On the way to Moscow, Rokossovsky looked out the window, and in the direction of Moscow at this time, it was already difficult to see the fleeing refugees. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info On the other hand, a large group of men and horses can be seen approaching, and in addition to the infantry platoon on the roadside, you can see trucks transporting supplies, artillery trucks towing artillery, and a limited number of tanks.

Rokossovsky was very relieved to see these huge contingents passing by his car and heading for the battlefield, because he knew in his heart that these troops would soon be scattered to various sections of the defense line along one fork in the road, and the comparison of the forces of the enemy and us would gradually become balanced by the strength of the enemy and our weakness.

"How could the high command move troops in broad daylight, weren't they afraid of being attacked by the Germans?" Looking at the endless stream of troops outside, Lobachev muttered quietly.

When Rokossovsky heard Lobachev's words, he immediately tilted his head and looked at the sky through the car window, only to see that it was a cloudless and sunny day with extremely high visibility, and he couldn't help but say to himself: "Perhaps the high command feels that the situation at the front is too unfavorable for our army, so it will take the risk of transferring troops in broad daylight." ”

"Comrade Commander, have you heard?" Lobachev turned his head to look at Rokossovsky, and said in a low voice: "General Zhukov is ready to launch a devastating counterattack against the German army in the next few days, completely crushing their offensive, defeating them and driving them away from the vicinity of Moscow. ”

Hearing this, Rokossovsky withdrew his attention from the window, turned his head to look at Lobachev, and asked with some surprise: "Comrade Military Commissar, where did you get your news?" ”

"It was Comrade Bulganin who called me yesterday at noon," Lobachev said with some nervousness, "and he said that if it were not for the fact that our defense area was being attacked by the Germans, perhaps the order for a counteroffensive would have been given to us a long time ago." ”

"It's better not to counterattack or not to counterattack." After Rokossovsky said this, he was deeply afraid that Lobachev would not understand, and explained to him: "In front of our 316th Infantry Division, the Germans, in addition to deploying several infantry divisions, also have two well-equipped armored divisions, and we are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength and the number of tanks and artillery. Not to mention the fact that the enemy still has air supremacy on the battlefield, and it is tantamount to suicide for us to launch a counteroffensive in such a situation. ”

"Enemy planes!" The driver, who was driving, suddenly shouted, then half-turned around and asked Rokossovsky, who was sitting in the back seat: "Comrade commander, do we need to drive into the woods on the side of the road to hide?" ”

Hearing this, Rokossovsky hurriedly looked into the sky, only to see a German biplane flying overhead. After seeing the enemy plane clearly, his heart was also steady, and he hurriedly said to the driver: "No need to hide, it's a German reconnaissance plane, keep moving forward!" ”

The jeep drove forward for another dozen kilometers, and the marching team suddenly disappeared, and the whole road became empty. Lobachev sighed and said: "It seems that our troops are still too small, and I estimate that the troops that have just passed are only two or three divisions, and it is still far from enough to shorten the gap with the enemy in terms of strength." ”

Just when Lobachev was disappointed, the driver suddenly turned around again and said in surprise to the two commanders sitting in the back row: "Look, there is cavalry in front!" ”

Rokossovsky hurriedly looked forward through the windshield of the car, and saw a cavalry in front of him, which was slowly approaching along the road in three columns. Lobachev carefully looked at the cavalry passing by the window of the car, and said with sophistication: "Comrade commander, this should be a cavalry from West Asia. ”

Lobachev's words could not help but arouse Rokossovsky's curiosity: "Comrade Military Commissar, how did you tell that they were cavalrymen from West Asia?" ”

"It's easy!" Lobachev pointed to the cavalry and said: "Although they are wearing black cloaks, they are wearing cotton uniforms of color and style, which are different from the cavalry we usually see. Seeing that Rokossovsky kept nodding his head in agreement with his analysis, he added, "You see, these horses slip from time to time during their journey, because the temperature has dropped sharply recently, the land has been frozen, and ice slag has appeared on the road, which has caused certain difficulties for the horses that have not changed their winter horseshoe." ”

The cavalry queue was long, and it took at least five minutes for the jeep to pass through the section of the march with cavalry and enter the approach to Moscow. Here, Rokossovsky saw tens of thousands of people wielding shovels digging trenches and anti-tank trenches, people of all ages, but mainly women in headscarves.

