Sverchkovo, Selishevo and Martno. While allowing the cavalry to recuperate, he also ordered the soldiers, who had been turned into infantry by the loss of their horses, to hurry up and rest on the periphery of the settlement.

Unbeknownst to him, only half an hour after his order was given, a major ran to him. Still far away, the major shouted loudly: "Division commander, comrade division commander." ”

Priev followed the prestige and saw that the major who shouted to him was a battalion commander in his own division. Because the horse he was riding on was lost in battle, he was put in command of a makeshift cavalry battalion. Seeing him running over in a hurry at this moment, Priev knew that something big must be something, so he hurriedly greeted him and asked nervously: "Major, what's wrong?" ”

"Comrade division commander," although at this moment Priev commanded the cavalry corps instead of Dovatol, the major still called him division commander: "The weather is too cold, our sappers can't dig the ground, what can we do?" ”

"No, Comrade Major." Hearing the major say this, Priev immediately said with a stern expression: "Although we have captured these three settlements, the Germans will not be resigned to their defeat and will definitely organize forces for a counterattack." If there were no fortifications, how would you defend in the event of a German counterattack? ”

"But the ground is frozen." The major said with a sad face: "Unless it is bombed with shells, a trench around the settlement has not been dug in a short time." ”

"We have a limited number of shells, and we must not waste them casually." Priyev did not hesitate to refuse the major's proposal. However, seeing the other party's depressed look, he couldn't bear it, so he said euphemistically: "You can use those craters and find a way to connect the craters together, isn't it just a trench?" ”

When the major heard Priev say this, he raised his hand and slapped his forehead sharply, and said with annoyance: "Oh, yes, how did I forget to use those craters outside the settlement, it's confused, confused." With that, he straightened up and saluted Priev, then turned and ran back to direct the troops to build the fortifications.

Although the troops in the rest of the area, after receiving Malinin's order, launched a feint attack on the German army in front of them, effectively pinning down part of the opponent's forces, the German army, which was unwilling to lose the outlying settlements of Sun Hill City, still launched a frantic counterattack. They first repelled the Soviet 24th and 44th Cavalry Divisions, which were attacking from the southwest of the city, under the cover of tanks, and then transferred a regiment to the 240th Infantry Regiment to storm the settlements of Sverchkovo, Selishevo and Maltnovo.

Priev, who was staying in the settlement of Selishevo, saw that the enemy was beginning to attack, so he used the telephone to inform the cavalry commanders who were holding on to the other two settlements, ordering them to hold on to the settlements no matter what, not to retreat a single step, and to resolutely block the German attack.

The German soldiers who charged towards the settlement were red-eyed, and the ferocity that erupted made them want to tear apart all the Soviet commanders and fighters who stood in front of them. The charging team was hit by the dense rain of bullets and mortar shells of the Soviet army, and then it was filled by the rear team, and the charging array formed by the line fell countless figures in just a few hundred meters.

However, the German soldiers rushed to the Soviet defensive positions one after another. The front fell, the back immediately made up, and there were shaking figures everywhere, and the hesitation was in the migration, and the herd of antelopes in the migration made people's scalps tingle.

Rokossovsky received a call from Priev in his command, and when he heard what the other party had reported, he could not help but be surprised, he thought he had heard it wrong, and deliberately asked the other party to repeat it.

Amid the deafening sound of gunfire, Priev reported at the top of his throat: "Comrade commander, the Germans are simply crazy, they have never shown themselves so tenacious before. The battle did not stop for a minute, and they rushed forward frantically regardless of casualties, figuratively charging with the corpses of their own people. ”

After listening to Priev's report, Rokossovsky took a deep breath, and then said into the microphone: "General Priev, if the Germans continue to fight like this, our defense line will soon be lost. Immediately let our cavalry strike, beat their infantry hard, and suppress their arrogance. ”

"Understood," Priyev replied loudly, "I immediately ordered the cavalry to strike, with sabers in our hands, to destroy the enemy who was rushing towards the settlements." ”

Priev ended the call with Rokossovsky, called an operational staff officer over and gave him a loud order: "Captain, immediately fire two red flares into the air and order the cavalry of the two settlements on the left and right to carry out a surprise attack with us." ”

"Understood," the staff officer agreed, ran out of the improvised headquarters, ran to an open place, pulled out a flare gun, and fired two shots into the air. As the gun rang out, two red flares rose into the air one after the other, drawing two beautiful arcs.

