Seeing that Chistyakov was so interested, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction, and then said to the two: "You come here, I will introduce you to the situation on the battlefield." ”

When Chistyakov and his chief of staff stood in front of the map on the table, Rokossovsky pointed up and said: "You see, this is Shevsk, where Kryukov's cluster is located, and his troops are divided into two parts by the Germans, and the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps in front of it is encircled. ”

Hearing that friendly forces were divided and surrounded by German troops, Chistyakov looked at the map very carefully. When he had seen almost enough, he pointed to the left flank of the Kryukov cluster and asked: "Comrade commander, here are the units of the 16th Army, and now they are also under the command of our Central Front?" ”

Rokossovsky shook his head, "No, they are still part of the Western Front now, but they are only part of our department. Today they also actively moved in the direction of Shevsk, but they were stubbornly resisted by the Germans, and the operation to relieve the Kryukov cluster ended in failure. ”

"And what about here?" Chistyakov pointed to the right flank of the Kryukov cluster and asked: "I think there seem to be three armies in this direction, and one of them is a tank army, and they are not far from the position of General Kryukov, can't they also remove the threat of the German army?" ”

"Comrade General," Malinin explained to Chistyakov, "although the 2nd Tank Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Rogin, is closest to the Kryukov cluster, since their tanks are still in transit, we must not let the tankmen charge like infantry with rifles." Speaking of this, he glanced at Rokossovsky sideways and continued, "In the words of Comrade Commander, these experienced tank crews are all treasures in our troops, and we have no right to make them make senseless sacrifices. ”

From Malinin's words, Chistyakov finally understood why General Rogin's tank 2nd Army was so close to the Kryukov cluster, but it was unable to break the siege for a long time, because there were no tanks and they had not yet been transported in place, so these tankmen charged with small arms, and their combat effectiveness may not even be comparable to ordinary infantry.

He looked at Rokossovsky and asked: "Comrade commander, please give us orders." We will be able to overcome all difficulties and complete the tasks you have set. ”

"Comrade Chistyakov," Rokossovsky said, pointing to Lyujiezh on the map, to Chistyakov, "you immediately send a division of troops here to take over the defense of Batov's troops, because I intend to transfer the original defenders to Shevsk to rescue the Kryukov cluster." ”

After Chistyakov left, Rokossovsky personally called Batov, and after hearing the voice of the other party, he asked: "How is it, Comrade Batov, is your offensive there still going well?" ”

"It's going well, Comrade Commander." In his deep voice, Batov said unhurriedly: "Although the Germans made stubborn defenses at every commanding height they occupied, our fighters finally rushed to these positions. It's just that the casualties of the troops are a bit large. ”

"Comrade Batov," Rokossovsky immediately reminded him after listening to Batov's report: "Let the troops slow down the offensive and first consolidate the occupied positions." ”

"Understood." After answering loudly, Batov guessed that it was impossible for Rokossovsky to call himself specifically in order to find out about the progress of the troops, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, do you have any other instructions?" ”

Hearing Batov's question, Rokossovsky's face showed a smile, and he said in his heart that talking to a smart person is a peace of mind, and before he could open his mouth, the other party knew that he had a task to assign to him. "That's right, Comrade Batov, I intend to transfer your division in the Lyujiezh region to Shevsk to reinforce the Kryukov cluster."

In response to Rokossovsky's order, Batov was silent for a while before he said in embarrassment: "Comrade commander, if Lyujiezh's troops are transferred, our flanks will become weak, and if the Germans surprise them, our army group may also be cut off." ”

"Don't worry," Rokossovsky comforted Batov in response to his concerns: "Chistyakov's 21st Army has arrived, but since their logistics department is still in Stalingrad, the troops carry limited ammunition and supplies to participate in a large-scale offensive battle, so I intend to let them be in charge of defense only for the time being." After the withdrawal of Liu Jiezhi's troops, they will take over the defense. ”

…………

The fighting in the Shevsk region has already entered a white heat. The Germans from the north launched a fierce offensive on a high ground held by the 53rd Cavalry Division, trying to break through the Soviet lines and join forces with the troops that cut off the retreat of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps.

In order to break through the Soviet defense as soon as possible, the German army used more than 100 artillery pieces to carry out fierce artillery bombardment on the commanding heights occupied by the Soviet army, and in just five minutes, nearly 1,000 shells were dropped. Wherever the artillery fire passed, the scorching heat melted the thick snow on the hillside. After the shelling ended, the slope was full of large and small craters, and the smoke of gunpowder that had not yet dissipated was filled with a suffocating smell of blood and burning.

No sooner had the shelling ended, and before the smoke had cleared, the Germans, under the cover of tanks, launched an assault on the hillside, trying to break through the high ground that had repeatedly frustrated them.

Seeing the German tanks and infantry rushing up, the cavalry battalion commander who was wounded in the abdomen, supported by the hygienist, stood up with the pain in his heart, and shouted to the soldiers standing around: "Comrades, we must not let the enemy break through our defensive line, party members and regiment members, come with me, let us serve the motherland for the last time!" ”

After shouting the slogan, the battalion commander grabbed a rifle from the hand of the soldier next to him, and prepared to take the lead in climbing out of the trench and carrying out a counter-charge against the German troops on the charge. But a sergeant next to him hugged him and said loudly: "Comrade battalion commander, the enemy has tanks, and if we rush out like this, we can only die in vain." ”

The warriors who were preparing for the attack all stopped, and looked at the sergeant who spoke with disdain, trying to see who the coward who said this was.

Turning a blind eye to the contemptuous gaze of the fighters, the sergeant bent down and grabbed several grenades from the grenade boxes in the trench and tied them to himself with a cloth belt. Before everyone could come to their senses, he had already crawled out of the trench with a submachine gun in his hand, and used the crater in front of the position to quickly approach the enemy.