"What's going on there?" Lobachev pointed to a section of anti-tank trench and said strangely: "How can I see a group of people crowded there, and they are still in a crowd." ”

Rokossovsky looked in the direction of his finger and saw forty or fifty women huddled together in a section of anti-tank trench on the left side of the road, still making noise. Next to the trench was a quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun, and several fighters in steel helmets were pointing at the group.

"Stop!" Seeing this, Rokossovsky knew that something must have happened, and hurriedly ordered the driver to stop, and then said to Lobachev: "Comrade Military Commissar, let's go and see what happened." ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky and Lobachev got out of the car, the guards who were sitting in the two jeeps behind immediately got out of the car and followed the two towards the anti-tank trench.

Rokossovsky pushed aside the crowd in front of him, walked into the circle of people, and asked loudly: "What happened?" His voice was so loud that it silenced the voices of the women who were making a fuss. Everyone turned their heads and saw a general standing in front of them, and they stopped talking.

"Comrades women," Lobachev asked aloud as he squeezed to Rokossovsky's side, "can any of you tell me what is going on." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt someone hug his thigh. He looked down and saw an old man half-lying on the ground, holding his legs tightly with his hands. Seeing that the old man's face was blue and swollen, and the black tweed coat he was wearing was also torn to tatters, he couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Uncle, what's wrong with you, who beat you like this?" ”

The old man lifted his face that had been beaten into a pig's head, raised his head at the women standing around, and said indistinctly, "They beat it!" ”

Lobachev didn't know why, and hurriedly asked an elderly woman standing next to him: "Comrade women, what the hell is going on here, why are you beating him like this?" ”

The elderly woman pointed to the old man on the ground and said angrily: "Comrade commander, you don't know, just now there was a German plane that scattered a bunch of leaflets on us. He picked one up and looked at it in the corner for a long time, then shouted at us: 'Comrades women, run away, the German tanks will arrive soon, and if you don't run, you will die.' ’”

As soon as the old lady finished speaking, a chorus sounded around her: "That's right, that's right, it's he who spread rumors, saying that the Germans' tanks are coming soon, let us escape." ”

"We must not spare such rumor-mongers. Sisters, shoot him! ”

Under the raging crowd, several people stepped forward to punch and kick the old man, making him scream again and again.

"Alright," Rokossovsky hurriedly beckoned to the fighters behind him, stepped forward to stop the women who were in a state of madness, and then said loudly: "Comrades women, sisters, since this man is a rumor-monger, then he should be sent to the command headquarters and let the person in charge there deal with him, and you should continue to work." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, although no one around him spoke, no one left, and they all looked at Rokossovsky with their eyes to see what he would do with the old man.

"Comrade warrior, please come here." Seeing that the scene was at a stalemate, Lobachev hurriedly waved at several anti-aircraft machine gunners standing above the trench, "We need your help for something." ”

Hearing Lobachev's call, two anti-aircraft machine gunners immediately jumped into the trench and came over. When Rokossovsky and the other two fighters stood in front of him, he asked them: "Comrade fighters, do you know where the command is?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." One of the fighters replied respectfully: "About a kilometer to the east, there is a building headquarters, where there is a commander sent by the superiors. ”

Rokossovsky pointed at the old man with his hand and instructed the two: "Since you know where the command is located, then I will hand him over to you, and you will send him to the command to receive the punishment he deserves." ”

In response to Rokossovsky's orders, the anti-aircraft machine gunners were a little hesitant. The soldier who had just spoken said euphemistically: "Comrade General, our duty is air defense, and it seems that it is not our turn to take care of such things. ”

Hearing what the fighters said, Rokossovsky immediately understood why there was such a big commotion here just now, and several anti-aircraft machine gunners had no intention of coming to help, it turned out that they thought that this matter should not be taken care of by themselves, so they stood aside and watched the excitement as if nothing happened.

