On the way back to Army Group, Rokossovsky rushed at Lobachev apologetically and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Military Commissar. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Lobachev heard Rokossovsky suddenly apologize to himself, and asked with some surprise: "Comrade commander, what's wrong with you, why did you suddenly apologize to me?" ”

Rokossovsky said with a wry smile: "This time you asked you to accompany me to Klin, but you have repeatedly encountered danger. First, on the way to Kling, he was bombed by German planes; Coming out of Kling, he was again attacked by German air raids in a small city. Not so long ago, there was another encounter with a small detachment of German troops that had penetrated deep into the rear of our army. If it weren't for the coincidence that reinforcements arrived, I guess you and I would be honored here today. It's all my fault, I shouldn't have let you go on my adventure with me. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's heartfelt words, Lobachev smiled and waved his hand, and said magnanimously: "Comrade commander, you don't have to blame yourself, I took the initiative to go to Kling with you, and I will not blame you even if you encounter any danger." Besides, I am still your military commissar, and it is my duty to be born and die with the commander. ”

After a while, Lobachev suddenly asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, judging from the current situation, Kling will not be able to hold it at all. Do you think that the troops of the Front, under the command of Zhukov, will be able to hold back the enemy's rush to Moscow? ”

Rokossovsky heard Lobachev's question and understood that what the other party actually wanted to ask was: Will Zhukov be like Konev and end up tricking us?

In order to dispel Lobachev's concerns, Rokossovsky felt the need to explain to him the difference between the two, so he spoke: "Comrade Military Commissar, because our army emphasized before the war that it was all offensive strategy, and did not study the defense enough, especially how to resist the powerful assault of the enemy's tank groups, there is a lack of effective countermeasures.

After General Konev became the commander of the Front, he did not deploy the main forces of our army in depth, but deployed them in the front line, which made the depth of our army's defense too shallow and easy to penetrate by the surprise attack of the German armored forces. At the same time, he miscalculated the direction in which the Germans might attack, deploying heavy forces to the west. As a result, in September, the German tank heavy group carried out the main assault not from the west, but from the north and south, and quickly broke through the weak defense line of our troops in front of them.

When the powerful tank corps of the German army was advancing towards Vyazma, where the headquarters of the Front was located, and was about to advance to the rear of our troops, as far as I know, General Konev had reported this to Comrade Stalin, indicating that the danger of the main forces of our Front being surrounded by the Germans had arisen but the Supreme Commander himself did not give any instructions. And General Konev also lacked the courage to take the risk and order the troops to retreat. Therefore, after the German 3rd and 4th tank groups met in Vyazma, they surrounded the main forces of the Western Front and the Reserve Front, and at the same time surrounded the main forces of the Bryansk Front in the south.

The rest of the matter, you know, a total of eight armies of our three front armies fell into the encirclement of the German army. After more than a month of fierce fighting, the number of casualties and prisoners of our troops in the encirclement exceeded 300,000. Konev's command error made the situation in Moscow more serious. ”

Speaking of this, he was silent for a while, and then spoke: "Comrade Military Commissar, since you and I are partners, there are some things that I don't intend to hide from you. Judging by my analysis, if anyone is to be able to reverse the unfavorable situation near Moscow, this person really has to be Zhukov. ”

"But, Comrade Commander." Although Rokossovsky had thoroughly analyzed the matter to Lobachev, the latter still asked in disbelief: "Judging from the current situation, our army is still losing and retreating." If it weren't for the counter-assault plan he was going to carry out in the early stage, the mobile strength of our group army would not have been completely lost. ”

"Comrade Zhukov cannot be blamed for this." Rokossovsky waved his hand and continued to defend Zhukov: "It is definitely not his idea to carry out a counter-assault on the enemy who occupies the initiative on the battlefield when our army is inferior in strength and equipment, and there is no air support. ”

"It wasn't his idea, whose idea could it be? ......" Lobachev said angrily, and as soon as he was halfway through his sentence, he saw Rokossovsky raise his index finger, sit down on his lips in a silent motion, and then point upwards. He instantly understood Rokossovsky's hint, and quickly said, "Oh, I see, it turned out to be him." ”

Although the driver has a life-saving grace for both of them, there are still some things that cannot be said casually, especially when it comes to the Supreme Commander himself, and some words are even more taboo, if they are leaked, both of them will be in trouble.

