Rokossovsky spent two days in the 1st Polish Army and got a detailed picture of the situation with the troops as a whole. Due to the imminent start of the offensive campaign, coupled with the fact that another call was received from Zhukov that he had arrived at the headquarters of the Front, which was located on the right flank. After Rokossovsky said goodbye to Bellinger, he hurried back to the headquarters of the Front and, together with Zhukov, began preparations for the start of the campaign.

In order to ensure the success of the Belarusian campaign, known as "Bagration", Stalin appointed Zhukov and Vasilevsky as representatives of the base camp to direct the operations of the four fronts involved in the war. Zhukov was in charge of the 1st Belorussian Front, while Vasilevsky was in charge of the coordinated operations of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts, as well as the 1st Baltic Front.

In the early morning of June 23, with the order of Vasilevsky, the troops of the three fronts simultaneously launched an attack on the enemy in front of them. Fierce fighting until dark, the troops of Bagramyan's 1st Baltic Front broke through the German lines, forced their way across the West Dvera River and surrounded Vitebsk; The right flank of the 3rd Belorussian Front of Chernyakhovsky. Rapidly advancing in the direction of Beresov, approaching the Berezina River; The troops of Zakharov's 2nd Belorussian Front, too, successfully broke through the line and advanced towards Mogilev.

Zhukov and Rokossovsky were very happy to see that their allies had achieved such great results. Zhukov said to Rokossovsky with emotion: "The partisans behind enemy lines have carried out a sabotage war on the German army's transport lines in the past two days, and it seems that the results are still obvious; because the communication is paralyzed, the German army is simply unable to transfer the troops in the rear when it is attacked by our army, and it is precisely for this reason that the three front armies on which we launched the offensive can achieve such tremendous results." ”

"That's right, the guerrillas achieved no less success this time than launching a small-scale campaign." Rokossovsky reminded Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, tomorrow it will be time for us to start the offensive. ”

After Rokossovsky's reminder, Zhukov hurriedly asked with concern: "Is the wood for paving the road ready?" ”

"Ready," said Rokossovsky, nodding, "and as soon as the shelling began, our sappers began to drive stakes and, with the assistance of the infantry, lay a firewood road in the swamp. ”

"Wait for the shelling to start before laying?" Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Zhukov asked thoughtfully: "Is this too late in time?" ”

"It's totally in time." Although Rokossovsky had mentioned to Zhukov the reason for paving the road after the shelling began, he again reminded him of the same old thing: "Paving the road during the shelling will not be easily detected by the enemy, so that our sappers will not be blocked by the Germans when they are paving." ”

Zhukov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Rokossovsky, your attack is tomorrow, June 24, at 3:30 a.m. Let's split the work between the two of us, and one person is responsible for one lot. ”

"Yes." In response to Zhukov's proposal, Rokossovsky nodded in agreement: "I don't know which unit you plan to go to?" ”

"I went to the 3rd Army and launched an attack on the enemy from the landing ground on the right bank of the Dnieper." Zhukov thought for a moment, then made up his mind, and he jokingly said to Rokossovsky: "Don't worry, Comrade Rokossovsky, even if you don't go well, General Gorbatov and I will not sit idly by." We will send troops to launch a diversionary attack from across the Berezina River, pull your troops out of the swamps, and cooperate with you to advance to Bobruisk. ”

"Since you have chosen to go to the 3rd Army, then I will go to Luchinsky's 28th Army, whose observation post is located in the forest, and a watchtower has been built as an observation post, where we can watch the progress of the fighting in this area." After Rokossovsky said this, he swept his eyes at the leaders of the front who were sitting around and announced: "General Terekin, General Kazakov and General Orel, the three of you will accompany me to the 28th Army. ”

…………

At two o'clock in the morning, Rokossovsky and the three generals of the command came to the headquarters of the 28th Army. Commander Luchinsky heard that Rokossovsky wanted to go to the observation post in the forest, and hurriedly persuaded: "Comrade commander, although it is a good observation site, it is easy to become a target for German attacks, and I can't let you go on a risk." ”

"General Luchinsky," Rokossovsky said lightly, "don't you know that every time there is a big war, I stay at the observation post close to the front line?" Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and take us there. ”

From Rokossovsky's tone, Luchinsky heard the dissatisfaction of the commander of the front with him, and hurriedly explained the work in the headquarters to the chief of staff, and then took Rokossovsky and his party to the observation post.

