Rokossovsky looked ahead without saying a word, only to see all sorts of military vehicles and carts turning the congested highway into a stagnant river of vehicles, and the drivers of military vehicles who were stuck in traffic and unable to move frantically honked their horns and made disturbing noises. The refugees on foot seemed to be accustomed to all this www.biquge.info carrying or carrying their luggage, and slowly squirming with their faces as they followed the flow of people.

Seeing this, he turned to Lobachev and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, let's go down and have a look." After saying that, he slammed open the car door next to him, and then jumped out of the car first.

Lobachev got out of the car, went around to Rokossovsky from the front of the car, and asked: "Comrade commander, what should we do now, go over and take a look?" ”

"Not yet." Rokossovsky shook his head and said: "Colonel Orel has already gone over to understand the situation, let's wait for him to come back and report to us." ”

After a while, Orel, who had gone to find out about the situation, returned, and with him came back two other officers. Oryol walked up to Rokossovsky and Lobachev and reported: "Commander, commissar, I have brought back two comrades of the friendly forces, and they will brief you." ”

Orel leaned sideways and shook his head at the two officers who had followed him, signaling that they could report to Rokossovsky. One of the captain-officers stepped forward first, and after raising his hand in salute, he reported: "Hello, Comrade General! I was a staff officer of the logistics unit of the 22nd Army. ”

"Late staff officers of the 22nd Army?!" Rokossovsky couldn't help frowning when he heard the captain identify himself, then looked at the other officer and asked: "Comrade Major, which unit are you from?" ”

"Comrade General." Hearing Rokossovsky ask himself, the major hurriedly took two steps forward and replied loudly: "I am the deputy head of the logistics department of the 30th Army. ”

"Comrade two commanders," Rokossovsky's gaze swept over the two commanders, and asked, "one of you belongs to the 22nd Army and the other to the 30th Army." If I'm not mistaken, your zone should be far from here, why are you here? Is there anything else? ”

"That's right, Comrade General." As soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, the major immediately replied: "The Germans have broken through our lines, and quite a few troops have been routed by the Germans. We broke through and are now heading east to find our troops. ”

Hearing that the Germans had broken through the lines of the 22nd and 30th armies, Rokossovsky could not help but be taken aback, knowing well that both armies were deployed on the right flank of the 19th Army, and since the Germans had broken through here, Lukin's flank became dangerous. He waved at Orel and said, "Colonel, map." ”

Orel hurriedly took out a map from his satchel and spread it out on the hood. Rokossovsky gestured to the major and said politely: "Major, please show me the area where the Germans are present." ”

The major walked over to the hood, looked down at the map for a while, and then pointed to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, please see, the German tanks and motorized units broke through the defenses of our 30th Army and the 19th Army, and advanced far to the east, successively occupying villages and settlements in Sychovka, Pigulino, Kholm-Zhirkovsky and other places. ”

Rokossovsky stared intently at the places that the major had just pointed out, and without raising his head, asked: "What kind of forces does the enemy have?" ”

Rokossovsky's question made the major hesitate for a moment, and then he replied with great certainty: "Although I cannot say the exact strength of the German army, I can tell you with great confidence that there are at least two regiments of infantry and no less than one regiment of tank troops in these areas. ……”

After the major finished speaking, Rokossovsky nodded at him and said politely: "Thank you, Comrade Major, thank you for the information you provided us. ”

After the major and the others had left, Orel said to Rokossovsky with a sad face: "Comrade commander, the situation does not look good, these villages and settlements occupied by the Germans are north of the main line of the Yaltsevo-Vyazma railway. From this I can conclude that this may be a wedge in which the enemy has entered, and it can be expected that it will turn around and seize the main road line and form a joint encirclement of our troops. ”

"You are right," Rokossovsky, although he did not know how the Soviet troops trapped by the Germans in the Vyazma area were completely wiped out in real history, but he could guess what the Germans were doing was to cut off the retreat of the Soviet army and want to fight another war of annihilation in Kiev. "This intelligence is important, we need to report it immediately to the front command."

Just as Orel was about to go to the convoy carrying communication equipment behind to send the report, he saw a three-wheeled motorcycle staggering out from the side of the crowded road in front. Lobachev's sharp eyes saw clearly that it was Malinin sitting in the sidecar, and hurriedly said to Rokossovsky next to him in surprise: "Comrade commander, it's Colonel Malinin, he has returned from Vyazma. ”

When Malinin walked up to the jeep, Lobachev hurriedly asked: "Chief of Staff, what is the situation in the city of Vyazma, how many of our troops have arrived?" ”

Hearing Lobachev's question, a bitter smile appeared on Malinin's face, "I'm sorry, Comrade Military Commissar, I brought you bad news. ……”

Malinin's words were not finished, but Rokossovsky had already heard from his words that his trip to Vyazma was very unsmooth, so he preemptively asked: "Chief of staff, tell me quickly, what happened?" ”

"Comrade Commander, I really don't know how to answer you." Ma Linin said with a serious expression: "After I arrived in Vyazma, I traveled all over the city, and I did not see the five divisions promised to us by my superiors. ”

"No, Chief of Staff." Lobachev asked in a skeptical tone: "Since the superiors promised to give us troops, how could there be none?" It may be that you went too early, and our troops have not yet marched into Vyazma. ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, not what you think." When Malinin heard Lobachev say this, he couldn't help but be anxious, and he said in a crying voice: "Not only are there no our troops in the city, but even the policemen on duty are gone. The inhabitants of the city packed their belongings and fled from the east of the city with the old and the young. I don't think the superiors sent us any troops at all, we were all deceived! ”

