Just when the battle ahead was in full swing, a little unpleasant trifle happened. Rokossovsky www.biquge.info who was holding a telescope and looking into the distance, suddenly heard someone arguing fiercely outside the headquarters.

Rokossovsky put down his binoculars, turned around, looked at the door of the command headquarters, and asked Malinin with a frown and unhappy face: "Chief of Staff, what's going on outside, who is making a loud noise?" ”

When Malinin heard Rokossovsky's question, he was also confused, it stands to reason that there are soldiers and guards near the command headquarters, and ordinary people can't get by. Even if the commander who comes to the headquarters to report or accept a task, if there is nothing to do, he will not stay here for long, let alone have an argument.

He quickly ran to the door, glanced outside, and then turned back and said: "Comrade commander, it is Comrade Borisova who is quarreling with a local comrade. ”

"Chief of Staff, go out and get them away," Vinogradov ordered Malinin with some impatience: "Don't you see that we are commanding an important battle?" They're noisy outside, what's the matter! ”

Malinin agreed, and when he was about to walk outside, he was stopped by Rokossovsky: "Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff, you better stay here." I'll go see what they're arguing about. ”

Rokossovsky walked briskly out of the headquarters, stood at the door, discerned the direction from which the voice was coming from, and strode along the trench towards where Borisova was.

As he got closer, he heard the man with his back to him saying, "...... Comrade Borisova, the collective farm members are so stubborn, no matter what we say, they categorically do not agree with us burning down their houses......"

"Enough, Comrade Xie Weili, enough." Borisova said in a stern tone: "Those houses are where the villagers have lived for generations, how can it be said that they will all be burned down?" ”

Xie Weili said emotionally: "But these wooden houses are close to our trenches, and if they are not burned down in advance, once a battle starts, they will become the target of enemy planes or artillery." ……”

After listening to the conversation between the two clearly, Rokossovsky considered that these were all matters that the local leaders were in charge of, and that if he was a military commander to ask about them, he would be a bit overstepping. Thinking of this, he stopped, and when he turned around and was about to walk back, he suddenly heard Xie Weili say again: "If the Germans throw incendiary bombs, it will be troublesome, you must know that London was destroyed by incendiary bombs......

"That's London," Rokossovsky heard this, and couldn't help but interject loudly: "The fascist invaders will never reach Moscow." Even if any of them were able to enter Moscow, they would have to pass through the wide streets of the city as prisoners of war and show the world the great results of our army. ”

Seeing that the person who spoke was Rokossovsky, Seveli immediately shut up, but Borisova said in surprise: "Comrade General, you are so right, we will definitely not let the enemy reach Moscow." After saying these two sentences, she turned her head to Xie Weili and said, "Remember, when you go back, you must do more work, and you must convince the bankers to let them understand the meaning of burning these wooden houses, understand?" ”

"Understood." Xie Weili agreed, and then said: "Comrade Borisova, I have one more thing to report to you: in the evening, our construction site was bombed by enemy planes, and more than 200 volunteers were injured and more than 70 were killed. ”

"The wounded must be housed." Borisova pondered for a moment, and then instructed Sheveli: "As for the comrades who died, we must collect their bodies and bury them all in the martyr's cemetery in the north of the city." ”

"What, Martyrs' Cemetery?!" Hearing Borisova's order, Xie Weili thought that he had heard it wrong, and he hurriedly reminded the other party: "Comrade Borisova, they are all ordinary people, and they are not qualified to be buried in the martyrs' cemetery at all. ”

"Who said they weren't qualified." Borisova's eyes widened, she unconsciously raised her voice, and said angrily: "All of them are heroic fighters who defended Moscow, and they deserve the honor of warriors." If none of them are eligible to enter the martyrs' cemetery, then who else is eligible to be buried where? ”

Seeing that Sheweili was dumbfounded by Borisova, Rokossovsky hurriedly came out to play a round: "Hey, I said Comrade Seveli, Borisova is right, these volunteers died heroically because they were bombed by enemy planes because of the construction of fortifications to defend Moscow, and they are also great fighters, and they are fully qualified to be buried in the martyrs' cemetery." ”

After sending Sheveli away, Rokossovsky, out of concern for Borisova's safety, persuaded her: "Comrade Borisova, it's too dangerous here, I think you should go back to Vyazma." I remember you said that you also have a son who will go back to work in the city and take care of him when you have free time. ”

Borisova smiled at Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade General, if I have not misjudged, the defensive positions we have built west of Vyazma will have a chance to be used sooner or later." ”

Hearing Borisova's question, Rokossovsky replied with a bitter face: "Comrade Borisova, it is difficult for me to give you an accurate answer to this question, I can only say that the possibility of using that fortification is very large. ”

Borisova smiled and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, if we can fight side by side in Vyazma, can I make a personal request to you?" ”

Rokossovsky didn't expect Borisova to suddenly say such a thing, and a bright smile suddenly froze on his face, and he said with a straight face and a polite and distant tone: "Comrade Borisova, if you have any requests, you can put them forward, as long as it is within my authority, I will definitely help you do it." ”

Borisova did not seem to notice Rokossovsky's strange expression, and said to herself: "Comrade General, if something happens to me, please promise me to send my son to a nursery school,"

After Borisova finished saying her personal request, Rokossovsky's face suddenly turned red with shame, he was ashamed of his random suspicions, and he thought that the other party was letting him use his power to arrange for her and her family to evacuate to the rear, but he didn't expect that he was asking his unfamiliar commander in advance. He coughed lightly and said with some embarrassment: "Comrade Borisova, what shall I say about you?" Although we are suffering from the difficulties we are suffering at the moment, everything will be better, and I believe that you will live to see us achieve the final victory, so I can't agree to send my child to a nursery school. You'd better take care of the children yourself. After saying these words with difficulty, Rokossovsky did not dare to stay here, but left as if he had fled.

