Just as the troops under Zakharov's command were entering the improvised field positions constructed by the 107th Division one after another, Rokossovsky, who was hundreds of kilometers away, received a call from Zhukov. www.biquge.info Zhukov asked dissatisfiedly on the phone: "Comrade Rokossovsky, how is the situation in the Kling direction?" How many troops do you contain? How long will it take to build the Kling Line? ”

"Comrade General." Rokossovsky heard the anger in Zhukov's tone, and could only reply stubbornly: "I sent my deputy, General Zakharov, to the direction of Klin to contain the routs and establish defenses. So far, however, I have not received any information from the direction of Klin, so I do not know how the Kling line is being constructed. ”

"What, you don't understand the situation?" Zhukov was not at all satisfied with Rokossovsky's answer, he couldn't help but raise his voice and say: "What have you been doing for so long?" ”

"Comrade Zhukov, during this time I am arranging the transfer of troops, already in the defensive deployment after reaching the Istrian reservoir." Rokossovsky replied to Zhukov's reproach with some grievances: "When the official transfer of troops begins, I will personally rush to Kling to arrange defenses." ”

"Immediately hand over your work to the Chief of Staff, Colonel Malinin." Zhukov ordered in an unquestioning tone: "You immediately rush to Kling in person, and hurry up to build a defensive line in that area." If the Germans occupy Kling, you have to wait for a court-martial. ”

Zhukov's words were very heavy, but Rokossovsky understood in his heart that it was because the responsibility on his shoulders was too heavy, and if he changed his position, he might speak in a heavier tone. So he took a deep breath and replied: "Well, Comrade General, since you have asked for it, I will rush to Kling at once." ”

As soon as he put down the phone, Rokossovsky called Malinin over and instructed: "Chief of Staff, I will immediately rush to Kling to inspect the construction of the Klin-Mount Sun defensive line. During my absence, you are solely responsible for the work in the headquarters, including the transfer of troops. ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky was about to leave, Lobachev, who had been sitting next to him without making a sound, also got up from his seat and resolutely said: "Comrade commander, I will go to Kling with you." ”

Rokossovsky stopped, looked at his partner, and said with some hesitation: "Comrade Military Commissar, it is very unsafe on the way from here to Kling, you better stay at the headquarters!" ”

Lobachev waved his hand and said with a smile: "How can there be a military commissar who watches the commander go on an adventure, but stays in the command and does not move." Alright, it's getting late, let's go now. ”

Seeing that Lobachev's attitude was now resolute, Rokossovsky did not insist on his opinion any longer, so he and Lobachev took a jeep with two trucks full of guards and fighters, and drove along the road in the direction of Klin.

…………

At this moment, outside the city of Zavidovo, a large number of embarrassed and unarmed Soviet commanders and fighters appeared, and these were the commanders and fighters of the defeated 30th Army. Due to the failure of the command system, the superiors could not find the subordinates, and the subordinates could not get in touch with the superiors, so the retreat turned into a rout. If the 107th Infantry Division had not been in control of the troops by Mironov, it is estimated that their commanders and fighters would have thrown away all their weapons and fled for their lives like these routs, and would not have thought of establishing a temporary defense somewhere to delay the pace of the German offensive.

Seeing the stragglers all over the mountains, Zakharov couldn't help but chuckle in his heart, and said to himself, like these fighters with no fighting spirit, still have the courage to take up arms and fight the enemy? Maybe a lot of people would have been overtaken by the Germans so they could get away from this damn war.

