The "Zhytomyr-Berkichev Campaign", launched by the First Ukrainian Front, ended successfully on January 14, 1944. The Soviets achieved great successes, they liberated Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions, as well as individual regions of Vinnitsia and Rivne regions.

To celebrate this great victory, Stalin specially summoned the commanders of the fronts on all fronts to Moscow, to which Rokossovsky was invited.

After the conference room began, Antonov, the first deputy chief of the General Staff, spoke, while Stalin clutched his pipe and walked slowly up and down in the open space next to the conference table.

Antonov stood in front of the map and said to the marshals and generals attending the meeting: "Comrades commanders, the main topic of our meeting today is to summarize the 'Zhytomyr-Berkichev Campaign'. After study, the General Staff held that the fundamental reason for the victory in this campaign was the correct choice of the timing of the troops' transition to the offensive.

In the course of the offensive of the front troops, the tank and mechanized corps carried out extensive agitation, and the advance detachments were used to seize important targets and areas within the depth of the enemy's defense......

Particular attention was paid to concentrating artillery fire on the enemy's strongest points of resistance and to reducing the intensity of resistance encountered by our troops during the offensive......

The basic strength of the air force supports the actions of the front assault group, which enables us to effectively grasp the air supremacy on the battlefield......

The partisans played a non-negligible role in the campaign, they closely cooperated with the actions of the Front troops, and even on many occasions liberated cities and large settlements that had been enslaved by the Germans......"

Looking at Antonov, who was talking incessantly in front of the map, and then looking at Vatutin, who was proud of the spring breeze, Rokossovsky felt that his heart was dripping blood, knowing that this was the battle plan that he and Bogolyubov had worked out after several days and nights of research, but in the end, they made wedding clothes for others.

After Antonov's reaction was over, it was Vatutin. Describing the entire campaign, he attributed the reasons for the victory to the correct leadership of Stalin, the bravery of the commanders and fighters of the Red Army in battle, and stressed that it was for these reasons that the troops were able to achieve such results. There is no mention of the casualties incurred by the troops in such a victory, and the fact that the other fronts have not been supplied with a single bullet for a month or two in order to secure their supplies.

"It's a great achievement, and the ambition is great." Rokossovsky listened to this, and in his heart used these two idioms to make a conclusion for Vatutin. He thought to himself that if Vatutin had been put in command of the First Ukrainian Front, it was estimated that this force would not be able to approach Berlin until 1946.

As he stared at Vatutin and sneered secretly, he suddenly remembered an important matter, that Vatutin was ambushed by Ukrainian nationalists and seriously wounded on February 29 when he went to inspect the troops. Later, due to wound infection, he unfortunately died on April 15.

Just as Rokossovsky was hesitating about the need to warn Vatutin, the room suddenly burst into warm applause, which was the applause of the soldiers present in the meeting for Vatutin's wonderful speech. Rokossovsky hurriedly applauded.

Stalin walked back to his place and sat down, swept his eyes over each commander, and said: "Comrades, although we have achieved some results in the Ukrainian region, you should see that in order to drive the enemy out of our territory, we need to fight harder...... After Stalin's speech, thunderous applause broke out in the room.

After the meeting, Zhukov saw that Rokossovsky looked a little sullen and beckoned him to his office to sit down. Rokossovsky, thinking that he would have nothing to do with leaving the Kremlin, agreed to Zhukov's proposal and followed him to the deputy commander-in-chief's office on the next floor.

Zhukov's office was magnificent, with a huge crystal chandelier hanging in the center and portraits of Russian army commanders of various times on the walls. The office is in the corner of the room, and there is a lamp with a lampshade and two telephones of different colors.

