By this time, Rokossovsky had returned to his command from the forward observation post. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 After listening to the bad news reported by Panfilov, he was silent for a moment, and then said lightly: "I know. After speaking, without waiting for what Panfilov was saying, he hung up the phone.

The other commanders of the command, who had already succeeded in crushing the German offensive again, rejoiced, and immediately fell silent when they heard the news that the two settlements of Boricevo had been occupied by the Germans. All eyes were on Rokossovsky, wanting to hear what kind of decision he would make.

But after waiting for a long time, Rokossovsky just kept staring at the map in front of him in a daze, without giving any orders. Malinin, who was a little breathless, opened his mouth and asked: "Comrade commander, should we immediately give General Panfilov an order to send troops to counterattack and recapture the settlements occupied by the Germans?" ”

Rokossovsky raised his head, looked at the chief of staff standing in front of him, and asked strangely: "Why send troops to counterattack?" ”

"But, Comrade Commander," Malinin replied truthfully, although he did not understand why Rokossovsky would say this, "the enemy has occupied two of our settlements, and if they are not recaptured as soon as possible, the enemy may use them as a starting point for their attack." ”

"Chief of Staff, come and see." Rokossovsky pointed to the map and said to Malinin: "You see, these two settlements are near open land, there is no danger to defend at all, even if we take them back, under the fierce offensive of the German army, we will not be able to hold it." Moreover, we have limited forces in our hands, and there is no need to invest our limited forces in such an inconsequential defensive position, and fight a tug-of-war with the German army. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's reasoning, the corners of Malinin's mouth twitched violently, and then he asked: "Do you need to report the news of the loss of the settlement to the command of the Front?" ”

Rokossovsky nodded expressionlessly and said: "When reporting today's results, the news of the loss of the settlement will also be reported. ”

Lobachev took advantage of Malinin's phone call and whispered to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, how would General Zhukov react if he knew that we had lost two settlements, but you did not send troops to recapture them?" ”

"Needless to say, my comrade military commissar." To Lobachev's question, Rokossovsky replied with a wry smile: "He will definitely be furious and immediately call me and order me to take the lost settlements from the enemy at any cost." ”

Lobachev was puzzled by Rokossovsky's answer: "Comrade commander, since you know that General Zhukov is angry, why do you still do this?" ”

In order to dispel Lobachev's doubts, Rokossovsky decided to instill in him some of the military theories of Taizu: "Comrade Military Commissar, you know that 'people lose their land, and they lose their land; How do you understand that people lose land, and everyone gains land'? ”

This military theory, which was well known to Chinese women and children in later generations, was still too advanced for Lobachev at this moment. After listening to this, he stared at Rokossovsky for a long time, and finally shook his head and said: "I don't understand, can you explain it to me?" ”

"According to the literal understanding, the position is kept, but the fighters are sacrificed, and as long as the enemy attacks again, then our position is still finished! Although the position has been temporarily lost, but we have preserved the living force, then sooner or later we will regain the position through counterattack. Rokossovsky, after a simple explanation, tentatively asked Lobachev: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you understand?" ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Lobachev nodded and said: "What you said seems to be very reasonable, but it is useless to convince me, you have to find a way to convince Comrade Zhukov." As he spoke, he raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said with a smile on his face, "If my judgment is correct, he should call you in five minutes and urge you to send troops to counterattack and retake the lost settlement." ”

As soon as his words fell, Malinin, who was on the phone to report the results of the battle, turned around and said to Rokossovsky with a sad face: "Comrade commander, General Zhukov is going to talk to you. ”

Under Lobachev's sympathetic gaze, Rokossovsky got up and walked to Malinin's side, took the microphone from his hand, put it to his ear and said politely: "Hello, Comrade General, I am Rokossovsky......"

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by an angry Zhukov, who angrily asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I want you to explain to me why after the Germans occupied the two settlements in the defense area of the 316th Infantry Division, you did not take any measures, and allowed the Germans to camp there?" ”

"Comrade General, please listen to my explanation." Rokossovsky waited for Zhukov to finish speaking, and then began to defend himself, he was ready to instill the military theory of Taizu into Zhukov, "The strength of our army group is very limited......

"The strength of your group army is limited, is it possible that the strength of the other group armies is sufficient?" Unexpectedly, as soon as he said the beginning, he was unceremoniously interrupted by Zhukov, "The Fifth Army on your left flank fought tenaciously with the Germans for a day today. Especially in the Borodino area, repeated battles with the German army paid an extremely high price. But in the end, despite their own heavy casualties, they managed to take Borodino back from the Germans. ”

Rokossovsky patiently listened to Zhukov's reproach, and then said euphemistically: "Comrade Zhukov, I understand that you are worried that the enemy will turn the two settlements into a new starting point for the offensive, which will be very unfavorable to our next battle. When I heard the news of the loss of the settlement, my first thought was for General Panfilov to immediately organize his troops to counterattack the enemy and recapture the settlement. However, on second thought, the front of these two settlements is open field, which is very conducive to the deployment of German armored forces, and even if we recapture the settlements, it will be difficult for the troops lacking anti-tank weapons to hold on, and on the contrary, it will increase unnecessary casualties. It is better to adopt the tactics of resisting step by step, constantly depleting the German army's vital forces in the battle, and when their offensive momentum weakens, we will choose the right time to counterattack them and regain the lost positions in one fell swoop. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Zhukov's anger calmed down a little, and he asked angrily with a straight face: "Comrade Rokossovsky, do you really think that the tactics you have adopted can consume the living forces of the German army?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Zhukov." Rokossovsky confidently said: "In the process of resisting, we are constantly depleting the enemy's living forces, and at the same time, after they have occupied so many areas, they must also divide their forces to defend." As a result, they will have fewer troops to use for frontal attacks, resulting in a weakening of their ability to attack fortifications. As for our army, as the strength of the army shrinks, the combat effectiveness will become stronger and stronger. When the time comes, we can immediately launch a counterattack against the enemy. ”

After hearing this, Zhukov snorted heavily and said angrily: "Comrade Rokossovsky, don't you know that the defensive slogan of our army has always been 'I would rather expose the bones to the wilderness than take a step back'?" Think about it, what would those leaders of the General Staff say if they knew about your tactics? ”

Rokossovsky sensed from Zhukov's tone of speech that the other side was no longer concerned about whether to send troops to recapture the lost settlements, insisted on the original decision, and instilled in Zhukov the military theory of Taizu while the iron was hot, and finally added: "Comrade Zhukov, you can rest assured. No matter what kind of attack the Germans launch, as long as we can adopt the right tactics to deal with it, it will not be so easy for them to break through our defenses. ”

Zhukov only hesitated for a moment about the set of military theories that Rokossovsky had instilled in him, then decisively accepted them in full, and his tone of voice to Rokossovsky became kind: "I think the tactics you mentioned are still very useful, so from now on, it is up to you to decide what tactics to use for defense in the Volokolamsk region." (To be continued.) )