Fedyuninsky's words reminded Rokossovsky that in the early days of the war, it was not only the three Baltic states, including Estonia, that had a favorable impression of the invading Germans, but even Ukraine had a large number of leading parties, and if the commanders and fighters from these countries were discriminated against because of this, it would inevitably have an adverse impact on the morale of the troops.

Thinking of this, Rokossovsky said to Subotin, who was sitting opposite: "Comrade Military Commissar, I think it is necessary for us to go to General Pern's troops and affirm their achievements in the East Prussian campaign. What do you see? ”

"East Prussian Campaign?!" Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Su Bojing couldn't help but be stunned, and said in his heart that what is going on now is the East Pomeranian Campaign, the last battle has been over for a long time, and those who should be commended and rewarded have been commended and rewarded, and in the current situation, what is the point of going to the Estonian 8th Army again? However, with Su Bojing's understanding of Rokossovsky, he knew that he must have thought carefully when he said this, so he did not contradict it, but nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Marshal, no matter when you go, I will accompany you to the end." ”

When Rokossovsky proposed to inspect Pern's troops, he was really worried that Su Bojing would object, but at this moment, seeing that the other party actually agreed, the heart hanging in his throat was put back in his stomach. He picked up the phone again, dialed the headquarters of the 65th Army, and ordered Bartov to transfer troops to assist Fedyuninsky's troops in the attack on the Tsopot area.

After listening to Rokossovsky's order, Batov replied: "Comrade Marshal, I will draw troops from the second echelon into the attack position. I have a question about which side of the two armies is in charge of commanding the two armies. ”

"Fedyuninsky will dispatch the Estonian 8th Army," Rokossovsky said into the microphone, "that is, the troops you use to attack the Tsopott area will be commanded by Lieutenant General Pern." ”

"Ah, let Pern command my troops?" Batov asked in surprise.

"That's right, the troops you send will be under the command of Lieutenant General Pern." After Rokossovsky said this, he paused for a moment, and then knowingly asked: "Is there anything wrong?" ”

"No, no, Comrade Marshal." Batov's heart originally felt unsteady about Pern coming to command the combined forces, but when he heard Rokossovsky ask, he guessed that this matter was already ironclad, and even if he objected, it would be useless, so he could only stubbornly agree: "I will resolutely obey your orders." ”

After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he unexpectedly saw that General Blagoslavov, the chief of the engineering corps, was still sitting at the conference table, and immediately remembered that before he called, the other party had mentioned that he had something to report to him, so he bypassed the desk and walked to Blagoslavov, and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, comrade chief of the engineering corps, for keeping you waiting." Now, can you tell me what you're going to report to me? ”

"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Blagoslavov stood up and replied respectfully: "In the German warehouses that our troops occupied, we captured a large number of heavy shells, probably in the number of nearly 10,000 rounds. ”

"Really?" Although Rokossovsky said that he could see the number of warehouses occupied by the Germans from the results reported by various units, he generally did not ask about the amount of materials in the warehouses. At this moment, when he heard Blagoslavov say that there were nearly 10,000 heavy artillery shells captured, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Then arrange manpower as soon as possible and send these shells to the artillery positions...... As soon as he said this, he suddenly realized that something was wrong, the captured materials should be in the hands of the logistics department, and he was the director of the engineering corps who came out to join in the fun?

Before he could ask this question, Blagoslavov had already preemptively said: "Comrade Marshal, these heavy shells are used by 155-mm guns, and the caliber of our army's artillery is 152-mm. Although we captured a batch of German heavy artillery, even if the barrels were scrapped, we would not be able to consume so many shells. ”

Having captured so many shells, but not enough artillery to use, Rokossovsky still felt a pity in his heart. However, he felt that Blagoslavov would definitely not bring up this matter for no reason, and perhaps he had already thought of some countermeasures, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of the Engineering Corps, have you come up with any solution?" ”

Blagoslavov's face showed a look of surprise, and he asked with some surprise: "Comrade Marshal, how do you know that we have thought of a solution?" ”

Rokossovsky did not answer his question, but smiled faintly, and then turned at him: "Tell me, Comrade Chief of the Engineering Corps, I want to hear if the solution you have come up with is feasible?" ”

"Comrade Marshal, please look." Blagoslavov, who had been prepared for a long time, took out a boxy piece of paper from his briefcase, unfolded it and put it on the table, and said to Rokossovsky: "This is a special catapult that we have studied and can throw heavy shells at German positions. ”

Rokossovsky stared at the sketch on the table, and after carefully looking at it for a while, he asked: "Comrade Chief of the Engineering Corps, I would like to ask, what is the range of such a catapult?" According to what he thought in his heart, if this kind of catapult could only be like a flying thunder cannon, with a range of only two or three hundred meters, it would not make much sense.

"After testing, we found that the range of this launch catapult is between 1,600 meters and 2,000 meters." Blagoslavov said with a smile: "It is perfect for attacking the enemy's defensive positions. ”

Considering that this catapult, like the Flying Thunder Cannon, can only be fired in the approximate direction and has no accuracy, Rokossovsky went on to ask: "How big is the error of the impact point?" ”

"Comrade Marshal, the error is about eight to ten meters." Blagoslavov replied: "The absolute kill radius of the 155-mm howitzer is 15 meters, and the fragmentation radius is 50 meters, which is almost negligible. ”

Staring at the sketch on the table, Rokossovsky could not help but think of the 107-mm rocket, which was later called a guerrilla artifact, and he thought with regret: "It's a pity that the war will end in a month and a half, and even if I propose the idea of making this kind of rocket to the Ministry of Weapons and Equipment, if I want to see the finished product, I will have to wait until next year at the earliest." By that time, the war would have long since ended, and it would be of little use to develop it. ”

"Comrade Chief of the Engineering Corps," Rokossovsky picked up the sketch on the table, carefully folded it, handed it back to Blagoslavov, and said to him: "Our offensive battle will soon begin, you immediately go back to the troops and open the way for our infantry with this new catapult." ”

After Blagoslavov left, Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, seeing that there was only half an hour left before the attack, he quickly picked up the phone, dialed Sokolisky's office, and said bluntly: "Artillery commander, the time for the offensive is coming soon, and whether our army can quickly break through the German defense line depends on your artillery." ”