After beckoning Rokossovsky to sit down on the sofa in front of his desk, Zhukov handed him a cigarette and asked: "Rokossovsky, are you feeling a little uncomfortable?" ”

Rokossovsky took the cigarette, put it in his mouth but did not light it immediately, but said with some depression: "Comrade Zhukov, if you want to listen to the truth, I will tell you, my heart is really uncomfortable. The battle plan was drawn up by me and Bogolyubov, and in order to ensure their victory, the base camp did not even give us any supplies for a month or two. Without troops, without enough weapons and ammunition, I simply would not be able to expand the scale of the existing operation. ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, there is no way to do this in the base camp." Zhukov, as the deputy commander-in-chief, said helplessly: "The four fronts we are fighting in Ukraine have almost two million people, and the various materials consumed every day are a terrifying astronomical amount. Our current supply capacity can only barely meet their needs, so we can only temporarily stop supplying other fronts. ”

Hearing what Zhukov said, Rokossovsky took off the cigarette in his mouth, threw it on the table, sat up straight and asked Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, I would like to ask, when will the supply to us be restored?" ”

Zhukov's eyebrows went up, and then he asked: "Why, are you guys having trouble now?" ”

Rokossovsky nodded and replied: "Yes, Comrade Marshal, very difficult. To tell you the truth, due to the shortage of troops and ammunition, I had to withdraw individual divisions to second-line positions for rest. If the higher authorities do not give us any more supplies, I am afraid that it will not be long before the entire front army will lose its combat effectiveness. ”

When Rokossovsky finished speaking, Zhukov stood up, and instead of speaking, he paced back and forth behind his desk with his hands behind his back, trying to think about what kind of answer he should give Rokossovsky. After a long time, he finally stopped, supported the table with both hands, leaned forward, and said in a categorical tone: "No, Comrade Rokossovsky, in order to ensure the victory of our army in the Ukrainian region, we can't give you any supplements for the time being, and even in two months, we can't give you any supplements, you can only rely on your existing strength and continue to fight with the Germans." ”

Hearing that he would continue to be left without any replenishment for a long time, Rokossovsky immediately went down like a deflated ball. He leaned back against the back of the couch and muttered, "Oh my God, there are still two months to be replenished, so what will happen to my troops?" You can't let the commanders and fighters charge with guns without bullets and fight the Germans with bayonets, right? ”

"The next period of time will be the coldest period of the climate." Seeing Rokossovsky's dejected appearance, Zhukov comforted him and said: "At that time, it will not be possible to conduct a large-scale battle at all, you can order the main forces to go on the defensive, and only send small troops to deal with the German army." Don't worry, two months will pass soon, and I will personally inquire about this matter at that time, and let the logistics department give priority to replenishing your troops and supplies. ”

Rokossovsky picked up the cigarette on the table, lit it with a match, took two puffs, and snuffed it out in the ashtray. He raised his head and looked at Zhukov and said: "Well, Comrade Marshal, since you say so, then I will do what you say." After saying that, he stood up, straightened his back and asked Zhukov, "Are you allowed to leave?" ”

Zhukov nodded, then stretched out his hand to him: "I wish you good health!" ”

…………

Rokossovsky, from the exit of the Spassko bell tower, left the Kremlin and walked towards the parking lot next to the church of St. Basil's Church.

The driver, who sent him here from the airport, was chatting with several companions, and when he saw Rokossovsky hurriedly approaching this side, he hurriedly ran over and asked respectfully: "Comrade General, are you leaving?" ”

"Yes, I'm leaving!" Rokossovsky replied casually.

The driver hurriedly ran to the side of the car and opened the back door, and after making a gesture of invitation respectfully, he went around the direction of the front of the car without waiting for Rokossovsky to enter the car, opened the door straight and got in. After Rokossovsky finished and closed the door, he turned his head and asked: "Comrade General, shall we go to the airport now?" ”

Since Rokossovsky had explained his work to Zakharkin and Malinin before leaving, there was no need to rush back to Gomel, so he said to the driver: "Comrade driver, do you know how the Industrial Bureau goes? ”

"Of course you do, Comrade General." The driver nodded and asked, "Are you going to the Industrial Bureau?" ”

"That's right, I'm going there to find a friend."

