While talking in the house, I suddenly heard someone outside shouting: "Air raid siren, air raid siren, hide quickly!" ”

Listening to the sound of air raids outside, Malinin immediately ran over and hurriedly said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, enemy planes are coming to bomb, it's too dangerous here, you better move to the forest immediately!" ”

When the group left the command headquarters and trotted along the dirt road in the village, in the direction of the forest, Vinogradov couldn't help but look up at the sky, and then scolded indignantly: hell, this damn German plane, every time it is, we have just replenished new troops, and they will come with air strikes. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"Don't worry, General Vinogradov." Rokossovsky smiled and comforted him: "Don't look at the Germans are so arrogant now, sooner or later we will settle accounts with them one day." He inadvertently turned around and saw a mixed group lined up in the distance, and hurriedly called Malinin over and ordered: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the comrades from Moscow are not familiar with the terrain here, you should immediately go and take them to the forest to hide, so as not to suffer unnecessary casualties." ”

When everyone took refuge in the forest, German planes began to bombard the village indiscriminately. Seeing the wooden houses catching fire or collapsing in the explosions, Vinogradov rejoiced: "Fortunately, we have taken refuge in the forest, and if we had remained in the village, the consequences would have been unimaginable." ”

Rokossovsky looked left and right, just in time to see Malinin running over, and hurriedly asked: "Chief of Staff, are the comrades from Moscow well hidden?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Malinin replied: "They all went into the forest before the enemy planes began bombing. After reporting to Rokossovsky, he smiled and said to the two commanders of the mixed regiment, "Two regiment commanders and comrades political commissars, you can rest assured that there are no casualties among the troops." ”

Again and again, enemy planes swooped down on the village in an attempt to wipe it out completely. But the anti-aircraft artillerymen hidden at the edge of the forest did not let them go, and six 37-mm anti-aircraft guns opened fire fiercely into the sky, and the shells exploded in the air, blowing up clouds of black smoke, but they were quickly blown away by the wind.

When an enemy plane discovered the location of the anti-aircraft artillery position, the pilot immediately turned the nose of the aircraft and flew over, and dived down against several anti-aircraft guns, while the on-board machine guns fired loudly, preparing to destroy these anti-aircraft guns in one fell swoop.

In the face of the enemy planes that were diving down, the anti-aircraft guns did not stop firing, and the commanders of the antiaircraft artillery company accurately carried out the commands of the fighters, and they did not show any panic because an enemy plane was diving down towards them.

One anti-aircraft gun was damaged by a bomb dropped by an aircraft, and several artillerymen were hit by an airborne machine gun, and their flesh fell on the perimeter of the damaged anti-aircraft gun. The company commander, waving the signal flag, glanced at his sacrificed subordinates, and then turned his gaze to the enemy planes raging in the air, and kept issuing new battle orders in his mouth.

Rokossovsky saw the stubborn fighting of the soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery company from a distance, and hurriedly called a staff officer and ordered him loudly: "You immediately go and inform the commander of the antiaircraft artillery company and let him lead the remaining fighters to withdraw to the forest." ”

But when the staff officer hurried towards the artillery position outside the forest, Kazakov curiously asked: "Comrade commander, why let them withdraw?" You know, we still have five anti-aircraft guns still firing. ”

"Comrade Chief of Artillery," Rokossovsky said, pointing into the air, "the enemy has dispatched a dozen aircraft, and we now have only five anti-aircraft guns left, so if the one-sided battle continues, our anti-aircraft artillery company will be completely annihilated." There is a huge shortage of artillery in our troops, and I have to find a way to save more artillery for the next offensive battle. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Kazakov understood his intentions, artillery played a crucial role in the upcoming offensive against the Germans. Although the number of artillery in the army is still quite large, there is a shortage of qualified artillery, and these anti-aircraft gunners are the best candidates.

