Chernyshov, thinking that he had misheard, grabbed the soldier's arm and asked in surprise: "Comrade soldier, what did you just say, you caught the German pilot?" ”

"That's right, we caught it. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info" The fighter who came to report replied in broken Russian: "He is injured in the leg, he can't walk away, and he will have to wait a while to get here." ”

Although the soldier gave himself an affirmative answer, Chernyshov still could not believe that it was true, and he saw with his own eyes that the German pilot, falling from a height of one or two thousand meters, did not fall to his death, but was wounded in the leg, which is simply incredible, and can only be described as a miracle.

Seeing that Chernyshev had been asking about it, the soldier suddenly seemed a little flustered, and he quickly explained loudly, because there were not enough Russian words to explain this strange thing, and he unknowingly used Chinese. Rokossovsky, who was standing next to him, could understand every word the fighter said, so when he waited for the soldier to finish, he said to Chernyshov: "Comrade general, what this fighter said is true, they really captured alive the German pilot who fell from the sky. As for whether it is true or not, wait a little longer, and you will see. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Chernyshov finally stopped dwelling on this matter, he turned around and said: "Comrade commander, I think we should go back to the hidden department, it's too cold outside." ”

"No, no," Rokossovsky waved at Chernishov, then pointed to the air defense position not far away, and said with a smile: "Comrade General, the fighters of the anti-aircraft machine gun company shot down the enemy's reconnaissance plane, do you think we should go over and congratulate them?" ”

At this moment, on the air defense position, except for a few fighters on duty, the rest of the people returned to their tents in the forest to rest after shooting down the enemy plane.

A sharp-eyed soldier saw two generals and several soldiers walking towards this side through the snow, so he turned and shouted at the guard post at the edge of the forest: "Oh, go and tell the company commander that two generals are coming." ”

Oshanina, who received the news from the soldiers, hurriedly ran out of the tent, stood at the edge of the forest and glanced at the two commanders who came over, and immediately recognized that it was the commander of the group army and the commander of the Guards Division, and hurriedly shouted at the tent behind: "All assemble, line up!" ......" When she shouted a second time, the warriors, who were resting in the tents, hurriedly ran out empty-handed, and formed a neat nine columns on the edge of the forest.

Seeing that Rokossovsky and Chernyshov had stopped, Oshanina, who was standing at the front of the queue, hurriedly trotted to stand up in front of the two, raised her hand and saluted, and reported according to the order: "Comrade General, Lieutenant Oshanina, commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun company, reports to you that the whole company has been assembled, please instruct!" ”

"Please take a break!" After Rokossovsky said these words to Oshanina, he came to the front of the team, and after his eyes swept over dozens of fighters, he raised his voice and said: "Comrades, you have just shot down a German reconnaissance plane, which is really good, I thank you!" After speaking, he snapped on the spot and raised his hand to salute the group of young soldiers in front of him with a solemn military salute.

"Comrade commander," Oshanina said regretfully as Rokossovsky lowered his hand from his forehead, "it's a pity that the German pilot fell to his death, otherwise he could have taken a prisoner." ”

"Comrade Lieutenant," Rokossovsky said with a smile as he looked at Oshanina, who looked regretful, "the pilot of the German reconnaissance plane is not dead, he has been captured alive by our fighters." ”

"What, the pilot was captured alive?" When Oshanina heard this, her eyes widened, and she said in surprise: "But I saw with my own eyes that when the pilot was parachuting, he didn't even open his parachute bag, like a meteorite falling from the sky, and smashed directly from the air into the snow in the distance. ”

"It's kind of weird." Although Rokossovsky had already learned the truth from the anti-United Nations fighters who reported the news, before meeting the prisoners, he still said in an uncertain tone: "But the team we sent sent someone back to report that the German pilot had indeed been captured." ”

But fortunately, it didn't take long for Zhu Zhendong and them to appear in front of everyone with the captured German pilots. Seeing the pilot who had just fallen freely from the air, except for walking with a slight limp, the whole person looked very normal, and the queue of anti-aircraft machine gunners immediately resounded one after another exclamations: "My God, he is still alive!" ”

"Hell, it's incredible that you haven't fallen so high and haven't dropped him to death yet!"

