First, under the powerful offensive of the 60th Army, the German defense soon collapsed. At noon on September 6, the Soviets liberated Konotop from the Germans.

Having learned that the 60th Army had captured Konotop and began to advance further westward, Rokossovsky and Terekin immediately drove to Chernyakhovsky's headquarters in the city to congratulate him on his victory.

While Rokossovsky and Chernyakhovsky were in the headquarters, discussing the next target of the 60th Army, a staff officer suddenly walked in and reported to Chernyakhovsky about the purge of the remnants of the enemy in the city.

Anxious to find out what was going on in the city, Rokossovsky paused and listened patiently to the staff officer's report. I only heard the other party say, "...... After we occupied the municipal building, we conducted a careful search to prevent any remaining Nazis. Our commanders and fighters found a basement nearby, which stinked like a toilet......"

"Wait a minute, Comrade Major." Hearing this, Rokossovsky couldn't help but interrupt the staff officer's words, and said with some displeasure: "You just tell me about the situation of clearing the enemy and finding out about the toilet, so don't report it." ”

"Yes!" The major staff officer agreed, and then continued: "Let's go to the toilet...... No, it's not a toilet, and when our commanders and fighters went in, they found that this was not a toilet at all, but a prison. ”

"What, prison?" When Chernyakhovsky heard this, he couldn't help but show a surprised expression on his face: "Who is locked up inside?" ”

"When we rescued them, we found out that they were members of the local underground resistance. They were all locked up in this basement because they were betrayed by traitors, and the Germans were going to shoot them today, but because our troops were attacking faster than the Germans imagined, they didn't have time to execute them......"

Rokossovsky thought that the major had used the place where the Germans were holding his comrades as a toilet, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Then why does the basement where they stay stink?" ”

"The basement where the enemy held them up has no toilets, so they can't clean up the feces and urine they can, so they can only pile up in the house......" The major said a little embarrassed: "Comrade commander, the smell in there is really unbearable, I was almost smoked down when I went in, I really don't know how our comrades persevered." ”

"Are there any important people among them?" When Terekin heard this, he couldn't help but interject and ask, "For example, the leaders of the city?" ”

Seeing that the major shook his head, he continued to ask, "What about the district?" ”

The other party still shook his head, and he asked with the last glimmer of hope: "There are always one or two leaders at the level of chairman of the Soviet in the collective farm, right?" ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade Military Commissar." The major said apologetically to Terekin: "According to what we know, the leaders of the resistance were all killed by the Germans on the day of their arrest. ”

Hearing the major say this, Terekin slammed his fist on the table in front of him, and said angrily: "Damn the Germans, you actually use such cruel means against our comrades. ”

"Comrade Major," Rokossovsky waited for Terekin to finish, and then asked the Major: "How are these members of the Resistance who are in good health, and will they be able to immediately participate in the battle?" ”

"I don't think they can for the time being, Comrade Commander." The Major replied slowly: "They have been held in the basement for half a month, and their daily access to food and water is very limited, and now they are very weak. Even when we took them out of the basement, we blindfolded them with a black cloth so that they would not be blinded by the sudden sight of light. ”

After the staff officer finished his work, Rokossovsky again discussed the next offensive plan with Chernyakhovsky. He pointed to the map and said: "General Chernyakhovsky, your troops continue to pursue the defeated enemy, destroy all enemy forces that try to stop my advance, and quickly advance to the Bakhmash area." ”

After assigning the task, Rokossovsky rushed back to his headquarters, contacted Batov, who was fighting fiercely with the Germans, and instructed him: "Comrade Batov, at the moment Chernyakhovsky's troops have successfully occupied Konotop. You, and the troops of the 48th Army, should also speed up your advance and capture North Novgorod as soon as possible. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Batov hurriedly replied: "I will immediately contact General Romanenko and cooperate with his 48th Army to advance to North Novgorod as quickly as possible." ”

……

Having assigned new combat missions to the units of the various army groups, Rokossovsky picked up the place on the table, dialed the General Staff in Moscow and reported to Vasilevsky: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I have good news to report to you. More than an hour earlier, the units of the 60th Army had successfully captured Konotop and were now continuing to pursue the fleeing German units and rapidly approaching Bakhmachi. ”

After marking all the names of places mentioned by Rokossovsky on the map, Vasilevsky said with a smile: "Well done, Comrade Rokossovsky, I am glad that you have told us such exciting good news. You immediately send me a detailed report of the battle, and I will immediately report to Comrade Stalin. ”

"Okay, Comrade Chief of the General Staff." Rokossovsky said unusually cheerfully: "I will immediately order the chief of staff to provide you with a detailed battle report." ”

After hearing Rokossovsky's command, he immediately got up and handed the telegram to Maksimenko, saying to him: "Comrade Chief of the Signal Corps, please send this telegram to the General Staff. When he had done all this, he walked back to the table and sat down, and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, if Chernyakhovsky's troops can successfully take Bakhmash and capture Nezhin, we will open the way to Kyiv." ”

"Yes," Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish, nodded, and said with emotion: "It's been two years, and after two years of hard and outstanding fighting, our troops have returned to the territory of Ukraine. ”

