Under the guidance of the officer, Tang Shaohua came to the door of the reception room of the headquarters. The officer, who was almost sitting at the table at the door, stood up and saluted, and he raised his hand to push open the two tall wooden doors.

In the reception room, only Maslov and Fedyuninsky sat at the table and chatted. Hearing the door, the two turned their heads at the same time, and when they saw that it was Tang Shaohua, the two stood up one after another.

Seeing Feyeninsky standing in the room, Tang Shaohua couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart, hurriedly walked a few steps, held the other party's hand, and said excitedly: "Hello, dear Ivan Ivanovich!" You are welcome to my headquarters. You may be seated. With that, he stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation.

Maslov saw that the two old friends were about to start reminiscing, and in order not to disturb them, he went to the door and ordered the officer on duty to bring Rokossovsky a cup of tea. But after the officer left, he was surprised to find that the officer he had sent to Rokossovsky was still standing straight next to him, and could not help but ask curiously: "Comrade second lieutenant, is there anything you have to do?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." When the second lieutenant heard Maslov ask, he hurriedly reported what he had just seen.

After hearing this, Maslov immediately turned back to the room, walked to Tang Shaohua's side, leaned down and asked, "Comrade commander, I heard that when you drove out, you were harassed by the traffic police on the road, is there such a thing?" Seeing that Tang Shaohua nodded to indicate anything, he continued to say, "Do you need me to call the director of the police bureau and ask him to deal with this matter seriously?" ”

Tang Shaohua hurriedly waved his hand and said disapprerovingly: "No need, Comrade Chief of Staff, you can't blame that little policeman for this, he didn't make a mistake, it's all to blame me for not obeying the traffic rules, and it's normal to be inspected." Thinking that the things he was going to talk about with Fedyuninsky later were all confidential, he didn't want more people to know, so he said euphemistically, "I want to talk to Comrade Fedyuninsky about something, you see, are you going to avoid it?" ”

Maslov nodded understandingly, took the teacup from the hand of the officer who happened to walk in, carefully placed it in front of Tang Shaohua, and then turned around and walked out of the reception room.

When only Tang Shaohua and the two of them were left in the reception room, Fedyuninsky looked around a little nervously. Tang Shaohua guessed what the other party was worried about, and hurriedly comforted him and said, "Don't worry, there is no bugging installed here, and no third person will know about our conversation." ”

The initial conversation took place in an unpleasant, oppressive atmosphere. Although Fedyuninsky once again reiterated his belief that the Soviets and Germans would fight, he expressed his own concerns about Rokossovsky's proposal for joint operations. He said worriedly: "Dear Konstantin Konstantinovich, have you forgotten all about what happened in the past few years? You must know that without the permission of the superiors, the two commanders at the military level discussed the matter of joint operations behind closed doors, and once it is known to the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, then what kind of fate will the two of us face, I will not say, you should also know it. ”

"Fedyuninsky, if you don't discuss these things now, when are you going to discuss them?" Tang Shaohua said with some displeasure: "Do you really have to wait for the Germans to fight in front of us before we sit down and discuss?" ”

"I think even if we wait for the Germans to come in and then discuss it, it will be better than discussing it now." Fedyuninsky muttered.

Hearing Fedyuninsky say this, Tang Shaohua was so angry that his face turned green, he gritted his back molars and said: "Comrade Fedyuninsky, we have been friends for more than ten years, what kind of person am I, I think you should know very well in your heart, will I be deliberately trying to harm you?" Because of the excitement, the original title has also changed from an intimate "you" to a polite and distant "you".

Tang Shaohua's words made Fedyuninsky hesitate. Before today, I had repeatedly thought about whether to cooperate with Rokossovsky for a few days, but I still did not come to a final result, after all, this matter was known by my superiors, and I would definitely be reprimanded; Even if it is done in private, if it is detected by the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, then you will immediately be imprisoned, and even your life will be in danger.

They are all friends who have been fighting for more than ten years, and Fedyuninsky's trust in Rokossovsky is still from the heart, otherwise he would not have personally come to Zhytomyr to run this trip after repeated and careful consideration.

