The Cherniaev division, which remained in Lublin, was undoubtedly lucky. Although the Germans found that Lublin had been occupied by the Soviets, they could not draw too many troops to encircle and suppress it, because the main force was pinned down by the troops of the Southwestern Front. After Rokossovsky left Lublin, the Germans launched only two company-sized attacks on the city, both of which were quickly defeated by the defenders.

Receiving an order from Rokossovsky, Chernyaev immediately summoned all the commanders above the company level to an emergency meeting in the temporary headquarters. When he finished reading the order, the commanders burst into cheers. Although victory was won in today's battle, everyone knew in their hearts that if such a battle continued, there would be a danger of total annihilation in a few days. Now that they have received the order to retreat, they can safely and boldly withdraw to the country.

Just as Chernyaev was arranging the order of the withdrawal of the troops, one of the captains stood up and asked him his own question: "Comrade division commander, since we are going to evacuate Lublin, but I don't know which unit you plan to leave behind, and what should we do with the German troops we are detaining?" ”

The captain's question immediately silenced the command. After a while, Chernyaev called the captain's name: "Captain Felip, what do you think?" ”

Captain Felip, the commander of the first company of the motorized battalion, straightened up and said, "Comrade division commander, I am willing to lead our company as a rear guard to cover the retreat of the whole division. ”

"What, one of your companies as a guard?" His words were like a handful of salt sprinkled in a hot pan of oil - and suddenly exploded, and everyone was gossiping: "You have to hold your positions and divide your forces to guard the prisoners, which will certainly not work." ”

Seeing that the chaos in the headquarters was like a vegetable market, Chernyaev immediately stood up, slapped the table twice with both hands, and shouted at the same time: "Quiet, quiet, give me silence!" After everyone had shut up, he muttered dissatisfiedly: "Look at yourselves, do you still look like a commander of the Red Army?" ”

Then he turned to look at Fripp, and said kindly, "Please, Captain Perip, tell me what you think." ”

"Comrade division commander," said Fripp in a steady tone, "I intend to take those German prisoners into the trenches, so that the reconnoitring enemy will think that we are heavily guarded by positions outside the city, and will not dare to rashly send troops in pursuit, so that you can safely withdraw to the country." ”

Although Fripp spoke briefly, everyone understood what he meant, and knew that he intended to pin down the Germans with a company of troops and cover the retreat of the main forces. For such a courageous person, everyone immediately respected him.

Chernyaev walked up to Felip, stretched out his hand to shake his hand, and couldn't help but say: "Comrade Captain, on behalf of the commanders and fighters of the whole division, I would like to express my gratitude to you for your heroic performance. After saying that, he shook the other party's hand vigorously a few times, then let go of his hand and took two steps back, raising his hand to salute Captain Fripp with a solemn military salute. Felip didn't expect the division commander to salute him in public, and he couldn't help but panic a little, but fortunately he didn't forget that he should raise his hand to return the salute.

Although no one gave the order, seeing Chernyaev's move, all the commanders in the room stood up and raised their hands together to salute the brave Felip.

Chernyaev removed his hand from his forehead, raised his hand and patted Felip's shoulder, and said in a friendly voice: "Comrade Captain, time is pressing, you can go back to the unit now and arrange everything." ”

"Yes!" Fripp agreed, turned and strode out of the command.

And Rokossovsky in Vvodava was not idle, he was explaining the task to the three division commanders: "General Novikov, at three o'clock in the morning, send your motorized battalion to seize Lyubom, where there are the fortifications built by the Blazevich division during the last exercise. Since I intend to use this as the starting point for our army's attack, as soon as the motorized vehicles reach their destination, they should immediately establish a strong defensive position and wait for the arrival of the main forces. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Novikov replied respectfully.

"General Scherstyuk," Rokossovsky turned his head to look at the friendly division commander next to him, and said to him politely: "Your division should be assembled as soon as possible, and at half past three in the morning, it will leave for Lyubom, and cooperate with the motorized battalion to strengthen the defense of the area." ”

"Comrade General," Scherstyuk did not readily accept Rokossovsky's order, as Novikov did, but asked with some hesitation: "Our division still has a regiment stationed at post No. 13, do we need to withdraw them too?" ”

"Do you need to talk about that, Comrade General?" When Rokossovsky heard his question, he replied very dryly: "Let them abandon post No. 13 and withdraw overnight to the area of Lyubohm, to join the main forces and avoid being surrounded by the Germans." ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky had given the tasks to the two division commanders, as if he had forgotten about himself, Blazevich hurriedly reminded the other party: "Comrade General, what is the task of our division?" ”

Hearing Blazevich's question, Rokossovsky had to smile bitterly, and then said: "Comrade Colonel, the task of your 99th Infantry Division is to hold Vvodava, and you can only stay here until you receive a new order from your superiors." ”

When Blazevic heard Rokossovsky say this, his heart suddenly cooled. He knew very well in his heart that if the Germans launched one or two more attacks on Vvodava, they would not be able to hold it at all with his own existing forces and equipment. However, before receiving a new order from his superiors, he could only continue to hold on to Vvodawa City.

Rokossovsky knew that every minute was precious during the war, so the 9th Mechanized Corps, stationed in Vvodava, began to march towards Lyubom at three o'clock in the morning to seize the starting point of the attack.

On the way to Lyupsom, Fumin, who was sitting in an armored car with Rokossovsky, asked curiously: "Comrade General, I would like to ask you, from which direction do your troops plan to return to Lutsk after arriving in Lyubom and rush to Dubno to participate in the counterattack?" ”

Rokossovsky thought for a moment about Fomin's question, then shook his head and said: "Comrade commissar, please forgive me for not being able to answer your question. I will wait until I arrive in Lyubom to see what is going to happen before making a final decision. ”

After listening to the other party's reply, a smile suddenly appeared on Fuming's face, and he smiled and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, I have to say that you are a person of very good luck. Probably no one would have imagined that the German hinterland would be so empty that you could move freely in many places. I am sure that this luck will continue to accompany you and help you to complete your offensive mission during the day today. ”

"I hope so, Comrade Commissar." When Rokossovsky heard Fomin say this, he found that his luck was ridiculously good recently, he was able to capture two cities behind enemy lines without bloodshed, and even went to the Brest Fortress and rescued many commanders and fighters who were supposed to die, such as the political commissar Fomin sitting in front of him. Thinking of this, he smiled and continued: "When the troops are assembled in Lyubohm, we will start a formal attack on the German army." Judging from the current situation, attacking is our only choice, and only in this way can we better accomplish the tasks assigned to us by our superiors. ”