Before the official start of the battle, Rokossovsky felt the need to go to the 65th and 60th armies to learn about the morale and combat readiness of the commanders and fighters of these two armies.

When Rokossovsky and Terekin came to the headquarters of the 65th Army, they saw Commander Batov, Chief of Staff Glebov and others standing outside. As soon as he waited for the car to stop, he pushed the door and got out of the car, walked briskly towards Batov, and said in a reproachful tone: "Comrade Batov, as the commander of the army group, you should stay in the command headquarters at this moment and give orders, instead of standing here like a doorman to greet us. ”

Batov and Rokossovsky had a good relationship, and when he heard his immediate boss say this, not only was he not angry, but his heart was happy, he grinned, then raised his right hand to his forehead and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, Batov reports to you, we ......"

Rokossovsky just stretched out his hand and wanted to shake hands with Batov, but he didn't expect the other party to raise his hand to salute him, and his hand froze in mid-air. But fortunately, he was in a hurry, so he hurriedly raised his left hand, pulled down the hand that Batov raised to his forehead, stuffed it into his right hand, and said familiarly while shaking hands: "You and I are not outsiders, these useless etiquette, if you can avoid it, you can avoid it." Let's go, take me to your headquarters and give you a briefing. ”

The group came to the headquarters, and except for the chief of staff Glebov, everyone else was sent back to their respective posts by Batov. Having sat down opposite Rokossovsky, Batov asked in a low voice: "Comrade commander, are we ready to attack the enemy?" ”

"That's right, this time I plan to let your army group and the 60th army serve as the main force of the offensive." Rokossovsky said, pulled the map on the table in front of him, looked down for a moment, pointed his finger accurately at the place where the battle was about to begin, and said to Batov: "Your army group will launch an offensive in the Shevsk region, and in order to strengthen your assault forces, I am ready to give you the 2nd Tank Army under the command of General Bogdanov, as well as the 4th Breakthrough Artillery Army from the base camp reserves. ”

"Comrade commander," Glebov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and immediately asked eagerly: "Can we get support from the Air Force?" ”

Rokossovsky nodded and said affirmatively: "In order to ensure that our army can effectively break through the defenses of the German army, I, Jiang Huimin, ordered General Rudenko to send the main forces of the air force in this direction. ”

"Great, that's great." Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Glebov was overjoyed, and he said excitedly: "With the support of the Air Force brothers, then we have a greater certainty of winning the offensive we launch." ”

After Batov waited for his chief of staff to finish speaking, he also smiled and said to Rokossovsky and Terekin: "Commander, military commissar, do you not know that at the time of the Battle of Kursk, there was no fighting at all in the area where our army group was located. The commanders and fighters saw that the friendly forces were fighting in full swing, but we must not have moved here, and their hearts were already itching. Now let us take on the main mission, and they will definitely be able to exert their most powerful combat effectiveness. ”

"Looks like your morale is high." Terekin smiled and asked, "By the way, where did your military commissar go, why haven't I seen him all the time?" ”

"He went to the troops below and talked to the commanders and fighters." Batov explained: "He said that he would take advantage of the favorable opportunity of our army's successive victories at the present stage to encourage the commanders and fighters to make meritorious deeds. ”

After hearing this, Terekin and Rokossovsky looked at each other, and said with a smile: "Since someone has already thought of this issue before us, then what I am going to say is not interesting. I sincerely hope that your commanders and fighters will be able to perform great feats in this offensive campaign. ”

After assigning detailed offensive tasks to Batov, Rokossovsky and Terekin rushed to the 60th Army. On the way, Terekin also asked worriedly: "Comrade commander, during the Battle of Kursk, we transferred a lot of troops from the 60th Army. And these units have been weakened to varying degrees during the battle, and now these units have not been returned to the formation, but they must be ordered to take up the main offensive mission, you say, will General Chernyakhovsky have any opinions? ”

"I don't think so." Rokossovsky said in an uncertain tone: "I believe that General Chernyakhovsky is a man who takes the overall situation into account, and he will definitely successfully complete the tasks we have been given." ”、

When meeting with Chernyakhovsky, the atmosphere was a little depressing, because the main forces of the army group were transferred in the Battle of Kursk, and now there are only three infantry divisions, one cavalry division and one tank brigade left.

Seeing that everyone was slow to speak, Rokossovsky preemptively broke the silence in the room: "What's the matter, comrades, don't you have the confidence to defeat the fascist invaders in front of you?" ”

After he had finished speaking, the crowd looked at him and stared at the table in front of them, as if there was something beautiful on it that had attracted their attention. Such a cold scene made Chernyakhovsky feel uneasy, and he was deeply afraid that Rokossovsky would be unhappy in his heart, so he hurriedly replied: "Comrade commander, you also know that our troops were transferred a large number of elite troops in the just-concluded Battle of Kursk, and they have not yet been rebuilt. If the remaining divisions were to cope with such a large-scale attack, I feared that they might not be able to complete the tasks assigned to us by their superiors. ”

"What's wrong with you, Comrade Chernyakhovsky." As soon as his words fell, Terekin continued: "Could it be that the leaders of the front army will not know about the situation of your group army? Now that we know the truth, how can we give you an impossible task? ”

"Yes, Comrade Chernyakhovsky, you are too worried." Rokossovsky continued: "In the area of attack that we have demarcated for you, in addition to your army, there are also the right flank units of the 48th Army and the Voronezh Front, and we have an advantage in terms of strength and equipment. ”

Rokossovsky's words comforted the commanders and fighters a little. They began to talk to each other, whispering, and the content of the discussion was nothing more than that although the transferred troops could not be rebuilt, with the cooperation of friendly forces, there was still great hope for the victory of the offensive. Not to mention the cooperation of the right flank units of the Voronezh Front, even the 48th Army, which was fighting side by side, did not suffer much losses in the recently concluded campaign.

