"Comrade commander, during the two-year-long war," Terekin said with a serious expression, "the Belarusian people have paid great sacrifices, and as far as I know, in some regions it is simply not possible to find young men born in 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1926. They were either killed at the beginning of the war or killed during the German occupation. ”

Rokossovsky knew that what Terekin said was the truth, not to mention Belarus, even in the entire Soviet Union, the proportion of young men born in these five years was only a few percent by the end of the war, that is, only a few out of every hundred people were lucky enough to survive. He sat down at the table, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, thinking about how to replenish the soldiers he desperately needed.

Seeing Rokossovsky's sad look, Malinin said tentatively: "Comrade commander, maybe we can recruit female soldiers into the army. You know, like men, they can perform any dangerous mission, acting as snipers, machine gunners, scouts, tankmen, and pilots......"

Rokossovsky looked up at Malinin and listened quietly to his advice. Speaking from the bottom of my heart, it is true that the problem of insufficient soldiers in the army can be alleviated by recruiting female soldiers, but after all, this is not the beginning of the war, and if one's own troops recruit female soldiers on a large scale, it will definitely attract some unnecessary criticism. Therefore, after Ma Lining finished speaking, he shook his head and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we cannot now recruit female soldiers on a large scale, you must know that in the past two years of war, young and middle-aged people have almost died, and it is women who work hard in the factories; It is still the women who are busy in the fields. If they enlist in the army, then it may affect the normal industrial and agricultural production. ”

"I agree with Comrade Commander that we cannot alleviate the shortage of soldiers by recruiting female soldiers." As soon as Rokossovsky's words were finished, Terekin expressed his support, he looked at Rokossovsky, and said carefully: "I heard that in the German prisoner of war camps, there are still tens of thousands of our commanders and fighters, and if we can liberate these prisoner of war camps, then we can replenish the commanders and fighters imprisoned in them to the troops." ”

Ponomarenko, hearing Terekin say this, immediately raised an objection: "General Terekin, what's wrong with you, have you forgotten what Comrade Stalin once said?" ”

Terekin didn't expect Ponomarenko to suddenly say this, and he couldn't help but be stunned. It took a long time for him to ask, "Comrade Ponomarenko, I don't know what I forgot the Supreme Commander himself said?" ”

Ponomarenko said word by word: "Comrade Stalin once said: we have no prisoners of war, only traitors to the Motherland. Those who were held in the German prisoner of war camps were a group of traitors to the Motherland, how could they be incorporated into our ranks? ”

Ponomarenko's words silenced everyone for a moment, and everyone remembered that Stalin had indeed said this, and that it was the Germans, through the Swiss Red Cross, who had offered to exchange his son Yakov for Marshal Paulus.

Although Rokossovsky did not refute it, he also made up his mind that as soon as the prisoner of war camp was liberated from the Germans, all the commanders and fighters in it who could still fight would be immediately incorporated into the combat unit, and as for what Stalin said, he did not need to pay attention to it at all.

Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said to Terekin: "Comrade Military Commissar, I intend to establish contact with the units newly included in the establishment of the Front, I wonder if you would like to go to the places where these troops are stationed with me to find out about the situation?" ”

"Gladly!" Telegin hurriedly stood up, "Let's go." ”

But before Rokossovsky and Terekin could leave, he received a phone call from Stalin himself. Stalin said straight to the point on the phone: "Dear Konstantin Konstantinovich, your troops are already fighting on Belarusian soil. ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Even without looking at the map, Rokossovsky knew that Stalin was telling the truth, and all the current areas of operation of the Central Front were in Belarus. He thought that Stalin was urging him to launch a new offensive, so he preemptively said: "But there is no need to supervise our commanders and fighters, because everyone is very brave in battle, and they all want to drive the fascist invaders out of the country as soon as possible." ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky," Stalin continued with a smile, "I called, not to urge you, but to have another important thing to say to you. Immediately after the capture of Gomel, your new command should turn to the area and find a way to get in touch with the Belarusian partisans who are persisting in the struggle behind enemy lines. They are a formidable force, and in the next battles, we need to work out a battle plan for the campaign with them. ”

