As the troops advanced, Rokossovsky, who remained at the observation post, soon could no longer see the combat situation of the troops, so he and Lobachev returned to the headquarters of the army group, where they prepared to continue directing the battle. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

When he walked into the headquarters, he saw Malinin and the commander of the infantry corps, Major General Orlov, standing in front of the map by the wall with their backs to the door, pointing to what the map was studying.

"General Orlov," Rokossovsky said loudly, as he walked towards the two, "your troops are fighting well, having managed to break through the two lines of German defense, and are advancing in depth to the enemy." ”

Orlov turned to face Rokossovsky and said modestly: "The main thing is that our artillery and tank units are well coordinated, and without their support, the troops would not have progressed as smoothly as they are now." ”

Rokossovsky turned to Malinin and ordered: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the 12th Tank Army can be put into battle." When will they be able to get to the battlefield? ”

According to Rokossovsky's idea, the position of the 12th Tank Army is only five kilometers behind the 15th Tank Army, and in forty or fifty minutes, they should be able to rush to the battlefield. ”

"What, it takes two hours to go into battle?" Malinin's answer greatly surprised Rokossovsky, he stared at Malinin and asked puzzledly: "You tell me, why did it take so long, was it because the tank corps ran out of fuel, or something went wrong?" ”

"Comrade Commander, it's all my fault." Malinin said apologetically to Rokossovsky: "When making plans, I forgot about reconnaissance and insisting on the capacity of the road. At present, there is a river blocking the path of the 12th Tank Army, and both sides of the river are peat swamps, and our tanks are stuck there, and it will take at least two hours to successfully get out. ”

"Hell, that's the case?" After hearing this, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be angry, he originally wanted to put the 12th Tank Army into battle and quickly expand the results of the battle, but who would have thought that this happened and his plan fell through, "Don't you know that on the battlefield, every minute is precious?" ”

"Comrade Commander, now is not the time to get angry." Seeing that Rokossovsky was starting to get angry, Lobachev hurriedly came out to make peace: "Let's sum up this lesson after the battle, our priority now is to find a way to put the tank army into battle as soon as possible." ”

Lobachev's words calmed down Rokossovsky a lot, he first asked Orlov to return to his army headquarters, and then instructed Malinin: "Chief of staff, I don't care what method you use, I must let the tanks of the 12th Tank Army get out of the current area as soon as possible and advance to the combat area!" ”

When the 12th Tank Army advanced to the front line for two hours, the German troops, who had recovered from their senses, were not idle, and they mobilized troops from all directions to fill the gap opened by the Soviets.

Orlov reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, according to the report of the commander of the 108th Infantry Division on the right flank, they found the bodies of officers and soldiers of the German 78th Infantry Division in the pile of corpses on the battlefield......"

When Malinin, who was standing beside Rokossovsky, heard this, he immediately exclaimed: "This is impossible, according to the information we have, how could this German division deployed on our left flank, that is, in front of General Popov's 10th Army, suddenly appear on our right flank?" ”

"We are not mistaken," Orlov said in a firm tone, "in addition to the corpses of the Germans, among the prisoners we captured were also officers and men of the 78th Infantry Division." Moreover, the commander of the 328th Infantry Division in the central section reported that the numbers of the German 45th Infantry Division and the 26th Motorized Rifle Division appeared on their front. ”

"I see." After Rokossovsky said this to Orlov, he reached out and covered the microphone, and after staring at the map on the table for a while, he asked Malinin with a sideways face: "Chief of staff, what's going on, shouldn't these two German divisions be deployed in the Bryansk direction?" Why did it suddenly appear in our combat area? ”

Malinin frowned and thought for a while, and then said: "I guess the Germans are worried that our surprise will open the road to Bryansk, so they mobilize reserves to fill the passage opened by our army." ”

Rokossovsky let go of his hand covering the microphone, and then asked Orlov: "Comrade General, has the 324th Infantry Division on the left flank been blocked by any newly transferred enemy?" ”

"No," Orlov said, shaking his head, "only the right flank and the central sector were blocked by the new German forces, and the left flank continued to advance." ”

