At dawn, except for the 38th Division in the northwest, which was still attacking the enemy's defensive line, the gunfire in the west and southwest directions had completely stopped. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Although Rokossovsky was on fire with the 20th Army that refused to cooperate in the battle, he did not die without help, but instead put the 101st Tank Division, which had just finished fighting, into battle again.

After reading the telegram received, Vinogradov said to him: "Comrade commander, at the moment the troops of the 16th and 19th armies are moving in our direction through the breakthrough. According to the latest order of the Front Command, they will retreat to the vicinity of Yaltsevo and build a new line of defense. ”

When Kazakov heard Vinogradov say this, he couldn't help but ask with a look of surprise: "What, the superiors asked these two army groups to withdraw to Yaltsevo, what about Smolensk?" Give the city to the Germans? ”

Rokossovsky did not speak, but sighed, walked to the lookout, raised his binoculars and looked at the battlefield in the distance. At this moment, one can see that from the west and southwest, there are troops coming on foot, towards the Wopi River.

Piles of prisoners, under the watchful eye of the commanders and fighters of the motorized infantry regiment, were cleaning up the battlefield. After carefully distinguishing the dead officers and soldiers, they put the bodies of the two officers and soldiers in different trenches, and then brandished shovels and began to fill in the earth. The commanders and fighters of the motorized infantry regiment who did not take care of the prisoners were not idle, they were searching for those weapons that could still be used on the battlefield, and they were gathered and transported to the defensive positions by the river, ready to be used in the next battle.

"Comrade Commander, what about these German prisoners?" Vinogradov pointed to the prisoners who were busy and said with some concern: "We don't have the capacity to contain the prisoners at the moment, and if we keep them all in the camp, I'm afraid they will make trouble." ”

"Then when they finish cleaning up the battlefield, they will all be cleaned up." Kazakov said unequivocally: "There are so many shell craters anyway, throw their bodies into it, and leave it alone." Anyway, the Germans will come over soon, and then they will deal with it themselves. ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Artillery." Rokossovsky immediately refuted Kazakov's proposal, "although due to the stubborn resistance of the enemy, we paid a huge price." But since they have laid down their arms and become our prisoners of war, they cannot be eliminated casually. ”、

After speaking, he turned his head and called Malinin and ordered: "Chief of Staff, we have about a battalion of recruits in the second line of defense east of Yaltsevo, and since they have just been incorporated into the unit, they have no combat effectiveness, so it is better to leave the task of escorting the prisoners to Moscow to them to complete." ”

"Do you want them to come here at once?" Malinin asked Rokossovsky for instructions.

"No, no, no." Rokossovsky waved his hand and said: "This journey of dozens of kilometers back and forth is too time-consuming. A company was drawn from the motorized infantry regiment, led by Lieutenant Starey, to Yaltsevo to join the new barracks, and together they sent the prisoners to Moscow. ”

When Lieutenant Starey, with a company of fighters, escorted several hundred German prisoners across the Wopi River and advanced towards Yaltsevo, the commander of the 19th Army, General Konev, came to the headquarters.

"Hello, Comrade Rokossovsky." When Konev entered the door and saw Rokossovsky, he gave him a warm hug, slapped him on the back vigorously, and said emotionally: "Thank you, if it were not for the heroic tenacity of your troops, I think my troops might not have escaped from the encirclement of the enemy so easily." ”

Although Rokossovsky was almost out of breath by Konev's bear hug, he still tried to keep a smile on his face, because he understood that this kind of hug is the same as shaking hands, and if the other person uses more force, the more he will show that he is friendly to you. He took a deep breath, stabilized his excited emotions, and said slowly: "General Konev, no thanks, this is what I should do." ”

