Lobachev was so impressed by Rokossovsky's analysis that he asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, do you think that our troops in the Vyazma area that have fallen into the encirclement of the Germans will have a chance to break out of the encirclement of the Germans after General Zhukov becomes commander?" ”

"It's late, and now it's all over. Rokossovsky sighed and said, "Due to the swiftness of the German army's movements, the elite armored forces carried out a detour to the depth of our army's defense, and then divided and surrounded us.www.biquge.info We were lucky enough to escape before we were able to break out of the German encirclement, but other units were not so lucky. Their demise is only a matter of time. ”

"Wouldn't it?!" Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Lobachev asked in an unbelievable tone: "You know, there are hundreds of thousands of troops surrounded by the German army, do the Germans have such a good appetite?" ”

"If a month ago I had been told that the South-Western Front would be surrounded and annihilated by the Germans in the Kyiv region, I would not have believed it." When Rokossovsky said this, he turned his head to look at Lobachev: "After all, we have all been in this front, and we still know how strong the troops are. But the result? Regardless of the hundreds of thousands of commanders and fighters who were captured, the commander, General Kirponos, his military commissar and chief of staff, all died heroically during the breakout. ”

Rokossovsky's last words silenced Lobachev. He hurriedly turned his head to look out the window, fearing that Rokossovsky would notice the tears rolling in his eyes, thinking that even if the troops suffered heavy losses from the Germans, Burmistenko, as the head of the front, would be able to successfully break out of the encirclement. But it is a pity that this old friend of his own, in the end, died on the way to break out with Kirponos as the military commissar of the Southwestern Front.

Seeing that Lobachev did not speak, Rokossovsky thought that he was worried about the troops who were encircled in the Vyazma area, and hurriedly said: "Comrade Military Commissar, you have just heard Comrade Zhukov in the headquarters say that the troops surrounded by the German army are fighting stubbornly. Even if they would end up with heavy losses, it would be of great significance for us to defend Moscow because they succeeded in pinning down the main German forces and were able to take urgent measures to quickly consolidate the Mozhaisk line and restore the lines destroyed by the enemy. ”

Lobachev blinked vigorously, waited for his mood to return to normal, then turned around, pretended to be calm, and said: "If this is the case, then the sacrifice they have made has not been in vain, at least it has bought us the most precious time to consolidate the defensive line." ”

As soon as he said this, the driver suddenly braked suddenly, and Rokossovsky, who was caught off guard, hit the back of the seat in front of him, he covered his injured shoulder, and asked with some annoyance: "Comrade driver, what is going on, why did you suddenly step on the brakes?" ”

The driver turned his head, looked at Rokossovsky and said aggrievedly: "Comrade commander, I don't want to, either, but suddenly someone jumped out of front of the road, just blocking our way." ”

"Who's in our way?" When Rokossovsky heard the driver say this, his first reaction was that he had encountered a small group of German troops, and he asked as he reached for his pistol.

The driver turned his head to look forward, then turned his head back and said, "It looks like it's our own people." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, an officer wearing a large-brimmed hat walked towards the jeep by stepping on muddy water. After he walked to the side of the car and stopped, he politely asked in the car, "Is Comrade Commander inside?" ”

"I'm here." Rokossovsky hurriedly pushed open the door, leaned out to look at the commander standing in the darkness and asked, "Is there something wrong?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." When the officer heard Rokossovsky's voice, he raised his hand and gave a military salute and replied respectfully: "The chief of staff has led his troops to the Volokolamsk region, and he is afraid that you will not be able to find troops, so he has sent me to meet you." ”

"Have all the troops arrived?" Rokossovsky initially thought that on the way to Volokolamsk, he would definitely meet troops who were heading in that direction, but the car drove for almost half an hour, but no one was encountered, and he even thought that he was going in the wrong direction. "Why didn't I see anyone along the way, you must know that the militia divisions are all infantry, and they can't go faster than our cars?"

"That's right, Comrade Commander." When the officer heard Rokossovsky's question, he hurriedly explained: "The chief of staff will first go to Volokolamsk with the command to establish a new command, while General Cherneshov will march slowly behind with the militia division, and it is estimated that they will not be able to reach their destination until after noon tomorrow at the earliest." ”

When Rokossovsky heard that Malinin had arranged everything, he nodded with satisfaction and instructed the officer: "Okay, you can lead the way for us in front." ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The officer agreed, turned around and walked back to a motorcycle parked on the side of the road, guiding Rokossovsky in the direction of Volokolamsk.

Since the whole road passed through the forest, Malinin in order to prevent Rokossovsky and his team from getting lost, for every kilometer they walked, they left an officer or soldier on horseback or on a motorcycle. As soon as Rokossovsky's car came into view, he took the initiative to meet them and guide them.

After an hour's drive, the jeep finally arrived at the location of the new headquarters, and at this time, Rokossovsky's side gathered at least fifty commanders and fighters who were responsible for guiding the way.

The new headquarters is located in a birch forest and consists of more than a dozen tents of various sizes. Hearing the news of Rokossovsky's return, Malinin immediately ran out to greet them and respectfully led the two into one of the largest tents.

The two lanterns hanging in the tent illuminate the tent as if it were daylight. The people who were busy saw Rokossovsky and Lobachev walking in, quickly stopped what they were doing, and stood on the spot and saluted the two.