After the car started, Rokossovsky looked out the window at the Moskva River and wondered what Borisova was doing at the moment, whether she was reviewing documents, or convening a meeting of the leaders of the factories and mines, or being sent by her superiors to another city on a business trip......

He was so engrossed in his mind that he didn't even notice that the car had stopped at its destination. Later, when the driver saw him staring out the window in a daze, he reminded him: "Comrade General, the Industrial Bureau has arrived!" ”

Rokossovsky, who was pondering, was awakened, and after thanking the driver, he pushed the door and got out of the car and walked towards the sentry in front of the Industrial Bureau.

I haven't been here for a long time, and the level of security here in the Industrial Bureau seems to have increased. On each side of the gate stood two fighters with submachine guns, and a second lieutenant officer walked back and forth in front of the railing. Seeing a commander with the rank of general walking towards him, he hurriedly greeted him and saluted: "Comrade General, Second Lieutenant Grekin reports to you that we are on a defensive mission, please instruct!" ”

"Please continue, Comrade Second Lieutenant." Rokossovsky smiled at him, and then asked: "Comrade Ensign, I want to go inside to find someone, I wonder if it is possible?" ”

In response to Rokossovsky's request, the second lieutenant hesitated for a while before replying: "Comrade General, according to the regulations, you have to go to the duty room to apply for a temporary pass before you can enter here. ”

As soon as the second lieutenant finished speaking, a black sedan stopped not far away, and out of the car came a middle-aged man wearing a black tweed coat, a peaked cap, and a briefcase under his arm. ”

The second lieutenant took his papers, carefully compared himself, picked up a pass sandwiched between them, turned around and walked into the sentry box, and called inside to verify the identity of the visitor.

Rokossovsky was surprised to see that the examination was so severe, and he smiled at the middle-aged man and said, "This officer has checked so carefully!" ”

"No, it's very careful." The middle-aged man nodded and said, "I have to come here almost every other day, and the second lieutenant has known me for a long time, but he has to check it every time." ”

While the two were talking, the second lieutenant came out of the sentry box, put the pass back into the document, handed it back to the middle-aged man, and said to him, "You can go in." ”

Seeing that the second lieutenant was so faithful, Rokossovsky couldn't help but retreat, he hesitated for a moment, and then asked the second lieutenant: "Second Lieutenant Gregin, can your phone here talk to the director's office?" ”

"Yes." The second lieutenant guided Rokossovsky to the sentry box and pointed out the phone to him.

Rokossovsky, after thanking the ensign, picked up the phone hanging on the wall of the wooden board, heard a voice coming from inside, and immediately said: "Hello, operator, please help me to pick up the director's office, find Borisova." ”

After a while, a young woman's voice came from the earpiece: "Hello, this is the director's office, do you have an appointment?" ”

"No," Rokossovsky said with some panic, "I didn't know that calling the director also required an appointment." ”

"I'm sorry, but I can't get you through to the director's office without an appointment." The young woman on the phone said in a sweet voice, "If you don't have anything important, I'm going to hang up." ”

"Wait, wait, please." Rokossovsky was afraid that the other party would hang up the phone immediately, so he hurriedly quickened his voice and said: "Please tell Borisova that I am her friend at the front, and she will know who I am." ”

The woman who sounded like a secretary continued to nag and said, "I'm sorry, I can't ......"

"Please tell her," Rokossovsky found that if he did not identify himself, the other party could hang up the phone at any time, so he gritted his teeth and said: "I'm Rokossovsky, and I just came back from the front to see her." ”

After Rokossovsky's words were finished, there was no sound in the microphone, he thought that the other party had hung up the phone, and hurriedly shouted into the microphone: "Hey, hey, why don't you speak?" ”

He shouted several times in a row, and finally the woman's voice came out of the earpiece: "It turned out to be Commander Rokossovsky, please wait, I will connect you to the director's office immediately." ”