The protagonist of the famous novel, the prototype of the protagonist to be precise, is actually standing in front of him at this moment, and Rokossovsky feels simply incredible at this moment. He struggled to recall that the 171 Retreat in the novel was supposed to be near Smolensk. General Lukin will soon be ordered to go there to direct the battle, and Vaskov, as his guard, will surely follow, so that the general historical background coincides.

After a moment of distraction, Rokossovsky continued to ask in a friendly tone: "Sergeant Vaskov, what position do you hold now?" ”

"I was in the guard regiment of the army group headquarters and held the position of a guard squad leader." After answering respectfully, Vaskov couldn't help but add: "I just took office yesterday." ”

Looking at the two triangular rank insignia on Vaskov's collar badge, Rokossovsky nodded secretly, and said in his heart that as long as he fought one or two battles, as long as this sergeant could survive, then it would be a matter of time before he became a warrant officer. Maybe in the future, there will really be a platoon of female anti-aircraft machine gunners under his men, as for Leda, Genia, Sonia, Risa, and Galka, whether these female soldiers are real or made up by the author, there is no way to know now.

Seeing Rokossovsky's absent-minded look, Vaskov was afraid that he would ask himself some inexplicable question later, so he hurriedly seized this opportunity and asked clearly: "Please allow me to leave, Comrade General!" ”

"Okay, okay, let's go!" Rokossovsky waved at him, and then said to Kochetov and them: "Let's go, we should go back." ”

When Rokossovsky led the guards through the flow of refugees, the curious Kochetov couldn't help but ask: "Comrade commander, was that sergeant your subordinate before?" ”

"No, it's not my old subordinate, and it's the first time I've seen him today."

"But I was surprised to see you hear his name," continued Kochetov reluctantly, "as if you had heard the name of an old friend. ”

Rokossovsky slowed down, looked at Kochetov, and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Ensign, your duty is to protect my safety, and not to care who I know or don't know, understand?" ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." When Kochetov heard Rokossovsky speak to himself in such a stern tone, he hurriedly smiled and said: "I will not mention this matter again." ”

The group came to the gas car parked on the side of the road, Kochetov hurriedly stepped forward to open the back door for Rokossovsky, and after he got into the car, he went around the front of the car, pulled the door and made the co-pilot's position. After sitting down, he turned sideways and asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade commander, where are we going next?" ”

Rokossovsky thought for a moment and replied: "Go around the defensive positions outside the city and see how the fire positions, trenches and communication trenches are repaired there." ”

Kochetov nodded after hearing this, and then ordered the driver: "Go ahead, comrade driver." ”

After the gas car started, Rokossovsky looked out the window at the endless line of refugees and asked Kochetov strangely: "Ensign, where do you say these refugees came from?" ”

Kochetov looked out the window, then turned his head and replied: "Comrade commander, there are two parts of the refugees here. Some of them escaped from the occupied cities to the west, and they must have suffered bombardment by enemy planes and infantry attacks on the way, and they had to endure great hardships to reach Shepetovka. The rest of the population was the city's residents, who fled their homes for fear that it would become a target for German bombing. ”

Rokossovsky pointed to the trucks full of refugees in the crowd and said, "It's not easy to get so many trucks out of German-controlled areas." ”

Kochetov did not look out of the car window again this time, and replied directly: "Comrade commander, on the way to the refugees, there are many forests, and perhaps when they found out that the Germans appeared, they hid in the forests in time. The Germans, seeing that they were ordinary refugees, did not bother them. ”

The car drove forward some distance, and Rokossovsky found that in addition to the fleeing civilians, there were also many unarmed soldiers on the road. Seeing this situation, he had a perceptual understanding of the embarrassment of the Soviet army when it was defeated. After snorting, he asked Kochetov, who was sitting in the front row: "Ensign, which regiment is stationed nearby?" ”

Kochetov thought for a moment and replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, this is the defense area of the 327th Infantry Regiment, and the commander of the regiment is Major Podo Prigora. He suddenly pointed outside and said loudly, "Look, it looks like someone is containing the routs." ”

Rokossovsky looked in the direction of his finger and saw a group of armed soldiers on the side of the road not far ahead, constantly grabbing the unarmed rout out from the crowd. Seeing this, Rokossovsky immediately instructed the driver: "Drive the car over." ”

When Rokossovsky got out of the car, he found that there were more than 100 routs who had been captured from the crowd. And the commander, who was directing the fighters to catch the rout, saw the sudden appearance of Rokossovsky and his party, hurriedly ran through the crowd, raised his hand to salute Rokossovsky, and reported: "Hello, Comrade General, the commander of the 327th Regiment, Major Portopregola, is on a mission, please instruct!" ”

"Please take a break!" After returning the salute, Rokossovsky raised his chin at the group of routs who were being watched by the fighters, and asked: "Major, what are you going to do with these fighters who have retreated from the front?" ”

After turning his head and looking at it, Pudo Prigora immediately replied without hesitation: "Comrade General, do you need to talk about this?" Of course, all of them were shot, with strict military discipline, so that our soldiers would not flee in panic in the face of the enemy's frenzied attack. ”

Rokossovsky's words frightened Rokossovsky, and he secretly said in his heart that he only said that he would shoot officers above the rank of major who had left the unit on the spot, but he did not say that even ordinary soldiers would be killed. In order to prevent the major regiment commander in front of him from indiscriminately killing innocents, he said in a stern tone: "Comrade Major, I would like to ask you to clarify one thing. We cannot blame these fighters for our defeat, they have already done their part in the battle against the Germans. It was not that they did not show courage in battle, but that we were poorly prepared for war and were taken by surprise by the enemy, as a result of which the troops were crushed. As long as these fighters are reorganized and equipped with commanders with extensive combat experience, they will become the elite of our troops. Got it, Comrade Major? ”

"Understood, Comrade General." After saying this, Major Podo Prigora asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Allow me to go back and put these routs in order?" ”

"Go, Comrade Major." Before letting the major leave, Rokossovsky also emphasized to him: "Remember, you should organize more containment teams, go outside the city to contain those scattered troops, and replenish them to your regiment to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops." ”