Before leaving the headquarters of the Front, Rokossovsky first called Malinin, who remained in the command to take his command. He said on the phone www.biquge.info "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately summon all the commanders above the regimental level to the headquarters for a meeting. ”

In response to Rokossovsky's order, Malinin said with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, this may be somewhat difficult. Fierce fighting is still going on in individual sections of our defense zone, and if all the commanders are gathered together for a meeting at such a time, the unified command of the area where the battle is being fought will be lost. ”

After listening to this, Rokossovsky thought about it, and then promptly revised his order: "In this way, Comrade Chief of Staff, let all the commanders at and above the regimental level who can attend the meeting immediately rush to the headquarters for a meeting, and I will convey to you the latest order of the Front Army today. ”

"Understood," Ma Linin readily agreed, "I will call the commanders of the various units and inform them to rush to the headquarters of the group army for a meeting." ”

After Rokossovsky put down the phone, Zhukov, who was sitting on the side, told him again: "Comrade Rokossovsky, after you go back, you must mobilize troops as soon as possible and rush to the Red Polyana area, and you must not let the enemy gain a firm foothold there." ”

"I see, Comrade Zhukov." Rokossovsky, who knew the results of the counteroffensive, after hearing Zhukov's words, confidently replied: "We will absolutely not allow the enemy's attempt to shell Moscow to succeed." With that, he raised his hand and saluted his superior, turned around and strode out of the headquarters.

On the way back to the headquarters of the army group, Rokossovsky diligently recalled the memories of the Red Polyana. He remembered that after the Germans occupied the area, Field Marshal von Bock of Army Group Center had personally arrived in the area and had seen Moscow under the bombardment with a telescope from the bell tower of the church, and it was said that he had also seen the spire of the Kremlin.

When Rokossovsky walked into the headquarters, he saw that there were twenty or thirty commanders of various units at and above the regimental level, and even Deputy Commander Zakharov, who had been in contact with a lot in the past two days, and Artillery Commander Kazakov were also present. After greeting everyone, he said straight to the point: "Comrades, there are two things that have been called for a meeting today. In the first case, in the near future, our army will launch a full-scale counteroffensive against the German army, crushing the enemy's heavy army groups and driving them far away from Moscow. ”

After he finished saying the news, he thought that there would be a cheer in the headquarters, but there was silence. None of the commanders present spoke, they looked at Rokossovsky with puzzled eyes, and muttered in their hearts: Is the commander wrong, the German army is now constantly attacking our positions, the more our troops are less, it is difficult to hold the position, where is the surplus force to carry out a counteroffensive?

Rokossovsky guessed what everyone was worried about from the expression on the commander's face, and said with a smile: "Comrade commander, although we are in a very bad situation, with a serious shortage of troops, and the enemy is still constantly attacking us, their strength is almost exhausted. Today, we have amassed 1.1 million troops, 7,652 artillery pieces, 774 tanks, and more than 1,000 aircraft near Moscow, which is enough to crush the exhausted German army. Comrades, the day of our revenge is coming. ”

"Ulla!" As soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, Malinin, who had long been impatient, took the lead in cheering, and then Lobachev, Zakharov, Kazakov and others also shouted. Seeing that the leaders of the group army were behaving in such a gaffe, the commanders attending the meeting also cheered at the same time. After enduring so much humiliation, they finally waited for the day when they raised their eyebrows.

After waiting for everyone to cheer for a while, Rokossovsky raised his hands and pressed down, and when the room was quiet, his face became solemn, and he said in a stern tone: "The second news, which is bad news, the vanguard of the German army has rushed to Red Polyana. The garrison of Moscow, where fierce battles were being fought against the Germans. The higher authorities ordered us to immediately mobilize our forces and rush to the area to destroy the enemy's vanguard. ”

"Comrade commander," said one of the commanders, standing up in embarrassment, "how can we go to the battle when our troops are almost gone?" ”

Rokossovsky glanced at the man and saw that it was the commander of the 20th Cavalry Division, which, after a series of battles, had less than a hundred men left and simply could not participate in larger battles. Rokossovsky thought for a moment, and then said: "Comrade commanders, Red Polyana is on the outskirts of Moscow, and as soon as the Germans gain a foothold here, they can deploy heavy artillery here to bombard Moscow. You must know that if you build a heavy artillery position in that position, half of Moscow will be within firing range, and even the Kremlin will be threatened. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky mention that the Kremlin was in danger, the commander of the 5th Guards Division, Colonel Mironov, who had not yet recovered from his wounds, stood up and said in a resolute tone: "Comrade Commander, my 5th Guards Division still has more than 1,000 people, so you will leave the task of destroying the enemy in the Red Polyana region to our division." ”

"No, Colonel Mironov." As soon as Mironov's words were finished, a man stood up next to him and said to him: "I think this difficult task should be entrusted to our students to form a mixed regiment, in any case, our regiment is named after the Supreme Soviet, and it is only fitting that we should complete such a task." ”

As soon as Lieutenant Colonel Mlagintsev, who was a mixed cadet regiment, finished speaking, the commander of the 9th Guards Division, Beloborodov, was not happy again, and he also stood up and grabbed the task: "Comrade commander, I think it is better to hand over this glorious and arduous task to our 9th Guards Division to complete. The last time the enemy occupied several wooden houses in our defense zone, the image of our division in the eyes of the Supreme Commander himself was damaged. Now is the time for revenge, and I pledge to destroy the enemy near the Red Polyana in order to defend the honor of our 9th Guards Division. ”

"No, this task should be entrusted to us." Mironov continued: "The station of our division, located only a few kilometers from the Red Polyana, can be reached in just an hour. ”

Hearing Mironov say this, Beloborodov was not to be outdone: "Although we are a little farther away from Red Polyana, our division has twice as many troops as you,......"

