At this moment, in the direction of the enemy's defensive position in the west, countless red signal flares suddenly launched into the air one after another, announcing to the Soviet commanders and fighters who were fighting outside the city of Zhizdra that the counterattack on the German army had begun. As soon as Zakharov's tense nerve www.biquge.info s relaxed, the whole person immediately fell backwards, but fortunately, the staff officer next to him helped him in time.

Zakharov looked at the signal flare in the air, sighed, and ordered the staff officer: "Give orders to the troops outside the city and let them launch a counterattack with reinforcements." ”

In fact, even if Zakharov did not give this order, the surviving commanders and fighters outside the city, with the cooperation of reinforcements, launched a counterattack on the enemy's defensive area, and easily recaptured the lost first line of defense.

At the headquarters of the army group, Malinin was reporting to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, due to the swiftness of the actions of the 13th Motorized Rifle Brigade, which has now managed to wedge into the depth of the German army, has created a huge gap in the enemy's defenses, and as long as the other two tank brigades can arrive in a short time, then we can expand the breakthrough......"

Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish speaking, and then said: "Chief of staff, our forces are limited, and the attack on the enemy must be stopped in moderation, and after occupying the enemy's first line of defense, stop the attack. ”

"Understood," Malinin nodded, "according to the information we have, the Germans still have a large number of reserves in the depth of their defenses, and if our army continues to attack, it will inevitably lead to a decisive battle in advance, and we are not yet able to confront the Germans head-on." ”

Seeing that his chief of staff also had such a sober understanding, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction, and then turned to Lobachev and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, in the past few days of fighting, there must have been many heroic deeds that can be sung and cried in the troops that held Zhizdra, and it is necessary for us to commend these brave fighters. This is up to you. ”

"Comrade commander," Lobachev said to Rokossovsky with a smile: "Our commanders and fighters have indeed performed remarkably well in this battle, and it is absolutely necessary to commend those fighters who have emerged in the battle in a timely manner, and this will have an encouraging effect than the ten times of agitation work done by our political workers." ”

By dark, the Soviet line had advanced five kilometers to the west, and after occupying the first line of German defense, the troops stopped their advance and built fortifications on the spot, preparing to resist a possible German counterattack here.

Just as Rokossovsky and his subordinates were discussing the next move of the troops, Zhukov, who had lowered the brim of his hat, strode into the headquarters. As soon as he entered the door, he asked loudly: "Hello, comrades commanders!" What are you guys discussing? ”

Hearing Zhukov's voice, everyone hurriedly turned to face Zhukov and maintained an upright posture on the spot. Rokossovsky stepped forward, raised his hand and saluted, and replied: "Report to Comrade General, we are studying where we should launch an offensive against the Germans. ”

Zhukov walked to the table and sat down, took off his hat and threw it on the table, looked up at Rokossovsky and asked: "When will your attack be launched?" ”

"It will be until the end of May at the earliest." Rokossovsky cautiously replied: "At the moment we have limited forces, and it will take at least 20 days to gather enough forces for the offensive." ”

"20 days?!" After repeating this time, Zhukov sneered and said: "I said Comrade Rokossovsky, are you Hitler or the chief of the General Staff of the German army, can you order the Germans to give us 20 days to prepare?" ”

Although Zhukov's tone was a bit heavy, Rokossovsky still replied in a steady tone: "Comrade General, the current strength of the 16th Army is roughly the same as when the Great Counteroffensive was carried out, but in front of our defense, it has increased more than five times compared to that time. So we can't muster enough troops from more areas to participate in the upcoming counterattack. ”

"Isn't it a week when the wounded come back?" Zhukov said in a dissatisfied tone: "These are all veterans with rich combat experience, and ten of them can top a recruit company." ”

Rokossovsky sat down beside Zhukov and explained to him: "I admit that veterans are a valuable asset in the troops, but the number of wounded discharged from the hospital every week is too small. We have even added logistic personnel to the combat units, but there is still a serious shortage of soldiers. ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, you should understand that although the Germans have been driven away from the vicinity of Moscow by us, it is not clear when they will launch another attack on Moscow, so the reserves of the High Command deployed to the east of Moscow cannot be easily used until the last moment." Zhukov said with a serious expression: "At this stage, you can only rely on your own forces to complete this offensive battle. And you can't delay it too long, otherwise the Germans may bring in more reserves, and then your offensive will become more difficult. ”

Hearing Zhukov say this, Rokossovsky understood in his heart that there was no room for negotiation in this matter, so he gritted his back molars and asked: "Then how long can you give us to prepare?" ”

"On the 15th of this month, you must launch an offensive operation against the German army." Zhukov said decisively: "This is the deadline I give you. ”

"We have limited strength, and I hope you can add a little reserve to us."

