The day after Rokossovsky returned to the unit, he received a call from Vasilevsky. The chief of the General Staff of the pen ~ fun ~ cabinet www.biquge.info said on the phone: "Comrade Rokossovsky, at present Vatutin still lacks a capable assistant, and the Supreme Commander himself suggests that your chief of staff, General Mikhail Ilyich Kazakov, be transferred to the post of chief of staff of the Voronezh Front. And the vacant post he vacated was taken over by the current deputy chief of staff, General Malinin. ”

Since there were two Kazakovs in the Bryansk Front, Vasilevsky was deeply afraid that Rokossovsky had made a mistake, and when announcing this to him, he also went out of his way to say the full name of Chief of Staff Kazakov.

Vasilevsky's orders were exactly what Rokossovsky wanted, and although Kazakov was also a good commander, his style was somewhat out of step with Rokossovsky, but not as well as Deputy Chief of Staff Malinin. Since at this moment the higher authorities wanted to transfer the other party to the Voronezh Front to serve as Vatutin's deputy, Rokossovsky immediately said along the way: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, Kazakov is an excellent staff officer, and if he is transferred to the Voronezh Front as chief of staff, he will definitely become a good assistant to Commander Vatutin." ”

Kazakov was transferred, and Malinin officially took his place. But the offensive on Voronezh, which was supposed to be launched a long time ago, did not move at all. And the defense zone of the Bryansk Front was also calm, and there was not even a small conflict between the enemy and us.

When Rokossovsky and Korzun inspected their positions on the left bank of the Zusha River, they saw from a distance a few hundred meters away in the German fortifications, German officers and soldiers walking up and down as if no one was around, and in one of the trenches, there was also a cooking cart, surrounded by German soldiers who were eating.

Seeing this scene, Rokossovsky put down his binoculars and asked Korzun with some displeasure: "Comrade General, which unit is holding this position?" ”

"It's a special brigade." Corzun replied truthfully.

"Call the brigade commander to me immediately." After giving this order, Rokossovsky pointed to the German fortifications in the distance and said angrily: "This is the battlefield, not the main road, General Korzun, you see, the Germans simply regard this place as the street of Paris where they are vacationing, and they are not afraid of our attack in the trenches, how can this work?" ”

The brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yershov, was not far away and came over as soon as he called. He came to the two of them and raised his hands and saluted, and then reported: "Comrade General, Lieutenant Colonel Yershov, commander of the Special Brigade, reports to you that I have been ordered to come and listen to your orders, please instruct!" ”

Rokossovsky forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart, pointed to the German fortifications in the distance, and asked coldly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, let me ask you, how far are your fortifications from the closest place to the German fortifications?" ”

After a quick glance at the fortifications in the distance, Yershov replied loudly: "Report to Comrade General, the nearest trench between us and the enemy is only 150 meters apart, and even with the naked eye, you can clearly see each other's facial features." ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, explain to me, since the distance is so close, why have you never taken the initiative to attack the enemy?" Rokossovsky raised his voice and said: "The two trenches are 150 meters apart, and the Germans dare to walk around the trenches as if no one is around, because they are not afraid of being attacked by you at all. Also, further away, there is an enemy cooking cart, which can knock out a dozen or even dozens of German soldiers with a single mortar shell, but you have done nothing. Tell me, why is that? ”

Yershov, who had been trained by Rokossovsky, did not speak, but after a quick glance at Korzun, he lowered his head.

Seeing that the other party actually ignored him, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be a little annoyed and angry, and when he was about to attack again, he heard Korzun say: "Comrade commander, you are wrong to blame him. After we occupied this place, he once proposed to me to use cold guns and cannons to consume the living forces of the enemy on the opposite side, but I vetoed it. ”

"Why?" Hearing that Yershov once wanted to attack the enemy with cold guns and cannons, but was denied by Korzun, Rokossovsky could not help but ask curiously: "Why did you stop his request?" ”

Korzun shrugged his shoulders and said with some disapproval: "Although we are only 150 meters away from the enemy's nearest trench, it is almost impossible to hit the enemy so far away if we are not sharpshooters. There is also the cooking truck opposite, although it has always been within the range of our mortar fire, and there is a reason why we have not touched it. ”

"What is the reason?" Korzun's words made Rokossovsky look more and more confused.

"In the long-term defense, we are all accustomed to a stationary front, living in peace with the enemy, tacitly not interfering with each other and living a normal life." "For example, neither side attacks the other's cooking carts, does not shoot at soldiers who go to the river to fetch water, and so on. ”

For Rokossovsky, it was the first time that Rokossovsky had heard these words, and in his imagination, even in the face of confrontation between friend and foe, he had to find ways to destroy the living forces of the other side. At this moment, after hearing what Korzun had said, he was silent and didn't say anything, just quietly listened to what the other party had to say.

“…… In a defensive state, our troops have less ammunition, whether artillery shells, mortar shells or bullets, than they are going to attack. The soldiers in the first trench would think: 'If I shoot the Germans who go to the cooking cart with their lunch boxes, it will consume bullets, and the enemy, in his rage, will return fire on us in the same way, and the fire may be more intense, and the disgusting bunker life will be even more annoying.' ’

Life in bunkers is where people sit in vain for weeks or months, and the warriors are not only subjected to all kinds of hardships, but also to the monotony of life. Shelters or anti-artillery holes can collapse at any moment due to shells, and mud-covered and moldy logs will press on you.

On top of that, the fighters had to brave the pouring rain, the scorching sun, or the cold blizzard for hours and hours to stand guard or lurk. ……”

Rokossovsky patiently waited for Korzun to finish speaking, and then said to him patiently: "Comrade General, maybe what you said has a point, but have you thought about it? The attitude of indifference, this is a terrible pathology. It cannot be allowed to spread. We must not allow people to relax their vigilance, otherwise a surprise attack by the Germans will take us by surprise. ”

"Comrade Commander of the Front," after Rokossovsky's words, Yershov suddenly rushed to say: "We have not let our guard down. The political workers of our brigade go to the company below every day to talk with the fighters and talk with them about topics of interest, so that our fighters can maintain a full fighting spirit and keep an eye on the enemy on the opposite side while being in a happy mood. ”

Hearing that the fighters of the special brigade always maintained a high degree of vigilance, a smile appeared on Rokossovsky's face, he nodded at Yershov and said approvingly: "Well done, comrade lieutenant colonel, I believe that as long as you stick here, you will definitely be able to block the German attack." ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky's expression softened, Korzun hurriedly asked while the iron was hot: "Comrade Commander of the Front, do you think we will continue to maintain the status quo?" ”

Rokossovsky understood that the maintenance of the status quo that Korzun was talking about was to maintain a state of peaceful coexistence with the German army in a state of confrontation. Although he was unwilling, for the sake of long-term consideration, he still nodded and said, "Okay, General Korzun, since our army does not have the ability to drive the enemy away from here at present, then let's continue to maintain the status quo." ”