Rokossovsky, having convinced Mikushev, immediately made adjustments to the deployment of forces in the entire defensive zone. The march on foot came to Shepetovka's 41st Infantry Division, which was responsible for the defense in the direction due west; the combined forces of the 131st Motorized Infantry Division and the 7th Motorized Infantry Division, which were responsible for the defense of the southwestern direction; The 325th and 326th regiments, which had been withdrawn from the frontal positions, and the 327th regiment of Captain Leskov, were responsible for the defense of the north-west and due north directions, while the remnants of Novikov's tank division and the 116th tank were also deployed in the area to prevent the Germans from a possible sudden southward movement from Rivne.

As for the location of the army headquarters, both Maslov and Kamenev preferred to establish a position far from the battlefield, so as not to appear that after the forward position was breached, the enemy would only need a few minutes to rush outside the headquarters. However, the proposal of the two men was rejected by Rokossovsky without question, and he replied resolutely: "Where the troops are fighting, the commander should be there, so that it will be easy to command and the troops will be full of confidence." ”

In the face of Rokossovsky's stubbornness, Maslov and his team very cooperatively set up the new corps headquarters in a wooded area five hundred meters from the rear of the 41st Infantry Division. The headquarters is located here, not only can it have a good concealment effect, but at the same time, it can clearly see the entire frontal battlefield.

Over the next week, the Germans launched dozens of more attacks on Shepetovka, but all of them were repulsed by the defenders, reinforced by living forces.

On the evening of July 13, when Rokossovsky and his men were busy in the army headquarters, a telephone in the corner of the room suddenly rang. Vnukov walked over and picked up the phone, listened to it for a moment, and immediately covered the microphone with both hands and handed it to Rokossovsky, and at the same time said in a somewhat flustered tone: "Comrade commander, your phone. Be...... It was the head of the front...... Called? ”

What, a call from the head of the Front? When all the people in the room heard this, they were dumbfounded, knowing that in the past half a month, no matter how they tried to contact the outside world, they would never be able to get in touch with other friendly and neighboring troops, and the Fifth Army Headquarters could not be contacted, let alone the Front Army Headquarters.

Rokossovsky walked over quickly, took the microphone from Vnukov's hand, put it to his ear, took a deep breath and said: "Hello, I'm Rokossovsky. ”

"Hello, Comrade Rokossovsky." An unfamiliar voice came from the earpiece: "I am Major General Tupikov, Chief of Staff of the Front. ”

When Rokossovsky heard the other party report to his home, he was stunned for a moment, and then instinctively asked: "Where is Lieutenant General Pulkaev, Chief of Staff?" ”

"Comrade Lieutenant General is now the commander of the 60th Army, and I took over his post just yesterday." After a brief briefing, Tupikov continued: "When I began to perform the duties of chief of staff, I was surprised to find out from the intercepted German intelligence that there was still a unit of ours in Shepetovka, stubbornly resisting the German offensive. As soon as the commander learned of this news, he immediately ordered the comrades of the communications office to do everything possible to get in touch with you. Thankfully, the comrades of the Communications Department have been busy for half a day and have succeeded in restoring contact with you. ”

Rokossovsky was also secretly relieved to be able to restore contact with the higher-level organs, at least in this way, he would no longer be alone, at least he could be supplemented by the soldiers provided by his superiors. After a moment of silence, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what is the current situation?" ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, the situation of the war is very unfavorable for us." Tupikov sighed and said: "The enemy has successively occupied Rivne and Zhytomyr, threatening the security of Kyiv. Fortunately, however, we still had quite a few troops, and in the vicinity of Lutsk and Volynsky New Town, were engaged in stubborn battles, effectively pinning down the Germans' forces and preventing them from rushing quickly to Kyiv. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky knew in his heart that Tupikov must have something important when he called at such a time, so as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately asked: "May I ask you to call me, do you have any important instructions?" ”

"Shepetovka has the main warehouses of our army." Tupikov said this without warning, which made Rokossovsky's heart beat faster, and he couldn't help but think to himself, he wouldn't let himself come up with an explanation for the unauthorized execution of the warehouseman who disobeyed the order, right?

Fortunately, what Rokossovsky feared did not happen, and Tupikov continued: "According to our understanding, although you are constantly moving the supplies in the warehouses to the rear by rail and road, the amount of supplies left behind is still a sky-high number. In order to prevent these supplies from falling into the hands of the Germans, the commander ordered: you must hold on to Shepetovka for as long as possible. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, we have been holding on to Shepetovka." Rokossovsky calmly told Tupikov about Shepetovka's situation: "In order to prevent the supplies from falling into the hands of the Germans, we planted explosives in those warehouses that could not be vacated for the time being. As soon as the enemy approaches the warehouse, the personnel guarding the warehouse will not hesitate to detonate it. It is better to let all the supplies be reduced to ashes than to let the Germans take them. ”

"Very well, General Rokossovsky, you are quite right about this measure." After admiring Rokossovsky a few words, Tupykov then asked: "If you have any difficulties now, you can raise them with me." ”

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky said cautiously: "We have been holding out in Shepetovka for two weeks, and although the detachments that have rushed out of the enemy's encirclement have been incorporated into the troops, the speed of replenishing troops has never been comparable to the speed of losses......

Before Rokossovsky finished speaking, Tupikov interrupted him, "Okay, comrade general, I understand, you want the front command to replenish your troops, right?" ”

"That's right, I hope the command can add us a division." Rokossovsky cautiously replied: "Even a newly formed infantry division will do." You must know that although we have an inexhaustible supply of weapons and ammunition here, there is a shortage of people who use them. ”

"Understood, understood, Comrade General." Tupikov replied with a smile: "You don't have to worry about the soldiers." The commander just said that an infantry corps was sent overnight to strengthen the defenses of Shepetovka. ”

"Is it a newly formed infantry army?" Rokossovsky then asked, trying to find out what kind of team his superiors had sent to him, so that he could decide how to use it in the next battle.

