Upon receiving the call, Fedyuninsky and Batov immediately handed over the work in their hands to their deputies and hurried to Rokossovsky's headquarters.

Coincidentally, as soon as the jeep in which Fedyuninsky was riding stopped at the door of the headquarters, he saw another jeep also driving along the potholed road, apparently heading towards the headquarters.

The adjutant, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, looked at the jeep coming across for a moment, then turned to Fedyuninsky and said: "Comrade commander, on the opposite side of the car is General Batov of the 65th Army. ”

Hearing that it was Batov in the car opposite, Fedyuninsky guessed that the other party might also come to see Rokossovsky, so he pushed the car door and got out of the car, standing next to the car and waiting quietly.

And Batov's adjutant, who also saw Fedyuninsky's car, quickly turned his head to Batov, who was sitting behind, and said: "Comrade commander, General Fedyuninsky is at the entrance of the command department. ”

"Oh, Fedyuninsky is here too?" Hearing what the adjutant said, Batov hurriedly looked out of the car window and saw a jeep parked at the entrance of the headquarters, and Fedyuninsky, whom he was familiar with, was standing next to the car, as if waiting for someone. "Just park the car right here."

The jeep stopped on the side of the road, and the adjutant quickly jumped out of the car and came to the back to help Batov open the door. After getting out of the car, Batov instructed the adjutant: "You and the driver drive the car to the parking lot first, and I will look for you when I finish my errands later." With that, Batov walked towards Fedyuninsky, who was not far away.

"Hello, Pavel Ivanovich!" Seeing Batov walking towards him, Fedyuninsky greeted the other party with a smile: "I really didn't expect to meet you here." Why, were you also recruited by Comrade Marshal? ”

"Yes, Ivan Ivanovich." Batov stepped forward and shook hands with Fedyuninsky, nodded and replied: "I received a call from the headquarters of the Front, so I hurried over. Tell me, is there something important that Comrade Marshal is in such a hurry to summon the two of us? ”

"If it weren't for something important, Comrade Marshal wouldn't have summoned us in such a hurry." Although Fedyuninsky is a good friend of Rokossovsky, with the change of the status of the two, his title to Rokossovsky has changed from the original affectionate "Koschika" to a rather formal "Comrade Marshal". "Let's go in, General Batov, don't make Comrade Marshal wait."

Even if the fighters on duty outside the door did not know Fedyuninsky and Batov, they also knew the ranks on their epaulettes, and when they saw the two people walking towards the door, they not only did not stop them, but stood upright on the spot and raised their hands to salute them.

As the two entered the building and walked along the corridor, the conversation became somewhat formal, and Batov was the first to ask: "Comrade Fedyuninsky, what is the situation there, can you continue to assault the north with the current forces?" ”

"Not so good, the Germans resisted stubbornly." It sounds like Batov is very casual about the situation of his right-wing allies, but Fedyuninsky understands the other party's voice-over, some time ago, because of the needs of the battle, Rokossovsky assigned the 37th Guards Division under Batov's command to his command, and once specifically told himself that once the situation improves, the Guards Division under the command of Major General Rakhimov will be immediately rebuilt. Fedyuninsky did not feel that now was a good time to return the Guards Division, so he shook his head and said: "General Batov, I think that in a short time, it may not be possible to return Rakhimov's troops. ”

In fact, Batov was also on a whim, and casually asked if he could return his troops to the building, then in the next battle to the north, the offensive force could be strengthened; But if you don't come back, it doesn't matter, with your current strength, you can still complete the task of going north. At this moment, when he heard that Fedyuninsky gave an expected answer, he waved his hand and said magnanimously: "It's okay, General Fedyuninsky, when the time is right, let Rakhimov's troops be rebuilt." ”

The two were talking, and before they knew it, they came to the door of the headquarters, and when Batov saw Bogolyubov who was busy in the house, he raised his voice and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you come in?" ”

Bogolyubov heard the sound behind him, turned his head to see that it was Batov and Fedyuninsky who came, and hurriedly stepped forward to shake hands with the two of them one by one, and said politely: "Comrade two generals, you are here!" Comrade Marshal is waiting for you in his office, you go straight in. ”

After thanking Bogolyubov, the two walked straight to the office inside. Coming to the door of the office, the two saw that Rokossovsky was sitting behind his desk working on documents, so they walked into the room together, came to Rokossovsky's desk, raised their hands to their foreheads, and reported according to the regulations: "Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union, Batov (Fedyuninsky), commander of the 65th Army (1st Assault Army), is here on order, I follow your orders, please instruct!" ”

Rokossovsky looked up and saw clearly that the people standing in front of him were Batov and Fedyuninsky, and quickly stood up, shook hands with the two of them one by one across the desk, and then pointed to the chair next to the chief's conference table not far away and said: "Comrade two generals, please take a seat." ”

After the two of them sat down at the conference table, Rokossovsky walked out from behind the desk, he came to the conference table, pulled out a chair and sat down, pushed the map on the table in front of the two, and then said straight to the point: "Comrades two generals, I have called you to the headquarters today in order to arrange the next combat mission, how to go out to the Danzig area as quickly as possible. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Fedyuninsky and Batov glanced at each other, and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Marshal, after a long period of fighting, my troops are seriously understaffed in various divisions, and now it can be said that for every kilometer advanced, we have to pay a considerable price. It would be almost an impossible task for us to maintain our attack to the north until we were replenished with men and technical equipment. ”

When Fedyuninsky said this, Rokossovsky deliberately glanced at Batov, and seeing that the other party's face was also full of embarrassment, he guessed that he might have the same thoughts in his heart as Fedyuninsky. After Fedyuninsky finished speaking, he continued: "Comrade generals, in the current situation, it is impossible to replenish your troops and technical equipment. ”

Seeing that both of them had disappointed expressions on their faces because of his words, Rokossovsky couldn't help but smile and continued: "General Fedyuninsky, don't worry, I won't let you fight alone, when your troops go out to the area of Lapin and Chukao, I will ask General Batov to turn his troops around and approach Danzig from the west to cover your movements. ”

Seeing the joy on Fedyuninsky's face, Rokossovsky turned to Batov and said: "General Batov, the 49th and 70th armies on your left flank will work closely with you when you attack to the north, and attack in the direction of Tsopott to the north, so that you can calmly turn your troops around and cooperate with Fedyuningsky's northward attack." ”

Rokossovsky's words were a reassurance to the two generals, so that they no longer had to worry about the lack of strength when they attacked in the direction of Danzig to the north. Fedyuninsky breathed a sigh of relief, and then confidently said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, if our army group can get the cooperation of General Batov in the attack, then there will be enough troops to break through the various defenses that the German army has built up in front of us. ”