In response to Rokossovsky's request, Zhukov was silent for a long time, and finally spoke: "Well, the Supreme Command is forming the 15th Tank Army in the past two days, which has the 96th, 105th and 113th tank brigades, as well as the 17th motorized infantry brigade, and the commander is Major General Koptsov Tank Corps. Once the army is formed, I will send them to you. ”

The fact that he could get a newly formed tank corps was greatly unexpected by Rokossovsky, and according to his assumptions, Zhukov could give him at most one or two regiments of reserves, which was already the limit. Now that I actually got a tank army, it feels like pie in the sky.

Under these circumstances, it was obviously unwise to stick to the original time of the attack, so he also said cheerfully: "Don't worry, Comrade General, as long as we have this tank army, then there is no problem in launching an attack on the German army on the 15th." ”

After getting the answer he wanted, Zhukov looked up and looked around, and saw that in addition to several main leaders of the group army, there were also many staff officers standing around, so he waved at them and ordered: "Don't gather around here, do what you have to do, I have important things to discuss with your commander." ”

When the staff officers heard Zhukov say this, they all dispersed in an uproar and returned to their respective posts to get busy. Malinin, Lobachev, and Kazakov were also about to leave, but were stopped by Zhukov.

Several of them were well acquainted with Zhukov, and knew that if he continued to let himself stay, there must be something important to announce, so they immediately sat down and stared at him intently, wanting to hear what he really wanted to say.

"Comrade commander," Zhukov and a few others sat down, and began to speak: "I understand that everyone complains in their hearts that I have greatly shortened the preparation time for your attack, but this is also something that cannot be helped. The situation in the north is now very serious, and in order to prevent more troops from being transferred to that area, we must take active action on the central line and in the south to attract the attention of the enemy. ”

When Rokossovsky heard Zhukov say this, he couldn't help but be shocked, and then cautiously asked: "Could it be that something has happened in the Leningrad direction that is unfavorable to our army?" ”

"That's right, exactly." Although Zhukov knew that Rokossovsky had been in the General Staff Headquarters for some time and was well aware of the situation in the Leningrad direction, in order to dispel the doubts of several others, he explained: "On April 23, the Volkhov Front and the Leningrad Front were merged, with Lieutenant General Khozin as commander. Before being transferred to the post of commander of the 33rd Army, General Meretskov had mentioned to the base camp about the 2nd Shock Army, saying that the unit had become exhausted after a long period of fighting, and that with its current formation, let alone attacking, it would be very difficult to defend itself. Now that its lines of communication are under direct threat from the Germans, the higher authorities will either send elite troops to reinforce the army group or withdraw it from the present forest-swamp area, or risk the total annihilation......"

Hearing this, Malinin couldn't help but interject: "As far as I know, the 2nd Shock Army is commanded by General Vlasov, he is an excellent commander, I believe that as long as it can be strengthened by elite troops, then there should be no big problem in relaunching the offensive against the German army." ”

Rokossovsky did not know if history had changed because of his arrival, so he asked Zhukov tentatively: "Comrade General, I wonder how the base camp was disposed of in the end?" ”

Zhukov glanced at Rokossovsky and said angrily: "The Supreme High Command has consulted the commander of the Front, Khotzin, and he feels that the 2nd Army, with its current strength, can continue to attack the German army. Therefore, Meretskov's advice was ignored, and Vlasov's troops continued to stay in the forest-swamp area and wait for reinforcements. ”

After Zhukov left, Lobachev and Rokossovsky began to discuss the recognition of the heroes who emerged from the battle to defend Zhizdra.

Rokossovsky saw that the names of several anti-United Nations fighters appeared in the list of awards, and he couldn't help but point his finger and ask Lobachev: "How did these fighters from China behave in battle?" ”

Lobachev picked up the materials in his hand, flipped to the page introducing Zhu Zhendong and the others, pulled it out and handed it to Rokossovsky, and said: "They held out on their positions for two days and nights, and did not let the Germans move forward. And when the main position of the second line of defense was in danger, the company commander personally brought the surviving fighters to support. According to post-war statistics, nearly 50 German soldiers were killed by a dozen of them. ”

After reading the application materials in a hurry, Rokossovsky put it on the table and said to Lobachev: "I propose to award these fighters with the Order of the Red Banner and at the same time promote them to their military ranks and positions. You don't have an opinion, right? ”

"No, Comrade Commander, I completely agree with you." Lobachev waved his hand and said approvingly: "If they hadn't arrived at the main position in time and contained the German attack, we might not have waited for the troops in the city to arrive, and our position would have been occupied by the Germans." ”

Seeing that Lobachev agreed with his opinion, Rokossovsky picked up the above declaration materials again and wrote on the back with a pen: "Company commander and deputy company commander were promoted to the rank of chief and deputy battalion commander and promoted to the rank of captain; The platoon commander was promoted to company commander and promoted to the rank of lieutenant. After writing this, he handed the application materials to Lobachev, "Their ceremony of awarding and promoting the title should be carried out at the same time." ”