The commander of the cavalry regiment in the settlements of Sverchikovo and Martnovo, seeing the flares rising into the air, immediately opened his throat and shouted: "All the cavalry get on their horses and prepare to attack!" ”

As the order was given, the cavalry warriors, who had been on standby, led their horses out of the building where they were hiding, turned them over, and assembled in the open space in the middle of the settlement.

Only a few minutes later, the cavalry in the three settlements simultaneously charged the charging Germans.

Seeing thousands of cavalry pouring out of the settlement, the German officers and soldiers who were charging suddenly shouted: "Cavalry! The terrible scream, even in the deafening gunfire, could make the people next to him feel the tremor in his voice.

The Germans stopped their charge, stopped in place, squatted or stood or crawled, and with their weapons in hand, they opened fire on the rushing cavalry. Under the dense fire interception, the Soviet cavalry immediately suffered casualties, and people kept planting down, and there were constantly war horses falling over while running, and then tripping other war horses at the same time, together with his master, were swept under the surrounding iron hooves. But even so, the war horse in the high-speed impact is also constantly advancing. At this moment, the Soviet cavalry had rushed to a place not far from the German ranks, thousands of war horses galloped wildly at the same time, and the movement of iron hooves was like rolling thunder, making the ground under the feet of the Germans tremble.

The cavalry slammed straight into the German ranks, and the jumping hooves of the horses smashed the heads and chests of the soldiers, and the sharp saber blades instantly slashed through the chests and heads of the soldiers, and the flying half of the body crashed straight into the bodies of the soldiers behind. Wherever the cavalry passed, in just a moment's effort, hundreds of German soldiers were slanted shoulders or decapitated in different places.

As the cavalry slaughtered the disorganized German soldiers, a dozen tanks and armored vehicles rumbled in the distance. Since the two armies were mixed together, the tanks did not dare to open fire, but the cavalry, who had just sat on their horses, was the target of the vehicle-mounted machine guns. So the machine guns on the tanks and armored vehicles, aimed at the cavalry who were on a rampage, opened fire.

Under the heavy fire of bullets, the cavalrymen flipped on their backs, and the running horses neighed and fell, and together with their masters, they were beaten into a sieve, and the cavalry who stumbled closely behind. A succession of intense fire swept over the horses and knocked out the cavalry, and the wounded horses fell to the ground and wailed, struggling with their nostrils spewing out of their nostrils. More and more corpses were knocked over on the dirt slope, and the fall in front was crushed and buried by those who rushed up closely, and then the latter immediately hit and tripped again......

The Germans stopped their charge, stopped in place, squatted or stood or crawled, and with their weapons in hand, they opened fire on the rushing cavalry. Under the dense fire interception, the Soviet cavalry immediately suffered casualties, and people kept planting down, and there were constantly war horses falling over while running, and then tripping other war horses at the same time, together with his master, were swept under the surrounding iron hooves. But even so, the war horse in the high-speed impact is also constantly advancing. At this moment, the Soviet cavalry had rushed to a place not far from the German ranks, thousands of war horses galloped wildly at the same time, and the movement of iron hooves was like rolling thunder, making the ground under the feet of the Germans tremble.

The cavalry slammed straight into the German ranks, and the jumping hooves of the horses smashed the heads and chests of the soldiers, and the sharp saber blades instantly slashed through the chests and heads of the soldiers, and the flying half of the body crashed straight into the bodies of the soldiers behind. Wherever the cavalry passed, in just a moment's effort, hundreds of German soldiers were slanted shoulders or decapitated in different places.

As the cavalry slaughtered the disorganized German soldiers, a dozen tanks and armored vehicles rumbled in the distance. Since the two armies were mixed together, the tanks did not dare to open fire, but the cavalry, who had just sat on their horses, was the target of the vehicle-mounted machine guns. So the machine guns on the tanks and armored vehicles, aimed at the cavalry who were on a rampage, opened fire.

Under the heavy fire of bullets, the cavalrymen flipped on their backs, and the running horses neighed and fell, and together with their masters, they were beaten into a sieve, and the cavalry who stumbled closely behind. A succession of intense fire swept over the horses and knocked out the cavalry, and the wounded horses fell to the ground and wailed, struggling with their nostrils spewing out of their nostrils. More and more corpses were knocked over on the open ground, and those in front were crushed and buried by those who rushed up after them, and those behind were immediately bumped into and tripped again......