"Don't worry, Comrade General." From the tone of Rokossovsky's voice, Tupikov guessed what he was worried about, and hurriedly comforted him and said: "It is the Seventh Infantry Army of Major General Dobrosherdov who went to reinforce you, they set out from Dnepropetrovsk four days ago, and originally wanted to reinforce Lutsk. But judging by the current situation, you are more important there, so the command sent them a telegram telling them to change the direction of the march and rush to Shepetovka by noon tomorrow. ”

Hearing clearly that it was an infantry corps with good combat effectiveness, Rokossovsky was happy and a little worried. He just wanted to ask Tupikov who would have the final say in this combined force when General Dobroscheldorf came. It is a troublesome thing to know that a unit has two commanders of the same rank. But before he could ask, Tupikov had already preemptively said: "Comrade General, if there is no fighting there, please hand over the command of the troops to your deputy, General Maslov, and then drive to Kyiv overnight." ”

After handing over the troops to Maslov, after hearing this, Rokossovsky's mind kept recalling this sentence, and he thought with some trepidation: Could it be that his superiors knew about his execution of the storekeeper, and now he plans to settle accounts with himself after the autumn, otherwise how could he have reported to Kyiv immediately after he handed over the command? This is the rhythm of sending oneself to court-martial.

Hearing that there was no movement on Rokossovsky's side, Tupikov on the other end of the phone felt a little strange, and he raised his voice and asked: "Hey, hey, Comrade General, are you still there?" Why don't you speak? ”

"I'm here, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky replied hurriedly, but he could hear a slight trilling in his voice.

"Comrade Rokossovsky, I congratulate you." Just when Rokossovsky was terrified, Tupikov said unexpectedly: "In view of your excellent performance during the war, the General Staff promoted you to the post of commander of an army group in the Western Front and asked you to rush to Moscow as soon as possible to report." At this point, he paused for a moment, and then said, "Since the distance from Shepetovka to Moscow is so long, it will take you at least four or five days if you take a car, so the commander ordered you to come to Kiev by car first, and from here you will take a direct flight to Moscow." ”

After Rokossovsky figured out the ins and outs of the whole thing, he finally let go of the big stone hanging in his heart. After putting down the phone, he called Maslov, Kamenev and Vnukov to him. After scanning his gaze over everyone, he finally said slowly: "Comrades, I have just received an order from my superiors to immediately hand over the command of the general to Comrade Maslov, and I rushed to Kiev overnight. ”

As soon as his words fell, Kamenev's face showed a panicked expression, and he asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, why did you want to hand over the command of the troops?" Speaking of this, he lowered his voice and asked, "Could it be that the execution of that storekeeper was known by his superiors, so he removed you from your position?" ”

"Comrade Commander," Maslov, who was about to take over the command, also felt upset with Rokossovsky, hearing Kamenev say this: "You executed the storekeeper because he disobeyed your orders in public. If I had been there, I might have done the same thing as you. No, I cannot take over your command, I would like to make my point of view clear to the commander of the Front: only if you take command, Shepetovka will be able to stand still under the onslaught of Germany. After saying that, he reached for the phone on the table and wanted to call the front army headquarters.

Rokossovsky hurriedly grabbed his hand, then smiled at a few people, and said a little embarrassedly: "I think everyone misunderstood, the Front Command asked me to transfer the command to Chief of Staff Maslov because the General Staff appointed me as the commander of an army group of the Western Front, and asked me to rush to my post as soon as possible." Before I left, the command of the troops had to be handed over to someone else, and Chief of Staff Maslov was undoubtedly the best candidate. ”

"Comrade Commander, I congratulate you!" After Maslov figured out what was going on, he grabbed Rokossovsky's hand and shook it vigorously and said: "Congratulations on getting a higher post." ”

"And me, Comrade Commander." Kamenev also extended his hand to Rokossovsky and said in a friendly voice: "Please receive my heartfelt congratulations." ”

Maslov knew his level very well and knew that he did not have the ability to take charge on his own, in order not to let Shepetovka be lost in the short term, he waited for Rokossovsky to accept the congratulations of everyone in the command, and immediately asked worriedly: "Comrade commander, since you are leaving, how should we fight in the next battle?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky heard the meaning of Maslov's words, and hurriedly comforted him and said: "The 7th Infantry Corps under the command of Major General Dobroscheldov will arrive in Shepetovka by noon tomorrow. I reckon that when you join forces, your superiors will hand over command of the coalition forces to General Dobro Sherdorf, so you just need to cooperate with him then. ”

After explaining all the work in the army, Rokossovsky called Felip in and instructed him: "Comrade Captain, you immediately go and prepare a gas car and two trucks, we will rush to Kiev overnight." ”

Felip, who received the order, stood still and did not move, and when he saw Rokossovsky frowning, he hurriedly explained: "Comrade commander, on the way to Kyiv from us, you may encounter the Germans, and if you bring too few guards, it will be very unsafe." ”

"Comrade Commander, the captain is right." After Maslov waited for Felip to finish speaking, he also persuaded Rokossovsky: "Two trucks can only carry two shifts at most, and if you encounter the enemy on the road, this number of troops is far from enough." At this point, he turned his head to look at Kamenev's position, and continued, "For the safety of Comrade Commander, I think it is necessary to send a company to escort it." ”

"I agree with the Chief of Staff." Kamenev nodded in agreement and said, "Not only should we send a company, but also the company with the strongest combat effectiveness." (To be continued.) )