"Comrade commander," Terekin heard from Rokossovsky's tone that his emotions were a little excited, and after a little thought, he understood the reason for his excitement, and hurriedly said: "When Kiev is liberated, the day of the liberation of Zhytomyr is not far away." You served as garrison commander in this city before the war, and I think you must have a lot of affection for this city. ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, you are quite right." Rokossovsky nodded and admitted: "I have a deep affection for Zhytomyr, and the day before the outbreak of the war, I also organized a drill. It was precisely because of this exercise that our troops were able to immediately dispatch their entire troops within a few hours of the outbreak of war, rush to the area of exchange of fire in the shortest possible time, and deal a head-on blow to the invading enemy. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's words, Malinin also became interested, and he asked curiously: "Comrade commander, I heard that you once led the Ninth Mechanized Corps through the middle of the German defense line and seized the German army's logistics supply base in Lublin, which caused problems with the German army's logistics supply. ”

Malinin's words reminded Rokossovsky of his own risky move. In the past two years, he has repeatedly thought about it more than once: if the remaining units of the mechanized army can really carry out a centripetal assault on the Lublin region in accordance with the orders of the commander of the Southwestern Front, it is really difficult to predict what the situation in Ukraine will become. At least the pace of the German advance towards Moscow would have slowed down considerably; At the same time, a more solid defense can be established in the Kyiv region, and the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of troops being captured and all the senior leaders of the front army being killed may be avoided.

However, history does not have ifs, Rokossovsky then thought that even if he led his troops to hold Lublin at that time, with the rigid tactics of the Soviet army at that time, to compete with the German army with absolute superiority, maybe more than 100,000 or 200,000 Soviet commanders and fighters would be killed or captured in Lublin, and he might be in a prisoner of war camp of the German army like Lukin at this moment.

Seeing Rokossovsky's suddenly sad look, Terekin asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, do you remember something from the past?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Military Commissar." Rokossovsky did not hide it from Terekin, but truthfully replied: "I remember my comrades-in-arms who fought side by side at the beginning of the war, and so far they have either died or been captured, and there are not many left." ”

"Yes, from the outbreak of the war to the present, we have countless excellent commanders and fighters who have sacrificed." Telegin said with emotion: "Maybe one day, you and I will also be sacrificed." But as long as we can defeat the fascist invaders and drive them out of our land, no matter how big the price is, I think it will be worth it. ”

While several people were talking, the phone on the desk rang without warning. Rokossovsky hurriedly picked up the microphone and put it to his ear, but when he heard Stalin's voice coming from inside, he quickly got up from his seat, straightened up and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Stalin!" ”

Hearing that it was Stalin's call, the other commanders sitting at the table also stood up, straightened their bodies and stood in place, looking at Rokossovsky with blank eyes, listening to the conversation he had with Stalin.

"Hello, Konstantin Konstantinovich!" Perhaps having received the news of the liberation of Konotop, Stalin was in a particularly good mood at the moment: "I heard that your troops have successfully captured Konotop and are advancing towards Bakhmachi, is that so?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Stalin, that's exactly what happened." Rokossovsky said solemnly: "I have ordered General Chernyakhovsky to quickly advance towards Bakhmachi, as long as we take this city, and then take Nezhin, we will completely open the road to Kyiv." ”

"Yes, yes," Stalin said excitedly when he heard this: "The German army does not have any decent defensive zone on the road from Nezhin to the Dnieper, and our troops can quickly advance to the Dnieper and launch an offensive on Kyiv." Comrade Rokossovsky, our troops are about to liberate Kyiv, how are you feeling now? ”

"I am very excited, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky's breathing became short: "I am especially excited at the thought that my troops will soon be able to re-enter Kiev, enter Zhytomyr, and liberate these important cities, one by one, from the hands of the Germans. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Stalin fell silent. After a long time, he said slowly: "The Germans have occupied these cities for two years, and they have committed countless heinous crimes, and now it is time for us to pay their blood debts." Your troops have done a very good job, and I ask the delegates to express their gratitude to them for their contribution to the defence of the country that Lenin himself founded. ……”

After saying a lot of words of thanks in one breath, Stalin felt a little out of breath, and he waited for his mood to calm down a little before finally saying: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I hope that in the next battles you will continue to maintain the status quo ante, completely defeat the fascist invaders, and drive them out of our land." Wishing you good health! With that, he hung up the phone.

"Comrade commanders," Rokossovsky knew that his conversation with Stalin had been heard by the chiefs of the front standing at the table, but he repeated Stalin's words to everyone, and finally said: "We must not fail to live up to the trust placed in us by the Supreme Commander himself, continue to maintain the existing superiority, and completely crush the enemy on the east bank of the Dnieper." ”

"Comrade Commander, please rest assured." Terekin first said: "I will go to the troops below, talk with political workers at all levels, tell them the expectations and gratitude of the Supreme Commander himself, let them do propaganda and agitation work in the troops, and encourage the commanders and fighters to establish their own merits in battle." With that, he got up and left.

As soon as Malinin and Telegin left, he immediately said: "Comrade commander, I will immediately send a telegram to the commanders of the armies and tell them to speed up the attack, and absolutely not give the Germans a chance to breathe." ”

"Comrade Commander, please rest assured." Terekin first said: "I will go to the troops below, talk with political workers at all levels, tell them the expectations and gratitude of the Supreme Commander himself, let them do propaganda and agitation work in the troops, and encourage the commanders and fighters to establish their own merits in battle." With that, he got up and left.

As soon as Malinin and Telegin left, he immediately said: "Comrade commander, I will immediately send a telegram to the commanders of the armies and tell them to speed up the attack, and absolutely not give the Germans a chance to breathe." ”