"Comrade Stalin," said Rokossovsky, although he had never come into contact with the Belarusian partisans, but judging from their various victories, he found that these troops were nothing more than a scattered sand, so he tactfully proposed to Stalin: "Although the Belarusian partisans are not a weak force, they lack a unified command, and if they want to cooperate with us, the results may not be too ideal." ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, I have thought about all the problems you have mentioned." Stalin confidently stated: "I intend to appoint Comrade Ponomarenko as the first secretary of the Central Committee of Belarus; And your chief of staff, Malinin, is the chief of staff of the Central Command of the Belarusian partisan movement. Do you have any different opinions on this? ”

Hearing Stalin's arrangement, Rokossovsky, even if he was dissatisfied in his heart, could only reply stubbornly: "No, Comrade Stalin." I completely agree with your arrangement, and it is very appropriate for you to arrange such an arrangement. ”

Putting down the phone, Rokossovsky stretched out his hand to Ponomarenko with a smile on his face and said in a friendly manner: "Comrade Ponomarenko, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to you!" ”

"Congratulations to me?" Ponomarenko did not hear what Stalin said on the phone at all, so he looked at Rokossovsky in confusion and asked: "Comrade commander, what do you mean by this, you have confused me?" ”

"Just a few minutes ago, the Supreme Commander himself appointed you as the first secretary of the Central Committee of Belarus, and the official appointment should be issued soon." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he stretched out his hand to the other party again: "Please accept my sincere congratulations to you!" ”

After hearing clearly about his newly appointed position, Ponomarenko suddenly smiled, he quickly got up, stretched out his hands and only held Rokossovsky's hand, and thanked him with great emotion: "Thank you, thank you!" ”

The rest of the Front's chiefs, who were sitting at the table, also stood up and extended their hands to him to congratulate him, hearing that Ponomarenko had been appointed to a new post by the High Command.

"In addition to Comrade Ponomarenko, the Supreme Commander himself has also made a new appointment to Chief of Staff Malinin," Rokossovsky turned his gaze to Malinin to the side, and said with a smile: "Comrade Malinin has also been appointed Chief of Staff of the Central Command of the Belarusian Partisan Movement. ”

Having dealt with the internal affairs of the Front Command, Rokossovsky drove to the operational area of the 50th Army. When his convoy came to the vicinity of the headquarters of the army group, it was stopped by the commanders and fighters on duty.

The commander at the checkpoint was a lieutenant, and he had obviously not received the news that the troops had been assigned to the command of the Central Front, so after Rokossovsky identified himself, he still put on a businesslike appearance: "I'm sorry, General Rokossovsky, our commander is directing the operation, and I have no right to let you go until I get an order from my superiors." ”

Seeing that the lieutenant was so stubborn, the adjutant sitting in the co-pilot seat became angry: "Comrade lieutenant, don't you know that your group army has been officially assigned to the command of our Central Front?" You have to think clearly, deliberately making things difficult for your superiors will be sent to a military court......"

Before he could finish speaking, Rokossovsky had already patted him on the shoulder from behind and interrupted him from behind: "Adjutant, don't say it, this comrade lieutenant is doing the right thing, he is doing his duty." After saying that, he pushed the car door and got out of the car, walked up to the lieutenant, and asked amiably, "Comrade lieutenant, I wonder if you can call your superiors and see if he will allow us to pass?" ”

The lieutenant hurriedly raised his hand to his forehead and said in a somewhat flustered manner: "Comrade General, please wait a moment, and I will go and call the officer on duty to see if they allow you to pass." ”

The lieutenant ran briskly into the duty booth on the side of the road, picked up the telephone hanging on the wall, dialed the duty room, and said to the officer on duty urgently: "...... The commander of the Front, General Rokossovsky, arrived, wondering whether he should be allowed to enter the defense zone? ”

"Fool, you big fool?" When the officer on duty heard the lieutenant's report, he immediately yelled at him: "Since you know that he is the commander of the front army, what are you still stopping him from, don't let him go quickly!" ”

The lieutenant put down the phone, came to Rokossovsky in a cold sweat, and said with an embarrassed expression: "Comrade commander of the front, I'm sorry for delaying your trip, you can go now." ”

Rokossovsky's motorcade drove past the checkpoint, and when it came to the vicinity of the headquarters of the army group, he saw the commander of the army group, Borkin, who was already waiting at the gate with a group of personnel from the headquarters.