One of the commanders, who were standing beside Zakharov, saw this situation and asked Zakharov somewhat strangely: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I don't understand, how did so many people escape from the pursuit of the Germans?" ”

Zakharov turned his head to look at the commander, and said with a wry smile: "This is very simple, when these commanders and fighters escaped, they must have broken into pieces and fled into the forest, so that they could get rid of the pursuit of the German army." After they walked through the forest, they knew that there was a city here, and they slowly gathered together. At this point, he raised his binoculars and looked into the distance, while muttering to himself, "I hope the Germans don't arrive at this time, otherwise these commanders and fighters will be more than lucky." ”

After watching for a while, Zakharov did not find the shadow of the German army, only saw groups of stragglers who had retreated, and ordered the commander standing beside him, and ordered: "What are you still doing standing here, don't take people to contain them, and integrate them into our troops." ”

"Weapons," the commander asked, pointing tentatively at the unarmed warriors in the distance, "they don't have any weapons in their hands, and even if they are incorporated into the troops, they will not be of use in battle?" ”

"You are so confused, without weapons, they can use grenades to destroy the enemy, and they can also pick up the weapons of their fallen comrades and continue to fight the enemy." After saying these two sentences, Zakharov impatiently waved his hand at the commander and urged: "Okay, go over and contain the troops, otherwise you will be in trouble when the German pursuers come up." ”

While the commander was taking people to contain the troops that had fled from the front, the staff officer sent by Zakharov to the western forest to contain the troops returned, and after raising his hand and saluting, he excitedly reported: "Comrade Deputy Commander, we met the troops of the 58th Tank Division in the forest, and I brought their division commander here. ”

When Zakharov heard that the containment team had met a tank division in the forest, he was overjoyed and hurriedly asked: "Where is the tank division commander?" ”

The staff officer leaned to the side and gave way to a colonel officer standing behind him. The colonel took two steps forward and came to Zakharov, raised his hand to his forehead, and reported: "Comrade General, the commander of the 58th Tank Division reports to you that we are part of the 30th Army, I don't know which part you are from?" ”

Zakharov raised his hand and returned the salute and said: "Comrade Colonel, I am Major General Zakharov, deputy commander of the 16th Army, and I now officially announce to you an order that the 30th Army has been abolished, and your troops have now been placed under the command of the 16th Army. ”

When the commander of the tank division heard Zakharov say this, his right hand, which had been laid down, was raised to his forehead again, and reported in accordance with the order: "Comrade Deputy Commander, the commander of the 58th Tank Division reports to you, I am waiting for your orders, please instruct!" ”

"Comrade Colonel," Zakharov asked the commander of the tank division with a smile on his face, "where are all your troops?" ”

The colonel turned sideways and pointed in the direction of the forest to the west, and said, "Comrade Deputy Commander, my troops are currently passing through that forest, and in twenty minutes at most, they will be able to reach here." ”

Zakharov looked at the dense forest over there, listened attentively, but did not hear the roar of the tank motor, and could not help but say with some surprise: "Comrade Colonel, is your tank still far from here, why can't I hear any sound?" ”

"Tank, what tank?" When the colonel heard Zakharov say this, he was stunned at first, and then he understood what was going on, and he replied with an embarrassed face: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think you have misunderstood. Although we are a tank division, the limited number of tanks has already been lost in the early battle. At the moment there is not a single tank in the whole division. ”

"What, you don't have a single tank?" When Zakharov heard the colonel say this, his jaw almost hit the ground directly, and he asked in surprise: "All lost in battle?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander." The tank division commander nodded and said: "More than a dozen tanks in our division, in the battle the day before yesterday, were either blown up by German planes, or destroyed by German tanks or artillery, and at present my tank corps have become infantry. ”

"How many people are left in your division?" Although the tank division does not have tanks, but it is better to have a group of infantry, Zakharov asked weakly: "Do you have all weapons?" ”

"Our division has six hundred men, armed with submachine guns, rifles and pistols." The tank division commander asked with some embarrassment: "We don't have heavy weapons, I don't know if the superiors can replenish us?" ”

"Comrade Colonel," Zakharov took a deep breath, and after waiting for his mood to return to normal a little, he said to the commander of the tank division: "You take your men first and withdraw to Klin, where we are going to build a new line of defense. When you get there, you will be able to get the necessary replenishment. ”

After the tank division commander left, Zakharov couldn't help but smile bitterly, and said in his heart that he thought that with a tank division, how could he increase more than ten or twenty tanks, so that when he faced the German armored forces, he also had the ability to contend with the German armored forces, but he didn't expect it to be a tank division with only infantry and no tanks. If the large forces of the German army rushed over at this time, would they really be able to stop them with just this little force in their own hands?