"How so, how so?" Lobachev said in a tone of disbelief: "How can the order we received, but the commander of the front and the military commissar personally sign it, be a lie?" There must be some misunderstanding in this. As he spoke, he grabbed Rokossovsky and said with emotion, "Comrade commander, we should immediately contact the headquarters of the Front, truthfully report the actual situation here, and ask why the five divisions promised to us have not yet reached Vyazma." ”

"Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky had just wanted Orel to contact the Front Command, but since Malinin had returned at this moment, he naturally gave the latter this task: "You immediately go and contact the Front Command, report the situation here, and ask why our troops have not yet reached Vyazma." ”

After ten minutes of anxious waiting, Malinin returned to Rokossovsky and them with his head down, shook his head, and said: "I can't get in touch with the front command. ”

"What, can't get in touch with the headquarters?" Malinin's answer surprised Lobachev. He turned his head to look at Rokossovsky and asked: "Comrade commander, what should we do now?" ”

In this case, if Rokossovsky did not know that he was being calculated by others, he would inevitably be too late to realize it. However, he never understood that his attitude towards Konev was always respectful, why would the other party set up such a game to harm him?

Seeing that Rokossovsky was just staring at the congested highway in front of him in a daze, Lobachev couldn't help but repeat the question just now. Rokossovsky, who had come to his senses from his contemplation, knew that he could no longer stay here and sit still, and that he must take active measures, so he ordered Orel: "Comrade Colonel, please take two fighters and reconnoiter in the direction from which the friendly troops are coming to find out where the Germans are." ”

"Understood, I'll go." After Orel finished speaking, he called two fighters, got on a three-wheeled motorcycle, and headed north.

After Orel left, Lobachev soon couldn't sit still, and he took the initiative to ask Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, on the contrary, Colonel Orel will not be able to come back for a while and a half, so it is better to take a few soldiers to Vyazma to have a look, maybe I will meet the troops assigned to us by my superiors, and I can't tell." ”

Rokossovsky, although he understood in his heart, that the five divisions promised by Konev existed only on paper and would not appear in Vyazma at all. But he could not bear to discourage Lobachev's enthusiasm, and after thinking for a while, he finally nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Military Commissar, you go and go back quickly!" ”

Due to the congestion of the road ahead, Lobachev could not take too many fighters to the road, and in the end he took only two staff officers and a guard squad and passed under the bumpy roadbed next to the road on a motorcycle.

With the departure of Orel and Lobachev, only Rokossovsky and Malinin were left next to the jeep. Malinin looked left and right, and saw that the nearest soldiers were more than ten meters away, and he couldn't hear his conversation at all, so he lowered his voice and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I think this is a conspiracy. ”

"Chief of Staff, why do you say that?" Rokossovsky, who had already had an ominous premonition in his heart, asked expressionlessly: "How do you know that this is a conspiracy?" ”

"This is obvious," Malinin thought that Rokossovsky was still in the dark, so he analyzed it to him: "First let us hand over our troops to General Yershakov of the 20th Army, and then let us rush to Vyazma, which has no troops, to receive the so-called five divisions." I think this is a conspiracy through and through, and perhaps the Germans, seeing that our defense zone could not be breached for a long time, sent us this false order using the deciphered code of our army. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, with your logical analysis ability, you can go to the people's police station as a criminal investigator." As soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, he pointed out the flaw in his words: "If the Germans are going to give us false orders, then they are going to deceive many departments at once, and in addition to us, they will also deceive Yershakov, and on this alone, it will be very difficult for them to do." Secondly, we handed over our troops to General Yershakov by receiving a written order signed jointly by the commander of the front and the military commissar, such an order that the Germans could not forge. ”

An hour later, Lobachev, who had gone to Vyazma to inquire about intelligence, returned. He walked up to Rokossovsky and said with a serious expression: "Comrade commander, I met the Chief of Staff of the Front Army Sokolovsky on the way, according to him there are no units of our army in Vyazma for the time being. But after the new order from the higher authorities was issued, our task remained the same, which was to receive five divisions at Vyazma and then carry out a counter-assault on the Germans. ”

After hearing this, Rokossovsky snorted coldly and said: "I see if there will be troops to reach Vyazma, it is estimated that the chief of staff of the front army himself does not know." To be on the safe side, he might say let's do what we were told. ”

"So what are we going to do?" Lobachev asked.

"Wait, keep waiting." Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, and then said: "When Colonel Orel comes back from reconnaissance, we will immediately set off for Vyazma and establish our command there. ”

While Rokossovsky stayed on the side of the road and waited for Oryol to return, Stalin, who was far away in the Moscow Kremlin, received the news that the Germans were storming the defense area of the Western Front and successively broke through the joint forces of the 19th and 30th armies and the 16th army's defense line on the Wopi River.

Stalin took the pipe in his mouth, put the ash in the crystal ashtray, glanced at Shaposhnikov, who was standing in front of him, and asked dissatisfiedly: "Why, the Germans broke through the defense line on the Vopi River and forced the troops of the 16th Army to retreat." How did Rokossovsky command, and how could he tolerate the enemy's brazen breakthrough of his defenses? ”

After waiting for Stalin to finish, Shaposhnikov said with a wry smile: "Comrade Stalin, according to the report of the Western Front, Rokossovsky led his command to leave the front line before the start of the German offensive and did not know where to go. ”

"What, Rokossovsky and his command broke away from the troops?" When Stalin heard this, he slammed the pipe in his hand on the table a few times, and then said in a stern tone: "This is a cowardly act of greed for life and fear of death, and it must be severely punished." Comrade Shaposhnikov, I ask you to prepare an order for the Western Front at once, so that after finding Rokossovsky and his command, they will return all the people to Moscow and put them on trial before a military tribunal. (To be continued.) )