Rokossovsky forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart, changed the topic and asked: "Comrade Colonel, when will your motorized infantry regiment enter the defensive position?" ”

"They've arrived. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Mikhailov replied: "Just in time for the bombing of enemy aircraft, the regiment commander, fearing unnecessary losses, hid his troops in the forest not far from the position. At this point, he paused for a moment, and then asked, "Comrade Commander, shall I order them to take over the defense of the friendly forces now?" ”

Rokossovsky covered the microphone, turned his head to Kirillov, who was standing next to him, and said: "Colonel, the motorized infantry regiment of the 101st Tank Division has reached the forest behind the right flank line, when do you think you can hand over positions to them?" ”

"Comrade division commander," and without waiting for Kirillov to reply, a sergeant ran in breathlessly and reported: "The regimental commander ordered me to report to you that a unit had appeared in the forest behind us and was heading towards our position. After inquiry, it turned out to be the motorized infantry regiment of the tank division that had come to take over our defense. The regimental commander asked me to ask you: whether to hand over positions to the other side? ”

When Rokossovsky heard this, he immediately understood that the sergeant was from a defensive position on the right flank, and he did not speak, but quietly looked at Kirillov to see how he replied to the sergeant who came to ask for instructions.

Kirillov stood with his back to Rokossovsky, and after a while he said to the sergeant: "Go back and tell your regimental commander that the German can attack at any time." In order to prevent confusion, it is not possible to hand over all positions at once, and let him carry out the process of handing over in stages. Do you understand? ”

"I understand everything, Comrade Division Commander." The sergeant replied respectfully.

"Now that you understand, hurry up and convey my order!"

Rokossovsky watched the sergeant's back disappear from the door, then let go of the hand covering the microphone and said to Mikhailov: "Colonel, now let your motorized infantry regiment take over the defense." Since the Germans may attack again at any time, please tell the commander of the motorized infantry regiment that when taking over the defense, it should be carried out in sections and batches to avoid confusion. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Mikhailov readily agreed: "I will convey your intention to the head of the motorized infantry regiment." ”

Rokossovsky put down the phone and said to Kirillov, who was standing in front of him: "Comrade Colonel, from today's battle, we have exposed many problems, and you should take advantage of the gap between the battles to organize the commanders and fighters and propose good solutions to these problems. ”

Summing up a battle is usually carried out by commanders and fighters at all levels in order to draw lessons and lessons and guide future operations after completing a combat mission. But when Kirillov heard this military common sense, which was so common to Chinese soldiers, he asked with a blank face: "Comrade commander, what is the battle summary?" ”

Hearing Kirillov say this, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be stunned, but then he thought that the Soviet army did not seem to have a tradition of summing up lessons and lessons after the battle, so he coughed lightly and began to popularize science to the other side: "Comrade Colonel, the so-called battle summary is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the entire combat situation after the battle, with the purpose of drawing lessons from the battle and guiding future operations. Its main contents include: the combat intentions of both sides, the course and results of the main operations, the successful experiences and the lessons of defeat, as well as the enemy's operational characteristics and technical and tactical level, and so on......"

After listening to Rokossovsky's understatement, Kirillov scratched the back of his head and asked puzzledly: "Comrade commander, according to what you said, shouldn't this kind of summary of the battle be carried out by you or a commander higher than you?" ”

After hearing this, Rokossovsky sighed in his heart: "It's over, what I just said is all playing the piano to the cow." But he understood that it would be very difficult to change many traditions in the Soviet army on his own. After taking two deep breaths, he changed the subject: "Comrade Colonel, it seems that the number of communication equipment in your division is not enough, right?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Kirillov said embarrassedly: "When our division was transferred, in order to get rid of the enemy, we had to discard a lot of military supplies, including some communications equipment. ”

Hearing Kirillov say this, Rokossovsky really couldn't laugh or cry, and he said in his heart that the communication equipment you lost may not be some, but all, right? If they hadn't had the communications team set up a telephone for them, it is estimated that the contact between them and the headquarters would have been the same as the communication between the right-wing positions, and could only be accomplished by sending a communicator.