After receiving the order from the staff officer, the company commander ordered the fighters of the other four artillery squads to withdraw into the forest, while he remained in command of the remaining anti-aircraft gun and continued to compete with the enemy planes circling in the air.

Although the heroic anti-aircraft gunners finally shot down three German dive bombers, the heroic company commander and the remaining soldiers of the artillery squad all died heroically.

After the enemy planes flew away, a new command was set up in the forest, as the entire village was burning. Rokossovsky instructed Malinin to inform Kirillov and Mikhailov that they should come here immediately for a meeting.

After Malinin left, Rokossovsky turned around and asked the two commanders of the mixed regiment: "Commanders, I have something I want to discuss with you. ”

"Comrade General, please give orders." The first to speak was still the political commissar Kalinen, and it seemed that he was the real leader in this mixed group.

Rokossovsky nodded, and then said: "In order to facilitate command, I plan to integrate your mixed regiment into the motorized infantry regiment of the Seventh Mechanized Army." In the previous day's battles, this regiment bravely launched an attack on the German translators and achieved great results. Although they suffered more than half of the casualties in the battle, they retained most of the fighting backbone, and if your troops were to be incorporated into the motorized infantry regiment, then the troops would be able to form a combat force in the shortest possible time. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say that priority should be given to replenishing the motorized infantry regiment, Vinogradov's face showed a look of joy, after all, the motorized infantry regiment was his unit, and it was indeed a happy thing to be replenished under such circumstances.

After receiving Rokossovsky's order, the commander of the motorized infantry regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Vorobyov, although he did not know what the commander was looking for him, he still trotted all the way to Rokossovsky, raised his hand and saluted, and said respectfully: "Comrade comrade commander, the commander of the motorized infantry regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Vorobyov, has been ordered to come, please instruct!" ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, let me introduce you." Rokossovsky pointed to the commander of the mixed regiment standing next to him and said: "This is Lieutenant Colonel Chekov, the commander of the mixed regiment from Moscow, and this is his political commissar Kalinin. ”

"Hello, Comrade Commanders." Although Vorobyov did not know why Rokossovsky introduced the two commanders to him, he still took the initiative to shake hands with the two.

After all three got to know each other, Rokossovsky announced: "Lieutenant Colonel Vorobyov, from now on, the mixed regiment from Moscow will be officially incorporated into your motorized infantry regiment." You were the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chekov was the deputy regiment commander, and the battalion commissar Comrade Kalinin was the commissar. ”

Vorobyov did not expect that Rokossovsky sent someone to call him in order to replenish the troops of his motorized infantry regiment, which had lost more than half of his troops, and he immediately saluted Rokossovsky again and said excitedly: "Thank you, thank you, comrade commander." I assure you that our motorized infantry regiment will surely achieve even more brilliant results in the next battles. ”

Kirillov and Mikhailov, under the guidance of Malinin, also came to Rokossovsky. After the two saluted, Mikhailov opened his mouth and asked: "Comrade commander, I don't know what you called us here, is there something wrong?" ”

"That's right, comrades two division commanders." Rokossovsky looked at the two and said: "The higher authorities have given us an order to counterattack, and I intend to use your two divisions as the main force of this counterattack." ”

After Rokossovsky finished speaking, Kirillov shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, you should know that my 38th Infantry Division suffered two-thirds casualties in the previous battle. Now the troops are replenished with new recruits, and it is okay to use them to fight defensive battles, if they are used to attack. With all due respect, if the offensive goes well, there will be no problems with the troops; Once the offensive is frustrated, then this unit, which is mostly new recruits, is in danger of being routed by the Germans. ”

Mikhailov continued: "There are less than twenty tanks left in our division, and all of them are old tanks, and we have no chance of winning against the German tanks No. 3 and No. 4. ”

Rokossovsky was about to answer the questions of the two division commanders one by one, when the phone that had just been set up suddenly rang. He guessed that the phone rang at this time, and there must be something important, so he turned his head to look in the direction of the bell. I saw that the staff officer who answered the phone stretched out his long hand and handed him the microphone.

