An unexpected situation has arisen in the Belarusian direction, and the Kiev region, thanks to the presence of Rokossovsky, has become relatively stable.

Katukov's tank army was in the Jetmir area, engaged in a fierce battle with the German 48th Army. Despite the heavy sacrifices, they managed to keep the German troops at bay.

Seeing that the German offensive was contained, Chief of Staff Bogolyubov could not help but ask Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, since the enemy's offensive has been blocked by us, when will it be our turn to launch a new offensive?" ”

Hearing this, Rokossovsky stared at Bogolyubov for a long time and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although we blocked the German offensive, but when it comes to the offensive, we do not have this strength for the time being?" ”

"And when can we attack?" Bogolyubov asked anxiously.

"Wait a little longer," Rokossovsky smiled faintly and said: "At present, the Supreme Command has put the focus of the attack on Ukraine, and the supply of soldiers, ammunition and various materials is given priority to take care of us. However, it will take time for the troops to replenish and recuperate, and I estimate that the offensive against the Germans will not be launched until the end of December at the earliest. ”

"What, wait until the end of December?" Hearing Rokossovsky's timing, Bogolyubov's face could not help but show an expression of disappointment.

"Alright, Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry about it anymore." Rokossovsky patted him on the shoulder and said: "If there is to be a counteroffensive, we have a lot of preparations to do. The first thing you have to do is to draw up an offensive plan, submit it to the Supreme High Command for review, and then discuss the details of the offensive with the commanders of the various army groups below. ”

Rokossovsky's words made Bogolyubov happy again, and as soon as he agreed, he ran to work out a battle plan. Rokossovsky, on the other hand, kept his head down and continued to look at the map, thinking about where to launch a counterattack in order to achieve the maximum results.

What follows, as Rokossovsky analyzed, the four fronts fighting in Ukraine are the priority objects of supply from the Supreme Command. And the replenishment of the 1st Ukrainian Front is again a top priority. In just one week, the base camp replenished them with 20,000 men and a month's supply of ammunition for twenty infantry divisions.

Since the enemy attacking Kyiv was successfully blocked, Khrushchev was able to calmly recruit new troops in the liberated territories. In this way, in addition to the replenishment of troops from the base camp, the 1st Ukrainian Front received 80,000 recruits from Khrushchev and 7,000 wounded soldiers who were discharged from the hospital. Seeing that the troops had become strong again, Bogolyubov couldn't help but be happy.

After reading the battle plan drawn up by Bogolyubov, Rokossovsky revised some of the imperfections, signed it later, handed it to Bogolyubov, and said to him: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately report this battle plan to the General Staff. ”

The plan, which was reported to the General Staff, was adopted the next morning. When Bogolyubov came back with a telegram to report to Rokossovsky, he asked a little unsteadily: "Comrade commander, has our combat plan really been approved by the superiors?" ”

"Does that need to be said?" Rokossovsky naturally understood Bogolyubov's mood at the moment, don't look at his time as chief of staff of the front army, but when he was under Vatutin, he was just an ornament, and since he came, he gradually began to play the role of chief of staff. Seeing that he was not confident at this moment, he encouraged him and said: "What you are holding in your hand is the telegram of instructions from the General Staff, doesn't this explain the problem?" ”

"Great, that's great!" Bogolyubov excitedly talked to himself for a long time, and finally looked at Rokossovsky and said sincerely: "Comrade commander, thank you, thank you. If you hadn't let me do my job, I might still be a useless ornament in the headquarters right now. ”

Rokossovsky waved his hand at him and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are too modest. In fact, you are a very capable staff officer, and I can understand this from my contact with you. The reason why your talent has not been shown in the past is because there is a problem with General Vatutin's way of working, and when you continue to cooperate with him in the future, you should communicate more and negotiate who will be in charge of the work in which direction, which is also a good thing for the troops. ”

Bogolyubov nodded vigorously and asked: "Comrade commander, since our battle plan has been approved, do you think you should summon the commanders of the various group armies here for a meeting?" ”

"Yes." Rokossovsky has been in the First Ukrainian Front for so long, and many army commanders have not seen it, and he happened to take advantage of this meeting to meet everyone once, so he readily agreed: "Without further ado, inform them to come here this evening for a meeting, and we will assign them combat missions." ”

But some things have changed, but they are unexpected. Before evening, an uninvited guest suddenly came to the headquarters, and the officers who saw him flashed to the side to make way for him, and raised their hands to their foreheads to salute him.

Rokossovsky was also taken aback when he saw him walk into the headquarters, and he asked in surprise: "General Vatutin, how did you get here?" ”

Vatutin walked up to Rokossovsky, raised his hand and saluted, and said with a smile: "Hello, General Rokossovsky, I have just come from Moscow and have been ordered to send you an order. As he spoke, he reached into his coat pocket, took out a small rolled note, and handed it to Rokossovsky.

Rokossovsky took the scroll of paper in Vatutin's hand with a confused face, unfolded it, and was immediately shocked, with only a few short sentences on it: "Transfer the command of the First Ukrainian Front to Vatutin, and you continue to return to the Belarusian Front as the commander, the situation there is not good." Stalin! ”

When Rokossovsky saw the note, he sat there and was stunned for a while before he muttered: "Comrade Vatutin, so you are here to take over my post?" ”

Vatutin nodded and said affirmatively: "Yes, General Rokossovsky." Some time ago, I temporarily left the post of commander because of illness. Now that I have recovered and am fully capable of all the work, I have returned to the post of commander of the Front after consulting Comrade Stalin. ”

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to Rokossovsky, smiled and said, "General Rokossovsky, I feel very much about what you have done during this time of my illness. If it weren't for you, it would not be easy to stop the German rush to Kyiv. ”

Rokossovsky grinned, trying to squeeze a smile on his face: "Look at what you said, Comrade Vatutin. We are comrades-in-arms, and in order to defeat the fascist invaders, it is completely appropriate to help you do a little thing. ”

After shaking hands with Rokossovsky, Vatutin, as if suddenly remembered something, said: "Oh, Comrade Rokossovsky, you see, I almost forgot that the plane that took you back to the Belarusian Front is still parked at the airport." I'll send someone to send you there, so that the pilot won't be in a hurry. ”