By dark, the lines of the Central Front had stabilized, the Germans had taken refuge in their fortifications, and the Soviets were in the trenches making their final preparations for the attack.

After dinner, Malinin was left on duty at the headquarters, and the rest of the front army leaders went back to their quarters. Rokossovsky had just returned to his room and was sitting on the edge of the bed taking off his boots when he suddenly heard a knock on the door. He thought it was the guard who had something to report, so he walked to the door with one foot and opened the door casually.

Unexpectedly, when I opened the door, it was not the guard standing outside, but Carina with a medical kit on her back. As soon as the door opened, she walked straight into the room and said, "Comrade Commander, I'm here to check your body, please take off your coat, and I'll take your blood pressure first." ”

Rokossovsky closed the door casually and was about to take off his military uniform, but he heard Carnanna scream, which startled him, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade military doctor, what's wrong?" ”

I saw Carina pointing at his unshoed foot and said angrily: "Comrade commander, how can you be so irresponsible for your own body, actually stepping on a cold place barefoot?" Aren't you afraid that you will catch a cold and affect the next battle? ”

Rokossovsky, who was rebuked by Carenina, was really a little crying and laughing, but it was impossible for him to argue with one of his subordinates, especially a female subordinate, so he had to divert the topic and say: "Okay, comrade military doctor, you better take my blood pressure quickly, if everything is normal, I plan to rest early." ”

Canina didn't care about blaming Rokossovsky anymore, and hurriedly took out a blood pressure meter from the medicine box to measure Rokossovsky's blood pressure while sitting on the edge of the bed.

After completing the routine inspection, Carina suddenly spoke: "Comrade commander, I am in the health team today, and I heard others talking about you. ”

While getting dressed, Rokossovsky asked curiously: "What are they talking about me?" ”

Carina slung the medical kit on her shoulder and said with a smile: "They say that when the German army was pressing towards Moscow step by step, it was the 16th Army under your command that put up stubborn resistance in important areas, delaying the German army's advance towards Moscow, and buying precious time for the next major counteroffensive under Moscow." ”

Figuring out that what his subordinates were talking about was this, Rokossovsky smiled faintly and said modestly: "Comrade military doctor, if you want to defeat the Germans, it is not enough to rely on me, or the troops of the 16th Army. All around us, there are friendly forces fighting stubbornly; Behind us, there are soldiers and civilians from all over the country who are selflessly assisting us. Without their support, we would have been defeated by the Germans long ago. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Carina was happy: "Comrade commander, you are too modest. At that time, I was in Moscow, and when I saw the German army approaching Moscow step by step, the residents of the city fell into panic, and countless people fled from the city every day, so that many roads outside the city were blocked, affecting the movement of troops. ”

As she spoke, Carinna unconsciously sat down at a round table in the middle of the room, put the medical kit on it, and began to chat with Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I am curious, a general like you, when he goes to the battlefield for the first time, will be afraid? ”

"Afraid, how not afraid. Seeing the grenade explode more than ten or twenty meters in front, I almost peed my pants in fright. What Rokossovsky said was naturally true, but it was not the owner of this body, but himself who had been a soldier in Huaxia: "I was scolded by the squad leader for this." ”

"That squad leader, I probably never dreamed that you would become a general." Carina asked curiously, "By the way, is he still alive now?" ”

Rokossovsky replied with some embarrassment: "No, he is no longer there." In fact, what he wanted to say in his heart was: My squad leader has not been born yet.

In order to prevent the conversation from going on, Rokossovsky hurriedly changed the topic: "By the way, Comrade Carnanna, where are you?" What other relatives are in the family, and where are they located? ”

"I'm from Vladimir, in a small city more than two hundred kilometers east of Moscow." Carinna smiled sweetly and replied, "There is a mother, an older brother, a younger brother and two younger sisters at home. My mother works in a local glass factory, and my younger siblings are still in school. After the outbreak of the war, the elder brother joined the army and served in the Western Front. But I haven't heard from him for a long time, and I don't know if he's still alive. Speaking of the back, her expression suddenly darkened.

"Comrade Carnanna, when I visited the hospital a few days ago, I heard the director talk about you, saying that you could have started your vacation after sending the wounded to the rear hospital. Who knew that after arriving at the hospital, he saw that the hospital was understaffed, so he took the initiative to ask Ying to help those doctors with surgery, but he fainted due to overwork. Speaking of this, Rokossovsky asked with concern: "How is it, have you recovered physically?" ”

"Thank you, Comrade Commander, for your concern," Carina blushed slightly and said, "My body is completely healed. After speaking, she stood up, put the medical kit on her shoulder again, and said, "Comrade commander, it's not early, you need to rest early, I'll go first." ”

After sending Carinna out of the room, Rokossovsky was still thinking about what he had just said, he didn't understand that he and Carenna had a good conversation, why did the other party suddenly get up and say goodbye?

……

……

The battle in the Orel direction continued until the second day, when the troops of the 48th, 13th and 70th armies, located in the defensive positions north of Kursk, launched a fierce attack on the German defensive positions opposite.

