In the past few days of fighting, although Rokossovsky was the commander with the highest military rank, because the troops he commanded were not his subordinates, he did not have the feeling of commanding like an arm, on the contrary, because of the disobedience of the commanders below, he felt that he was struggling. At this moment, knowing that the chief of staff of the army, Maslov, and the members of the army command were about to come here to join him, Rokossovsky's mood was much better, and at the same time, he had some confidence.

After almost an hour, Maslov walked into the command post with a group of people from the corps command. As soon as they met, he stepped forward and gave Rokossovsky a hug, and at the same time said excitedly: "Comrade commander, I finally see you again!" ”

After Rokossovsky hugged Maslov, he shook hands and hugged the political deputy commander Kamenev and the deputy army commander Vnukov who walked in one by one. Then he took a step back and said loudly to them: "Comrades commanders, we meet again. As he said this, his nose soured for a while, and he thought that from the beginning of the war to the present, one army after another had been crushed by the Germans; Thousands of commanders and fighters who defended the motherland died heroically. And to be able to reunite with these old subordinates is really God's favor. After a moment's pause, he continued, "From now on, we're going to fight together again." ”

Then the staff officers of the original army headquarters walked in one after another, making the already small command post even narrower. Maslov frowned and looked at it for a while, and then ordered: "Okay, except for the combat staff officer, intelligence staff officer, and communications staff officer, the rest of the people should go outside to find another cover." You're all pouring in, and you can't even turn around here. ”

With Maslov's order, except for a few staff officers whose names he had named, the rest of the staff officers withdrew from the command post one after another, and the room became empty again.

When there were only a few people left in the command post, Rokossovsky asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't know which division was retreated with you?" ”

"It's Colonel Kalinin's motorized 131st Division," Maslov said with some sadness as he said the number of the unit, "but there are only more than 1,000 people left in this division, and the rest of the commanders and fighters have died in the fierce battle." ”

"The enemy is stronger than we think, and he is better prepared for war than we are." Rokossovsky said carefully: "So it is understandable that our troops cannot stop them." After saying two sentences, he paused for a moment, and then asked: "Do you have any news about the 20th Tank Division?" ”

After hearing this, Maslov did not answer immediately, but asked in surprise: "What, comrade commander, have you broken off contact with the 20th tank division?" ”

Rokossovsky nodded, and said a little sadly: "Yes, at present, in addition to keeping in touch with General Novikov's 35th Tank Division, communication with other units has been completely interrupted. ”

"What, can you get in touch with General Novikov?" Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Maslov immediately instinctively looked left and right, and found that there was no Novikov in the house at all, and could not help but ask curiously: "Where is he?" ”

Rokossovsky clicked the map on the table with his hand and said: "His tank division is deployed in this forest, but after this period of fighting, his tanks have almost been lost, and the tank crews have become infantry. Speaking of tank crews, he remembered the 20th Tank Division again, so he asked Maslov about the whereabouts of the division, "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you know the current situation of the 20th Tank Division?" ”

Maslov sighed and said somewhat helplessly: "Comrade commander, the situation of the 20th Tank Division is very bad. As the Germans rushed towards Rivne regardless of casualties, although they put up stubborn resistance, in the end they could not stop the enemy's advance. Now that Rivne has been lost, and our 20th tank division has suffered casualties, as for the acting division commander, Colonel Chernyaev......" At this point, he suddenly and unconsciously stopped.

"How is Colonel Chernyaev?" When Rokossovsky heard this, a sense of foreboding suddenly swelled up in his heart, so he asked tentatively: "Were you wounded in battle?" ”

Maslov sighed and replied: "During the battle yesterday morning, Colonel Chernyaev personally drove the tank into the enemy. As a result, his tank was blown up by enemy aircraft, and he himself was seriously wounded and was taken to a military hospital in the rear. ”

Hearing that Colonel Chernyaev had not died, Rokossovsky couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and then changed the topic and asked with concern: "What is the situation in Lutsk, is it all occupied by the Germans?" ”

"No, General Fedyuninsky's troops still occupy two directions, west and south of the city." After Maslov said this, he noticed that Rokossovsky's gaze was a little unpleasant, and hurriedly explained: "Comrade commander, we withdrew from Lutsk on the orders of Commander Potapov, and they asked us to open a passage from the enemy's encirclement so that the main forces of the Fifth Army could successfully break through. ”

Breaking through, when he heard this word, Rokossovsky's body couldn't help but shake a little, and he said in his heart that just a week ago, the order given by the front command to the troops was to attack, attack and attack. But within a few days, many troops fell into the encirclement of the German army, and had to choose the way to break through the encirclement in order to jump out of the encirclement of the German army.

Seeing that Rokossovsky was slow to speak, Maslov thought he was angry, and continued: "We received the order to break through yesterday afternoon, so we concentrated the remaining troops in our hands and carried out a breakthrough operation to the east. Although the enemy's encirclement was still very weak, we still paid huge casualties in the breakthrough battle that lasted for more than ten hours. The 131st Division was sharply reduced from 3,000 men at the time of the breakout to more than 1,000, and half of them were wounded. If it weren't for the fact that Deputy Commander Vnukov had heard that you were here, we would probably still be scurrying around the enemy's encirclement like a headless fly until we were all wiped out by the enemy. ”

Knowing the heavy casualties of the troops, although Rokossovsky was worried, he was most concerned about the equipment of the troops at the moment, and he was worried that in the process of breaking through, in order to ensure the speed of the march, the troops had to discard some heavy equipment: "How is the equipment of the troops, and are there still heavy weapons?" ”