"I understand that if there is anything new, report it to me immediately." Rokossovsky put down the phone and thought for a moment, absolutely since the Germans moved the troops in the Bryansk direction and in front of the 10th Army, then this area became relatively empty, and it was a good opportunity to attack. Thinking of this, he asked the director of communications, Maximenko, to connect with the headquarters of the 10th Army, and said to Popov, who answered the phone: "Comrade General, in order to block the advance of our army group to their depth, the German army has transferred the main forces of Bryansk and the front of your army group to me. I now ask you, taking advantage of the weakness of the German defenses on the front, to launch an immediate offensive in response to our offensive and that of the 61st Army. ”

"But Comrade Rokossovsky, we have not received an order to attack." After hearing this, Popov said with some embarrassment: "If we attack the enemy without asking for instructions, I am afraid that I will not be able to pay this responsibility if my superiors will investigate it in the future." ”

Rokossovsky knew that Popov was not deliberately shirking this, but that there was a bad habit in the Soviet army, and commanders at all levels did not dare to take various countermeasures in a timely manner according to the situation on the battlefield before receiving instructions from their superiors. In order not to embarrass Popov, he took the initiative to take the responsibility on himself: "General Popov, I will immediately report this situation to General Zhukov. Now you assemble the assault forces, and when the order to attack from the front command arrives, you can immediately attack. ”

"I think, it's better to wait for the order to come down, and then I'll gather troops." Popov said with some foresight: "After all, if you casually transfer troops into battle without asking for instructions, if you cause serious consequences, you may be sent to a military court." ”

In the face of Popov's pushing, Rokossovsky couldn't help but sigh, and then said helplessly: "Okay, General Popov, I'll report to General Zhukov immediately, and you better prepare the troops for battle as soon as possible." ”

Rokossovsky dialed Zhukov's phone, reported the situation on the battlefield to him one by one, and finally said: "Comrade Zhukov, now that the German army has pressed the main forces in the direction of the offensive of our army, and the forces on the left flank and in the Bryansk direction have become weak, do you think you should order Popov's 10th Army to seize this favorable opportunity and immediately launch an attack on the enemy in front?" ”

"You continue to direct the troops to advance in depth to the enemy," Zhukov said in a flat tone, "I will call Popov and ask him to launch an offensive operation against the Germans from your left flank." ”

Seeing Rokossovsky put down the phone, Malinin immediately anxiously asked: "Comrade commander, what did General Zhukov say?" ”

"He said he would call Popov and have the 10th Army attack from our left flank into the depth of the German defense." Rokossovsky, after repeating Zhukov's words, asked rhetorically: "Does the 61st Army have any battle reports?" ”

Malinin shook his head, and then replied: "After a fierce battle, General Popov's troops occupied the first line of defense of the German army, and the two charges launched against the second line of defense were repulsed by the enemy. ”

Rokossovsky learned from the map that due to the slow advance of the 61st Army on the right flank, the Orlov Infantry Corps, which had advanced nearly ten kilometers, was too prominent, and there was a possibility of being surrounded by German troops at any time. Therefore, he instructed Malinin: "Call General Orlov and ask him to control the pace of the attack, and not to go too far alone, otherwise there will be a danger of being surrounded by the Germans." ”

Malinin immediately and faithfully conveyed Rokossovsky's order to Orlov, and the chief of the armored corps, Colonel Orel, came over and asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade commander, the tanks of the 12th Tank Army will be able to reach the starting position of our army's offensive in ten minutes." Speaking of this, he paused deliberately for a moment, and after a quick glance at Malinin, he asked cautiously, "I wonder if this tank unit will continue to be under the command of Chief of Staff Malinin, or will it be handed over to me?" ”

Rokossovsky looked at Malinin and then at Orel, and he was really a little troubled in his heart. In terms of position, it is very appropriate to put Orel in command of the tank troops. However, when drawing up the battle plan for the tank troops, he himself made it clear that he would hand over the tank units to Malinin for command.

Fortunately, Malinin understood the righteousness and did not want Rokossovsky to be in a dilemma, so he took the initiative to offer: "Comrade commander, I think it is better to hand over the tank troops to Colonel Orel to command, after all, he has more experience in commanding tank operations than me." ”

Seeing that Malinin had already taken the initiative to give way, Rokossovsky borrowed the slope to get off the donkey and said: "Okay, since this is the case, then from now on, whether it is the 15th or 12th tank armies, as well as the rest of the tank units participating in the battle, they will all be under the command of Colonel Orel." ”