Just as the city was being shelled by the Germans and the residents of the city were fleeing en masse, Zhukov called again. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info He said straight to the point: "Comrade Rokossovsky, since your troops have captured Sushnych, then my new order to you is to hold the city firmly. At the same time, decisive offensive actions were taken to exhaust the enemy, depriving him of the ability to hold and accumulate strength. Do you understand? ”

"Comrade General," Rokossovsky was immediately dumbfounded when he heard Zhukov's order, he was being pressed and beaten by the Germans at the moment, and if he still took the initiative to attack the enemy, wouldn't it be an old birthday boy hanging himself. He hastened to defend himself, hoping that Zhukov would retract this erroneous order to hit the stone with an egg: "We have very limited forces now, and we don't have enough artillery, and we don't get the air support we deserve......"

"Comrade Rokossovsky," before Rokossovsky could finish speaking, Zhukov unceremoniously interrupted his next words and said impatiently: "You are very difficult, and the Germans are also very difficult, now is the time to compete with the will, whoever persists to the end, and who is the final winner." This command cannot be changed, you go ahead and carry it out. ”

Lobachev saw Rokossovsky's sad expression when he put down the phone, and he knew that he must have given another order from his superiors that embarrassed him, so he asked with concern: "Comrade commander, what's the matter, has Comrade Zhukov given any new orders to our army group?" ”

"That's right, General Zhukov has just given an order, a task that we simply cannot complete." Rokossovsky said to the commanders gathered around: "He ordered us to attack the enemy in order to weaken and exhaust the enemy. ”

"What, to launch an offensive against the Germans at such a time?" When Zakharov heard this order, his eyes almost fell to the ground, and he said anxiously: "Comrade commander, it is one thing to delay and weaken the enemy by defense, and it is another thing to weaken the enemy by attacking. Delaying and weakening the enemy by defending in order to achieve a balance of strength is what we and other forces have been doing before moving on to a general offensive. However, in the current severe cold environment, when the balance of forces is not favorable to our army, launching an attack on the enemy can be said to be a suicidal act. ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Malinin continued: "Although we launched a great counteroffensive under the city of Moscow, defeated the Germans, and drove them away from the vicinity of Moscow, they had not yet lost their defensive capability. They are also holding on to all the occupied areas and are reinforcing them with a steady stream of reinforcements from the rear.

The only thing our army, which has exhausted its strength, can do at the moment is to drive the enemy away from this section or in that area, and to consume our precious forces for this purpose, so as to achieve the effect of advancing forward with difficulty. At present, there is a general shortage of ammunition for machine guns and mortars in the units of the group army, and there are very few tanks left that can be used in battle. ”

"Comrade Commander, you must think carefully about this matter." After the reaction of Zakharov and Malinin, Kazakov, who had always rarely spoken, also said in heated terms: "As far as I know, the main defense of the Deko groups is mainly based on strongholds located in villages and towns or groves, and in the intervals between strongholds, they will be mined and controlled by fire.

Due to the small number of artillery pieces left today, there was a serious shortage of shells, resulting in a weak artillery support for the infantry. Suppose our infantry attacked the enemy's defensive positions in a sparse skirmish, over thick snow. It is estimated that before approaching the enemy's position, he was already exhausted, and then he was killed one by one by the enemy as a target. ”

"I think we should now rely on the fortifications of Sushinich to resist the German attack." After Lobachev and others finished speaking, he also expressed his opinion: "Wouldn't it be better to use this precious time at the same time to accumulate troops, weapons and ammunition for a powerful offensive?" ”

"Alright, you don't have to say any more." Seeing the raging emotions of the commanders, Rokossovsky hurriedly said: "I understand what you are talking about. The enemy's strength and technical equipment have greatly surpassed ours. If our weaker side wants to attack a strong enemy through waist-deep snow, won't that send the commanders and fighters to death in vain? ”

Seeing that everyone nodded in agreement with this statement, Rokossovsky instructed Malinin: "Chief of Staff, write a report to the Command of the Front, write a detailed report on the current situation in Sushnyich, together with our estimates and conclusions, and immediately submit it to the Command of the Front." ”

"Yes!" Malinin agreed, and got up to write a report.

Before dark, the report written by Ma Linin was sent to the headquarters of the front army. At this moment, a call came from the observation post in the eastern direction of the city and reported to Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, on the road to the east, several trucks with canopies were found. ”

When Malinin heard the news, he couldn't help but be taken aback, he thought that the Germans had gone around to his rear, and hurriedly asked: "Is it a German vehicle?" ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." The observation post replied, "It looks like our own people." ”

Malinin breathed a sigh of relief and ordered: "When the convoy enters the city, you send someone to bring the commander of the unit to the headquarters." ”

Rokossovsky casually asked: "Chief of Staff, what's the matter?" ”

"The observation post in the east of the city reported that a small convoy was being seen in the distance and was heading towards us along the road." Ma Linin said in one breath: "I have ordered the observation post to send the commander here after the convoy enters the city." ”

After listening to Malinin's report, Rokossovsky nodded slightly, and then asked: "What can our report send to the front army headquarters?" ”

Malinin hurriedly raised his hand to look at his watch and replied: "If everything goes well, the messenger will deliver the report to Commander Zhukov in an hour." ”

The first thought that popped into Rokossovsky's mind after waiting for Malinin to finish speaking was to call Zhukov directly, telling him that it was unwise for the troops to attack the Germans outside the city under the current situation, and asking him to cancel the original order. But he quickly restrained the host, because some things could not be explained clearly on the phone, maybe Zhukov did not have the patience to listen to his explanation, so he hung up the phone directly, so he could only be patient and wait for Zhukov to finish reading the report he submitted.