As soon as he walked into the headquarters, he asked Ma Linin loudly: "Chief of Staff, how is the situation at the front?" ”

"Comrade commander, the situation seems to be a little wrong," said Ma Lining, the chief of staff with a serious expression, as he handed him a stack of battle reports, "These are all battle reports that I just received, take a look!" ”

Rokossovsky was anxious to know the situation of the battle ahead, and when he took the battle report, he didn't bother to read it, so he directly ordered Malinin: "Chief of staff, report on the situation ahead." ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Malinin pointed to the map on the table and began to brief Rokossovsky: "Colonel Mikhailov's tank, struck in the southwest direction, and after breaking through two German defenses in succession, it has already joined forces with the vanguard of the 16th Army. ”

"This Mikhailov is really well done!" After Rokossovsky praised Mikhailov, he asked Malinin in confusion: "Since our troops and the 16th Army have joined forces, this is a good thing." But why do you want things to go wrong? ”

"The troops of the 16th Army and the Tank Division will meet, and there will be only one regiment." Ma Lining said with a sad face: "At first, I thought it was just their vanguard, but after asking the commander of the regiment, I learned that they had only sent one regiment of troops to cooperate with us. ”

"Hell, how can this be?" Hearing Malinin say this, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be furious, but he tried his best to control his emotions and asked in a flat tone: "What about the 19th Army and the 20th Army?" ”

"In the northwest direction, where the 20th Army is located, there is no movement at all." Vinogradov came over and continued: "The friendly forces were immobile, so that the Germans could concentrate their forces against the attack of Colonel Kirillov. A few minutes earlier, the charge of the 38th Infantry Division against the enemy had been repulsed. ”

"And what about General Konev's 19th Army?" Because considering that in their own combat clusters, the commanders of the artillery system are all from the 19th Army, because it is the motorized infantry regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Vorobyov that is attacking to the west. If Konev's troops, like the 20th Army, had stood still, the motorized infantry regiment would have suffered heavy losses.

But fortunately, Malinin's answer reassured Rokossovsky: "The west of the motorized infantry regiment is now engaged in fierce battles. The 19th Army, with its entire army, was launching a fierce assault on the enemy's positions. ”

Rokossovsky knew in his heart that it would be an impossible task to rescue all three armies from the encirclement of the German army. Although the passage between the 16th Army was opened, they sent only one regiment of troops to join the division, and the remaining troops remained in their original defensive positions. If the 20th Army does not move, then there is no need to worry about him, and the top priority now is to rescue the 19th Army.

After a moment, he asked tentatively: "How long will it take for the motorized infantry regiment to break through the German defenses and join forces with the troops of the 19th Army?" ”

Malinin and Vinogradov, after looking at each other, replied: "The battle there is very fierce, and the fighters of the motorized infantry regiment and the troops of the 19th Army are only separated by a few hundred meters from each other. Since the positions of the Germans were elongated and narrow, it was easy to hit their own people if they were supported directly by artillery fire, so General Kazakov ordered the artillery to stop the shelling.

At present, the fighters of both the enemy and us are fighting to the death in this narrow strip of land. In order to quickly tear a gap in the enemy's defenses, General Konev's troops showed a heroic and tenacious fighting style and a spirit that was not afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice. In the face of the powerful artillery and machine-gun fire of the Germans, they launched one charge after another towards the enemy's positions. ”

"Chief of Staff, send a message to General Konev." As soon as Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish speaking, he immediately ordered him: "Please tell him that if there is a tank unit, I advise him to immediately go into battle, so that he can quickly break through the German defenses." ”

"Comrade commander, we can talk directly to General Konev here, and we don't need to send a telegram." After Malinin finished speaking, he turned around and ordered the communications staff officer: "Hurry up, connect to the headquarters of the 19th Army, and the commander wants to talk to General Konev." ”

"Great, that's great." Hearing that he could talk directly to Konev, Rokossovsky was overjoyed, after all, sending a telegram could not be compared with making a phone call. As soon as the phone was connected, he walked over and took the microphone, put it to his ear and said politely: "Hello, General Konev!" ”

"It's Comrade Rokossovsky." Konev heard Rokossovsky's voice and seemed very happy, "Listen to my subordinates, your commanders and fighters are fighting tenaciously, and they are only a few hundred meters away from our breakthrough troops. ”

"General Konev," Rokossovsky said to his future immediate superior, with due courtesy: "Because the German resistance was so stubborn, that our two units could not join forces for a long time. I intend to transfer the 101st Tank Division in your direction, and if you have tank units at your disposal, I suggest that you immediately throw them into battle. ”

"I have two tank brigades in my hands, and I probably have more than fifty tanks left." After hearing Rokossovsky's suggestion, Konev groaned for a while, and then said decisively: "These tanks were intended to be used to assist in the defense, and since you say so, then I will immediately throw them all into battle." ”

Twenty minutes later, Mikhailov, with the remaining tank units of the division, turned to the west and assisted the motorized infantry regiment in launching a fierce attack on the enemy's positions. For a time, the battle entered a white-hot state, the position was full of rising gunsmoke, and the tanks lined up in battle formation waded through the enemy's minefield, and rushed into the enemy's position amid the sound of explosions that shook the mountains. The commanders and fighters of the motorized infantry regiment rushed forward regardless of casualties, they rushed into the smoke of gunpowder, jumped into the trenches, and engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the enemy inside. (To be continued.) )