Vasilevsky said with a smile: "Comrade Rokossovsky, you are too worried. With the great victory of our army in the Stalingrad region, the balance of victory in the war has been tilted in favor of our side. Not to mention that you are the head of a front army, even if you are the head of a group army below or a commander at or above the army level, the possibility of encountering danger on the battlefield is very small. ”

Rokossovsky knew in his heart that Vasilevsky's statement was based on the successive victories of the Soviet army on the battlefield, and the senior commanders in the troops no longer had to personally lead the troops to charge as they did in 41. But he also knew that in the next two years, three leaders of the front army with the rank of general would die one after another.

After taking the pistol from Vasilevsky's hand, he put it in his pocket casually, thinking to himself: I can't wipe the gun in the headquarters anymore, otherwise it won't be long before everyone will know that he has a Browning pistol with only one bullet.

After beckoning Vasilevsky to sit down, he personally poured a cup of hot tea and put it in front of the other party, and asked with a smile: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, when will the 70th Army, which has been transferred to us from the base camp, arrive at the assembly site?" ”

After taking a sip of hot tea, Vasilevsky shook his head and said: "According to the plan, the troops of the 70th Army should arrive at the assembly point the day before yesterday. But the damn snow cut off all the traffic, so they had to abandon their vehicles and drive to the designated place on foot. I estimate that it will take another week at the earliest to get close to the assembly site. ”

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," Malinin could not help but be a little anxious when he heard Vasilevsky say this: "If the troops of the 70th Army do not arrive at the assembly point until a week later, then it will disrupt our offensive deployment. ”

Vasilevsky put down his teacup, looked up at several front leaders standing around, and asked unhurriedly: "Do you think that under the current harsh natural environment, our attack on the German army can still be launched as scheduled?" ”

After Ma Linin waited for him to finish speaking, he hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, please forgive me, not to mention launching the offensive as scheduled, it is already very difficult for the troops to enter the assembly site within the specified time. ”

From Vasilevsky's words, Rokossovsky heard that he was not optimistic about launching the offensive as scheduled at the moment, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, since our troops cannot enter the designated position at the specified time due to weather and transportation reasons, should the timing of the offensive be adjusted accordingly?" ”

Vasilevsky looked at Rokossovsky and sighed, and said: "You guessed right, when I was just trapped on the road by heavy snow, I once sent a telegram to Comrade Stalin, reporting to him about the heavy snow blocking the road. He also gave me an answer. ”

Seeing that his guess was indeed somewhat reliable, Rokossovsky then asked: "I wonder how the Supreme Commander himself replied to you?" ”

"If the troops cannot reach the designated position within the specified time, then the offensive can be appropriately postponed." After Vasilevsky finished these words, he deliberately emphasized to Rokossovsky: "This is Comrade Stalin's answer to me. ”

"I don't know when the attack will be postponed until what day?"

"No later than the end of February." Vasilevsky said with a serious expression: "If we delay time, then the Germans will be able to use this plan to transfer troops from other fronts to fill the defensive front of our army." In this way, your next battle will not be easy. ”

After Vasilevsky's words, the room fell silent. Rokossovsky looked down at the map in front of him, secretly calculating in his mind how long it would take for the troops marching on foot to reach the designated place in the absence of sufficient effective means of transport. Malinin, on the other hand, looked at Rokossovsky nervously, waiting for him to express his opinion.

Seeing that no one spoke in the room for a long time, Vasilevsky couldn't help but speak again: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I remember that in the early days of the war, your troops marched more than 200 kilometers a day to block the aggressive German attacking troops. Now your troops are only more than 400 kilometers away from the Yelets region, and they will not be able to reach their destination within this month? ”

Rokossovsky shook his head and said with a look of embarrassment: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, the situation then is not comparable with now. After the outbreak of war, my troops marched by bus to the area of engagement, and it was very easy to travel two hundred kilometers in one day.

And now, the capacity of rail transport is limited, and our road traffic is interrupted by a snowstorm. Most of the troops marching towards the Yerets region could only rely on foot, and the fighters had to carry a large amount of weapons, ammunition and supplies, and the speed of movement was not too fast, and walking 30 kilometers a day was already the limit. ”

After learning about the actual situation in Rokossovsky's troops, Vasilevsky and several of his deputies, riding on the automatic sleigh provided for them by Malinin, returned to Moscow overnight, ready to report to Stalin personally on the situation of the troops outside the city.

After listening to Vasilevsky's report, Stalin walked back and forth in the house for a long time with his pipe, and finally stopped and asked Vasilevsky: "Comrade Vasilevsky, do you think that Rokossovsky's troops will really not be able to reach the designated position before February 15?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Stalin." Vasilevsky nodded and replied: "I have personally surveyed the terrain, and most of the roads should have been interrupted by a snowstorm, and our troops had to march on foot to pass through these areas, which greatly slowed down the advance of our troops. ”

Stalin walked behind his desk and sat down, looked up at Vasilevsky and asked: "Then do you think Rokossovsky and the others should delay the attack for a few days?" ”

"I think that the offensive of Rokossovsky's troops, if it is to be safe, should be postponed until mid-March." To Stalin's question, Vasilevsky respectfully replied: "So that they will have enough time to complete the build-up of troops and the accumulation of weapons and ammunition in a harsh climatic environment." ”

Although Vasilevsky, when he was at Rokossovsky's headquarters, said that the offensive could only be postponed until the end of the month, after careful consideration on the way, it seemed a bit hasty to launch the attack even on the last day of February, so he tried to persuade Stalin to postpone the offensive until March.

