By the time Rokossovsky and Fomin's armored vehicles arrived, the battlefield had already been cleaned. A battalion of the 45th Infantry Division, which has taken over the positions of the 44th Infantry Regiment. Some tanks, which were about to run out of fuel, were also parked behind the positions and used as stationary batteries.

At the regimental headquarters of the 44th regiment, as soon as Rokossovsky saw the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Fishchenko, he asked: "Where is Commander Fedyuninsky?" The reason why he asked this was not only because Fedyuninsky was his friend, but more importantly, because he was worried that his crossing would invisibly change the fate of many people. For example, the political commissar Fuming next to him, in real history, has fallen under the guns of the German army, and at this moment he is still standing by his side intact.

Lieutenant Colonel Feshchenko straightened up and reported: "Comrade General, the army commander is at the headquarters of the army group in the city. In order to clarify the current situation, Rokossovsky added: "Since General Scherstyuk's 45th Division was taken away by you, the commander of the army group has placed the 87th, 124th, and 135th divisions under his command. ”

Rokossovsky then learned from Feshchenko that the Germans had captured the city of Vladimir Volynsky and advanced the front to a position fifteen kilometers west of Lutsk.

After learning about the situation near Lutsk, Rokossovsky consulted with the three division commanders. It was decided that the 45th Infantry Division of Schertyuk should be reconstituted, and the other two tank divisions would be reduced to zero, and after passing through friendly positions west of the city, they would assemble to the south of the city and prepare to charge the Dubno area.

After assigning the task, Fomin reminded Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, shouldn't you go to the headquarters of the army group and let the commanders know that you are back!" ”

When Rokossovsky heard this, he immediately agreed: "That's right, you should immediately go to the headquarters of the army group to report." Find out if there has been any change in the order we received yesterday. Then he asked Fuming, "Comrade Political Commissar, are you going with me?" ”

Unexpectedly, Fuming waved his hand and said, "No, Comrade General, I still have something to do, so I won't accompany you to the headquarters." ”

Fumin's words made Rokossovsky feel very strange, and he said that he had not assigned him a specific job, what important thing could he have, so that even the army group headquarters was unwilling to go? So he asked curiously: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you have anything important?" ”

"Yes, Comrade General." Fuming nodded and said sadly: "In the air raid just now, we suffered a lot of casualties, and I plan to stay in charge of the work of placing the wounded." ”

As soon as Rokossovsky heard this, someone was really found to be responsible for this matter. Scherstyuk wanted to command the troops in battle, and certainly did not have time to ask; And the two division commanders, Novikov and Chernyaev, have to lead the troops to the south of the city, and it is impossible for them to be responsible for this matter. In this way, the political commissar of Fuming became the best candidate.

Thinking of this, Rokossovsky nodded, stepped forward to shake Fomin's hand, and said in a friendly manner: "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, I will leave the work of placing the wounded to you with full responsibility." When this work is done, immediately rush to the headquarters of the army group to join me. ”

After speaking, he let go of his hand, and after saluting Fuming, he turned around and walked out of the regimental headquarters.

Half an hour later, his car came to the headquarters of the army group. When he was about to go upstairs, he met Maslov who came out of the house, and when he saw that the other party was full of sadness and did not notice himself, he took the initiative to greet him: "Hey, Comrade Chief of Staff, what are you thinking?" Be careful to hit the wall. ”

Maslov heard someone talking to him, raised his head, and looked at each other with a blank face. When he saw clearly that the person standing in front of him was the long-awaited army commander Rokossovsky, he couldn't help but get excited. He rushed over and grabbed Rokossovsky's arm and asked excitedly: "Comrade commander, are you back?" ”

"It's back!" Rokossovsky replied briefly.

"The troops are back, too?" When asked the second question, Maslov was a little cautious.

"It's all back." Rokossovsky replied: "At present, the two division commanders are leading the tank division to the south of the city, and after completing the assembly there, they will launch a counterattack on the German troops in the Dubno area." ”

"Comrade commander, come with me, you have been gone for so long, and the comrades are worried about you." Maslov said that he wanted to pull Rokossovsky into the army headquarters where he had just come out.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I should go and see the commander first." Rokossovsky was in a hurry to see Potapov and them, so he hurriedly excused himself.

"No, no. You are the commander of the 9th Mechanized Corps. The first thing you do when you come back is definitely to meet your subordinates. As for the commander, it's okay to go a little late. With that, he grabbed Rokossovsky by the arm and pulled him into the military headquarters. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted loudly: "Comrade commander, who do you see coming back?" ”

As he shouted, the commanders who were reading the map around the table cast concerned glances at the door. When it became clear that the commander standing with the chief of staff at the door was actually his own army commander Rokossovsky, everyone immediately became excited and rushed over.

Everyone gathered around Rokossovsky and asked: "Comrade commander, you are back!" ”

"Is the tank division back too?"

……

Seeing that his army commander had gone through hardships and returned to the army headquarters, even Kamenev, the political deputy army commander who had always been at odds with him, stepped forward to give him a bear hug, and then secretly wiped a handful of tears and said excitedly: "Comrade army commander, you can come back." Our Ninth Mechanized Army now has the backbone. Then he instructed the operator: "Comrade operator, immediately send a telegram to Zhytomyr, tell them that the commander has returned safely to Lutsk, and reassure them." ”