The hard fighting continued until the end of September, when the troops of the 48th and 65th armies, having broken through the defensive positions established by the Germans using the forests and marshes, advanced to the Sozh River and began preparations for the crossing.

At the same time that the troops of the right flank of the Front advanced to the Sozh River, the troops of the 61st, 13th and 65th armies on the left flank also established landing grounds on the right bank of the Dnieper.

Fearing Rokossovsky's left flank troops, the Germans again attacked in the direction of Kiev and took the initiative to withdraw a significant number of troops from the area where they were fighting with the Voronezh Front, as a result of which the speed of Vatutin's troops towards the Dnieper was accelerated.

Although the offensive of the 60th Army in the direction of Kiev was frustrated, Rokossovsky saw that the opportunity to really attack Kyiv had come as the areas occupied by the troops of the Front became solidified. Therefore, he specially called Vasilevsky and offered to him: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I think the conditions are ripe for our department to attack Kyiv. I intend to once again order the troops of the 60th Army to go south and attack Kiev. In doing so, not only would Vatutin's troops be more effectively helped, but it would also prevent the enemy from withdrawing more troops to the right bank of the Dnieper. ”

After listening to this, Vasilevsky was silent for a moment and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I feel the need to remind you that the task of attacking Kyiv, the base camp has been handed over to Vatutin's Voronezh Front. Some time ago, Marshal Zhukov was very optimistic about the 60th Army going south along the Dnieper River to raid Kiev. But what is the result? In addition to the loss of your troops, what kind of results have you achieved? ”

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," although the defeat of the 60th Army some time ago had nothing to do with Rokossovsky, in the face of Vasilevsky's criticism, he still stubbornly said: "Now the situation has changed, and only one unit of the 60th Army attacked Kyiv at the beginning, and compared with the enemy, it was at a disadvantage in terms of strength. But now we already have three army groups on the right bank of the Dnieper, and if necessary, we can use the forces of the three army groups to launch an attack on Kyiv in order to reduce the resistance to Vatutin. ”

"No, it's just no." Vasilevsky stubbornly said: "I have already said that it is the intention of the Supreme High Command to let the Voronezh Front attack Kyiv. And your 60th Army, in the early offensive, also ended in failure, so I don't think it's necessary to make another attempt like this. The next task of your front is to liberate Belarus, and the Ukrainian side should be left to the Voronezh Front and several other fronts. ”

After hitting the nail on the nail at Vasilevsky's place, Rokossovsky once called Stalin directly, asking him to agree to send his troops south along the Dnieper River to attack Kiev in order to contain the German forces that were fighting Vatutin. But when his hand had already picked up the microphone of the high-frequency telephone, it was quite quite that since Vasilevsky refused so simply, perhaps there was a consensus among the members of the Supreme Command, and even if he made a phone call, it would be useless.

Seeing Rokossovsky pick up the phone and put it down again, Terekin, who was sitting on the side, couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade commander, are you planning to call the Supreme Commander himself?" ”

"Yes," Rokossovsky nodded, agreeing with Terekin's guess: "I am considering whether I should ask Comrade Stalin for instructions to launch an offensive on Kyiv for our 60th Army." ”

"Comrade commander," Terekin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and then said slowly: "The disagreement of the higher authorities to let the 60th Army attack Kyiv may not be a bad thing for us. ”

"Not attacking Kyiv, isn't it a bad thing for us?" Rokossovsky, after repeating Terekin's words, asked puzzledly: "Comrade Military Commissar, what exactly do you want to say?" Your words have confused me. ”

"Comrade Commander, don't forget." Seeing that Rokossovsky was confused, Terekin hurriedly reminded him: "The base camp likes to adjust the troops within the various armies according to the situation on the battlefield. Either they will be supplemented with new troops, or a part of the troops will be assigned to the command of other fronts. ”

A word woke up the dreamer, Terekin's words woke up Rokossovsky, and he asked tentatively: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you mean that if the superiors agree that the troops of the 60th Army will attack Kyiv again, it will be possible to place them under the command of the Voronezh Front in Vatutin?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Malinin, who had always remained silent, interjected: "According to the current situation, not only the 60th Army may be assigned to the Voronezh Front, but even the 13th Army of General Pukhov may also be assigned to the command of Commander Vatutin. ”

"Oh my God." Hearing Malinin say this, Rokossovsky's heart sank suddenly: "If the Supreme Command really does this, we will be missing two army groups, how will we fight in the next battle?" ”

Everyone was silent for a long time, and finally the silence was broken by Malinin: "Comrade commander, I seem to have just heard the chief of the General Staff say that the next task of our front is to liberate Belarus. ”

"That's right, that's what he said." Rokossovsky muttered to himself in his heart, it is estimated that it will not be long before his unit will change its name again, from the original "Central Front" to the "Belarusian Front".

…………

On October 5, Stalin personally called Rokossovsky. Hearing that it was Stalin's call, Rokossovsky couldn't help but chuckle in his heart, saying that what Terekin said a few days ago will not become a reality today, right? He took the phone and said into the microphone: "Hello, Comrade Stalin! ”

"Hello, Konstantin Konstantinovich!" Stalin affectionately called Rokossovsky's full name on the phone and asked enthusiastically: "How is your health lately, have you suddenly fainted again?" ”

"No, Comrade Stalin, I'm in good health, everything is normal." When Rokossovsky said this, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen Carinna for a while, and he didn't know if she had been transferred back to her original unit. "Thank you for the medical staff who have been specially arranged for me, my body is good enough to cope with the work in any situation."