Maslov's answer confirmed his suspicions: "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad, not only have we discarded all the heavy equipment, but even some of the fighters have lost their own weapons. If they are not replenished in time, they will have to fight the enemy in the next battle. ”

Hearing Maslov say this, Rokossovsky turned his eyes to the technical deputy commander Vnukov, who had not spoken, and said to him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, please immediately make a list of the required weapons, and then go to the warehouse to collect them." ”

Maslov couldn't help but exclaim at Rokossovsky's readily promise to replenish the troops with the missing weapons, and then asked curiously: "Comrade commander, can we really get the weapons we need here?" ”

Rokossovsky replied in the affirmative: "That's right, as long as you have weapons in the warehouse, you can get as many as you want." ”

"But, Comrade Commander, wouldn't it be a violation of the regulations to receive weapons and equipment like this?" Maslov said with some concern: "You must know that this is not Zhytomyr, although you are a general, those storekeepers may not be able to carry out your orders. ”

"My comrade chief of staff, you can rest assured." Rokossovsky wrote down the list that Vnukov had made, took it and signed his name underneath, then handed it to Vnukov again and said to him: "Comrade Deputy Army Commander, you take this list and ask the staff officers outside to take you to Colonel Marankin, the quartermaster of the 16th Army, and then you can receive the weapons and equipment you need." ”

After Vnukov left, Rokossovsky looked at Maslov and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where is Colonel Kalinin, commander of the 131st Division?" ”

"He led the troops to rest in the defense zone of the 325th regiment, I mean to involve them in the defense there." After seeing Rokossovsky nodding his head in approval of his arrangement, Maslov continued: "The division's political deputy commander died in the battle a few days ago, so I temporarily appointed another political worker to replace him. ”

"Who is the new deputy political commander?" Rokossovsky asked casually.

"Fuming, regimental political commissar Fuming." Maslov unexpectedly uttered a name that surprised Rokossovsky. Seeing the surprised expression on the other party's face, he added: "It is the political commissar you rescued from the Brest Fortress, I think his personal ability is not bad, so I took it upon myself to appoint him as the political deputy commander of the 131st Division." ”

For Fuming, when Tang Shaohua transformed into Rokossovsky, he was still very annoying. Because in the movie, he is a stubborn political worker, and it is because of his stubbornness that the defenders of the fortress are not prepared for any battle before the enemy attacks. But since the rescue of him from the Brest Fortress, after a period of contact, the opinion of him has changed. So at this moment, when he heard Maslov talk about this, he was only taken aback for a moment, and the expression on his face returned to normal, and then he waved his hand and said to Maslov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since you think he is the right person, let him act for this position first." If it is not suitable, we will send another political worker to take his place in the future. ”

"Comrade Commander, let's talk about your defense here." From the moment he entered the door, Kamenev, who had not spoken until now, suddenly spoke and said to Rokossovsky: "According to my observations on the road, it is very likely that the enemy will use this as the next main target for attack. ”

After hearing this, Rokossovsky said with a wry smile: "My comrade political deputy commander, not a possibility, but a certainty. You must know that the military warehouses here store the weapons, ammunition and various military materials needed by the entire Southwestern Front. If the enemy captures Khopetovka, the troops of the Front will be left without ammunition and provisions. And when the enemy is replenished here, he will be able to continue to rush towards Kyiv, and then the situation will become even more unfavorable for us. ”

After listening to this, Kamenev said thoughtfully: "In this case, we must hold this place at all costs." Only by holding this place can the troops of the Front be replenished with ammunition and provisions, and can they continue to fight with the Germans. ”

"Yes, yes," Rokossovsky continued, "the current situation is such that we must use all our forces to resolutely hold off the enemy who has reappeared in Shepetovka and ensure the safety of military warehouses." ”

Maslov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and then he euphemistically asked: "Comrade commander, now that our troops have arrived, can we redivide the defense zone?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is a good proposal." Rokossovsky moved the map on the table to Maslov, pointed to it and said: "Look at the entire defensive area of our current defense, the leftmost unit is the 325th Regiment that has just gone to meet you; In the middle was the 326th Regiment and the Novikov Division, deployed in the forest; And on the entire right flank, there was the 327th regiment, which had just suffered heavy losses in the battle a few hours earlier. ”

"How should we redistrict?" Maslov then asked.

Rokossovsky pointed to the map and said confidently: "The 131st Division, by Colonel Kalinin, immediately takes over the defense of the 325th Regiment; The 325th Regiment was transferred to the rear of the 326th Regiment as a divisional reserve; The 327th Regiment's defense zone remained unchanged without any changes. ”

After completing the redivision of the defense area, Rokossovsky personally called the two regiment commanders of the 109th Division to inform them about the change of defense area. Finally, when calling Kalinin, he also made a point to emphasize to him: "Comrade Colonel, I know that your division has suffered heavy casualties in recent battles, but I am not in a position to replenish you with new troops at the moment. Therefore, you must immediately organize containment teams, and contain those small units that have retreated from the front line, and organize them into various companies, so as to strengthen your existing strength. Do you understand? ”

After hearing this, Kalinin hesitated for a moment, and then asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, what if their commander refuses to accept our containment in the retreating small unit?" ”

"If you encounter such a commander, I authorize you to detain him and send him to me to deal with it." Rokossovsky raised his voice and said: "Don't worry even if he is higher than you, if something goes wrong, I will be responsible." Do you understand? ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Kalinin immediately confidently agreed: "Understood, Comrade Commander. (To be continued.) )