After several hours of jolting, the jeep, with holes in its body, finally stopped at the door of the new headquarters of the 16th Army. Rokossovsky, after thanking the driver, walked side by side with Lobachev into the headquarters.

Malinin, who was busy in the command headquarters, suddenly showed a relaxed expression on his face when he saw Rokossovsky and them returning, and he said with some excitement: "Thank God, Comrade Commander, you can count it back, our troops are waiting for your orders." ”

"Have all the troops entered the designated defensive positions?" Rokossovsky asked as he picked up the battle report on the table and scanned it, trying to find out the current situation of the troops as soon as possible.

"Yes, Comrade Commander," Malinin nodded, affirmingly, "all our troops, in accordance with the order, have entered the designated defensive positions. ”

"Is there any movement on the front of our army?" When Rokossovsky saw that the information on the table was the content of the various units reporting that they had entered the defensive position, he put down the paper in his hand, looked at Malinin and asked: "Have they launched a new attack on our army's position?" ”

"No, the enemy has not launched a new offensive yet. Our troops used this time to lay minefields and pull barbed wire at the front of their positions. After reporting on the situation in the defensive zone of the Istrian reservoir, Malinin asked Rokossovsky with concern: "Comrade commander, how is the Klin-Cumbre del Sol defense line?" ”

Rokossovsky shook his head and said regretfully: "This line of defense simply cannot be built." ”

"Huh?!" After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Malinin suddenly showed a confused expression on his face, and he asked puzzledly: "Comrade commander, why?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Lobachev replied preemptively, without waiting for Rokossovsky to speak, "General Zakharov has only received about 4,000 routs, and it is completely impossible to use this amount of strength to hold Kling and Sun Hill at the same time." Therefore, the commander decided not to send troops to the city of Cumbre del Sol for defense, but to put the focus of the defense on Klin. ”

"Four thousand troops guarding Klin." Malinin said to himself: "You must know that the German army is six divisions, at least fifty or sixty thousand people. Four thousand against fifty or sixty thousand, my God, unless a miracle happens, the loss of Kling is only a matter of time. ”

"That's right, Klin, we can't hold it either." In front of his chief of staff, Rokossovsky did not hide his true point of view, and he truthfully said to Malinin: "So I asked Zakharov not to build a defense in the city, but to rely on the Klin-Moscow highway to establish a blocking position, delay the advance of the German army to Moscow, and buy precious time for the build-up of the follow-up troops and the strengthening of the defense." Fearing that their forces were too weak, I also asked General Kazakov to rush over with artillery and use artillery against the German tanks. ”

"General Kazakov left with artillery, I know." Speaking of the artillery being transferred, the expression on Malinin's face became grim: "At the moment in the defensive zone of the Istrian reservoir, we have only two anti-tank artillery regiments and one cannon regiment left, and the strength of the artillery has become weak. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is also something that cannot be helped." Regarding the current situation, Rokossovsky also said helplessly: "In the case of limited troops, in order to defend our defense area, we can only adopt the method of weakening one sector and strengthening another." Hopefully, by doing so, we will slow down the German advance. ”

"By the way, Comrade Commander, I almost forgot something." When Rokossovsky finished speaking, Malinin suddenly raised his hand and patted his forehead and said: "The superiors sent us two flags of the Guards Division. ”

"The flag of the Guards Division?" Rokossovsky couldn't help but be stunned, and asked rhetorically: "Which two divisions are they?" ”

"It wasn't his idea, whose idea could it be? ......" Lobachev said angrily, and as soon as he was halfway through his sentence, he saw Rokossovsky raise his index finger, sit down on his lips in a silent motion, and then point upwards. He instantly understood Rokossovsky's hint, and quickly said, "Oh, I see, it turned out to be him." ”

Although the driver has a life-saving grace for both of them, there are still some things that cannot be said casually, especially when it comes to the Supreme Commander himself, and some words are even more taboo, if they are leaked, both of them will be in trouble.