After learning that the troops had launched an offensive, Zhukov asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, will your troops be able to break through the German defenses today?" ”

"Comrade Marshal, it's hard to say." Rokossovsky said in an uncertain tone: "The Germans have occupied Orel for two years, they have built a well-developed defense system in this area, and it will take time, quite a long time, for us to seize these positions. ”

"The base camp hopes that we will end the fighting in the Kursk region as soon as possible." Zhukov said with a straight face: "Yesterday, our army and the German army launched a fierce tank decisive battle in the Prokhorovka area, and in the end of the battle, more than 600 of our army lost their combat effectiveness, while the German army lost only 200 tanks, and the battle loss ratio was 3:1!" ”

"Comrade Marshal, although the losses of our army are relatively large, you should see that the German army has also paid a lot of price." Rokossovsky comforted Zhukov and said: "The German army lost one tank, one less, and our army, don't look at the loss so much, but because there are tank repair stations nearby, as long as these tanks are dragged to the repair station, it may only take a day and night, and many of them can be put back into battle." Under the influence of one another, the strength of our army will become stronger and stronger, and the final victory will definitely belong to us. ”

Zhukov stared at Rokossovsky for a long time, and finally said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, it seems that you are still very optimistic about the current situation. I also hope that our army will achieve a final victory. ”

"Comrade Marshal," Rokossovsky said, seeing that Zhukov's mood had improved, "do not look at the fact that the Germans achieved greater results yesterday than ours, but at the same time you should see that our troops have succeeded in preventing them from continuing to advance." The Germans' troops were still in the area occupied two days earlier, and the time for our major counteroffensive was approaching. ”

"Well, Comrade Rokossovsky, stop discussing the issue of the southern front." Zhukov tapped his finger on the map and said: "Let's talk about the Orel direction and tell us what you think." ”

Rokossovsky actually had an opinion on the Battle of Orel, which was formulated by the base camp. Hearing Zhukov's request for his opinion at this moment, he immediately replied without hesitation: "Comrade Marshal, our attempt in this campaign is to divide the German heavy army groups and break them individually. But have you considered that if we continue to fight according to the current plan, we will inevitably have a situation where our forces will be scattered? ”

"That's right, our army did have a scattered force in this offensive campaign." Zhukov said very approvingly: "Tell me what you really think, and I'll see if it's necessary to make adjustments." ”

Rokossovsky picked up the red and blue pencils, pointed to the map and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, I think it would be easier and safer to carry out two powerful assaults on Bryansk from the south and north from the root of the Orel salient. However, some preparation time was needed for this to allow the Western Front and the Central Front to adjust their respective deployments. ”

"No, at present, the enemy and us have invested millions of troops in the Kursk region, and if the enemy is not eliminated as soon as possible, Moscow will always be in danger." Zhukov said resolutely: "Therefore, we can only complete the offensive campaign in the Oliar region according to the deployment of the base camp." ”

"That's what I think, Comrade Marshal." Rokossovsky knew that Zhukov was stubborn, and even nine cows could not make him turn back, so he could only say euphemistically: "Since the forces of our army are too scattered, it is possible that in the later stages of the battle, we are not capable of encircling or annihilating the enemy, in fact, we only drove them away from the Orel salient." I think that if we had started the campaign a week later, then our army would have been able to concentrate superior forces in the direction of the two main centripetal assaults in the Bryansk direction, and the chances of achieving the objectives of the campaign would have been higher. ”

Zhukov looked at Rokossovsky, as if looking at a stranger, and after a long time spoke: "Comrade Rokossovsky, do you think I don't realize this? I originally set the time for the offensive on July 20, but Comrade Stalin changed it to July 12, and in such a short period of time it was impossible to complete many preparations for the offensive. ”

While the two were discussing, Maksimenko came over with a telegram and said to Zhukov with a smile: "Comrade Marshal, this is a telegram from the Western Front, their offensive has made great progress. ”

Zhukov, who originally had a serious expression, took the telegram and read it for only a moment, and quickly showed a happy smile. He put down the phone and said with a smile: "I just received a telegram from the commander of the Western Front, General Sokolovsky, that the 11th Guards Army under the command of General Bagramian has performed well in today's offensive and has so far wedged the German defense to a depth of 35 kilometers. ”

Rokossovsky picked up the telegram and looked at it, remembering a few of the ground mentioned above, and then looked down at the map in front of him. After reading it, he raised his head and looked at Zhukov and said happily: "Comrade Marshal, if this telegram of the 11th Guards Army is true, then it means that the army, in expanding its results, has surrounded the German army group in the Borkhov area from the northwest and west, and at the same time advanced to the south, which may also pose a threat to the retreat of the German army from the Orel region. ”

Zhukov nodded and said approvingly: "Judging from the current situation, Bagramyan's troops are fully capable of encircling the German army group and threatening the retreat of the German army at any time. Comrade Maksimenko," he called the chief of the communications corps to the front and instructed, "to send a telegram back to General Sokolovsky, asking him to immediately mobilize his troops to cooperate with the actions of the 11th Guards Army, and to complete the division and encirclement of the German heavy army group as soon as possible......"

The results of the friendly forces were brilliant, and the progress of the Central Front was good. The three armies marched in unison, and in just half a day, they successively captured the first and second directions of the German army, and were one step closer to Orel.

After learning of the results of the Central Front, Zhukov nodded with satisfaction and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Rokossovsky, if your performance is always as good as today, I estimate that by the day after tomorrow, your troops will be able to join forces with friendly forces in the Orel area and complete the encirclement of the German army." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." Seeing that Zhukov was so confident, Rokossovsky could not bear to pour cold water on him, so he called Malinin in front of him and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately throw all our reserves into battle, strive to clear the enemy on the way in the shortest possible time, and join the friendly forces rushing in the direction of Orel as soon as possible." ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's order, Malinin carefully reminded him: "Comrade commander, we no longer have any reserves in our hands. I propose that additional troops be drawn from the 60th and 65th armies immediately to reinforce our main attack areas. ”