After Malinin prepared the car, before Rokossovsky left the command, Zhukov's phone called. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

As soon as he heard Rokossovsky's voice, Zhukov, who was furious, slapped the table and shouted: "Rokossovsky, how did you do it, why did you abandon the town of Diedovsk without authorization?" ”

Hearing that it was Didovsk again, Rokossovsky couldn't help but cry and laugh a little, and he hurriedly defended himself by saying: "Comrade General, please listen to my explanation, things are not as ...... as you imagined"

"Enough, stop justifying your mistakes." Zhukov said angrily: "I just received a call from Marshal Shaposhnikov, Chief of the General Staff, who said that in the intercepted telegram of the German troops, it was clearly written that they had captured Didovsk. I now order you to immediately organize a counterattack and retake Dydovsk. ”

Rokossovsky patiently waited for Zhukov to finish speaking, and then hurriedly said: "Comrade General, please listen to my explanation. Not so long ago, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief himself called me personally to inquire about the situation in the town of Didovsk. ”

When Zhukov heard that Stalin had personally inquired about this, he was no longer as excited as he was just now, but he still asked angrily: "What did Comrade Stalin say?" ”

"After inquiry, I learned that the town of Diedovsk is still in the hands of our troops, and the Germans occupied only a village called Diedovo." In order to quell Zhukov's efforts, Rokossovsky explained in detail: "There was the defense area of the 78th Infantry Division, and I was preparing to rush there and command the troops together with Colonel Beloborodov to take the village from the enemy's hands. ”

Zhukov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and asked tentatively: "Isn't it the town of Diedovsk, but the village of Diedovo?" ”

"That's right." Rokossovsky replied in the affirmative: "I don't think the situation is too serious, though, otherwise Colonel Belorodov would not have failed to report to me." ”

"When Marshal Shaposhnikov called me, he conveyed Stalin's meaning: let me personally go to the scene and bring the commander of the 5th Army, General Govorov, with me." Zhukov guessed that Rokossovsky might ask his superiors why he had brought the commander of the friendly army to the scene, so he made a special statement: "General Govorov is an excellent artillery commander, and the purpose of taking him there is to let him organize artillery fire and support your counterattack." ”

"Comrade General, are you allowed to go to the village of Diedovo?" As soon as Zhukov's words were finished, Rokossovsky asked, in accordance with the regulations: "I want to immediately go there and command the counterattack." ”

"You stay in your headquarters for now." Zhukov said very quickly: "I will take General Govorov to you later, and then the three of us will go to the village of Diedovo together." ”

Zhukov's words made Rokossovsky a little dumbfounded: in order to recover a small village, it was a bit too fuss to dispatch a commander of the front army and two commanders of army groups. After a moment's pause, he hurriedly said: "Comrade General, you don't need to trouble General Govorov to make a trip, I can handle the battle to recover the village alone." ”

"Do you think I want to go?" Zhukov said with a wave of anger: "This is an order given by Comrade Stalin, and we can only carry it out unconditionally. ”

An hour later, Zhukov took Govorov to Rokossovsky's headquarters. After greeting the commanders at all levels in the command headquarters, the three commanders drove to the defense area of the 78th Infantry Division.

When the three of them walked into the headquarters of the 78th Infantry Division, it was a busy scene, with various staff officers coming in and out of the headquarters from time to time, sending in or taking away battle reports; The communications corps shouted the number of the unit into the microphone, conveying the latest orders from the division headquarters one by one.

Seeing the three generals who suddenly appeared at the door, the entire command suddenly fell silent. Beloborodov, who was standing with his back to the door, turned his head curiously, saw Zhukov and them, hurriedly ran over, raised his hand and saluted, and reported: "Comrade General, the commander of the 78th Infantry Division, Colonel Beloborodov, reports to you that I am directing the operation, please instruct!" ”

Zhukov did not raise his hand to return the salute, nor did he say clichés such as "please continue", but asked bluntly: "Command the battle, command what battle?" Is it directing troops to retake the village of Diedovo? ”

"The village of Diedovo?" When Beloborodov heard Zhukov mention the name of this small village, his face showed a confused expression, and he asked with some puzzlement: "Comrade General, most of that village is under the control of our army, why do you use the word 'reconquest'?" ”