After Zhu Zhendong escorted the pilot in front of him, Rokossovsky asked the pilot who had escaped death: "Mr. pilot, can you tell us why you are still alive when you fell from such a high sky?" ”

After hearing the translation of the soldier next to him, the pilot shrugged his shoulders and then said: "Your Excellency, General, I think I may have been blessed by God, after I parachuted, the parachute did not open, and I thought I was dead." Before falling into the woods, he was blocked by the snow-covered treetops, slowing down the descent, and then falling into the thick snow again. That's it, I was lucky to survive. ”

"You're right, Mr. Pilot. Indeed, you are one of the lucky ones to be favored by God. Rokossovsky smiled and said to him: "For you, the war is over. You will be in our prisoner of war camp until we defeat Hitler. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's words, the pilot said disapprerovitically: "Your Excellency, although you have made a certain amount of progress for the time being, please don't forget that our millions of troops are still on your land, and I don't see in the slightest that you have the strength to defeat us. ”

"You will see, sooner or later, our troops will set foot on German soil and plant our bright red military flag on the dome of the Reichstag in Berlin." After Rokossovsky said these words, he waved his hand sharply and ordered: "Take him away." As his order was given, the two fighters standing behind Chernishev hurriedly stepped forward, grabbed the pilot's arms on the left and the right and took him away.

After the prisoners were taken away, Rokossovsky said a few words of encouragement to Oshanina and the fighters of the anti-aircraft machine gun company, and only then, under the protection of the guards, returned to the headquarters in the city.

As soon as he returned to the command, he asked Malinin bluntly: "Chief of Staff, is there any latest movement in the German army?" ”

"No, Comrade Commander." Malinin shook his head and said strangely: "The Germans, apart from shelling and bombing us, did not send ground troops at all, and they don't know what is going on." ”

"I think the reason is very simple." Without waiting for Rokossovsky to express his opinion, Zakharov rushed to say: "The snow outside is so deep, if the Germans want to launch a ground offensive, the sluggish infantry will become a target for our fighters." ”

"Speaking of the snow being too deep, I had an interesting thing today." When Rokossovsky heard Zakharov say this, he couldn't help but shoot down the German reconnaissance plane, and the German pilot parachuted without opening his parachute bag, but fortunately survived, and told his colleagues in the command headquarters, and finally emphasized: "If the snow was not deep enough, it is estimated that the pilot would have been crushed to pieces." ”

"Comrade commander, it is not a way for us to be beaten passively like this, we must take the initiative to act." After a burst of laughter, Malinin opened his mouth and suggested to Rokossovsky: "Since the enemy is not coming to attack us, then we will attack them." ”

Rokossovsky considered that in the current situation, in order not to disobey Zhukov's order, it was necessary to choose a place as a point of attack, and at this moment, hearing Malinin say this, he asked along the way: "Chief of staff, do you have a suitable place?" ”

"Yes," Malinin said, pointing to the map in front of him, nodding, "Comrade commander, please see, there is a small settlement here, which is the salient in the direction of the German army. According to our reconnaissance, the enemy does not have much force here, and if we attack, we will definitely be able to take this place. ”

Rokossovsky did not immediately take a position, but wanted to look at the terrain, and then asked Malinin: "Where are the 322nd and 323rd Infantry Divisions at the moment?" ”

"Here, fifteen kilometers northeast of Sushinich, they will be in the city in another three to five hours." Malinin pointed to the map and said to Rokossovsky: "We can let them take on the main mission." ”

"Comrade Artillery Commander," Rokossovsky asked, looking up at Kazakov, "how many artillery pieces do you have in your hands that will be ready for battle in the short term?" ”

"There is also a cannon regiment and a battalion of Guards rocket artillery." Kazakov said with some embarrassment: "Although there are several artillery regiments nearby, they cannot participate in the battle because there are no shells. Even the shells of the artillery regiments participating in the battle have only one base, which cannot support a long battle. ”