He turned his head to look at Carmela, who was speechless next to him, and asked tentatively: "Comrade General, when you went to the warehouse, in addition to artillery and all kinds of weapons and ammunition, did you have any communication equipment in it?" ”

Carmela frowned and thought for a moment, then replied uncertainly: "Comrade commander, due to the rush of time, I hurried back with people after finding the required artillery and anti-tank guns. There are also two supply warehouses, which I don't have time to go to, maybe there are communication equipment there. ”

"Great, that's great." Hearing that there may be communications equipment urgently needed by the troops in the nearby military warehouses, Rokossovsky was overjoyed: "Comrade General, you have also seen it. At present, in Colonel Kirillov's division, there is only one telephone that can communicate with the headquarters, and communication with the regiments below can only be through the signal corps. If the battle is fierce, this may delay the fighters. I asked Colonel Kirillov to send you a company to follow you to the military depot and bring back all the communications equipment that could be moved. ”

"Comrade commander, one company is too little." Kirillov interjected: "We are in today's battle, and the consumption of ammunition is also very large. Why don't I send a battalion with General Carmela to the warehouse, and in addition to carrying communications equipment, I will bring back some weapons and ammunition to replenish the troops. ”

Rokossovsky did not object to Kirillov's request, because he considered that in the troops to be contained in the future, there would definitely be many commanders and fighters who had retreated from the front who were unarmed, and it would not be a bad thing to prepare some weapons for them earlier, so he said cheerfully: "Okay, Comrade Colonel, just do as you say, send a fully equipped battalion to carry supplies with General Carmela." ”

Just as Kirillov was explaining the task to a battalion commander to follow Carmela to a nearby abandoned warehouse to carry supplies, the phone on the desk rang. Rokossovsky picked up the phone and said in a deep voice: "I'm Rokossovsky, where are you?" ”

An anxious voice came from the receiver of the phone: "Comrade commander, can you come back immediately?" ”

Hearing Tarasov's abnormal voice, Rokossovsky's heart couldn't help but shudder, thinking why something happened in the place again, and hurriedly asked nervously: "Chief of Staff, what's wrong?" ”

"Comrade Marshal is here." Tarasov lowered his voice and said: "They are waiting for you at the headquarters, you should come back quickly!" ”

"Okay, I'll go back right away." After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he said to Carmela and Kirillov: "I will go back to the headquarters immediately, and you should go to the warehouse as soon as possible." Remember, as long as we can use everything, move it back, and if we can't finish moving it in one trip, we will move it a few more times, and I'm afraid that we won't have too many chances of getting supplies in the future. ”

Ten minutes later, Rokossovsky returned to the command. As soon as he walked through the door, he saw the tall Timoshenko and a commander who was a head shorter than him, gathered around the table with their backs to the door, looking down at the map spread out on it, while Mikhailov and Tarasov stood upright.

Rokossovsky thought that the commander with Timoshenko was a fellow staff officer, so he didn't care. He took a step forward, raised his hand to his ear and loudly reported: "Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General Rokossovsky reports to you......"

He stopped abruptly in the middle of his words, because he saw the collar badge of the commander who turned around with Timoshenko, who was also in the rank of marshal. After a moment's hesitation, he quickly recognized the short marshal as Voroshilov, who was known as the "Red Marshal" for his extraordinary bravery. However, Rokossovsky's memory from later generations should have been the commander of the front in Leningrad in the north, and I don't know why he was here.

Seeing Rokossovsky's hand raised on his forehead, but he did not speak, Voroshilov smiled slightly, walked over and pulled his hand down from his forehead, held it tightly, shook it vigorously, and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, you are really amazing. When you left the headquarters of the Front with dozens of people, Marshal Timoshenko was also worried that you would not be able to carry out any combat missions for at least a week. But what happened next proved him wrong. Not only did you organize tens of thousands of troops in the shortest possible time, but you also managed to repel two German attacks and achieve great results. ”

In response to Voroshilov's compliment, Rokossovsky smiled faintly, straightened his head and replied in accordance with the regulations: "I am willing to serve the Soviet Motherland!" ”

