Rokossovsky, seeing several lights moving on the road, stopped as he approached where Starley had stopped. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 As soon as a smile appeared on his face, he heard a gunshot followed by a barrage of submachine gun shots, which immediately made his smile freeze on his face.

"Comrade Commander, something seems to be wrong." As soon as the gunshots came to mind, a fighter immediately ran to Rokossovsky's side and said anxiously: "Lieutenant, did they encounter the Germans?" ”

Rokossovsky listened sideways for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Listen to the gunshots, it is Soviet-made submachine guns and rifles that are firing, not weapons used by the German army." ”

"Do you need our help?" The warrior then asked.

"No, you better stay here." Rokossovsky said cautiously: "Lieutenant Starley went to the highway to stop the car, and the other party probably thought that he had encountered the Germans, so he opened fire." Now that the lights are dark, if you go to support, maybe the other side will think that they have been ambushed by the Germans, and it will be even more difficult to explain the misunderstanding at that time. ”

"So what should I do?"

"Wait, all we can do at the moment is wait." Although Rokossovsky was concerned about Starley's safety, at this time he could only harden his heart and order his men to wait and see how things unfolded.

The gunfire on the highway stopped after a while, and Rokossovsky's heart could not help but rise to his throat, he was deeply afraid that Starley had fallen under the guns of his own men. At this moment, a motorcycle parked on the road suddenly turned around and drove quickly in the direction it came from.

"What the hell is going on?" Rokossovsky said to himself: "Why is there a motorcycle to turn back, is it to find reinforcements?" ”

But fortunately, the answer was soon revealed, and Starley's surprised voice came from not far away: "Comrade commander, I'm back, and I've brought comrades from friendly forces. ”

Hearing Starley's voice, Rokossovsky finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now that his subordinate is safe, it seems that he has completed his mission of establishing contact with friendly forces.

Starley came to Rokossovsky with an officer in a large-brimmed hat and introduced him: "Comrade commander, this Major Sakhno from the mixed detachment, he is responsible for opening the way ahead. ”

"Hello, Comrade General." Then the moonlight that came in through the woods, Major Sakhno saw Rokossovsky's rank clearly, and after a military salute, he said politely: "I am Major Sakhno of the mixed detachment, what do you command, please instruct!" ”

"Comrade Major, what happened just now?" Rokossovsky did not respond to Sakhno's question, but specifically asked about what had just happened on the road. "Why are you shooting, don't you know that you have your own comrades, and you almost died at your guns?"

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Sakhno bowed his head in shame and did not know how to answer. Fortunately, Starley came out in time to relieve the siege and said: "Comrade commander, this is the situation. I saw the Major and their motorbike approaching, so I jumped in the middle of the road to stop it. They probably thought they had encountered the Germans, so they opened fire without hesitation. Fortunately, I reacted quickly, and as soon as I heard the gunshot, I immediately fell to the ground and rolled into the dirt ditch on the side of the road after a few rolls. As soon as they stopped, I shouted at them. ”

Sakhno continued: "Yes, as soon as I heard the lieutenant's shout, I knew that there was a misunderstanding, and quickly ordered my men to stop shooting. Probably in order to gain Rokossovsky's understanding, he added, "Comrade General, since we do not know whether this route of retreat is currently controlled by our troops or the Germans, we have been vigilant in the process of driving. When the lieutenant came out to stop the car, it was too dark and our fighters were too nervous, so such a misunderstanding occurred. Fortunately, the lieutenant is safe and sound, otherwise the consequences would have been serious. ”

Having received a reasonable explanation from Sakhno, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction, and then asked: "Comrade Major, who is your commander?" ”

"Colonel Lidyukov," Sakhno replied in a regular manner, "he was the commander of the 37th Tank Division at the time of the outbreak of war. Later, when the army was defeated by the Germans, he did not give up, but took in small units and formed a mixed detachment, which remained along the Dnieper River to continue fighting. ”

