Rokossovsky thought that the major would lead him to the staff headquarters, but after following the other party into the Kremlin, in front of the heavily guarded iron gate, the two men showed their documents and handed over their weapons, and then walked into a long, dimly lit passage. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Although Rokossovsky came to the Kremlin only a limited number of times, he saw that this passage was not the road to the staff headquarters or Stalin's office, so he asked vigilantly: "Comrade Major, what is this place?" ”

The major turned his head to look at Rokossovsky, who was following him, and said as he walked: "Comrade General, I was ordered to take you to the War Department of the General Staff Headquarters, where Marshal Timoshenko and Acting Chief of the General Staff General Vasilevsky were waiting for you. ”

Rokossovsky's heart chuckled, and then he said to himself: "I have long heard rumors that there are underground fortifications in the Kremlin, and I thought it was a rumor, but I didn't expect it to be true." ”

"It's not a rumor, it's a real thing." The major thought for a moment and said to Rokossovsky: "In order to ensure that the High Command can still work as usual in the event of an enemy air attack, we have built some bunkers and fortifications underground, but the scale is far from as large as everyone thinks......"

As they spoke, the two came to an iron fence again, and in the face of the sentries standing guard here, the two had to show their documents again. A sentry took the two men's papers, looked through them briefly, and then walked into a small room next to them to make a phone call, probably to verify the identity of the major and Rokossovsky.

A few minutes later, the sentry finished the call, opened the iron barred door and let the two men in, while handing back the papers.

After entering the door, Rokossovsky followed the major and descended a long flight of stairs to a spacious place. According to his experience, it was obvious that this was a subway station, so he couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Major, can you tell me, what kind of subway station is this?" ”

"This is Kirov Station." The major casually replied, "Since there are many important confidential departments here, the subway has not stopped passing here since the outbreak of the war. ”

When the two men came to the entrance of the war department, the major walked over and said a few words to an officer sitting in the doorway. The officer raised his head and glanced at Rokossovsky, who was standing next to him, quickly got up, pulled the hem of his military uniform with a belt neatly, walked out from behind the desk, pushed the door behind him open a crack in the door for only one person to enter, and walked in.

After a few moments, the officer came out of the room again. He pushed the crack of the door wider, made a gesture of invitation, and said politely: "Comrade General, please come in!" Marshal Timoshenko is waiting for you. ”

When Rokossovsky walked in the door, he saw that several commanders were already sitting around the conference table in the room. After seeing where Timoshenko was located, he hurriedly walked over, raised his hand to salute him, and at the same time said: "Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General Rokossovsky, commander of the 16th Army, came by your order, please instruct!" ”

Timoshenko stood up and shook his hand, then pointed to an empty seat next to him and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, please be seated!" After Rokossovsky sat down, he pointed to the commanders present and began to introduce Rokossovsky, "This is Gurov, the military commissar of the Southwestern Front and the political commissar of the division, this is the commander of the Southern Front, Lieutenant General Malinovsky, and his military commissar, the political commissar of the 1st army group Zaporozhyets......"

When Rokossovsky got up and shook hands with these commanders one by one, he secretly thought to himself that since Timoshenko was dismissed by Stalin from the post of commander of the Western Front, he had almost faded from the spotlight, and it was not until the beginning of this year that he was appointed commander of the Southwestern Front.

When it was over, Vasilevsky, who had never said a word, said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Rokossovsky, do you know why we called you here? ”

When Rokossovsky entered the door, he saw a huge battle map behind Timoshenko, and he didn't bother to look at it carefully because he was in a hurry to see where Timoshenko was. Hearing Vasilevsky's question at this moment, he hurriedly looked at the map carefully.

