After receiving the officer's return, Kazakov stood on the side of the road and waited for Rokossovsky's arrival. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Seeing the familiar jeep driving in front of him and stopping, he hurriedly stepped forward and opened the window to report: "Comrade commander, we have contacted the commander of the 18th Militia Division, and he is waiting for us in the tent in the forest in front." ”

Rokossovsky shook his head at him and said, "Get in the car!" Then he pushed the door open, and at the same time squeezed himself towards Lobachev to make room for Kazakov to sit.

The jeep had been driving along a puddle-filled road for some distance when it was stopped by a group of fighters. A sergeant walked to the side of the car, bent down to look inside the car, and then asked with a serious expression: "Comrade General, which part of you are from?" ”

Kazakov, who was sitting by the door, looked up at him and said: "Comrade sergeant, we are from the headquarters of the 16th Army, and we are here to meet your division commander. ”

Hearing Kazakov say this, a smile appeared on the sergeant's face, he took a step back, stopped his body and saluted the car, and said politely: "Comrades commanders, the division commander is waiting for you, please come to us!" ”

Under the guidance of the sergeant, several people entered the forest on the side of the road. After walking through the forest for a while, I saw a tent with soldiers standing guard at the door. When the soldier at the gate saw the sergeant walking towards him with several commanders, he hurriedly turned his head and shouted into the tent: "Comrade division commander, the commander of the friendly army is here." ”

The division commander who was staying in the tent came out and stood at the door waiting for the arrival of the friendly commanders. When Rokossovsky and the others were still a dozen paces away from him, the division commander quickly stepped forward and saluted, and said to Rokossovsky with joy: "Comrade commander, welcome you and members of the command to our division. ”

After Rokossovsky saw the other party clearly, he grabbed the other party's hand after a moment of distraction, and said with some excitement: "Comrade Chernyshov, why are you?" After saying this, he paused for a moment, and then asked, "When did you become the commander of the 18th Division of the militia?" ”

Without waiting for Chernyshov to answer, Lobachev, who was standing behind Rokossovsky, also took two steps forward, hugged each other, hugged each other tightly, and said excitedly: "Comrade Chernyshov, I really didn't expect that we could see you here." ”

The fact that Chernyshov was the commander of the 18th division of the militia surprised everyone. Although Kazakov had sent someone to contact the militia division, he did not know that the division commander was Chernyshov, whom he knew, and thought that it was just a commander with the same name.

"This is not a good place, let's go to the tent and talk." Chernyshov led everyone to the outside of the tent, lifted it with his own hands, and made a gesture of invitation: "Please come in, comrades commanders." ”

When everyone entered the tent, Malinin spoke first: "Comrade Chernyshov, I remember that two weeks ago, you were transferred by the Front Army Headquarters, saying that you would be temporarily replaced by your deputy as the commander of the 152nd Infantry Division, but I didn't expect you to become the commander of the militia division. ”

"That's right," Chernyshov nodded, then pointed to his collar badge with his hand and said: "After Commander Konev received me, he said that the commander of the militia division had died and needed a commander with rich combat experience, and he first thought of me. So he transferred me from the 16th Army and appointed me commander of the 18th Infantry Division of the militia, and promoted me from colonel to major general. ”

After he finished talking about his situation, after carefully examining Rokossovsky and Lobachev, he asked curiously: "Commander, military commissar, may I ask, how did your command break away from the troops?" ”、

"We were ordered to hand over our troops, go to Vyazma to receive new troops, and launch a counteroffensive on the German flank." Rokossovsky knew that it was not advisable to stay here for a long time, so to make a long story short, after explaining the reason why the command was not with the troops, he asked Chernyshov straight to the point: "How many troops do you have here?" ”

"There were more than 5,000 people, many of whom were wounded." The figures reported by Chernyshov differed from what Rokossovsky had previously known, "but this division can be used both on defense and offensively." ”

"Comrade Chernyshov, from now on, your troops are under my command. I order you, immediately gather your forces and follow us to the east. "Rokossovsky knew that the soldiers were fast, and after figuring out the strength of the militia division, he couldn't wait to urge Cherneshov to transfer." We had to withdraw to a safe place before the German encirclement was formed. ”

"What, retreat to the east?" Rokossovsky's order surprised Cherneshov, who looked at the other side and asked: "Comrade commander, with our existing forces, it is entirely possible to build a defense here and prevent the Germans from forming an encirclement of our troops. ”

If he still had a few divisions in hand, Rokossovsky would certainly agree with Cherneshov's proposal. However, what he can command now is a militia division without heavy weapons, and if he does not break through in time, but stays here and confronts the Germans, he will face the end of the total annihilation. So when he heard Chernyshov's question, he didn't say anything, but got up and left the tent.

Seeing Rokossovsky brushing his sleeves away, everyone froze for a moment. Then Malinin said to Chernyshov: "Comrade General, have you forgotten that the orders of the senior commander are not allowed to be discussed. You still follow his orders, immediately organize the troops, move eastward as fast as possible, and strive for an early German encirclement. ”

The troops quickly assembled and marched east along the dirt road. After walking about thirty kilometers, Chernyshov sent officers to report to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, not far ahead, one of our planes has landed. ”

When Rokossovsky heard this, he first asked vigilantly: "Was it shot down by German fire?" ”

The officer replied: "It was not shot down, but it landed on its own initiative." ”

"Who is on the plane, have you figured it out?" Rokossovsky then asked.

