When German shells and aerial shells landed on the defensive positions of the 108th Infantry Division, Rokossovsky thought that the Germans would repeat their old tricks, and when the shelling and bombardment were over, the tanks would lead the infantry to charge. Therefore www.biquge.info he still carried out the defensive deployment in a step-by-step manner, allowing the artillery to intercept the German ground forces after they were dispatched.

Unexpectedly, the Germans played a trick, they shelled and bombed the 16th Army, but they sent troops to attack the junction of the 19th and 30th Armies. Because the Germans still carried out a round of shelling of the defense area of the 108th Infantry Division every half an hour after they stopped the intensive shelling and bombardment, Rokossovsky, who could not understand the details of the German army, did not dare to act rashly, so he could only order the forward troops to enter a state of combat readiness and prepare to meet the German attack.

By noon, Rokossovsky realized that the Germans were only shelling and bombing their own defenses, but had not launched a ground offensive, and felt that something was wrong. He stood on the wall where the map hung and looked at it for a long time, then turned his head and asked Malinin: "Chief of Staff, is there any latest report from the forward observation post?" ”

"No, Comrade Commander." Malinin immediately replied without hesitation: "According to the reports of the observation posts, no signs of a German build-up were found on the other side of the Woppi River. ”

"Tell me, what exactly do the Germans want to do?" When Rokossovsky heard that the enemy would not attack for the time being, he turned his head to look at the map on the wall and asked Malinin: "Why do they only bombard our defense areas with artillery fire, and do not launch a ground attack?" ”

Malinin walked up to Rokossovsky's side, looked up at the map on the wall, thought for a moment, and then expressed his opinion: "After yesterday's offensive, the Germans felt that it was very difficult to open a breakthrough from our direction. Therefore, they adjusted the direction of the attack in time, chose the defense area of the 30th Army, which was relatively weakly defended in the north, and tried to tear a gap between the army and the 19th Army, and cut our defense line into pieces. ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." After Malinin's words, Kazakov, who came over at some point, also continued: "I think the chief of staff has a good point, the Germans pinned our troops in defensive positions with artillery fire, so that they could attack the combined forces of the 19th and 30th armies with all their might. As long as the gap is torn open, they can drive in for a long time, detour back to the rear of the Western Front, encircle us, and let us repeat the mistakes of the Southwestern Front. ”

Kazakov's words gave Rokossovsky a wake-up call, and he turned his head again and asked Malinin: "Chief of Staff, how is the defense area of the 20th Army on our left flank, has it also been attacked by the Germans?" ”

"No, the 20th Army's defense zone was calm, and the Germans neither shelled or bombed them, nor launched a ground offensive." After saying these few words, Malinin paused for a moment, and then plucked up the courage to say: "I reported the German attack to the front headquarters, but the commander of the front did not seem to take it to heart at all, he said that this may be a feint attack by the German army, let us not make a fuss. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, is what you said true?" Lobachev, who had not spoken, came over and asked Malinin with a blank face. After receiving an affirmative answer, he could not help but say to himself: "It stands to reason that General Konev is also an old commander with a lot of combat experience, but he is a little indifferent to the actions of the German troops in our defensive zone. ”

After listening to Lobachev, Rokossovsky shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "I think that since he became the commander of the front, his attitude towards me has been as if we are enemies, and I really don't know what the problem is. ”

"Since you can't think of it, don't think about it so much." Lobachev looked at the map and asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, is the situation with General Lukin very bad now?" ”

"I don't think the situation is optimistic for him there," Rokossovsky finished speaking, and instructed Malinin: "Chief of Staff, call General Lukin and ask him how the situation is there?" ”

"Yes, I'll call right away." After Ma Lining finished speaking, he walked straight to the phone.

Looking at Malinin, who went to call, Lobachev asked thoughtfully: "Comrade commander, do you have any plans to send troops to support General Lukin?" ”

"That's right, that's how I think about it." Rokossovsky pointed to the defensive strip east of Yaltsevo and said: "Judging from the current situation, the Germans may not launch a ground offensive against us for the time being, so I intend to transfer the 38th and 152nd Infantry Divisions deployed here to Lukin to strengthen their defenses there." ”

"I agree." As soon as Rokossovsky's words fell, Lobachev agreed without hesitation: "If we stand by and do nothing when the defense area of Lukin's troops is fiercely attacked by the Germans, as soon as the Germans break through their defenses and gain a foothold in this area, then our right flank will be exposed to the enemy, and then we will need to fight the enemy in both directions at the same time, which is obviously very unwise." ”

When Malinin returned, he brought back bad news: "Comrade commander, the Germans have torn a gap three kilometers wide at the junction of the 19th and 30th armies. At present, General Lukin has moved the mechanized 26th Army as a reserve to the north in an attempt to block the German breakthrough. ”

When Malinin pointed out on the map the area where the mechanized 26th Army was heading, the expression on Rokossovsky's face became serious. For he saw that with the transfer of this force, a huge defensive void had appeared, and once the Germans rushed here, the flanks of their own troops would be exposed.