After Rokossovsky sat down at the table in the middle of the tent, he looked up and asked Malinin, who was standing in front of him: "Chief of Staff, have you set up a guard near the command headquarters?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Malinin hurriedly replied: "I sent both the guard company and the cavalry company out, set up a guard on several paths leading here, and set up a sentry post. ”

Rokossovsky remembered a movie he had seen later, in which the cavalry and infantry assigned to the 16th Army by their superiors came to report, and when they passed through the checkpoint, there was only one sentry at each intersection. Thinking of this, he hurriedly asked Ma Lining: "How many people did you put to defend each outpost?" ”

"One class." From Rokossovsky's serious expression, Malinin guessed the purpose of his question, and quickly replied: "In important road conditions, I put two squads and a tank or armored car. Speaking of this, he raised his hand and pointed in one direction, "Two hundred meters away from this tent, there are four tanks and an armored car, even if the enemy touches in, we can destroy them all." ”

…………

Rokossovsky waited in the Volokolamsk area for three days, and it was not until the evening of the 13th that troops entered his defense zone one after another. After cross-examination, it was revealed that these commanders and fighters had escaped from the Vyazma area with great difficulty, and they were preparing to continue their search for their main forces eastward. Although these commanders and fighters were quickly replenished into the 16th Army, the defenses in the Volokolamsk area were still too thin.

Lobachev sat in the tent, looked at Rokossovsky, who was going back and forth in the tent, and asked with a sad face: "Comrade commander, today we have recruited more than 300 commanders and fighters from the Vyazma region, but the strength is still too thin, and I don't know when the troops replenished by the higher authorities will arrive?" ”

"Wait a little longer," Rokossovsky had called Zhukov several times in the past few days in order to replenish the troops, but the other party asked him to wait a little longer, saying that reinforcements would arrive soon. But three days had passed, and there was no sign of reinforcements at all, except for the stragglers who had escaped from the enemy's encirclement. Seeing that Lobachev couldn't hold his breath at this moment, Rokossovsky could only comfort him and said: "Maybe in two days, reinforcements will arrive." ”

"Two more days to wait?" Lobachev said with some unhappiness: "Last time we went to Vyazma to receive five divisions, and after we completed the transfer of troops, we hurried over. As a result, the troops did not see us, and we almost became prisoners of the Germans. It won't be like that again this time, right? ”

"No," if the commander of the Front at the moment is still Konev, this situation may really exist. But since Zhukov assumed the post of commander, then the reinforcements he promised would definitely arrive, so Rokossovsky confidently said: "I believe that Comrade Zhukov, what he said, will definitely be fulfilled." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of horses' hooves was heard from far and near outside the tent, and then a gunshot rang out outside. With the sound of gunshots, the command headquarters suddenly became confused, and immediately someone shouted loudly: "Alarm, battle alarm!" Battle Alert! ”

At the sound of this shout, the commanders at all levels who stayed in the tent immediately grabbed their handy weapons, rushed out of the tent in a hurry, and rushed towards the place where the gunshots were fired.

Malinin stood at the door with his pistol in his hand, turned his head and shouted at Rokossovsky and Lobachev inside: "Commander, military commissar, you go to the armored car first, and if there is anything wrong with the situation, move immediately." ”

Rokossovsky listened attentively and found that no new gunfire had been heard except for the one that had just been fired. He waved his hand at Malinin and said, "Chief of Staff, don't be so nervous, maybe it's our own troops coming." ”

"Ah, our own troops?" When Malinin heard what Rokossovsky said, he couldn't help but show a puzzled expression on his face: "Comrade commander, how did you judge it?" ”

"Chief of Staff, you listen to the sound of horses' hooves outside, at least a cavalry regiment, the Germans probably don't have a cavalry unit of this size." Speaking of this, he walked briskly towards the outside of the tent, and at the same time added: "Also, the gunshot just rang out, it must have been a misunderstanding by the sentry, so he fired a warning shot." The fact that no new gunshots have been heard for so long proves that the commanders and fighters who had just rushed out had discovered that they were their own people. ”

As soon as he stepped out of the tent, he saw the staff officers who had just rushed out walking back in twos and threes. Seeing the commander standing outside the tent, an operational staff officer hurriedly raised his hand and saluted and reported: "Comrade commander, it is our own cavalry. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of cavalrymen wearing black cloaks and cylindrical hats and riding tall horses appeared in everyone's field of vision. Seeing a group of commanders standing at the door of the tent, a cavalry officer on a white horse grabbed the horse's belly and rode over. Stopped a few steps away from Rokossovsky, then turned over and dismounted, walked quickly in front of Rokossovsky, raised his hand and saluted, and reported loudly: "Comrade commander, the commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, Major General Dovatol, reports to you that our army will receive your command from now on, and I will obey your orders, please instruct!" ”

"Hello, Yev Mikhailovich," Rokossovsky did not return the salute, but smiled and held out his hand to the other man. Dovator hurriedly took off the glove in his right hand and held the outstretched hand. After the hands of the two were released, Rokossovsky turned sideways and made a gesture and said: "Come on, comrade general, please come into my headquarters." ”

When Dovator entered the tent, he saw Lobachev, who knew that this was the military commissar of the 16th Army, and hurriedly stretched out his hand and said in a friendly manner: "Hello, comrade military commissar, it's a pleasure to meet you." ”

Lobachev shook hands with Dovatol and said with a smile: "I'm also very happy to meet you. At this point, he glanced sideways at Rokossovsky, who was standing next to him, and added, "With you and your cavalry units coming, our strength will be even stronger." Please come in, hurry up and please come in! ”

Several people entered the tent, and Rokossovsky immediately said to Malinin: "Chief of Staff, General Doltor must be tired and hungry after a long march, hurry up and get him something to eat." ”

Just as Malinen turned around and was about to leave, he was stopped by Dovator. He quickly stopped, looking at Dovator with some surprise, not knowing what the other party would say. I saw that Dovalto's face turned red, looked at Rokossovsky and said a little embarrassed: "Comrade commander, can you get some food for my fighters by the way?" You must know that since yesterday at noon, everyone has not eaten anything. (To be continued.) )