Perhaps due to Zhukov's personal involvement, the first batch of shells replenished to the artillery units of the 16th Army was delivered in the early morning of the next day in a snowstorm. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Zhu Zhendong's special company, after carrying out a reconnaissance mission in the village of Popkovo, was placed in a defensive position at the back by his superiors. Just as Lao Zhu was in the cover department, discussing with Li Muzi and several platoon commanders how to integrate the troops, someone suddenly opened the curtain and broke in, bringing in a wave of cold air and flying snowflakes.

Before Lao Zhu could see clearly who was coming, he heard the other party shouting: "Comrades, help, the truck transporting the shells has broken down nearby, please go and help us move the shells, please!" ”

Lao Zhu waited for the person to finish speaking, and then he saw clearly that it was the commander of the artillery company stationed nearby, and hurriedly ordered Sanshui to call the soldiers who were resting in other shelters, and go together to help the artillery company carry the shells.

When the truck transporting the shells was still two or three kilometers away from the artillery position, because it accidentally fell into a snow pit, the axle of the truck broke, the truck fell crookedly, and many shell boxes on the truck rolled into the snow.

The first to arrive at the scene were the soldiers of the artillery company, except for the soldiers on duty, the rest of the people, whether officers or soldiers, ammunition men or loaders, all carried a box and walked towards the artillery position in the snow. The artillery company commander saw that there was a shortage of manpower, so he personally ran to Lao Zhu to ask for help.

When Lao Zhu arrived with people, he saw the shell boxes all over the ground, and couldn't help but secretly call it a fluke, fortunately the snow was deep enough, and the shells did not explode when they fell on the snow, otherwise the driver who drove the car and the soldiers who escorted the car would have been reimbursed.

When Lao Zhu walked towards the artillery position with a box of shells, an artillery soldier walked side by side with him, and the soldier said as he walked: "Comrade infantry, do you know? One of our shells is worth three hundred rubles, and an artillery battery would have to consume at least five hundred rounds of shells to suppress the enemy's positions. That is, to cover the infantry once, and there will be no more than 150,000 rubles. ”

"That's enough, don't say it." Without waiting for Lao Zhu to make any response, the artillery company commander who was carrying the shell box had already caught up and said to the talkative soldier: "Our infantry comrades shed blood and died in front of the enemy's position, but you are calculating how many shells we used. ”

Seeing that the soldiers who were being trained were red-faced, Lao Zhu couldn't bear it, so he interjected and said, "Okay, Comrade Company Commander, don't criticize him anymore." Comrade Commander also once said that to fight a war is to fight money, and only with sufficient economic strength can a long-term war be supported. After saying this, he looked at the soldier with a sideways face and said: "Comrade soldier, please remember that even the 150,000 rubles you have consumed can save the life of even one soldier, it is very worthwhile. ”

The talkative warrior glanced at Lao Zhu's collar badge, then nodded, and said sincerely: "Comrade lieutenant, you are right, I really shouldn't be so careful. The main job of the artillery is to support the infantry attack with firepower. ”

After carrying the shell, Lao Zhu dragged his tired body back to the shelter, and was about to sit down and rest, but heard the phone ringing on the table. He hurriedly stepped forward and picked up the phone, and heard the voice of the regiment commander coming from inside: "Hey, Comrade Lieutenant, I now give you an important task, you immediately move westward, go search for the remnants of the Germans, and resolutely destroy them, understand?" ”

When Lao Zhu heard this order, he hesitated for a moment, and then asked cautiously: "Comrade Regiment Commander, can you tell us where the enemy's approximate location is?" ”

"I can't." The regimental commander replied unusually simply: "The order I received is to send troops to clear the remnants of the enemy in the vicinity, so I really don't know where there will be enemies. ”

After listening to the regiment commander's answer, Lao Zhu was a little dumbfounded: "Comrade regiment commander, since we don't know where the enemy is, where should we go to find them?" ”

