Over the next few days, the Germans continued to attack the left flank of the Bryansk Front, attempting to capture Voronezh on the upper Don after breaking through the Soviet lines. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The troops on the left flank fought fiercely with the German army, and fierce battles continued every day, while the defensive fronts of the 3rd and 48th armies on the right flank were calm, and even the shadows of the Germans could not be seen in peacetime.

For this situation of ice and fire, the senior commanders in the headquarters rushed to be puzzled. Only Rokossovsky understood in his heart that the time was ripe for the Germans to attack the defense of Stalingrad, so they did not need to launch another feint in the direction of Moscow in order to contain the Soviet reserves placed here.

The 13th and 38th armies, deployed on the left flank, established a solid echelon defense in depth and stubbornly resisted the German 2nd Army of Weix, preventing them from continuing their advance towards Voronezh.

Rokossovsky feared that history would turn out as it was, and the Germans, having broken through the defenses of the two armies on the left flank, captured the geographically important city of Voronezh, thus cutting off the link between Moscow and Stalingrad. In order to avoid such a dangerous situation, he made a special time to inspect the left flank of the Front Army in an effort to eliminate possible loopholes in the defenses.

The first place he went to was the headquarters of Pukhov's army group. After talking with the other party and observing the command, Rokossovsky learned that General Pukhov was an energetic, shrewd, well-trained commander with extensive practical experience, and was very good at directing battles in complex conditions. And the leading body of his group army was also a united collective, which fully played its due role in the battle.

Then he went to the defense zone of the 38th Army, the commander of which Chibisov, who turned out to be the deputy commander of the Bryansk Front, and not so long ago took over from the transferred Moskalenko as the commander of the army. According to what he learned from Chief of Staff Kazakov, Rokossovsky knew that Chibisov was a slow person who was slow to do anything, and Kazakov even jokingly said: It is estimated that even if there is a fire in the house, Chibisov will put on his clothes, shoes and socks before calmly walking out of the burning house.

Rokossovsky was recalling Kazakov's assessment of Chibisov,; A sudden rush of dirt rushed up from the side of the road, followed by an explosion, followed by the sound of dirt crackling on the roof of the car.

"What's going on, are we being shelled? Who is shelling us? After this thought flashed through Rokossovsky's mind, he hurriedly asked Malinin, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat: "Chief of staff, what the hell is going on, who is firing at us?" ”

Malinin leaned on the window of the car and looked out for a while, and after seeing the situation clearly, he reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, the tanks of the Germans, which broke through the lines of defense of our troops, are rushing towards us. ”

"Chief of Staff, check for me immediately, which division's defense area is this?" Rokossovsky angrily asked: "How can the Germans break through the line?" ”

As an excellent staff officer, Malinin can remember a lot of important information, and when he heard Rokossovsky ask this, he didn't need to look through his notebook at all, and casually said the number of the troops in this defense area: "This is the defense area of the 38th Infantry Division of the 340th Army." ”

After listening to this, Rokossovsky immediately instructed the driver: "Speed up, get to the headquarters of the 38th Army as soon as possible, I will give Chibisov an order to counterattack and repel the German units that broke through the defenses of our army." ”

But when Rokossovsky arrived at the headquarters of the army group, he saw a scene that almost tilted his nose. Chibisov and several army group leaders sat around the table drinking tea and chatting as if nothing happened. And the staff officers around them also did not stick to their posts, but like their commanders, they either drank tea and smoked cigarettes or gathered together to chat.

Rokossovsky walked over with a gloomy face, and without greeting anyone, he said straight to them: "Comrades commanders, I would like to ask, are you staying here, are you here to recuperate or to fight?" ”

Chibisov raised his head, saw Rokossovsky standing not far away, quickly stood up, stretched out his hand and said politely: "Hello, commander of the Front, welcome to our 38th Army to inspect. ”

Rokossovsky ignored the other party's outstretched hand, but asked coldly with a straight face: "General Chibisov, the Germans have broken through your defenses, but what are you still doing?" Drinking tea and chatting with a group of subordinates here, do you really think that you are here for a vacation? ”

Seeing that the new general was angry, but his commander did not refute, but only nodded his head in agreement, the people around him immediately stood up and immediately began to pretend to be busy.