Rokossovsky did not interrupt everyone, but patiently waited for them to discuss. When the room was quiet again, he smiled and asked, "How is it, comrades commanders, have you discussed what the results were?" Will you be able to successfully complete the glorious task assigned to you by the Front Command? ”

"Please rest assured, Comrade Commander." As soon as Rokossovsky's words were finished, the deputy commander of the group army stood up and said: "We will immediately mobilize, seize the time to make combat preparations, and strive to complete the important combat tasks assigned to us by our superiors within the specified time limit." ”

Now that the deputy commander has already expressed his position, the chief of staff also said: "We will send scouts to reconnoiter deep into the defensive depths of the German army and find out the enemy's troop allocation." Here I would like to make a request. ”

Rokossovsky stretched out his hand to him and made a gesture of please: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if you have any requests, just ask." At this point, he turned his head to look at Terekin, and he smiled at each other before adding, "As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely fulfill your request." ”

"Comrade Commander," said the chief of staff in a respectful manner, "due to the large area of German defense, our scouts could not complete the reconnaissance of all areas in such a short time. Therefore, I would like to ask you if you can provide us with the air reconnaissance report on the part of the Air Force so that we can develop a more accurate battle plan. ”

After the chief of staff finished speaking, Rokossovsky bowed slightly: "Don't worry, comrade chief of staff, even if you don't mention this matter, we will provide you with information on aerial reconnaissance." Not only your army, but also General Batov's 65th Army will also receive aerial reconnaissance reports from us. ”

After the meeting, when the commanders dispersed one after another, Rokossovsky politely asked Chernyakhovsky: "Comrade General, after your military commissar was transferred, due to the start of the Battle of Kursk, no new military commissar was sent to you for the time being, so it has no impact on your work, right?" ”

"No," said Rokossovsky, Cherniakhovsky shook his head and said, "I am fully capable of handling all the affairs of the army group." ”

Don't look at what Chernyakhovsky said indifferently, but Rokossovsky still heard from his words that he had a certain fear of political workers. After a moment of silence, he spoke: "Comrade General, the Great Patriotic War has been going on for more than two years, and a large number of new experienced commanders have grown up, and they have shown great loyalty to the motherland, because the original dual supervision mechanism needs to be adjusted, and the military commissar has also changed from the initial decision-maker to the commander's deputy in political work. …… Although their importance has been greatly diminished, it is not possible without them, so after this offensive campaign is over, the higher authorities will still send you a new military commissar. I hope you're mentally prepared in advance. ”

Coming out of the 65th Army, on the car returning to the headquarters of the Front, Terekin asked Rokossovsky in a reproachful tone: "Comrade commander, how could you just say such a thing to General Chernyakhovsky?" Don't you see that he has a strong dissatisfaction with the political workers? ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, I can see it." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "I deliberately said those words in front of him because I saw it." When Terekin heard him say this, he couldn't help but have a surprised expression on his face.

Seeing Terekin's puzzled look, Rokossovsky continued: "You should know that I was arrested once, and even sentenced to death, and was almost shot. After experiencing these things, I have a psychological fear of political workers.

The series of conflicts between Chernyakhovsky and his military commissars, I think, are not only ideological conflicts, but may also stem from his knowledge of his antipathy to political workers. I said that to him, not to be a wake-up call. It doesn't matter if he is only a group army commander now, but if he still holds this kind of resistance and works with political workers in the future, a new conflict may arise, and only the Supreme Commander himself can solve this problem. ”

"Is it really that serious?" When Terekin heard this, he couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Will General Chernyakhovsky really clash again with the new military commissar?" ”

"I can't say there will definitely be a conflict." Rokossovsky said cautiously: "But the probability of a conflict is very high, so we must be cautious about this matter!" ”

As soon as the two of them returned to the headquarters, Ma Lining greeted them and asked with concern: "Commander, military commissar, how is the morale and preparation of the troops below?" Can an attack on the Germans be launched within the time set by the superiors? ”

"The commanders and fighters of the two armies are highly motivated, and there should be no problem in launching an offensive against the German army on time." Rokossovsky walked to the table and asked, "Did anything happen during the time I was away?" ”

"I received a notice from the base camp that the 4th Breakthrough Artillery Corps, which had been allocated to us, had set off for us." Malinin hurriedly reported: "The commander of the artillery of the Front, General Kazakov, has gone to meet this team. ”

"Anything else?" Rokossovsky asked with a fluke mentality. He thought that even if his superiors could not send another army group for him, then two or three infantry divisions or tank brigades would be fine.

After hearing this, Ma Lining shook his head and said with a regretful face: "No, Comrade Commander." With the exception of the artillery units, the higher authorities did not provide us with any further supplies. ”

"I see." After Rokossovsky sat down at the table, he picked up the high-frequency telephone on the table and called the headquarters of the Voronezh Front, wanting to ask how the preparations were going on on Vatutin's side.