Looking at Starley's departing back, Mikhailov asked with some concern: "Comrade commander, can these newly contained troops hold their positions?" After he had finished asking, he hesitantly added, "Many of them must have been frightened by the Germans, and if they were to waver in battle, it might affect the other fighters." Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"Comrade Colonel, you are thinking too much." Rokossovsky did not hesitate to refute Mikhailov's suspicions: "These commanders and fighters were simply disrupted by the enemy's tanks and planes and lost their unified leadership. But they were not intimidated by the enemy, but still stubbornly searched for the possibility of uniting. Having been defeated by the enemy, they now crave to fight, hoping to wash away their shame through new battles. And that's where we can take advantage of that. to intensify the formation of our combat clusters. ”

At this moment, the phone on the table rang, and Tarasov grabbed the phone casually, and after listening to it for a while, the expression on his face became serious. Seeing his reaction, Rokossovsky couldn't help frowning slightly, and asked coldly: "Chief of Staff, what's wrong?" ”

Tarasov hurriedly covered the microphone with his hand and replied: "Comrade commander, the call came from Colonel Kirillov, who said that two divisions of troops had just entered their positions, and the two division commanders were in his command at the moment. ”

Hearing that the two new divisions had arrived, Rokossovsky's eyebrows raised and he asked excitedly: "What is the number of the troops, and how many people are there?" He secretly calculated in his heart that as long as he had the troops of these two divisions, he would be able to deploy a second line of defense west of Yaltsevo and block the German attack with more certainty.

Unexpectedly, when Tarasov heard his question, a crying and laughing expression appeared on his face, and he replied: "Both are infantry divisions, one of them has 260 people, and the other one has even fewer people, less than two hundred." ”

"What, what, Comrade Chief of Staff, what did you just say? I didn't hear clearly," Rokossovsky's first reaction when he heard Tarasov's data was that he had misheard, "can you say it again?" ”

When Tarasov reported the number of troops again, Rokossovsky fell silent. He originally thought that with two more divisions, he would have sufficient troops to establish a second line of defense, but he did not expect that these two divisions were only left with an empty shelf, and the total number of people was barely equivalent to an infantry battalion, and if only the combat personnel were counted, it was estimated that even a hundred people would not be enough. Thinking of this, he said to Tarasov in disappointment: "Chief of Staff, since this is the case, you can tell Colonel Kirillov to let these two divisions stay in his defense zone and be under his unified command." ”

"Yes!" After Tarasov loudly agreed, he let go of the hand covering the microphone and said loudly: "Colonel, the commander ordered, let those two divisions stay in your defense area and be under your unified command." ”

Carmela leaned closer to Rokossovsky and whispered: "Koschika, this is not good, if the superiors do not replenish us with enough troops in time, the enemy will soon find out that we have weak forces here, and then concentrate on launching a fierce attack on us, and then we will not be able to stop them." ”

"You have a point, Comrade Carmela." Rokossovsky agreed: "We cannot only carry out a purely passive defense, but also launch an offensive against the enemy." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, the muscles in Carmela's face twitched violently a few times, and then asked: "Attack?" With what forces and where to attack? ”

Rokossovsky turned his head to look at Carmela, and then said: "As long as the German army is weak, we can attack." As for the troops, it doesn't take much, and an infantry battalion reinforced with tanks is enough. ”

"What?" Carmela had just sat down, and when she heard Rokossovsky say this, she immediately jumped up from her seat and said loudly: "Oh my God, comrade commander, are you crazy?" Have you forgotten that one of our battalions went to attack Dukhovshina and fell into the trap of the enemy, and if it had not been for the tank battalion to rescue it, the whole army would have been wiped out. ”

"These are two different things." To dispel Carmela's doubts, Rokossovsky explained: "The attack on Dukhovshina is just to expand our defensive zone outward. By attack, I mean sending a force to attack the weak points of the German army, so that they cannot concentrate their forces and launch an all-out attack on our defense area, while holding on to the existing defensive line and containing the German forces. ”

"But where did we just get such troops?" After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Carmela was still unsure: "At least we can't draw manpower from the 38th Infantry Division and the 101st Tank Division, and their current strength is only enough to defend the existing defensive line." ”

"Don't worry, General Carmela." Rokossovsky naturally understood that it was unrealistic to draw troops from the existing two divisions to form an assault force, but since his plan had already been put forward and there was absolutely no possibility of retracting it, he could only stubbornly say: "I will find a way to find other troops from other places to carry out this arduous task." ”

Lieutenant Starley, having completed the task of bringing the new unit to the position on the right flank, returned to the command and returned to Rokossovsky. After committing him a few words, Rokossovsky suddenly asked: "Comrade lieutenant, I wonder if you heard anything when you were sheltering the troops, and do you know where there are still formed units of our army?" ”

Having heard Rokossovsky's question, Lieutenant Starley thought for a moment, and then said seriously: "Comrade commander, to the south of us I did not find any formed troops. ”

Although Rokossovsky had expected this to be the reply, he sighed in disappointment when he actually heard Starley say it. Turning to Carmela, he said, "Comrade Carmela, since there are no suitable troops in the vicinity, it seems that we just need to send someone to Vyazma to have a look, and maybe we can find the troops we want from there." ”

Carmela was about to speak, when Starley suddenly interjected: "Comrade commander, I have not finished my words, although in the process of containing the troops, I have not found any formed units of our army. But on our way back, we came across a convoy transporting the wounded, and from the mouth of a wounded commander, I learned about it. ”