After several hours of jolting, the jeep, with holes in its body, finally stopped at the door of the new headquarters of the 16th Army. Rokossovsky, after thanking the driver, walked side by side with Lobachev into the headquarters.

Malinin, who was busy in the command headquarters, suddenly showed a relaxed expression on his face when he saw Rokossovsky and them returning, and he said with some excitement: "Thank God, Comrade Commander, you can count it back, our troops are waiting for your orders." ”

"Have all the troops entered the designated defensive positions?" Rokossovsky asked as he picked up the battle report on the table and scanned it, trying to find out the current situation of the troops as soon as possible.

"Yes, Comrade Commander," Malinin nodded, affirmingly, "all our troops, in accordance with the order, have entered the designated defensive positions. ”

"Is there any movement on the front of our army?" When Rokossovsky saw that the information on the table was the content of the various units reporting that they had entered the defensive position, he put down the paper in his hand, looked at Malinin and asked: "Have they launched a new attack on our army's position?" ”

"No, the enemy has not launched a new offensive yet. Our troops used this time to lay minefields and pull barbed wire at the front of their positions. After reporting on the situation in the defensive zone of the Istrian reservoir, Malinin asked Rokossovsky with concern: "Comrade commander, how is the Klin-Cumbre del Sol defense line?" ”

Rokossovsky shook his head and said regretfully: "This line of defense simply cannot be built." ”

"Huh?!" After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Malinin suddenly showed a confused expression on his face, and he asked puzzledly: "Comrade commander, why?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Lobachev replied preemptively, without waiting for Rokossovsky to speak, "General Zakharov has only received about 4,000 routs, and it is completely impossible to use this amount of strength to hold Kling and Sun Hill at the same time." Therefore, the commander decided not to send troops to the city of Cumbre del Sol for defense, but to put the focus of the defense on Klin. ”

"Four thousand troops guarding Klin." Malinin said to himself: "You must know that the German army is six divisions, at least fifty or sixty thousand people. Four thousand against fifty or sixty thousand, my God, unless a miracle happens, the loss of Kling is only a matter of time. ”

"That's right, Klin, we can't hold it either." In front of his chief of staff, Rokossovsky did not hide his true point of view, and he truthfully said to Malinin: "So I asked Zakharov not to build a defense in the city, but to rely on the Klin-Moscow highway to establish a blocking position, delay the advance of the German army to Moscow, and buy precious time for the build-up of the follow-up troops and the strengthening of the defense." Fearing that their forces were too weak, I also asked General Kazakov to rush over with artillery and use artillery against the German tanks. ”

"General Kazakov left with artillery, I know." Speaking of the artillery being transferred, the expression on Malinin's face became grim: "At the moment in the defensive zone of the Istrian reservoir, we have only two anti-tank artillery regiments and one cannon regiment left, and the strength of the artillery has become weak. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is also something that cannot be helped." Regarding the current situation, Rokossovsky also said helplessly: "In the case of limited troops, in order to defend our defense area, we can only adopt the method of weakening one sector and strengthening another." Hopefully, by doing so, we will slow down the German advance. ”

"By the way, Comrade Commander, I almost forgot something." When Rokossovsky finished speaking, Malinin suddenly raised his hand and patted his forehead and said: "The superiors sent us two flags of the Guards Division. ”

"The flag of the Guards Division?" Rokossovsky couldn't help but be stunned, and asked rhetorically: "Which two divisions are they?" ”