Just when there was chaos in the command, Malinin, who had just answered a phone call, walked up to Rokossovsky and reported to him with a serious expression: "Comrade commander, I have just received a call from Lieutenant Colonel Mlakintsev, the commander of the cadet mixed regiment, and in their area several commanders of our army, who are said to have broken through from the direction of Vyazma. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"Breaking through from the direction of Vyazma?" After listening to Malinin's report, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be stunned, knowing that the troops in this area surrounded by the German army had been completely annihilated by the Germans as early as a month earlier, and even the commander of the 19th Army, General Lukin, was captured. He was silent for a moment, and then asked rhetorically: "Did Lieutenant Colonel Mlagintsev say who the commander who entered their defense zone was?" ”

"General Borkin and several of his officers." Malinin replied briefly.

"It's General Borkin." When Rokossovsky heard this name, he couldn't help but smile on his face, and hurriedly ordered Malinin, "Call back Lieutenant Colonel Mlakintsev and ask him to ask General Borkin to come to my headquarters." ”

An hour later, General Borkin and several of his men walked into Rokossovsky's headquarters. After a brief exchange of pleasantries between the two, Borkin asked with a confused expression: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I don't understand why there is chaos in your defense zone. Quite a few troops voluntarily abandoned their defensive positions, but it didn't take long for them to return again? ”

"That's right, General Borkin." Rokossovsky replied with a wry smile: "Due to the heavy losses of my troops in the recent battles, there is no longer any surplus force for in-depth deployment. So I intend to withdraw the troops to the area of the Istrian reservoirs, where a new defense will be created. Our application was approved by the High Command, so I gave the troops an order to retreat after dark. Unexpectedly, our transfer had just begun, but the commander of the Front, Comrade Zhukov, ordered the order to retreat to be canceled. ”

After Borkin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, he said with some surprise: "Isn't the commander of the front General Konev, when was it replaced by General Zhukov?" ”

Rokossovsky glanced at Borkin with strange eyes, and was about to ask him why he didn't even know about such a major event as the replacement of the commander of the Front, when he suddenly remembered that the troops surrounded in Vyazma had long lost contact with their superiors and did not know that the change of commander was normal, so he explained to Borkin: "After the main force of the Front Army fell under the siege of the German army in the Vyazma area, the Supreme Command appointed General Zhukov as the new commander. General Konev, on the other hand, was transferred to the north in the direction of Kalinin as commander of the newly formed Kalinin Front. ”

After a brief introduction to the front, Rokossovsky asked rhetorically: "General Borkin, how did you escape from the German encirclement?" ”

"Well, don't mention it." Borkin sighed and said: "The troops of the Western Front and the Reserve Front, which were under siege west of Vyazma, were fighting separately because they lost contact with their superiors, and then they were wiped out by the Germans one by one. Commanders and fighters who were lucky, managed to break through to the east and go in search of their own troops. There are also some people like me, who take a small number of troops and fight guerrilla attacks in the nearby forests, and then try to break out of the enemy's encirclement. ”

Hearing that General Borkin had escaped from the enemy's encirclement, Lobachev, who had been outside to do political agitation work for the commanders and fighters, returned to the headquarters. After shaking hands with Borkin, he asked with concern: "Hello, General Borkin, it's a pleasure to see you here." Don't know if you have news of my old partner? ”

Borkin, who was quite happy to see Lobachev's old friend, immediately sank when he heard his question, and he shook his head and said: "I was with Comrade Lukin, who was seriously wounded, but one night at the beginning of this month, when I broke through to the east with a small number of commanders and fighters, I was near the German army. After a short battle, we were scattered. When I got to a safe place, I found that Comrade Lukin was missing. ”

"What, gone?" Lobachev reached out and grabbed Borkin's arm, shook it vigorously and asked loudly: "Didn't you go back to him?" ”

"Of course I did." Borkin nodded vigorously and said, "I returned to the forest where the battle took place the next day with a dozen commanders and fighters. Every body in the place was carefully examined, but, regrettably, no Comrade Lukin was found. All I guess he was either carried in other directions by other fighters or captured by the Germans. ”

"No, no." Lobachev yelled at Borkin: "I know Comrade Lukin, he would rather shoot himself in the head than be a prisoner of the Germans." ”

Among the many commanders present, only Rokossovsky, who has the memory of later generations, knows the whereabouts of Lukin at this moment, he was captured by the Germans because he was wounded and unconscious. In order to make Lobachev less agitated, he coughed lightly, and then said: "Comrade Military Commissar, with what I know about General Lukin, as long as he is awake, he will never be taken prisoner by the Germans. However, if he is seriously injured and unconscious, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not be captured. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's analysis, Lobachev let go of his grip on Borkin's hands, sat down on the stool in a gloomy manner, and said with a look of chagrin: "Comrade commander, maybe you are right, maybe Comrade Lukin was really captured by the Germans because he was seriously wounded. If he could stay awake, he would definitely save the last bullet to himself. ”

In order to comfort Lobachev, Rokossovsky said: "In this case, Comrade Military Commissar, I plan to send a few scouts to go deep behind enemy lines to find out about General Lukin. See if he was sacrificed or captured. (To be continued.) )