After observing for a few minutes, Rokossovsky finally saw the situation on the battlefield clearly. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info Two tanks assigned to the advance detachment, one of which was burning close to the bridge, was presumably either destroyed by German anti-tank fighters or pressed with anti-tank mines. The other tank, because the retreat was blocked by this tank, could not return, so it had to stop on the bridge and use machine guns and tank guns to destroy the German infantry and combat vehicles that rushed up.

In the immediate vicinity of the tank, only a few fighters were shooting at the enemy, and from their clothing, Rokossovsky recognized at a glance that these were fighters of the guard company. He looked at it again, and found that there was no sign of the cavalry company, either near him or on the opposite bank, and he did not know where Captain Gosha had taken them.

The soldiers of the advance detachment, who had fallen behind, also rushed up at this time, bent over with their weapons in hand, and rushed towards the tanks parked on the bridge, apparently intending to cooperate with the tanks to the opposite bank to seize a support point.

As soon as they rushed to the bridge, Malinin also rushed over with a battalion of the militia division. The battalion commander, who came with him, jumped into the mud puddle and splashed Rokossovsky with mud, he squatted down and asked: "Comrade commander, our battalion was ordered to support the advance detachment. What is our mission? ”

Rokossovsky wiped a handful of mud from his face, then stretched out his hand and pointed at the place where the fierce battle was taking place in front of him, and said loudly: "Comrade Major, immediately lead your battalion to rush up, establish a support point on the opposite bank, and cover the main force to cross the river." ”

"Yes!" The battalion commander agreed, got up and jumped out of the mud puddle, brandishing his pistol and shouting at the soldiers who followed: "Brothers, follow me!" Advance! Advance!!! When he had finished shouting, he raised his pistol and led the charge.

One tank and three armored vehicles of the German army on the opposite bank were successively turned into flaming torches under the shelling of Soviet tanks. Seeing that the German fire on the opposite bank was weakening, the fighters on the bridge rushed forward with shouts, preparing to rush across the bridge in the shortest possible time, seize a support point on the opposite bank, and cover the main force to cross the river.

Just as Rokossovsky saw that the victory was in his hands, a huge orange-red flame suddenly rose in front of him, and then a huge explosion was heard, which turned out to be a German dog jumping over the wall and detonating the explosives buried on the bridge. Rokossovsky watched as dozens of fighters were blown into the air, and then turned into stumps and severed arms that landed in the river, on the remaining bridges and on the shore. The tank burst into flames and crashed into the rushing river along with the collapsed bridge.

The bridge was burning, and most of the soldiers who stayed by the bridge and were affected by the explosion were wounded to varying degrees, and they stayed on the ground groaning in pain. Seeing this, Malinin, who had just come to Rokossovsky's side, slammed the mud in front of him hard, completely ignoring the splash of muddy water that splashed his face, but scolded indignantly: "Damn the Germans actually blew up the bridge." ”

Rokossovsky raised his binoculars and looked across the bank to see the remnants of the German army retreating. He put down his binoculars and said with a serious expression: "The enemy on the other side has withdrawn, but we don't have the means to cross the river, so we can't cross the Gezaj River. ”

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander." At this time, Lobachev's familiar shouts suddenly came from the front, and the two looked up to see that Lobachev had somehow come out of the armored car in front of them.

Rokossovsky and Malinin helped each other, crawled out of the mud puddle, and walked towards Lobachev. But after the three walked in, Lobachev ignored Rokossovsky's mud and gave them a big hug, and then asked with concern: "Are you all right?" ”

"We're fine." After Rokossovsky finished answering, he asked rhetorically: "Comrade Military Commissar, what about you?" ”

"It's okay, it's lucky." Lobachev smiled and pointed at the armored car and said: "I was hit by an armor-piercing shell from a German tank, but fortunately, after the shell penetrated the armor, it didn't explode, which is really blessed by the gods." ”

