At eight o'clock in the morning, Rokossovsky received a call from Scherstyuk. The commander, who had just returned to his unit from the headquarters, said excitedly on the phone: "Comrade General, the troops we sent to raid the prisoner of war camp have returned, and many of our commanders and fighters have been rescued. ”

"Wounded, what wounded?" When Rokossovsky heard the word wounded, he couldn't help but chuckle in his heart, and said in his heart, could it be that the sneak attack was detected by the Germans, and as a result, they paid a high price? Thinking of this, he asked, "Did our sneak attack force suffer heavy casualties?" ”

"Comrade General, you have misunderstood." Scherstyuk knew from Rokossovsky's nervous tone that he had misunderstood, and hurriedly explained to him: "Our raiding troops suffered few casualties, and they were all wounded rescued from prisoner of war camps. In addition, several thousand rescued commanders and fighters were marching on foot from behind, and in about three hours they would reach Lublin. ”

"General Scherstyuk, now that the sky is dawn, if a few thousand people are allowed to march along the road, it is estimated that it will not be long before they will become the target of Luftwaffe bombing." Rokossovsky decisively ordered the other side: "Immediately send people to drive all the trucks out of the city, take them back to the city, and do a good job of concealment." ”

"Yes, I'll arrange it immediately." When Scherstyuk heard Rokossovsky say this, he also realized the seriousness of the problem and hurriedly agreed.

After another hour, Rokossovsky, with several guards, came to the entrance of the city and personally greeted the rescued commanders and fighters.

It didn't take long for a convoy full of commanders and fighters to appear. In front of them were more than a dozen three-wheeled motorcycles, in the middle were a sloping truck, and far behind, captured German tanks were pressing the formation.

Seeing Rokossovsky standing on the side of the road, the two motorcycles in front suddenly sped up and stopped not far from him. Then in the sidecar of the two motorcycles, a commander wearing a German steel helmet and wearing a German uniform jumped out of each of them, walked quickly in front of him, raised his hand and saluted, and reported in unison: "Comrade commander, Major (second lieutenant) Bolev (Kochetov) reports to you that we have completed the task of raiding the prisoner of war camp, and we are waiting for your orders, please instruct!" ”

Rokossovsky raised his hand and returned the salute and said appreciatively: "Good job!" After glancing at the long convoy, he ordered Bolev, "Comrade Major, you take the fighters of the motorized battalion and bring the convoy into the city first, and settle everyone." I'll let a few division commanders deal with the rest of the matter. ”

"Yes!" Major Polev agreed, saluted, turned and walked away.

Seeing Polev leaving, Kochetov hesitated for a moment and asked: "Comrade commander, can I leave?" ”

"Leave? Where to go? Rokossovsky turned his face to look at him and asked in surprise: "Are you still going to go back to the tank division?" Seeing that Kochetov nodded in approval, he said briefly, "Tank division, you don't have to go back, just stay by my side and work for the time being." ”

When trucks full of commanders and fighters passed in front of Rokossovsky, a car suddenly pulled up on the side of the road, the door of the co-pilot side opened, and out of it jumped out a commander who was not wearing a military cap and whose military uniform was somewhat tattered, and almost without hesitation ran towards Rokossovsky.

Seeing someone rushing over, the guard next to him hurriedly aimed the gun in his hand at the other party. After everyone saw the comer, they lowered their guns one after another without waiting for Rokossovsky's order.