"Comrade Commander of the Front, you said that the enemy broke through the lines of our army," Chibisov, waiting for Rokossovsky to get angry, said cautiously: "But I did not receive such information at all, is it not your mistake." ”

"Can't be wrong, General Chibisov." Rokossovsky replied in the affirmative: "When we passed through the defense area of the 340th Infantry Division, we saw German tanks breaking through the defensive line, and they also opened fire on us!" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Chibisov immediately realized the seriousness of the problem and hurriedly ordered his chief of staff: "Comrade Colonel, immediately call the headquarters of the 340th Infantry Division and ask if the defensive line has been broken through by the Germans?" Also, ask the teacher why he didn't report such an important matter to us in time. ”

After receiving the order, the chief of staff immediately got in touch with the commander of the 340th Infantry Division, and learned that the defense line there had indeed been broken through by the Germans, and he couldn't help but slap the table angrily and scolded: "What are you doing to eat, the Germans broke through your defense line, and they didn't report to their superiors in time, don't you know that this is a matter of losing your head?" ”

Although he heard his chief of staff scolding the division commander for hiding the military information, Chibisov was still indifferent and did not give any orders to solve the problem at all. Rokossovsky's resentment with him grew stronger and stronger, a few minutes ago he was still feeling guilty for being angry at the other side, but now he thought that it was a crime to let such a person be the commander of the army, and what he did would cost thousands of commanders and fighters their lives for nothing, and if possible, he should be transferred from the post of commander as soon as possible.

After the phone call, the chief of staff came over to Rokossovsky and asked for credit: "Comrade commander of the Front, I have already scolded the commander of the 340th Infantry Division, and he promised to immediately organize troops for a counterattack......

Rokossovsky did not wait for the chief of staff to finish speaking, and then unceremoniously interrupted him: "Is it effective to just scold him?" Scold him, and let the Germans be driven out of the section where the Germans were breached? In that case, when the enemy rushes towards us, we still need to make any defensive deployments, just find a group of fighters with loud voices and scold the Germans with loudspeakers. ”

Chibisov was finally scolded and sobered up at this moment, and hurriedly ordered the chief of staff to mobilize troops to reinforce the breached area, assist the commanders and fighters of the 340th Infantry Division, and drive the Germans out of the defense area.

Listening to Chibisov's deployment of troops, Rokossovsky was also secretly thinking in his heart that the German troops that broke through the defense line were equipped with a lot of tanks, and even if the infantry with only a few anti-tank weapons could counterattack, even if they won the victory, it was estimated that they would pay a lot of price. Thinking of this, he hurriedly called Ma Lining and ordered: "Call the chief of staff and ask him to immediately send a tank brigade directly under the Front Army to the breakthrough area to support the counterattack of the 340th Infantry Division." ”

The counterattack lasted more than two hours, and finally succeeded in driving away the German troops who had broken through into the defense zone. When Rokossovsky left the headquarters of the 38th Army, he especially emphasized to Chibisov: "General Chibisov, I remind you that if the same situation occurs next time, regardless of whether the enemy is driven away or not, you will be removed from your post and sent to a military court, understand?" ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander of the Front." Chibisov replied with some embarrassment: "Please rest assured, I will definitely learn the lesson of this time and promise not to make similar mistakes again." ”

On the way back to the headquarters of the Front, Malinin, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, turned his head to Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade commander, I think that General Chibisov's character is too inkblot and not decisive enough, and if he continues to be the commander of the army group, I am afraid that it will be harmful to the troops. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky said to Malinin with some helplessness, "in any case, he was the deputy commander of the front army not long ago, and now he is the commander of the army group, and he has already been demoted." If, at such times, we had to remove him from the post of commander, his future would be completely doomed. ”

"But ......" Although Rokossovsky was reluctant to talk about it again, Malinin was a little unwilling, and he continued to try to persuade Rokossovsky to change his mind.

"Okay, Comrade Ma Linin, you don't have to say any more." Rokossovsky hurriedly interrupted Malinin's words and said euphemistically: "According to my analysis, although General Chibisov has no ability, he is extremely loyal. The base camp must have placed him in this position, there must be special considerations, you and I don't have to worry about it. The next time he makes a mistake, we will report his situation to the base camp and the superiors will deal with him. ”