Due to the heavy defense of the German army in the village of Popkovo, the troops led by Lao Zhu were not able to obtain useful information, and even Rokossovsky did not know what the results of the women's bomber regiment were. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Just when a group of people were worried in the headquarters, a staff officer suddenly came in and reported: "Comrade commander, there are comrades from the guerrillas outside who want to see you. ”

"Ask him to come in." Rokossovsky gave an order without looking back, and then continued to Malinin: "Chief of Staff, I think it is necessary to send another person to the village of Popkovo to reconnoiter and find out the distribution of the enemy's forces, so that we can draw up a suitable offensive plan. ”

Without waiting for Ma Lining to answer, he heard an enthusiastic voice at the door saying: "Hello, comrades commanders, it's a pleasure to see you here again." ”

Hearing this familiar voice, Rokossovsky straightened up and turned his head to look. When he saw the person clearly, he immediately screamed excitedly and rushed over to give the other party a warm hug.

Popov, secretary of the party committee of the Smolensk region, who and Rokossovsky met, met during the defense of Yaltsevo. And Lobachev and Malinin also knew this Popov, and the two also stepped forward to shake hands with him.

After everyone sat down, Lobachev said jokingly: "On both flanks of our army group, two generals Popov are commanding the troops, and today there is another comrade Popov commanding the partisans." The three Popovs got together, and it was lively. ”

After laughing with everyone for a while, Popov asked Rokossovsky with a sideways face: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask you what your next move will be, do you need the cooperation of our partisans?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Popov." Hearing this question, the expression on Rokossovsky's face suddenly became serious again, and he pointed to the map in front of him and said: "We plan to capture the village of Popkovo next, but because the enemy in the village is too well guarded, the scouts we sent will not be able to approach it at all. ”

"So you're worried about this?!" After receiving an affirmative answer from Rokossovsky, Popov smiled and said: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I came this time for the village of Popkovo." ”

"Comrade Popov," Hearing Popov say this, Malinin immediately asked curiously, "Are you also planning to attack the village of Popkovo?" ”

"We want to attack here, but we don't have the strength enough." Popov said with a look of dismay: "Our partisan detachment is composed of the main forces that have been scattered and the progressive youth of the locality, there are only about 500 people, and many of them have no weapons in their hands. Some time ago, we knew that the Germans had hoarded a large number of weapons in the village of Popkovo, and we wanted to attack it, but after reconnaissance, we found that there were actually 2,000 German soldiers in the village, as well as more than a dozen tanks and hundreds of trucks......"

"Wait a minute, Comrade Popov." When Rokossovsky heard this, he quickly interrupted Popov and asked curiously: "You said that there were two thousand Germans in the village, is this figure accurate?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Popov nodded and replied: "This is a figure that our scouts have repeatedly verified, and there can be no mistake." ”

After listening to this, Rokossovsky nodded, and then said to Malinin and Zakharov: "Did you all hear what Comrade Popov said? The Germans had 2,000 troops in the village of Popkovo, as well as a large number of tanks and artillery, and in order to destroy them, it was necessary to carry out a well-planned battle. ”

"Comrade commander, I think that in order to formulate a battle plan, we must first find out the situation of the troops we have in our hands now." As soon as Zakharov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, he immediately expressed his opinion: "For example, how many infantry can be used for the offensive, and how many tanks and artillery are available to provide them with fire support?" ”

Kazakov was the first to say: "If I want to attack, I can only mobilize two unarmed artillery regiments, and the number of shells is very limited. ”

"Comrade Commander, I'm also in a bad situation." The next speaker was Colonel Orel, the chief of the armored corps, who frowned and said: "There are only 30 tanks that can accompany the infantry charge, half of which are old light tanks, and the losses in the battle may be very serious." ”

"Although we have a little less artillery and tanks, as long as we have their support, we can greatly reduce the casualties of our infantry soldiers." After Rokossovsky said this, he asked Malinin: "In addition to the 11th Guards Division, what other troops can we mobilize?" ”

"Nope." Ma Linin shook his head and said in embarrassment: "Since our battle line has advanced nearly two hundred kilometers, in many areas, we have to leave enough troops for defense, and the troops have been seriously attrition in the battle, so so far, the number of troops that can be used is getting less and less. ”

"If only our superiors had added something to us." After Zakharov finished saying this to himself, his eyes suddenly lit up, and then he suggested to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, see if you can call General Zhukov and ask him to send us some more reinforcements, which will alleviate our current shortage of troops." ”

"Okay, I'll try." Although Rokossovsky knew in his heart that calling Zhukov for help would hit a wall, he decided to try his luck in order to quickly liberate the village of Popkovo. He dialed the phone of the Front Command and said to the person who answered the phone: "Hello, I am Rokossovsky, please transfer to me General Zhukov, I have something urgent to find him." ”

"It's Rokossovsky," Sokolovsky's voice came from the earpiece, and he said with a smile: "I was about to call you, but you called first." ”

Hearing that the chief of staff of the front army said that there was something to find him, Rokossovsky hurriedly and cautiously asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there anything wrong?" ”

"That's right, the commander and I agreed that with the current strength of your group army, it will be difficult to launch an attack on the frontal enemy." Sokolovsky said slowly on the other end of the phone: "After our consultations, it has been decided to send you a reinforcement immediately. ”

"Send us reinforcements?" Rokossovsky never believed in the fact that bread fell from the sky, he always thought that even if it fell, it would be snatched away by others. Therefore, when he heard Sokolovsky say this, he was still skeptical: "I don't know which unit it is?" ”

"97th Infantry Division." Sokolovsky said with a smile: "They have just completed the replenishment, and the total strength of the division has reached 5,000 men, ready to fight at any time." ”

After receiving confirmation from Sokolovsky, Rokossovsky finally believed that bread would fall from the sky, and it fell directly into his own hands. He had just been troubled by the lack of infantry to attack the village of Popkovo, when in a few minutes the chief of staff of the front informed him that an infantry division of 5,000 men was about to join his sequence, and how could he not be overjoyed.

