After listening to Novikov's words, Rokossovsky closed his eyes and thought bitterly: before the appearance of enemy planes, the troops suffered only more than 30 infantry casualties, destroyed more than 20 German tanks and the same number of armored vehicles, as well as hundreds of motorcycles and more than 300 infantry, and captured more than 60 prisoners, including a German colonel. As a result, as soon as the enemy aircraft appeared, in just a few minutes, the troops paid such a big price. It seems that there is no air supremacy on the battlefield, and even the most powerful ground forces can only be beaten passively.

He opened his eyes and walked to the radio station, bowed his head to the operator: "Comrade operator, can this radio station contact the chief of staff?" ”

The operator got up from his seat, straightened up, and reported, "Yes, Comrade Commander." ”

"Contact the Chief of Staff immediately and say I have something important to ask him." Rokossovsky commanded briefly.

When the operator sat down again, he picked up the microphone and called out loudly. After about two or three minutes, the operator took off his headset and handed it to Rokossovsky along with the microphone, and at the same time said: "Comrade commander, I have contacted the chief of staff. ”

Rokossovsky put on his headphones, and when he heard Maslov's voice coming from inside, he asked loudly: "Hey, Chief of Staff, how is your situation there?" ”

"Comrade Commander, the situation is very bad." Maslov replied in a depressed mood: "As a result of the heavy bombing of our troops by German dive bombers, the 22nd Tank Division of the 19th Mechanized Corps was completely annihilated, and the 8th Mechanized Corps also suffered heavy casualties. Just now our commanders and fighters intercepted a group of infantry fleeing to Lutsk......"

"What, the infantry who fled to Lutsk?!" When Rokossovsky heard this, he couldn't help but be taken aback, he thought that these infantry were the 22nd motorized division of the 215th Mechanized Army, so he nervously asked: "What part are they?" ”

Maslov, as Rokossovsky's deputy, guessed what the other party was worried about from this sentence, and quickly explained: "General Tamruch and the 215th Motorized Division are still fighting stubbornly with the German army. According to one of the surviving second lieutenants, the small unit that had retreated, the division commander and the division chief of staff had died honorably in the battle, and the entire unit had been crushed by German bombardment and tank assaults. ”

Rokossovsky knew that the counterattack of the Soviet army in the Dubno area ended in failure, and he did not expect to lose so badly and so quickly, he gritted his back molars and asked: "How many people are in this surviving squad?" ”

"Less than fifty." After Maslov finished speaking, he added: "It just so happens that I lack infantry here, so I will add them to the remaining troops." ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are doing the right thing. In the present situation, it is necessary to find ways to contain the scattered troops and replenish them into our army. After arranging the containment mission, Rokossovsky changed the subject and asked: "Do you know where General Putukhin is?" ”

"General Putukhin?!" Maslov repeated the name, and then asked rhetorically: "Do you mean the commander of the Air Force of the Front, General Putukhin?" ”

"That's right, it's him." Rokossovsky said that because of his own reminder, Putukhin notified most of the planes at the airfield to transfer before the German air raids began. Since in this time and space, the air force losses of the Southwestern Front are not as serious as before, then it should be dispatched on a large scale to compete with the Germans for air supremacy on the battlefield and bomb the German armored forces that rushed to the defense area of the front, but now there is no movement at all, what is going on? "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you contact him now?"

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Maslov said in a hesitant voice: "Comrade Army Commander, if you are looking for General Putukhin and want the Air Force to be dispatched to provide support to the ground forces, I think it is better to forget it." ”

"Why?" Maslov's words said that Rokossovsky was confused, and he asked puzzledly: "General Putukhin's air force, which should have suffered little losses at the outbreak of war, why can't it rise into the air to fight?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Maslov knew that he could not make his words clear, so Rokossovsky kept asking: "General Putukhin once told me that although most of the planes of the Front Air Force were successfully transferred to other field airfields before the Germans began bombing. But in the new airfield, there is no fuel and ammunition for our aircraft, so it cannot be lifted into the air. ”

After listening to Maslov, Rokossovsky was so angry that he slammed his fist on the table, but he didn't expect that he had made so much effort, and in the end the bamboo basket was empty. So many planes that escaped the fate of being blown up have become ornaments because they have no fuel and ammunition.

Maslov heard that there was suddenly no sound from Rokossovsky's side, so he cautiously shouted: "Commander, comrade commander, are you still there?" ”

"What's the matter?" Rokossovsky, struggling to control his emotions, asked coldly.

"How's the situation going over there?" Maslov heard that Rokossovsky was in a bad mood, so he also appeared cautious when questioning, so as not to annoy the other party. "Did you hold back the fast columns of the Germans?"

Rokossovsky replied lightly: "Except for a few German troops who fled, the rest of the troops have been completely wiped out by us." ”