Seeing a group of people hurrying up the bell tower through the hall and up the stairs caused panic among the citizens gathered here, and everyone began to talk about why these people hurried up to the bell tower. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

A young woman in a headscarf said to an old lady sitting beside her: "Markova, look, there are a lot of big people coming up to the bell tower, and something may have happened." ”

"Maria, how do you know it's a big shot?" The old lady named Markovna said disappreciatively: "Maybe it's some ordinary staff member in the Soviets." ”

"Have you forgotten that my younger brother was in the army and served as an orderly for a general, so I know the ranks. Among the people who had just gone upstairs were two generals and a political worker. Maria said conclusively: "And the people who went upstairs with them are all leaders who have been staying in the basement for the past few days." I think they must have something big going on when they were looking upstairs in such a panic. ”

"Big thing, what else can happen?" The old lady was a little surprised and said, "Unless the Germans call, there is nothing worse than if we were here and no one cared about it." ”

"The Germans are calling!" I don't know who heard the old lady say half of what he said, and immediately passed this information to someone he was familiar with. It didn't take long, and the whole hall was saying: "The Germans are coming, what should we do, will our troops cover our retreat?" ”

While there was a commotion in the hall downstairs, Rokossovsky and the others came to the bell tower. Popov was the first to ask: "Comrade Vakhterov, where are the enemy's tanks?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a rapid burst of gunfire was heard from the west of the city. Everyone's eyes were immediately drawn to an intersection a few hundred meters away, only to see several German armored vehicles parked, and the German soldiers in the cars were using machine guns to recklessly strafe at the pedestrians who appeared in their field of vision.

Seeing that several residents had fallen under the guns of the Germans, and the rest of the pedestrians had scattered and fled into shops or houses on both sides of the street, Lestyv, who was standing on the bell tower, could not help but nervously ask: "Comrade Rokossovsky, what should we do now?" ”

Rokossovsky looked at the Germans who were slaughtering the inhabitants, and a sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart. He thought to himself that if he had even one battalion of troops, he could order his commanders and fighters to destroy these enemies; But at the moment, there are only a few warriors by his side, and if he wants to be stronger, it is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg. After a moment of hesitation, he said decisively: "Comrade Lestyev, the armored forces of the Germans have entered the city, and we must withdraw immediately. ”

"That's right, Comrade Rokossovsky is right." As soon as his words fell, Popov continued: "We do not have any strength to stop the enemy at all, and instead of dying in vain, it is better to withdraw from the city as soon as possible, go to the rear and join our troops, and continue to do our job in the fight against the fascist invaders." ”

Lestyev did not object to Popov's proposal, but nodded and said: "That's right, if we don't withdraw from the city as soon as possible, we will be taken prisoner by the Germans." Let's go, we'll retreat now. ”

As early as the gunshots rang out, people inside and outside the church were in a state of panic. After seeing a group of leaders coming down from the bell tower, they actually walked out of the church without stopping and got into all kinds of vehicles parked in the square, and suddenly they were in chaos, and the cries of women and the screams of children immediately rang out.

Rokossovsky got into the jeep, leaned back and told the driver: "Drive!" ”

When the driver heard Rokossovsky's order, he turned his head to look at the women, children, and children who were coming towards the car, sighed in his heart, and then started the car and drove quickly along the road.

The three jeeps that followed behind could not take all the leaders of Smolensk and Vyazma with them because of the limited seats, and only a few people such as Popov, Lestyev, and Vakhterov were lucky enough to evacuate with them.

Four jeeps were speeding forward along the road, and when they reached an intersection, Rokossovsky suddenly noticed a tank and several jeeps on the road ahead, and hurriedly patted the driver on the shoulder and gave a loud order: "Hurry up, turn to the right and throw off the enemy." ”

As soon as the driver hit the steering wheel, the jeep immediately made a sharp turn and ran along the street towards the front. And the car following behind also spotted the German tank appearing on the opposite side and hurriedly followed Rokossovsky to turn right.

The German tankmen noticed that several Soviet jeeps appeared in their field of vision, guessed that there must be important characters sitting inside, and hurriedly loaded shells and opened fire on the speeding vehicles. Unfortunately, he was still a step too slow, and by the time the shells hit the opposite road, the four Soviet jeeps had completely disappeared from his field of vision. Seeing that the tank's shot missed, the armored vehicles behind immediately picked up, overtook the tanks and chased Rokossovsky in the direction in which they fled.

In order to escape the German pursuit, Rokossovsky and his convoy ran on the main road for a while, and then turned into a side alley. After a lot of twists and turns, finally got rid of the German armored vehicles. Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a new problem arose. Because I was in a panic when I ran away just now, I am actually lost.

Seeing that the buildings around him were all bungalows, and there were no more three- or four-story buildings, Rokossovsky knew that he had now reached the outskirts of the city. He asked the driver to stop on the side of the road and then get off the station and wait for the person behind him on the side of the road. After everyone got out of the car, Rokossovsky asked Vakhterov: "Where should we go now?" ”

Vakhterov looked left and right, then shook his head and said a little embarrassed: "I'm sorry, Comrade Rokossovsky, I don't know, I've never been here. ”

Rokossovsky saw that Vakhterov could not answer here, so he turned his attention to the commander of the city defense, Makitin. Before he could speak, the other party preemptively said: "Comrade General, I have only been the commander of the city defense for three days, and I have not had time to get familiar with this city. ”

Seeing that Vakhterov and Maki Kyoto did not know the way, Rokossovsky knew that it would be useless to ask the others, so he had to go to the side of the road and knock on the door of the house one by one, hoping to meet a local resident who would show the way for his lost people.