After letting go of Rokossovsky, Konev walked to the table where the map was placed, looked down for a moment, and then said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, by order of the superiors, our army group will build a new line of defense on the right flank of your combat cluster, that is, to the north of Yaltsevo. While we build our defensive line, your troops will need to stay on the west bank of the Wopi River to hold off the German attack and buy us valuable time to build fortifications. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade General." According to the memories from later generations, Rokossovsky clearly knew that Konev would soon take over the post of commander of the Western Front and become his immediate superior. Therefore, he said with great politeness: "We will never let a single German cross the Waupi until your troops have completed their fortifications." ”

After the two chatted for a while, Konev offered to take his leave. When he shook hands with Rokossovsky, he swore solemnly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, don't worry, it only takes one day, at most one day, my troops will be able to build a strong fortification north of Yaltsevo, and then your troops will be able to smoothly withdraw to the Yaltsevo area for deployment." ”

Not long after Konev left, Malinin suddenly came to report: "Comrade commander, I just received a call from Lieutenant Colonel Vorobyov, who said that General Lukin had entered their defense zone. General Lukin asked if you would have time to meet with him, and he wanted to talk to you. ”

"There's time, there's time." Although Rokossovsky and Lukin did not deal with each other very often, the two developed a deep friendship during the defense of Shepetovka. Therefore, as soon as Rokossovsky heard Malinin ask this, he immediately ordered: "Chief of Staff, immediately invite General Lukin to come here." ”

When Lukin, who was covered in gunsmoke, entered the command headquarters, Rokossovsky immediately greeted him, gave him a hug first, and said warmly: "General Lukin, welcome to my headquarters." He was then introduced to his deputy, General Vinogradov, the chief of artillery, General Kazakov, and the chief of staff, Colonel Malinin.

After shaking hands with several people one by one, Lukin also took the initiative to introduce the two commanders who came in with him to Rokossovsky: "General Rokossovsky, let me introduce you to my partner. This is Lobachev, the divisional political commissar of the military commissar of the army, and this is Major General Shalin, chief of staff. ”

After Rokossovsky stepped forward to shake hands with the two, he said warmly: "You are welcome to come to my place, please take a seat." After a busy night, I think everyone is hungry, I just have breakfast prepared here, let's sit down and eat some together. ”

Looking at the biscuits, bread, sausages, salough and steaming black tea on the table, Lukin couldn't help but smile and say: "Comrade Rokossovsky, your breakfast here is really rich. If it were possible, I would like to switch places with you and let you be the commander of the 16th Army, and I would be the commander of this combat cluster of yours. ”

Although Lukin was joking, Rokossovsky had a wry smile on his face after hearing this, because he knew that he would soon officially become the commander of the 16th Army, and Lukin, a general with outstanding achievements, became a prisoner of the German army.

But fortunately, Lukin and the others were busy destroying the food on the table, and no one noticed Rokossovsky's strangeness. Rokossovsky picked up a cookie and took a bite, then asked: "General Lukin, have your troops all stood out?" ”

"It's all prominent." When Lukin heard Rokossovsky ask, he said apologetically: "Speaking of this, I think I should apologize to you." Because I stubbornly believed that it would be impossible for your troops to break through the German defenses, I sent only one regiment of troops, but they cooperated with your actions, and as a result, you paid a lot of extra sacrifices. For this, I apologize to you and those commanders and fighters who have lost their lives. With that, Lukin stood up and bowed deeply to Rokossovsky.

"Comrade Commander, it's none of your business, it's obviously our ......" Seeing that Lukin took responsibility for himself, Chief of Staff Shalin was a little embarrassed, and when he opened his mouth and was about to explain the truth of the matter to Rokossovsky, he was stopped by Lukin with his hands. The latter looked at him and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am the commander of the group army, and I should be responsible for this mistake. ”

"Comrade Commander, ...... you" Shalin's nose couldn't help but sour when he heard Lukin say this, if it weren't for so many strange commanders, maybe his eyes would burst out.

