"Who is it?!" After a moment of silence, Rokossovsky heard the female voice just now ask sternly: "Who is outside?" ”

"It's me!" Rokossovsky stepped inside, and immediately felt a wave of heat rushing over his face. He stopped www.biquge.info looked at it, and it turned out that there was a huge stove in the middle of the room, and the soup in a large iron pot on top of it was gurgling. There were two people standing by the pot, a big fat man with a bare head around an apron, who looked like a chef; Next to her stood a young woman.

Seeing Rokossovsky coming over, the woman opened her mouth again and asked politely: "Comrade commander, who are you, and is there anything to do here?" ”

Rokossovsky scrutinized the woman who spoke, and the old man had a handsome face, with short chestnut hair that reached to her ears, and was wearing a well-fitting military civilian uniform, with a wide belt tied around her waist, which made her already ******** figure even more attractive.

Seeing that the new commander didn't speak, just stared at herself and kept staring, the woman looked very angry, she turned her face stiff, and her tone of voice became unpolite: "Comrade commander, not everyone can come in here, if you don't have anything to do, please leave?" ”

Rokossovsky did not expect that the other party would directly give him an "eviction order", and he said: "Hello, women comrade, I am Lieutenant General Rokossovsky, and I have specially come to Vyaz Malay to pick up the team. ”

Rokossovsky identified himself, the expression on the woman's face softened, and she said politely: "Unfortunately, Comrade General, at the moment there is no regular army of ours in the city of Vyazma, except for the militia. I think you might have to make a trip for nothing. ”

"Who are you?" Rokossovsky looked at each other and asked with a smile: "Can I know who I am talking to with honor?" ”

"My name is Borisova, and I am a commissar of the Soviet of the Western District of Vyazma." Borisova said in a polite and somewhat distant tone: "I am taking the residents of the Western District here to repair the fortifications for our troops. ”

"How long will it take to complete the work?" When Rokossovsky heard her say this, he immediately asked in a businesslike tone: "I see that there are thousands of people building fortifications outside. ”

"That's right, 3,417." "Some of them are factory workers, some are students, but more often they are housewives, and they are all responding to the call of their superiors to come here to do their part in order to defend our Motherland," Borisova said coldly. ”

After waiting for her to finish, Rokossovsky glanced at the chef standing beside him, and then said casually: "Comrade Borisova, when I just came in, it seems that I heard you get angry......

"That's right, Comrade General, you heard it right." Borisova said in a stiff tone: "I was just angry at this chef. Our guy is doing so much work here, and you can see what kind of soup he makes for us. As she spoke, she picked up a meal placed on the stove, scooped up a spoonful of soup, handed it to Rokossovsky, and said emotionally, "It's just water." ”

At this, Borisova yelled at the cook again: "If I see you boiling such soup again at dinner, I will send you to a court-martial." With that, she shoved the lunch box into Rokossovsky's hand and walked straight out.

Tarasov, who saw Borisova leaving, walked in, came to Rokossovsky's side, and said with some confusion: "Comrade commander, what happened?" I just saw a comrade woman come out of it in a rage. ”

Rokossovsky handed the lunch box in his hand to Tarasov, and said with a smile: "Chief of Staff, I invite you to drink soup, which is drunk by these comrades who are repairing fortifications in the locality. ”

Tarasov took the lunch box, blew the hot air with his mouth, then took a sip carefully, then frowned and said: "Comrade commander, where is this soup, it is obviously white water, it has no taste at all." ”

Rokossovsky smiled bitterly at him, then turned his head and asked the chef next to him: "Comrade cook, if you are in the army, you may be charged with deducting food and directly shot with this pot of soup you boiled." ”

The fat cook was frightened by Rokossovsky's words, and he hurriedly defended: "Comrade General, this is none of my business, I made the soup according to the materials provided by the secretary general." Even if he wanted to deduct it, he was deducting it, but I poured all the ingredients into the pot. ”

"Comrade cook, I'm not your superior, it's useless for you to tell me this, let's keep it for Comrade Borisova to explain." When Rokossovsky said this, he couldn't help but ask the chef curiously about Borisova: "By the way, comrade chef, who is this Borisova?" I think she looks very powerful, and when she scolds you, you don't dare to fight back. ”

"She is a member of our Western District Soviet, and she has the final say in everything in the district." The cook said with some awe: "Comrade General, don't look at her as a woman, but she is very strong, and no one should fail to complete the tasks she has assigned." ”

"Is she married?" Rokossovsky then asked.

"Of course, of course married." The cook replied, "And there is a five-year-old son." ”

Hearing the chef say this, Rokossovsky felt a little strange, just now the female Soviet commissar obviously used her maiden surname, so he continued to ask: "Then she still uses her maiden surname, and not her husband's surname?" ”

"That's right, Comrade General." The chef estimated that it was usually lonely to stay here to cook, but when he finally met someone who was talking to him, he immediately turned into a chatterbox: "Her husband was a major, and Guan Rong died in the battle with the Finnish White Bandit Army the year before last. She also changed her name from her husband's surname to the original situation of her mother's family......"

