I thought that I would be able to buy three days of preparation time for the troops, but I didn't expect Zhukov to call Rokossovsky that night and hurriedly said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, the situation on the battlefield has changed dramatically, and I think it may not be possible to give you three days to prepare." Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

After listening to Zhukov's words, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be taken aback, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade General, I don't know what happened to make you so panicked?" ”

"I just got a battle report from the Kharkov direction," Zhukov said in a heavy tone: "Under the powerful offensive of the Germans, the 9th Army under the command of Haritonov has collapsed on all fronts, and the left flank of our army has been penetrated by the Germans for 80 kilometers. In response to this deadly threat, Grodenyansky commanded the 6th Army to launch an attack on Paulus's German 6th Army.

In the fighting that ended today, both sides are making adjustments to the Barvenkovo salient and its forces around the salient. The movement of our troops was repeatedly hampered by the harassment of the Luftwaffe and poor communication conditions.

At the same time, the left flank of the Soviet 28th Army lost cover, which forced the commander of the army group to transfer the 34th Motorized Rifle Brigade and the 32nd Cavalry Division in reserve to protect his flank. ”

"Comrade General, the situation is very bad." After Rokossovsky waited for Zhukov to finish speaking, he said faintly: "If we continue to fight like this, maybe this campaign launched by our army will end in failure." ”

"Yes, the situation is very bad for our army." Zhukov continued: "If we do not take immediate action here to attract the attention of the Germans, then the defeat of the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front will only be a matter of time. Therefore, I order you that the offensive in the Bryansk direction must be launched as soon as possible so that the enemy cannot transfer additional forces to the Kharkov region. ”

"And what is our deadline for attack?"

Zhukov thought for a moment, and then said: "It is late at night on the 20th, and your attack on the Germans should be launched before dawn in the early morning of the 22nd. ”

Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, muttering to himself: It is summer, and it will be dawn at four o'clock, which means that there are only 30 hours left in the preparation time, and it is still difficult to deploy all the troops and technical equipment needed for the offensive to the starting position of the offensive in such a short time.

"Hey, Rokossovsky, are you still there?" Zhukov heard that there was suddenly no sound in the earpiece, and hurriedly raised his voice and asked, "Are you still there?" Why don't you speak? ”

"Yes, Comrade General, I'm still here." Rokossovsky heard the dissatisfaction in Zhukov's tone, and quickly explained: "I am thinking about how to deploy troops." ”

"How, can you launch an attack on the Germans within the stipulated time?" Zhukov continued to ask.

"There should be no problems with our army group." Rokossovsky remembered that a few days ago General Popov on the left flank was reluctant to launch an attack on the German army due to indecisiveness, which resulted in the failure of the final offensive, and he felt extremely uncomfortable, so he took the opportunity to ask the matter clearly: "I don't know what the situation of the other two armies is, can they launch an attack on the German army within the specified time?" ”

Zhukov heard Rokossovsky's voice-over and knew that he was worried that his 16th Army would go deep alone and be surrounded by the Germans, so he hurriedly explained: "Rokossovsky, don't worry. I have already given combat orders to both Popov generals, and they will definitely attack on time. ”

"But what if they can't attack on time because of some accident?" To make sure nothing went wrong, Rokossovsky continued: "What will we do then?" ”

"Rokossovsky, I've already said it, you don't have to worry about it." Zhukov said confidently on the phone: "On the day when the battle starts, I will personally go to your command headquarters to supervise the implementation of the offensive campaign." I don't believe that two Popovs will have the audacity to not even listen to the orders of the commander of the front as me? ”

Hearing Zhukov's statement, Rokossovsky's mood became relaxed, with the commander of the front army sitting here in his place, and the commanders of the other two friendly armies definitely did not dare to discount when carrying out the order, then the certainty of winning the offensive was invisibly a little bigger.

When Malinin heard that the preparation time for the offensive was to be shortened by one day, he could not help but complain to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, the ammunition and fuel needed by the tank units are still far away in the logistics supply warehouses more than 100 kilometers, and it will take at least two days to transport them......

"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't have to say it." After stopping Malinin from continuing, Rokossovsky said to Lobachev, Kazakov, Zakharov and others, who were sitting around the table: "The offensive launched by our army in Kharkov is currently facing a crushing defeat. In order to prevent the Germans from moving troops from our front to strengthen the Kharkov direction, we can only launch an attack on the enemy in the shortest possible time in order to attract their forces and relieve some pressure on the friendly forces that are fighting in the south. ”

After figuring out the plight of the friendly troops, Kazakov immediately stated: "Comrade commander, although our artillery ammunition is also seriously insufficient, in order to ensure that we can provide sufficient artillery support for the infantry in the event of an attack the day after tomorrow, I plan to personally go to the artillery unit and have a good talk with the commanders and fighters, so that they can find a way to solve the problem of insufficient shells." ”

Hearing Kazakov say this, Zakharov asked confusedly: "What can the artillerymen think of to solve the problem of insufficient ammunition?" ”

"It's not easy," Malinin explained with a smile, "General Kazakov is planning to let the artillerymen use their own trucks to pull artillery shells at the logistics warehouse, which can also reduce the pressure on transporting troops." ”

Seeing that everyone realized the seriousness of the problem, Rokossovsky finally told everyone: "Okay, I have finished what needs to be said, and I hope that everyone will pay enough attention to it." We must make full use of the remaining 30 hours and make solid preparations before the attack. Do you have any faith? ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Zakharov first said: "I believe that the commanders and fighters of the infantry corps participating in the battle will definitely make all preparations for battle within the specified time." ”

"So do we." Zakharov continued: "It will definitely be possible to ensure that the artillery has enough ammunition before the battle starts. ”