After seeing clearly the position of the attacking arrow on the map, he could not help but be surprised, and then asked Vasilevsky in surprise: "Why, we are going to retake Kharkov from the Germans?" ”

After hearing this, Vasilevsky grinned at Timoshenko, who was sitting between him and Rokossovsky, and said proudly: "Comrade Marshal, I'm not wrong, Rokossovsky can guess our combat intentions just by glancing at the map. ”

Timoshenko looked at Rokossovsky with a smile on his face and began to explain the situation to him: "Comrade Rokossovsky, according to the order of the Supreme High Command, the Southwestern Front under my command and the Southern Front under the command of Lieutenant General Malinovsky will launch an offensive against the enemy in the Kharkiv region in the middle of this month.

The specific operational plan was as follows: The Southwestern Front carried out a centripetal assault on Kharkov from the Barvenkovo salient and the Volchansk area from the north and south, smashed the German Kharkov group, recovered Kharkov, and created conditions for the development of an offensive in Dnepropetrovsk; The Southern Front held directly south of the Balvenkovo salient in order to secure the flanks of the main assault group of the Southwestern Front. ”

After Timoshenko finished speaking, he asked Rokossovsky with a smile: "Comrade Rokossovsky, what do you think of this plan?" ”

As a person with memories of the future, Rokossovsky is well aware of what the final result of this Kharkov battle will be. Due to the misjudgment of the strategic situation of the campaign by the commanders of the two fronts, the lack of well-organized coordinated actions, poor logistical support, command errors, and the late entry of rapid troops into the battle, the final result was a crushing defeat in the Battle of Kharkov, in which 240,000 Soviet troops were captured and thousands of tanks and artillery were destroyed or captured.

The evil consequences of this failed offensive campaign were the heavy losses of the vital forces and technical weapons of the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front, the loss of important landing sites on the Severodonets River, the failure to carry out the offensive campaign scheduled for the summer as scheduled, and the further complication of the overall situation in the southwest.

It was precisely because of his understanding of this period of history that Rokossovsky, when he heard Timoshenko's question, quickly stood up and replied: "Comrade Marshal, with all due respect, although this battle plan has been formulated very thoroughly, I think that when it is implemented, it will definitely be affected by some uncertain factors, which will lead to the inability of our army to achieve the goal of the campaign. ”

Timoshenko, who was originally smiling, immediately covered his face with a layer of frost after hearing Rokossovsky's answer, and he asked coldly: "At present, the Kharkov group of the German army has only one Paulus's 6th Army, can't our two fronts still be able to take care of them?" ”

"Comrade Marshal," said Rokossovsky, who had already offended Timoshenko, and could only bite the bullet and continue: "Although the Kharkov group of the German army has only the 6th Army of the German Army Group South, there is also a Brest cluster nearby, which governs the 17th Army and the 1st Panzer Army, and if they are added, the strength of the enemy and us will be roughly equal.

Most of the commanders and fighters of our units were newly recruited, and compared with the German officers and men who had been on the battlefield for a long time, their combat effectiveness was obviously a cut off, and we were not very sure of victory when the strength of the troops was roughly equal. At the same time, if we are harassed by the German air force and poor communication conditions when we are fighting in large corps, our army will be completely passive on the battlefield......" He also explained to Timoshenko and them based on the real battle experience in history.

"Nonsense, it's just nonsense." Timoshenko couldn't listen to Rokossovsky's persuasion at all, he slapped the table, and said angrily: "You are alarmist, I don't believe that with the strength of our two fronts, we can't deal with one army group of the Germans." I'll show you how we wiped out the Kharkov group of the Germans......" Timoshenko said to several other commanders after roaring at Rokossovsky, "let's go!" Then he got up and brushed his sleeves away.