"Comrade Rokossovsky, I received a telegram not so long ago from Marshal Timoshenko, in which we asked our Army Group and the 19th Army to establish a defensive position south of Yaltsevo." Lukin asked tentatively: "How is it, has General Kurochkin's 20th Army broken through?" ”

Hearing Lukin's question, Vinogradov, who was originally gnawing on bread, threw half of the bread into the plate in front of him, and said angrily: "If they can send even one regiment of troops to cooperate like you, I estimate that they will also succeed in breaking through!" ”

Lukin was taken aback by Vinogradov's attitude, and he hurriedly asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, what the hell is going on, did the breakthrough of the 20th Army fail?" ”

Seeing that Vinogradov seemed to want to say something, Rokossovsky hurriedly raised his hand to stop him, and then said to Lukin: "Commander Lukin, this is the situation. Last night, my troops launched simultaneous attacks on the Germans in three directions, the southwest of yours, and the west of General Konev's 19th Army, both of which responded positively, sending troops to flank the Germans with us. However, General Kurochkin's troops did not know what was going on, and from the beginning of the battle to the present, more than ten hours had passed, and their side had always stood still. ”

"What, stand still?" Lukin couldn't help but gasp when he heard Rokossovsky say this. It took a long time before he cautiously asked: "How can this be, could it be that General Kurochkin took the initiative to give up the breakthrough?" After saying this, he paused for a moment, and then added, "Comrade Rokossovsky, in any case, I think you should help them." As far as I know, most of the commanders and fighters of the 20th Army have participated in the Soviet-Finnish war and have a wealth of combat experience, and if we can rescue them, then our chances of victory in the next battle will be greatly improved. ”

"General Lukin." Vinogradov struggled to control his emotions, trying to make his tone appear calm: "Didn't you hear the gunfire outside? That was our 38th Infantry Division and 101st Tank Division, which were launching a fierce assault on German positions in the northwest, preparing to save the 20th Army from the enemy's encirclement. ”

Lukin was so angry that he stomped his feet after figuring out the whole thing, he stood up and said to Sharin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please immediately send a telegram to General Kurochkin, and tell him that our 19th Army and General Konev, with the support of General Rokossovsky's troops, have successfully broken out of the German encirclement and are preparing to withdraw to the area south of Yatsevo to build a new defensive line. Immediately after receiving the telegram, he was asked to organize his troops to launch a fierce attack on the place where the fighting was most intense, and cooperate with friendly forces to tear a gap in the enemy's encirclement. ”

After Shalin had sent a telegram to Kurochkin and had breakfast, Lukin took the members of his command and said goodbye to Rokossovsky. He shook Rokossovsky's hand and said: "Comrade General, in the shortest possible time, we will build a defensive position in the direction south of Yatsevo. Before our fortifications are completed, we will have to trouble your troops on the banks of the Wopi River to hold back the rushing enemy and buy us a little precious time. ”

After leaving Rokossovsky's command, Chief of Staff Shalin asked Lukin for instructions: "Comrade commander, what should we do next?" ”

Lukin frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "Comrade Military Commissar and the vanguard rushed to the south of Yaltsevo, while you, Comrade Chief of Staff, stayed with me on the Vopi River to direct the troops to cross the river. After all the troops have crossed the river, we will go to the new defensive area. ”

Lukin and the others had just arrived at the river when several German planes appeared in the sky. Seeing the dense crowd along the Wopi River, the enemy planes immediately swooped down from a high altitude, dropped bombs on the crowd, and machine-gun strafing the troops who were on the pontoon bridge.

The troops who were crossing the river were suddenly attacked by air raids, and they suddenly became confused. All the formations were suddenly disrupted, some rushed to the pontoon bridge and ran across the river, some turned around and ran in the direction they came, and some simply wandered around in the same place.

Seeing this, Lukin was anxious. Standing on a rock by the river, he shouted at the crowd, "Don't mess up, don't mess up, everyone. Keep in formation, keep in formation ......"

An enemy plane in the air spotted Lukin standing on a high place, immediately turned around and dived down on him, dropping a bomb. The bomb exploded five or six meters away from Lukin, and when the smoke cleared, Lukin shook a few times, and then fell directly on the rock. (To be continued.) )