"Alright, stop arguing." Rokossovsky was afraid that if the two of them argued like this, it would turn into an endless quarrel, so he hurriedly stopped the two of them and said at the same time: "Colonel Belorodov, although you have more troops than Mironov, but you are almost twenty kilometers away from the Red Polyana, and you have to resist the enemy's attack, if your division is transferred, then who will hold that area?" ”

Seeing Rokossovsky say this, Beloborodov knew that he was out of play, sighed softly, and sat back in his place.

Rokossovsky fixed his eyes on Mironov and said to him: "Comrade Mironov, as soon as you return to the troops, lead your troops towards Red Polyana, and when you join up with friendly troops, you will attack the enemy. ”

"I wonder which troops are fighting together?" After waiting for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, Mironov immediately asked: "If there are no other troops, with the current strength of our division, we can still destroy the enemy at Red Polyana." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Mironov, I won't let your division fight alone." Rokossovsky then called Mlagintsev and two other regimental commanders by name and instructed them: "You, like Colonel Mironov, will immediately direct the movement of troops towards Red Polyana and wait for a counterattack against the Germans." ”

After a series of orders, Rokossovsky adjourned. When the commanders left one after another, and there were not many people left in the headquarters, Kazakov opened his mouth and asked: "Comrade commander, before the attack, does the artillery need to provide artillery support for the infantry?" ”

Rokossovsky did not answer him immediately, and after thinking for a while, he asked with a frown: "General Kazakov, how much artillery do you have at your disposal at the moment?" ”

Pointing to the map, Kazakov reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, look, in the north-western direction of Red Polyana there is one of our howitzer regiments, which can fully provide artillery support to the attacking troops. ”

Due to the urgency of the battle, Rokossovsky did not bother to ask Kazakov about his recent whereabouts, so he nodded and said: "Well, since this artillery regiment is so close to the Red Polyana, let them provide artillery support to the infantry before the attack." ”

Without waiting for the troops of the 16th Army to reach Red Polyana, Zhukov called and reported a bad news to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Rokossovsky, something is wrong!" ”

"What's the matter?" Although Rokossovsky guessed that Zhukov's phone call was related to the Red Polyana, he still tentatively asked: "Is it related to the Red Polyana?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky. Red Polyana had fallen ten minutes earlier, and our troops were driven out. Zhukov said in a stern tone: "According to the reports I have received, the enemy is building fortifications on the outskirts of Krasko-Polyana in order to deploy their heavy artillery positions in this area. I now command you, in any case, to destroy the enemy who storms the Red Polyana to-morrow, can you do it? ”

Rokossovsky knew that if he promised too much, Zhukov would definitely feel unsure. Therefore, he deliberately remained silent for two minutes before he spoke slowly into the microphone: "Comrade General, we are drawing troops from all directions and moving in the direction of Red Polyana, and it may not be until tomorrow morning at the earliest, so that all the troops can attack the starting position." ”

"When the troops enter the designated offensive positions is your business." After hearing this, Zhukov said unceremoniously: "But tomorrow before dark, you must destroy the enemies who have captured the Red Polyana." ”

Several commanders around Rokossovsky heard Zhukov's ultimatum. Zakharov saw that Rokossovsky had put down the microphone, and asked cautiously: "Comrade commander, do you think you need me to transfer all the troops near Kling to participate in the battle for Red Polyana?" ”

"I don't need to." Rokossovsky did not hesitate to refuse Zakharov's kindness, and he frowned and said: "Although the Germans occupy Red Polyana, the garrison of Moscow will definitely not willingly abandon this area, and they will definitely constantly carry out counter-assaults from the south." Since the Germans were pinned down in the south, we had much less resistance when attacking from the north. ”

……

At ten o'clock in the morning of the next day, Mironov, who had been dormant in the attack position for more than three hours, called Rokossovsky, and he reported with some excitement: "Comrade commander, I saw a German convoy entering the Red Polyana. ”

"What kind of convoy?" When Rokossovsky heard this report, his heart couldn't help but beat faster, and he guessed that it might be Field Marshal von Bock, the commander of Army Group Center of the German Army, so he was extremely excited: "You say something specific. ”

"I saw through the binoculars that there was a black sedan, four tanks and the same number of armored vehicles, and seven or eight covered trucks full of soldiers in the back." After Mironov's report was finished, he also took the initiative to analyze it to Rokossovsky, saying, "I think it may be a big man in the German army." ”

"That's right, Comrade Mironov, really a big man in the German army." When Rokossovsky heard the size of the convoy, he decided that it must be Marshal von Bock and immediately ordered Mironov: "Prepare your fighters for battle, we are ready to attack Red Polyana at any time." ”

Putting down the phone, he immediately called Maksimenko and instructed: "Comrade Colonel, immediately establish contact with the participating units, I will speak to them." ”

"I saw through the binoculars that there was a black sedan, four tanks and the same number of armored vehicles, and seven or eight covered trucks full of soldiers in the back." After Mironov's report was finished, he also took the initiative to analyze it to Rokossovsky, saying, "I think it may be a big man in the German army." ”

"That's right, Comrade Mironov, really a big man in the German army." When Rokossovsky heard the size of the convoy, he decided that it must be Marshal von Bock and immediately ordered Mironov: "Prepare your fighters for battle, we are ready to attack Red Polyana at any time." ”

Putting down the phone, he immediately called Maksimenko and instructed: "Comrade Colonel, immediately establish contact with the participating units, I will speak to them." ”