Hearing Lobachev say this, Rokossovsky hurriedly ran to the side of the armored car, looked inside through the open door, and saw that sure enough, there was a warhead embedded in the seat. The fighters inside saw Rokossovsky appear, saluted him, and then reported: "Comrade commander, the luck of the military commissar is that this armor-piercing bullet hit him right next to him, and if it deviates by a few centimeters, it may be life-threatening." ”

After seeing the miracle of Lobachev and the Grim Reaper's side-by-shoulder, the three of them discussed the next course of action. "Perhaps the pilot was a spy who deliberately told us that there were our troops in Gezazik in order to trap us into the enemy's trap," Malinin complained. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't discuss things without evidence." Although Rokossovsky could not figure out whether the pilot, whom he had never met, was his own man or a German disguise, it was unknown whether the information he told Baranchuk was true or a lie. He looked left and right, and then asked, "Where is General Kazakov?" ”

When Rokossovsky asked, Lobachev and Malinin noticed that not only the cavalry company was missing, but even General Kazakov, who commanded the first echelon, was missing at the moment.

While several people were discussing whether to send someone to look for Kazakov, the motorcycle he was riding on came from the road to the north, escorted by five or six cavalrymen. A dozen steps away from Rokossovsky and them, Kazakov asked the motorcyclist to stop, and then he jumped out of the sidecar, carefully jumping over puddle after puddle and walking towards Rokossovsky.

"Comrade Chief Artillery, where have you been?" Seeing the sudden appearance of Kazakov, Rokossovsky asked with some displeasure: "Why are you not with the advance detachment?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Rokossovsky was angry, Kazakov hurriedly explained: "I saw a road going north along the river, so I took the cavalry company to explore the way. Unexpectedly, we had not been walking long before we heard gunfire coming from here, so I returned with my troops. With that, he turned his head to look at the bridge that was still burning, "I didn't expect the battle to be over." ”

"How's it going up north?" When Rokossovsky heard him say that he was going to explore the way, the anger in his heart weakened a lot, and he asked lightly: "Are there any Germans over there?" ”

"No, no Germans were found." Kazakov straightened up and reported: "We went about five kilometers forward and found neither our troops nor the Germans. ”

"Comrade Commander, what shall we do now?" Malinin looked at the broken bridge with thick smoke billowing and asked worriedly: "The bridge has been blown up by the Germans, and we have no means to cross the river." Will you follow the path that General Kazakov poked out, or will you stay here to collect materials and build bridges? ”

"Chief of Staff, we can't stay here." Rokossovsky pointed to the bridge in the distance and said: "Since we cannot cross the Gezady River, we should immediately move it, and if we stay for a long time, it will only be the Germans who will transfer more forces here to deal with us." ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky had rejected the plan to build a bridge to cross the river from here, Malinin continued: "Since this is the case, our main forces will continue north along the Gezady River. But in order to prevent us from being attacked by the Germans during the march, I suggested that a unit be placed here to guard the German troops on the other side of the river. ”

"Okay, just do as you say." Rokossovsky readily agreed to Malinin's suggestion. "Let General Chernyshov send a regiment to take up the task of alerting, and the rest of the troops continue to advance north."

With the order given, except for the troops who temporarily remained near the broken bridge to serve as guards, the rest of the troops marched north along the road by the river. During the march, Malinin, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, listened to the outside, and then said to Rokossovsky alertly: "Comrade commander, listen, there are explosions in the Gzazyk direction, as if a fierce battle is going on. ”

Hearing Malinin say this, Rokossovsky and Lobachev also listened to the movement outside with their ears sideways, and sure enough, they heard a series of explosions coming from the direction of Gzazik. Hearing this, Lobachev spoke: "Comrade commander, it seems that the pilots did not lie to us, there are indeed our troops in the Gezazik region, and at the moment they are engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy attacking the city. ”

"Air raid siren, air raid siren!" Suddenly there was a hoarse shout ahead, followed by the roar of an airplane's engine.

Hearing this voice, Rokossovsky's face suddenly changed greatly, and he immediately ordered Malinin: "Chief of Staff, order the troops that are moving to hide, and at the same time all the vehicles go into the woods to hide." ”

But after the vehicles and commanders and fighters were hidden, more than a dozen German planes appeared in the air, and they did not even notice that there was a Soviet unit below that was trying to break out of the encirclement, and just flew straight ahead.

