Looking at the approaching friendly troops, the surrounding soldiers forgot to shout "Ula", Gorokhov and Borvinov were so excited that they burst into tears, thinking that the troops were not far from the destruction of the whole army, but they did not expect their superiors to send reinforcements to them in time, so that they could survive.

The infantry queue on the opposite side suddenly spread out to both sides, revealing a rumbling T-34 tank, and behind the turret stood two people, one was a communications soldier with communications equipment on his back, and the other was wearing a white camouflage suit and a gray bowler military hat in lambskin. Although he couldn't see his rank clearly, Gorokhov could guess that it must be the commander of the reinforcement unit, and hurriedly beckoned Borvinov to climb out of the trench together, and after tidying up the army, he walked over to the tank.

The tank stopped a dozen paces away from the two, and the commander jumped from it with great dexterity and strode in front of them. When all three of them raised their hands to their foreheads at the same time and saluted, Gorokhov and Bolvinov were the first to identify themselves: "I am Colonel Gorokhov (Bolvinov), commander of the 124th (149th) Infantry Brigade. ”

After the other party finished speaking, he also spoke: "I am Colonel Kochetov, commander of the 99th Infantry Division, and I am here to relieve you from the siege on the orders of General Zadov, commander of the 66th Army. After introducing his identity, Colonel Kochetov opened his arms to the two and said enthusiastically, "Comrades of the 62nd Army, let's hug our division in celebration of our victory." ”

The next moment, the three of them hugged each other tightly. The soldiers of the two armies standing behind the three of them had already begun to hug the commander, and they also rushed forward with cheers, and warmly hugged the friendly comrades who ran over on the opposite side.

The news of the successful rescue of Gorokhov's "Northern Campaign Cluster" by the 99th Infantry Division soon reached the Front Command. Malinin reported to Rokossovsky: "...... After fierce fighting, the troops of the 99th Infantry Division successfully broke through the defenses of the German 16th Tank Division and joined the Gorokhov Battle Cluster trapped in the Latoshenka area, sending them much-needed ammunition, food and medical supplies. …… Over a period of three months, the commanders and fighters of the 124th and 149th Infantry Brigades, isolated and defending a small area with a back to the Volga River, the settlements of Reynok and Spartanovka, succeeded in inflicting heavy losses on the attacking German 16th Tank Division, eliminating at least 4,000 German officers and men......"

After listening to this, Rokossovsky nodded and said: "Our commanders and fighters are really amazing, they can hold their positions in such a difficult environment. ”

"What are we going to do next?" After waiting for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, Malinin immediately asked him for instructions: "Send these two infantry brigades to the rear for rearmament?" ”

Rokossovsky thought for a moment about Malinin's question, and then replied: "We now surround the troops of the German Paulus, but in order to completely destroy them, it is far from enough to rely on a frontal attack, and it is also necessary to organize capable small detachments to constantly encroach on the German defensive positions with sudden and rapid assaults, and to contain and consume the German army's vital forces and technical equipment." In this way, it will be possible to annihilate them all in two to three months. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Malinin couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked puzzledly: "Comrade commander, do you really think that it will take a long time for us to annihilate Paulus's troops?" ”

"That's right," Rokossovsky replied affirmatively, "the German troops, now surrounded by our three front armies, numbered two or three hundred thousand, must have taken a long time to eat such a large force of the enemy." ”

"But the base camp ordered our front to compress the encirclement of the Germans from the west and north, and the Stalingrad Front from the south and east." Ma Lining frowned and said: "Since they urge our army to annihilate the besieged enemy as soon as possible, then it proves that the base camp thinks that our strength can complete the orders issued by the superiors in a very short time." ”

Rokossovsky shook his head lightly and said: "The base camp asks us to annihilate the besieged enemy as soon as possible, and this demand is completely understandable. Because, the annihilation of the besieged enemy can free up a large number of our troops. In the strategic situation that had already been formed, it was possible to send these units to the rear of the German Army Group A, encircle it in the North Caucasus, and then destroy them all as if they were the enemy in the Stalingrad area. ”

Rokossovsky said, tapping his finger on the map in front of him, looked at Malinin and continued: "Chief of Staff, you see, although the Germans were besieged by our army, their living forces did not suffer major losses, and they still firmly controlled a vast area sixty kilometers long from east to west and forty kilometers wide from north to south.

Paulus was also an outstanding commander of the German army, and immediately after the initial panic, he organized the German army to turn the highlands and villages under his control into strong fortresses, and also laid dense minefields around them, and built a tight ring of fortifications, which made our army's attack extremely difficult.

The 6th Army was the elite of the German army, and Hitler would never have watched it annihilate in our encirclement, and would have sent troops to the rescue, when we would have to deal not only with the Paulus Army in the encirclement, but also with the German relief forces from outside. It is precisely for many reasons that the time required to completely destroy the enemy is absolutely short. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's analysis, Malinin was silent for a long time, and then asked: "Comrade commander, according to the plan, tomorrow the troops of the 24th Army will attack from north to south, break through the defenses of the frontal enemy, and strive to converge with the 21st and 65th armies. You see, tomorrow's offensive will still go on as scheduled? ”

"Since it's a planned attack, let's go ahead as scheduled." Rokossovsky deliberately emphasized: "As long as our three armies are joined together, not only will the possibility of the German army breaking through from the west be eliminated, but it will also be very advantageous even to deal with the enemy who is coming to relieve the siege." ”

"Comrade Commander, there is one more thing I would like to report to you." Ma Linin continued: "Comrade Military Commissar suggested that in order to solve the situation of insufficient troops, it is proposed that all senior commanders and political workers be directly integrated into the battle sequence and participate in the battle like soldiers. ”

"No, resolutely not." When Rokossovsky heard this, he slammed the table and stood up, and without hesitation rejected the plan proposed by the military commissar: "This is a wrong practice of courage and no strategy, and the combat posts of our senior commanders and political workers are to direct operations and go to the troops to do propaganda and agitation work, and not to charge into battle like ordinary soldiers." The result of this will not only lead to unnecessary sacrifices, but also weaken our leadership over the troops because of the sacrifices of senior commanders. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Malinin replied: "I will immediately convey your intention to Comrade Military Commissar. ”