Rokossovsky came to the bottom of the watchtower, looked up and looked up, it was more than 20 meters high, it was a double-decked watchtower with a canopy, the upper floor was an observation post observing the enemy's movements, and the lower floor was placed with communication equipment in order to inform the superiors in a timely manner of what they had observed.

Rokossovsky turned his head and glanced at the three deputies he had brought, and then said: "General Kazakov and I will go up above to see the effect of the shelling, Terekin, Orel, you two will stay below." General Luchinsky, you go up with me too. ”

Rokossovsky raised his binoculars and looked ahead, and found that the field of vision here was wide, and he could almost see the combat area, so he said to Luchinsky with a smile: "General Luchinsky, this observation post of yours is really well located, and you can clearly see the entire battlefield." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Luchinsky was bitter in his heart, he was deeply afraid that the Germans had discovered this watchtower, and if it was bombarded with artillery, the lives of those who stayed on the high platform would be in danger. Thinking of this, he ordered the soldiers below to send two ropes up, one end tied to the railing of the platform, and the other end hung down to the ground, so that even if they were shelled, the people on the platform could quickly slide down the ropes to the ground.

After Luchinsky had done all this, he stood beside Rokossovsky with confidence and boldly introduced him to the situation in the vicinity: "Comrade commander, do you see the high ground across the swamp? According to our reconnaissance, the Germans placed a company of orders there, which had no heavy weapons, except for machine guns and mortars. ”

Although it was still about an hour before dawn, because of the bright moon in the sky, Rokossovsky was able to see the high ground that Luchinsky had pointed out to him. After looking at it for a while, he asked: "Comrade Luchinsky, did the enemy notice your actions?" ”

"No, Comrade Commander." To Rokossovsky's question, Luchinsky replied in the affirmative: "Our preparations were carried out in a very covert manner, and according to our reconnaissance, the Germans were not in the slightest aware of the imminent attack of our troops. ”

Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, and when he saw that there was less than an hour left before the start of the offensive, he said to Luchinsky: "General Luchinsky, you go back to the headquarters to direct the battle first, if there is anything, I will contact you by phone." ”

After hearing this, Luchinsky hurriedly raised his hand and saluted, and then followed the wooden ladder, carefully descended the watchtower, and returned to his headquarters.

Seeing Luchinsky leaving, Terekin and Orel, who had stayed below, were a little out of breath and climbed up the wooden ladder. Seeing the two people who suddenly appeared, Rokossovsky said with some surprise: "I didn't let you stay down, why did you come up?" ”

"Comrade commander," Terekin said with a smile, "the troops are about to start attacking, and we, as commanders, must always see with our own eyes how our fighters are fighting." ”

Oryol waited for Terekin to finish speaking, and added: "I am the chief of the armored corps of the Front, and I always want to see with my own eyes how our tanks pass through this swamp smoothly." ”

After listening to the explanations of the two, a smile appeared on Rokossovsky's face, and he said magnanimously: "Okay, no need to say more, you two can stay on it." ”

As the day dawned, and there were only two minutes left before the artillery preparations for the attack, everyone pulled out their pocket watches, or raised their hands to look at their watches, nervously waiting for the exciting moment to come.

When there was still the last minute left, Kazakov let out a long sigh, looked up and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, the dawn here is quiet, I really can't bear to break it." ”

Rokossovsky grinned at him and said: "Comrade Artillery Commander, we can defeat those enemies who are holding on to the other side of the swamp only if we first break the silence here. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the silence in the forest was broken by the roar of thousands of guns, and the Soviet artillery, which had been prepared for a long time, began a fierce shelling of the German positions on the opposite side of the swamp.

Seeing the shelling begin, the crowd standing on the platform of the watchtower. Hurriedly raised the binoculars and looked at the place where the shelling was carried out in the distance. The commanding heights, which were clearly visible not long ago, have now been shrouded in gunsmoke, and from time to time there are bursts of fire from the explosions of artillery shells rising from the smoke, and it is impossible to see the situation on the commanding heights clearly, nor is it clear whether the enemy on the commanding heights has taken refuge in the shelter or has been blown to pieces by the intensive artillery fire of the Soviet troops.