"I can't give you the exact location of the enemy, not even the approximate location." When the regimental commander heard Lao Zhu's answer, he knew in his heart how difficult his subordinates were about to face, so he hesitated for a moment and said, "You can look for nearby villages, as is customary, the enemy will set up a stronghold in the village. ”

After accepting this arduous task, Lao Zhu summoned Li Muzi and several platoon commanders together to study a plan to eliminate the enemy. When Chen Xiaopaw heard that the soldiers would carry a large amount of weapons, equipment and supplies to search for traces of the enemy, he immediately raised his own question: "Comrade Company Commander, I would like to ask, in an area where the snow is waist-high, our soldiers carry things weighing dozens of kilograms to march, and when they encounter the enemy, can they still have the physical strength to fight?" ”

Lao Zhu knew his subordinates very well, and knew that Chen Xiaopaw must have something in mind when he asked this, so he asked reasonably: "Do you have any good suggestions?" ”

"Comrade company commander, don't forget, in the past, in the deep mountains and old forests in the northeast, in order to ensure the supply of troops, in addition to setting up secret camps in suitable places to store supplies, we also prepared sleds to transport those necessary weapons, ammunition and materials. Do you think we can take this approach in this operation? ”

"I don't think it's necessary to set up a secret camp, after all, there are our troops within a radius of dozens of kilometers around, and if necessary, we can get temporary supplies from them." Lao Zhu rejected Chen Xiaopaw's first plan, but agreed with the second: "Marching in the snow, if there is a sled, our soldiers don't have to carry such heavy things." , the deputy company commander took a few fighters and immediately went to make sleds, at least ten, so that we could carry more supplies. ”

Muzi, who has been in the old forests of the Northeast, is very familiar with making sleds, and it only took an hour for ten brand-new sleds to be placed in front of Lao Zhu.

Seeing these sleds, Lao Zhu immediately smiled, and hurriedly ordered: "Tell the soldiers that except for the weapons and ammunition they carry with them, the rest of the things are placed on the sleds." ”

"Need I find a few sled dogs?" Muzi asked cautiously.

"Where can I find a sled dog around here?" Hearing Muzi's proposal, Lao Zhu sighed, and then ordered: "Every two people are responsible for a sled." Every hour, the sledders rotate so that everyone gets enough rest. ”

When Lao Zhu set off with his troops, Rokossovsky, who was in the command headquarters, was talking to two Popov generals from the 10th and 61st armies. He pointed to the map on the table and said, "...... You see, the position of our army group is the most prominent of the three army groups, and if your two army groups cannot follow up in time and level the battle line, we are in danger of being cut off by the German army. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, General Popov of the 10th Army stared at the map and was silent, while General Popov of the 61st Army said with a sad face: "General Rokossovsky, do you think I am unwilling to attack?" But no, we don't have the ability to attack now! ”

"What, no ability to attack?" When Rokossovsky heard the other party say this, his face was suddenly covered with a layer of frost, and he asked coldly: "General Popov, if I remember correctly, your 61st Army was still more than 40,000 troops a week ago, and it is fully capable of attacking the enemy. ”

"You said it was a week ago, too." Popov complained to Rokossovsky: "Some time ago, a representative of the base camp came and severely criticized me and other members of the army group command, saying that we were content with the status quo and refused to take the initiative to attack the enemy, so we took over the command of the troops. ”

"Your command, deprived by the representatives of the base camp?" When Rokossovsky heard Popov say this, he suddenly remembered that when Stalin called him some time ago, he had mentioned that he would send a representative to his own troops, and later, when he heard that he was planning to attack on his own initiative, he sent this representative to another unit. At this moment, from Popov's words, it can be heard that the representative of the base camp is going to the 61st Army. So he hurriedly asked, "What happened then?" ”

"Forgive me for not mentioning his name, big man." The hapless Popov said indignantly: "After he took over the command, he took command of three divisions of troops and launched an attack on one of the strongholds defended by the enemy. As a result, after two days and nights of fierce fighting, our troops suffered more than 2,000 casualties, but we destroyed less than 100 enemies, and the stronghold was not taken. ”

