Before Rokossovsky could speak, Maksimenko had already reported to him on his own initiative: "Comrade commander, I am asking the signal soldier to call the number left by the other party, it is estimated that it will take some time, as soon as it is connected, I will inform you immediately." ”

While waiting for the phone to be connected, Rokossovsky suddenly remembered something important again, and hurriedly asked Maksimenko: "General Maksimenko, I want to ask you, what level of popularity has the radio station in our troops?" ”

Maximenko did not expect Rokossovsky to ask this question, and after a moment of hesitation, he replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, at present the formed units of our front army at the regimental level are distributed with radio stations. ”

"What about battalion-sized units?" Rokossovsky then asked.

Maksimenko shook his head and replied: "In addition to the special units such as the Guards Rocket Artillery Battalion, which are equipped with radios, the communication methods of ordinary infantry battalions are still done through wired telephones and communication troops. ”

After Rokossovsky waited for Maksimenko to finish speaking, he shook his head and said: "Comrade General, it is far from enough to equip the radio station with light to the regimental units. I now give you the order to equip all infantry battalions with radios within a month. ”

In response to Rokossovsky's order, Maksimenko said with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, I think there is no need to equip every infantry battalion with a radio station, maybe after a battle, many battalion-level units will be wiped out." Besides, we don't have that many radio stations in our hands. ”

"The troops are gone, and when the battle is over, we will replenish them." Rokossovsky said with a normal expression: "As for the lack of radio stations, you don't have to worry about this. You should count the number of missing radio stations as soon as possible, and I will ask the logistics department to apply to the superiors. ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky was in a hurry to equip the battalion-level units with radio stations, Terekin, who was sitting next to him, asked puzzledly: "Comrade commander, I don't understand, why did you suddenly think of equipping the battalion-level units with radio stations?" ”

When Rokossovsky saw Terekin and Maksimenko, they both looked at him with curious eyes, and did not answer immediately, but asked rhetorically: "Tell me, in the early stage of the war, although our commanders and fighters fought stubbornly, they still could not stop the German army from advancing in depth to our country?" In order not to irritate the two colleagues, he deliberately avoided the word "defeated".

Terekin thought for a moment, and then replied: "There are many reasons for the defeat of our army, one is that it is not ready for war; Second, our troops are poorly trained and have little combat experience, and are no match for those well-armed and well-trained enemies. ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, you are partly right, but not entirely." After making his comment, Rokossovsky looked at Maksimenko with a smile and asked: "My comrade chief of the communications corps, what do you think again?" ”

Maksimenko was still nodding his head when he heard Terekin's answer, thinking that he had the same opinion as himself, but Rokossovsky said that what he said was not comprehensive, so he began to think about it again. After hearing Rokossovsky's question, he was silent for a long time before he slowly spoke: "Comrade commander, I think poor communication is also one of the reasons for the failure. ”

Seeing that Maksimenko had guessed what he wanted to say, Rokossovsky nodded at him and said encouragingly: "Tell me what you think." ”

"Before the outbreak of the war, our means of communication were all done by wired telephones or signal corps, and not enough attention was paid to radio communication." Maximenko said with a serious expression: "After the outbreak of the war, because our communication lines were damaged by the German army, the headquarters and the troops below lost contact, resulting in the headquarters having orders that could not be transmitted, and many troops below did not dare to actively take any measures before receiving orders from their superiors, and as a result, they lost their valuable fighters in vain, and were finally broken by the German army. ”

"Oh, I see, I get it all now." After hearing Maksimenko's words, Terekin suddenly realized: "Comrade commander, no wonder you plan to equip the radio station with battalion-level units, it turns out that this is the reason. He nodded vigorously and said approvingly, "That's right, we are about to launch an offensive campaign in a new area, and communication between troops is particularly important. ”

"Comrade Chief of the Communications Corps," Rokossovsky waited for Terekin to finish speaking, and immediately asked Maksimenko solemnly: "I wonder when you will be able to count the number of radio stations you need?" ”

After silently calculating in his heart, Maksimenko looked up at Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade commander, I need a day, and I will be able to report accurate statistics to you tomorrow afternoon. ”

"Very well, since you say so, I'll give you a day. I'm going to get the exact numbers before it gets dark tomorrow. Rokossovsky was about to say a few more words, when he suddenly heard a communications staff officer shouting to Maksimenko: "Comrade Director, the phone has been connected to the city of Vladimir." ”

Maksimenko looked at Rokossovsky, patiently waiting for his answer. Rokossovsky didn't expect the phone to be connected so easily, and after hesitating for a moment, he nodded at Maximenko. The latter immediately said to the communications staff officer: "Take the phone!" ”

Rokossovsky grabbed the microphone in front of him and put it to his ear, and heard a familiar voice coming from inside: "Is it Koschica?" I'm Yunia. ”

"Yes, it's me." Rokossovsky, who was dominating on the battlefield, asked a little nervously: "Yunia, are you and the child okay?" ”

Seeing Rokossovsky talking to his wife on the phone, Terekin quickly stood up, glanced at Maksimenko, and signaled not to disturb the conversation between the two. When Terekin passed by Malinin, who was busy, he also carefully reminded: "Chief of Staff, Comrade Commander is talking to his wife, and when you make a battle plan, your voice is a little quieter, so don't disturb him." ”

Petrovna, who was far away in Vladimir, heard her husband's voice, and only felt a sour nose, and tears immediately flowed uncontrollably. She sobbed and said, "Koschika, Allah and I are fine, how are you, is everything okay?" My daughter and I miss you so much! ”

After not contacting Petrovna for more than a year, Rokossovsky felt that he and the other party had nothing to say at the moment, but thinking that she had worked hard to get through the military line, and it was not good to say a perfunctory sentence, he hung up the phone and said politely: "Everything is fine with me." ”

There was silence in the microphone, he did not speak, Petrovna did not speak, and the two of them held the microphone silently, quietly listening to each other's breathing from the earpiece.

