When Rokossovsky woke up, he found himself lying in a spacious hospital room with a young female nurse sitting next to him. As soon as he moved, he was discovered by the nurse next to him, and the other party exclaimed: "Comrade Marshal, you are awake!" ”

Rokossovsky remembered that he had been in Stalin's office a moment ago, discussing with him the troops of the Second Front, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a hospital room. "Where am I?" He asked, tentatively sitting up. 、

"Comrade Marshal, you are at the Sechenov Medical Institute." But the nurse stopped him and said, "What you need is bed rest and you can't get up for a while." Not to mention that you're still on infusions. As she spoke, she glanced up at the bottles hanging on the shelves to see how much of the solution was left.

Looking at the bottles hanging on the infusion stand, Rokossovsky couldn't help but think: what is it for me? Glucose, saline, or penicillin. Thinking so in his heart, he unconsciously asked in his mouth: "Comrade nurse, what did you lose to me?" ”

"It's sulfasulfamine, Comrade Marshal." The nurse smiled and explained to Rokossovsky: "It is used for anti-inflammatory, and the doctor said that you have a recurrence of an old injury, so give you some medicine to reduce inflammation." After a pause, she added, "After this medicine is infused, there may be some side effects, and you will feel thirsty." If you need water, just let me know. ”

The nurse didn't say anything about the use of sulfonamides, which would cause thirst, and Rokossovsky hadn't noticed. When she said this, she really felt a little thirsty, so he said to her, "I want to drink water now." ”

When the nurse got up to pour water for Rokossovsky, the door was pushed open from the outside, and a young major walked in from the outside. The nurse hurriedly put down the teacup to greet him, and at the same time said to the major: "Comrade commander, you can't enter this place casually, please leave immediately." ”

But the major ignored the nurse and stood in the doorway like a telephone pole. The nurse was about to get angry, when she saw another officer with a small height and a big head walking in from outside. After she saw the other party's appearance clearly, she was suddenly startled, hurriedly stood up in place, and shouted in a little panic: "Hello, Marshal Zhukov!"

Rokossovsky, who was lying on the bed waiting for the nurse to pour water for himself, heard the nurse's voice, hurriedly propped himself on the bed with his elbows, raised his body slightly, smiled at Zhukov, and said politely: "Comrade Marshal, you are here!" ”

Zhukov walked quickly to the side of the bed, helped Rokossovsky to lie down again, and said with a worried face: "Koschika, how is your health?" ”

"It should be fine." After Rokossovsky lay down again, he said to Zhukov: "I remember that I was in a meeting in Comrade Stalin's office, and somehow I did it, suddenly I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I found myself already lying here. ”

Zhukov turned his head and asked the nurse: "How long does he need to stay in the hospital?" ”

The nurse heard Zhukov's question and hurriedly replied: "The results of the examination have not yet come out, and we need to observe them for a few days." ”

Seeing that he couldn't ask the answer he wanted from the nurse, Zhukov waved at her and said, "It's none of your business here, you can go out first." ”

The nurse again glanced at the bottle hanging on the infusion stand and, before leaving the room, said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I'll be back in five minutes." ”

After the nurse left, Zhukov said to Rokossovsky: "Koschika, judging from the current situation, our army is not capable of launching a large-scale offensive on the areas occupied by the Germans for the time being, and we need to continue to consolidate the existing occupied positions, as well as accumulate ammunition and replenish troops. According to my estimates, this process will last at least about two months, during which time you can stay in the hospital to recuperate, and you will not have to worry about the affairs of the troops, and even more by order of Comrade Stalin, Trubnnikov will temporarily take your place. ”

The conversation between the two was short, but when the nurse came in with a new bottle of dithionamide, Zhukov stood up and said to Rokossovsky: "Koschika, you stay here to recuperate, maybe Comrade Stalin will come to visit you in person in the near future." I'm gone, I wish you good health! After saying that, he shook hands with Rokossovsky, turned around and walked out of the ward.

When it was dark, there was a sudden sound of neat footsteps in the corridor, and Rokossovsky heard someone shouting the password in a low voice, and based on his experience, he immediately judged that a sentry was being arranged in the corridor outside the door. He thought to himself: When Zhukov came, he was a light car and only brought a major adjutant, and now there is such a big movement outside, could it be that Stalin is coming?

As he thought so, the door to the ward was pushed open from the outside, and Stalin, surrounded by two officers, entered the room. An officer saw the nurse standing by the bedside, walked up to her and whispered a few words to her. The nurse nodded vigorously and left the room quickly.

After sitting down on a chair next to Rokossovsky's bedside, Stalin smiled and asked: "Konstantin Konstantinovich, how is your body feeling?" ”

"I'm fine, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky hurriedly and respectfully replied: "I feel that my body has returned to normal and can be discharged at any time." ”

"Don't worry," Stalin hurriedly raised a hand, pressed it down, and said: "Our army currently needs to digest the existing occupied areas, and will not launch a large-scale attack on the German army in the short term, so you can stay here with peace of mind to recuperate, and when you are well, you will go to fight the fascist invaders fiercely." ”

After more than ten minutes of conversation between the two sides, Stalin suddenly sighed, and then said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I know that you have emotions in your heart...... Seeing that Rokossovsky wanted to refute, he quickly raised his hand to stop the other party, "Don't speak, listen to me." ”

"I know you're blaming me for moving you from the primary direction to the secondary direction. I am here today to tell you that the position you are in now is not a secondary direction, but an important direction like the First Front. My intention is to put an end to the war waged by the fascist aggressors by the 1st and 2nd Belarusian Fronts and the 1st Ukrainian Front......"

"Comrade Stalin, please rest assured!" Even if Rokossovsky was dissatisfied in his heart, in front of Stalin, he still said seriously: "My Second Front will definitely fully cooperate with Marshal Zhukov's troops, crush the fascists who are still resisting, and fulfill your strategic intentions." ”

Stalin, having received the answer he wanted, nodded in satisfaction, exchanged a few more pleasantries with Rokossovsky, and got up to leave.