"Now that you've got most of the village in control, why don't you take back the little that remains?" Zhukov was obviously not satisfied with Colonel Beloborodov's answer, and he reprimanded with a straight face: "If you allow the enemy to stay there, it is possible that they will use it as a starting point for an attack, and after completing the assembly there, they will attack Moscow." ”

"That's right, Colonel Beloborodov." After Zhukov finished speaking, Govorov continued: "Hurry up and take us to see it in order to work out a suitable plan for the counterattack." "The reason why he behaved so impatiently was that within his army group, there was also a lot of work to do, but because of Stalin's counterattack order, he had to temporarily hand over the work to his deputy, together with Zhukov, to develop a plan if the inconspicuous hamlet was recovered.

The attitudes of Zhukov and Govorov made Colonel Beloborodov a little confused, and he hurriedly turned his attention for help to Rokossovsky, who had never said a word. The latter saw the colonel's pleading gaze, bowed slightly, and then said to Zhukov: "Comrade General, it is inappropriate for us to discuss the so-called battle plan here without understanding the specific situation. I suggest that we go to the front line and have a good grasp of the actual situation there, and then discuss how to carry out a counterattack. ”

In response to Rokossovsky's proposal, Zhukov hummed softly, then shook his head at Beloborodov, and said with some impatience: "Okay, Comrade Colonel, you lead the way in front and take us to see the village occupied by the Germans." ”

Although Beloborodov looked reluctant, he heard Zhukov's order, so he had to explain a few words to his deputy and chief of staff, and then took Zhukov to the village of Diedovo.

Since the village was still a few kilometers from the division headquarters, they went by two jeeps. The cars in which Beloborodov and Rokossovsky were riding led the way, followed by Zhukov and Govorov's cars.

On the way, Beloborodov, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, turned around and said to Rokossovsky with a face full of grievances: "Comrade commander, I don't think it is necessary from a tactical point of view to recover the areas occupied by the Germans. The terrain there is not conducive to the defense of the troops, and we should ...... instead of wasting our limited forces there"

"Alright, Comrade Colonel, don't say any more." Rokossovsky did not wait for Belorodov to finish speaking, and interrupted him later. Thinking that Zhukov had just not explained to Beloborodov why he was counterattacking, he took advantage of the fact that there were not many people in the car at this moment to explain to him: "The order to regain the village was given by Comrade Stalin himself, do you understand? ”

Rokossovsky's words made Beloborodov realize the seriousness of the problem, and he was silent for a moment, but still replied resolutely: "Comrade commander, I think that when you get to the front and see the territory occupied by the Germans, you will have the same thoughts as me. ”

The two cars stopped next to an observation post next to the village of Diedovo, and after Zhukov got out of the car, he walked in front of Beloborodov, pointed with his hand to the village where Soviet soldiers could be seen from time to time, and asked with a frown: "Comrade Colonel, this is the village of Diedovo?" After receiving an affirmative reply from Beloborodov, he asked in wonder, "When did you take the village?" ”

"Comrade General," replied Colonel Beloborodov in a proper manner, "the village has always been in the hands of our troops. ”

"Where is the enemy who took over the village?" Zhukov realized that the information he had obtained might be wrong, and hurriedly ordered Beloborodov: "Colonel, hurry up and take us to see." ”

Beloborodov led the three to the adjacent observation post, where he stood in front of the lookout, pointed out, and said: "Three comrades, generals, here you can see the area occupied by the enemy. ”

Zhukov walked to the lookout, raised his telescope and looked into the distance for a moment, suddenly sighed in surprise, and then turned his head and asked Beloborodov, who was standing next to him: "Colonel, is the house occupied by the Germans there?" ”

"That's right, Comrade General." Beloborodov replied with a complicated expression: "Exactly there." ”

Zhukov turned around and said to Rokossovsky and Govorov, who were standing at the door: "You also come to see what the enemy is occupying. ”

Rokossovsky walked quickly to the lookout and, following Zhukov's example, raised his telescope and looked into the distance. At this glance, he could not help but be stunned, and in his field of vision, he could only see four or five small houses made of logs near the dirt slope in the distance, and all around the houses were an open field.