As soon as the convoy stopped, Borkin trotted over to Rokossovsky's car and opened the door for him. Rokossovsky shook hands with the other party and asked with a smile: "Comrade Borkin, how is your situation here?" ”

"Fighting, Comrade Commander." Borkin replied respectfully.

"Tell me more about it." To this answer of his, Rokossovsky was a little dissatisfied.

"Please come with me inside, Comrade Commander." Borkin smiled and said, "I'll let my chief of staff report back to you in detail." ”

The group walked into the headquarters, and the chief of staff of the army group briefed Rokossovsky and Terekin about the current situation in the troops: "... In order to expand the landing ground on the right bank of the Sozh River, our troops are fighting and have already captured Krichev, Tsirikov and numerous settlements. … The troops on the right flank, who also managed to cross the Pronian River and entered into battles with the German units that carried out a counter-assault from the direction of Mogilev......"

After Rokossovsky and other chiefs of staff briefed them on the situation, they asked Borkin with concern: "Comrade General, do you have any difficulties now?" ”

"There must be difficulties," Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Borkin immediately nodded and said: "After a long battle, my troops are seriously understaffed, if the superiors can supplement us ......" As soon as he said this, he found that Rokossovsky's face was not harmonious, so he quickly changed the topic, "Of course, if the superiors are in difficulty and cannot replenish the troops for us, then I also hope to replenish a batch of shells for us." Due to the severe shortage of artillery shells, the troops advanced at a slower pace. ”

"I see," Rokossovsky waited for Borkin to finish speaking, then nodded, "I will tell Antipenko about your situation, and ask him to replenish the ammunition and various military supplies needed for your troops as soon as possible." ”

"Great, that's great." When Borkin heard Rokossovsky say this, his face suddenly showed joy, and after he glanced at the chief of staff next to him, he said excitedly: "Our army group has been for almost a week, and we have not received any supplements. I'm still thinking today that if we don't get reinforcements from our superiors, we'll have to stop the attack for the time being. ”

"You can't stop attacking." Rokossovsky once again addressed him: "I will ask the logistics department of the Front to replenish you with the necessary ammunition and supplies as soon as possible." ”

"Comrade commander, you must be hungry after such a long journey." After receiving Rokossovsky's promise, Borkin said enthusiastically: "Anyway, it's time for lunch, so it's better to stay here and eat a little." ”

When the table was full of food and everyone around the table was immersed in hard food, Borkin asked Rokossovsky tentatively: "Comrade commander, I heard that the 13th and 60th armies were assigned to the command of the Voronezh Front?" ”

"That's right, General Borkin, you're well-informed." Rokossovsky said with a wry smile: "The Supreme Command has indeed assigned our two army groups to the command of friendly forces, so that our area of operations has changed, the original right wing troops have become the left wing, and the three new army groups you have joined have become the new right wing. ”

"Comrade Commander, I want to ask." Borkin cautiously asked: "Since these two group armies have been transferred, how are the technical equipment originally assigned to them placed?" ”

Hearing Borkin's question, Rokossovsky turned his head to look at Terekin beside him and smiled at him. Immediately, Rokossovsky said to Borkin: "Since the left flank of our front, which is the main direction of the offensive, a large amount of technical equipment is deployed there. However, it is no longer our combat area, and the technical equipment that was originally attached there will be redeployed. He guessed Borkin's thoughts, and deliberately paused for a moment before he said slowly, "I will consider deploying some of them in your combat area." ”