Lobachev approached Rokossovsky and asked in a low voice: "Comrade commander, are you still bothered by the offensive order given by Zhukov?" Rest assured, he may change his mind when he reads our report. ”

Although Rokossovsky knew in his heart that Zhukov liked to be stubborn, and the effect of this report was limited, in order not to discourage Lobachev's enthusiasm, he still laughed and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, I hope so." ”

Before Zhukov's call came, an ensign with snowflakes on his shoulders walked briskly into the headquarters. After looking to the left and right, he walked up to Malinin, raised his hand and saluted, and reported: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am from the Chengdong Observation Post, and I have been ordered to bring the commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun company. ”

"Thank you, Comrade Ensign!" After expressing his gratitude to the other party, Ma Linin ordered: "Please invite the commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun company in!" ”

A moment later, a female soldier of medium stature and handsome appearance strode in. She walked to the middle of the room, saluted Rokossovsky and Lobachev, and said aloud: "Report to the commander, comrade military commissar, the commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun company, Lieutenant Oshanina, has been ordered to come, I am waiting for your orders, please instruct!" ”

Rokossovsky was talking to Lobachev when he heard someone shouting a report, so he waved his hand without raising his head, and he was supposed to greet the other party. At this moment, Lobachev, who was sitting next to him, suddenly jumped up from his seat and said in surprise: "Ah, it's you? ”

Seeing that the visitor caused such a big reaction from Lobachev, Rokossovsky also raised his head curiously and looked at the visitor. After seeing the other party clearly, he was also taken aback, quickly got up from his seat, walked up quickly, held the other party's cold hand, and asked unexpectedly: "Isn't this Comrade Oshanina, you are the company commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun company?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Rokossovsky and Lobachev recognized him, Oshanina's face showed a sweet smile, "I just got this position yesterday and was ordered to rush here to strengthen your air defense. ”

"Great, that's great!" Rokossovsky was worried about the weakness of Sushinich's air defense, and at this moment he heard that an anti-aircraft machine gun company had arrived, although the number was a little smaller, but it was better than nothing, and he curiously asked: "What kind of technical equipment do you have?" ”

Oshanina replied simply: "There are nine towed quadruple anti-aircraft guns of 14.5 mm caliber." ”

"Comrade Lieutenant," Ma Lining saw that the new female commander actually ignored him, and his heart was somewhat pimple, but thinking that the other party was the company commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun company, he still said in a friendly manner: "According to our analysis, the enemy's planes should be flying from the west of the city, so you should establish an air defense position in the west of the city as soon as possible." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Although Oshanina didn't know Malinin, seeing that the colonel in front of her could speak in front of Rokossovsky, she roughly guessed his identity, "I will deploy the air defense position overnight." ”

"Leda! You're not opposed to me calling you Leda, are you?! Rokossovsky saw Oshanina smiling and shook her head, indicating that he had no objection to calling her by her nickname, and continued: "How are you going to place these anti-aircraft machine guns?" ”

Oshanina thought for a moment, then replied, "I intend to make a triangle in groups of three; Two groups of machine guns were lined up, which made it possible to increase the density of fire. ”

"No, Leda, this arrangement won't work." After Rokossovsky waited for Oshanina to finish speaking, he immediately shook his head and objected: "If the enemy planes come from the front of your defense, you can also form a dense fire network to block the direction of the enemy planes' advance." But if they're coming from the side of your air defense positions, you'll be able to block much smaller areas. ”

"And how are we going to set it up?" Oshanina asked.

Rokossovsky did not answer the question immediately, but asked rhetorically with a smile: "Have you ever seen a beehive?" ”

"I've seen it!" Oshanina nodded in reply, but her mind was at a loss, she didn't know what the connection between the air defense position and the hive was.

"Since you've seen the hive, it's easy to do." Rokossovsky said, drawing a few random strokes on the paper, and then handed it to Oshanina, pointed to it and said to her: "You see, put six anti-aircraft machine guns in the hexagonal shape of a hive, and put three machine guns in a triangle shape in the middle of the hive, such an air defense position, no matter which direction the enemy planes come from, will face the interception of your dense firepower." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Oshanina replied with a smile: "You are so clever that you can think of such a way to place an anti-aircraft machine gun." I believe that as soon as enemy aircraft enter our air defense zone, they will not be able to escape. ”

Not long after sending Oshanina away, Zhukov's call finally came in.

When he heard that the person who answered the phone was Rokossovsky, he said angrily: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I have carefully read the report you sent. ”

Zhukov's words made Rokossovsky's heart beat faster, and he thought to himself, could it be that Zhukov agreed with the point of view in our report, and that now is definitely not the best time to attack the enemy, and is ready to cancel his original order? Although he thought so in his heart, he still pretended to be casual and asked: "Comrade General, since you have read our report, I don't know what your final reply is?" ”

After a moment of silence, Zhukov's voice came out of the earpiece: "As I said before, the orders I gave cannot be changed, so it is useless for you to send more reports. Do you understand? Now, once again, and for the last time, I tell you, continue unconditionally to carry out the orders I have given unconditionally! ”

After listening to Zhukov's reply, Rokossovsky could not help but be dumbfounded. Although Zhukov had already hung up the phone, he was still holding the microphone in a daze, while his mind was silently thinking about how to carry out this order.