Voroshilov glanced at the five medals on Rokossovsky's chest, nodded, and said with a smile: "Comrade General, it seems that you have served well, and now you have five medals." As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Timoshenko, smiled and continued, "Old man, maybe in the near future, it will be you and I who will wear the sixth medal for General Rokossovsky. ”

When Timoshenko heard his old comrade-in-arms say this, he also nodded with a smile and said: "That's right, dear Klimente Yevremovich, I believe that with Rokossovsky's performance, in the near future, he will be able to receive a new medal again." After saying that, he also went up and shook hands with Rokossovsky, and then asked: "How is it, Comrade General, is there anything you need my help with?" ”

"Comrade Marshal," Rokossovsky, after a day of tossing and turning, deeply feeling the inadequacy of his forces and various weapons and equipment, took the initiative to say to Timoshenko: "As long as you can replenish me with one or two divisions as soon as possible, then I can build a strong defense in the Yatsevo area, so that the enemy will not be able to advance to Vyazma." ”

After hearing this, Timoshenko sighed and said: "Since the Germans launched an offensive in many important directions, in order to hold them back, we had to throw the newly arrived reserves into those directions. Therefore, it is estimated that it will be difficult for the Front to provide you with any troops, and you can only supplement and strengthen your combat cluster by accommodating the small units and fighters who have fallen behind from the front. ”

Timoshenko's words reminded Rokossovsky of an anti-Japanese TV series in Huaxia, where the superiors gave Commander Li an empty number of the regiment, as for the soldiers and weapons, they were all gone, everything could only be done by himself, but he did not expect that he was facing the same problem now.

However, after thinking about it, Rokossovsky secretly rejoiced that Regiment Li was summoning civilians without any combat experience, and the weapons and ammunition were also snatched from the enemy's hands little by little. And what about yourself? It is possible to replenish the troops and enrich their combat clusters by accommodating those small detachments that are constantly retreating from the front line; As for weapons and ammunition, it is simpler, in addition to being captured from the hands of the enemy, there are also abandoned military warehouses where there are mountains of weapons to receive. Since others are poor and white, they can turn an empty regiment into the main force of the whole army, and they can not compare to the other side if they have commanders with combat experience and sufficient ammunition replenishment?

Seeing that Rokossovsky's face was constantly changing, Voroshilov thought that he had some emotion, so he hurriedly comforted him and said: "Comrade General, on behalf of Marshal Timoshenko, I would like to make a statement to you, as soon as the troops from the Far East arrive, I will definitely give priority to replenishing your combat cluster." So you're at ease? ”

Rokossovsky nodded, and was about to speak, but was stopped by Timoshenko raising his hand. "Comrade Rokossovsky, although you have very few troops now, the burden on your shoulders is not light. Your task is to cover the rear of Smolensk, so that the enemy, who has bypassed the city, cannot advance along the road to Vyazma. ”

"I see, Comrade Marshal." Rokossovsky continued: "The enemy with whom we are fighting is coming from the north of Smolensk. They erected pontoon bridges over the river and crossed the river with tanks, artillery, and a large number of infantry, in an attempt to take advantage of their superior forces and rush along the road to Vyazma. ”

After Timoshenko and Rokossovsky had talked a few more words, Voroshilov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and then urged with some impatience: "Hey, old man, it's getting late, we should go." ”

"Comrade Marshal, do you want to go back to the front headquarters?" Rokossovsky asked, looking at Timoshenko.

Timoshenko shook his head and said: "The current situation in Smolensk is terrible, we plan to go there and see." ”

"Comrade Marshal, the road to Smolensk is already occupied by the Germans, and any further it will be dangerous."

In response to Rokossovsky's persuasion, Timoshenko and Voroshilov looked at each other and said with a smile: "Comrade General, how can we, as commanders, be afraid of danger? I believe that as long as the commanders and fighters see us on the front line, their morale will be greatly boosted, so that we can be sure of defeating the enemy. After saying that, he stretched out his hand to Rokossovsky and said in a loud voice: "Okay, goodbye, Comrade General." Wishing you good health! (To be continued.) )