As soon as he put down the phone, he excitedly said to his subordinates around him: "Comrades, I have good news for you, the higher authorities have replenished the 97th Infantry Division that has just completed replenishment, so that we don't have to worry about the lack of troops to attack the village of Popkovo." ”

"Great, this is simply great." When Ma Lining heard the news, he was overjoyed: "Then I'll go and draw up a battle plan immediately." ”

However, what is unexpected is that when Rokossovsky reported the battle plan formulated by Malinin to Zhukov, he rejected it.

Rokossovsky asked puzzledly: "Comrade Zhukov, we intend to launch an offensive on the village of Popkovo with the strength of two divisions, under the cover of artillery fire and tanks, and there is no problem at all in achieving victory, why should you veto our plan?" ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky," Zhukov said unhurriedly, "I do not mean to negate your plans, but to hope for a postponement of the offensive. Don't you know that the weather is too cold now, and the snow on the ground is too deep, and our fighters are already exhausted from the attack two kilometers away, and before they reach the enemy's position, there is still strength to destroy the enemy in the village? ”

When Rokossovsky heard Zhukov say this, he immediately closed his mouth, and he knew very well in his heart that what Zhukov said was correct. If you were to force an attack on the village of Popkovo in the current bad weather, even if you took the village, it would be a crushing victory.

Seeing that Rokossovsky did not speak, Zhukov understood that the other party agreed with his opinion, so he continued: "In addition to the fact that the offensive of your group army is now quite smooth, the 10th Army on your left flank and the 61st Army on your right flank have paid huge casualties in the offensive battles. So my task for you is to consolidate the territory you now occupy and gradually clear the German remnants of the vicinity in preparation for the next offensive. ”

"Understood." When Rokossovsky heard Zhukov's order, he actually breathed a sigh of relief, "We will seize the time to consolidate the existing positions and clear the remnants of the enemy around us." ”

As soon as Malinin waited for Rokossovsky to put down the phone, he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade commander, did Zhukov say why he wanted to deny our battle plan?" ”

"Got it." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "He said that the troops on our left and right flanks have not progressed well in recent days, and in order to prevent our troops from going deep and falling into the encirclement of the German army, let us suspend the offensive, concentrate on consolidating the area we occupy now, and clear the enemy nearby." ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Malinin pointed to the map and said with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, you see, how many remnants of the enemy's strongholds are in the several areas we occupy, and how much effort it will take to wipe them all out. ”

"Whatever the cost, we must rid the enemy of the vicinity of the occupied areas." Rokossovsky said resolutely: "Chief of staff, you see, if we do not purge these enemies, they will come out and make trouble as soon as we continue to develop in their depth. As soon as the offensive of our troops is thwarted, these enemies, who are operating in our rear, may cut off our retreat and form an encirclement of us. Therefore, no matter what the cost is, they must all be completely wiped out in the shortest possible time. ”

After waiting for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, Malinin cautiously asked: "Comrade commander, do you have any specific arrangements?" ”

"If you let a large army destroy these remnants of the German army, it will be a bit of a chicken with a knife." Rokossovsky said thoughtfully: "I think it's better to let the troops below, as a company, clear these enemies." ”

"Disperse operations in a company?" When Zakharov heard Rokossovsky's order, he immediately raised his own objections: "Comrade commander, I don't think this is good, our troops are already fighting in unfamiliar areas, and it is not yet known what kind of results they can achieve. As soon as the Germans discover that our forces are fragmented, they may concentrate their superior forces and wipe out our forces one by one. ”

In response to Zakharov's concerns, Rokossovsky smiled and said: "Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Commander, the situation is not as bad as you think." We, the small units that are scattered and fighting, will be coordinated by the partisans under the command of Comrade Popov. With the cooperation of the guerrilla comrades who are familiar with the terrain, I believe that they will be able to achieve the desired results. ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky had already made a decision, Zakharov did not insist on his opinion any longer, but nodded and said: "Well, comrade commander, since you are so confident, then do as you say!" ”

Malinin asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade commander, I don't know which divisions should send small detachments to destroy the remnants of the German army?" ”

Rokossovsky looked at the map in front of him, and then ordered: "General Kiryukhin's 324th Infantry Division, since it is tasked with defending Sushnych, they will not participate in this mission. ”

In response to Zakharov's concerns, Rokossovsky smiled and said: "Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Commander, the situation is not as bad as you think." We, the small units that are scattered and fighting, will be coordinated by the partisans under the command of Comrade Popov. With the cooperation of the guerrilla comrades who are familiar with the terrain, I believe that they will be able to achieve the desired results. ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky had already made a decision, Zakharov did not insist on his opinion any longer, but nodded and said: "Well, comrade commander, since you are so confident, then do as you say!" ”

Malinin asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade commander, I don't know which divisions should send small detachments to destroy the remnants of the German army?" ”

Rokossovsky looked at the map in front of him, and then ordered: "General Kiryukhin's 324th Infantry Division, since it is tasked with defending Sushnych, they will not participate in this mission. ”