I knocked on the doors of seven or eight houses in a row, but there was no movement inside, and it seemed that almost all the residents here had been evacuated. Just when Rokossovsky was feeling hopeless, a closed door opened in front of him, and out of it came an old man with a white beard. The old man looked him up and down, and then asked expressionlessly, "Comrade commander, do you have anything to do?" ”

"Hello, old man!" Rokossovsky said politely: "We got lost on the way to transfer, where should we go?" ”

"Follow this road for two or three hundred meters, and there is a small road on the left, which leads to the road out of the city." After the old man finished speaking, he glanced at the group of people standing not far away, and asked with some confusion: "Comrade commander, where are you going to go?" ”

"The Germans have stormed Vyazma, and we need to get out of the city immediately." Rokossovsky could not bear to deceive the old man, so he told the truth: "Old man, you better get out of here as soon as possible, maybe in a little while, the Germans will come." ”

"Comrade Commander, what exactly are you going to do?" The old man looked at him with sharp eyes and asked in grief: "Comrade commander, are you just going away like this, throwing us all to the Germans?" You know, our family gave everything they had for the Red Army, even the last shirt. I am a veteran, having fought with the Germans, and in the tsarist times none of us allowed the enemy to break into Russian soil. How can you leave us alone? ……”

In the face of the old man's reproach, Rokossovsky's cheeks flushed, he lowered his head, and said to the old man embarrassedly: "I'm sorry, old man, at present, there is a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and us, and we have no strength to stop the Germans for the time being." But don't worry, I'll be back. ”

After saying that, he walked to the jeep without looking back, pulled the door and got into the car. As soon as he closed the door, he ordered the driver in front: "Driver, drive!" Drive 200 meters ahead and you'll see a path on the left, which connects to the road out of town. ”

After the car started, Rokossovsky looked at the old man standing on the side of the road in a daze, Lobachev noticed the abnormality of his expression, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, comforting: "Don't worry, comrade commander, our defeat is only temporary, and when our strength is strong enough, we will come back." ”

Four jeeps drove out of Vyazma along the road, and soon saw a jeep and several motorcycles parked on the side of the road in front of them, next to which stood Malinin and several fighters, Rokossovsky hurriedly ordered the driver to drive over.

Rokossovsky pushed the car door open and asked Malinin: "Chief of Staff, where is our new command?" ”

Malinin came over and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, the new command is located in a grove to the northeast, about five kilometers from here. I'm afraid you won't find your way, so I'm here to wait for you. ”

Rokossovsky nodded, then got out of the car and walked briskly towards the cars parked behind. He came to the jeep where Popov and Lestyv were, and said through the window: "I plan to stay here and wait for new orders from my superiors." You don't have to accompany me on the adventure, why don't you take a car to the city behind first. ”

Both Popov and Lestyv knew that if they continued to stay in Vyazma, they would either die in battle or be captured. Death, for them, there is nothing to be afraid of, but if they are captured, they will leave a disgraceful history in their own lives. Therefore, both agreed to Rokossovsky's proposal without hesitation.

"Comrade General." Rokossovsky's voice came from behind Makitin, who asked a little nervously: "Then what should I do?" Will you follow the local leadership back to the rear, or will you stay and fight with you? ”

"Comrade Major General," Rokossovsky did not like the person of Makitin very much, because he felt in his heart that he was not at all competent as the commander of the city defense. There are no troops in the city, and there are no police? You can organize the police and citizens to form a force that can defend the city, so that the German armored forces do not break into the city as if no one is there. So he quickly decided: "You better go back to the rear with Comrade Popov." ”

After sending Popov and Lestyv away, Rokossovsky immediately instructed Malinin: "Let's go, Comrade Chief of Staff, take us to the new command, maybe we will stay there for a while." ”

When he arrived at the new headquarters, Rokossovsky saw that the place was already functioning normally, the staff officers were sorting out the information they had gathered, and the communications corps was communicating with the outside world through the intercom.

Seeing the busy scene in the command headquarters, Lobachev quietly asked Kazakov, who had been staying here: "Comrade Chief of Artillery, have you made contact with the command of the Front or the units that have been assigned to us?" ”

"No, Comrade Military Commissar." Kazakov shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Although the operator is constantly calling, until now, he has not been in contact with the outside world. ”

Hearing what Kazakov said, Lobachev couldn't help but be a little confused, he walked to Rokossovsky's body, and asked with a flustered expression: "Comrade commander, we have completely lost contact with the outside world now, and there are no troops by our side, what should we do next?" ”

"Judging by the current situation, the troops of the Western Front will soon be surrounded by the Germans." Rokossovsky, who was reading the intelligence, raised his head and said to Lobachev: "We can only continue to stay here until we get a new order from our superiors." ”

"What should we do if we don't get orders from our superiors?" Because of the experience of the Southwestern Front, Lobachev's heart was very unsteady, and as soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, he immediately asked rhetorically: "Do you just stay here indefinitely until you are wiped out by the Germans?" ”

Rokossovsky thought about Lobachev's concern with his eyes closed, and then said very simply: "Well, let's stay here for three days." If we still do not receive any orders from our superiors, then we will move east to join up with the other troops. ”

"Well, as things stand, that's all we can do." Lobachev said helplessly: "Even if we are surrounded by the German army, we must find ways to break out." (To be continued.) )