The 9th Mechanized Army, like the real history, followed three marching routes, in the direction of Novograd-Volynsky, Rivne and Lutsk. The motorized 131st Division advanced in a column on the right side of the main road line, led by Kalinin. The 35th Tank Division, led by the experienced Novikov, advanced in echelons in the middle. On the left is the 20th Chernyaev tank division, which is tasked with reconnaissance and alert tasks.

In the gas, which was traveling in the same direction as the marching procession, Chief of Staff Maslov sat in the co-pilot's seat, while Rokossovsky and Vashukin sat in the back seat.

At first, no one in the car spoke. Later, Maslov turned to the side, looked at Rokossovsky and Vashukin, and asked a little hesitantly: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you really want to go to Kowell with us, and you don't need to go to Ternopil to meet the command of the military district?" ”

Vashugin looked at Rokossovsky, who was silent, and at the moment he was looking intently at the procession outside the window, as if he was not at all interested in Maslov's question. Vashukin turned his face to look at Maslov and said lightly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I remind you that from the moment the war broke out, the Kiev Special Military District ceased to exist, and was replaced by the Southwestern Front. As a member of the Military Committee of the Front, I felt that it was necessary for me to follow the commanders and fighters to the forefront and find out the enemy's troops, weapons, and equipment. ”

At this moment, Rokossovsky thought to himself that in the original time and space, even if the real Rokossovsky was very resolute and mobilized his troops very quickly, he only set off after 14 o'clock in the afternoon. Due to the lack of vehicles, the 131st motorized division, which moved the fastest, only reached Rivne before dark. Now, with their own crossing, the troop departure time is nine hours earlier, not to mention, and a large number of vehicles have been replenished for Kalinin's troops. That way, even if they get to Cowell before noon, they will have no problem. Thinking of this, Rokossovsky said to himself in a voice that only he could hear: "With such a big variable, the Ninth Mechanized Army will definitely perform unexpectedly in the early stage of the war." ”

By 7 o'clock in the morning, the 131st motorized division, which was moving most rapidly, was approaching Rivne. At this moment, Maslov saw a three-wheeled motorcycle chasing after him, guessed that it might be delivering information, and hurriedly ordered the driver to stop on the side of the road.

After handing over the telegram to Maslov, the communications staff officer on the motorcycle turned and left. After reading the contents of the telegram, Maslov turned to Vashukin and Rokossovsky and said: "It is a telegram from the command of the Fifth Army that the war has broken out and the German Air Force is bombing Lutsk, and we are ordered to immediately issue a combat alert to the troops and, in the shortest possible time, to the border of the country." ”

After listening to this, Vashukin turned his head to look at Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, thanks to your keen observation and judgment, the troops are ready for battle in advance. I will truthfully report to the Front Command for your performance and ask them to give you the reward you deserve. ”

Rokossovsky waved his hand and said with a wry smile: "Thank you, Comrade Military Commissar, it is too early to say the reward, our priority at the moment is to hold off the enemy and drive them away from our territory." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Rokossovsky." Vashugin said disapprenously: "I hope that it will not be long before the troops of the second echelon will rush to the border line one after another, and together with the troops of the first echelon, they will wipe out all the German troops who have broken into the border." ”

"But Comrade Military Commissar, you are also a child, our communication lines have been damaged by the German army, and the entire chain of command has been paralyzed." Rokossovsky said worriedly. "The troops at the front could not get in touch with the command in the rear, and the command had no way of knowing the situation at the front. In this case, I am afraid that the command in the rear will not be able to quickly gather troops and launch a counterattack in the right direction. ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, you are too worried." Vashugin sneered and said contemptuously: "Don't look at the Germans as if they had taken us by surprise, but they were vulnerable in front of the army that we had cultivated with an offensive spirit. ”

Rokossovsky couldn't laugh at Vashukin's optimistic estimate, and he thought in his heart that he would be thankful for being able to block the ferocious attack of the German army now, and as for repelling the German attack, it was simply a fantasy. How uncomfortable it is to sometimes know something that others don't know, but not be able to say it.

The troops did not enter Rivne, but bypassed from outside the city. Shortly after entering the plain, the roar of aircraft engines was heard in the air, and Rokossovsky looked up through the car window and saw more than a dozen planes in the air, flying head-on from west to east. Although the plane flew at a high altitude, from the appearance of the aircraft, Rokossovsky recognized at a glance that this was a German bomber, but did not know why there was no fighter escort.

"Hell, how did the Germans get here?" Seeing the German bombers appearing in the sky, Vashukin couldn't help but ask in surprise: "What about our planes, why don't they come out to intercept them?" After saying this, he raised his hand and patted the driver's shoulder, and ordered loudly, "Stop!" ”

As soon as the car stopped, Vashukin immediately pushed the door and jumped out, then stood in the middle of the road and beckoned the car following behind to stop. Rokossovsky didn't know why Vashukin asked the driver to stop, but after seeing Putukhin coming out of the latter car, he knew in his heart that Vashukin must have wanted Putukhin to contact the Air Force and send fighter planes to drive the enemy away.

When the gas car was moving again, Vashukin said with a worried face: "General Putukhin said that it is not possible to get in touch with the field airfields for the time being, so it is impossible to send our fighters into the air to drive out the German planes. ”

At nine o'clock in the morning, the troops approached Lutsk, a crowd of refugees on the highway, who were walking along the road with the old and the young, carrying large bags and small bags. And Rokossovsky, who was sitting in the car at this moment, had heard a rumbling explosion in front of him. It was Lutsk that was bombed, which is enough to show that the German air force has mastered air supremacy on the battlefield.

Rokossovsky looked out the window at the crowd of refugees, his mood became impatient, he was deeply afraid that the Germans had occupied Cowell at this moment, after all, the city was less than a hundred kilometers from the border, and the German tanks only needed to walk for two or three hours to enter the city.

When the convoy full of troops passed through Kivatis east of Lutsk, the flames of building windows, collapsed houses, large and small craters in the streets, and the corpses of old people, women, and even children lying around the craters made the hearts of every commander and fighter in the convoy feel extremely heavy.

There was no need for Rokossovsky to explain anything to the troops below, the commanders at all levels had ordered the fighters in the vehicles to take off all their light and heavy machine guns and be ready to exchange fire with the enemy at any time.

While passing through Lutsk, the chief of staff of the Fifth Army, Pisarevsky, led people to stop the convoy. When he saw that it was Rokossovsky's troops, he asked in surprise: "Comrade General, your movements are really fast enough, from giving you an order to appearing here, it took less than two hours, did you fly over?" ”

When Rokossovsky was thinking about how to explain it to him, Vashukin preemptively said: "Comrade General, time is pressing, stop making friends, tell me about your situation." ”

Pisarevsky was surprised to see that Vashukin was also in the convoy, but he did not ask more, but explained the current situation to everyone: "Lutsk was bombed twice in a row by the Germans, and the communication between the army group headquarters and the outside world was almost cut off. At present, the 124th Infantry Division of Major General Sushi is fighting with the Germans at Vladimir Volynsky. According to reconnaissance, Cowell had already been captured by the vanguard of the German army, who could send troops to pounce on Lutsk. Therefore, the task of your army is to establish a defensive line at Reuscher, northwest of the city, to block the German attack, and wait for the arrival of our field troops. ”