Stalin did not say anything about his proposal, but picked up the telephone on the table and said into the microphone: "Comrade Boskrebeshev, call Zhukov immediately and ask him to come to my office." ”

Zhukov's office was located on the floor below, and after receiving a call from Boskrebeshev, he hurried to Stalin's office. When he entered the door, he saw Vasilevsky standing indoors, and felt a little surprised, he stepped forward to shake hands with the other party, and asked politely: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, when did you come back?" ”

"An hour ago." Vasilevsky explained to Zhukov: "It was Rokossovsky who sent us to the outskirts of the city on an automatic sled, and then I changed cars and returned here. ”

"Automatic sled?!" Hearing the equipment mentioned by Vasilevsky, Zhukov's eyebrows couldn't help but rise, and he asked curiously: "So, the roads outside the city are cut off due to heavy snow. ”

"That's right, that's right." Vasilevsky nodded and said: "The road was cut off, so that the troops that we originally planned to transfer to the Yelets region could only advance on foot. ”

After listening to Vasilevsky's words, Zhukov immediately understood the reason why Stalin suddenly summoned himself here. He hurriedly turned to face Stalin and asked respectfully: "Comrade Stalin, it seems that Rokossovsky's troops will not be able to attack the enemy within the specified time. Don't know what you're considering? ”

Stalin unhurriedly lit his pipe, and after taking a puff of cigarette, he pointed his finger at Vasilevsky and said: "Our chief of the General Staff proposes to postpone the offensive of Rokossovsky's troops until mid-March, on the grounds that in this way they can complete the build-up of troops and the stockpiling of ammunition. ”

Zhukov looked at Vasilevsky with a blank face, turned his gaze to Stalin, and then said: "The situation in our army is bad at the moment, but the Germans are also bad, if we don't attack them before the Germans bring in new reserves." Once they wait for them to redeploy before launching an attack, it will increase dramatically. ……”

Seeing that Zhukov was opposed to postponing the attack, Vasilevsky hurriedly reminded him: "Comrade Zhukov, do you know that due to heavy snow blocking the road, Rokossovsky's troops are currently only part of the 65th Army and have reached the designated assembly position, while the 70th Army, the 2nd Tank Army, the 2nd Cavalry Army, and the two Snow Infantry Brigades, which were transferred to him from the base camp reserve, were all trapped on the road by heavy snow. ”

"Comrade Stalin," Zhukov continued, asking Stalin: "I would like to hear your opinion, is it to prepare for Rokossovsky to launch an offensive at the scheduled time, or to appropriately postpone it for a few days?" ”

"If it is delayed for only two or three days, Rokossovsky's troops will still not be able to reach the designated position." Stalin was somewhat embarrassed and said: "But we will not attack until mid-March, when Rokossovsky's troops have finished assembling and German reinforcements have arrived." In this way, even if we attack, not only will we increase the casualties of our troops, but at the same time, the results will be very limited. ”

From Stalin's words, Zhukov could tell that he was ready to postpone the offensive, but the postponement should neither be too long nor too short, otherwise it would affect the next battle. Therefore, after thinking about it, he decisively said to Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, if you do not object, we will postpone the offensive of Rokossovsky's troops until February 25. ”

Stalin nodded, took his pipe away from his mouth, pointed his finger at Zhukov and said: "Then we will take February 25 as the final offensive time of the troops of the Central Front." ”

After the three of them reached a consensus, Stalin instructed Vasilevsky: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, you immediately call Rokossovsky, inform him of the decision we have made, and be sure to remind him that this is the final deadline for the offensive, not only whether the troops have already completed their build-up, but also whether the troops have been assembled or not, and must attack the German troops in the front." ”

After receiving a call from Vasilevsky, Rokossovsky finally breathed a sigh of relief. After putting down the phone, he said to his colleagues gathered around: "Comrade commanders, the chief of the general staff has just called and said that the base camp has decided to postpone the time of the offensive from February 15 to February 25 in consideration of the actual situation of our department, so that we can have sufficient time to complete the work of gathering troops and stockpiling ammunition. ”

He pointed at Malinin with his hand and ordered: "Chief of Staff, you go and call General Leitel and tell him that according to the order of the superiors, the attack time of our unit will be postponed, and the original plan for coordinated operations will inevitably be readjusted, and ask him to send someone to us as soon as possible." ”

After the people around the table dispersed, Terekin, who had been sitting at the table without speaking, spoke. He looked at Rokossovsky and asked worriedly: "Comrade commander, although the attack has been delayed for ten days, do you think we can launch an attack on the enemy within a fixed time and in accordance with the battle plan?" ”

In response to Terekin's question, Rokossovsky was silent for a moment, and then said: "Comrade Military Commissar, your worries are not unreasonable, judging from the current situation, the transportation of troops is blocked by heavy snowfall, and this situation cannot be changed until mid-March. Perhaps by the day of the start of the offensive, we will only be able to assemble half of our troops. ”

"So what are we going to do?" Terekin asked with a fluke mentality: "Do you continue to ask the base camp to postpone the attack?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, this is impossible." As soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, he said without hesitation: "This ten-day postponement of the attack is estimated to be the bottom line of the base camp." Therefore, on the 25th, no matter how many troops we still have not reached the designated position, we must launch an attack on the enemy's defensive positions on time. ”

"Wouldn't that be too risky?"

"It's a risk that must be taken." Rokossovsky said with a resolute expression: "If we delay our attack on the enemy on the opposite side, and when their reserves arrive and readjust their deployment, we will attack again, and the resistance will be unprecedentedly stubborn." Therefore, as soon as the 25th arrives, no matter how many troops we have at our disposal that can be mobilized, we must launch an attack on the enemy on time. ”