Rokossovsky and Terekin left the defense zone of the 50th Army and immediately drove to the 3rd Army.

On the way, Terekin asked curiously: "Comrade commander, are you going to inspect all three armies today?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Military Commissar." Rokossovsky nodded and said affirmatively: "In the next battle, these three army groups will play a great role, so we need to establish contact with them as soon as possible and understand the actual situation of the troops, so that I can have a clear idea when assigning tasks to them." ”

"It's already October," Terekin said with a sigh, "and that the long winter is coming." In a season like this, it's hard to organise a decent attack. ”

"The decisive battle for the liberation of Belarus, I expect to take place next summer." Rokossovsky was still very satisfied with a partner like Terekin, so he didn't mind revealing some of his knowledge of history: "Until then, all our attacks will be small. ”

"Why is this happening?" Terekin asked puzzledly, "We can take advantage of the arrival of the bitter cold to continue to attack the enemy's defenses, so that when the snow covers the land, we can liberate more land." ”

"We will not stop attacking the enemy." Rokossovsky continued: "But our front will be transformed from the main offensive force into an auxiliary offensive force, which can be seen from the transfer of the 13th and 60th armies from the base camp to the command of the Voronezh Front. ”

"Where do you think the new offensive direction will be?" Terekin humbly asked: "Is it the Leningrad direction, or the Ukrainian direction?" ”

"At present, the German army in the Leningrad direction is still very strong, and it is close to their homeland, if the main direction of attack is chosen there, even if it pays a huge price, it may not be able to achieve any results." Rokossovsky said categorically: "So I think the next step in the base camp is to concentrate the forces of several fronts and give priority to the German heavy grouping in the Ukrainian region." ’

"What about us?" When Terekin heard this, he couldn't help but ask anxiously: "Our hundreds of thousands of commanders and fighters just stay here and do nothing, and see the commanders and fighters of friendly forces go to make meritorious contributions?" ”

Hearing Terekin say this, Rokossovsky couldn't help laughing: "Comrade Military Commissar, you know, we are not watching the excitement from the sidelines, we must take active actions to firmly attract the German forces in Belarus so that they cannot go to reinforce the enemy in Ukraine, so that our army can successfully complete the Ukrainian attack." ”

Terekin knew that he was a layman in military affairs, so he changed the subject in time: "By the way, what kind of person is Gorbatov, commander of the 3rd Army?" ”

Rokossovsky thought for a moment, and then began to evaluate his new subordinate: "General Gorbatov was an ardent admirer of Suvorov, a very likable man, and a brave and thoughtful military commander. He paid special attention to the suddenness of battle, the speed of movement, and the long-distance running on the flanks and rear of the enemy, and placed these qualities above all else. Even in everyday life, he followed the example of his idol Suvorov - refusing to enjoy any privileges, enjoying comfortable living conditions, and even dining, he liked to stay with the fighters. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's evaluation of Gorbatov, Terekin nodded and said: "He is a very good commander, and I hope that the battles he commands can be like his noble character." After a long pause, Terekin continued, "Comrade Commander, do you intend to entrust him with important tasks in the next battle?" ”

"Entrust him with a heavy responsibility?!" Rokossovsky, after repeating Terekin's words, shook his head unexpectedly: "Yes, he is a man of high character, but he is not a suitable senior military commander. ”

"Why do you say that, Comrade Commander?" Terekin asked, puzzled.

"As I just said, Suvorov had a great influence on Gorbatov, even on his style of combat." Rokossovsky said with a somewhat embarrassed expression: "But he does not know how to make appropriate adjustments to his tactics according to the actual situation on the battlefield, but blindly sticks to the rules." As a result, his troops were placed in a secondary direction for secondary defense in order to contain the enemy in the vicinity during the battle that ended not so long ago. ”

Terekin did not expect Gorbatov to be such a talented person, he couldn't help but fall silent, thinking in his heart whether he should suggest to Rokossovsky that a more suitable person be sent to replace the commander of the 3rd Army.

Rokossovsky saw what was on his mind, bowed slightly, and then said: "Comrade Military Commissar, I can guess what you think, but now is not the time. It is very irresponsible for the troops of the group army to change the commander of the group army in a hurry as soon as they are placed under our command and they are not familiar with each other. Therefore, we will have to wait at least until the beginning of next spring before we can consider who will succeed him. ”

Gorbatov, who was directing operations in his headquarters, probably never dreamed that if it weren't for Rokossovsky's fear that the change of generals would cause instability in the troops, he might have been removed from his post as commander at this moment.

When he heard that Rokossovsky and Terekin had come to inspect his troops, he was too busy to take a break, so he ordered his military commissar, as his representative, to go outside to meet Rokossovsky.

Ten minutes later, Rokossovsky and Terekin, under the leadership of the military commissar, walked briskly into the headquarters of the 3rd Army. A sharp-eyed officer, seeing Rokossovsky and them coming in, quickly got up from his seat and shouted at the same time: "Stand up!" ”

With his shout, the officers who were busy stopped their work and stood straight up.

Hearing the shouts of the officers, Gorbatov looked up and saw that Rokossovsky had already walked into the command headquarters, hurriedly printed it, raised his hand to his forehead, and reported in accordance with the regulations: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front. The commander of the 3rd Army, Gorbatov, reports to you that we are conducting operational deployment ......"

"Please continue~!" After Rokossovsky said this, he reached out and shook Gorbatov's hand, and then walked to the table with Terekin and sat down. Seeing a samovar on the table, he hurriedly took two cups from the side, turned on the faucet and poured two cups of hot tea.