The officer shook his head and replied again: "However, the division commander has already sent the chief of staff, Colonel Balanchuk, to understand the situation, and I believe that I will be able to give you a more detailed report soon." ”

Not long after the officer finished speaking, a three-wheeled motorcycle drove along the puddle-filled road in the middle of the marching procession. The motorcycle stopped next to Rokossovsky's jeep, and a colonel jumped out of the car, walked up to Rokossovsky, raised his hand and saluted, and reported: "Comrade commander, I am Colonel Baranchuk, chief of staff of the militia division, and I am on the orders of the division commander to liaise with the pilots who landed on the side of the road. According to him, there are large forces of ours in the Gazazk region. ”

When he heard the name of the place, Rokossovsky's face could not help but show a painful expression, the place where he sent soldiers to escort the two commanders, Marankin and Carmela, the day before yesterday, was Gerzazik. If I had known that there was my own main force there, I wouldn't have needed to go around such a big circle with my headquarters. But this was not the time to blame himself, he looked at Barranchuk and asked: "Comrade Colonel, where is the pilot, can you bring him here?" You know, I have a lot of questions that I need to ask him for. ”

When Baranchuk heard Rokossovsky say this, he slapped his forehead vigorously and said with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I was so excited that I forgot to invite him over." Please wait, I'll go to the pilot right away. ”

Not long after Balanchuk left, a two-winged reconnaissance plane flew over Rokossovsky's head. Seeing the plane flying westward, he sighed softly and said to Chistyakov and Malinin next to him: "Alas, it's a pity, the pilot flew away, and Colonel Balanchuk seems to be going to run in vain." ”

Sure enough, not long after, Colonel Barranchuk returned dejectedly and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I am a step late, the pilot has already flown the plane to the west. ”

"It's all right, Comrade Colonel. Don't worry about it, the next time you encounter this situation, you must bring the pilot first. Now that he knew where the main forces were, Rokossovsky did not reproach Balanchuk, but waved his hand at him and said in a friendly manner: "Okay, you go back to the troops." ”

About having their own units in Gzazik, plus seeing a Soviet plane flying overhead, the news quickly spread among the ranks. Orel, who commanded the third echelon, personally ran to the front and asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade commander, we are only less than ten kilometers away from Gzazik here, it is better to let the commanders and fighters take a car, after a night of marching, everyone is really tired." ”

Thinking that Rigzazik was not far away anyway, Rokossovsky reasonably agreed to Orel's request. At the same time, he also instructed Malinin: "Chief of Staff, for the sake of safety, immediately reinforce the first echelon with two tanks and one armored car, and let the cavalry go to the north of the city to reconnoiter and find out the location of the shoals and ferries of the Gezady River." At the same time, the militia divisions were temporarily formed into the second echelon to advance towards the Gezady River, ensuring the security of the headquarters from the west and south. ”

Just as Malinin pushed the car door and was about to get out of the car, Lobachev, who was sitting next to Rokossovsky, suddenly spoke: "Comrade commander, I beg you to allow me to act with the advance detachment. ”

Rokossovsky was about to refuse Lobachev's request, but he heard the latter impatiently say: "I'm in the advance detachment, maybe I can meet Marshal Voroshilov!" ”

Lobachev mentioned Voroshilov and immediately asked Rokossovsky to swallow back what he was about to say. He knew very well in his heart that if he could see Voroshilov earlier, he would be able to wash away his injustice this morning, so he nodded slowly and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, since this is the case, then I will agree with you to act together with the advance detachment. When Lobachev pushed the door open and was about to get out of the car, he added, "For the sake of safety, you can only stay in the armored car, understand?" ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Lobachev got out of the car and turned to Rokossovsky with a smile and replied cheerfully: "I will take care of my safety." ”

Hearing that they would soon join up with the main force, the commanders and fighters, who had long been exhausted after a night's march, also became energetic again, and although most of them were still on foot, the pace of the march increased markedly.

Although the advance detachment, which had been opening the way in front, had less than 200 men, the speed of action was very slow, and the long column was a kilometer long, because many of the fighters were obviously physically exhausted.

Just as Rokossovsky's jeep caught up with the tail of the advance detachment, a violent explosion was heard in the distance, and Rokossovsky saw black smoke rising from the woods. He secretly screamed that it was not good, and he encountered the enemy. Hurriedly raised his hand and patted the driver's shoulder, and decisively ordered: "Rush over with full horsepower!" ”

The driver immediately slammed on the accelerator and rushed past the fighters. Seeing Rokossovsky's jeep accelerating, the vehicles behind also raised their speeds to the top. When a series of cars roared past, the soldiers walking on the side of the road were covered with mud splashed by the vehicles, and turned into mud figures.

When the car rushed into the open field, it was immediately strafed by machine gun fire from German armored vehicles in the distance. After the jeep came to a sharp stop, Rokossovsky pushed the door and threw himself into the mud on the side of the road. While observing the enemy's situation, he loudly ordered the commanders and fighters who had followed him to disperse immediately and lie down in the nearest mud puddle in a straggler formation, so as not to become a target for German shooting.

After Malinin jumped into the puddle where he was hiding, he grabbed the opponent by the collar and ordered loudly: "Chief of Staff, our troops have already engaged the enemy on the west bank of the Gezady River, you immediately go to Major General Cherneshov and ask him to send a battalion of troops to assist the advance detachment in launching an attack on the enemy." After speaking, he also pushed Ma Lining's shoulder hard and yelled loudly, "Go!" ”

"Yes!" Malinin agreed, rolled over and climbed out of the mud puddle, and quickly jumped into the other mud puddle, running into the distance.

After Malinin left, Rokossovsky found that Lobachev's armored car was less than 50 meters in front of his right, the doors were closed, and the machine guns on the car were firing at the German armored vehicles and infantry in the distance. Since he did not know what was going on with Lobachev, he continued to lie still and waited quietly for reinforcements to arrive. (To be continued.) )