Not only Rokossovsky saw this, but even Lobachev and Kazakov saw it. As soon as Kazakov waited for Malinin to finish speaking, he immediately reminded Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, did you see it? With the transfer of the mechanized 26th Army, this section, which is five kilometers wide and seven kilometers deep, becomes a no-man's land, and once the Germans rush here, they can easily strike at our flanks. ”

"Comrade Chief of Artillery, I also saw it." Rokossovsky nodded and said lightly: "Originally, I wanted to send our troops over again when Comrade Lukin and them were in the most difficult time, but judging from the current situation, we must immediately mobilize troops to fill this gap, so that the Germans have no chance to take advantage of it." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Malinin immediately asked: "Comrade commander, I don't know which troops we should transfer to support the 19th Army. ”

"Colonel Kirillov's 38th Infantry Division, Colonel Chernesov's 152nd Infantry Division, Lieutenant Colonel Lemizov's 27th Tank Brigade." Rokossovsky, after saying the number of the reinforcements in one breath, thought about it again, and then said to Kazakov: "Comrade Artillery Chief, I want to transfer another artillery regiment from you, no problem, right?" ”

"No problem, Comrade Commander." Kazakov hurriedly replied: "I'll call the artillery and transfer the regiment closest to the 19th Army's defense area." ”

The build-up of troops took time, and while Malinin and Kazakov were intensively arranging reinforcements, Rokossovsky personally called Lukin. When he heard Lukin's voice coming out of the microphone, he asked in a concerned tone, "Comrade Lukin, how is your situation there?" ”

"Very bad, Comrade Rokossovsky." Lukin's tired voice came out of the earpiece, "A few minutes ago, the Germans had just broken through the defensive line of the 34th Infantry Corps, and I had ordered the commander of the corps to organize a counterattack and must restore the lost positions in the shortest possible time. ”

"What about the 30th Army?"

"I guess it's worse than we have here." Lukin sighed and continued: "The communication between us and them has been completely broken, and neither the telephone line nor the telegram can reach each other. ”

Hearing what Lukin said, Rokossovsky believed even more that his decision to send reinforcements was completely correct. He tried to say in a calm tone: "Comrade Lukin, since the situation there is very serious, I think it is necessary for me to send troops to support you. ”

"What, send troops to support us?" Rokossovsky's words made Lukin, who was being overwhelmed by the German attack, pause for a moment, and then he asked with surprise on his face as if grasping a life-saving straw: "Comrade Rokossovsky, is this all true?" Are you really going to send troops to support us? ”

"That's right, Comrade Lukin, that's exactly what happened." Seeing that Lukin was still a little skeptical, Rokossovsky hurriedly added: "I plan to send two infantry divisions, a tank brigade and an artillery regiment to support you." I believe that with the help of these troops, you will be able to stabilize the line and resolutely crush the German offensive. ”

"That's for sure." Lu Jingang was happy for a moment, and suddenly thought of a key question, the expression on his face became serious again, and he asked with some concern: "Comrade Rokossovsky, as far as I know, these troops you sent are one-third of the strength of your group army. Sending these troops to us won't affect your defenses, right? ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Lukin." Rokossovsky said with great confidence: "Judging by the characteristics of the German offensive, they simply wanted to suppress us with artillery fire so that we could not launch a counterattack against them, so that they could concentrate their forces on attacking you and open a breakthrough in your direction." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, the big stone in Lukin's heart fell to the ground, and he said with relief: "Okay, Comrade Rokossovsky, since this is the case, then please send the troops over as soon as possible." I believe that with these troops, your right flank will be as solid as a rock. ”

Thanks to Rokossovsky's timely reinforcements, Lukin had enough forces to deal with the Germans, and he quickly recovered his lost positions and drove the enemy back to the starting position of the offensive.

…………

Heavy fighting continued for another two days, and on the evening of October 5, Rokossovsky and Malinin were studying how to adjust their defenses. Suddenly, a staff officer came over, handed him a telegram, and reported: "Comrade commander, this is a telegram that has just been received from the headquarters of the Front. When he saw Rokossovsky receiving the telegram and preparing to put it on the table, he hastened to remind, "This is a telegram of 100,000 urgent, Comrade Commander." ”

Hearing what the staff officer said, Rokossovsky immediately took the telegram to his eyes, only to see that he was ordered to immediately hand over the defensive sector with his troops to General Yershakov, and to lead the headquarters of the 16th Army to Vyazma on October 6, where five infantry divisions would be given to organize a counter-assault on the Germans in the Yukhnov direction.

After seeing the telegram, Rokossovsky slapped the telegram on the table with a snap and said angrily: "This order is simply inexplicable." Now the situation is very serious north of our army group, especially with General Lukin. We also don't know anything about the situation on the left flank of the Front and south of our army group, but the higher authorities suddenly gave us such an order......"

Lobachev, Kazakov, Malinin, Orel and others did not know why Rokossovsky had a sudden seizure, but after circulating the telegram on the table, they could not help but have doubts about the authenticity of the telegram. Malinin said loudly: "Comrade commander, it is simply inexplicable for us to leave the troops at such a time. I propose that the command of the Western Front reissue the order in the form of a document and ask the commander of the Front to personally sign it. ”

"I agree with the Chief of Staff." Lobachev was the first to express his support.

Then Kazakov, Orel and others also said in unison: "Agree with the proposal of the chief of staff." ”

Seeing that everyone's opinions were unified, Rokossovsky nodded, and then instructed Malinin: "Chief of Staff, since everyone has the same opinion, then follow what you said, and send a telegram back to the Front Command, about this order, ask them to issue it in the form of a document, and ask the Commander of the Front Army to sign it himself." ”

During the night, one of the pilots delivered an order signed by Konev and the Military Council Bulganin. It read: "The commander of the 16th Army, Rokossovsky, is ordered to immediately transfer his defensive zone and his troops to the commander of the 20th Army, Yershakov, and you yourself with your headquarters and the necessary means of communication to reach Vyazma at the latest at the speed of a forced march no later than 6:10 a.m." The new formation of the 16th Army included the 50th, 73rd, 112th, 38th, and 229th infantry divisions in the Vyazma region, the 147th tank brigade, as well as 1 rocket artillery battalion, 1 anti-tank regiment, and 1 artillery regiment of the high headquarters reserve....... )