As soon as dawn began, the German shelling of the city began. The www.biquge.info had been stationed in the city for a long time as the attacking troops, so they were very familiar with the terrain of the city. The German artillery commanders guessed that the Soviet command might be located in the location of the original German headquarters, so their artillery bombardment focused on the vicinity of the headquarters.

Fortunately, in order to prevent the German army's crazy counterattack, Rokossovsky not only ordered the troops to strengthen the fortifications outside the city, but also dug a lot of bomb shelters in the city, so that when the German army shelled, there was a place to hide.

When they first dug up, there were still many soldiers complaining bitterly, because in their hearts, the German army had been defeated by themselves, and where was there any strength to carry out a counteroffensive. If it weren't for the presence of a commander to supervise, everyone would have quit.

At the beginning of the German artillery bombardment, the soldiers hiding in the bomb shelter suddenly changed their impression of Rokossovsky, and felt that their commander had the foresight and knew that the enemy would shell the city, so that everyone dug so many bomb shelters, which greatly reduced the casualties of the troops when they were shelled by the German army.

When the German shelling was over, Rokossovsky and the members of the command left the bunks and returned to their headquarters. When I walked into the courtyard, I found that it was full of black craters with green smoke. The beautiful Mercedes-Benz car, which was directly hit by a shell, was burning at the moment. The building was not directly hit by the shells, but the dense craters on the wall immediately reminded people of the surface of the moon that had been hit by a meteorite shower.

When Rokossovsky walked into the headquarters, he asked one of the staff officers who was standing here: "Is there any report from outside the city?" ”

"No, Comrade Commander." The staff officer straightened his back and replied, "The phone has never rang. ”

Although the staff officer replied in such a positive way, Rokossovsky asked in disbelief: "Have you sent someone to check the telephone line, maybe the telephone line leading to the outside of the city has been blown up in the shelling just now." ”

"I have sent five communications soldiers to check the line along the way to see if any lines have been blown up by artillery fire." Speaking of this, the staff officer raised his hand to look at his watch, and added, "I think in a few minutes, they should be able to come back." ”

Rokossovsky couldn't wait for the results of the signal soldier's line check, walked to the table, shook the crank on the telephone base, picked up the microphone and put it to his ear and said: "Hey, I'm Rokossovsky, give me the commander of the 11th Wei Division." …… Hey, is it General Chernyshov? How is the situation there for you, do you see the Germans? …… And what, no shadow of the Germans was found? …… Okay, I see, you pay attention to the enemy's movements. ”

He put down the phone, shook the crank a few more times, looked up and said to Malinin, who was standing opposite: "Chief of Staff, call General Kiryukhin's 324th Infantry Division and ask them how the situation is there?" ”

Malinin's phone had not yet been connected, and the sound of shells exploding was heard outside. Hearing the rumbling one after another, Lobachev said angrily: "Damn the Germans, just a few minutes after they stopped, they started shelling again." ”

Zakharov listened to the sound of artillery outside, and asked Rokossovsky a little nervously: "Comrade commander, it's not safe here, let's go outside and take shelter." ”

"No," Rokossovsky said confidently, waving his hand, "if the enemy's shelling does not stop, won't we work?" ”

"Comrade commander," Lobachev persuaded when he saw that Rokossovsky was staring at the map in front of him and was not willing to leave at all, "although the shelling just now did not cause much damage to this building, no one can guarantee that this place will not be shelled in the new round of shelling." ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander, let's go out and take shelter." As soon as Lobachev finished speaking, Kazakov and Malinin also advised: "In case this building is destroyed by German artillery fire, causing unnecessary casualties, the command system of the entire army group will be paralyzed." ”

Seeing that almost all the commanders persuaded themselves in this way, Rokossovsky could no longer be stubborn, he nodded and said: "Okay, then let's go out and avoid it first, and come back after the enemy's shelling is over." ”

Everyone ran out of the headquarters, bent down to avoid German artillery fire, and ran towards the nearby bomb shelters. Enemy shells were densely located near the headquarters, but as soon as they moved away from this area, they gradually became sparse.

After entering the bomb shelter, Rokossovsky said to Kazakov, who was squatting next to him: "My comrade artillery commander, the German artillery bombardment will cause great damage to the city, do you think we will deploy our artillery in the city and wait for the enemy's shelling to begin, and then directly return fire?" ”

For Rokossovsky's proposal, Kazakov thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "No problem, I will deploy artillery in the open area of the city and suppress the enemy when they open fire." But there's one more thing to consider. ”

"What's the problem?"

"Air strikes." Kazakov said with a serious expression: "Although the frequency of the German air force on the battlefield has been very low since the beginning of the major counteroffensive, the position we are in now is already the depth of the German army's defense. Once they send out the air force to bomb, it will cause us huge casualties. ”

"It seems that it is necessary for us to increase our air defense." After listening to this, Rokossovsky said thoughtfully: "In order to reduce the damage to the city caused by the German bombers, we will at least put two or three anti-aircraft artillery battalions and an equal number of anti-aircraft machine gun battalions in the city. ”

"When the shelling is over, I will contact the artillery commander of the front headquarters and ask him to send us an anti-aircraft artillery battalion and an anti-aircraft machine gun battalion." After saying this, Kazakov thought for a moment and added: "Also, if the front command can provide us with air cover, we will be more sure that we will hold the city." ”

After the German artillery bombardment was over, the command group came out of the bomb shelter, shook off the dust on their bodies, and prepared to return to the headquarters. Before he had gone far, Rokossovsky saw residents carrying large bags and small bags coming out of the intact or half-collapsed buildings, helping the old and the young towards the east of the city.

Rokossovsky grabbed an old man carrying a suitcase and asked curiously, "Uncle, where are you going?" ”

"Where else can I go? Leaving the city, of course. After the old man finished speaking, he tried to break free from Rokossovsky's hand.

"This is your home, why are you leaving?" Rokossovsky asked, puzzled.

"The Germans are shelling the city like this, and if we don't leave, will we stay here and wait for death?" After the old man finished speaking, he shook his hand violently, broke free from Rokossovsky, and then quickened his pace to chase the refugees in front of him.

Rokossovsky looked at the influx of refugees heading east of the city, and he couldn't help but feel like a knife, seeing that these residents were displaced by German shelling, and he was powerless to change anything.

"Comrade Commander, let's go back." Lobachev saw Rokossovsky standing in a daze, so he put his hand on his shoulder and walked in the direction of the command.

Returning to the headquarters, Rokossovsky did not ask the staff officer on duty if he had a telephone or anything like that, but walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, thinking about how to reduce the damage of the German artillery bombardment to the city.

Lobachev and Rokossovsky have been working together for a long time, and seeing him behaving like this, I guessed what he was thinking, and asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, are you worried about the flight of those residents from the city?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Military Commissar." Rokossovsky stopped, looked at Lobachev and said solemnly: "Because of our arrival, they had to flee their homes under fire. It's so cold outside, they have to walk for at least a day to get to other cities, and I don't know how many people will freeze to death on the road. ”

"Comrade commander," Lobachev sighed after listening, then raised his hand and gently patted Rokossovsky twice on the back, and said helplessly: "This is war!" ”

Malinin, who was standing on the side, saw that Rokossovsky had walked back to the table to prepare for work, so he hurriedly took a step forward and put forward his own suggestion to him: "Comrade commander, the German army is constantly shelling the city, so we have to run around under artillery fire, which is not safe on the one hand, and will directly affect the battle on the other. So I suggest that the headquarters be moved to the basement. I don't know what you think? ”