"Major, do you know?" After Rokossovsky waited for Sakhno to finish speaking, he suddenly said: "I am an old friend of your commander, Colonel Lidyukov, and we used to be in the same cavalry regiment. ”

"Really?" When Sakhno heard the unexpected news, a look of joy immediately appeared on his face: "Great, this is really good, Comrade General. I have just sent back to report to the Colonel, and I am sure he will be here soon. ”

"How far apart is your follow-up from you?" In order to find out when Lidyukov would arrive, Rokossovsky asked Sakhno: "If he receives your report, how long will it take to get here?" ”

"It's not far away, it's only two or three kilometers, and it only takes a few minutes to get there by motorcycle." The person who answered Rokossovsky's question was not Sakhno, but an officer who had just come from the direction of the road.

Rokossovsky glanced at the other party, his body shook violently, and he immediately got up from the stump where he was sitting, greeted the other party, and at the same time asked in surprise: "Is it Comrade Lidyukov?" ”

"Of course it's me, dear Koschika." The visitor affectionately called Rokossovsky by his nickname and at the same time opened his arms to him, "I really didn't expect that we would meet in this situation." ”

After the two warmly embraced, Rokossovsky asked Lidyukov with a smile: "Colonel, I heard that you organized a mixed detachment to stick to the Dnieper River and fight stubbornly with the enemy. ”

"Yes, my troops, under the blows of powerful aircraft and tanks of the enemy, were routed." Lidyukov did not shy away from saying: "I did not lead the remnants to retreat in the direction of Moscow, but remained on the banks of the Dnieper, organized a detachment and fought stubbornly with the enemy. At this point, he grabbed Sakhno's arm, pulled him in front of Rokossovsky, and introduced, "This Major Sakhno, as you must already know, is the hero of the defense of the Solovyovsk crossing, and the two battalions under his command blocked a German armored division for a whole week, without allowing the enemy to cross the Dnieper with a tank and a soldier. ”

"Well done, Comrade Major." After listening to Lidyukov's introduction, Rokossovsky stretched out his hand to Major Sakhno, shook hands and said approvingly: "You are so good! ”

Lidyukov asked Rokossovsky with some curiosity: "Koschyka, if I'm not mistaken, the Ninth Mechanized Corps under your command should be stationed in Zhytomyr, why did you come here now, from the defense zone of the Southwestern Front to the territory of the Western Front?" ”

Lidyukov's words were accompanied by several doubts, as if to ask Rokossovsky: "Wouldn't you have fled here with your troops?" ”

Rokossovsky naturally knew a little bit of Lidyukov's psychology. After he finished speaking, he replied: "On the day the battle broke out, my 9th Mechanized Corps drove to Lutsk and engaged in a fierce battle with the Germans. After a series of battles, my troops were greatly weakened, and then I led my troops back to Shepetovka, where I built a new line of defense against the enemy who were trying to occupy the military warehouses.

Fought in Shepetovka for more than half a month, and although our troops suffered heavy losses, they did not retreat a single step. It was in this context that I was recalled to Moscow by the General Staff and appointed me commander of the operational cluster in the Yaltsevo region. ”

"Hello, Comrade Commander." After hearing Rokossovsky's brief briefing, Lidyukov restrained the smile on his face, and instead of calling the other party by his nickname, he respectfully changed his position to address him. "I wonder if my troops will be able to join your battle group and continue the stubborn battle against the enemy in this area?"