He looked at Tang Shaohua with a serious expression and asked solemnly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, when do you think the war between us and the Germans will break out?" ”

"Up to a month." Tang Shaohua swallowed back the date of June 22 that had already come to his lips, and said vaguely: "Judging from all indications, the Germans will attack us before July. ”

"Ah, before July?!" When Fedyuninsky heard Tang Shaohua say this, he jumped up from his seat in surprise, and after staring at Tang Shaohua for a while, he began to circle around the reception room with his hands behind his back.

After walking for a while, he stopped, turned his head and asked Tang Shaohua: "Comrade Rokossovsky, is what you said true?" ”

"Comrade Fedyuninsky, I swear by the honor of my own military man that what I just said will most likely become a reality." Tang Shaohua said in a sincere tone: "Please believe me, since I fell on the day of the exercise, I suddenly had a bad premonition. It was as if I had seen millions of German soldiers, armed to the teeth, under the command of thousands of officers and hundreds of generals, violently crossing the national border and rushing into the depths of our motherland. ”

Fedyuninsky stood there in a daze, and it took a while for him to digest what he had just heard. He sat down in his chair weakly, looked at Tang Shaohua and asked weakly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, tell me your plans." ”

Tang Shaohua got up and walked to a filing cabinet next to him, opened the cabinet door and took out a folded map. After opening it, it was spread in front of Fedyuninsky, and then he pointed to the map and said: "According to my estimates, once war breaks out, the task of our Ninth Mechanized Corps will definitely be to follow the route of this exercise, to drive towards Cowell, to block the enemy who is rushing over. And the task of your army is most likely to take over the defense of our army and build a new defensive position here. ”

Fedyuninsky thought for a moment and felt that what Rokossovsky said was very reasonable, so he nodded, and then asked: "And then, Comrade Rokossovsky, can I do something for you?" ”

"I think you should understand the current situation of our two armies." Tang Shaohua did not immediately answer his question, but instead turned the topic to the equipment of the two armies: "Not only is the number of tanks, armored vehicles, and automobiles seriously insufficient, but even the weapons in the hands of commanders and fighters are only about one-third. There are several defense warehouses near Zhytomyr, which contain enough ammunition to equip several armies, but we will not get any replenishment from this place until we have the approval of the defense committee. ”

Hearing this, Fedyuninsky seemed to have guessed Rokossovsky's thoughts, so he couldn't help but interject and ask: "What do you mean, do you mean that after the war starts, we will send troops to take over these warehouses and use the weapons and ammunition in them to arm all our troops." ”

"That's right, that's it, dear Ivan Ivanovich." Seeing that Fedyuninsky was so understanding, Tang Shaohua was excited, but unconsciously changed his name. "My plan was this, as soon as I collected all the cars and fuel in the storehouse and armed the fighters with enough weapons, I immediately drove on Cowill. As soon as we leave, you lead your troops to take over these warehouses and drop weapons into the hands of each warrior. If there was any surplus, a part was distributed to the workers of the factories and organized into workers' pickets to maintain law and order in the city. And your troops, you should build the necessary fortifications near Zhytomyr, and when we can't hold it in front, you can withdraw to Zhytomyr to continue the defense. ”

Although Tang Shaohua has already said this, Fedyuninsky still has scruples: "But without the consent of the National Defense Committee, we will take over these warehouses without authorization, is it appropriate?" ”

After hearing this, Tang Shaohua smiled and said: "Do you think that before the outbreak of war, the Germans would not have engaged in any small actions, such as assassination, poisoning, blasting or sabotage of military communication lines?" ”

Fedyuninsky is also a smart person, and when he heard Tang Shaohua say this, his heart suddenly brightened. He solemnly suggested to the other side: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I think there should be a special radio station for communication between our two armies. In this way, even if the situation you mentioned does occur, we will be able to maintain normal contact in the event of the destruction of military telephone lines. ”

"That's right, Comrade Fedyuninsky, you are very thoughtful." Tang Shaohua looked at Fedyuninsky, nodded approvingly, and then said: "I will send a communications squad tomorrow to carry the radio to your army." Externally, they claim that they are coming to you to exchange and learn, so as not to arouse the suspicion of others. Of course, I won't let them stay in your army indefinitely. If war doesn't break out in July, let them come back. ”

Tang Shaohua may not have thought that this secret conversation between him and Fedyuninsky actually invisibly changed the local situation on the battlefield in Ukraine after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, and the fate of countless commanders and fighters who died or were captured in real history also changed.