"Comrade Commander," the comer, without encountering any obstacles, came to Rokossovsky, raised his hand and saluted, and said in a voice hoarse from excitement: "I'm back!" ”

When Rokossovsky saw the comer, he asked in surprise: "Grissa, why are you?" How did you get captured by the Germans? ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Grissa lowered his head and replied with some embarrassment: "The day before yesterday I received your order to go and chase back the train that passed through the 131st Division. At that time, I chased for almost 20 kilometers, and finally caught up with the train. But it's derailed and is dumping on the tracks, burning with the tractors, combine harvesters and the like. We were about to turn around and report back to the command when we encountered several German tanks that had come out of nowhere. The car I was riding in was overturned by a shell, and the driver was killed, and I was stunned. When I woke up, I found myself lying in a carriage full of prisoners of war, and then I was sent to a prisoner of war camp. ”

Rokossovsky looked up at the truck parked on the side of the road, raised his chin at the commander and fighter standing in the car, and asked Grissa: "Captain, where were the soldiers in this car captured?" ”

Grissa glanced back, then turned his head and replied, "They are from the Brest Fortress." ”

From Grissa's mouth, when he heard the name of the place, which he was trying to forget, Rokossovsky really felt like crying without tears. He had just rejected the Brest Fortress's request for help in the early hours of the morning, but a few hours later, he saw a cartload full of prisoners of war from the fortress.

Looking at these commanders and fighters who were mostly not wearing military uniforms and only wearing white shirts, he thought to himself that among these prisoners of war, not only were they captured after the battle, but some of them also took the initiative to lay down their arms and surrender to the German army.

"Maybe I shouldn't have sent such a telegram to the fortress so impulsively, but I should have talked to these commanders and fighters from Brest first." Rokossovsky thought to himself, "Learn from them about the situation of the fortress, and then decide whether or not to send troops to rescue the fortress." ”

Thinking of this, Rokossovsky raised his hand and pointed at the truck and instructed Grisa: "Captain, see if there is a commander on the car, if there is, bring it to my headquarters, I want to know something about the fortress." ”

"Yes!" Grissa readily agreed, turned and ran back to the truck.

Ten minutes later, a commander from the Brest Fortress, together with Grisa, appeared in Rokossovsky's military headquarters.

Rokossovsky looked at the chubby lieutenant in front of him and asked with interest: "Comrade lieutenant, what is your name and which unit of the fortress does you belong to?" ”

The lieutenant glanced at Rokossovsky, who was wearing the uniform of a German captain, and could not figure out the specific rank of the other party, so he could only say vaguely: "Report to Comrade Commander, I am Lieutenant Songjik, the commander of the third company of the 125th Regiment. Our regiment was responsible for holding the Terespil fortress. ”

"How did you get captured?" Rokossovsky then asked.

Lieutenant Songjik, not knowing the purpose of Rokossovsky's question, replied with a blushing face: "The Germans stormed the fortress, and I was captured in battle. ”

"Oh, really?" Hearing him ask, Rokossovsky asked a little casually: "I don't know how long the troops under your command have been fighting with the enemy." ”

Angered by Rokossovsky's question, Songjik glared at the other party and said viciously: "Comrade commander, the Germans carried out a rapid fire attack on us that lasted for an hour and a half, and the dense artillery fire concentrated on the bridges, city gates, batteries, munitions warehouses, medical aid stations, food warehouses, barracks and officers' quarters of the fortress, and continued shelling for 10 minutes every 4 minutes. Under the shelling of the German army, many of my soldiers died in their sleep, and the surviving fighters, without weapons, fought bravely with sapper shovels, iron rods, wooden benches and even kitchen knives against the Germans who rushed in. I'm not a coward, I was captured in battle when I was hit on the back of the head by the enemy with the butt of a rifle and fainted on the spot. ”

Seeing the angry Songjik, a smile appeared on Rokossovsky's face, he stretched out his hand and pointed to the vacant seat next to him, and said in a friendly manner: "Comrade Lieutenant, please sit down." I've called you here to learn a little bit about the fortress. ”

Angry Songjik heard Rokossovsky say this, and asked angrily: "What are you asking these for?" ”

"You fool!" Hearing this, Grissa stepped forward and slapped Song Jike on the back of the head with his palm, and scolded with a smile: "Our army commander must have asked you this for his reason, and you still don't honestly tell him everything you know." ”