He looked up at Gorbatov, who was walking back and forth in the room, and while drinking hot black tea, he said: "Comrade Gorbatov, you should know that from now on, your troops have been assigned to the command of my Central Front. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Gorbatov replied respectfully: "We have already received an official order in the morning, and from that moment we are officially included in the formation of the Central Front. ”

"Tell me about the battle here!"

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Gorbatov hurriedly called his chief of staff over and instructed him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please give our commander of the front an introduction to our current situation." ”

The chief of staff nodded, walked to the wall, opened the curtain blocking the map, picked up the sticks on the wall, pointed to Rokossovsky and Terekin, and said: "Our troops are fighting on the right bank of the Sozh River for the expansion of the landing ground...... Although we fought hard, in impassable terrain, advanced a long way into the depth of the enemy's defenses. …… The commanders and fighters were exhausted, and the attrition of the combat units was very serious, but we still maintained a strong fighting force and could continue to advance into the depth of the German defenses......"

"General Gorbatov, you guys did a good job." After the chief of staff briefed him on the situation, Terekin said to Gorbatov with a smile: "Before I came here with Comrade Commander, I was worried that your troops would not be able to carry out the next stage of combat missions due to attrition and fatigue. It seems that we are overthinking. ”

"Comrade commander, comrade military commissar," Gorbatov hurriedly said after listening to Terekin's comments on himself: "The series of victories we have achieved have greatly boosted the fighting spirit of the commanders and fighters. Moreover, all the members of our command are also highly motivated, and we all understand that in the current situation, it is impossible to stop and breathe, and we can only continue to fight the enemy.

Every time I received a combat mission, I would not hesitate to throw my troops into battle, but the enemy was too stubborn, and in the face of the fierce attack of our troops, they always had a way to repel the attack of our army. ”

After unhurriedly drinking a cup of hot tea, Rokossovsky put the teacup on the table and said to Gorbatov: "General Gorbatov, the situation on the battlefield today is very complicated, because the enemy has occupied these areas for two years, they have established a relatively complete defense system. In order to break through their positions, it is not enough to rely on a single army group, but also to have the cooperation of friendly forces. ”

Speaking of this, he stood up, pushed the map in front of Gorbatov, and said with a smile: "General Gorbatov, you look at the map." Suppose your army, after crossing the Sozh River, does not cooperate with friendly forces, it rushes directly into the enemy's defensive depth. Once you distance yourself from your allies, it is possible for the enemy to seize this vantage point and separate you from other allies. …… Do you understand what I mean? ”

Gorbatov was not a stubborn person, he listened to Rokossovsky's simple explanations for a long time, and finally realized that some of the tactics he had used before, there were problems of one kind or another, so he hurriedly nodded desperately and said: "Understood, comrade commander, listening to what you said, I found that I had made a lot of mistakes when commanding battles before. But don't worry, I'll do my best to avoid making the same mistake again in the next battles. ”

After waiting for Gorbatov to finish speaking, Rokossovsky said slowly: "General Gorbatov, I would like to ask you, some time ago, did you write the above book to the Supreme High Command, criticizing the leadership of the former Bryansk Front for not correctly using your army group in the campaign?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Gorbatov nodded and replied in the affirmative: "I did write such a book to the Supreme High Command. ”

"You are good, General Gorbatov." Just when Gorbatov thought that he would be criticized by Rokossovsky for this incident, he was surprised to say: "When I was in Moscow, I had the good fortune to see the above-mentioned book written by you. Through this incident, I have a good impression of you, because you dare to say what you really think. ”

For Rokossovsky's praise, Gorbatov suddenly looked a little embarrassed, he grinned, and then said: "Comrade commander, I was wrong. In the past, I always felt that my superiors did not pay enough attention to me, and they were unwilling to hand over any important combat tasks to us. Each time we are assigned the task of pinning down the enemy's forces so that they cannot attack the flanks of friendly forces, in order to ensure the victory of the offensive campaign. To be honest, I have a lot of emotions in my heart, which is why I wrote this book. ”

"General Gorbatov, in the campaign, the front army command has overall arrangements for which army group will be the main attacker and which army group will serve as the auxiliary." Rokossovsky said to Gorbatov: "Although your army group has been in a subsidiary position for a long time, it does not mean that your combat effectiveness is inferior to that of other units, but only because under certain conditions, you are placed in a secondary position and play a greater role. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander, I understand everything." Gorbatov said with a big grin: "Please rest assured that in the next battle, my troops will not let you down." ”

After Gorbatov's speech, Rokossovsky then asked: "General Gorbatov, do you have any difficulties now?" ”

"Difficult?!" Gorbatov hesitated for a moment, and then said: "We do have many difficulties, first of all, the problem of insufficient soldiers......

As soon as he heard the word soldier, Rokossovsky's heart couldn't help but chuckle, and he said that I can't get more soldiers now, and if you open your mouth again, I can only refuse you.

But Gorbatov changed Rokossovsky's face, and knew that the matter of the soldiers made him very embarrassed, so he changed his words and said: "Our troops are seriously short of ammunition, and I hope that the higher authorities will replenish us with ammunition as soon as possible." In order to ease the atmosphere, he also said with a smile, "Comrade commander, you should know that because we are in a secondary direction, we cannot compare with the main attack direction in the direction of ammunition and material supply. ”

"I see, General Gorbatov." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "I will replenish you with the ammunition and supplies you need as soon as possible." ”