"What's the situation?" Hearing Starley say this, Rokossovsky seemed to see a glimmer of light in the darkness, and hurriedly urged: "Hurry up and listen!" ”

Starley nodded, then said, "The wounded commander is from a mixed detachment. Their task was to act in the rear of the 16th and 20th armies, responsible for the defense of various crossings of the Dnieper. As a result of the intensive air assault on the crossing and their battle formations, the troops suffered heavy casualties and were now preparing to move eastward. ”

Rokossovsky did not wait for him to finish, and could not wait to ask: "What is the name of the commander of the mixed detachment?" How many troops are there at present? ”

"The commander told me that the commander of the mixed detachment was Colonel Lidyukov," Starley continued: "He was a commander with excellent ideas, and although in his defense zone there were always unexpected situations that occurred, he always managed to deal with them calmly. ”

"Colonel Lidyukov?" Rokossovsky, after repeating the name, turned to Carmela and said: "I knew before the war a commander with this name, he was the commander of the 37th tank division, which was part of the mechanized Fifth Army. ”

"Maybe it's just a duplicate name." After speaking briefly, Carmela asked Starley curiously: "Comrade lieutenant, did the wounded commander tell you what Colonel Lidyukov's real and patronymic names were?" ”

Starley shook his head and said with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, I didn't ask about this. But they should be coming towards us tonight or tomorrow day. ”

Rokossovsky grabbed Starey's arm and anxiously asked: "Comrade lieutenant, do you know their specific marching route?" ”

Starley nodded again, then pointed to the map and said, "According to the commander, their mixed detachment will retreat along this route to the direction of Vyazma, and build a defensive line there to hold on. ”

"Great, that's great." It was really a pillow that someone had just fallen asleep, and Rokossovsky said to Carmela: "I personally took people to wait for Lidyukov on the road, and tried to keep his mixed detachment in my combat group." ”

"No, it's too dangerous outside," Carmela immediately objected, "You'd better stay here and command the troops." I'll do the things that greet the mixed detachment. ”

If something else, Rokossovsky might have gone with the flow, but in the case of an urgent need for manpower, to recruit a strong fighting force, in order to show enough sincerity, he still decided to go out in person, so he stubbornly said: "I should go myself, so that Lidyukov will be more sure of staying." ”

Rokossovsky, with Starey and a squad of guards, rode to the place where the mixed detachment could pass. In order to prevent the target from being exposed, Rokossovsky asked the fighters to park their cars in the forest, and he and Starley went to a position at the edge of the forest where they could clearly see the situation on the road, and patiently waited for the mixed detachment to appear.

Time passed unconsciously, and after it was completely dark, except for the scattered stragglers and a few refugees, there were no formed troops passing by. In this case, Starey could not help but be a little anxious, he was deeply afraid that if the mixed detachment did not appear, Rokossovsky would blame himself.

Seeing Starley, who was restless next to him, Rokossovsky guessed what was on his mind, and comforted him: "Lieutenant, don't be impatient, we are waiting here to form a mixed detachment, in fact, to a large extent, it is a gamble of luck." Seeing Starey's puzzled look, he further explained, "Even if Colonel Lidyukov decides to lead his troops along this road and retreat to the Vyazma area, there may be a lot of things happening on the way, which will cause them to change their route or be taken in by other field troops. ”

After hearing this, Starley said with some regret: "So, didn't we run in vain this trip?" ”

"Even if the mixed detachment doesn't come, our trip will not be in vain." Rokossovsky pointed to the sporadic fighters passing by on the road with his hand and said to Starley: "Don't you see so many fighters passing by? What are you still doing in a daze, and you don't bring people to contain, so that even if we can't wait for Colonel Lidyukov, we can contain hundreds of fighters back. ”

"Okay, I'll go." Starley said yes loudly, and ran out of the forest with two guards at a brisk pace.

Rokossovsky sat still, his eyes along the west side of the road, and he wondered with trepidation, is this Lidyukov really coming back? Won't his troops change their route halfway to avoid the enemy? Or maybe his detachment was discovered by the commanders of other units and left them behind.

After waiting for more than an hour, Starley, who went out to contain the troops, could be said to have gained a lot. There were only three of them when they went out, and when they returned, they were followed by at least two hundred people. He walked up to Rokossovsky with a quick walk and reported with emotion: "Comrade commander, I have returned, we have taken in a total of 217 people. ”

"Well done, Comrade Lieutenant." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he pointed to the depths of the dark forest behind him and said, "First arrange for them to go inside to rest for a while, and when the mixed detachment comes, we will leave together." ”

Just as Starley beckoned the newly contained commanders and fighters to walk deeper into the forest, several lights suddenly appeared on the west side of the road. Starley's sharp eyes spotted it at once, and he pointed to Rokossovsky in the distance: "Comrade commander, look, there are several motorcycles, I don't know if they are scouts sent by a mixed detachment to explore the way." ”

Rokossovsky stared at the lights in the distance, and then instructed Starley: "Lieutenant, you personally take someone to the highway to see who is coming." ”

"Yes, I'll go right away." Starley promised to leave, but was stopped by Rokossovsky.

Rokossovsky told him: "Lieutenant, this is wartime, and these motorcyclists are very vigilant when driving at night, and if you stop them, they may be shot at." So when you come later, you must pay attention to your own safety. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Rokossovsky's concern warmed Starley's heart, and he resisted the sour feeling in his nose and replied: "I will take care of safety." (To be continued.) )