As Timoshenko and the other commanders attending the meeting left, Vasilevsky, who was still sitting in his seat, could not help but cry bitterly: "I said Comrade Rokossovsky, look what you have done, you actually drove Marshal Timoshenko away!" He had also proposed to Comrade Stalin that you be the deputy commander of the Southwestern Front, but then the matter would have been completely ruined. ”

When Rokossovsky heard Vasilevsky say this, he couldn't help but secretly congratulate himself that he had made Timoshenko angry, otherwise he would really be the deputy commander of the Southwestern Front, and what awaited him might be the fate of being captured or sacrificed. He thought that he had been working in the General Staff Headquarters recently, but he had never participated in the formulation of this battle plan, so he asked curiously: "Acting Chief of the General Staff, I want to know when this Kharkov battle plan was formulated, why don't I know anything about it?" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Vasilevsky said a little embarrassed: "You should know that you are currently working at the General Staff Headquarters, and it is only of a temporary nature, so we have not notified you to participate in the formulation of certain operational plans with a high degree of secrecy. ”

Rokossovsky suddenly remembered that a few days ago, he had not seen Vasilevsky's shadow at the staff headquarters, and asked several people who did not know his whereabouts, and it turned out that he was hiding here to draw up a battle plan for the Kharkov offensive campaign.

He did not dwell on this issue, but continued to ask rhetorically: "Comrade Acting Chief of the General Staff, can you tell me why our army is in such a hurry to recapture Kharkov?" ”

Regarding Rokossovsky's question, Vasilevsky said with a serious face: "Comrade Rokossovsky, it seems that you do not understand enough about the importance of the city of Kharkov, so let me tell you the reasons why it is necessary to liberate the city."

First of all, it was the most important strategically important railway junction and air transport base for military mail in the Soviet Union.

Secondly, it is one of the largest industrial centers of our country, and the famous T-34 tank was designed and produced by the Kharkov Tractor Plant in the city. In addition, the city is home to the Kharkiv Aircraft Factory, the Kharkiv Ministry of Internal Affairs Plant, and the Kharkiv Turbine Factory, among others, which can produce tanks, Su-2 attack aircraft, artillery tractors, 82-mm mortars, submachine guns and other military equipment.

Last but not least, Kharkiv is one of the most populous cities in our country, according to incomplete statistics, the total population of the city exceeded 900,000 in the month before the outbreak of the war; Before the Germans occupied Kharkov, the total population had reached more than 1.5 million due to the influx of evacuees from the western regions. ”

After listening to Vasilevsky's introduction to the importance of Kharkov, Rokossovsky also felt that this important city should be taken back from the Germans immediately. If the existing battle plan is properly adjusted, then there is still a slight certainty of victory, otherwise the Soviet army will again suffer a crushing defeat as it has done in history. Thinking of this, he cautiously asked: "Comrade Acting Chief of the General Staff, I would like to ask, can this battle plan still be adjusted?" ”

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Vasilevsky shook his head vigorously and replied decisively: "No, this plan has already been approved by the Supreme High Command." In other words, the upcoming offensive campaign of Kharkov must be carried out in strict accordance with the battle plan, and the slightest change is not allowed. ”

In the face of Vasilevsky, who had such a resolute attitude, Rokossovsky could only sigh in his heart: I have done what I can, but I still cannot change the established history, and as for the fate of the hundreds of thousands of commanders and fighters who participated in the offensive campaign, I can only resign myself to fate.

"Rokossovsky," Seeing Rokossovsky staring at the map on the wall in a daze, Vasilevsky walked over and patted him on the back and asked with concern, "What are you thinking?" I see you're staring at the map in a daze. ”

Rokossovsky turned his head to look at Vasilevsky on the side, and asked: "Comrade Acting Chief of the General Staff, do you think that this offensive campaign of our army can be victorious?" ”

"Who can say for sure about the war?" Vasilevsky said with some uncertainty: "But from any point of view, our army is in an absolute superiority, defeating the Kharkov group of the German army and achieving the goal of the campaign, I think it is still not a big problem." ”

Rokossovsky did not want to talk about this matter any longer, and he turned to Vasilevsky and said: "Comrade Acting Chief of the General Staff, I have a request, I hope you will help me convey it to the Supreme Commander himself. ”