Seeing this, Rokossovsky also turned his head and asked Beloborodov: "Colonel, how many Germans are in the house?" ”

"Not much," Beloborodov said in an affirmative tone, "according to the reports of our scouts, there is at most a platoon of troops. ”

"Is there only so many Germans?" Govorov asked half-incredulously.

"Yes, Comrade General." Beloborodov did not know Govorov's identity, so when he spoke, his eyes were looking at Zhukov, "After our repeated confirmation, there were only twenty or thirty Germans there, one machine gun and a dozen submachine guns. ”

"Comrade General, what should we do now?" Govorov asked Zhukov somewhat depressed: "Do you still need me to organize artillery to cooperate with Rokossovsky for their counterattack?" ”

"I don't need to." Zhukov shook his head very dryly, and then ordered Beloborodov: "Colonel, I order that an infantry company and two tanks be sent at once to drive away or destroy all the Germans who occupy these houses." ”

"Yes, I'll do it immediately." Seeing that Zhukov personally gave himself an order, Beloborodov decisively agreed, then picked up the phone on the table and gave the order to attack the troops below.

Ten minutes later, two old tanks guided hundreds of fighters towards the wooden houses occupied by the Germans in the distance. Zhukov, on the other hand, remained at the observation post, observing the progress of the battle through a telescope.

The tank crew was very experienced in combat, and when they were still 300 meters away from the wooden house, the two tanks stopped one after another, adjusted the angle of fire, and then decisively opened fire on the wooden house occupied by the Germans. Two rounds of fire commanded, and several wooden houses either collapsed or began to burn. Seeing that there was nowhere to hide, the Germans fled from their houses one after another, fleeing into the distance.

The two tanks restarted and slowly moved forward as they frantically fired at the fleeing Germans with their axial machine guns, knocking them down one by one. Seeing that the tank crew easily eliminated more than half of the enemy, the commander of the infantry gave up, brandished his pistol, and directed his fighters to rush forward to destroy the fleeing enemy.

The whole battle, which took less than ten minutes, ended smoothly. According to statistics, 26 German soldiers were killed in this battle, 11 were captured, machine guns, 15 submachine guns, 7 rifles and 2 pistols were captured.

Seeing that this enemy, which worried the Supreme Commander himself, was eliminated, both Zhukov and Rokossovsky were secretly relieved. After listening to the results achieved, Zhukov turned to Beloborodov with a straight face: "Colonel, see, our troops solved the enemy in ten minutes. Can you tell me why you didn't send troops to attack the wooden house over there after it had been occupied by the enemy for so long? ”

In the face of Zhukov's criticism, Belorodov did not dare to defend himself, so he could only bow his head and admit his mistake: "Comrade General, I was wrong. It was I who did not think it through, thinking that the enemy had only a few dozen people and occupied houses far from the village, so I did not arouse sufficient alarm. I will never make a similar mistake next time, please forgive me! ”

If Zhukov and Beloborodov were allowed to switch positions, he would probably still turn a blind eye to this enemy. Beloborodov was ordered to retake the German-occupied areas not because of tactical considerations, but because of Stalin's draconian orders. Seeing that the enemy had been destroyed, and Beloborodov was admitting his mistake to himself, he didn't want to dwell on this matter anymore, waved his hand, and left with Rokossovsky and the two of them.

As soon as Zhukov returned to his headquarters, the chief of staff, Sokolovsky, greeted him and said anxiously: "Comrade commander, where have you been?" You must know that Comrade Stalin called three times in succession to inquire about the recapture of the village of Diedovo. ”

"I see." After Zhukov said lightly, he picked up the high-frequency phone on the table, ready to personally report to Stalin on today's counterattack battle.

When Stalin heard Zhukov's voice, he immediately couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Zhukov, how is the situation?" Did our troops take the village back? ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." After giving an affirmative answer, Zhukov unhurriedly told Stalin what kind of territory the enemy occupied and what kind of troops he invested to completely annihilate the enemy.

After listening to Zhukov's report, Stalin found out that he had made a false alarm. However, he did not apologize to Zhukov for this, but said casually: "Since the enemy has been destroyed, then I am relieved." Also, the defense of the town of Diedovsk should be strengthened and must not be occupied by the enemy. (To be continued.) )