"Great, Comrade Colonel, it's wonderful." Seeing that a unit took the initiative to join him, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be overjoyed, and he excitedly asked: "I wonder how many people are still in your unit, and what kind of technical equipment do they have?" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Lidyukov was silent for a moment, and then replied: "Comrade commander, my detachment is made up of tank crews, and they are mainly from the tank regiments of the Fifth Mechanized Army and the remnants of the mechanized regiments. Although the number is a little smaller, only more than 500 people, they are all regular troops, they have been baptized in battle, and have rich combat experience. As for technical equipment, we currently have fifteen tanks, twenty three-wheeled motorcycles and seven trucks. ”

Seeing that both Lidyukov and Sakhno were here, Rokossovsky asked curiously: "You two commanders are here, I don't know who will command the marching troops?" ”

"Comrade Commander, you don't have to worry about this." Lidyukov replied: "At the moment the troops are under the command of Major Shebelyuk, who was previously the deputy commander of the mechanized regiment and is an excellent commander with extensive combat experience. ”

Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, and then asked Lidyukov: "Colonel, how long do your troops have to get here?" ”

"Two tanks have just broken down, and the maintenance workers are working on intensive repairs." Lidyukov estimated the time for a while, and then replied: "It will be half an hour at the earliest." ”

"How long is it going to take?" In order to prevent Carmela, who remained in the command, from worrying, Rokossovsky hurriedly called Starley and instructed him: "Lieutenant, I now give you a task to immediately send these commanders and fighters who have just been contained back to the headquarters, and let General Carmela assign them to the regiments." Do you understand? ”

"Got it!" Starley said yes and was about to turn away, but was stopped by Lidyukov.

"Wait a minute, Comrade Lieutenant, please wait a minute." After Lidyukov stopped Starey, he turned his head and asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, what your subordinates just said, if I am not mistaken, should mean that you have taken in a lot of commanders and fighters. Am I right? ”

"That's right, that's right, Comrade Colonel." Rokossovsky hid something from his old friend, but replied truthfully: "Before you arrived, this Lieutenant Starley led people to contain more than two hundred people on the road. Now it was of little use for them to stay here, so I asked the lieutenant to take them back to the headquarters, eat and drink some water, and rest well for the night, and then assign them to the regiments. ”

After Lidyukov waited for Rokossovsky to finish, he said with some embarrassment: "Koschika, I have a request, I don't know if you can agree?" ”

When he heard that Lidyukov had no position but used his nickname, Rokossovsky knew that he had something important to say, so he nodded and said affirmatively: "Comrade Colonel, we have been old friends for more than 20 years, and if you have any requests, as long as it is within my ability, I will definitely grant you." ”

"As you know, my troops suffered extremely heavy losses in the early battles." Lidyukov said carefully: "In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops, I would like you to add these two hundred people to our mixed detachment." I don't know if you can say yes? ”

"No problem, my old friend." After a short period of thought, Rokossovsky unequivocally agreed: "It just so happens that I am going to assign you an important combat mission, so let's supplement these commanders and fighters to you." ”

"Comrade commander," Lidyukov heard about an important combat mission, and immediately reverted to his post to address Rokossovsky: "You ask for orders, no matter what kind of important tasks, we will guarantee the completion of them." ”

"This is not the place to talk, let's go back to the command and talk about it." After Rokossovsky finished saying this, he instructed Starey: "Lieutenant, you are waiting for the troops here with Major Sakhno, and Colonel Lidyukov and I will take these two hundred people and go back to the headquarters first." ”

Lidyukov followed Rokossovsky back to the headquarters, met another old comrade-in-arms - Carmela, and excitedly held the other party's hands and talked a lot about the past, until Rokossovsky reminded him on the side, he let go of Carmela's hand.

Rokossovsky beckoned the two to stand in front of the map, and then said: "Now that we have Colonel Lidyukov's mixed detachment, then our troops are relatively abundant, so that we can adopt a combination of offensive and defensive tactics to achieve the strategic intention of our superiors to hold on to Yatsevo." The task of the 38th Infantry Division and the 101st Tank Division was to hold the positions on the left and right flanks west of Yaltsevo, while the task of the mixed detachments was to penetrate deep into the rear of the enemy and attack their weak positions, so that they could not mobilize troops to attack our lines as planned. (To be continued.) )