Pisarevsky picked up the explanatory stick leaning against the wall, pointed to the Dubno area, and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, by order of the commander of the army group, the 19th Mechanized Army and the 22nd Mechanized Corps will carry out a counter-assault on the German troops in the Dubno area today. Your mechanized corps, on the other hand, was not included in this counterattack plan. ”

Although Rokossovsky clearly knew in his heart that the counterattack carried out by the Soviet army in the Dubno area ended in a fiasco, at this moment he still asked with a hint of luck: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you not optimistic about this counterattack at all?" ”

Hearing this, Pisarevsky smiled bitterly, and then replied: "The battle began four hours ago, but the two mechanized corps in which our army group participated in the battle were rushed into battle while on the march, and the two sides could not cooperate effectively, in such a situation, do you think we can win?" ”

Rokossovsky shook his head, sighed, and then asked: "If you know that such a counterattack will have no effect, why is it still executed?" ”

"The order of the superiors, no matter how unreasonable, we, as subordinates, can only carry it out." Potapov, who did not know when, walked behind Rokossovsky and said with emotion: "Now the situation facing our army group is very difficult, but the front has sent us instructions ordering us to carry out a counter-assault on the flank of the enemy who has broken through, destroy it and restore the situation. This is simply an impossible task, and I personally feel that the commander of the front army and his command simply repeat the instructions of the General Staff, and the General Staff probably does not know the specific situation, but only makes an operational plan based on some unrealistically optimistic reports. ”

"Comrade Commander is right." Pisarevsky added: "The situation formed in the Lutsk and Rivne directions is simply not understood by the superiors, and the Germans have already carried out the main assault in this direction." What we can do is to concentrate our forces to stop them, and not to carry out a hopeless counter-assault on them in a secondary direction. The commander of the 22nd Mechanized Corps, Kondrusev, had been killed in battle two days earlier, and he was succeeded by the chief of staff, Colonel Tamruch, whose morale was now so low that I fear that they would be the first to be crushed by the Germans. ”

"Commander, Chief of Staff," military commissar Nikishev also interjected, "now that Comrade Rokossovsky has returned with his troops, can we consider throwing his troops into battle to reverse the situation in the Dubno area?" ”

Pisarevsky did not speak, but simply turned his gaze to Potapov and waited for him to make a final decision. And Potapov, after staring at the map for a while, turned his head and asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, is your unit capable of immediately going into battle?" ”

Rokossovsky pondered for a moment, then replied: "Comrade commander, the troops have just gone through a long march, and they have been attacked by German air strikes on the way, and they must take a short rest before they can go into battle again. ”

Potapov raised his hand and looked at his watch, then asked: "If I let your army go into battle at three o'clock in the afternoon, do you still have questions?" ”

Now that Potapov has said this, Rokossovsky's heart, even if he is no longer willing, can only stubbornly agree: "Okay, comrade commander." I intend to have Novikov's 35th Tank Division take the lead in the battle, launch a surprise attack on the flanks of the Germans, disrupt their offensive line, and then launch a frontal attack on the Germans by Chernyaev's 20th Tank Division. ”

Although Rokossovsky remained calm on the surface, he was bleeding inside, because he understood that if he really went according to the plan he said he would fight. Then before it gets dark, the two tank divisions of the 9th Mechanized Corps will not exist.

"Very well, Comrade Rokossovsky." Potapov was very satisfied with Rokossovsky's words, and he continued: "Anyway, you have also received an operational order from the front command to take part in the counterattack in the Dubno area, and it is also a natural thing. However, you must leave me at least one of the artillery regiments that you originally left in the city, you must know that almost all of our existing artillery were wiped out by the Germans at the beginning of the war, and without artillery support, it is still very difficult to hold Lutsk by infantry alone. ”

Rokossovsky originally wanted to bring two artillery regiments to participate in the counterattack, but when he heard Potapov ask him to leave an artillery regiment in the city in a consultative tone, he found that his plans were disrupted again. However, since the other party had said it so clearly, it was obviously impossible for him to refuse, so after hesitating for a moment, he could only agree again.

Rokossovsky returned to his corps headquarters and prepared to work out with his deputies a concrete plan for the implementation of a counter-assault in Dubno. As soon as he entered the door, Kamenev handed him a telegram with a smile on his face and said in a friendly voice: "Comrade Army Commander, this is a telegram from Comrade Vasily from Zhytomyr, saying that Petrovna and Ada have been arranged to get on the evacuation train and will be able to leave Zhytomyr tonight." ”

Although this Rokossovsky is an impersonator, seeing that Kamenev in this way, he showed goodwill to himself, he still released enough goodwill to the other side: "Thank you, thank you, Comrade Deputy Chief of the Political Army. Thank you for bringing me such good news. After saying this, he walked quickly to the table and instructed Maslov, "Chief of Staff, let's work out a counterattack plan in the Dubno area." ”