After the enemy planes flew away, the troops were back on the road. This time it was not all smooth sailing, but it was constantly harassed by small German forces, so much so that Rokossovsky had to send troops again and again to the woods by the roadside to rid the ghosts of the Germans.

However, the most fortunate thing is that while clearing out a small group of Germany, it was also fortunate to take in many small troops who fled here. And just like that, Rokossovsky's troops grew like a snowball. By the time they found a shoal where they could wade across the Gezaj River, the force numbered nearly eight thousand.

When the troops reached the river, Rokossovsky ordered ropes to be drawn on both sides of the Gezady River, so that the warriors could cross the river by holding on to the ropes. And all kinds of vehicles, after the infantry crossed the river, drove directly through the water.

After all the troops had crossed the river, they walked along the road for another hour. Kazakov, who was opening the road in front, came over and asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, it is already dark now, and the commanders and fighters have become exhausted after a long march, why don't you rest in the forest by the road for the night and wait for dawn before moving?" ”

Rokossovsky, thinking that his troops should have gotten rid of the Germans after such a long march, readily agreed to Kazakov's request, and at the same time asked him: "Comrade Artillery Chief, let the cavalry company fight to the vicinity to reconnoiter whether there are any units of our army or of the enemy." ”

When everyone had settled in the forest, Rokossovsky called the chief of the signal corps, Maximenko, and instructed: "Comrade Colonel, let our radio station start working at once, and try to get in touch with the command of the front." ”

Rokossovsky asked Maksimenko to contact his superiors, originally just with the idea of doing his best, after all, he had contacted so many times, but he had not been contacted, and he did not expect to be able to contact him this time. But after less than five minutes, the old colonel hurried back and excitedly reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, we are in contact, we are in touch with the command of the Front. ”

"What, Comrade Colonel, what did you say?" Rokossovsky grabbed the colonel's arms, shook them vigorously, and asked in an incredulous tone: "You said that you got in touch with the front command?" ”

"Yes, yes," said the old colonel, whose face was flushed with excitement, "where is the headquarters of the Front in our troops?" ”

"Map." When Rokossovsky heard this, he hurriedly asked Malinin to bring a map. After repeated confirmations, he looked up at Maksimenko and said: "Colonel, please call back to the command of the Front and say that we have reached the forest area north of Uvarovka. At the same time, we asked our superiors for the next course of action. ”

"Understood!" The colonel said yes, and turned to deliver the report.

After a few more minutes, the colonel returned again, handed the telegram in his hand to Rokossovsky, and said respectfully: "Comrade commander, the command of the front has called us back, saying that they are in the Mozhaisk region, let you rush to report immediately." ”

Rokossovsky looked at the map again, gestured the distance, then looked up and said to the other commanders: "Comrade commanders, we are only 45 kilometers from Mozhaisk here. I now announce that the Military Commissar and I will go to the Front Command to report. During our departure, the troops were commanded by the Chief of Staff, Colonel Malinin. For the sake of safety, the Chief of Staff should lead the troops to continue the movement to the north. ”

When Rokossovsky and Lobachev got into the jeep and prepared to leave, Malinin handed Rokossovsky a document in his hand and said: "Comrade commander, please take this order to hand over the defensive positions and troops to General Yershakov." ”

Rokossovsky did not take the document in his hand, but asked with some puzzlement: "Chief of Staff, I went to the headquarters of the front to report, what to do with this document?" Could it be that the commander of the Front would still deny that he had ever issued such an order? ”

Seeing Rokossovsky's disapproving appearance, Malinin smiled bitterly, forcibly stuffed the order in his hand into Rokossovsky's hand, and said with a tough attitude: "Comrade commander, please believe me, with this order, it will definitely come in handy, be prepared." ”

Seeing that Malinin was so stubbornly insisting, Rokossovsky couldn't say anything, took the order in his hand, folded it and put it in the briefcase he carried with him. After waving his hand at Malining, he instructed the driver: "Drive!" (To be continued.) )