"You, comrade warrior." After Rokossovsky and the other fighters finished speaking, they immediately pointed their fingers at him and said: "I will send my men to escort him to the headquarters, and you will be a guide for my subordinates." ”

Seeing that he could not escape, the anti-aircraft machine gunner had to reluctantly agree, and then took several of Rokossovsky's guards and escorted the rumor-mongering old man in the direction of the headquarters.

……

Upon entering the city, Rokossovsky saw white anti-aircraft airships floating over the city, large tripods used to stop the advance of tanks were dotted with roads, and barricades made of sandbags and wood were at the corners of the streets. On the sidewalks on both sides of the street, groups of residents hurriedly walked forward with their luggage in their hands.

"Comrade Commander, what do you see?" Lobachev, who was sitting on his left, suddenly asked.

"An atmosphere of panic." Rokossovsky said with a blank face: "The leaflets dropped by the enemy, as well as the Dieters mixed in with the residents, have made the whole city panic. ”

"Stop, stop!" As soon as Rokossovsky's words were finished, a shout came from outside the window: "You damned bandit, stop me!" ”

Rokossovsky looked in the direction from which the voice came and saw a man in a peaked cap and a checkered coat, carrying a pocket, rushing out of a store, followed by two elderly women. The man's movements were swift, and almost at the same time that Rokossovsky saw him, he rushed past the jeep at lightning speed, and then disappeared into an alley across the road like a frightened rabbit.

Seeing that the man had disappeared without a trace, the two women who followed him stood on the side of the road, jumping to his feet and adding all the foul language he could think of to the fleeing man.

"Comrade commander, it seems to be a robbery." The driver leaned sideways to ask Rokossovsky for his opinion, "Do we need to get out of the car to help?" ”

"No, there will naturally be the police to deal with this matter." Rokossovsky did not hesitate to refuse this offer of the driver, instructing: "We are pressed for time, we must rush to the Kremlin immediately." ”

…………

Half an hour later, the jeep came to the entrance to the Kremlin. After the driver stopped the car, he turned to Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade commander, I don't have a special pass, and the car can't drive in." ”

After Rokossovsky and Lobachev got out of the car, they were about to enter the Kremlin along the entrance under the Spassko bell tower when they were stopped by an officer on duty, who asked expressionlessly: "Comrade commanders, please show your correspondence card." ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade Second Lieutenant." Lobachev, after seeing the other side's military rank clearly, said politely: "We went to the General Staff to report to him on the orders of Marshal Shaposhnikov!" ”

After listening to this, the second lieutenant did not speak, but turned around and walked to the duty room, picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and said into the microphone: "Hey, I am here to guard the sentry. Two commanders came, saying that they were on the orders of Marshal Shaposhnikov and reported to the General Staff. ”

After listening to what the other party said, the second lieutenant covered the microphone with his hand and asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, can you tell me, who are you?" ”

"I am Lieutenant General Rokossovsky, commander of the 16th Army."

After listening to this, the second lieutenant said into the microphone: "He said that it was Rokossovsky, the commander of the 16th Army." …… Understood, and I immediately let them in. ”

After the second lieutenant put down the phone, he said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, Marshal Shaposhnikov is waiting for you in his office. Seeing that Rokossovsky and Lobachev were about to leave with their legs raised, he stretched out his hand to stop them, and said with a straight face, "Please hand over your guns, and go to the pass office to apply for a temporary pass, so as not to encounter unnecessary trouble inside." ”

Rokossovsky, who had been in and out of the Kremlin several times, knew that the second lieutenant was telling the truth, so he very cooperatively pulled out his pistol and handed it over. The second lieutenant took the pistol, wrote the number on a piece of paper, then tore it in half and gave it to Rokossovsky, and said formulaically: "Comrade General, when you come out, please receive your rifle with this note." And you, comrade political commissar of the divisional level, please hand over your matching gun. (To be continued.) )