After a long while, Rokossovsky spoke again: "Yunia, my number, how do you know?" ”

"It was Comrade Stalin who sent me to inform me." Petrovna said in shock: "He sent someone to Vladimir to find me, saying that he would take me and my daughter to Moscow. He also gave me two options. ”

"Two choices?" Petrovna's words made Rokossovsky a little confused, and he instinctively asked: "What kind of choice?" ”

"Comrade Stalin wrote to me that you had been seriously wounded in battle last year and needed someone to take care of you, so he suggested that I take up a post in your Political Department so that I could take care of you at all times." Petrovna said unhurriedly: "There is another option, which is to transfer to Moscow to work, although it will be less time to see you, but every time you return to Moscow to report work, we will have the opportunity to meet." Before making a choice, I felt that I should discuss it with you, and the comrade who came to deliver the letter gave me your contact information. ”

Knowing that Petrovna was worried about whether to work in Moscow or to work as a political worker in the troops of the Front, Rokossovsky felt a little restless, because no matter where she would work, his affairs with Borisova and Serova would be known to him.

Hearing Rokossovsky's delayed reply, Petrovna couldn't help but panic a little: "Hey, Koschika, why don't you speak?" Hey, hey, are you still there? ”

"Yes, I'm still here!" Rokossovsky hastened to find an excuse to justify his delay in replying, "I was reading a document, so I didn't reply to you in time." ”

Petrovna thought that Rokossovsky was really looking at the documents, and without thinking much about it, she asked bluntly: "Then tell me, where should I go?" ”

"Yunia, I want to ask you." Rokossovsky did not immediately answer her question, but asked rhetorically: "What are you doing in Vladimir today?" ”

"A few months ago, I was officially appointed deputy director of the Vladimir Crystal Products Factory." Petrovna said: "Whether I go to Moscow or to your side, it will take a transition time for me to hand over the work to the new deputy director. ”

Petrovna's answer made a thought pop up in Rokossovsky's mind: "Yunia, you have just become familiar with your current work, and if you want to be transferred to Moscow, everything needs to start again." Therefore, I advise you to stay in Vladimir and visit you if you have time, which is only a few hundred kilometers away from Moscow anyway, just a few hours by car. ”

"But your body ......"

"Don't worry, Yunia." Before Petrovna could finish speaking, Rokossovsky interrupted him: "My injuries have long since healed, and now everything is fine and I don't need anyone to take care of me." You and your children can stay in Vladimir in peace. ”

After the two chatted a few more words, Rokossovsky suddenly said: "Yunia, although I still have a lot to say to you, we use the military line, even if I am the commander of the front, I can't use this line for a long time to talk about private matters, I hope you can understand." ”

"I understand that if it's not something particularly important, I won't call you casually." Petrovna said with some reluctance: "Koschika, remember to write to me when you have time, I and the child miss you." ”

After Rokossovsky finished making a phone call, Malinin came over with the plan and asked in a low voice: "Comrade commander, I don't know what Yunia said on the phone?" ”

Rokossovsky, after repeating what Petrovna had said on the phone to Malinin, said with a wry smile: "I let her stay in Vladimir, maybe it is the most suitable place for her." ”

After listening to this, Ma Linin nodded vigorously and said approvingly: "That's right, Yunia has just become familiar with her position, and if she is transferred to Moscow to work, it will take a long time to get familiar with everything around her." So it was the right choice for you to let her stay in Vladimir and continue to work. ”

Rokossovsky took the plan from Malinin's hand, sat down in his seat and began to browse it. Although his eyes were fixed on the document in his hand, his mind was still thinking about the phone call just now. He felt that the reason why he so simply refused Petrovna to work in Moscow or by his side was probably related to his identity, after all, he was not the real Rokossovsky, and getting along with Petrovna day and night was still somewhat psychological.

Just as he was thinking about it, the high-frequency telephone in front of him rang. He grabbed it and listened only for a moment, then immediately stood up and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Stalin, what instructions do you have?" ”

"That's right, Konstantin Konstantinovich." Stalin affectionately called his real and patronymic names: "During the day when you were in Moscow, I forgot to tell you something important. I intend to ask your wife, Yulia Petrovna Rokossovskaya, to work in Moscow or to work on your side. But not so long ago, I received a call from a subordinate saying that your wife had decided to give up the opportunity to work in Moscow or with you and continue to work in Vladimir. I would like to ask you, has she consulted with you about this decision? ”

"That's right, Comrade Stalin, this decision was made after deliberation." Faced with Stalin's question, Rokossovsky replied in a serious manner: "She has just become the deputy director of the Vladimir Crystal Products Factory, and it is not easy to get acquainted with the work there, and if she is transferred now, everything will have to start again." So I persuaded her to stay in the crystal factory, and she agreed with my proposal. ”

In response to Rokossovsky's reply, Stalin said somewhat helplessly: "Well, Comrade Rokossovsky, since you have made your final choice, then I support your decision. By the way, have you made a plan for an offensive in the Yerets region? ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin, the plan has been worked out." Rokossovsky hurriedly picked up the battle plan on the table, stared at the content on it and said, "Please allow me to report to you." ”

When Stalin heard this, he nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky, you can start reporting now." ”