Rokossovsky's eyes widened in surprise when he heard the exaggerated battle in which he suffered 2,000 casualties and destroyed less than 100 of the enemy. After he waited for Popov to finish, he asked in an uneven tone: "Where is the representative of the base camp now?" ”

"Where else?" Popov shrugged his shoulders and said somewhat helplessly: "When the command of the Front learned of such a result, it appealed to the Supreme High Command and transferred this person back to Moscow." ”

"What about you?" Rokossovsky turned his gaze to another Popov and asked tentatively: "Can your troops launch an attack on the enemy?" ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade Rokossovsky." This Popov also said in the same tone: "You must know that before I took over the command of the 10th Army, I gave you several divisions of troops, and we are now an empty shelf. The total number of the only four divisions was less than 10,000 men, which could barely be used for the defense of the occupied areas. As for offense, unfortunately, there's nothing we can do. ”

But when he learned that the troops on the left and right flanks were unable to provide him with strong help, Rokossovsky's strength seemed to be drained at once. He sat in his position, his mind quickly wondering if there was a way to mobilize more troops to strengthen his troops.

"What are you thinking, Comrade Rokossovsky?" At that moment, the hapless Popov asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?" ”

Rokossovsky sighed softly and said weakly: "I am preparing to launch an attack on the village of Popkovo in mid-February, can you provide me with the necessary support?" ”

"If the attack on the village of Popkovo is launched in mid-February," Popov said decisively, staring at the map in front of him for a moment, "I think I should be able to provide you with one or two infantry divisions, plus a tank brigade to support you." After he said this, he was deeply afraid that Popov and Rokossovsky next to him would have any misunderstanding, and specially explained, "Although the superiors are making additions to us, you all know that the various additions from Moscow are not only slow, but also very small. We will have to wait until mid-February to gather a significant number of troops. ”

"Thank you, General Popov." Rokossovsky stood up, shook Popov's hand, and said excitedly: "On the battlefield, even if there is one more person, we will have a greater chance of victory." With the infantry divisions and tank brigades you provided, I am sure that we will be able to take the village of Popkovo. ”

After sending the two generals Popov away, Zakharov asked Rokossovsky curiously: "Comrade commander, do you say that the reinforcements that General Popov promised us will be provided to us before the attack?" ”

Rokossovsky turned to look at his deputy, stared at him and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, the mountains will fall, everyone will go, we can only rely on ourselves." ”

"However, General Popov also said just now that the replenishment given to us by the superiors is very little and slow." Zakharov said with a bitter face: "If we simply rely on the supplies of our superiors, when will we be able to gather enough troops to launch an attack on the village of Popkovo?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar," Rokossovsky did not continue to struggle with Zakharov on the issue of soldiers, but said to Lobachev, who was standing aside: "Look at you and the comrades of the Political Department, whether you and the comrades of the Political Department will go to the prisoner of war camp liberated by our army again and try to replenish some more manpower." ”

Without waiting for Lobachev to speak, Zakharov rushed to say: "Comrade commander, although there are still quite a few people in the prisoner of war camp who can be recruited, I am against this. ”

"Why?" Seeing that Zakharov raised objections in public, Rokossovsky and Lobachev asked at the same time, puzzled.

"These people have been in the German prisoner of war camps for too long," Zakharov said with some displeasure: "I am afraid that when they see the Germans appear in front of them, they will not even have the courage to shoot and will turn around and run away." ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you are wrong, you are completely wrong." Hearing Zakharov say such a ridiculous reason, Lobachev immediately said with a straight face and a blank face: "I talked to these rescued fighters, they were tortured during the fascist occupation, so they are ready to go to any dangerous place, wherever they can take revenge on the hateful enemy, they are willing to go, and there will definitely be no escape from the battle as you said." ”