While Rokossovsky was chatting with the cook, Borisova, who had left, suddenly walked in again, followed by two conductors. As soon as she entered the door, she pointed to Rokossovsky and said to the commander who came in: "Comrade commander, this comrade general said that he went to Vyazma to pick up troops, you see, is he the person you are looking for?" ”

As soon as she finished speaking, a general behind her stepped forward quickly, walked up to Rokossovsky, stood up and saluted, and respectfully reported: "Comrade commander, Major General Vinogradov, commander of the 7th Mechanized Army, reports to you that we are ordered to come under your command, please instruct!" ”

After returning the salute, Rokossovsky shook the other person's hand and said excitedly: "Great, this is really good." General Vinogradov, as soon as your troops arrive, we have a better chance of holding the line. ”

At this time, another short and stocky colonel also walked up to Rokossovsky, raised his hand and saluted, and then reported loudly: "Comrade commander, Colonel Malinin, chief of staff of the 7th Mechanized Army, reports to you that I will be ordered to be your chief of staff, please assign me a task." ”

"Comrade Borisova." Rokossovsky politely asked Borisova: "Are there any free rooms, we need to have a quiet place to carry out the necessary handover procedures." ”

"Please come with me, Comrade General." Borisova's tone became friendly, "It just so happens that there is an empty room next to it, which we usually use for our office, although it is a little simple, but it should be very suitable for the handover procedures." ”

Borisova led the four of them to the empty room next to her, and after beckoning everyone to sit down around the simple wooden table, she left on her own initiative and closed the door with her hand.

After Borisova left, Vinogradov spoke: "Comrade commander, I don't know where you plan to deploy our army? ”

Before giving the order, Rokossovsky first asked: "How many troops does your army have now, and where are they now?" ”

"We have two tank divisions and a motorized division, as well as a motorized regiment directly under the corps." In reply, Vinogradov said with a little embarrassment: "Although there are two tank divisions in name, in reality we have a very small number of tanks, adding up to just over a hundred, and almost all of them are old tanks. ”

Originally, in Rokossovsky's assumption, a unit like the Seventh Mechanized Army, which had been formed for a long time, should have a lot of tanks, and even if it could not reach such an exaggerated number of five or six hundred, at least two or three hundred should have it. Who knows, but as for more than a hundred old tanks. He sighed, turned to Tarasov and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, from now on, the chief of staff of the combat cluster will be Colonel Malinin, and you and he will make a transfer." ”

After waiting for Rokossovsky to finish, Malinin stood up and politely asked Tarasov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I don't know when we can handle the handover?" ”

Tarasov asked in surprise: "What is the handover?" After speaking, he took out a note book from his briefcase and said to Ma Lining: "Here are all my documents." ”

After the simple handover between the two was completed, Rokossovsky said to Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, due to the addition of the Seventh Mechanized Corps, our command should choose a new location, and I will leave this matter to you with full responsibility." ”

"Please rest assured, Comrade Commander." Malinin immediately assured Rokossovsky: "I will definitely put the new command in an optimal command position." ”

Rokossovsky knew in his heart that this chubby Colonel Malinin would become his most effective assistant in the next few years, so after listening to his assurance, he nodded with a smile, and then said: "Colonel, let it go, I fully believe in your ability." ”

When Malinin took out the map and discussed with the former chief of staff Tarasov who and where to put the new command, Rokossovsky said to Vinogradov, who was sitting on the sidelines: "Comrade commander, let's go out for a walk. ”

The two left the hut and came to the side of the road. Vinogradov asked: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask, where do you intend to deploy my troops?" ”

Rokossovsky looked at the city in the distance and saw an infantry unit, lined up in a neat line, guided by several red flags, heading this way. With a gesture of his hand, he said to Vinogradov: "Comrade Army Commander, at present, the German army has air supremacy on the battlefield, and it is appropriate for you to let the commanders and fighters march on the road with a swagger without air cover?" Immediately disperse them and drive forward along the forests on both sides of the road. Do you understand? ”

"Understood." As soon as Vinogradov agreed, he beckoned to an officer standing not far away, called him to his face, and whispered a few words.

After the officer flew away, Vinogradov repeated the question he had just asked: "Comrade commander, I wonder where you plan to deploy our troops?" Is it Yaltsevo or Vyazma? ”

"Part of it is in the second line of defense east of Yaltsevo." Originally, Rokossovsky wanted to deploy all his troops in Yaltsevo, but now he found that there were no regular Soviet troops in the city of Vyazma, an important town leading to Moscow, so he changed his mind and planned to see only one division of the army to Yaltsevo, while the other two divisions and the motorized infantry regiment were responsible for the defense of Vyazma. "And the main force of your division will remain in the defensive positions of Vyazma and be responsible for the defense of the city."

After listening to this, Vinogradov pointed to the troops in front of him with his hand and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, since this is the case, then send this motorized division to Yaltsevo, and the remaining two tank divisions remain in Vyazma. ”

"I agree." Rokossovsky did not hesitate to agree to Vinogradov's request, "After the local comrades have completed the fortifications, your troops will be able to move here." ”

Glancing in the direction of the crowd who were desperately digging fortifications, Vinogradov said with some disappointment: "Comrade commander, with all due respect, if they build at such a pace, it will not be possible to complete it in a week. If the Germans had rushed to Vyazma during this time, they would not have been able to stop them without fortified troops. ”

Rokossovsky looked left and right, then called one of his own guards and asked him: "Comrade soldier, do you know the comrade who just came out of the cabin?" ”

The guard thought for a moment, then replied, "Is it the comrade with chestnut ear-length curls, a civilian military uniform, and a belt around her waist?" ”

Rokossovsky nodded a few times and said, "Yes, yes, yes, that's her." Do you know where she goes? ”

"Yes." After the guard finished answering, he also asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Do you need me to call her over?" ”

"Go, go get her." Rokossovsky instructed the guards, "Just say that I have something important to discuss with her, and ask her to come over." (To be continued.) )