He took two steps forward, took the microphone and put it to his ear and said loudly: "Hey, I'm Rokossovsky, where are you?" ”

"I'm Timoshenge." A whirring voice came from the earpiece: "Why is the phone of your headquarters so difficult to call, I called for almost an hour to get through." ”

Hearing Timoshenko's complaints, Rokossovsky said apologetically: "I beg your pardon, Comrade Marshal, my command was bombed by enemy aircraft and has been completely destroyed. I'm in the newly built temporary headquarters, and the phone line has just been connected. Do you have any instructions? ”

"I've been told that it seems that a mixed regiment of two thousand men from Moscow is heading towards your defense zone." After hearing Rokossovsky's explanation, Timoshenko's anger in his heart was half gone, and then he said slowly: "Although this force is intended to be replenished to the 16th Army, since your forces are too small, I authorize you to incorporate this force into your combat sequence. ”

"Comrade Marshal," Rokossovsky immediately laughed when he heard Timoshenko say this, and he said: "So that's what happened, the mixed regiment from Moscow had already arrived in our defense zone before the enemy planes began bombing, and I also consulted with the commander of the regiment, the political commissar, to formally integrate them into the motorized infantry regiment of the 7th Mechanized Army, with the former Lieutenant Colonel Vorobyov as the commander. ”

"Now that you have reorganized your troops from Moscow, you should hurry up and prepare for a surprise attack on Smolensk." After Timoshenko gave the order, he casually asked, "Are there any other questions?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Rokossovsky was still hesitating to ask his superiors for more technical equipment to enhance the troops' ability to attack fortified positions, but since Timoshenko asked so, he borrowed the donkey from the slope and said: "If it is possible, I hope you can add us a little more tanks." The original tanks, in recent battles, were either destroyed by enemy aircraft or long-range artillery fire, or were lost in a duel with enemy tanks. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Timoshenko couldn't help but frown. After a while, he spoke: "Comrade Rokossovsky, not only you need tanks, but all the troops on the front need tanks. And the production of tanks in our factories will not be able to replenish the losses of the troops for the time being. ”

"Comrade Marshal, the task you gave us was to launch a surprise attack on Smolensk and rescue the besieged friendly forces." Rokossovsky was afraid that Timoshenko would reject him, so he hurriedly took advantage of the fact that the other party had not yet said this, and preemptively said: "If we don't have enough tanks, how can we break through the strong German defenses?" ”

Timoshenko covered the microphone with his hand, turned his head and asked the chief of staff next to him: "Can we get a tank now?" ”

The chief of staff flipped through the notepad he had placed on his desk, and then replied: "We received 30 KV heavy tanks from the Kharkov tank plant this morning, the plan is to give ......"

"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't have to say it." Timoshenko didn't care which unit these tanks were intended to give to, and since he now had tanks in his own hands, he would definitely give priority to Rokossovsky, because the heavy task of covering the three armies to break out of the German encirclement fell on their shoulders. He let go of his hand on the microphone and said to Rokossovsky: "General Rokossovsky, it really happens that we received a batch of heavy tanks from the Kharkov Tank Plant here, and I will immediately send you ten of them." In addition, I estimate that your artillery is also seriously insufficient, and I will send you another artillery battalion. ”

Rokossovsky put down the phone, turned his head to Mikhailov, who was standing in front of him, and said: "Comrade Colonel, I have good news for you, the superiors are ready to send us ten KV heavy tanks, so that you don't have to worry about any German tanks No. 3 and No. 4, these heavy tanks can easily eliminate them all." ”

"And what about our 38th Infantry Division, Comrade Commander." Seeing that the 101st Tank Division had been replenished with ten heavy tanks, Kirillov next to him couldn't help but be a little anxious, and as soon as Mikhailov finished speaking, he immediately asked eagerly. "Shouldn't we also give us some additional troops, even if it's just one battalion?" (To be continued.) )