The Soviet commanders and fighters in the trench saw the sergeant jump into a crater that was only more than 30 meters away from the enemy, and then leaned out half of his body, held the submachine gun in his hand, and fired fiercely at the enemy who rushed up.

After the sergeant ran out of bullets in the gun, he did not change the magazine, threw the submachine gun to the side, jumped out of the trench, violently pulled the fuse of the grenade, and rushed towards the enemy with a white smoke shout. Although he was still seven or eight paces away from the enemy, he was hit by dozens of bullets and fell on the hillside unwillingly, but the grenade on his body exploded, killing several German soldiers who were close to him.

After seeing the sergeant's heroic sacrifice, many soldiers in the trenches did the same, strapped grenades to their bodies, picked up explosive bags, climbed out of the trenches, and used the cover of the crater to approach the enemy's infantry and tanks, preparing to use their own lives to stop the advance of the German army.

A series of explosions rang out one after another in the German offensive ranks. Although these brave soldiers died heroically, they succeeded in blowing up a German tank and killing and wounding more than 40 soldiers.

With this suicidal charge, the brave soldiers made the attacking German officers and soldiers feel chills and inexplicable fear; At the same time, they used their deaths and the flesh and blood in the sky to arouse the bloody nature of the commanders and fighters of the cavalry division.

The commander of the cavalry battalion waved the rifle in his hand and shouted: "Comrades, for the Motherland, for Stalin, forward!" After shouting, he climbed out of the trench with difficulty, stumbling forward with his rifle in hand.

Seeing that their battalion commander had already taken the lead in rushing out, the soldiers of the cavalry battalion shouted "Ula", and rushed forward towards the enemy in front of them with their rifles loaded with bayonets or waving their sabers. Although in the process of charging, some soldiers were constantly shot and fell, planted in the nearby craters, or rolled down the slope, the remaining soldiers still rushed forward without hesitation.

The officers and soldiers of both sides soon collided and engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand combat at close range. Although the Soviet cavalry soldiers were left without horses, their combat effectiveness was not affected, and they used bayonets, slashes, fists, and teeth to destroy the enemy.

The battalion of division guards sent by General Melnik saw that a fierce hand-to-hand battle was going on on the hillside. The battalion commander drew his saber, swung it forward, and shouted: "Guard battalion, advance!" Then he brandished his saber and rushed down first.

Soviet reinforcements arrived, and the Germans brought in reserves. The follow-up troops of both sides rushed up almost simultaneously, and the Soviet commanders and fighters who were aroused by the blood rushed and beat like mad cows, and they did not stop wherever they passed, nor did they leave any living mouths, they all picked them to death, cut them down, and trampled them into pulp.

In the face of such ferocious Soviet commanders and fighters, German officers and soldiers began to be timid and hesitate. First, a small number of soldiers turned around and ran back, but were driven back by the officers. But more and more soldiers began to flee, and their escape led to an even greater rout, and in the confusion, the German officers were unable to organize the rout of their troops, and were dragged back in the crowd.

…………

While the 53rd Cavalry Division was fighting the Germans, Rokossovsky received a reconnaissance report from the Air Force. After reading it, he handed the telegram to the other deputies to circulate it, and at the same time said with a serious expression: "Comrade commander, the situation has become grim now. Enemy forces are massing forces in the Bryansk region and moving towards the Shevsk side. In addition, signs of enemy build-up were detected in the areas north of Rylisk and north of Southka. ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander, the situation is starting to get serious." After reading the reconnaissance report, Ma Linin expressed his opinion: "Due to the bad weather and road conditions, we were in a hurry to mobilize troops to the combat areas during the preparation stage of this campaign, but we did not send the road construction units, equipment, and transportation units to these areas together with the combat units. The ammunition and technical equipment needed by the attacking forces today could not reach the battlefield in a timely manner, which had a negative impact on our offensive. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is my negligence." When Rokossovsky saw that Malinin mentioned the omissions in this campaign, he hurriedly took the responsibility on himself: "I was in such a hurry that I thought about how to gather troops as quickly as possible in the area where the attack was being prepared, but I did not think about how to improve the transportation situation, and as a result, the troops fell into a difficult situation. ”

"Comrade commander, don't blame yourself." As soon as Terekin and Rokossovsky finished speaking, he immediately continued: "In any case, we completed the assembly of most of our troops within the stipulated time and launched the offensive on the German Orlov group on time. As for the omissions in the work, we can make the necessary corrections in the course of the battle. ”

Seeing that Terekin had found a step for himself to step down, Rokossovsky glanced at him with gratitude, and then turned his attention to Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think that in the current situation, we will be able to complete the campaign tasks assigned to us by the base camp?" ”

In response to Rokossovsky's question, Malinin thought for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Comrade commander, I don't think that we have the ability to encircle and crush the German Orlov group, their combat effectiveness far exceeds our imagination, which can be seen from the delay of our army in relieving the siege of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Army. ”

"Chief of Staff, you're quite right." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "Your opinion is completely the same as mine, we are simply not up to the task of the campaign assigned to us by the base camp. We should report the situation on the battlefield to Comrade Stalin as soon as possible. ”

Seeing Rokossovsky pick up the high-frequency phone, Terekin hurriedly grabbed his hand and asked worriedly: "Comrade commander, do you really plan to report the situation here to Comrade Stalin?" ”

Rokossovsky saw from Terekin's eyes what he was worried about, and he also understood that his report was likely to cause Stalin's thunderous anger, but he still said resolutely: "Yes, Comrade Military Commissar, it is necessary for me to report the actual situation on the battlefield to the base camp in a timely manner, so that they can make the necessary adjustments according to the specific situation." ”