"I see." Rokossovsky nodded, and then asked Orel: "Colonel, how many tanks do you have left?" ”

"Comrade commander, there are only ten T-34s left, and the rest of the tanks were either destroyed in the battle, or could not participate in the battle due to lack of fuel and ammunition." After introducing these situations, Orel also deliberately added: "This is all the power I can use. ”

"Enough," Rokossovsky, after thinking for a moment, said decisively: "Now I assign the task, Chief of Staff, please record: the offensive that began on the right flank of our army group will be dominated by the 322nd and 323rd infantry divisions. Reinforced with artillery of the army group and ten T-34 tanks.

The infantry took up the starting positions at night, as close as possible to the enemy's stronghold along the snow. The sappers open a way for the tanks in the snow, and as soon as the artillery fire is ready, the tanks will advance along the passage opened by the sappers, and after approaching the infantry, they will support the infantry attack with fire on the spot, and then help clear the battlefield. ”

After waiting for Malinin to finish recording the order, Rokossovsky looked around and asked: "Are there any different opinions?" ”

"Nope." The surrounding commanders replied in unison.

"Okay, now that the tasks are clear, let's start preparing."

As soon as the task was assigned, the high-frequency phone on the table rang. Rokossovsky glanced at the phone, and said that Zhukov might have called to ask about his battle plan, so he quickly picked up the earphones and put them to his ear, and said respectfully: "I'm Rokossovsky, is it Comrade Zhukov?" ”

Who knew that it was Stalin's voice that came out of the headphones, and he asked unusually politely: "Hello, Comrade Rokossovsky, I didn't disturb your work, did I?" ”

"No, no," Rokossovsky understood in his heart that Stalin asked this just to be polite to himself, not to say that he did not bother himself, and even if he bothered himself, he could only say no. He couldn't think of what Stalin was calling at this time, so he asked carefully: "Comrade Stalin, I don't know what instructions you have?" ”

"That's right, dear Konstantin Konstantinovich, I have a question that I want to get an answer to from you." Stalin asked without any emotion in his voice: "Can you give me an accurate answer?" ”

"Comrade Stalin, please speak." Although Rokossovsky was frightened into a cold sweat, he still pretended to be calm and said: "As long as I know the answer, I will give you a satisfactory answer." ”

"It has been a month and a half since our troops launched a counteroffensive on December 6." Stalin said slowly on the phone: "Why have the Germans not been driven out of our territory until now, on the contrary, the attacks of the troops participating in the counterattack are getting weaker and weaker." Can you give me an answer? ”

"That's right, Comrade Stalin." After a short period of thought, Rokossovsky replied: "Since the Germans are currently holding on to the fortifications that we built earlier, and the Germans have strengthened their defenses after retreating to these areas, the effectiveness of our attacks is getting worse and worse. ”

"But I saw the battle report, the enemy is defending the area with one division, and we sometimes can't break through the defense with seven or eight divisions, or even ten divisions, what is going on?"

As for Stalin's question, Rokossovsky, of course, did not dare to say that it was because the combat effectiveness of the troops was inferior to that of the German army, so he could only say euphemistically: "Comrade Stalin, one division of the German army is 12,000 to 15,000 people, and our army, although nominally each division has 8,000 men, after a long period of fighting, each division generally has only about 2,000 men. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Stalin was silent for a while, and then then asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, if, according to you, the strength of one of the enemy's divisions is approximately equal to the strength of our seven or eight divisions?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Stalin, that's exactly what happened." Rokossovsky wiped the cold sweat from his head and replied: "In addition to the fact that the German army does not have an advantage in strength, the German army has an advantage in equipment, each of their divisions is basically equipped with tanks, armored vehicles and other technical equipment, and ordinary soldiers have more automatic weapons in their hands than our army." ”

Stalin, having learned what he was interested in from Rokossovsky, then asked: "I heard that Zhukov gave you an order to attack, and I would like to ask, how did your army group carry out this order?" ”