"It's better to pay more attention to your body." Stalin, having said his words of concern, went straight to the point: "In order to quickly take Kyiv, the Supreme High Command has just made a new decision. It was prepared to transfer the 60th and 13th armies of the Central Front to the command of the Voronezh Front. ”

Hearing that the top 10 he feared had finally happened, Rokossovsky's heart began to bleed. But since Stalin personally informed him of this order, it proved that there was absolutely no room for maneuvering, and he could only stubbornly ask: "Comrade Stalin, the transfer of two army groups from us at once will have an impact on the strength of the entire front army, and I wonder when the higher authorities will replenish us with new troops?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Rokossovsky." Stalin probably did not expect Rokossovsky to ask such a question, and after a long silence, he said: "In a week at most, the base camp will be able to send two more army groups to strengthen you." ”

After hanging up the phone, Rokossovsky sat at the table and smoked a cigarette, thinking to himself that he had worked so hard to get to where he is now. Now it is good that the words of the Supreme Commander himself have given all these achievements to Vatutin free of charge.

Malinin sat down next to Rokossovsky, also lit a cigarette, and asked carefully: "Comrade commander, is the Supreme High Command really ready to assign the 60th and 13th armies to the command of the Voronezh Front?" ”

"Yes, this is what Comrade Stalin himself said." Rokossovsky said helplessly: "Presumably, it is already an ironclad fact that cannot be changed." ”

Ma Lining then asked: "Did the superiors say that they are going to transfer troops from where to supplement us?" ”

Rokossovsky shook his head, "I don't know, Comrade Stalin only said that within a week, new troops will be sent to us." ”

Terekin didn't know how to do it today, and quietly listened to the conversation between Rokossovsky and Malinin, but did not express any opinion. It wasn't until the two regained their composure that Terekin suddenly said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, can I talk to you alone?" ”

"Comrade commander, I have something to do, you can talk about it." Malinin immediately stood up, and after greeting the two, he stepped aside.

Although only Rokossovsky and Terekin were left at the table, Terekin still refused to speak, but stood up, shook his head at Rokossovsky, and said to him: "Comrade commander, let's go to the inner room and talk." ”

After the two entered the room, Terekin closed the door with his backhand and stared at Rokossovsky without saying a word, as if something on his face attracted him.

Rokossovsky was a little embarrassed by Terekin, and he hurriedly asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, there are only two of us here, if you have anything to say, just say it!" ”

"Carina is pregnant!" Telegin said unexpectedly.

"What, Carinna is pregnant?!" Hearing Terekin's words, Rokossovsky, who had just sat down at the table, immediately jumped up, rushed to Terekin with a brisk stride, reached out and grabbed his shirt, and asked nervously: "Comrade Military Commissar, what is going on?" ”

"Just half an hour ago, I received a call from the director of the hospital directly under the front army, he said that Jianina has been vomiting all the time in the past few days, and at first I thought it was because I had eaten something bad, but when I checked it, I found out that she was pregnant." When Terekin said this, his eyes kept on Rokossovsky, observing his expression.

Rokossovsky remembered that on the day of the celebration of the victory in the Battle of Kursk, Carina was drunk and lying in the room where she was examining her forehead, and she couldn't help but have a skin-to-skin relationship with her. Could it really be so coincidental that the other party got pregnant at one time?

Seeing Rokossovsky sitting at the table and pondering, Terekin walked to him and sat down opposite him, and asked with a serious expression: "Comrade commander, I just want to ask a question, is this child yours?" ”

"I don't know," Rokossovsky said, covering his face with his hands, shaking his head, "I really don't know." I do have an intimate relationship with her, but I really don't know if this child is mine. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Terekin's expression became relaxed: "Comrade commander, since you and Carenna are related to each other, then I can tell you very responsibly that this child is yours. Because neither in the front military hospital nor in the health team here, Carina has no chance of being alone with the opposite sex, and this child will not be anyone else except you. ”

Confirming that Carinna actually had a child of her own, Rokossovsky couldn't help but stand up and paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. He was thinking in his heart, what should this child do? Was it born or was it for Carinna to be beaten?

"Comrade Commander," before he could come up with a comprehensive plan, Telegin preemptively asked, "what are you going to do with this child?" Let Carinna beat him out, or give birth? ”

Rokossovsky was well aware that the medical conditions of this era could not be compared with later generations, and if Carina was allowed to kill the child, perhaps the body of adults would also be affected. Just as he was about to say that he should let Carina give birth to the child, Terekin had already asked himself: "I think it is better to give birth to the child, the war has greatly reduced the population of our country, and it is a good thing to have a newborn baby." ”

Seeing Terekin think so much about himself, Rokossovsky's heart was quite moved. However, in the current situation, if this kind of thing is exposed, it will have an adverse impact on one's future. Therefore, he nervously asked Terekin: "Comrade Military Commissar, how many people know about this?" ”

Telegin counted his fingers and replied, "At present, in addition to you and me, the dean, Carenna, and a doctor who did the laboratory test know about it. He guessed what Rokossovsky was worried about, and quickly explained, "When I received the call from the dean, I had already told him to keep it absolutely confidential. Comrade commander, rest assured, this matter will not leak out. ”

Rokossovsky thought for a moment and asked one of the things he was most concerned about, "What should Carynna do when she gives birth?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I've taken all these things into account." Terekin comforted Rokossovsky and said: "Carenina's due date is next June, and I asked the dean to arrange a hidden place for her to give birth when the baby arrives." ”