…………

Rokossovsky's jeep sped along the uneven road in the direction of Klin. Lobache looked out the window for a while, then turned his head to look at Rokossovsky, who was closing his eyes and recuperating, hesitated for a moment, and finally asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, do you think we can hold the Klin-Mount Sun defense line?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, it's a pity, I can only tell you that I don't know." Rokossovsky opened his eyes, looked at Lobachev, and said helplessly: "We don't know how many troops there are in Kling and Sun Hill City, and what kind of technical equipment, and we don't even know if there are fortifications outside the city. In this case, what kind of defense plan we develop is all on paper. ”

After Rokossovsky said this, he asked the driver who was driving: "Comrade driver, where have we been?" ”

"Comrade commander," the driver quickly turned his head and replied after hearing Rokossovsky asking himself: "We have reached Novaya, and it will take more than two hours to get to Klin." ”

As soon as the driver's words fell, there was a sudden roar of an airplane motor in the air. Rokossovsky hurriedly turned sideways and looked out of the car window, only to see a German fighter passing over the convoy. Seeing this, he raised his vigilance, thinking that the enemy planes must have discovered his convoy of one jeep and two trucks, and would definitely take some action. He immediately instructed the driver, "Find a place to stop in front, and let's go to the forest to take shelter first." ”

"Comrade commander, the enemy plane has flown away." Lobachev looked at the enemy planes in the distance and said disappreciatively: "We don't have to scare ourselves." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the enemy plane turn in the air. In this case, it would be a fool not to have guessed that the German planes were going to act against the convoy. So he rushed ahead of Rokossovsky and shouted at the driver: "Stop, stop!" ”

As soon as the car stopped, Rokossovsky, Lobachev and the driver each pushed open the door next to them and ran towards the side of the road. The two trucks that followed also stopped in time, and the fighters in the carriages jumped down like dumplings, and then went to find a safe place to conceal the air defense.

After the enemy plane lowered its altitude, it began to strafe with its on-board machine guns. Bullets rained down from the sky, sending dirt on the ground to the ground. Seeing the two small pillars of mud that had been bulleted getting closer and closer to him, Rokossovsky couldn't help but feel a sense of weakness in his heart, saying that he would not die under the German machine gun fire like this. At that moment, the driver running next to him lunged at him, knocking him to the ground, and at the same time out of the range of the enemy plane.

After flying over the top of the convoy, the enemy planes turned around and flew back again, probably because the bullets had been exhausted, and after this strafing, they flew off into the distance.

Rokossovsky stood up with the help of the driver, he raised his hand and patted the driver on the shoulder, and said gratefully: "If it weren't for you, I guess I'd be finished." Thank you! The driver just smiled heartily, then turned and ran back to the jeep.

An officer in the car behind came over and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, we have lost two fighters, three were wounded, what should I do with it?" ”

Rokossovsky thought only for a moment, and then ordered: "One car stays to take care of the wounded and bury the fallen comrades, and the other car follows us on." ”

When Rokossovsky and Lobachev walked back to the jeep, they were surprised to find that the roof of the car had been pierced by bullets, and even the back seats had been shattered. Rokossovsky couldn't help but secretly feel glad that he got out of the car and escaped, and if he stayed in the car, his life would definitely be lost.

Seeing Rokossovsky standing at the door of the car without speaking, the driver said with a bitter face: "Comrade commander, what can I do about this, there is still such a long way, you can't stand in the car." ”

"It's okay, it's okay." Rokossovsky waved his hand at the driver and said magnanimously: "The fuel tank was not hit, and the person was fine, this is a blessing in misfortune." In this way, the military commissar will sit in the co-pilot's seat, and I will clean up the back seat, and I can still continue to sit. ”